Xin Lingjun ranked first among the famous "Four Childes of the Warring States", and Jia Yi called him "smart and honest, generous to others, respectful to talents, courteous to scholars" in On Qin (knowing and believing, being generous and caring, respecting talents and attaching importance to scholars); Sima Qian called Xin "kind and modest." Scholars, whether virtuous or not, can make friends with him humbly and politely, and dare not be arrogant to others because of their noble status. He was a model of cultivating scholars' noble sons in the Warring States period. Compared with it, Ping Yuanjun, Meng Changjun and others stay at a respectful distance from sb and feel ashamed.
"Faithfulness, generosity, kindness, respect for the virtuous, and emphasis on morality" are the foundation of cultivating the aristocratic children of scholars in the Warring States period, and they are also the perfect embodiment of their highest belief in life and their own personality. Those who contribute to the expression of this quality will do whatever it takes, while those who damage this quality would rather die than show their will!
Because of this, the performance of this personality and quality has even developed to an extremely "artificial" degree.
It is not difficult to imagine that when we heard that this extremely low-ranking and destitute "Yimen supervisor" won the title of "hermit", it was "ecstatic"! How could he easily give up an excellent opportunity to add icing on the cake, so as to add icing on the cake to his life reputation!
Hou Ying and New Ling Jun are just at two extremes in social status and economic situation. It is certainly a new and consistent way of thinking to make up for his shortcomings with my strengths. So Xin naturally thought of "generous gift" (wanting to stay), but Hou Ying naturally refused: "I cultivate my morality and urge my conduct for decades, and I will not accept your generous gift because I am poor at guarding the city gate." I have practiced physical fitness for decades, so I won't be trapped by the prison door, and I will be rewarded by my son. )
At this point, what the new Ling Jun can do is to improve Hou Ying's status-and in a very "out of line" way!
What a high-standard banquet! Your son Xin gave a banquet in your home to entertain guests and invited all the dignitaries of Wei State. However, when all of Wei's noble and incomparable "imperial clan guests are full, waiting for the childe to raise wine", the host left the table, leaving the distinguished guests waiting at the table; But he got into the carriage and gave up his left position to meet Hou Ying, the gatekeeper of Daliang Yimen, the protagonist of today's banquet.
Under Sima Qian's clever pen, a rather funny drama spread for thousands of years was staged: Hou Ying, the ragged girder gatekeeper, sat high in a gorgeous carriage, his son Xin held the reins in his hand, humbly guided the carriage through the downtown area, and slowly marched in the surprised eyes of the whole city-
We don't know whether it is necessary to go through the downtown area from the East Gate of Daliang to Xinling Junfu, but one thing is clear: it is too common to go directly from Yimen to Xinling Junfu. Hou Ying is Hou Ying, and she knows exactly what the new Ling Jun needs! So Hou Ying suggested that "I have a friend who works as a butcher in Handan market, and I want to visit him" (I have guests in the butcher shop and want to see him).
Now it's New Ling Jun's turn to surprise. When Hou Ying "let the new Ling Jun stand in the downtown area for a long time" (standing in Gongzi City for a long time), he stood on the street chatting with Zhu Hai, a butcher, and more and more people were watching. "Everyone in the street came to see Xin driving for Hou Ying" (everyone in the city looks at the son); New Ling Jun "looks more and more respectful when he holds the reins" (he is more and more respectful). -and at this time, in the mansion of Xinlingjun, those noble and incomparable guests are really hungry, and they are all guessing who the distinguished guests are at today's banquet.
Hou Ying finally made her debut under the new guidance. When Xin "led Hou Ying to the table and introduced them to the guests one by one" (led Hou Sheng to sit down and praised all the guests), the degree of "all the guests were surprised" can be imagined.
The problem is that the comedy ends with a question of "who is who".
According to Xin's thinking logic, he should be grateful to Hou Ying, a noble son. "The method I used to treat Hou Ying is complete enough for everyone to know" (I am so prepared for Hou Ying that everyone knows).
But Hou Ying thinks: "I have done my best to serve Xinlingjun today" (winning as a son today is enough). Why does Hou Ying think so? "I'm waiting for the camp to realize the reputation of Corporal Gongzi Lixian ... People in Handan know that I am a villain, Gongzi is a loyal minister, and I can be a scholar" (Gongzi's name means victory ... people in the city regard winning as a villain and Gongzi as an elder, so they can be a scholar).
New Ling Jun thinks that he has improved the social status of poor and cheap Hou Ying in a very unusual way, while Hou Ying thinks that everything he has done is to achieve the reputation of corporal Li Xian in new Ling Jun.
This is really a case of the ages, and no one can tell clearly. There is no doubt that Hou Ying has achieved a good reputation for Xinlingjun, but doesn't Hou Ying also have the idea of achieving a good reputation through trusting Lingjun? To take a step back, Hou Ying may not be expecting him to make a name for himself in the history books, but is it really for self-cultivation? If Xin's courtesy to himself can give him an opportunity to sublimate his self-cultivation to a higher level, Hou Ying will certainly not give up this opportunity.
