Song Jiang is a hero with a complex personality created in "Water Margin", full of flesh and blood, real and credible. Song Jiang was filial to his parents in every way, which was consistent for him. Even if he wore the body of a sinner, when he heard the news that his father's health was not good, he resolutely decided to go home to fulfill his filial piety, completely disregarding his own safety, and was arrested by the government.
To be able to sit on the top seat of Liangshan, filial piety and humility alone are not enough, but also superior strategy. Song Jiang was also a man who read poetry and books and wrote martial arts. In Liangshan, Song Jiang was thirsty for talents, knew people well, treated people with ease and sincerity, and was reasonable and trustworthy. Yang Xiong and Shi Xiu defected to Liangshan, Chao Gai was furious, but Song Jiang did not send it, waiting for Chao Gai to dissipate before explaining, saying that no matter what identity as long as it has a skill, it can be used by Liangshan. Song Jiang had excellent command skills, and the three strikes zhujiazhuang, Jiangzhou's attack on Wuwei army, the great defeat of Liu Menglong, the great defeat of Gao Li, the suppression of Fang La, and so on, all showed his military ability.
Song Jiang finally decided to recruit An. Later generations therefore scolded Song Jiang for not showing up and being a capitulationist, but he never thought that it was who suffered losses by relying solely on the confrontation between those people and horses in Liangshan and the imperial court. No matter how corrupt and incompetent the imperial army is, the Liangshan people and horses are not their opponents, and the end of the confrontation is nothing more than that the good men of Liangshan are killed one by one as thieves. Moreover, in a confrontation with the imperial court, the world will be filled with blood, the society will be chaotic, and it is the people who will suffer, and we now say that stability overrides everything, and Song Jiang understood this truth at that time. Whether it is for the good man of Liangshan or for the sake of the people's livelihood, Zhao'an has chosen the right thing, this is not what the hero's strategy is
First, the characteristics of Song Jiang's personality
(1) Filial piety to the family
Although Song Jiang in "Water Margin" is a complex character image, if filial piety is concerned, he is worthy of these two words. Song Jiang has two resounding nicknames: Xiaoyi Kurosaburō and Timely Rain. Let's analyze Song Jiang's filial piety and righteousness from these two nicknames. Since ancient times, people have taken loyalty and filial piety as a criterion for measuring a hero, and filial piety reflects the level of a person's moral level. Song Jiang was exemplary in filial piety.
In fact, Song Jiang Shuntian's zhao'an thought of protecting the country stems not so much from his heart of fame and fortune as from the words and deeds of his old father, Song Taigong. When Song Jiang went to Jiangzhou to serve his sentence and passed through Liangshan, the people invited him to go up the mountain, and Song Jiang had always adhered to his father's instructions, that is, to go to prison, and did not want to go up to the mountain to be a thief. It embodies the filial piety of the ancients "from the Father". Not only did he obey his father's teachings, Song Jiang's filial piety to his father was also reflected in the fact that he knew that he was dangerous and wanted to go back to the funeral.
At that time, he had just laid down Qingfeng Village and killed Huang Wenbing to avenge his hatred, but He had to send a letter from Shi Yong to inform his father that he had died of illness. Song Jiang cried loudly, hit his head against the wall, did not enter the wine and food, and went down the mountain all night to go back to the funeral. It should be known that at this time, Song Jiang had already killed the imperial court officials together with the thieves, and was a serious criminal who was strictly wanted. Go back alone, and the consequences can be imagined. But Song Jiang did not think about it at all, knowing that this would be more evil and less auspicious, but in order to fulfill his filial piety, he resolutely embarked on the road home. This is filial piety with life, and the sincerity of its heart can be learned from the sun and the moon. At the same time, it also profoundly interprets the meaning of the nickname "Takayoshi Kurosaburō".
(2) Righteousness toward brothers
"Righteousness" is a very important aspect of Song Jiang's character characteristics. People walk in the rivers and lakes, the lecture qi is particularly important, Song Jiang is also because of the lecture qi can gather people's hearts, the audience people elect, become the "big brother", naturally sit on the first chair. Once sacrificed himself to save Chao Gai, after the incident of the wisdom of the birth anniversary, Chao Gai had difficulties, Song Jiang risked death to send a letter, so he also won the trust of Chao Gai and became a particularly important step in Song Jiang's life, Song Jiang inserted a knife for his friend's two ribs, sacrificed his life for righteousness, and also accumulated a strong popularity for him to later go to Liangshan, and the audience respected sitting on the first chair.
Song Jiang's righteousness and wealth are also well known, generous to his brothers, to relieve people's urgency, to help people's difficulties, many good men in Liangshan have received relief from Song Jiang, such as Wu Song, Li Da and others, his helpfulness not only won the gratitude of his brothers who helped him, but also won a great appeal for Song Jiang's cause in Liangshan, and the good reputation of "Hu Baoyi and Timely Rain" also came from this. Song Jiang's righteousness is also manifested in his trustworthiness, Song Jiang rarely breaks his word in doing things, in order to fulfill his promises to others, he also spends all his heart and soul, such as completing the promise of marrying the third lady to Wang Ying, which is logical and in accordance with the law, not only makes Wang Ying loyal in the future, but also wins the hearts of the good people of Liangshan.
