Since ancient times, heroes love beauty, in fact, beauty also loves heroes, heroes are sad to pass the beauty, beauty is more difficult to the hero, after all, there is never a shortage of beauty in the world, the real hero is difficult to find, so there is a regret that the flow of water is merciless and falls.
In the early years of the Later Han Dynasty, that is, in 947 AD, Zhao Kuangyin was in his early 20s, when his father Zhao Hongyin was already a first-class general in the Later Han court, with a prominent status, so Zhao Kuangyin was born very noble, and he could be regarded as a noble prince of the family of the head of the army.
Because of the court's wanton conquests, the young and vigorous Zhao Kuangyin made some extreme remarks, impulsively beating people, destroying things, and offending the emperor, so he had to leave home to break into the rivers and lakes, nominally to increase his experience, but in fact to avoid the arrest of the imperial court.
Zhao Kuangyin came to Taiyuan, Shanxi, visited one of his uncles, and while playing in a Taoist temple called Qingyou Temple next to the Jinci Temple in Taiyuan, he suddenly heard a woman's cry.
Zhao Kuangyin wanted to go up to see what was going on, but he was stopped by his uncle. His uncle told him that there was a young woman locked up here, and that two local robbers had snatched her, and because they were fighting to occupy the woman, the two thieves fought each other, regardless of victory or defeat, so they had to temporarily take her into custody in the Taoist Temple.
When Zhao Kuangyin heard this, he couldn't help but be angry, and he broke through the door despite his uncle's obstruction. Upon questioning, I learned that this woman's name was Zhao Jingniang, and her family lived in Puzhou (present-day Yongji County, Shanxi Province), because she followed her father to Quyang County to burn incense and make a wish, and was robbed here by thieves.
Zhao Kuangyin, a young hero, was originally a chivalrous heart, he saw the beauty of the woman, ChuChu pitiful, he decided to save the woman, and generously promised to escort her home.
Taiyuan in the middle of Shanxi Province, Puzhou in the southwest corner of Shanxi, the distance between the two places is at least fifteen hundred miles, at that time the traffic is extremely inconvenient, the mountains are long and the water is far away, Zhao Kuangyin walked a single ride for thousands of miles, escorting a delicate little beautiful woman home, the hardships on the road can be imagined.
Since Jingniang was also surnamed Zhao, Zhao Kuangyin and her were called brothers and sisters, and the two of them stayed overnight, wind and rain, and were repeatedly attacked by gangsters and robbers on the road.
Zhao Kuangyin was considerate and caring for Jingniang, very caring, at that time Jingniang was only 16 years old, it was the age when the love Dou was just opening, and with Zhao Kuangyin, who was upright, strong in martial arts and prosperous, it was inevitable that he would be moved by the spring heart.
Along the way, Jingniang tried her best to test, and when passing through Wu'an, Hebei, she poured out her admiration to Zhao Kuangyin, but at that time, Zhao Kuangyin felt that saving Jingniang was a righteous act and should not have selfish thoughts, so he rejected her and still treated her as a brother and sister.
When they returned to Jingniang's home in Puzhou and saw the daughter who had been lost and recovered, Jingniang's parents were naturally very moved, and they also saw their daughter's thoughts, so they offered to give Jingniang Xu to Zhao Kuangyin, but After Zhao Kuangyin thought about it for a while, he still politely declined.
The legend of Zhao Kuangyin's rejection of Jingniang is recorded in the "Cautionary Tales" compiled by Feng Menglong in the Ming Dynasty.
Jing Niang wanted to entrust her life on the road, but Zhao Kuangyin said: "Sister Xian, it is not the Jiaozhu Drum Ser, it was originally sent for the righteous qi thousands of miles, and now if you have a private affair with that Xiangma, why is it different?" The shi en tu is not the work of a gentleman. "
Kyo-niang replied, "Brother Takami, the concubine cannot repay the great virtue in this life, and dies as a ring knot grass." So Jingniang committed suicide by throwing herself into the lake, and Jingniang Lake got its name.
