Wang Xiang's hometown is in the old town of Suqian today. When we get closer, we find that the terrain of Wang Xiang's hometown is obviously lower than the surrounding area. This suddenly convinced me that this should be the original site of Wang Xiang's former residence. Because the Yellow River has taken the Huaihe River into the sea several times in history, it has accumulated countless sediments on the land of northern Jiangsu today. For example, ten meters below the city of Xuzhou today is Xuzhou before the Song Dynasty, and ten meters below it is the Pengcheng site of the Han Dynasty. It can be seen that the high terrain around Wang Xiang's hometown is the cause of sediment deposition in the Yellow River, while Wang Xiang's hometown is in a low-lying place, which can be inferred to be the result of deliberate protection by literati in previous dynasties.
The area of my hometown is not large, which is the scale of three or five farmhouses. The first thing you see when you enter the courtyard is the "Overlord Ding" in the center of the courtyard, with two cloisters on both sides. The right hand is inscribed by Sima Qian's Historical Records of Xiang Yu, and the left hand is inscribed by scholars of past dynasties. In the center of the second entrance hall is a granite statue of Xiang Yu. On the right side of Erjin Courtyard, there is a pagoda tree planted by Wang Xiang in those days, a manger and a horse-tied pavilion, in which there is a stone carving of a horse. There is a tung tree behind the mating, which is said to be planted in Wang Xiang. It's a pity that the original tung tree has long since disappeared, but every time the old tung tree withers, there will always be new branches regenerated at the roots, which have been endless for more than 2,200 years. There is an ancient well to Xiangjia on the left side of Erjin Courtyard, and the open space behind the ancient well is Xiang Yu's martial arts training ground. There is a statue of a concubine in the third main room, which is decorated with some home furnishings that can generally show the ancient customs of Qin and Han Dynasties.
Judging from the buildings in my hometown, the backyard has a strong sense of history, and the front yard is more memorable.
Standing in Wang Xiang's hometown, I can't help thinking a lot. Xiang Yu started at the age of 24, was defeated at the age of 3/kloc-0, and killed himself in Wujiang River, but it was only eight years. However, in a short period of eight years, with his heroic spirit of "breaking the ground", he led various governors to wipe out the tyrannical Qin Dynasty in one fell swoop, leaving behind many fascinating feats, the most famous of which is the story of "cross the rubicon", and later generations have a famous couplet about history: "Where there is a will, there is a way, and 120 Qin Guan will eventually be Chu;" Everything comes to him who waits, and another 3,000 armor will swallow Wu. "Its first couplet is to praise Xiang Yu's unparalleled achievements in destroying Qin in one fell swoop.
However, in the four-year struggle between Chu and Han, Xiang Yu failed. There are many reasons for his failure, and historians also have their own evaluations. Generally speaking, men are brave, women are kind, and people are not good at employing people, and violence is used against violence. But all these do not hinder Xiang Yu's heroic image in my mind, because I deeply feel that being a man and doing things are two different things. Just like being a good man with a conscience today is different from being an official with political achievements. If officials want to make a difference, they must take "things" as the center to restrain their thoughts and behaviors. He often uses some tricks and tricks to accomplish something, and also hides his evil side to accomplish something. Being a man is different. You can do whatever you want. We can often find that an official with outstanding achievements has poor character and integrity; On the other hand, we often see a person with good character and integrity, but he doesn't play very well in officialdom. That's the reason.
Let's enjoy the elegance of Xiang Yu and Liu Bang. Xiang Yu, who was born in a famous family, was obviously not as clever as Liu Bang. Xiang Yu does everything by temper and will not be wronged by feelings for the position of "overlord". So he did a lot of stupid things from the perspective of modern people. Liu bang is different. His goal is to establish his own dynasty. To this end, Liu Bang can "endure" and control his emotions, and all actions are dominated by big goals. Therefore, Liu Bang succeeded.
However, if we look on coldly at Liu Bang's various performances in the process of achieving great goals, we will sneer at Liu Bang's behavior. In contrast, Xiang Yu is much more generous, and even death is so heroic and sad. When the soldiers of the Han army were besieged on all sides, Xiang Yu first thought of his beauty Yu Ji and wrote a poem: "I will be angry when I pull out the mountain, and I will never die." What can I do without dying? "His son and daughter are affectionate and heroic! When he led Baiqi to break through the gap and 5,000 Han troops came after him, he still led his men to fight a good battle, even killing several generals and hundreds of soldiers of the Han army, which proved what he said. His failure was "God damn it, not a war crime." "On the edge of Wujiang River, director Wujiang wanted to cross him and make a comeback, but refused the director's kindness:" What can I do when the sky dies? "Besides, eight thousand people crossed the river westward with Jiangdong's children, and now none of them have come back. How can I see them? " Before he died, he did Lv Matong, who was once his subordinate, a favor-after committing suicide, he asked Lv Matong to take his head to reward Wan Huhou. After reading Historical Records, I believe that no one can be moved by Wang Xiang's heroism.
But I want to say that it is women who have the deepest understanding of Xiang Yu's heroic behavior. First, concubine. Yu Ji, a native of Shuyang County, Suqian City, met Xiang Yu because his brother Yu Zi made weapons for Wang Xiang. Heroes love beautiful women, and beautiful women love heroes, so they got married. For seven years, no matter where she fought, concubine Yu followed her, not afraid of leaving her hometown, just for Happy Wang. The precious thing about Yu Ji is that there is no record of her interfering in politics in history, unlike Liu Bang's wife. Of course, Wang Xiang is also affectionate and righteous. No matter how urgent the military situation is, Xiang Yu never gives up. Unlike Liu Bang, his father Taigong and his wife Lv Zhi were left behind when the military situation was tense. At this point, the two are judged by their high character. So when Xiang Yu was trapped as a soldier, he said, "Is Yu Ji afraid?" Yu Ji also sang: "Han soldiers are slightly embarrassed and are attacked on all sides. Your majesty's spirit is exhausted and he can't live with my concubine. " After that song, I killed myself.
About 1350 years ago in the Southern Song Dynasty, a graceful poetess named Li Qingzhao was born. Most of her poems are fresh and graceful. But when it comes to Xiang Yu, she can't hide her admiration for heroes, and she wrote a heroic poem that has been told through the ages: "Life is a hero, and death is also a ghost hero." I still miss Xiang Yu and refuse to cross Jiangdong. "In just 20 words, I wrote the personality charm of Xiang Yu.
Heroes are heroes after all. More than two thousand years of history can't wash away Xiang Yu's heroic qualities. From the life and death of Xiang Yu, we have reason to believe that "it is wise not to judge heroes by success or failure", and it is too short-sighted to judge heroes by success or failure! Isn't it? The successful Liu Bang was criticized by later generations for thousands of years, while the failed Xiang Yu was praised through the ages.