Dong Yuanben ‖ "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" that "Jiang Ji, Chu Guoping Aren" statement is correct

Original text/ Dong Yuanben (Suqian, Jiangsu)

(Illustration: Place of origin, hometown of dreams)

When introducing Jiang Ji's place of origin in the Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms, it is said: "Jiang Ji, the Chu state of Ping'a people. This sentence is flawed.

In ancient times, even in modern times, place of origin refers to the ancestral home, which is the long-term residence of great-grandfathers and above, and at the latest, at least, the residence of the grandfather at the time of birth of the introducer. When we read ancient books, the ancients who can be introduced to their places of origin are celebrities, most of them have left the place where their ancestors lived for a long time, and the place of origin is actually their hometown for them. Some people have a smooth career and can return to their hometowns, but some people will die in the official arena, and their place of origin has become the "origin" introduced by posterity.

In ancient times, the place of origin should be accurate to the county. In ancient times, county-level administrative units were relatively stable, but the county-level level and above were greatly changed according to the times. During the Qin Dynasty, under the central government was a county, under the county was a county, and the place of origin of the introducing characters was "a certain county and a certain county". During the Han and Wei dynasties, under the central government was a state, under the state was a county or a country, and under the county or country was a county, and the introduction of the person's place of origin often ignored the state, that is, "a county (country) and a county".

Jiang Ji (188-249) was a famous courtier of the late Eastern Han Dynasty and the Cao Wei period, and his place of origin should be introduced using the address of the Eastern Han Dynasty, because Jiang Ji's great-grandfather and even grandfather and father were all Eastern Han. The scope of Ping'a County was roughly as far as present-day Huaiyuan County, Anhui, during the Eastern Han Dynasty, Ping'a County belonged to Yangzhou Jiujiang County, and in 220 AD, Cao Wei Dynasty Han, Jiujiang County was changed to the feudal State of Chu, and Ping'a County belonged to the State of Chu, and by this time Jiang Ji's life was more than halfway through. Therefore, our introduction of Jiang Ji's place of origin should use the address of the Eastern Han Dynasty, that is, "Jiang Ji, Jiujiang County Ping'a County people", or simply "Jiang Ji, Jiujiang Ping'a people also".

Perhaps because the world was too chaotic and the geographical names changed too frequently during the period from the end of the Han Dynasty and the Three Kingdoms to the Western Jin Dynasty, the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" often inaccurately described the places of origin of the characters. Another example is the "Biography of Wang Lang" that introduces Wang Lang (?), a famous minister at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty and the early cao wei period. -228) said "Wang Lang, a native of Donghae County". Wang Lang was a native of Tancheng County, which belonged to Donghai Commandery during the Eastern Han Dynasty, Donghai County during the Cao Wei Dynasty, and Donghai County during the Western Jin Dynasty when the Romance of the Three Kingdoms was written. Since Wang Lang's county citizenship can be determined, the place of origin of Wang Lang should be "Tancheng County, Donghai County". Qing Dynasty historian Qian Daxin said of the sentence "Wang Lang, a donghai county person": "'county' is regarded as 'tan'. "I don't know what kind of consideration Qian Daxin had to change in this way. Does he want to say "Tancheng people of Donghai County" or "Tancheng people of Donghai Kingdom", or he wants to say "Tancheng people of Donghai (County or Country) in general". According to the usual expression of the place of origin, Wang Lang's place of origin, who died shortly after the establishment of the Cao Wei regime, could only use the eastern Han Dynasty place name, that is, "Donghai County Tancheng County People also", there is no need to blur. Even if we want to revise the sentence "Wang Lang, Donghai County people also", it should be "'county' after the lack of 'tan'", rather than "'county' as 'tan' as Qian Daxin said"

【Description】 The illustration is taken from the headline free gallery.

【Edit】Dong Yao.