Xiang Yu's short life is full of legends. Aristocratic background, brave and good at fighting, can be good at fighting and invincible. More than 70 battles, big and small, without any defeat. Maybe it is too full to make money. In the next World War I, Xiang Yu lost miserably. Although he lost, the majestic Xiang Yu is heroic, a hero, a beautiful woman, a famous horse and a perfect tragic hero!
Xiang Yu committed suicide after his defeat. For more than two thousand years, with the improvement of folklore, the vague beauty shadow of' concubine' has gradually become clear. When Sima Qian wrote Historical Records, he referred to Lu Jia's The Spring and Autumn Annals of Chu and Han, and he only had a good name for Ji, and then when Wujiang committed suicide, he was worried about what to do.
introduce
At the end of the Chu-Han War, Xiang Yu gradually showed signs of decline. In 202 BC, Xiang Yu was besieged by Liu Bangjun. In the evening, he and his beautiful concubine were drinking in a military tent. Suddenly, he heard songs from all directions, and he felt that the tide had receded. He drew his sword and danced, singing,' When you pull out the mountain, you will be angry with the world, and when it is unfavorable, you will not die. What can he do? ''。
I used to be very powerful and famous, but now I have bad luck. Lien Chan's horse doesn't want to gallop for me, and his horse doesn't want to gallop, which makes people helpless. The key question is, beautiful concubine, how can I settle you down? This is called "Gaixia Song" in history. The lyrics are tragic and desolate, but they are affectionate and full of love for beautiful concubines.
You are affectionate, your concubine dances sadly, and you make peace with her. ? Chorus? It shows that the Han army has occupied our position, and the songs of Chu soldiers are everywhere. The Han army will come soon, and you will be in danger. Where can you care about me? I'd better kill myself. So he took out his sword and wrapped it around Xiang Yu's waist and committed suicide.
This is the best way for concubine Yu to die. When Yu Ji died, Xiang Yu, the overlord of Chu, got off his horse and shouted to his soldiers, "Soldiers, come out with me!" ! Xiang Yu took the lead and rushed forward. When Xiang Yu rushed out of the tight encirclement, looking back, there were only more than 20 Chu soldiers behind him. When Xiang Wang saw that the tide was gone, Wujiang River committed suicide.
Is it tragic and touching? Unfortunately, it was invented by literati, so it can't be true.
"'What if you are afraid of danger and fear?' What did King Wujiang do to his concubine before he committed suicide?
Historical records? "Biography of Xiang Yu" contains: So Wang Xiang expressed grief and indignation, and wrote a poem for himself: "'Pulling mountains makes the world angry, but when it is unfavorable, it will not die. What can I do without dying? What if you are worried? The number of songs is beautiful in harmony.
Wang Xiang wrote some songs to express his helplessness before he died. Although I used to be a battlefield hero, I can't even settle down my own concubine now. Song Duque' means' What if you are worried? I have sung it several times. Yu Ji is a clever woman and naturally understands Wang Xiang.
"Songs of Wang Xiangzhi in Kyrgyzstan in the Spring and Autumn Period of Chu and Han Dynasties": "Han soldiers fretted, and Chu songs sang all around. Your majesty's spirit is exhausted, and the concubine can't make a living. ''
Lu Jia's description of Chu Qiu and Song Dynasty have been questioned by many people. Anyway, Lu Jia arranged a happy ending for Yu Ji, an ending acceptable to everyone. Yu Meiren and Wang Xiang echoed at a distance, and the scene was sad and touching. Yu Ji finished singing and took her own life, so that Xiang Yu could be killed without attachments.
Yuji committed suicide.
In order to beautify Yuji's suicide, there is a folk legend. Yu Ji vowed to live and die with Xiang Yu. She drew her sword and committed suicide. She got wet with weeds and sold jade, and grew a beautiful and bright red grass. At the top of the grass, there is a bright red flower, which is called "Yu Meiren" by the locals.
And the Yuan Dynasty poet Zhang Kejiu's Selling Peanuts? Homesickness ",the first sentence: the beauty killed herself by the Wujiang River, and the war once burned Chibi Mountain. In short,' concubine suicide' seems to be the final conclusion. However, historians believe that Yu Ji's statement of suicide is somewhat unreliable. According to historical data, there should be others.
Xiang defeated Wujiang River. Before he dies, he must make an arrangement for the woman he loves deeply. The problem is that he can't arrange and protect himself, so it's obviously inconvenient to take her to the front. Stay, concubine has two endings, the first is to escape (almost impossible), and the second is to be caught by Liu Bangjun.
