1. Historian's swan song: Sima Qian's masterpiece through the ages

More than 2,000 years ago, a scholar suffered great humiliation, but "never lost his mind". With blood as ink and soul as paper, he has completed a historical masterpiece that can be called "the historian's swan song, leaving Sao without rhyme" This is Sima Qian and his historical records.

However, does "masterpiece by historians" praise the "unparalleled" of Historical Records or refer to Sima Qian's "masterpiece"? Does "Li Sao Wu Yun" mean that "Historical Records" is full of literary talent, or that Sima Qian is full of complaints? An ordinary historian and a masterpiece, what is their integration? Who started Historical Records? Who changed Sima Qian's life?

Historical Records records the history of more than 2,000 years from Huangdi to Emperor Wudi of the Han Dynasty, creating a precedent for China's historical biographical literature. Before Historical Records, there were only two types of historical books in China. One is the chronological style, which describes history by years, the most famous of which are Spring and Autumn Annals and Zuo Zhuan. The other is the national style, which records the history according to the country, such as Mandarin and the Warring States Policy. The so-called biographical style is to record history with people as the center, and Historical Records is China's first biographical general history. Starting from Historical Records, all the official history of China, which is what we call "Twenty-four History", is biographical. Historical Records is a biographical general history, and other histories are biographical dynastic history, that is, a dynasty, a dynasty, and its own independent history.

An unparalleled masterpiece of general history

Historical Records is the first of the twenty-four histories, which is obviously superior to other histories. There are three important differences:

First, Historical Records is full of love and hate.

It's hard to record, and it's even harder to record full love and hate. Originally, a historian only needs to describe history objectively and fairly, and does not need to express feelings; However, Historical Records are often full of the author's strong love and hate, especially for some tragic figures, such as Xiang Yu in Biography of Xiang Yu, Li Guang and Sima Qian in Biography of General Li, who write elegies with generosity and affection. And those figures who hated him deeply, such as Gong in Biography of Hou Fu, did not hesitate to expose and attack him from different sides.

It is worth mentioning that Sima Qian criticized the two sharpest people in Historical Records: one was Liu Bang, the founding emperor of the Han Dynasty, and the other was the contemporary Emperor Wu. Sima Qian wrote Liu Bangguang to recruit talents and talents, and finally achieved great things; He also wrote a lot of bad behaviors such as narrow-mindedness, killing heroes, and vulgar language. The exposure of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty is even more merciless. Criticize the founding emperor and reprimand the dynasty kings; Writing like this, even for thousands of years, is rarely heard.

Second, Historical Records is brilliant in literary talent.

One of the fragments of Historical Records, Hongmen Banquet, has been selected as the traditional Chinese textbook for senior high schools in China for more than half a century, and everyone is talking about its literary charm. At the beginning of the article, Xiang Yu's "great anger" was written, indicating that Xiang Yu could not see clearly that his relationship with Liu Bang had changed from a friendly army fighting side by side to an enemy fighting for the world, and his political naivety was heartbreaking. The whole article is lifelike, lifelike, just like a novel, which makes many people doubt its historical authenticity. In fact, the banquet of the Hongmen is really true in history. Throughout the Historical Records, there are 530,000 words, and such descriptions abound. Sima Qian showed superb and varied literary skills in depicting characters, scenes and events.

Third, the civilian perspective of Historical Records.

"Punishment cannot be a doctor, and courtesy cannot be inferior to the people." It is a certain law before historical records that ordinary people do not enter history. However, Sima Qian came here, and the "cock crow and dog thief" also had a place. Biography of the Assassin, Biography of the Ranger, Biography of the Funny and Biography of Huo Zhi were all written by people at the bottom of the society, or they were honest or wise, colorful and interesting, so that some scholars think that these titles are the ancestors of Chinese popular literature.

Sima Qian was very good at finding preachers who were ignored by ordinary historians and loved by ordinary people. It is the eclecticism of Historical Records that fills many gaps in the history of ancient Chinese characters in China. Give two examples at hand. The Analects of Confucius recorded Confucius' words and deeds, and Sima Qian wrote Confucius' Family in Historical Records, which completely outlined Confucius' life for the first time. This is the first and most authoritative biography of Confucius so far. China people always pay attention to "knowing people and discussing the world". Therefore, we should read The Analects of Confucius today, first of all, we should read The Family of Confucius to understand the life of Confucius, so as to correctly interpret The Analects of Confucius. Another example is Qu Yuan, the first great poet in China history. But before Historical Records, there was no record of Qu Yuan in all the ancient books in the pre-Qin period, and some people denied the existence of Qu Yuan. Fortunately, the biographies of Qu Yuan and Jia Sheng in Historical Records prove that there is indeed a loyal and patriotic Qu Yuan in China.

