introduction:
The high school Chinese teacher with the pen is a Cao Zhi "iron fan".
Under the popularization of the teacher's language (strong), heavy (force), heart (pressure) and long (system), The Pen once recited many works of Cao Zhi with a sad face.
The reason is not him - it is really too hard to carry!
Therefore, after walking out of the high school door, The Cao Zhi who was memorized at that time, like the graduation commemorative book, could not be found at any time.
But there is a poem that still leaves a deep impression on the pen -
Under Cao Zhi's pen, the image of a "ranger" who is tough and healthy and fights for the country jumps on the paper, and for a long time, this teenager who "sacrificed his body to go to the country and saw death as a sudden return" constituted the standard image of "chivalrous" in the heart of the pen.
However, in the real history of the Three Kingdoms, many "Rangers", for different reasons, have embarked on very different paths. In the end, these young people, who were once proud of being "Renxia", became completely different in the baptism of the chaotic world.
First, the origin and essence of the "Ranger"
For those born after the 70s and 80s, the concept of "chivalrous" comes from Jin Yong, Gu Long, Wen Rui'an... and comes from the colorful martial arts movies and TV series.
The chivalrous characters in Hong Kong films have filled the memories of generations
Therefore, in the minds of many people, only those martial arts masters who are "dressed in white like snow, come and go like the wind, spend money like earth, and are happy to take revenge" can bear the title of "chivalrous guest". If you add a little feeling of serving the country and the people, you can be regarded as the "great hero".
But looking back at the real history, we will find that the "rangers" in history are not the same thing as the "martial arts" in the minds of the public.
In the existing historical materials, the earliest definition of "hero" is "Han Feizi"——
From these accounts, we can see several problems:
First, the "heroes" of the pre-Qin period refer to those who have "mortal soldiers" under their command, and have no half-cent relationship with the level of martial arts.
They had both the unfettered power to hide the "forbidden ones" and the financial resources to feed them, in other words, these "first knights" were nobles of the various princely states.
According to this standard, the person who could be called a "hero" at that time was at least a figure of the level of "Four Princes of the Warring States". And the ones we are familiar with are Zhuanzhu, Nie Zheng, Jing Ke... These white-bladed, blood-spattered five-step characters simply could not reach the threshold of "hero", which is why Sima Qian included them in the "Assassin Biography".
The Jing Ke in the Han Dynasty portrait stone stabs the King of Qin
Second, the main purpose of these "heroes" in recruiting a large number of dead soldiers is to "show their prestige" and serve their own interests.
Although Han Fei's thesis is suspected of "overturning a group of people with one pole", if you carefully study the deeds of these "heroes", it is not all wronged -
In the Chronicle of History. In the biography of Meng Tianjun, there was once recorded such an event: when Meng Tianjun passed by the Zhao Kingdom, many Zhao guo people who had heard of Meng Tianjun's name heard the news and rushed to watch, and the scene was quite spectacular.
Portrait of Meng Yijun
However, when they saw Meng Tianjun's appearance, these "fans" were quite dissatisfied: "I thought that Xue Gong (Meng Tianjun Fengyi was in Xue Di) was a great husband, and now when I look at it, it is actually a small dwarf!" For a moment, the scene "barrage" flew wildly, almost drowning Meng Tianjun in saliva.
Meng Tianjun, who heard these comments, was quite angry, and when the doorman next to him saw that the master was humiliated, he rolled up his sleeves and personally "tore the fans" - "the guests went down with the clubs, killed hundreds of people, and destroyed a county." ”
However, after being ridiculed for two sentences, the practice of Meng Tianjun and his disciples, not to mention chivalry, is not excessive to call them "anti-human elements".
In the Qin and Han dynasties, with the establishment of the Great Unification Dynasty, many "sword-wielding men" who were originally attached to the nobles of various countries were displaced into the city, constituting the main body of the "rangers" in the Qin and Han communication period.
These "Rangers" have no other skills than bravery and fierceness, so they either surrender to the princes or the powerful people, or they form groups and use the side-door left ways such as "attacking and burying the vertebrae, robbing people and committing adultery" as a source of livelihood.
Among these people, although there are also excellent representatives such as the Zhu family, Ju Meng, Guo Xie, and other qualities such as "selfish righteousness, honesty, and concessions", the vast majority of the "rangers" survive by "concurrently serving envoys and invading the fishermen and small people", and are the "jackals of the people" who run rampant in the city (Book of Han. Biography of Wang Zun))
Therefore, even Sima Qian, who praised the "Rangers", had to admit that what most of the "Rangers" did was "contrary to justice". (The Chronicle of History. Ranger Chronicles)
Second, the decline and revival of the "Ranger"
As mentioned earlier, the "Ranger" group has become a typical social instability factor for the rulers, and with it, the "thunder means".