(3) Loyalty to the imperial court
Song Jiang changed the "Juyi Hall" to "Zhongyi Hall" to show loyalty to the imperial court, in order to hope that the Liangshan Po rebels would be recruited by the imperial court. In the novel "Water Margin", the Liangshan Uprising led by Chao Gai revolves around a "righteousness" character as the core idea. Chao Gai and the others stole Liang Zhongshu's ill-gotten wealth of 100,000 pearl treasures, went up to Liangshan Po, and gathered together to make a confrontation with the Emperor of the Great Song Dynasty. The core idea is that anti-corruption officials are also anti-emperor. However, Song Jiang changed the "Juyi Hall" to "Zhongyi Hall", which fundamentally changed the nature of the uprising: to gather together for great righteousness, to serve the imperial court, to seek a wife and shadow for the brethren, and to honor the ancestors with honor.
When Song Jiang went up to Liangshan, he erected the apricot yellow flag "for the Heavenly Path", and song Jiang's so-called "Heaven" for the Heavenly Path was the emperor of the Song Dynasty. It is to serve the imperial court and eradicate adulterers. That is to say, Song Jiang changed the "Juyi Hall" to "Zhongyi Hall", and his "Substitute Heavenly Path" was in line with what he later said, "I hope that the Heavenly King will send down the edict and recruit peace early, and the heart is square". Song Jiang's approach was to be recruited by the imperial court. In order to appease him and Chao Gai, he has always faced discord, and is also strongly opposed by good men such as Wu Song, Li Kui, and Ruan Shi Sanxiong. In order to recruit him, he tried his best to force Lu Junyi to wait for him to go up the mountain as an arm helper, and he did not hesitate to find Master Li, a good friend of Emperor Huizong of Song, to show his heart.
Second, the contradiction point of Song Jiang's image
(1) It is inconsistent with one's own words and deeds
"Water Margin" revolves around the main line of the contradiction between "loyalty" and "righteousness" of Song Jiang, Song Jiang himself is an abbot of Yuncheng County, Shandong, as a government official, he is well versed in the law, knowing that the crime committed by Chao Gai to rob the Birthday Gang is a major crime to destroy the Nine Tribes, but he knows that the law is broken, and he says that he wants to be loyal to the imperial court, but for the sake of the righteousness of the jianghu, he still chooses to let Chao Gai go, he believes that he is not subjectively to oppose the imperial court, but believes that the Shengchen Gang is ill-gotten wealth, and Chao Gai is also a righteous person who has befriended with the jianghu. On the one hand, it is a contradiction to flaunt his loyalty to the imperial court, and on the other hand, to know the law and break the law for the sake of righteousness. At the same time, Song Jiang, as an official of the feudal government, committed the crime of deliberately killing Yan Poxi, and his motive was to cover up his relationship with Liangshan, and he was also contradicted by his professed loyalty to the imperial court and not confrontation with the imperial court.
(2) It is inconsistent with the image of the leader
Only according to the Water Margin, Song Jiang is a person with a split personality. First of all, Song Jiang's greatest pursuit in this life is to become an official and go all the way up to become a civil servant. If Song Jiang had not killed Yan Poxi, he would have most likely been a lifelong abbot in the county court, or if he had developed well, a county commander or even a higher position, and in his life dictionary, he might have developed peacefully and peacefully in the government's public service system for the rest of his life, and there would not have been a series of things that followed, and this idea is not impossible. So how do we know?
First, after Song Jiang went to Liangshan, he changed the Juyi Hall to Zhongyi Hall, which seemed to be a word difference, but in fact the meaning was different, originally called Juyi Hall was a heroic and good man from all walks of life who gathered together to revolt, and changed it to Zhongyi Hall, emphasizing "loyalty", so who is loyal, this "loyalty" is obviously also loyal to the feudal imperial power of the Northern Song Emperor, so why emphasize "loyalty", indicating that in Song Jiang's heart, he has always been unswerving or loyal, that is, loyalty to the Northern Song court.
Second, even if Song Jiang went up to Liangshan, the banner he raised was for The Heavenly Path, then who is this Heaven? Undoubtedly, he was also the emperor of the feudal dynasty of the Northern Song Dynasty. He thought that he was forced to go to Liangshan, and if the public service system could still go on, I believe that he would never take this road of uprising, then why would he play with power, build a chaotic cover, and win the hearts of the people to sit on the first chair? In his heart, the choice of this path is nothing more than a curve to save the country, because from behind Song Jiang is willing to accept the court's offer, and does not hesitate to use it to eliminate the three rebel armies of Tian Hu, Wang Qing, and Fang La for the imperial court, and to remove obstacles for the imperial court, which fully demonstrates Song Jiang's foolish loyalty.
Therefore, whether he plays with power and unscrupulous means, or wins the hearts and minds of the people, black and white, and wins a good reputation for himself, he is paving the way for the realization of his ideal goal of embarking on the career path again. Moreover, he stepped on the corpses of the Liangshan brothers, and finally got the official hat of the coveted appeasement envoy. But how could Gao Li, Tong Guan, and others tolerate him? Playing a trick will kill him, and he will end up in a sad and sad end.
