Liu Bei in "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", we are all familiar with it. He was born noble, generous and benevolent, righteous and trustworthy, although he did not have much strength at the beginning and encountered many setbacks, he finally achieved a great thing, and there was one in three parts of the world.
However, if you have read the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" and other canonical histories, you will find that Liu Bei's image in the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" has been greatly beautified by the author Luo Guanzhong. "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" adopts fictitious plots, reverses cause and effect, and disguises failures, creating a glorious and great image of Liu Bei, who was originally mixed, into a brilliant and great "benevolent king".
Of course, this article is not to say that "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" is wrong, "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" is a novel, and it is normal for the artistic image created by the novel to be different from the real historical image. Here, we just discuss how the novel beautifies Liu Bei.
Improve your life and emphasize "destiny"
Whether Liu Bei had imperial blood or not is disputed in history. The Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms records that Liu Bei was a descendant of Liu Zhen, the son of Liu Sheng, the Prince of Jing of Zhongshan, the Emperor of Hanjing. However, many historians have expressed doubts about this, such as Pei Songzhi, who annotated the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, who said, "Although the cloud comes from filial piety, and the number of generations is long, Zhao Mu is difficult to see"; another historian, Hu Sansheng, said that Liu Bei "has been above his grandfather, and his lineage is not possible.".
Moreover, even if Liu Bei was a descendant of the Han Jing Emperor, from 112 BC when Liu Zhen "sat on the Loss of The Marquis of Jin" to Liu Bei was born in 161 AD, for more than 270 years, no one in their branch had been given the title of Marquis, and they were already ordinary people. Liu Bei's grandfather Liu Xiong made a county order, but did not change Liu Bei's social status, so after his father's death, Liu Bei and his mother "sold mats for a profession" and came from a very humble background.
In order to beautify Liu Bei, the Romance of the Three Kingdoms first improved Liu Bei's life through fictional plots.
First, make up genealogical lineages. The 20th time in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, a direct lineage from the Han Jing Emperor to Liu Bei for nineteen generations (from Han Gaozu onwards, it is twenty-two generations). In this lineage, there are thirteen people who have been enfeoffed, all the way up to Liu Bei's great-grandfather, and can be called "imperial family".
Second, let Emperor Xian of Han recognize Liu Bei as his uncle. In the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, it is said that Liu Xie, the emperor of Han Xian, checked the family tree and found that Liu Bei was actually his uncle, and immediately recognized the emperor's uncle. This fiction is very absurd, because Emperor Xian of Han was the seventeenth grandson of Liu Bang, the ancestor of Han Gaozu, and according to the fictional genealogy of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Liu Bei was the twenty-second grandson of Han Gaozu. Liu Bei's generation is much smaller than Liu Xie's, and liu xie should be called "Gao Zu", so how can It be Liu Xie's turn to call Liu Bei "emperor uncle"?
(Emperor Xian of Han)
Third, through the mouths of various characters, Liu Bei's identity as "imperial uncle" was repeatedly emphasized. At that time, people called a person, usually called his official position, for example, others mentioned Sun Quan often called "Sun Yufu", because Sun Quan was a "General of Yufu", and Liu Bei was generally called "Liu Yuzhou", because Liu Bei was officially granted the official position of "Yuzhou Mu" by the emperor (Zhuge Liang called Liu Bei during the Battle of Chibi), but in order to highlight Liu Bei's identity and ordinary people, everyone called "Liu Huang uncle". Not only are ordinary people called Uncle Liu Huang, but even Liu Bei's enemies Cao Cao, Liu Bei's wife, and Guan Yu Zhang Fei, the "Jieyi" brother, are also called Liu Huangshu. When Liu Bei reported to his home, he often pulled the tiger pi la drum and called himself "Emperor Liu Bei". So why not call "Liu Yuzhou", but "Uncle Liu Huang"? In fact, it is constantly hinting to the reader that Liu Bei was born noble and was born to be the material for the emperor.
In addition to improving his life, the Romance of the Three Kingdoms also uses all the materials recorded in history that are beneficial to Liu Bei to strengthen the tune of "the destiny of heaven".
For example, history records that Liu Bei looked strange, "hanging down on his hands and knees, and gu saw his ears." This appearance probably has a certain real component, because there is circumstantial evidence, Lü Bu once publicly called Liu Bei a "big ear thief". However, this kind of appearance has nothing to boast about, and it is a monster that is encountered on the road. In the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", this "appearance" is beautified, saying that Liu Bei "has two ears hanging from his shoulders, his hands over his knees, his eyes can look after his ears, his face is like a crown jade, and his lips are like grease", and he is a beautiful man with a rich and noble appearance.
