There is nothing wrong with being clean, but if you love cleanliness like Ni Yunlin, you will inevitably be burdened by your own preferences in the end and die with regret. Ni Yunlin was a very famous master at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, known for both his poetry and paintings. He had many pseudonyms, such as Jingmanmin, Jingming Jushi, Zhuyangguan Zhu, Cahang Lanshi, Quan Shoushou, Haiyue Jushi, etc., and was quite famous.
Ni Yunlin was born in Ditu Village, Meili, Wuxi. His grandfather was a large landlord in the hometown, rich and powerful. His father died early, leaving three brothers. His eldest half-brother Ni Zhao Gui, whose courtesy name was Wenguang, was an upper-level person in Taoism at that time. He once "received the Dao record of Changzhou Road", "pointed out the management of Hangzhou Road Kaiyuan Palace", "was granted the title of Element Spirit Response Chongdao Master, as the host point", and then "was specially granted the title of real person, as the Xuanwen Clean True White Real Person." The second brother (twin) was Ni Ziying. In the Yuan Dynasty, the upper-level figures in Taoism held high status (Genghis Khan once specially summoned Qiu Chuji, and Kublai Khan had deep ties with Taoism), enjoying various privileges. They were free from the hardships of labor service and taxes, and the troubles of officialdom, but instead had extra ways to make money.
Since childhood, Ni Zhan was raised by his elder brother, living extremely comfortably without any worries. Ni Zhao Gui also hired their fellow townsman "Real Person" Wang Renfu as a private tutor. Influenced by such family environment and education, Ni Yunlin developed an unusual lifestyle, being proud and aloof, self-respecting and clean, not caring about politics, indulging in poetry and painting, and having a completely different approach from Confucian ideals.
To what extent did Ni Yunlin's obsession with cleanliness reach?
According to historical records, Ni Yunlin's four treasures of the study were specifically taken care of by someone, and they were washed several times a day. Even the two trees in front of his door were looked after by someone else. However, due to washing them too frequently, these two trees eventually withered.
When servants carried water back, he used the front bucket for cooking and the back bucket for washing feet. Can you guess why? He was afraid that the servant's flatulence would dirty the water in the back bucket. The spring source was five miles away from the Ni family's house, and it was a mountain road. How could there be no reason to change shoulders halfway? How could one distinguish which bucket was the front and which was the back? It can be seen that he didn't consider this issue at all, only focusing on cleanliness. As a result...
For such a cleanliness-obsessed person, his home toilet was naturally extraordinary. There was a wooden grid under the toilet, filled with goose feathers in the middle. When feces fell, the goose feathers would float up and cover them, leaving no smell at all.
Ni Yunlin's obsession with cleanliness made his friends laugh helplessly one day. A friend, Mr. Xu, came to visit and spent the night. Ni Yunlin was extremely uneasy and couldn't sleep. In the middle of the night, he heard Mr. Xu cough once, which worried him greatly, making him restless throughout the night. The next morning, he quickly ordered the servant to find where the phlegm was. After searching inside and outside the house, the servant couldn't find it, so he found a leaf as a substitute. Ni Yunlin didn't even look at it and ordered the servant to throw this tree grandpa three miles away, finally feeling relieved. Seeing this, Mr. Xu hurriedly left, perhaps because SARS was prevalent at the time!
Obsessive cleanliness led to never touching women
Because of his obsession with cleanliness, he remained single for most of his life. One day, he finally took a liking to a singing prostitute and brought her home for the night. But he was still worried that the singing prostitute wasn't clean enough, so he asked her to take a bath. After she finished, he was still uneasy and carefully checked her, still feeling unsatisfied, so he asked her to wash again. This went on until dawn, and the singing prostitute caught a cold from washing too much!
Beaten due to obsessive cleanliness
Zhang Shicheng's younger brother, Zhang Shixin, sent silk and coins to ask for a painting. Ni Yunlin tore the silk in front of everyone and said he couldn't be a painter for the royal family. This offended Zhang Shixin, who later wanted to kill him. After others pleaded for mercy, he was beaten with a whip. While being beaten, Ni Yunlin didn't make a sound. Later, when someone asked him, "If it hurts, just scream!" Ni Yunlin actually said, "Making a sound would be vulgar."
Died in despair
Being obsessed with cleanliness became his fate, and others exploited his obsession to torment him.
Later, someone captured him and put him in jail, deliberately tying him next to a chamber pot, causing him unbearable pain. Although he was very obsessed with cleanliness during his lifetime, he ended up unclean. There are two accounts of his death, but both ended uncleanly. One says that before his death, Ni Yunlin suffered from dysentery, defecating all over the bed, creating a stench that no one could approach. Another says that he was thrown into a cesspool by Zhu Yuanzhang and drowned. Of course, another possibility cannot be ruled out: Ni Yunlin's obsession with cleanliness and arrogance offended many people, leading to rumors about his untidy death. This is the sad end and outcome of being obsessed with cleanliness.