Written by | Zhao Libo
Inscription: "Tang Taizong is a very great figure in the history of our country, and his martial arts and martial arts do not need to be said, especially with superhuman genius, and he can learn and ask questions, which can really be said to be the saint of heaven and indulgence." From the book "Ask right", we can appreciate the wisdom and demeanor of this genius emperor. In strategic thinking, his position far surpassed that of Napoleon. "Li Shimin the Great, one of The most brilliant and wise monarchs of China, used his great wisdom to govern his empire diligently and carefully, and soon inaugurated a second golden age of one hundred and thirty years for China." "Since Pangu opened the earth, Li Shimin the Great was the first chinese emperor to be truly praised and worshipped by Chinese, because of his honor and his own virtues. His words and deeds in governing the country became the norm for all future emperors. "Outline of the History of Chinese"
Portrait of Li Shimin
Opening:
On January 23, 599 AD, Li Shimin, the most important figure of the Tang Dynasty, was born in the "Wugong Qingshan Palace". His name comes from a warlock: "The posture of the dragon and phoenix, the watch of the heavens and the sun, the year will be twenty, and it will be able to help the world and the people." [1] As one of the sons of the nobles of the Guanlong Clique, Li Shimin received a good family education from an early age, and his mother Dou Shi was a minority woman who was good at calligraphy, imitating Li Yuan's handwriting to the point where it was impossible to distinguish. [2] These cultural influences had a profound impact on the young Li Shimin. Unfortunately, when Li Shimin was very young, his mother died of illness. Many years later, when Li Yuan won the world, When Li Shimin accompanied the waiters in the palace to feast and drink, he saw the happiness of his father and concubines in the harem and remembered his mother. "Empress Si Taimu died early, and she was not allowed to see that Shang (Li Yuan) had the world, or that she was weeping." [3] How good it would be if the mother should be, all this more or less explains Li Shimin's emotional loneliness and helplessness. At the age of sixteen, Li Shimin married the Eldest Sun clan and was also a nobleman, and at that time the Eldest Sun clan was "thirteen years old, concubine to Emperor Taizong" [4]
Empress Eldest Grandson
(1) The emperor on horseback, a sharpshooter, a lifelong career in horseback, shocks the four directions.
Growing up in the northwest region, Li Shimin flowed with a kind of wild exuberance, and the huge amplifier of the battlefield clearly demonstrated Li Shimin's amazing comprehensive quality. After jinyang raised an army, Li Shimin officially began his military career, and the bow and arrow never left his body. The bow and arrow he used was twice as large as the arrows used by ordinary people, and the power was extremely great, which was also quite a test of physical strength and archery, and Li Shimin's archery skills had reached the point of "being able to shoot holes and doors". [5] In the third year of WuDe,he was already the King of Qin, who led an army to attack Luoyi, but was suddenly attacked by the powerful enemy Shan Xiongxin, and the army and horses were in chaos. At the critical moment, Li Shimin said, "Emperor Taizong shot left and right, and fell down without hesitation, and won the favor of his general Yan Qi." [6] In addition, after Li Shimin's pacification of the Eastern Capital, "the King of Qin built the Tiance Mansion, and its arc was multiplied by Chang." During the crusade against Liu Heimin, "he was embarrassed by the Turks and shot himself with a big arrow." The Turks got arrows, preached, and thought they were gods. [7] At this point, Li Shimin's "specially made" big arrow moved the world, like a huge arrow shot, causing a surprise. In this regard to this "divine skill", Li Shimin later said quite conceitedly: "Shuo uses the bow to target the four directions, and uses the bow to do more." ”【8】
The change of Xuanwu Gate
Archery, Li Shimin is a favorite from the heart, after becoming the emperor, there is no battlefield, he organized "practice shooting" in his bodyguard, and acted as a coach himself. His subordinate advised: "The emperor is now playing with bows and arrows, and if he encounters danger, he is afraid of accidents, which is not good for the society." In this regard, Li Shimin thought that they were making a big fuss, did not care at all, and still personally taught bow training as usual.
In addition, "riding and shooting is not divided into families", which is why he can give good play to his riding shooting level. He is not only good at Soma, but also very good at driving. Every time the two armies confront each other, Li Shimin will inevitably charge forward. Once, when Li Shimin saw the enemy general riding the imperial horse left by the Sui Emperor, he was very envious and sighed: "Where he rides, Zhen Liangye." [9] In the end, he took this good horse to his mount and named it Huang Biao, and later died in the middle of the expedition in his later years, and Li Shimin was sad that "quite sadly, he sent his mourning to the music work "Huang Biao Stacked Song". For the love of horses, Li Shimin is very heartfelt. Once his horse was raised and the report of "no disease and violent death" made him very angry, "Emperor Taizong was angry with the people of the horse palace, and will kill them", empress eldest sun told the historical allusion of Qi Guo's Yanzi Zhi Qi Jing's official duties to kill people with horses, and persuaded Li Shimin to say: "Your Majesty tasted reading, and when he saw this, will he forget it?" [10] Li Shimin endured the pain and buried Ma Houhou.
