Han Yu sacrificed crocodiles, was he ignorant or a show for the officials?

If there is a river with crocodiles, most of the cattle and sheep passing by are eaten, and even people who pass by are eaten. What would you do if you were a county magistrate? If you were mayor, what would you do?

Personally arrange deployment to hunt crocodiles? Or convene a meeting of villagers to popularize the scientific knowledge of crocodile prevention?

Think too much, so they won't care about this big thing.

However, in the Tang Dynasty, there was an official at the level of mayor who took this matter as a major matter.

The leader's name was Han Yu, and he was serving as the Assassin of Chaozhou at the time. In the Tang Dynasty, the administrative divisions were divided into prefectures and counties, with the governor of the prefecture called The Assassin and the county chief called the County Order. The original state was comparable to the current prefecture-level city.

But Han Yu neither organized forces to hunt crocodiles, nor did he popularize crocodile prevention knowledge to the villagers. His methods are special.

During the reign of Emperor Xianzong of Tang, Han Yu was demoted to the history of Chaozhou. After arriving in office, I heard that crocodiles were infested in Crocodile Creek, and the cattle and horses of the people along the coast were eaten by crocodiles. Han Yue was concerned about the well-being of the people, so he made a sacrifice.

He ordered a sheep and a cow to be thrown into the stream to feed the crocodiles, and then wrote a sacrifice and read it on the spot. There is a passage in the altar text that reads:

Thorn Shi was ordered by the Son of Heaven to guard this soil and rule this people, and the crocodile was uneasy about the stream, and ate people's animals, bears, pigs, deer, and roe deer everywhere, in order to fatten his body and plant his descendants; he refused with Thorn Shi and fought for the longevity; although Thorn Shi was weak, he was also willing to bow his head for the crocodile, and he was ashamed of the people, so as to steal and live in this evil! And since the heavenly son was ordained as an official, he had to distinguish himself from the crocodile.

Then, he confined the crocodile to move away for seven days, and he was "polite and courteous" and had a strong tone:

Crocodiles know, they listen to the history of thorns: the state of tide, the sea in its south, whales, pengs, shrimp, crabs, all the details, all return, to eat raw, crocodiles towards the sunset. Now with the crocodile: for three days, his ugly people will migrate south to the sea to avoid the command of the Son of Heaven; three days cannot, to five days; five days cannot, to seven days; seven days can not, is the final refusal to migrate. There is no history of thorns, and obedience to their words; otherwise, it is the crocodile that is stubborn, and although the history of thorns has words, it is not heard and does not know. Whoever is proud of the command of the Son of Heaven, who does not listen to his words, who does not migrate to avoid him, and who is stubborn and does not work for the sake of human property, may be killed. The assassin shi selects the skilled people, wields a strong bow and poison arrow, and engages with the crocodile, and will kill it all. Its no regrets!

He restricted the crocodiles to move away within seven days, or they would be exterminated.

Reading through the twelve volumes of the Ancient Texts, this is one of the most incredible articles in my opinion.

Crocodiles endanger the safety of people's lives and property, either killing crocodiles or avoiding them. Who wrote an article to persuade crocodiles to move after feeding? It is really unbelievable to have to move within seven days.

The result? According to legend, soon after, the water of crocodile creek moved sixty miles west, and the crocodile plague was eliminated forever in Chaozhou.

This legend is naturally not credible. The biggest possibility is that the sacrifice is completed and it is not finished. If there really is such a sacrifice, it must be an official show.

There is a view that this article is ostensibly to exhort crocodiles to relocate, but in fact it is to flogg the corrupt officials who were harming the country and the people at that time. This is not without reason. But with only one assassination history of Han Yu, can he eliminate the rule of officials and rectify the Chaozhou officialdom? This is probably naïve.

Although the author is concerned about the sufferings of the people and is full of indignation against corrupt officials, as a degrading minister, although he has more than enough heart and insufficient strength. This is the helplessness of the official.

— History Control —

Producer: Historical Jun

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