The Romance of the Three Kingdoms also uses some songs from the mouths of the people to spread and confirm Liu Bei's identity as the "True Son of Heaven". For example, in the 35th time of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Liu Bei "Prancing Horse Tanxi", when escaping, met Sima Hui, the water mirror, and Sima Hui explained the children's song "At the end of the heavenly destiny, the dragon in the mud flew to the sky", clearly saying that "the destiny of heaven has returned, the dragon flies to the sky, and Gai should also be in the general".
At the same time, we do not forget to use the way of vilifying competitors to confirm that Liu Bei is the "chosen one". The Romance of the Three Kingdoms fictionalizes such a story to imply that the Mandate of Heaven was in Liu Bu Cao: Cao Pi ascended to the altar to be zen, to thank heaven and earth, and suddenly a strange wind rolled up in front of the Zen platform, flying sand and stones, rushing like a torrential rain, not seeing anyone on the other side, and blowing out the candles on the stage. Cao Pi fell on the altar in fright, and the hundred officials came down to the altar first aid, and after a while they woke up and fell ill again.
Around the character characteristics of "heavy righteousness", make a big fuss
"Romance of the Three Kingdoms" begins with the Three Knots of Taoyuan, and from Liu Bei's "Snow Brother Hate" xingbing to fight Wu and die of illness after failing, to illustrate Liu Bei's righteousness.
It must be admitted that in history, Liu Bei did have a heavy "righteous" side, which made him highly praised by posterity. On this basis, the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" made a big fuss and made "heavy righteousness" become Liu Bei's main character feature.
The most important fiction of Liu Bei's "heavy righteousness" is the story of the "Taoyuan Three Knots of Righteousness". In real history, Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei did have sincere feelings when they met in poverty, and the history books recorded that "the first lord and the second son slept in the same bed, and enruo brothers"; but at the same time, the history books also clearly recorded that the three people were humble and orderly, "and the thick people sat widely, (Guan Zhang) stood all day long, following the ancestors and lords, not avoiding hardships and dangers."
"Romance of the Three Kingdoms" further intimacy and romanticization of the relationship between the three people, fictionalizes the story of "Taoyuan Three Knots of Righteousness", and writes the oath of "not to be born on the same day of the same month of the same year, but to die on the same day of the same month of the same year", which has been passed down for thousands of years. Subsequently, around this "righteousness" character, fictionalized events that did not exist in history, such as "the han did not want To Cao", "a thousand miles to ride alone", "the ancient city of the monarch and the subject".
(Fictional Taoyuan Sanjie)
In order to make Liu Bei's "heavy righteousness" characteristics have a beginning and an end, the Romance of the Three Kingdoms turned Liu Bei's political choice of Wu into an emotional choice for the sake of brotherly righteousness. After Guan Yu's defeat, Liu Bei urgently needed to retake Jingzhou in order to realize the strategic concept of "Longzhong Pair" and sending troops to attack Cao Wei. At that time, he also thought that he had the strength to retake Jingzhou. So, it's a clear political choice. But in "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", this section is turned into an emotional choice for the sake of "brotherly righteousness" and revenge. Moreover, some plots were also fictionalized to emphasize the emotional orientation of Va wu. For example, when Liu Bei knew that Guan Yu had been killed, he "cried to the ground and woke up half a day ago, saying, 'When Lonely and Guan and Zhang's second brother Taoyuan were righteous, they swore to live and die together, and now that Yunchang has died, how can Loneliness enjoy wealth and wealth alone?' When he learned that Zhang Fei had been killed, he "mourned so much that he could not eat or drink, and said: 'When I was thinking of cloth clothes, I swore to live and die with Guan and Zhang Jieyi. Now that he is the Son of Heaven, he wants to share the wealth with his two brothers, but unfortunately he died of death... The second brother died, and He was an only child. ’”
In fact, in the historical records, it is not recorded that Liu Bei cried for the death of Guan and Zhang, but instead shed tears when Fazheng and Liu Feng died.
In addition to the righteousness of brothers, the author also uses many plots to render Liu Bei's other righteous deeds, such as the famous "Three Let Xuzhou", in fact, Liu Bei only let it once. In addition, for the more difficult Liu Bei into shu incident, the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" also did a proper handling through the technique of reversing black and white. Entering Shu to capture Liu Zhang's Yizhou, this period is a famous black spot in Liu Bei's life, the most profound embodiment of his two personality characteristics of "injustice" and "deceit", it is difficult to wash white, but the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" not only washed white, but also successfully turned the seizure of other people's territory into Liu Bei's "righteous deeds".
