Liu Xiang in the Western Han Dynasty, a relative of the royal family, served as an official in the DPRK for several decades, during which he was removed from office for more than ten years because of impeaching eunuchs and disorderly government, and died in 7 cases.
During the reign of Emperor Xuandi of the Han Dynasty, Liu Xiang, who was twelve years old, was sheltered by his father, and took up the post of Lang, that is, the person who guided the emperor's car. Later, Liu Xiang was crowned at the age of eighteen, and was promoted as a doctor of admonition because of his good conduct and propriety. At that time, Xuan Di studied the selection of talented young Confucian scholars by Emperor Wu, and Liu Xiang, who was good at articles, presented dozens of ode articles. After that, he served as a doctor of riding and remonstrating.
Yuan Di succeeded to the throne, and Liu Xiang was promoted to Zong Zheng by the recommendation of other ministers such as Taifu. At that time, the eunuchs and consorts in the DPRK were in power and chaos became a disaster. Liu Xiang and others discussed countermeasures and wanted to write to the emperor to recall them. However, the news leaked, and several people were punished, or imprisoned or dismissed, and then they were pardoned and released. However, Liu Xiang still wrote a letter to impeach the eunuch consorts, so he was resented and framed by them. He was once again thrown into prison, removed from his office and demoted to Shu Ren, and has been living at home.
ten years later, Yuan Di died and became emperor. The original eunuch and consorts had fallen, and Liu Xiang was re-enabled. It was also at this time that he changed his name. He first became an official and then moved to Dr. Guanglu. At this time, the emperor's uncle and other consorts began to make trouble for the government and the construction of the imperial tomb cost a lot, so Liu Xiang wrote to him many times. Although Emperor Cheng understood his intention and praised him, he did not adopt any suggestions in the end.
Later, when Emperor Cheng saw Liu Xiang's memorial, he lamented and told him not to write any more, and made him a captain of Zhonglei. His son Liu Xin also held this position after his death. Father and son were once ordered to proofread the royal library together.
Biography of Lienv by Liu Xiang
Biography of Lienv is a historical book written by Liu Xiang in the Western Han Dynasty, which is a biography of ancient women in China. Some people think that it was not written by Liu Xiang, but some people think that the current version has been added to Liu Xiang's version. However, according to historical records such as Hanshu, the book was written by Liu Xiang.
Biography of Women
It is said that the origin of Liu Xiangzuo's Biography of Women is related to Zhao Feiyan. At that time, Zhao Feiyan was the queen of Emperor Han Cheng. Unfortunately, the emperor favored his sister Zhao Hede and made her fall out of favor. As a result, Zhao Feiyan recruited many handsome men from outside the palace as Toy Boy, who were dissolute all day. Seeing that this was unbearable, Liu Xiang collected many ancient women and biographied them, and then dedicated the Biography of Lienv to the emperor in the hope that he would wake up. Unfortunately, although Emperor Cheng was very moved and rewarded Liu Xiang, he still didn't punish Zhao Feiyan.
Biography of Lienv is divided into seven volumes, with a total of 15 women recorded. Each of the seven volumes has a name as a classification, among which the first six volumes are all ancient women who are sensible about right and wrong, virtuous, intelligent and talented, or loyal and chaste, and the last volume is called "Biography of Evil". The so-called "evil deeds" are concubines, so all the women in this volume are promiscuous, jealous or immoral, and most of them have brought trouble to the country. The top three are the most famous "femme fatale" in the history of China, namely, Xian Xi, da ji and Jia Si.
Unfortunately, because when Liu Xiang was writing this book, Zhao Feiyan and Zhao Hede sisters were still queens or imperial concubines. Although he was dissatisfied with them, he could not really write biographies for them and included them in the last volume. Fortunately, some people in later generations made up a sequel to Biography of Women. Among the 2 people added, there were Zhao Feiyan sisters.
Liu Xiang is a native of the Western Han Dynasty. He is a relative of the royal family. He has been an official in the DPRK for decades. Although his official position is not big, he has experienced three generations of emperors: Emperor Xuandi, Emperor Yuan Di and Emperor Chengdi. In addition, he is also a famous scholar and writer, and has written many books.
Liu Xiang's ancestor was the fourth grandson of Liu Jiao, the king of Chu Yuan in the Western Han Dynasty. Liu Jiao was the half-brother of Liu Bang, the ancestor of Emperor Gaozu, so Liu Xiang's ancestral home was Pei County, but later he lived in Chang 'an, the capital. Because of the kinship, Liu Xiang was very close to the emperor and his official career was relatively smooth.
