"Talking on paper" is an idiom that people often use in their daily lives, and it is introduced on the Internet from the "History of Lian Po Lin Xiang Xiang Biography". However,
The original text of the "Chronicle of History" does not mention the four words "talking about soldiers on paper".
Zhao Kuo
The phrase "talking on paper" may have originated from scholars in the Ming and Qing dynasties, and later popularized by the great rules of history books such as "Five Thousand Years Up and Down", which led to the misconception that this idiom appeared in the Warring States.
First, the key figure of "talking on paper"
The "Biography of Lian Po Lin Xiang Ru Lie" says: The qin and Zhao armies faced each other in Changping, and the Zhao general Lian Po insisted on not fighting, and Qin Xiang Fan Sui made a move of "counter-planning" and sent people to say to King Zhao Xiaocheng: The people of qin are not afraid of Lian Po, but only worry about Zhao Kuo, the son of Zhao Hao, to lead the troops.
It turned out that this Zhao Hao was a general with a common name with Lian, and in the era of Zhao Xiaocheng's father, he once led an army to repel the Qin army.
King Xiaocheng of Zhao was dissatisfied with Lian Po's "cowardice". Hearing this statement, he immediately decided to use Zhao Kuo as the manager
。
At this time, Lin Xiangru was the first to come out and object:
If the king uses Zhao Kuo because of his reputation, it is like sealing the pillar of the piano with a rubber strip and playing the piano again.
This Zhao Kuo "can read his father's biography and does not know how to change."
This is the origin of the so-called Zhao Kuo's "talk on paper"
。 In fact, Lin Xiangru is not talking about "paper", but "book". Meaning: Zhao Kuo only read the book of death, has no experience in on-the-spot combat, and does not know how to work around. As a result, King Xiaocheng of Zhao did not heed the dissuasion and resolutely used Zhao Kuo.
At this time, Zhao Kuo's mother also came out to speak. She told King Xiaocheng that Zhao Hao himself had said when he was alive: If you use Zhao Kuo as a leader, you are afraid that Zhao Guo will die at his hands.
Let's say that Lin Xiangru's evaluation of Zhao Kuo is only based on his own experience to make a guess. Zhao Kuo's mother had actually presented empirical evidence to King Xiaocheng, proving that Zhao Kuo was not suitable for leading the army.
Mother Zhao said: In the past, when Zhao Kuo's father led the army, he respected the old man. He personally delivered food and wine to serve more than a dozen elderly people. More than a hundred of them were considered friends by him, and all of them were rewarded to everyone.
However, now that Zhao Kuo had become a general, no one dared to look up to him. He had no friends in the army, and he was rewarded and hid only in his own home. Can such a man's men obey him?
Mother Zhao actually said that the reason for Zhao Kuo's real defeat in the "Battle of Changping" was not just because he "talked about soldiers on paper", but the most crucial place was because of the internal discord within the army.
In fact, in the twenty-ninth year of King Huiwen of Zhao (270 BC), Zhao Hao's final victory against the Qin army was precisely because he received help from the sergeant Xu Li and listened to his advice.
Looking at Zhao Kuo now, when he led the army, he was arrogant and rude to his subordinates, who would wholeheartedly assist him? Mother Zhao's persuasion was unsuccessful, and finally asked King Xiaocheng to say: If something happens to Zhao Kuo's troops, please do not implicate yourself, and King Xiaocheng of Zhao agreed. As a result, it was really as Zhao Mu and Lin Xiang expected.
After telling the story, we will go back and look at Lin Xiangru's evaluation of Zhao Kuo, even if it is
Although the reasons for Zhao Kuo's defeat are more complicated, the idiom of "talking about soldiers on paper" is more appropriate to use on Zhao Kuo. However, at that time, there was no "paper" in the modern sense.
However, in
In the "Later Han Shu Cai Lun Biography", it is introduced that the name "paper" actually comes from the earlier "缣帛". It is a silk fabric that was used to write books in the Spring and Autumn Period, when it was called "paper", and cai lun invented "paper" in fact borrowed the name of "silk".
But despite this, the origin of the four words "on paper" is obviously not in the "History".
Second, the true origin of "talking on paper"
According to the analysis of some netizens,
The idiom of talking about soldiers on paper gradually took shape around the time of the Ming Dynasty. Later, Shen Baozhen, a major minister of the late Qing Dynasty, connected these four words with Zhao Kuo, Ma Chen, Yin Hao, Fang Zhen, zhaoyuan and five others for the first time.
Among these people, Zhao Kuo was born in the earliest age and is the most famous.
In the sixth year of King Xiaocheng of Zhao (260 BC), the Battle of Changping broke out in Qin Zhao. After the end of this battle, Zhao Kuo was killed by an arrow, and 400,000 Zhao troops were buried alive by the Qin general Bai Qi, and the fierceness of the battle was simply appalling.
As the party and the main person responsible for this historical event, the historical lessons brought by Zhao Kuo are also the most painful, so everyone only remembers him. It was because he "talked on paper" that he killed so many people.
Of course
It is impossible for people today to read the articles of the Qing dynasty ministers. What hooked Zhao Kuo and "talking on paper" was actually a popular historical book, "Five Thousand Years Up and Down", written by Lin Handa.
This set of books was first published in 1985 and was very successful. It is the use of vernacular language, through the form of short stories to tell historical figures and major events. Each chapter is preceded by a subtitle and illustrated.
Zhao Kuo appears in the 40th story of the book. The title the author drew up for him was "Zhao Kuo on Paper".
This set of books written by Lin Handa has been republished at least twelve times, and until the latest edition of 2019, the chapter "Zhao Kuo talks on paper" is still retained.
It's just that the story is ranked in order, and it moves backwards a bit.
Most Chinese children born in the 1970s and 1980s read it as a pillow book along with 365 Nights and a simplified version of Journey to the West. Therefore, Zhao Kuo was crucified in this way, and it was for many years.
However, strictly speaking, although the source of the idiom is not the "History of History", Lin Xiangru pointed out that Zhao Kuo's behavior was indeed a paper talk. Therefore, many idiomatic dictionaries today, when marking the origin of this idiom, still say that it is from the "Records of History", rather than an article by Shen Baozhen, a major minister of the Qing Dynasty.
epilogue
《
There is no direct mention of Zhao Kuo's "talking about soldiers on paper" in the relevant chapters of the "Records of History", but only from Lin Xiangru's mouth: Zhao Kuo would only read his father's military books and would not change on the spot.
The idiom "talking about soldiers on paper" did not gradually take shape until the Ming and Qing dynasties. First, Shen Baozhen of the Qing Dynasty, associated it with Zhao Kuo and five other people. Later, after a long period of popularization by history books such as "Five Thousand Years Up and Down", it finally took shape.
But because
In the evolution of the word "on paper" throughout the dynasties, it no longer simply means "on paper".
It can refer to all the text carriers, including silk veils, bamboo tablets, paper seals, bells, and inscriptions. Therefore, the meaning of "on paper" + "talking about soldiers" is that it is empty talk about theory without being practical.
Therefore, at present, most of the idiom dictionaries still attribute its provenance to the "History of Lian Po Lin Xiang Li Biography".