Zhaoling Liujun diagram
Li Shimin rode on a horse under the crotch of the wind, galloped through the country, and after death, he also had to bring the horse demeanor he cherished all his life into the ground. In his later years, he left his will to carve six horses to decorate the charm of Zhaoling, known as the "Six Horses of Zhaoling", showing the magnificent inner world of Li Shimin in his later years. The magnificent and atmospheric artistic structure of these images presents Li Shimin's Tang Dynasty weather. Although it comes from the hands of anonymous people, this kind of work with vitality is rough in shape, majestic and powerful, vivid in appearance and strong in texture. It has reached the realm of the unity of man and horse pursued by Li Shimin.
(2) On paper, the world is invincible, and the poetry and calligraphy can be called the leading figure of the Tang Dynasty, and may be the most connotative of the emperors of all generations.
In the positioning of comprehensive quality, Li Shimin has a wonderful self-generalization, and expresses the atmosphere and wisdom of being an outstanding politician: "The way to stand up for a husband cares about compromise, and does not care about bias." Therefore, he pursued that "although the world is determined by martial arts, in the end it should be Wende Suihai Nei; the way of literature and martial arts, each at its own time." [11] He became a real leader in the great weather, and there was no one. Tang poems have been passed down to a large number of Li Shimin's works in later generations, and the growth environment of Saibei has cultivated his desolate and heroic temperament of poetry, and at the same time, it has perfectly integrated in the realm of art. In terms of artistic creation, Li Shimin's literary and artistic theory is quite outstanding: "Interpreting the truth and seeking China, using people to chaos in the avenue, and being ashamed of a gentleman." The pursuit of cultural and artistic standards is the same as his Tang Dynasty cause, and it is necessary to "neutralize the festival and not to be obscene." "The Confucian technique of moderation.
Li Shimin calligraphy
In addition, he joined the ranks of the first-class poetry theory at that time, and once asked Li Baiyao, who was good at five-character poetry, and his works were read for reading, and after reading them, he "talked about its subtlety", and wrote a praise and criticism: "Why is Ai Qing getting older and more talented?" Why do you write more novelties about things with very old subject matter? [12] For many people who admire Han Fu, who is extremely capable of doing things with flowery rhetoric, Li Shimin can immediately point out the shortcomings and uselessness that only the real people can see." This pragmatic theory of literature and art has influenced the millennium. In addition, he often composed poetry as a motto for himself. Once in Luoyang, Li Shimin was in a very good mood and wrote: "Indulge in many lords, and restrain yourself and be wise." Reducing one's self-esteem is accumulating evil, and fame is accumulated by accumulating good. Because of his sympathy, he even felt sympathy for the talented Sui Emperor. In the second year of Zhenguan, he told his ministers how he felt about Yang Guang, the Emperor of Sui: "The Collection of the Sui Emperors, the words are opaque, and I also know that it is Yao and Shun, not Jie and Yun, but how the behavior is counterproductive. After Wei Zheng replied a few words, Li Shimin sighed rather sentimentally and said, "The past is not far away, and my master is also." ”【13】
Calligraphy, like Li Shimin's greatest sustenance besides poetry, in the first year of Zhenguan, he was able to organize large-scale calligraphy training classes, and calligraphy excellence can be promoted first. His calligraphy idol is Wang Xizhi, a "super big fan" who spanned hundreds of years and was even obsessed with Wang Xizhi to the point of being unable to extricate himself. "Ancient and modern Gongshu Zhong, Wang, and other authentic works, 1,510 volumes." In the search for calligraphy and treasures, Li Shimin did not hesitate to spend money, even at all costs, to find his favorite works. He selfishly possessed these calligraphy treasures, and even the closest ministers could not be appreciated, and Li Shimin, who pursued the ultimate in art in this spiritual world, decided to take them with him after he died", Emperor Ben, Zhongshu Ling Chu Suiliang: "The Lanting Emperor was heavy and could not be left behind," and it was secreted in Zhaoling. ”【14】
The Lan Pavilion, which has been copied from generation to generation
Li Shimin put a lot of energy into the practice of calligraphy, and Fang Xuanling praised his calligraphy level of "Pen Mai Zhong and Zhang", that is to say, his calligraphy attainments have surpassed those of the former dynasty calligraphers Zhong Xuan and Zhang Zhi, and created a "Li Shimin style" calligraphy method, known as "Fei Bai", which is the original creation of wang Xi's charm, "the book of Taizong Gongxi, You Shan Fei Bai". That is, a calligraphy art with a dry ink and a pen, the font is vigorous and sophisticated, because the strokes are transparent. In the seventeenth year of Zhenguan, Li Shimin "feasted more than three products at Xuanwu Gate, and Emperor Cao wrote a flying white character to give to the courtiers." The people present at that time " drank a little high " , and "won over the emperor's hand by wine" with the strength of wine, which showed the warm scene at that time, like a piece of calligraphy, under the impetus of Li Shimin's pragmatism and romance, the painting of Datang appeared prosperous, atmospheric, graceful and open.