Turn the great shame into a classic handed down from generation to generation

Of course, Sima Qian also thinks highly of himself, claiming that the purpose of writing is to "understand the changes of ancient and modern times and become a family statement when studying heaven and man." What gave Sima Qian such an ordinary and cowardly person such strong confidence to finish such a book? Is it fate or another reason?

Sima Qian was born in an ordinary historian's family, and his father Sima Tan was interested in writing a general history. Sima Qian inherited his father's ambition and made full preparations for writing historical records: he took the road of Wanli, studied under famous scholars and read a lot of court books. However, these experiences are not special among many historians in China's feudal society.

An unexpected event changed Sima Qian's life and made him really understand what it means to be reborn after death, thus completing the fundamental transformation from an ordinary historian to a great historian.

In the second year of Tianhan (99 BC), Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty sent 30,000 troops from Li Guangli to the Xiongnu, and at the same time ordered Li Ling to serve as the logistics support for Li Guangli's army. But Li Ling offered to lead 5,000 infantry troops to divide the Huns.

Li Ling asked to send troops alone for two reasons:

First, the contrast between birth and talent. Li Ling is the grandson of Li Guang, a famous soldier in Han Dynasty. He made a lot of meritorious military service before and won the trust of Emperor Wu. However, Li Guangli, the younger brother of Li Furen, the favorite funeral princess of Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty, became the leader of the army by virtue of his consort status.

In The Journey to the West, the "trench work" such as "you carry the load and I will lead the horse" is a matter for Friar Sand and Pig Bajie, and only the Monkey King can lead. Now Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty has appointed Li Ling as a mediocre general Li Guangli to do logistics, which is tantamount to the Monkey King doing odd jobs for Zhu Bajie. Li Ling naturally unwilling. The so-called division of Xiongnu soldiers is just an excuse. He wants to be independent.

Second, Li Ling's confidence. Although Li Ling's troops are only 5,000, these 5,000 infantry are all carefully selected Jingchu warriors, and they are strong and fierce, so Li Ling is very confident.

Seeing that Li Ling was unwilling to provide logistical support for Li Guangli, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty explained to Li Ling: I don't have that many cavalry to send to you! The implication is that you can only go to war with your 5 thousand infantry.

Li Ling didn't hesitate: I took my 5,000 infantry out!

Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was not at ease and ordered Bode to lead the troops to meet Li Ling. However, lubbock doesn't want to be a pig. So, he reported to Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty: It is autumn, which is the time when the Xiongnu's military strength is the strongest, and it is not suitable for fighting with the Xiongnu. If your majesty goes out again next spring, I am willing to take five thousand men each with Li Ling to attack the Huns! -another person who wants to go out alone!

When Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty saw the paper, he didn't expect that Lu Bode didn't want to be a defender for Li Ling. Instead, he suspected that Li Ling had gone back on his word, so he instructed Lubod to write this report. So Emperor Wu was furious and forced Li Ling to send troops immediately. In this context, Li Ling embarked on a journey.

At the beginning of Li Ling's invasion, it was very smooth, without encountering the main force of Xiongnu, and all the way was like bamboo; He also sent people back to Korea to draw a map of the battle and report the victory to Emperor Wu.

However, the situation took a turn for the worse, and Li Ling's 5,000 cavalry confronted the Xiongnu Khan's 30,000 cavalry.

In the face of 30 thousand strong enemies, Li Ling was fearless, calmly fought and killed many enemies.

Huns never imagined that thousands of infantry from the other side could be like this! Khan immediately called about eighty thousand chosen men from Wang Xian to besiege Li Ling. In the face of a strong enemy more than ten times his own, Li Ling knew that he was outnumbered and retreated, moving closer to the border of the Han Dynasty.

At this time, after repeated contests with Li Ling, the Huns could not support themselves and were ready to withdraw.

At the critical moment, the accident happened. A subordinate of Li Ling, humiliated by his boss, fled to Xiongnu alone and revealed the secret military information to Da Khan:

Li Ling's army has no backup. Even if the Huns can't attack him for a while, Li Ling won't last long.

