Cao Cao's life has always been a mystery. It is said that Cao Cao was a descendant of the famous Western Han general Cao San. This theory is a bit suspicious of finding an ancient celebrity to put gold on his face; there is also a saying that Cao Cao was originally a member of the Xiahou family, so Cao Cao received strong support from the Xiahou family when he started his army. According to the existing conditions, cao cao's father was called Cao Song, and there was no doubt that Cao Song was the adopted son of the eunuch Cao Teng.
It is just that when Chen Shou wrote the Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms, Wei Shu, and Emperor Wudi, he said very cryptically that Cao Song "could not judge his birth and end", without exactly saying it. Not only his adopted son Cao Song, but even Cao Teng's father, Cao Cao's great-grandfather, is controversial.
Cao Jieqi people
In pei Songzhi's "Book of Continuation of the Han Dynasty" quoted in the Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms, Wei Shu and Emperor Wu, Cao Cao's great-grandfather was called Cao Jie. Pei's "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" is relatively authoritative, and its influence is also the most extensive in the historical materials about the Three Kingdoms, so even if there is a controversy, the editor still temporarily follows Pei's "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" as the standard.
The Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms, Wei Shu, and Wu Wu Ji quotes the Book of Continuation: "Teng's Father's Day, the character Yuanwei, is known as benevolent and generous." ”
Of course, this Cao Festival is not the eunuch Cao Jie at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, but a celebrity. The famous story of Cao Jie is also interesting. A neighbor of Cao Jie lost a pig, which looked very similar to a pig in Cao Jie's family. The neighbor suspected that it was his own pig and took it from Cao Jie's house.
Cao Jie did not argue with him either. Later, the lost pig ran back on his own. The neighbors realized that they had wrongly blamed Cao Jie, and Cao Jie was also famous for his indisputable quality, "Yu is the township party noble sighed." ”
Cao Jie or Cao Meng
The content of the Book of Continuation of the Han Dynasty in Pei's Notes on the Romance of the Three Kingdoms is Cao Jie. In other ancient books, Cao Cao's great-grandfather's name is not Cao Jie, but Cao Meng. The source is also the Book of Continuation. The following is the original text of the historical material.
"Art and Literature Clustering Beast Division Zhong· Feng": "The Book of Continuation of the Han Dynasty: Cao Teng's father Meng. ”
"Taiping Imperial Records, Beast Department Fifteen Feng": "The Book of Continuation of the Han Dynasty: Cao Meng character Xuan Wei, known as Benevolence. ”
Pei Songzhi was a native of the Southern and Northern Dynasties, the Art and Literature Cluster was a book compiled by the Tang Dynasty, and the Taiping Imperial Records were written during the Song Dynasty. Logically, Pei Songzhi's era is earlier and should be more credible. However, cao cao's great-grandfather was called Cao Meng (曹萌), and the name Cao Jie does have certain problems (as will be mentioned below).
There is a saying that the "jie" character of Cao Jie is somewhat similar to the glyph of Cao Meng's "Meng", and it is false when it is copied. Below is the affiliation glyph of "section".
The controversy between Cao Jie and Cao Meng
Cao Jie is derived from Pei's Notes on the Romance of the Three Kingdoms and is the most recognized. Therefore, most of the controversial places are in Cao Jie's body. The content of the controversy is also very simple, that is, according to the ancient tradition of avoidance, Cao Cao's great-grandfather should not be called Cao Jie.
Cao Cao's daughter's name was Cao Jie and should not be the same as her great-grandfather
In ancient traditional culture, there was a saying to avoid secrets, not only the names of emperors, chiefs, sages, but also the elders in the family. This is also a manifestation of Confucian culture of "secrecy for His Holiness, secrecy for relatives, and secrecy for sages".
Cao Cao had a daughter whose name was Cao Jie, and in the eighteenth year of Jian'an (i.e., 213 AD), Cao Cao sent three daughters, including Cao Jie, to the harem of Liu Xie, the Emperor of Han.
Later, Cao Cao killed Empress Fu and forced Liu Xie to make Cao Jie empress to strengthen his political influence. Unexpectedly, Cao Jie did not support Cao's usurpation of the throne, and when Cao Pi was given the zen concession, Cao Jie detained Yuxi and finally threw Yuxi on the ground.