According to historical records, from the time of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the emperors of the Western Han Dynasty held a high-pressure attitude of "preferring to kill by mistake and not let go" for the "rangers". With the support of the emperors, local officials also regarded the "Ranger" as a key target, and for a time, the "Ranger" became a "high-risk profession":
In addition to vigorous crackdowns, the Western Han Dynasty also adopted policies such as conscripting rangers to join the army and forcibly relocating Haojie from all over the world, and the social foundation on which the "rangers" depended for their survival was shaken. Especially with the in-depth implementation of policies such as the "Tui En Order" and the "Salt and Iron Official Camp", the political and economic strength of the princes in various places has become smaller and smaller, and they are no longer able to raise a large number of guests, which fundamentally compresses the living space of the "Ranger".
By the time of the Eastern Han Dynasty, although the founding emperor Liu Xiu himself, he often "died and died in Zang" in his youth (Book of later Han. Cool Officials Biography"), as a ranger, he relied on the founding heroes, such as Wu Han, Dou Rong, Li Tong, Wang Chang, etc., when they were young, they were also "ranger origins", but since the founding of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the "rangers" were still focused on suppressing, quite a bit of "turning their faces and not recognizing people".
The image of Liu Xiu in film and television dramas
However, even under the high-pressure policy, the Rangers have not completely disappeared. They have transformed themselves, or become assassins who cut off dissidents by high-ranking officials, or become "private soldiers" of rich landlords, waiting for the opportunity to revive again in the cracks of society.
After more than a hundred years, this time has finally arrived.
At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the world was in chaos, and the imperial court was almost useless for the local hao clan, and there was no control at all. Under such circumstances, the powerful landlords and separatist forces in various places have openly expanded their private armed forces with the intention of dominating the world.
Since they are private armed forces, those "Rangers" with courage and courage have naturally become the objects of attention and solicitation of these powerful people. According to the Romance of the Three Kingdoms. According to the biography of Xu Chu, during the Yellow Turban Rebellion, Xu Chu once recruited a large number of disciples to defend against the intrusion of Liu Kou, and when he was placed under Cao Cao's command, these disciples under him naturally turned into Cao Cao's guard forbidden army, and were particularly valued by Cao Cao, "After that, dozens of people were given the title of general with merit... All swordsmen also".
At the same time, many ambitious heroes also use "Ranger" behavior to enhance their reputation in order to gain greater influence. Therefore, in the historical materials of this period, the word "Renxia" has become the most common character label:
Under such circumstances, countless young "Rangers" took advantage of the situation and showed their fists and feet on the stage of the chaotic world, and an era that belonged to them began.
Third, the level and transmutation of the "Ranger"
In the movie "Infernal Affairs", Liu Jianming has a classic line: "Before I didn't have to choose, now I want to be a good person." ”
The classic confrontation in Infernal Affairs
Similarly, the "Rangers" who used to live in the shadow of society, when they came to the foreground, found that the world was wide and there were many choices that could be made.
But as Xun Yue, a famous scholar of this period, said: "The basis of the Ranger ... In the right way, it is called Wuyi, and what is lost is even if it is a thief" (Han Ji), when the Rangers make different choices, they naturally have a difference between high and low, divided into three, six, nine and so on.
According to Xun Yue, the lowest-level "rangers" are those who are mixed in the green forest and thieves, and are the one who is the evil party. For example, Gan Ning, who is very popular in the "Three Kingdoms Powder", once rolled in the green forest in his youth, gathered a group of plagiarized teenagers, and wuthered the township, doing all the moneyless business.
After that, although Gan Ning was transferred to the army and joined Huang Zu's hands, he could not be reused for three years, I am afraid that it was inseparable from his previous resume.
Ganning in the game
Like Han Xian and Yang Fengzhi, they gathered a large number of displaced people and attacked and plundered everywhere, although they could dominate one side in a short period of time, but in the end they could not last long and could not end well.
More "Rangers" than they did, choosing the path of serving the Lord and establishing their exploits. Lu Su, a famous minister of the Three Kingdoms generation, before defecting to Sun Wu, was a figure who "gathered young people and gave them food and clothing", went around shooting and hunting, and was regarded as a loser by his father and elders in his hometown.
