The story of "Sima Guang smashing the cylinder" in the "History of Song" is well known. When Sima Guang became an adult, he became a ming courtier of the Northern Song Dynasty, and one of his major contributions to historiography was to preside over the compilation of the Zizhi Tongjian.
Throughout Sima Guang's life, he closely integrated historiography and politics, on the one hand, he believed that there was no relatively concise and complete general history at that time, on the other hand, he wanted to learn lessons from the gains and losses of successive emperors and the successes and failures of past wars, so he presided over the compilation of this huge work.
It can be inferred from this that Sima Guang, as the editor-in-chief of the Zizhi Tongjian, his character, evaluation of history, and attitude will definitely affect the content and materials of this book.
Portrait of Sima Guang
The basic purpose of Sima Guang's editing of the Zizhi Tongjian is to serve the rulers in power
We all know that Sima Guang lived in the era of Song Zhenzong and Song Shenzong, which was also the time when Wang Anshi began to change the fa. Although he had a good personal relationship with Wang Anshi, the two of them still had fundamental differences in political views. Because of this, during Wang Anshi's change of law, Sima Guang was not a supporter of the change, but an opponent of the change.
Sima Guang was a conservative member of the landlord class and had a strong orthodoxy, which can be seen from the beginning of the Zizhi Tongjian expounding the importance of "etiquette", "points", and "names".
When summing up the historical achievements of his predecessors, Sima Guang combined history with reality and showed a strong political consciousness of "ruling with historical resources." The basic purpose of his life's efforts in editing the Zizhi Tongjian was to serve the rulers in power.
Portraits of Wang Anshi and Sima Guang
Sima Guang's conservatism - linking "Shigu" with "ruling the world"
Traditional historians regard "righteousness with history" as their sacred duty, with the intention of making people learn from history. Sima Guang carried this forward, not only to let the king know the historical process, but also to make a clear judgment on the right and wrong of good and evil in history. Sima Guang associated "Shigu" with "ruling the world" and showed a certain degree of conservatism.
This trait is quite evident in the account of the "martingale transformation method", which the author uses as an example to illustrate. Why did Shang Martin come to the Qin Kingdom? The Zizhi Tongjian describes in detail Qin Xiaogong's "Recruitment Order", and also writes that Qin Xiaogong recalled that Qin Mugong "missed the meaning of The Ancestor and often hurt his heart". The performance of a king like this is where Sima Guang's pen is heavily inked.
Stills of the martingale
In contrast, in the process of Shang Martin's persuasion of Qin Xiaogong, the description of the Zizhi Tongjian is very brief, with only more than twenty words. Let's use Sima Qian's "Records of History" for comparison.
In the "Records of History", Shang Martin first proposed the "Royal Way" in the face of Qin Xiaogong, but unfortunately Qin Xiaogong was not interested. Then Shang Martin proposed the "Imperial Dao" again, but did not hit the point. Shang Martin experienced continuous setbacks and was not discouraged, he finally proposed "hegemony", this time he succeeded - Qin Xiaogong "did not tire of speaking for several days".
It can be seen from this that Sima Guang omitted Shang Martin's "hegemonic" theory and some key points in his transformation method. We all know that Shang Martin was one of the representative figures of the Legalists, and his reforms in the social, economic, and military fields were quite effective, and although Shang Martin died, his reform of changing the law was still carried out in the Qin State.
Stills of Qin Xiaogong and Shang Martingale
Sima Guang expressed his opinion in the Zizhi Tongjian, and he only praised Shang Martin's behavior from the perspective of integrity. It can be seen from this that Sima Guang, subconsciously, still opposes most of the "changing the law and changing the system" behavior. As a historian, Sima Guang, even if he upholds objective principles, still cannot completely abandon political utilitarianism and personal likes and dislikes.
Who is the child rescued by "Sima Guang Smashing the Cylinder"?
Through the study of Sima Guang and his "Zizhi Tongjian", his image gradually became fuller, and at this time, it is interesting to look back at the story of "Sima Guang smashing the cylinder".
Sima Guang smashed the cylinder
From the description of "Hearing and Talking about "Zuo Shi Chunqiu and Loving It", we can see that Sima Guang liked history since he was a child; the phrase "retiring to speak to his family" shows that Sima Guang not only read history himself, but was also willing to share it; and finally "he was his big finger", which means that Sima Guang will soon understand the connotation of "Zuo Shi Chunqiu". At that time, Sima Guang was only seven years old. All this shows that Sima Guang is a good seedling engaged in historical research.
In fact, there is another point in this story that is very striking. "A child climbs an urn, and his feet fall into the water", who is this "child"? Is he real? The answer is yes.
This person is Shangguan Shangguang. His deeds were recorded in the family tree of Shangguan of Guangshan County, and when he became an adult, he also built a "thanksgiving pavilion" to thank Sima Guang for his saving grace.
Why didn't the teacher tell us the story after "Sima Guang smashed the cylinder"? Because this story is suitable for younger children, the teachers mainly let the children learn the spirit of Sima Guang, and this Shangguan Shangguang did not appear in the main history, it is more cumbersome to study, and it is also difficult, so the teachers ignore this Shangguan Shangguang, which is harmless and understandable.