Of course these are all digressions. If Cao Cao's great-grandfather was called Cao Jie, then in order to avoid secrecy, Cao Cao should no longer name his daughter as Cao Jie. This is the biggest controversy over Cao Cao's great-grandfather's name.
The Book of the Later Han Dynasty: "Empress Dowager Cao of Wei, the daughter of Cao Cao of Wei." ”
The phenomenon of Chinese grandchildren, fathers and sons with the same name
Although there was a phenomenon of avoiding names in ancient times, the phenomenon of grandchildren, fathers and sons with the same name also existed, and it is not an isolated case, and many cases can be found in various historical materials and notes.
So Cao Cao's great-grandfather was called Cao Jie, and Cao Cao then named his daughter Cao Jie, is this one of these not uncommon phenomena? Then we must start from the age of these grandchildren, fathers and sons with the same name and the possible reasons for their formation.
In order to get a general understanding of these grandchildren, fathers and sons with the same name as quickly as possible, Xiaobian consulted some existing papers and summarized these phenomena according to his own understanding. Of course, Xiaobian does not dare to guarantee that his understanding is absolutely comprehensive and accurate, only as a reference.
According to the understanding of the editor reading the paper, the phenomenon of grandchildren, father and son having the same name often occurred during the Wei and Jin Dynasties and the Sui and Tang Dynasties. Regarding this phenomenon, many scholars have also deduced the reasons. The reasons for the phenomenon of grandchildren, fathers and sons with the same name during the Southern and Northern Dynasties of the Wei and Jin Dynasties are more complicated, taking Wang Xizhi as an example. Wang Xizhi and Wang Xianzhi were father and son, and both were famous calligraphers. If according to the avoidance of secrecy, Wang Xianzhi should not use the word "zhi", because in this way it would violate Wang Xizhi's name.
There are two theories on this point, one is because of religious relations, the word "zhi" is related to Taoism and is not within the scope of avoidance; the other is a question of the former, believing that Wang Xizhi and Wang Xianzhi's way of avoiding it is "two names are not biased.". That is, there are two words in the name, just avoid one of them.
During the Sui and Tang dynasties, the phenomenon of fathers, sons, grandchildren with the same name was even more common. The reason may be that after the integration of many ethnic groups, the culture and customs of the Sui and Tang dynasties became more inclusive and diverse, and the family secrets in the Central Plains were influenced by the customs of some ethnic minorities; in addition, there was also the possibility that Confucian culture was impacted and diluted by other cultures.
The traditional culture of avoidance is mainly derived from Confucian culture, and Confucian culture is diluted, so the corresponding people's implementation of avoidance of family secrets will not be so strict. In addition, the rulers of the Tang Dynasty themselves were also relatively enlightened people, for example, Tang Taizong issued a "Two Names Not Biased Order", emphasizing the relaxation of the scope of avoidance, that is, the above mentioned two words can only avoid one of the words.
It can be seen that although the phenomenon of avoidance of secrets still existed in the Tang Dynasty, there was also a trend of deregulation and "simplicity".
"Zhenguan Politicians, Vol. VII: On Li Le": "Because of the edict: 'According to the "Rites", the second name is not partial... There are two words "world" and "people" that are not read together, and there is no need to avoid it. ’”
brief summary
Although in ancient times, there were also cases of not shying away from family secrets. However, according to the above statement, most of these are concentrated in the Wei and Jin dynasties, the Sui and Tang dynasties, which may be due to religious influence, ethnic integration, the weakness of Confucianism, and the ancient ritual of "two names are not biased".
If the Cao Festival is the standard, the single name of the Cao Festival, the Eastern Han Dynasty is again based on Confucianism as an official, and has not experienced a large-scale stage of ethnic integration. Among these possible reasons, Cao Cao's great-grandfather was not satisfied.
Therefore, Xiaobian personally prefers Cao Meng's statement. Of course, this is only a tendency rather than a certainty, and it is still up to the reader to judge for himself.
References: "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", "Book of the Later Han Dynasty", "Art and Literature Cluster", "Taiping Imperial Dictionary", "Zhenguan Politician", "Ram Biography", "Avoiding Strange Elephants- "Father and Son Do Not Feel the Same Name" New Interpretation", "A Brief Analysis of the Phenomenon of Fathers and Sons of the Southern and Northern Dynasties Not Feeling the Same Name", "Examination of fathers and sons of the Tang Dynasty"