Although the official positions he held in his life were small, most of them were around the emperor, which showed that the emperor was close to him and prized him. For example, when Liu Xiang was twelve years old, he got the job of a chariot by his father's shadow, which was to guide the imperial chariot that the emperor took; And he later served as the emperor's attendants, and the so-called giving things is an official, who needs to assist the emperor from time to time and visit the court every day, doing the work of picking up the pieces for him; In addition, he and his son Liu Xin had been ordered to proofread the secretary, the so-called secretary is the royal library, which is also a position very close to the emperor.
During Yuan Di's reign, Liu Xiang wrote many times to impeach the consorts and eunuchs who were in chaos, so he was put into prison twice by Yuan Di, and was finally demoted to Shu Ren, and was not appointed for more than ten years. When the emperor succeeded to the throne, Liu Xiang did not change his nature, impeached his consorts several times, and criticized the emperor for spending too much on building a mausoleum. Although his letters were not adopted, he was not punished, but was rewarded by the emperor.
Finally, Emperor Cheng read Liu Xiang's memorial and made him a captain of Zhonglei. The so-called Zhonglei captain, with 7 soldiers under his command, is responsible for the inspection work in the capital. It can be seen that the emperor didn't want to see him write again, but the way was to promote him to an official position instead of punishing him, which shows that Liu Xiang was favored.
The New Preface Liu Xiang
The New Preface is a historical story series compiled by Liu Xiang in the Western Han Dynasty, and it is said that it is also the earliest of his existing works. In fact, Liu Xiang himself did not participate in the creation of the book, but only arranged and edited it.
The New Preface
The contents in the New Preface are basically from other books, mainly biographical history books about the philosophers in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, and Liu Xiang only chooses and chooses from them, or paraphrases or copies them. Liu Xiang compiled this book to satirize politics, because his repeated admonitions were ineffective. Therefore, this book can reflect his political ideas, such as ruling by virtue, benevolent government and people-oriented. It is said that he dedicated the book to Emperor Hancheng, who was in power at that time, around 25 BC.
There used to be thirty volumes, but most of them were lost. By the early years of the Northern Song Dynasty, there were only ten volumes left. Later, Ceng Gong, a writer at that time, still synthesized ten volumes through collection and sorting. There are 166 entries in the whole book, and it is said that some people have collected 59 entries from other books.
The historical stories recorded in New Preface are mainly in the Spring and Autumn Period, and only the last of the ten volumes is the Han Dynasty. The names of the first five volumes of the book are "chores"; The sixth volume is called "Pricking Luxury", which satirizes the emperor's arrogance and extravagance; The seventh volume is called "Jie Shi", which praises people who have moral integrity; The eighth volume is called "Righteousness", that is, praising people who are righteous and brave; Volumes 9 and 1 are both called "Good Ideas", which means appreciating the good ideas of the minister. As can be seen from the title of the book, Liu Xiang compiled this book in the hope that the rulers would guard against arrogance and extravagance, and could reuse talents and listen to opinions.
The allusion to the idiom "Ye Gong loves dragons" comes from the fifth chore of The New Preface. It is said that Ye Gong of the State of Chu liked dragons in the Spring and Autumn Period, and dragons were carved in his daily necessities and rooms, but when the real dragons came to see him, they fled in fear, which shows that he only liked things like dragons.
Liu Xiang was a famous writer in the Western Han Dynasty, who compiled many books. In his works and articles, there are often some very reasonable and literary words, which have become his famous sayings for later generations.
For example, "Books are still medicine, and good reading can cure fools." Books are like medicines. Being good at reading can cure people's stupidity. This famous saying is aimed at persuading people to learn, and the text is simple but thought-provoking. This sentence is generally believed to be from Liu Xiang's Shuo Yuan, but it is not found in all his works, so the specific author and source are unknown.
For example, "Learning less is like the sunrise; Strong and eager to learn, such as the light of Japan and China; Old and eager to learn, as bright as a candle. " This is also a famous saying aimed at persuading students to learn, which means: studious in youth is like the sunrise sun, studious in maturity is like the midday sun, and studious in old age is as bright as a lighted candle. This sentence compares people's youth, prime of life and old age, and encourages the world to study hard all their lives. This famous saying really comes from Liu Xiang's Shuo Yuan.
For example, "Living with kindness is like entering Lanzhi's room without smelling its fragrance for a long time; Living with the wicked is like entering the abalone house, and not smelling its fragrance for a long time. " Living with kind people is like entering a room full of orchids, and after a long time, you can't smell the fragrance; Living with bad people is like entering a shop selling pickled fish. After a long time, you won't smell the bad smell. I can't smell the smell, not because the smell is gone, but because people and taste are integrated, which is similar to "those who are near Zhu Zhechi and those who are near Mexico are black", aiming at explaining that the environment can change people's truth. This famous saying is also from Liu Xiang's Shuo Yuan.