Selling incense and death
If Yu Ji is captured by Liu Bang's army, or occupied by Liu Bang, or taken away by soldiers of Liu Bang's army, it will damage Xiang Yu's reputation. In a patriarchal society, this is the most unbearable thing for men. So historians speculate that there is a third possibility, that is, Yu Ji was killed by Xiang Yu, and there are relevant materials to prove it.
Article 128 of Taiping Universe says,' Zhongli County, Haozhou' and' Yuji's Tomb is 60 miles southeast of the county and six feet high, that is, Xiang Yu was defeated, so he was killed and buried here.' '
Another scholar pointed out that Xiang Yu's "Gaixia Song" is described in the historical records as follows:
Historical records? Xiang Yu's biography wrote: So Wang Xiang mounted his horse and led more than 800 warriors to war. He fled to the south at night.
Just now, I was in love with you, and you sang me and me, followed by'' so Xiang Wang got on the horse and rode''. Scholars point out that "therefore" here is meaningful. So'' is the inheritance of the previous behavior, so what is the previous behavior? Where is the beautiful princess? Was it not killed by Xiang Yu?
Yuji's Tomb, Suzhou, Anhui
Xiang Yu defeated Wujiang River, and the beautiful woman committed suicide. Is there really a concubine?
Historical records? "Biography of Xiang Yu" contains: those who have beauty are named, and they are always lucky; Good horses are famous and often ride. So Wang Xiang is a sad song?
Sima Qian's description in Historical Records is very brief. "There is a beauty named Yu" and another beauty named Yu, who has no surname. "Ji" is a general term for beautiful women, referring to a beautiful woman named Yu. Later, many people thought that Yu Ji's surname Yu Mingji was actually a misunderstanding. The name' Yuji' did not appear until the Book of Parentheses in the Tang Dynasty.
Then there is Yu Ji's Harmony, which is also controversial. This "harmony song" first appeared in Lu Jia's "Chu and Han Chunqiu". "Han soldiers have been omitted, and Chu songs have been sung all over; Your majesty's spirit is exhausted, and the concubine can't make a living. Scholars believe that Harmony and Gaixia Song have different styles and are not works of the same era. Moreover, there is no reference in the historical records, which should be forged by future generations.
In other words, the great historian Sima Qian's Historical Records is quoted from Lu Jia's Chu and Han Chunqiu in some places. The quotations here include Yu Ji's "He Song". Mr. Wang, a master of Chinese studies, once said:' Gai Sima Qian's Historical Records is based on the Chu and Han Dynasties, so his exposition of Qin and Han affairs is particularly detailed. In other words, when Sima Qian wrote Historical Records, he referred to the State of Chu and Han Chunqiu.
Lu Jia's Chu and Han Chunqiu
In addition, the Northern Song Dynasty historian Sima Guang did not mention Yu Ji in "Zi Tong Zhi Jian". Scholars believe that Sima Guang's scholarship is rigorous and his history writing is true and credible. However, there is only one possibility. There is no such person in Zi Tongzhi Jian, or he is insignificant.
It can be determined that there must be a concubine in history, but she is too small, too small to mention, too small to be touched. The reason why it is remembered by later generations is that Xiang Yu, the overlord of Chu, enriched this hero and served as a foil for Xiang Yu.
Yu Ji can't be killed by others (Xiang Yu did), but she can only commit suicide, otherwise Xiang Yu's image is too disgraceful. In other words, Yu Ji can only "commit suicide" and the story is "complete". In a word, the concubine we know today is not the concubine of Xiang Yu, the overlord of the western Chu Dynasty in history, but an artistic image gradually adapted and perfected by literati and folklore.
Stills of Peking Opera Farewell My Concubine
comment
The love story between Xiang Yu and Yu Ji is thrilling and has been widely known for thousands of years. However, no matter how touching, all stories are made up by everyone, but they can't be true. The image of Yu Ji in the period of Chu-Han dispute was very thin, and later it was gradually enriched in constant deduction.
In Wei Zhen's popular Romance of the Western Han Dynasty in the Ming Dynasty, the story versions of Xiang Yu and Yu Ji were basically formed. Farewell My Concubine, a Beijing opera, further developed and perfected the story more than 2,000 years ago with its exquisite lyrics and superb performances, and became a well-known love story, but it is already a work of art, not a real history.
Xiang Yu and Yu Ji in history have gone far away from us, but the overlord and Yu Ji in literary works are so dazzling and radiant that they are well known to the public. Nowadays, Farewell My Concubine has become the cultural symbol of our nation and the essence of traditional culture, which will be passed down forever.