There are not many infantry arrows in Liling. The reason why the first one of Li Ling is ten is that it relies on a crossbow machine, which is an upgraded version of ordinary bows and arrows. A crossbow will run out of arrows, just like a tiger loses its claws.

Khan heard that he was overjoyed and immediately organized a general attack. At this time, Li Ling's army was in the valley, and the Xiongnu army threw down big stones from the mountains on both sides. The remaining 3,000 troops in Liling suffered heavy casualties and could not continue to retreat to the border. In the end, Li Ling surrendered and only 400 people fled home.

The civil servants in the Qing Dynasty were shocked when they heard that Li Ling had surrendered. You, Li Ling, are not others, but the grandson of the famous Li Guang and the symbol of the big fellow! If you are defeated, you should "kill yourself"

At this time, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, whose face was already dead, held back his sense of shame and asked Sima Qian, a historian around him, what he thought of it. Sima Qian is not a big official, seeks the order, only six hundred stones from the land, but bluntly remonstrated:

First of all, Li Ling is a national scholar (only the best people in a country can be called a national scholar)! He just wants to serve his country.

In addition, Li Ling led 5000 infantry into the hinterland of Xiongnu and fought fiercely with tens of thousands of Xiongnu troops for many days. Although he was defeated, his achievements were enough to comfort the world.

Moreover, Li Ling was forced to "cheat" this time. He saved his life and accidentally repaid the Han Dynasty in the future.

Before Sima Qian's words were finished, the harsh words made Emperor Wudi furious and immediately put Sima Qian in prison and condemned him to death.

Originally, this discussion was about Li Ling. Why did Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty take it out on Sima Qian?

Originally, it was selfish for Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty to appoint Li Guangli to the Xiongnu. He wants Li Guangli to make meritorious service and be a marquis, so that he can sell his personal feelings to his beloved princess. However, Li Guangli led the troops to send troops this time, killing more than 10,000 people and losing nearly 20,000, which made it impossible for Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty to seal. Sima Qian praised Li Ling at this time. In the view of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, he accused Li Guangli of incompetence and satirized his misuse of Li Guangli.

Sima Qian was arrested and imprisoned and sentenced to "false accusation". Framing the emperor is a very serious crime and should be sentenced to death. Sima Qian was honest by nature, and hastily excused Li Ling, which caused great disaster.

In the era of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, prisoners who violated the death penalty had three choices: one was to "be punished"; The second is to take money to avoid death; Third, please "castrate" (referring to castration of male genitals). It costs 500 thousand to take money to avoid death Sima Qian's "family is poor, and money is not enough to redeem himself", and he can't afford 500 thousand to atone for himself. So there are only two choices left: one is the death penalty and the other is "castration". If you choose the death penalty, the Historical Records, which has already been written, will surely die out; If you accept castration, a "punished person" will be laughed at by the whole world for fear of death.

Sima Qian finally chose castration.

During the Western Han Dynasty, many people would rather die than accept castration. Sima Qian also knew that a humiliating life was more terrible than a tragic death. Because:

Different status, lifelong humiliation.

Eunuchs who become non-eunuchs after receiving castration can no longer join the ranks of literati. This is a great shame for a bloody person and a scholar who has read a lot of books!

The most respectable thing about Sima Qian is that in order to write historical records, he resolutely chose castration to bear the limit of life humiliation.

Self-imposed casting is not only a physical disability, but also an eternal pain in the depths of the soul. From then on, humiliation and embarrassment will accompany him all his life. In Sima Qian's words, it is better to be ugly than humiliated, and shame is greater than castration. After the Palace, his intestines are turning all day, sitting at home in a daze, and often going out without knowing where to go; At the thought of the shame of "self-palace", the sweat on my back immediately soaked my clothes (my intestines went back nine times a day and died suddenly when I was in the house, but I didn't know what to do when I came out. Every time I think about shame, the clothes on my back sweat.

This is against life, and it is easy to be accused.

Sima Qian thinks highly of himself and has great ambitions. But after the palace, even if you have the talent like pearls and jade and the character like sages, you can no longer be proud of it, because you have been guilty and have a residual punishment (although you are easy-going, you can't be proud of it). Sima Qian's "talent" and "destiny" formed a great contradiction, which made him feel very painful, so that he "moved to see the special, and wanted to lose money." Be accused for no reason; Doing nothing is enough, but doing something is worse. It is conceivable that Sima Qian was burdened with the burden of "self-palace" in the second half of his life, how lonely and at a loss!

