Regarding the character of Baili Xi, everyone is not unfamiliar, and he is the Xiangguo of Qin Mugong, one of the "Five Hegemons of Spring and Autumn". However, in the "Chronicle of History", there is no complete biography of Bai Lixi. The records of Baili Xi are mainly distributed in the Qin Benji and the Biography of the Shang Jun.
I. The Hundred Mile Xi Doctrine in the "Chronicle of History"
According to the Qin Benji, in the fifth year of the reign of Duke Mu of Qin (655 BC), the Jin ruler Jin Xiangong destroyed Yu (present-day Pinglu, Shanxi) and Yu (present-day Sanmenxia, Henan) and captured the yu state and the grand master Baili Xi. Later, Jin Xiangong married his daughter to Duke Mu of Qin, and took Baili Xi as a slave to marry. At that time, Baili Xi fled from the Qin state to Wanti (present-day Nanyang, Henan) and was captured by officials on the border of the Chu state. When Qin Mugong heard of Bai Lixi's name, he hoped to redeem him with heavy money, but he was afraid that the Chu people would not agree. Therefore, Qin Mugong sent an emissary to the Chu State and said, "Our country's dowry minister Bai Lixi is here with you, and I hope that we will be allowed to exchange five ram skins for him!" ”
Of course, the value of the five sheepskins is very cheap, plus Baili Xi is more than seventy years old, so the Chu people don't care at all, so they return baili Xi. Qin Mugong immediately released him from the prison cart and discussed state affairs with him. Bai Lixi also resigned at first that he was a vassal of the subjugated country, but Qin Mugong believed that it was only the Yu State Monarch who did not reuse him to lead to his demise, what was the crime of Bai Lixi himself? After that, he insisted on discussing state affairs with him, and the two talked for three days, and Mu Gong greatly appreciated Bai Lixi, so he made Bai Lixi the ruler and gave him the title of "Doctor of the Five Immortals (Ram)". Bai Lixi resigned, saying that he was not as good as his friend Uncle Jian.
It turned out that Bai Lixi had traveled to the State of Qi to beg for food, and it was Uncle Jian who took him in; after that, Bai Li Xi wanted to serve Qi Jun Ignorant, but was dissuaded by Uncle Jian, and later Ignorance was killed in a coup, and Bai Li Xi fled to the Zhou Kingdom. Prince Zhou liked cattle, and Bai Li Xi came to see him by raising cattle, and when Prince Li Xi wanted to appoint Bai Li Xi, he was dissuaded by Uncle Jian again, and Bai Li Xi fled the war again. Later, Bai Lixi served the king of the State of Yu again, at this time Uncle Jian came out again to dissuade him, but he temporarily stayed because of his fame and fortune, and as a result, he encountered the disaster of the destruction of the country, so Uncle Jian was the really talented person. Therefore, Qin Mugong hired Uncle Jian and appointed him as the Grand Master.
In the ninth year of the Duke of Qin, The Duke of Jin died, and The Duke of Qin Mu sent Baili Xi to escort the prince Yiwu, who had fled to the Qin state, back to the throne, that is, the Duke Hui of Jin. However, Jin Huigong immediately turned his face when he returned, and not only did not fulfill his promise to Qin Mugong, but also killed the powerful ministers Rick and Pi Zheng who welcomed him back to China. In the twelfth year of Qin Mugong, the State of Jin came to borrow grain because of a severe drought, and Pi Bao, the son of Pi Zheng, who had fled to the Qin State, dissuaded Qin Mugong, so it was better to take this opportunity to attack the State of Jin; Qin Mugong asked Gongsun Zhi again, and Gongsun Zhi was also from the State of Jin, but he thought that he could not fail to give; Qin Mugong asked Baili Xi again, and Bai Li Xi said, It is only Yiwu who has offended you, what is wrong with the people? So Qin Mugong finally borrowed it.
In the thirty-second year of the Reign of Duke Mu of Qin, the overlord Duke Wen of Jin died, at which time someone in the State of Zheng suggested that Duke Mu take the opportunity to attack the State of Zheng and that they should take care of it inside. At this time, Qin Mugong consulted Uncle Jian and Baili Xi, but neither of them was optimistic about this plan to run away from afar, since Zheng Guoren would leak news to Qin Guo, how could they ensure that Qin Guo people would not leak news to Zheng Guo? However, Qin Mugong insisted on going his own way, and sent Meng Mingshi, the son of Bai Lixi, and Xi Qishu and Bai Yibing, the sons of Uncle Jian, to send troops. When they set out, Bai Lixi and Uncle Jian cried at the army, thinking that they might not be able to see their son, and predicted that the defeat of the Qin army would be at a dangerous point in Kunshan.
