The full name of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" is "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", also known as "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", which is one of the four famous works of classical China, and the first long-length historical novel in China. Its author is Luo Guanzhong, a novelist in the late Yuan and early Ming dynasties, and later, this work has appeared in many versions through the adaptation and collation of later generations.
"Romance of the Three Kingdoms" tells the historical changes from the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty to the early years of the Western Jin Dynasty, mainly based on war, telling the story of that period, the chaos of the division of the masses and the contradictions and struggles between the three kingdoms of Wei, Shu and Wu, and finally, Sima Yan established the Jin Dynasty, so that the three kingdoms entered a unified situation.
Most people in the world can tell some of the stories in the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", but although the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" vividly interprets that period of history, it is a novel after all, of which a considerable part of the content is fictional, and many of the things that appear in it are also contrary to the laws of science.
In the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", there is such a character, he is a high-ranking person, a Taoist monk, named Zuo Ci.
The description of Zuo Ci in the book is even more divine: "Living in the Heavenly Pillar Mountain and studying the art of alchemy." The Ming Five Classics, the Tongxingwei, the Learning of Taoism, the Ming Liujia, the Ability to Serve the Ghosts and Gods, and the Sitting to the Cooking..." For Zuo Ci, not only was he endowed with his immortal skills, but he was also able to transfer instantaneously anywhere, which was beyond the imagination of the world.
So, is there really a character of Zuo Ci in history? Is he really that good?
In real history, this figure does exist, and he is still famous. According to the Book of the Later Han Dynasty, Zuo Ci had intersected with many historical figures. Zuo Ci was gifted and intelligent, and from an early age, he practiced taoism in the mountains, and later, when he realized the true meaning of the Dao Fa and felt that he should let the "Tao" benefit the people of the world, he often went down the mountain and did his best to help others.
Probably because of the cultivation, Zuo Ci's health was very good, and according to historical records, Zuo Ci lived for more than one hundred and thirty years. The most talked about thing he did was that he teased Cao Cao. At that time, after Cao Cao heard about Zuo Ci, he did not believe that there would be such a powerful person in the world, so he wanted to test whether this Daoist priest was worthy of the name by inviting him to dinner.
Cao Cao was suspicious by nature, and if Zuo Ci was not as powerful as people said, he was deceiving the monarch, which must be the crime of killing the head. However, even if Zuo Ci was very powerful, he would not be able to escape the disaster, because Cao Cao would certainly not let such a powerful person exist, in case he threatened himself in the future.
From this point of view, Zuo Ci was really doomed, but he couldn't help but go to this "Hongmen Feast".
After Zuo Ci came, Cao Cao arranged a banquet to entertain him, and then, pretending to be sad and bitter, said: "Now that you have everything, you lack the fish made of sea bass in songjiang." Zuo Ci replied, "It's very simple. So he asked for a copper plate, filled it with water, and tried to fish in the copper plate.
After a while, there was actually a fish caught by Zuo Ci. After seeing this situation, Cao Cao was very uneasy about Zuo Ci, but he had no suitable reason to deal with Zuo Ci.
Later, when Cao Cao and his subordinates were playing outside, Zuo Ci brought a piece of dried meat and a bottle of wine and said that he would invite them to dinner. When Cao Cao saw this, he thought that he was teasing them, because there were almost 10,000 people accompanying him. Surprisingly, this piece of meat could not be cut, how the bottle of wine could not be poured, and as a result, the soldiers were full and drunk.
The next day, Cao Cao received the news that the entire liquor and meat shop in the nearby market had been looted, and the wine and meat that the store had just entered had suddenly disappeared. Therefore, Cao Cao found a reason to kill Zuo Ci. Zuo Ci saw this and immediately hid in the wall, but Cao Cao was still not at ease, not only rewarding him with heavy money, but also sending someone to arrest him. However, Zuo Ci was highly skilled, and the men sent by Cao Cao frequently failed.
Of course, in addition to Cao Cao, Sun Ce also wanted to get rid of Zuo Ci.
Once, Sun Ce ambushed behind Zuo Ci and tried to sneak up on him from behind, but Zuo Ci calmly walked forward, but Sun Ce could not catch up with him. Later, Zuo Ci told Ge Xiangong that he was going to enter Huoshan to refine the Nine Turns, and later he finally got the Tao and left by the crane.
This is only a description in the novel, so what is the real Zuo Ci like?
Zuo Ci predicted from the stars that the Qi of the Han Dynasty would run out, the fortunes of the country would decline, and the world would be in chaos, so he sighed and said: "In this chaotic world, it is more difficult for high officials to protect themselves, and those who have more money are more likely to die." Therefore, the glory and wealth of the world must not be coveted! Eventually, Zuo Ci began to learn the Tao, and he was also proficient in the "Qi men Dunjia".
Zuo Ci was indeed a Taoist monk, he was good at medicine, liked alchemy, and his attainment in Taoism was also very high. However, his fame during the Three Kingdoms period did not rely on the name of the gods, but on contact with celebrities in the society at that time, such as Sun Ce, Liu Biao, and Cao Cao. There were many exchanges between them, and every time they argued, Zuo Ci had the upper hand.
Therefore, after some publicity from the people at that time, Zuo Ci became a very powerful character.
At that time, some jianghu warlocks were hallucinating through drinking to do some unexpected things, of course, in addition to alchemy, in addition to some heaven and earth skills, they would not take the initiative to make friends with others, and the social circle was also very small, so the portrayal of these characters was generally fictional.
It is also recorded that zuo ci was still very poor before he became famous, and he had no political power, but he was able to talk with those upper-class figures who were out of reach in the eyes of others, and it was precisely because of this strong contrast that Zuo Ci became a celebrity. Many people think that Zuo Ci is just a little trick to deceive people, to deceive those laymen.
Even, many people feel that he is powerful because outsiders do not understand Zuo Ci's blindfold method, which is equivalent to today's magic. Even modern people will be surprised when they watch magic, not to mention those who were still in feudal society at that time? Those upper-level figures, seeing that Zuo Ci was so powerful, were attracted, thus deepening the contact with Zuo Ci and making Zuo Ci famous in the world.
Resources:
[Romance of the Three Kingdoms", "Baopuzi Jindan", "Later Hanshu Fangshu Column II"]