The rule of prosperity
(3) Depression in his later years and long-term illness did not heal, so that the first name of the British dynasty eventually fell into the cliché of hope and immortality.
Entering the seventeenth year of Zhenguan, Li Shimin obviously felt that he was old, and compared with the early years of horseback archery and ink splashing, in his later years, he had more melancholy in his heart. Sixteen years before Zhenguan, Li Shimin's health and energy had always been good, often riding horses and shooting arrows, and splashing ink, but in the records since then, until the seven years of his death, there was only one record of Li Shimin's hunting. [15] During this period, "Emperor Taizong fell ill and did not heal for many years. Coupled with the fact that the sons' inversion caused serious trauma to his emotions, the old emperor even suffered from "depression" and once had a tendency to commit suicide. At that time, someone gave him advice and suggestions, and Li Shimin admired it, so he took out his "divine medicine" as a reward and "gave him a special dose of stalactite, saying: 'Qing jin medicine stone words, so repay with medicine stones.'" ”【16】
The reason for Li Shimin's illness again was also the failure of the conquest in the nineteenth year of Zhenguan, and the late autumn "Liaodong was still in Liaodong, Fa DingZhou, and not kang in Dao." [17] At the end of the year, due to the influence of the long journey and failure of "merging the prefecture to the capital of 1,360 miles", Li Shimin fell ill again after returning to Beijing. "The upper disease is not completely flat, and he wants to maintain it", which opens up the dose and frequency of the compound he takes in large quantities. In the twenty-second year of Zhenguan, there was a Tubo way of offering medicine "self-proclaimed life expectancy of two hundred years, cloud and immortal art", after which the use of this compound was more extensive and diverse, "to make the world, to collect all kinds of strange medicines and stones, innumerable." After more than a year of refining, "the medicine is completed, and the service is ineffective."
Diagram of the ancient alchemy program
Although Li Shiminzheng died suddenly, it was closely related to taking this compound. The long-term consumption of the so-called "Jindan" was caused by illness and death by many imperial politicians. For example, Emperor Daowu of the Northern Wei Dynasty, Qin Shi Huang of the Qin Dynasty, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, Emperor Xianzong of Tang, and Yongzheng of the Qing Dynasty all took this early chemical product for a long time. According to relevant research, the main component of Dan Pill is mercury sulfide, which is a highly toxic compound, of which the sulfur content is 13.0%, the mercury content is 60.9%, and the other about 26.1% of the composition is not currently clear. Judging from the characteristics of patients who have taken Dan medicine in the past, most of them show severe bipolar disorder, sensitivity, suspiciousness, until the mental system completely collapses, or wheezing, or walking fast and slowly, or speech loss, which are typical symptoms of poisoning.
Li Shimin's Zhao Mausoleum
However, these did not affect Li Shimin's evaluation in the eyes of posterity: Genghis Khan, the eagle of the steppe, said by following the example of learning: "Those who want to secure the state and establish the country must know the Tang Emperor's art of war." René Gruse said, "Because of the great deeds of Emperor Taizong of Tang, an unpredictable China, a heroic and epic China, and rewrote the history of civilization that has continued for thousands of years." And a great figure in modern times once gave a higher praise: "Since ancient times, there has been no right wing of Li Shimin in the army, followed by Zhu Yuanzhang'er." In May of the twenty-third year of Zhenguan, the most important emperor of the Tang Dynasty died at the age of fifty-two and was buried in the Zhaoling Tomb where he laid out various horses. Li Shimin, a famous all-rounder of literature and martial arts, was eventually killed by all kinds of poisonous stones, which could not but make people sigh.
exegesis:
[1] Old Book of Tang, Taizong Benji.
[2] The New Book of Tang after the concubine biography.
[3] Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 190.
[4] The Old Book of Tang is a biography of the later concubines.
[5] Duan Chengshi 'Youyang Miscellaneous Tricks》 Volume 1.
[6] Old Book of Tang, Taizong Benji.
[7] New Book of Tang, biography of Liu Heimin.
[8] "Zhenguan Politicians" Volume I, "Political System".
[9] Old Book of Tang Wei Chi Jingde Biography.
[10] "Zhenguan Politicians", Vol. II.
[11] Old Book of Tang Music Chronicle.
[12] The New Language of the Great Tang Dynasty, vol. VIII.
[13] Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 192.
[14] Sui and Tang Jia Dialect scrolls down.
[15] Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 914.
[16] Zhenguan Politicians, Vol. II, "Na Zhi".
[17] Old Book of Tang, biography of Liu Huan.