Zhuge Liang in the Three Kingdoms period should have no leg disease, not only did he not, but he was also a very tall, strong, and able man of letters and martial arts.
According to Chen Shou's "Biography of Zhuge Liang in the Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms", Zhuge Liang was "eight feet long, and each self-comparison was compared to Guan Zhong and Le Yi." "Liang rarely has the talent of Yiqun, the instrument of heroism, eight feet long, his appearance is very great, and he is different from others." "Brightness is longer than ingenuity, profit and loss crossbow, wooden cattle and horses, all unexpected; deducing the art of war, making eight Chen (array) diagrams, salty to its clouds." "The first lord attacked Zhang, and Liang, Zhang Fei, Zhao Yun, and others led the crowd to trace the river, divide the counties, and besiege Chengdu with the first lord." It can be seen from here that Zhuge Liang is tall and burly, following Liu Bei, and is also a character who can fight in battle, if Zhuge Liang has a leg disability, Chen Shou should not describe Zhuge Liang's image so perfectly.
So will Zhuge Liang be a martial artist? Tao Hongjing, a famous writer and medical scientist during the Southern and Northern Dynasties, recorded such a story in the "Records of Ancient and Modern Swords": "Zhuge Liang Dingqian passed through the Qingshi Ancestral Hall, so he drew his knife and stabbed the mountain, threw the knife and did not pull it out, and the pedestrians were unpredictable. This means that when Zhuge Liang was pacifying the Qianzhong area, he passed by the Qingshi Ancestral Hall, drew out the knife he was wearing, stabbed the knife into the mountain stone, and left without pulling it out, and passers-by at that time felt mysterious about Zhuge Liang's behavior. It can be seen from this that Zhuge Liang has a saber on his body, and he has great strength and can use a knife to enter the stone.
We know that before the Song Dynasty, the readers were both literate and martial arts, and it was precisely the pen that could write and the horse to be able to take the martial arts. Zhuge Liang's cultivation is Confucian learning, Confucianism especially advocates self-cultivation and family governance of the country and the world, Confucians to achieve the cultivation of Qi Zhiping, only to learn literature and not to learn martial arts is not enough. It is said that Confucius was not only the most holy master of Confucianism, but also a master of archery on horseback; Zilu was a master of swordplay, often without leaving his body.
Otherwise, Confucius and his disciples traveled around the world, and if all of them were students without the strength of chickens, in the wilderness, once they encountered evil people and people who wanted to harm them, they would really have to be slaughtered. Therefore, having a certain defensive ability and being able to protect yourself well is a better way to do the world. Confucianism requires Confucians to learn the "Six Arts", which include six kinds of learning, including etiquette, music, archery, imperial, calligraphy, and counting, of which "shooting" is archery, and "royal" is driving a royal carriage and horse. As a Confucian, Zhuge Liang naturally had to learn the "Six Arts". It is speculated that Zhuge Liang's martial arts with Guan Yu and Zhang Fei should be comparable.
But why did Zhuge Liang not ride a horse during the Southern Expedition and the Northern War, but always liked to ride a quad? According to the Jin Dynasty historian Wang Yin's "Book of Shu", there is a record like this: "Zhuge Wuhou and King Xuan (Sima Yi) were in Weibin, fighting, and King Xuan's rong obeyed the matter, so that people could see Wu Hou, ride Su You, Ge Jian Mao Fan, and refer to the three armies of Qi, all of which followed their advance and stopping." King Xuan heard this and sighed, "But it is really a famous man." As for whether it is a four-wheeler or not, it is very difficult to say. There is a legend that it is said that Zhuge Liang's previous life was Sun Zhen, a military master of the State of Qi during the Warring States period, and Sun Zhi learned to go down the mountain to find his brother Pang Juan. At this time, Pang Juan was a great general in the State of Wei, very powerful, and also very favored by the monarch. Sun Bing also wanted to use the strength of his brother to find a good errand in the Wei Kingdom and show his talents.
Who knew that this Pang Juan was jealous that Sun Zhi's talent was higher than his own, and he wanted Sun Zhen to memorize his grandfather Sun Wu's "Thirteen Articles of Sun Tzu's Art of War", so he asked others to find Sun Bing a mistake, according to the punishment should be beheaded, under Pang Juan's false confession, he exempted Sun Zhen from the death penalty, but the living crime was difficult to forgive, so he gave Sun Zhen a punishment and a stale sentence, cut off Sun Zhen's feet and stabbed him in the face. Sun Bin couldn't walk and couldn't go out, so he could only write books in the house all day. Later, Sun Bin knew that Pang Juan was harming himself, so he pretended to be crazy and foolish, managed to escape to the State of Qi, and became a military division of the State of Qi. Unable to walk, Sun Bin could only sit on a four-wheeled vehicle and let others push him away.
At the Battle of Guiling and the Battle of Maling, Sun Zhen designed to shoot Pang Juan at Maling Road, and finally avenged himself. Because Sun Bin traveled by four-wheeled vehicle all his life, the four-wheeled vehicle became an indispensable thing in his life, that is, after his death, according to his last wishes, the King of Qi also specially buried a four-wheeled vehicle in the tomb for him. Later, Sun Zhituo was born zhuge liang, although he was strong and strong, riding horses and archery and driving, but this habit of riding a four-wheeled vehicle remained unchanged, and the commanders fought in the war, and still loved to appear in a four-wheeled vehicle.
This is, of course, just a superstitious legend and cannot be taken seriously. But Zhuge Liang commanded the army to go out, why not ride a horse but take advantage of it? There are probably these reasons:
First, it is convenient to approve official documents at any time. It should be known that since Liu Bei's death, the major affairs of the Shu Han military state were "salty and decisive", and Zhuge Liang became the actual ruler of the Shu Han. Therefore, not only the military, but also the major affairs of the government and politics, all need Zhuge Liang's approval and advice, not to mention that Zhuge Liang's weight is heavy, and he must personally ask about the rewards and punishments above twenty military sticks. If you ride on a horse, it is very inconvenient to approve documents, and it is much more convenient to ride and travel, and it is much more convenient to review with the upper.
Second, it is the demeanor of the watchman. During the Wei and Jin Dynasties, scholars traveled, paying great attention to temperament, the more dashing the better, the more gentlemanly the better. As a scholar, Zhuge Liang naturally liked the chatty demeanor of lupine scarves, flowing and free, catching up with social fashion.
Third, there is a need to stabilize the hearts and minds of the military. Zhuge Liang commanded thousands of troops and horses, and he always ruled the army well and had strict military discipline. When facing the enemy army, in order to eliminate the fear of the soldiers, he "multiplied and walked", how confident and how steady, so that the soldiers saw it, they all felt that the minister must have a brilliant plan, there must be a certain certainty of victory, otherwise he would not take advantage of it, so he was solid in his heart, and his confidence in victory was even stronger.
Fourth, it has the effect of enticing the enemy to attack. Zhuge Liang rode along, acting clumsily, so that the enemy generals saw it, and they all had the impulse to immediately launch an attack and capture Zhuge Villager alive. As the saying goes, "Impulse is the devil." And Zhuge Liang was already fully prepared with a bow and a hidden ambush, waiting for the enemy's impulse to attack. Why Sima Yi was afraid as soon as he saw Zhuge Liang sitting on a four-wheeled vehicle, so that there was a joke that "Dead Zhuge Liang walked alive Zhongda", naturally Sima Yi suffered a lot of losses and a lot of deception on this.