Unsurprisingly, before Meng Mingshi and the other three marshals arrived in Zheng Guo, they were encountered by Zheng Guo's merchant Xiang Gao. When Zheng Guo was founded, he had an alliance with merchants, so he was supported by merchants. Xian Gao pretended to be on the orders of Zheng Mugong and offered twelve cattle to reward Meng Mingshi. Meng Ming thought that the conspiracy was exposed and could only retire to China. As a result, when the army marched to Kunshan, the people were tired and tired, and they were blocked by the Jin army that was ambushed here, and the entire army was destroyed, and the three marshals became prisoners of war. Later, under the persuasion of Lady Wen of Jin and Empress Wen of Qin, Duke Xiang of Jin released the three marshals and returned to China. Qin Mugong saw the three marshals crying, and regretted not accepting the words of Bai Lixi and Uncle Jian, which led to this result.
In the thirty-fourth year of the Reign of Emperor Mu of Qin, Mu Gong sent Meng Mingshi and others to attack the Jin state in an attempt to wash away the shame of the previous Battle of Kun, but this time he was defeated by the Jin army at Peng Ya. In the thirty-sixth year, Duke Mu of Qin once again sent Meng Mingshi and others to attack the Jin state, this time they crossed the Yellow River to burn ships, and finally won the victory in the case of a backwater battle, seizing the jin state's royal officials and land. After that, Qin Mugong crossed the river from Maojin to the Kunshan Battlefield four years ago, built a large tomb for the Qin army that died in battle, wept for three days, and swore an oath in the army to listen to the opinions of the elderly with an open mind. At that time, when people heard about this incident, they were all moved and wept for Qin Mugong.
In the Qin Benji, the story of the father and son of Baili Xi is like this; in the "Biography of the Shang Jun", it is narrated through the mouth of Zhao Liang, a friend of the Shang martingale.
According to Zhao Liang, The Fifth Doctor was originally a contemptible person in the Chu Kingdom, and he heard that Qin Mugong wanted to meet him but had no travel expenses, so he sold himself to the Qin people to feed the cattle. A year later, when Mu Gong heard about this, he promoted him above the people. He served as The Minister of Qin for six or seven years, attacked the State of Zheng in the east, supported the Jin Dynasty three times, sent troops to rescue Chu once, the State of Ba came to pay tribute, and the Eight Rongs came to see each other, and Yu also came to defect. Wu Yi served as the Minister of Qin, without the need for retinue vehicles and without armed defense, and his meritorious name was recorded in the annals of history and passed down to future generations, and when he died, both men and women wept bitterly. This is exactly the virtue of the Five-Fold Doctor.
Other chapters of the "Records of History" also deal with some records of Baili Xi, such as the "Jin Shijia" that the Jin state destroyed the Yu state and captured the yu state monarch and the doctor Jing Bo and Bai Li Xi as the dowry of the daughter of Qin Xiangong. Some later texts explain that Jingbo is the word for Baili Xi.
In fact, only from the "Qin Benji" and the "Biography of the Shang Jun", it is not difficult to find that there is a contradiction in the life of Baili Xi. Was he, as stated in the Qin Benji, a prisoner of the Jin state in the Yu kingdom, who fled to the Chu state to be redeemed by Qin Mugong, or was he, as stated in the "Biography of the Shang Emperor", a native of the Chu state who took the initiative to sell himself to feed the Qin people cattle in order to defect to Qin Mugong?
Many of the historical materials in the "Records of History" are from the Warring States documents, so it is best to look for answers from earlier records.