There is also a saying that after Zhao Kuangyin returned home to Jingniang, the brothers and sisters-in-law in the family talked about it and suspected that Jingniang had lost her body, and Jingniang, in anger, inscribed a poem on the wall: "When Tianfu did not meet the red face, he was insulted and deceived." Tonight the death of the prince, the name of each other can be known. Then he hanged himself.
I have always disagreed with the statement that Jingniang committed suicide, whether on the road or later at home, if she committed suicide, she would trap Zhao Kuangyin in unkindness and injustice. Presumably, JingNiang is also an extremely intelligent and beautiful girl with a strong personality, who has not sought death at the hands of gangsters, how can she commit suicide because she can't think straight? As long as Zhao Kuangyin is alive, it is a concern and an expectation for her, so the biggest possibility is to wait and wait for a long time.
The restoration of history is that after Jingniang and Zhao Kuangyin parted, they looked forward to it day by day, night and night, but the hope turned into disappointment year after year, disappointment and despair, and finally one day, she could not hold on, so she cut her hair and became a nun.
Therefore, when Zhao Kuangyin found her again, it was already many years after she was alone. At this time, Jingniang was already empty of the four majors, although Zhao Kuangyin repeatedly explained and persuaded, he could not melt her already cold heart, which should have been a long-lasting strange fate, but it had become a hatred for eternity.
Some people have questioned the authenticity of the story of sending Jingniang thousands of miles, and Wang Liqun of the Hundred Pulpits believes that the story is true and has a historical background, and he listed five bases, which are more convincing than the following three points:
According to the notes of the Northern Song Dynasty scholar Chen Shidao, (Houshan Tancong, vol. 5), Zhao Kuangyin had served in Taiyuan before becoming the emperor of the Great Song Dynasty.
According to the notes of the Song dynasty Zhu Ben (Zhu Xi's uncle), Zhao Kuangyin had the experience of serving or wandering in Puzhou.
The story of Zhao Kuangyin sending Jing Niang is a mixture
The notes of the Song people and the Song Dynasty's "Flying Dragon Record" and other documents were written, and the "Flying Dragon Record" was written by Zhao Pu, the prime minister of the Song Dynasty, which contains a lot of credible history.
Li Tao, the author of the "Continuation of the Zhizhi Tongjian Long Edition", once referred to this book.
Therefore, it can be inferred that this story exists in historical archetypes, and it is by no means made up out of thin air.
As for being later put on the stage, some of the details are of course less than the imagination and fabrication of later authors, as a work of art, in order to win the attention of the audience, adding branches and leaves, it will certainly be written more fragrantly and compassionately.
This story was later adapted into Kun opera, Peking Opera, Huai Opera and other opera versions, as a Yunnan native, I watched the Dian opera version of "Sending Jing Niang a Thousand Miles" when I was a child, and there was a sequel in the Dian Opera, called "Jing Niang Sending Brother", which said that after Jing Niang committed suicide in despair, she sought the mercy of the governor of the Yin Si Prefecture, and was able to turn into a firefly, guiding Zhao Kuangyin in the dark night of the mountains, and accompanying him until he found the organization.
Many people like to discuss why Zhao Kuangyin rejected Jingniang? In fact, the reason is very simple, at that time, Zhao Kuangyin was in trouble, wandering around, the future was uncertain, he could not give Jingniang a stable life, so he refused because of hesitation. Secondly, Zhao Kuangyin is not an ordinary person, he has great ambitions, which can be seen from his poems: "The sunrise and the future are bright and spicy, and thousands of mountains and rivers are like fire." Sue went up to the heavens, catching up with the remnants of the stars and catching up with the moon." How could a person who wrote such an imposing poem and had such lofty ambitions indulge in the private affairs of his children?
All the men in the world who have some skills are the first to put the career future first, love is a lifelong pursuit and fate for women, for men, especially heroes like Zhao Kuangyin, it is just an episode in life, not in an important position. But from jingniang lake, Zhao Du and other ruins, as well as Zhao Kuangyin's later posthumous sealing of Jingniang, we can know that Zhao Kuangyin is very nostalgic for Jingniang, at least, Jingniang is a wisp of red xia that cannot be erased in his youth, and it is his lifelong regret and guilt.