This gap in understanding eventually led to two farewells between Xin and Hou Ying. When Xinlingjun was preparing to go to Zhao Bao's life, he "told Hou Ying all the thoughts of preparation and mutual destruction after Yimen" (he wanted to die as much as he did after Yimen), but he didn't expect "Hou Ying didn't say a word to me" (Hou didn't send me a word), which caused Xinlingjun great unhappiness, so he still had to go halfway.
Of course, according to Sima Qian's writing, the reason why Xin led the car back can't prove his kindness, and it doesn't hurt his reputation of "respecting the virtuous and valuing the scholars" at all, but it just fully illustrates this virtue: Hou Ying's cold talk has caused Xin's introspection, which values the virtue of "respecting the virtuous and valuing the scholars" more than life: "I have to fight hard today, but Hou Ying didn't say anything to see me off. Is it because I have nothing? Now that I'm dead, Hou Sheng gave me nothing, so I didn't lose anything. His "unhappiness" and "returning the car after asking Hou Sheng" don't want to make any mistakes in his quality of "respecting the virtuous and valuing the virtuous". Only by making up for the mistakes you may make in time before ending your life can you draw a satisfactory end.
But Hou Ying doesn't think so. Hou Sheng smiled and said, "I was waiting for you to ask me when you came back. "... you value me so much, and now you're going to die and I haven't sent you away. I know you must be angry and want to come back and ask me. "(I know that the return of the son is also ... the son meets the minister's thick, and the son does not send it, so I know that the son hates the return.)
"Hate" is the solution of "resentment". Hou Ying's words "smile" and "hate" have insight into Xin's inner world-the "ritual corporal" of the warring states nobles must be positioned at Hou Ying's cognitive level in order to conform to reality.
Hou Ying made a detailed plan for Xin to steal weapons to save Zhao. Xinling Army holds the military emblem, which can be described as "a turnaround and a rescue". New Ling Jun is very grateful to Hou Ying. "Zi Xie Hou Sheng", Hou Ying replied: "I should have gone with you; But because I am old and weak, it is useless. Please allow me to calculate the day when my son arrived at the Jinbi army and committed suicide in the north. " I should follow, but I can't. Please count the days of your sons, and the northern countryside will silently see them off. Later, Sima Qian added: "After Xin said goodbye to Hou Ying, Hou Ying really committed suicide in the north when he arrived in his army." (Childe and Hou Sheng decided to join the army and went to the north to assassinate Hou themselves. )
The word "one" also describes the real relationship between Xin and Hou Ying, who is the son of a "nurturing scholar" and his "cultivated" disciple.
Brother Sizi of the Warring States kept so many scholars in the world-"diners"-under the door. It is said that it reached 3000 at the most. There are people who are good and evil, people who are full of strategy and fame, people who hide their secrets, people who make a splash like Feng Xuan and Mao Sui, and people who are stealthy. Once these diners jump at your son's door, they become his "diners". They usually do nothing, parade through the city, drink wine and make people angry; But once the master has something to do, it means "training a scholar for a thousand days, taking a period of time"-as long as he accepts his courtesy, he must contribute to it without rejection, including giving his life.
This was the basic life rule of scholars in the Warring States period. In Sima Qian's words, it is called "a scholar dies for a confidant."
At this point, it is inevitable that Hou Ying, who is "too old to keep up", will win "self-defeat in the North".
As far as saving Zhao is concerned, Hou Ying's suicide is meaningless. At this time, Xin Lingjun had no time to thank Hou Ying. How can he expect a 70-year-old man to "die" with him?
But as Hou Ying, it is another matter. Since he accepted the courtesy of Xin Lingjun, he knew exactly what the price was. This secular master, who has been cultivating himself for decades, has been pursuing a belief and a life rule for dealing with others all his life, and he is willing to pay his life for it. Xin's courtesy to himself provided an opportunity for his life to sublimate and a rare opportunity for him to practice his ideals. Therefore, Hou Ying must firmly grasp this opportunity and use her life to realize the highest state of "self-cultivation" that she has been pursuing all her life.
It is worth mentioning that when Hou Ying promised to Xin, "Please count the days of my sons, and the days of Lian Jin, the northland will also be willing to send their sons", Xin did not respond at all. During the Warring States Period, Xin didn't have a chance to read Sima Qian's famous saying "A scholar dies for his bosom friend" in the Han Dynasty, but this did not affect his belief in this famous saying.
Another detail is that Yimen is the east gate of the girder (Biography of Wei Gongzi in Historical Records): "Tai Shigong said,' Yimen is also the east gate of the city'." When Zhao was in the Northern Wei Dynasty, Xin took many public guests to the north to save Zhao. He should have gone out from the north gate and bypassed the east gate because of Houying. Xin "wants to attract others to resist Zhao * * *" (please invite guests, ride more than 100 cars, want to be a guest and die with Zhao). In Xin's view, Hou Ying, who has received his courtesy, should also be counted as a public guest, even though he has never spent a day under his door. So, "I walked through Yimen and saw Hou Sheng. I wanted to die like Qin Jun, so I resigned." Judging from Xin's "going to be a guest, mutually assured destruction with Zhao" and Hou Ying's answer "can't follow the old minister", Xin's departure from Yimen is by no means a simple "resignation".