However, when the war in Zhongyuan was in full swing, Lu Su keenly discovered the geographical advantages of the Jiangdong region, led the clan to move south en masse, and presented Sun Quan with a strategic plan to conquer the world - "the strategy on the bed". Accurate situation judgment and long-term strategic vision have made Lu Su the leader among the "Rangers".
Lu Su in the film and television drama
However, from the perspective of the "Rangers" themselves, the "Rangers" represented by Lu Su and others have not departed from the traditional path of relying on the powerful and strong in order to develop, and their independent personality and extravagant style that originally had a "chivalrous spirit" have gradually disappeared in the transformation to the ruling class.
So, what kind of "Ranger" can be counted as superior?
In the view of the pen, there are two types of "rangers" that can be remembered by posterity as real "heroes" -
The first category is the "clothed warrior" among the small officials in the city.
In romance of the Three Kingdoms. In the biography of Jia Kui, there was a "cloth man" who appeared. According to records, when Jia Kui was a county official, he was captured by Guo Yuan, a general of Yuan Shangbu, and was imprisoned in an earthen cellar in Huguan, with wheels pressed on the mouth of the cellar, and he could be killed at any time.
On the verge of death, although Jia Kui's bones were hard, he couldn't help but feel uneasy and sighed, "Aren't there any good men here?" I watched the righteous die here! ”
Jia Kui's words were heard by a young official named Zhu Gongdao. That night, the young official secretly rescued Jia Kui, but did not tell his name, until Guo Yuan was broken by Zhong Xuan, Jia Kui did not know the identity of his savior.
Such a "clothed warrior" as Zhu Gongdao was not unique in the Three Kingdoms period at the end of the Han Dynasty. In the "Wei Luo" written by the Wei state historian Yu Feng, it is also recorded that Sun Binshuo, a beihai commoner who dared to oppose eunuchs and hide loyal subjects; Yang Aruo, a Jiuquan man who liked to solve people's grievances; Zhi Xiao, a jingzhao man who rescued civilians from thieves; and so on.
Although the "rangers" among these civilians have no vigorous deeds, they can really be called a "hero" when they help themselves to solve difficulties and sacrifice themselves for others.
The second type of people are the celebrities who integrate "chivalrous bones" and "Confucianism".
As mentioned earlier, after the founding of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the study of scripture became popular and became the orthodox learning of the Eastern Han Dynasty. After a long period of mutual influence, the qualities of "eager justice and good righteousness" on the "Ranger" were integrated with the Confucian integrity of "poor and untouchable, mighty and unyielding", and finally created a large number of celebrity groups of "although there are tens of millions of people, I am going to die".
Mencius's theory became the life creed of the famous scholars at the end of the Han Dynasty
In the two "disasters of the party" at the end of the Han Dynasty, the famous Yingchuan scholar Chen Yu, at the critical juncture when everyone was fleeing and taking refuge, took the initiative to surrender to prison, causing the eunuchs to throw rat traps, and protected a large number of people who were imprisoned by Zhu Lian with his own reputation; Xun Shuang, known as the head of the "Eight Dragons of the Xun Clan", was heavily used by Dong Zhuo and ascended to the high position of the "Three Dukes" only ninety-five days after entering the army, but after seeing Dong Zhuo's tyranny, he still secretly planned to get rid of Dong Zhuo; Xi Yuansheng, a famous scholar of Jingzhao, often advised Kong Rong to pay attention to words and deeds, and when Kong Rong was killed by Cao Cao, Everyone avoided it in time, but Xi Yuansheng went to mourn alone, without the slightest fear of angering Cao Cao...
Although the behavior of these celebrities is not necessarily conducive to the progress of the times, they inherit the heroic temperament of "sacrificing their lives for righteousness" from the "Ranger" group, which constitutes an important part of the Confucian scholar-doctor culture. Chinese culture and wind and bone have been extinct for thousands of years, and they really have their share of credit.
postscript:
Rangers arose in the pre-Qin Dynasty, fell silent in the Two Han Dynasties, and later became popular during the Wei and Jin Dynasties. Although this group in history is mixed with fish and dragons and mud and sand, the spirit and quality they have left behind are still timeless and desirable after a thousand years.
What other Ranger stories do you know about the Three Kingdoms period? Welcome to leave a message in the comment area!
Reference: Han Feizi
Historia
Book of Han
Book of the Later Han Dynasty
Romance of the Three Kingdoms
The Han Dynasty
"Wei Luo"
"On the Keeper"
"Reading through the Theory"
《Rizhilu》