(Liu Zhang, who is depressed)
How to wash it white? The Romance of the Three Kingdoms emphasizes that it was Pang Tong and Fa Zheng's strategy to "trap Liu Bei in injustice" and finally seize Liu Zhang's territory "as a last resort". For example, the Romance of the Three Kingdoms fictionalizes a "New Hongmen Feast", when Liu Zhang and Liu Bei meet, Pang Tong instructs Wei Yan to dance the sword and assassinate Liu Zhang. Of course, Liu Zhang's men understood what it meant, and they also stood up and danced their swords. "Liu Bei was horrified, and he hurriedly grabbed the sword that he had matched left and right, stood up, and said: 'My brothers are not jealous when they meet and drink bitterly. And if it is not a Hongmen meeting, why use a dancing sword? Those who do not abandon the sword will be slashed... My brothers are in the same blood and bones, discussing important matters together, and have no two hearts. Ru and other doubts'. Liu Zhang was so frightened that he thanked Liu Bei for his "grace of not killing", and Liu Bei turned back and denounced Pang Tong, "Why would you trap me in injustice."
Later, Liu Bei and Liu Zhang completely turned their faces, and first moved to be strong, designing to kill Liu Zhang's generals Yang Huai and Gao Pei, revealing the face of taking Xichuan by force. The Romance of the Three Kingdoms changed this paragraph to "Yang Huai and Gao Pei, who were armed with sharp blades, plotted to assassinate Liu Bei, and Liu Bei had no choice but to kill them." In short, the idea managed to describe Liu Bei's "injustice" as the "justice" that had to be done.
Liu Bei's martial arts, military water level and historical merits were strengthened
In addition to improving his life and emphasizing the character characteristics of "heavy righteousness", the Romance of the Three Kingdoms also boasts about Liu Bei's martial arts, military level and historical merits, and portrays a brilliant and brilliant Liu Bei in an all-round way without dead ends.
Historically, Liu Bei did participate in the Yellow Turban Rebellion, and for his military merits, he was successively awarded the titles of "An Xi Wei" and "Xia Mi Cheng", but there is no specific record of the battle process. This gave the author a lot of room to play, and the Romance of the Three Kingdoms poured a lot of ink into this paragraph, deifying Liu Bei's ability.
The Romance of the Three Kingdoms describes Liu Bei's archery techniques and even the ability to crack demons by fighting the Yellow Turban. At that time, Liu Bei shot Zhang Bao's left arm with an arrow, and when Zhang Bao used the spell of "paper man grass horse", Liu Bei commanded the soldiers to "throw filth together" and crackEd Zhang Bao's spell, "paper man grass horse, fell to the ground", Zhang Bao was defeated and fled.
The suppression of the Yellow Turban Army highlighted Liu Bei's archery technique, and the "Three Ying Battles Lü Bu" highlighted Liu Bei's martial arts. In fact, there is no historical evidence that Liu Bei participated in the battle against Dong Zhuo, but the Romance of the Three Kingdoms still depicts the wonderful scene of the "Three Ying Battles Lü Bu" at Tiger Prison Pass. When Zhang Fei Guanyu double-battled Lü Bu, Liu Bei "grabbed the double-stranded sword, suddenly yellow mane horse, came to help the battle", the three people surrounded Lü Bu, "turned the lamp like a fight, the eight people and horses were stunned..." In the end, Lü Bu, who was the first in the martial arts world, could not beat the three people, and had to flee. The Romance of the Three Kingdoms says, "Xuan De, the Tyrant, strikes a double edge, shakes the heavens and wields bravery."
(Fictional Three Ying Battles Lü Bu)
In history, Liu Bei's level of fighting was very bad. History records 22 battles commanded by Liu Bei, of which 9 were won, with a winning rate of less than 50%, and the level was indeed average. However, in the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", in order to shape The image of Liu Bei, some victorious battles were fictionalized, and Liu Bei's military command level was raised.
For example, when the Yellow Turban Rebellion was suppressed, his superiors gave Liu Bei 500 soldiers to fight against Cheng Yuanzhi's 50,000 Yellow Turban Army. 500 to 50,000, the strength gap between heaven and earth, but Liu Bei "gladly went" and "returned with a big victory", and then, using ambush tactics, he lifted the siege of Qingzhou.
For example, Yuan Shu was mainly defeated by Lü Bu, but in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Liu Bei commanded the final battle against Yuan Shu, resulting in Yuan Shu's defeat and death.