Great souls gain historical status.

After the Palace, Sima Qian died as a human being, Sima Qian died as a scholar-bureaucrat, and Tai Shigong, who inspired writing, was reborn. The "newborn" Tai Shigong suddenly had an unprecedented understanding and began to look at things, life and history with the eyes of the lowest level of society. For those whose success or failure depends on right and wrong, vanishing, Thailand's strength, and whether the sun and the moon are profitable or not, Sima Qian inevitably gives birth to a kind of compassion and wisdom. From then on, in his pen, whether it is affectionate Xiang Yu or wily Liu Bang; Zhang Qian, who was sent to the western regions, was still Wei Qing, who fought against Hungary; Wang Meiren, who is skillful in calculation, or Emperor Han Jing, who shows no trace; They are all flesh and blood because of their own understanding. This is the so-called "family talk".

We can talk about this changed "one-sided view" from several aspects.

1. View of life and death.

The famous saying "People are inherently mortal, and death is heavier than Mount Tai or lighter than a feather" comes from Sima Qian's "Bao Ren An". Historical Records is more important than Mount Tai. Sima Qian ignored humiliation, life and death, achieved the "masterpiece of the king" in the history books, and made a life choice of "more important than Mount Tai".

In Historical Records, there is an article "Biography of Ji Bu" that says:

Ji Bu was originally a member of Xiang Yu's The Iliad. He defeated Liu Bang many times, and Liu Bang hated his guts. After Xiang Yu's defeat and suicide, Liu Bang offered a reward for the capture of Lu Bu, and announced that whoever harbored Lu Bu would destroy the three clans. Lyu3 bu4 hid as a slave in Zhujiajia, a great warrior at that time. In order to rescue Lu Bu, Zhujiajian went to Beijing to meet Xia Houying, Liu Bang's most trusted servant. The Zhu family said to Xia Houying: Two masters are fighting, and each is his own master. As a subordinate of Xiang Yu, Lu Bu is conscientious, which is his duty. Can the emperor kill all Xiang Yu's servants? Now, the emperor has just taken revenge on the world. How can he show his broad mind? Really pushed Jibu into a hurry. He fled to Xiongnu in the north or Vietnam in the south. Didn't he take a strong man to support the enemies of the Han Dynasty? Upon hearing this, Liu Bang immediately pardoned Ji Bu and made Ji Bu a doctor (the emperor's attendant). When Emperor Hui of the Han Dynasty, Lu Bu became a corps commander, which prevented the war between Lv Hou and Xiongnu. During the reign of Emperor Wen of Han Dynasty, Ji Bu served as the magistrate of Hedong and became a famous minister of Han Dynasty.

Sima Qian said at the end of the biography of Lu Bu: In front of such a famous soldier as Xiang Yu, Lu Bu can show his bravery and be called a strong man. However, in order to save his life, Jibu became a slave in Zhujiajian. What a pity! Why didn't Lu Bu choose death? Because he thinks he is very talented, he doesn't regard being humiliated as a shame, but hopes to give full play to his talents one day. (With the spirit of Xiang Yu, Lu Bu is brave and strong, with many soldiers and flags. But if you are punished, how can you be a slave and not die? He must be conceited, so he is humiliated and not ashamed. He is not enough, so he will eventually become a famous China person! )

It can be seen that Sima Qian's understanding and evaluation of Lu Bu is based on his own personal experience. "Heaven will descend to the people of Sri Lanka, and they must first suffer their minds and work hard." Why fear humiliation when you pursue it all your life? Those who can achieve great things are no exception in this regard.

2. The concept of money.

When Sima Qian faced castration, there was actually another choice-to atone with money. During the Liang Wudi period, many generals who fought against Hungary committed capital crimes and bought their lives for it. Sima Qian was jailed for defaulting on 500 thousand yuan, which made Sima Qian have a new view on money.

Sima Qian inherited Xunzi's thought, acknowledged the legitimacy of people's pursuit of material interests, and put forward a series of very pragmatic views.

Biography of Historical Records of Huo Zhi holds that the pursuit of wealth is human nature. Sima Qian said: Everyone in the world is busy, all in pursuit of interests. A prince who owns a piece of land still feels that he is not rich enough, let alone the people in the world. (The world is bustling, all for profit; The world is bustling for profit. The king of thousands of people, the king of thousands of families and the king of hundreds of families are still poor, but what about the people who form a family? )

The tradition of our nation has always been to value righteousness over profit. Confucianism advocates that people who are poor should be happy, and those who talk about profit will be despised. Confucius famously said in The Analects of Confucius, Yong Ye:

Confucius said: Xian Zai, come back! A spoonful of food, a spoonful of drink, in the mean lane, people can't bear their worries, and they won't change their fun when they go back. Xian zai, Ye Hui.