In Mencius' Ten Thousand Chapters, Wan Zhang asked Mencius, "Or: 'Hundred Li Xi self-inflicted on Qin cattle, the skin of the five sheep, and the cattle, in order to want Qin Mugong.' 'Believe it? "Here it is said that Bai Lixi sold himself to the farmers of the Qin State at the price of five sheepskins, and fed him cattle, so as to enter the Qin Mugong. Mencius, on the other hand, denied that Baili Xi had sold five sheepskins and fed cattle, arguing that Baili Xi was only "aware that Yu Gong could not be advised, and that the Qin Dynasty was seventy years old... Shi Ju yu Qin", took the initiative to leave the Yu state and defected to the qin state. The Mencius Confession also says that "Baili Xi was raised in the city", and it seems to say that Baili Xi was excavated by Qin Mugong in Qin City.
In addition, the "Zhuangzi", "Nine Chapters", "Lü's Spring and Autumn", "Han Feizi", "Warring States Policy", guodian Chujian "Poor Da Yishi", Qinghua Jian "Liangchen" all mention the legend of Baili Xi, basically out of the "Mencius" and "History", some are not the same, such as "Lü Shi Chunqiu Shenren" said that Baili Xi fled to the State of Qin and was captured by the Jin State, and later went to the Qin State to sell cattle, and was bought by Gongsun Zhi with five sheep skins for Mu Gong, and Mu Gong began to worry that the slaves he bought would be ridiculed, and after some advice from Gongsun Zhi, he was finally appointed. These historical materials show that the legend of Baili Xi has been controversial during the Warring States period, so it is better to deduce from the "Zuo Zhuan", which records the most detailed history of the Spring and Autumn Period.
Second, Baili Xi was originally a differentiation of Meng Ming's vision
Surprisingly, in the "Left Biography", there is no such thing as "Baili Xi".
Of course, the absence of the three words "Baili Xi" does not mean that there is no such person. The State of Qin did have a figure named "Baili", which was mentioned twice, one time when Qin Mugong asked Baili: "With Zhuhu?" Bai Li replied: "Natural disasters are epidemics, and the country has them." Disaster relief sympathizes with neighbors, and the road also. Blessed are the sidewalks. This record corresponds to the "Qin Benji" in which Qin Mugong and Baili Xi and others discussed lending grain to the Jin State, so it is generally believed that this "Baili" is naturally Baili Xi; another time is that the Jin army "defeated the Qin division yu Yu and won the Baili Meng Mingshi, Xi Qishu, and Bai Yibing to return", so there is no controversy that this "Baili Mengmingshi" is Meng Mingshi.
Why is Meng Mingshi also called "Baili Meng Mingshi"? From the perspective of the spring and autumn personal name structure, "Baili" is a clan, "Meng Ming" is a word, and "Shi" is a name, so Meng Mingshi is called "Baili Mengmingshi", "Mengming" and "Shi" are no problem. The "Left Biography" records that "Qin Mengming regarded the commander as a master to cut down the Jin Dynasty in order to repay the Battle of Peng", corresponding to the Battle of Peng Ya in the "Qin Benji"; it also records that after the Battle of Kun, Qin Mugong "restored (Meng Ming) to the government" and "Meng Ming increased the state administration and repaid it to the people" and "then dominated Xi Rong and used Meng Mingye". So, can Meng Mingshi also be called Baili?
If you do not preconceived notions about the record of the Qin Benji, and regard the "hundred miles" in the "Zuo Zhuan" as Meng Mingshi, there is no problem in reading the whole text. However, many people are obsessed with corroborating the "Zuo Zhuan" and "Historical Records" with each other, and will interpret this place as Baili Xi. However, from the perspective of the text system of the "Zuo Zhuan", it is not at all clear that the "hundred miles" who suggested that Qin Mugong borrow grain were other than Meng Mingshi. In addition, the "Qin Benji" says that Baili Xi and Uncle Jian cried Meng Mingshi and other three marshals, while the "Zuo Biao" only wrote about Uncle Jian alone, without mentioning the existence of another Baili Xi.
Returning to the evaluation of Meng Mingshi in the "Zuo Zhuan", it can be found that Meng Mingshi is both the commander of the Qin Army and the ruler of the Qin State. Therefore, Qin Mugong "restored the envoy to the government", so Meng Ming regarded it as "adding state administration", so Qin Mugong "dominated Xi Rong". Meng Mingshi himself was the only ruling secretary of Qin Mugong, and it was impossible to have a Baili Xi above him. And in the "Zuo Biography" there is no record of Meng Ming looking at the Qin State, only that the Jin Xiangong "insisted on Yu Gong and his doctor Jing Bo, to concubine Qin Mu Ji", then the slave who accompanied the marriage was only Yu Guo Dafu Jing Bo, and whether Jing Bo and Meng Ming regarded them as one person was actually not obvious in the "Left Biography".