Even the worst defeat at the Battle of Xiaoting, the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, fictionalized some partial victories to weaken Liu Bei's defeat. Guan Xing and Zhang Bao killed their enemies to avenge their father; Sha Moke shot the famous Eastern Wu general Gan Ning, and Zhao Yun killed the famous Eastern Wu general Zhu Ran, all of which are fictional and completely non-existent. In fact, in the Battle of Xiaoting, Liu Bei basically did not win any victorious battles, and was truly defeated.
Find ways to hide The ugly side of Liu Bei
In addition to highlighting Liu Bei's glorious side, "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" also conceals many ugly aspects of Liu Bei to ensure the tall and perfect character image.
For example, Liu Bei once participated in the war to quell Zhang Chun's rebellion, and suddenly encountered the rebels during the march and suffered a major defeat. Liu Bei survived by lying on the ground and pretending to die. In this flat judgment, Liu Bei did not have any merit. However, the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" said, "Xuan De was a lieutenant, led his troops straight to the thieves' nest, fought with the thieves for several days, and rubbed his sharp qi", and after returning, Liu Bei became the Pingyuan County Commander under the recommendation of Gongsun Zhan.
For example, in the Battle of Hanzhong, Liu Bei sent Chen Shi and others to lead an army to cut off the Ma Mingge Trail, and was defeated by Cao Cao's famous general Xu Huang, and the Shu army "threw itself into the valley and died many deaths". Liu Bei's main force surrounded Zhang Gao's troops, but could not conquer them, while Zhang Fei, Ma Chao, Wu Lan and others went to cut off Cao Cao's rear road, and were raided by Cao's army, Wu Lan was killed, and Zhang Fei and Ma Chao fled. These "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" do not mention, only write about some battles won by Liu Bei in the Battle of Hanzhong.
In the history of Liu Bei, changing bosses is very frequent, and there are many betrayals. This kind of betrayal may be offensive, so the Romance of the Three Kingdoms will generally make some changes to historical events, so that Liu Bei's betrayal becomes obligatory and even moral.
For example, after being defeated by Lü Bu, Liu Bei once defected to Cao Cao. Later, Cao Cao ordered Liu Bei and Zhu Ling to lead troops to attack Yuan Shu, but died without taking over Yuan Shu. Zhu Ling returned to Xu Capital, but Liu Bei occupied Xia Pi. At that time, Che Ji was the assassin of Xuzhou, and Liu Bei killed Che Ji in order to develop in Xuzhou, and from then on he and Cao Cao openly tore their faces, and Shi said: "Prepare to Xia Pi, kill Xuzhou Thorn Shi Che Shi, reverse." ”
In order to beautify this rebellion, the Romance of the Three Kingdoms fictionalized a plot that confused right and wrong, reversed black and white, saying that Che Ji received an order from Cao Cao to murder Liu Bei, and the result was secretly leaked, so Guan Yu and Zhang Fei killed Che Gui, and Liu Bei also had to oppose.
In addition, the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" also concealed some of Liu Bei's cruel behavior. For example, Liu Bei killed Sima Zhangyu in the rear in order to avenge his hatred. When he wanted to become emperor, most of the ministers who prevented him were punished, Fei Shi was demoted, Yongmao was killed, and Liu Ba, a famous scholar in Sichuan, was frightened and autistic, and from then on, he "retired from the army and had personal relations, and did not say anything about official affairs."
(Zhao Yun, who was treated unfairly)
The most heart-wrenching thing happened to Zhao Yun, another important figure in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Zhao Yun was Liu Bei's rapid surrender, followed Liu Bei when he was poor, made many military achievements, and twice rescued Liu Bei's heir Ah Dou, and the relationship between the two was once so good that they "slept in the same bed". However, because of his different views on certain things after entering Shu, Zhao Yun was suppressed by Liu Bei.
Liu Bei was proclaimed queen, Guan Yu Zhang Feima Chao Huang Zhong was a former general, a right general, a left general, and a rear general, all of whom were "famous generals", while Zhao Yun only received the title of "General of the Yi Army", which was a miscellaneous general. Liu Bei claimed to be empress, Guan Yu Huangzhong was dead, and the living Zhang Fei and Ma Chao were both made marquises, while Zhao Yun was never allowed to be a marquis during Liu Bei's lifetime.
These mentioned above are the main ways to beautify Liu Bei in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms. However, we also have to repeat the point at the beginning, this article is not to say that the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" is written wrongly, but to distinguish between artistic image and historical image by distinguishing between interpretation and history, two different Liu Bei.