(3) It is inconsistent with the hero's image
When Song Jiang was still an ordinary civil servant, he was a gentleman, at this time he was full of ambition, he could be called the living Meng Yijun, but to say a word of caution, Song Jiang at this time was more like investing in the early stage, but Gentle believed that at this time Song Jiang definitely did not plan to the later stage of ShangliangShan, all the turning points were after the Birth Anniversary Gang incident, only after the qualitative change, Song Jiang began to consolidate his own power; so at this time Song Jiang was an idealist who fought for righteousness and made himself famous.
After Song Jiang was assassinated in Jiangzhou, this was the turning point of Song Jiang, and also the key node of Song Jiang's transformation, at this time Song Jiang still had a glimmer of hope for the imperial court, but when the final court was about to be beheaded, he gave up, and he thought of another method, that is, to want officials, kill people and set fires to be recruited; from here On, Song Jiang became a complete villain. The face of Song Jiang's villain, the strength is enough to bring enough people, this is the only way to Liangshan, and then Chao Gai pushed the lord of Liangshan, Song Jiang pretended not to, in fact, he was afraid that many people would not obey, but in the later stage, he put Chao Gai in the air, and proposed to recruit An to take Lin Chong away, the reason why Lin Chong died of illness in the later stage, a large part of which was willing to come from Song Jiang, because his most trusted brother Song Jiang prevented him from killing the old thief gao Qi. Therefore, at this stage, Song Jiang is an out-and-out little person.
The character of Song Jiang runs through the whole book of "Water Margin", it can be said that the entire work revolves around him, and it is precisely because of his different styles of "loyalty" and "righteousness" and contradictions, so everyone's evaluation of him is mixed and controversial, especially the link of Zhao'an is even more criticized.
Third, the causes of Song Jiang's contradictory image
(1) When he did not go to Liangshan, his chivalrous style was too strong
In "Water Margin", the author's description of Song Jiang reflects both loyalty and righteousness. This is a definition given to Song Jiang by the author, "loyalty and righteousness". Of course, the whole book is also written around the collision of Song Jiang's loyalty and righteousness.
Song Jiang this character before going to Liangshan, the battle of righteousness and wealth, Song Jiang's helpfulness is also well known, generous to brothers, to solve people's urgent needs, to help people's difficulties, many good people in Liangshan have received Relief from Song Jiang, such as Wu Song, Li Da and others, his helpfulness not only won the gratitude of the brothers who helped him, but also won a great appeal for Song Jiang's cause in Liangshan, and the good reputation of "timely rain" also came from this. But his character also brought some unfavorable aspects to himself, if it were not for the generosity of Yan PoXi at that time, Yan Po Xie would not have married him because of gratitude to Dade, and the subsequent tragedy might not have occurred.
(2) Falling grass is too heavy for the heart of the country
Throughout the characters of classical Chinese novels, most of them are explained very clearly from the beginning of the story, and until the end of the novel, they will not change much in personality. Writing techniques like Shi Nai'an's to describe Song Jiang's complex and gradual character should have been rare at the time. For example, Cao Cao in the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", his adulterous personality is indeed complex and changeable, but there is no change from the beginning to the end, which has always been expected. Another example is Sun Wukong in "Journey to the West", his personality changes greatly from the beginning to the end, but they are all simple personalities, and it is expected that there are not many ups and downs. It is incomparable with the author's depiction of Song Jiang in "Water Margin". As the old saying goes, "loyalty" and "righteousness" are difficult to complete since ancient times, but in "Water Margin", the depiction of Song Jiang reflects both righteousness and loyalty. This is a definition given to Song Jiang by the author, "loyalty and righteousness". Of course, the whole book is also written around the collision of Song Jiang's loyalty and righteousness.
(3) The imperial court was not interested in Liangshan but Song Jiang "did not understand the style"
It is precisely because Zhao'an is of great benefit to the imperial court, and the bandits after Zhao'an are often able to add officials to the knighthood, and later Zhao'an has become a shortcut for many people to promote officials and get rich. At that time, the shortcut to embarking on the career path was to be a bandit, and at a certain scale, the imperial court would come to Zhao'an, and Zhao'an would not only be exempted from criminal responsibility, but also be able to seal officials. Therefore, there is a saying that "if you want to get an official, kill people and set fires to be recruited." Finally, the feudal rebellion road with the characteristics of the Great Song Dynasty was thus formed - "rebellion - Zhao'an - to be an official". In this way, it is possible that Song Jiang, who has been a civil servant for many years, saw that he had no hope of promotion and made this decision to liangshan. If the imperial court is not corrupt, Song Jiang will most likely be suppressed, and there is no condition at all to talk with the imperial court about recruitment
Song Jiang's fate seems to have changed from the angry killing of Yan Po Xi, who is an out-and-out negative character, but the strange thing is that in recent years, this mother-in-law has actually been whitewashed by a group of people, which is incomprehensible, we will see you next year.
I wish you all a happy new year