Not only is the father-son relationship between Bai Lixi and Meng Mingshi fictional, in fact, Uncle Jian has nothing to do with Bai Yibing and Xi Qishu.
"Zuo Chuan": "The son and the master of Uncle Jian wept and sent it: 'The imperial master of the Jin people will perish, and there will be two tombs.'" Its southern tomb, the tomb of Xia Hougao, is also; its northern mausoleum, the place of King Wen, is also windy and rainy. Death is the end, yu er bone! According to the good prophecy habits of the Zuo Chuan, it is very likely that Uncle Jian's son will have died between the Kun Mountains, so naturally it will not be Bai Yibing and Xi Qishu who were released back to China. The "Spring and Autumn of the Lü Dynasty" says that "Uncle Jian has a son, Shen and Shi, and he travels with the master", explicitly mentioning that Uncle Jian's two sons are called Shen and Shi. The Qin Benji regards Meng Ming as the son of Baili Xi, and Xi Qishu as the son of Uncle Jian.
The Eastern Han Dynasty Gao lured the "Lü Shi Chunqiu" and also corresponded the three marshals with Shen and Shi, he believed that "see" was Meng Ming's vision, and "Shen" he thought it was Bai Yibing. In this way, Meng Mingshi and Bai Yibing became the sons of Uncle Jian, which was inconsistent with the record of the Qin Benji. The New Book of Tang Dynasty And the Genealogy Table of Zai Xiang went further, saying that Bai Lixi's son was Meng Mingshi, Meng Mingshi's son was Xi Qishu and Bai Yibing, and Bai Yibing's descendants were Bai Qi... Xi Qishu and Bai Yibing became Meng Mingshi's sons again. These contradictory accounts only represent the views of later generations, and they clearly deviate from the original face of the Zuo Zhuan.
In this way, we can know the source of Baili Xi, who does not exist as an independent figure, mainly from the differentiation of Meng Mingshi, and pieced together the ending of Yu Dafu Jingbo's dowry. Perhaps when the Warring States people read the "Zuo Biao", they thought that Meng Mingshi was defeated by the Jin army twice, and his behavior was too frivolous, unlike a mature and stable secretary of state, so he differentiated from "Baili" to "Baili Xi". It is worth playing with the name "Xi", which is sparse in the Book of Rites: "There is talent for Xi, and no talent for slaves." "Zhou Li" notes "Xi" as "Jujin Official". It can be seen that "Xi" means slave, which is consistent with the birth of Xi in the "History of History".
Regarding the issue of the prototype of Baili Xi as Meng Mingshi, Mr. Ma Feibai, an expert in qin and Han history, has a detailed study in the article "Baili Xi and Meng Ming as a One-Man Debate", which can be referred to by everyone. Regarding the origin of Baili Xi, Mr. Ma denied the "Qin Benji" and adopted the "Biography of The Shang Jun", believing that Meng Ming regarded selling himself to the Qin people to raise cattle, and was later recommended to Qin Mugong by Gongsun Zhixiangzhong, so he got the name "Baili Xi", which had nothing to do with Jing Bo, the doctor of the State of Yu. However, the author believes that this record is not necessarily a true record. The "Zuo Biao" does not have a record of Meng Ming's origin, and since the connection between him and Jingbo was severed, the claim that he sold himself to the Qin people is naturally questionable.
In the Warring States period, the legend of such a low-born talent leaping to the position of Xiangguo was very popular. For example, "Mencius Zhizixia" says that "Shunfa is in the middle of the mu, Fu said to be raised between the plates, the rubber mane is held in the fish salt, Guan Yiwu is lifted by the soldiers, Sun Shu'ao is lifted by the sea, and the Hundred Li Xi is lifted by the city", and Guodian Chujian's "Poor Da Yi Shi" also mentions the deeds of Shun, Gao Tao (when Fu said), Lü Wang, Guan Zhong, Baili Xi, and Sun Shu'ao, of which Bai Li Xi "gave five sheep, for Bo Mu cattle, shi ban qiao and became Chaoqing, met Qin Mu". In short, such legends are very common, but if you look closely, they contain many contradictory records.