Confucius praised Yan Hui for being content with poverty, but at the same time denounced materialism and money. However, without clothes and food, there is no etiquette and shame! Sima Qian seems to have some insight. For the first time in the history of China, it is clearly stated that people's pursuit of material benefits is justified, as long as they "take it right"!

3. Sharp and profound.

Sima Qian portrayed historical figures incisively; The reason is that Sima Qian has read a lot of historical figures from his own experience, and also read a lot of things that he didn't know deeply in the past.

Historians have always been in awe of the emperors of this dynasty, with Sima Qian as an exception. In the tenth year of Emperor Gaozu (197), Chen Yi was forced to rebel. Liu Bang led the army to counter-insurgency, and Lv Hou killed Han Xin through the Chen Si incident. When Liu learned that Han Xin was punished for his "rebellion", he sent people to worship Prime Minister Xiao He, sealed 5,000 households in Xiao He and sent 500 soldiers as bodyguards. Knowing that Xiao He was blocked, officials from civil and military affairs came to congratulate him. Hou Zhaoping, former Qin Dongling, came to offer condolences. Xiao He was startled and asked why. Zhao Ping said: The disaster in Guo Xiang began! Why do you think, when the emperor was fighting a rebellion outside, you were ordered to guard Guanzhong instead of suffering from war? Because Han Xin had just rebelled, the emperor suspected that you also had anti-intention, so he sealed you. I hope you don't accept any reward, and donate all your wealth as military expenses. The emperor must be very happy. Xiao He quickly followed the plan. How did Liu Bang react to Xiao He's actions? In Historical Records, "Xiao Jia" wrote four words: Ascending the mountain is a great joy.

Who's Xiao He? In his early years in Pei County, he was Liu Bang's boss and always took care of Liu Bang. Liu Bang opposed Qin, and Xiao He led people to follow Liu Bang all the time. When Liu Bang became the emperor, the heroes competed for the crown, and the ministers all advocated that Cao Can's contribution was the first; Only Liu Bang insisted that Xiao He's contribution came first. Liu Bang said that all heroes are hunting dogs (Kung Fu dogs), and Xiao He is the hunter (Kung Fu man) who commands hunting dogs. A husband hunted animals and rabbits, but the dog was also found, and so were those who sent people to follow the animals. Today, you can get the ears of animals and dogs; To such as Xiao He, success instructions, work also. ) It can be seen how much Liu Bang trusts Xiao He! But after the Han Xin incident, Liu Bang was not at ease with Xiao He. The word "I am honored to be above" vividly describes Liu Bang's doubts about the founding heroes. Such a profound analysis of the mind of a founding emperor can only be done by historical records in the twenty-four histories!

Liu Zhiji, a native of the Tang Dynasty, said that there should be "three talents" in writing history: historical talent, historical knowledge and historical knowledge. Among them, the most important thing is historical knowledge. Historical knowledge is the soul of history books, and history books without souls are just a pile of materials. Historical Records cannot be separated from the pioneering work of Sima Tan, the father of Sima Qian, and from Sima Qian's extensive knowledge of reading thousands of books and traveling Wan Li Road. However, all this is not enough to cast the great soul of Sima Qian's history compilation. The key to truly distinguish Sima Qian from all other historians and the Historical Records from all other historical books is Sima Qian's unfortunate experience. It is this unfortunate experience that created Sima Qian's historical knowledge and his greatness.

Before suffering from castration, Sima Qian was bent on being a loyal minister and a favorite of the emperor (he never knew his guests, forgot his family affairs, and tried his best to do his job day and night to please his relatives and flatter his master). However, after suffering from castration, he became an eunuch and was expelled from social orthodoxy. At this point, he is no longer a scholar, no longer a parrot, but began to doubt and criticize. With insight and courage full of personal will, the immortal work of Historical Records was born.

The murder of Sima Qian by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty changed the fate of Sima Qian's life and made him a great historian and an outstanding historical work. Is it the Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty who ignores human life or whose divine power is unpredictable, making Sima Qian's life worse than death? How did such a temperamental man reach the peak of power through complicated struggles?