In fact, this reflects that these records are all Warring States legends, and there is no detailed and credible historical data as a basis, so everyone has room to play freely. Why do the Warring States people like to spread such a paragraph? Of course, it is in the hope that the king can honor the corporal, since the ancient celebrities are from the bottom, the scholars are naturally qualified to enter the phase. However, after all, there is a qualitative difference between the Warring States society and the Spring and Autumn Period, and in the Spring and Autumn Period, it was also said that the society with the blood family as the main body, the knowledge was in the hands of the official government, and the self-employed people of the Warring States legend Baili Xi, who came from a humble origin, had great ambitions, and wandered around the countries, had no room for existence in the Spring and Autumn Period.
In addition, in the late Warring States period, the State of Qin set up Nanyang County, WanXian county in the area of present-day Nanyang, Henan, and during the Spring and Autumn Period, this was the Shen County of the Chu State, which was also a major loophole after the "Qin Benji". Today, there is a "Monument to the Hometown of Baili Xi" in Nanyang, Henan, which is of course also a legend that has risen later.
It is worth mentioning that there is also a "tomb of Uncle Jian" in present-day Suixi, Anhui, which comes from the "Qin Benji" of Baili Xi's "subjects often travel to Qi and beg for food, and Uncle Li Receives Subjects", the "History of Li Slie" says "Yingjian Uncle yu Song", and later generations took "䬹" as Qin Zhi county, then in the area of Qinxi, it is the hometown of the Spring and Autumn Song Dynasty. In addition, "Han Feizi Nan II" said that "Uncle Jian died when he was dry, and Qin was in Charge of Qin and Qin Ba", it seems that Uncle Jian also served in the Dry Country. Qinghua Jian's "Zi Criminal Zi Yu" uses Uncle Jian as "Uncle Han". The State of Gan (Han) was in the area of present-day Yangzhou, Jiangsu Province, and the Guan Zi records that it was destroyed by the State of Wu. However, in the "Left Biography", it is not indicated that Uncle Jian was born.
Third, the legend of Baili Xi in the hereafter
After the Chronicle of History, the story of Bai Li Xi was further evolved.
In the "Saying Yuan Chenshu", Qin Mugong sent merchants to Weiguo to go to salt, and the merchant bought Baili Xi with five ram skins and sent him to drive the car containing salt to the Qin kingdom. Qin Mugong saw that the cattle pulling the cart were very fat and asked Bai Lixi why. Bai Lixi said to give it food and drink water on time, not to treat it roughly when using it, and to go first when it encounters dangerous places, so the cow will be so fat. Mu Gong then learned that Bai Lixi was a gentleman, so he ordered the officials to bathe and change his clothes. When Gongsun Zhi of Shangqing learned that Mu Gong had obtained Baili Xi, he took the initiative to give Shangqing to Baili Xi, with Bai Li xi as Shangqing and himself as the assistant of the second secretary.
The "Lefu Poetry Collection" cites "Customs and Customs" and also records the story of Baili Xi's former wife playing the piano to recognize him after he served as Qin Xiang; and also includes three piano songs composed by Bai Li xi's wife: "Bai Li Xi, five sheepskins." When I remember the farewell, I cooked the female, cooked and cooked, and today the rich and noble forget themselves. "Bai Lixi, when I first married me, I was five sheepskins. Cooking chicken when parting, now it is time for the rich and noble to forget themselves. "Baili Xi, BaiLi Xi, the mother is dead, buried Nanxi." Graves are tiled, covered with firewood, scooped yellow li, and shaken chickens. West into Qin, five skins, today the rich and noble donated me for. These can only be regarded as legends that appeared after the Han Dynasty, and they are even more distant from the true face of Baili Xi.
bibliography:
Li Zero: Guodian Chujian School Reading (Revised Edition), Beijing: Chinese Min University Press, 2007.
Liu Taiting, "Jing Bo and Bai Li Xi are One Person Identification", Journal of Eastern Liaoning University, No. 4, 2018.
Ma Feibai, "Baili Xi and Meng Ming as One-Man Discrimination", Historical Research, No. 3, 1980.
Miao Jianglei, "On the Flow of the Story of Baili Xi in the Pre-Qin and Han Dynasties", Journal of Liaodong University, No. 1, 2018.