In the last year of the Qin Dynasty, when Liu Bang and Xiang Yu were struggling to overthrow the Qin Dynasty, a great change occurred in the northern steppe, and Mao Dun launched a coup d'état, shooting his father Man Shan Yu and becoming the new generation of The Xiongnu Shan Yu. Subsequently, Mao Dun set off a terrible wave of aggression, defeated the major forces in the north, and unified the steppe for the first time.
In the southern Chu-Han struggle for hegemony, Liu Bang defeated Xiang Yu and became the co-lord of Huaxia, establishing a second centralized unified dynasty, the Han Dynasty.
The Xiongnu of Mao dun represented the nomadic civilization, Liu Bang's Han Dynasty represented the agricultural civilization, the two different civilizations are difficult to reconcile, destined to clash, and the Battle of Han and Hungary also opened the prelude to the war between the Central Plains civilization and the nomadic civilization for more than 2,000 years. So, what kind of relationship should the Han Dynasty and the Xiongnu maintain, Ban Gu's "Book of Han" tends to the main battle, Sima Guang's "Zizhi Tongjian" tends to the main peace, then Sima Qian's "History" tends to the main war or the main peace?
The Battle of Han and Hungary began in the era of Liu Bang, before Emperor Wu of Han, the Han Dynasty has always adopted a policy of peace and pro-japanese, pursuing a defensive strategy, after Emperor Wu of Han came to power, the situation between Han and Hungary has undergone great changes, mainly divided into two stages:
The first stage was the successive victories, starting from the Battle of Mayi in 133 BC to the end of the Battle of Mobei in 119 BC, under the attacks of Wei Qing and Huo Zhiyi, the Han Dynasty won consecutive battles and the Xiongnu were defeated continuously. In 111 BC, Zhao Baonu served as the general of the Hun River, attacked the Xiongnu until the hun river, and could not see a single Xiongnu, so that Zhao Baonu returned without success, but also highlighted the glory of the Han Dynasty, and drew a perfect end to the first half of the Han-Hungarian War during the Period of Emperor Wu.
The second stage was a series of defeats, and after the end of the first half, the Han-Hungarian peace talks began for six years, and finally Emperor Wu of Han attacked the Xiongnu again, starting with the Battle of Junjishan in 103 BC and ending with Li Guangli's surrender to the Xiongnu in 90 BC. In the second half of the war, Zhao Baonu, Li Guangli and others were defeated again and again, and even Li Guangli later went deep into the desert north, resulting in the total annihilation of the army, allowing the Xiongnu to regain control of the desert north.
Sima Qian's "Records of History" began to be written in 104 BC and ended around 90 BC, so Sima Qian witnessed the victory and defeat of the Han-Hungarian War with his own eyes. So, as a witness of the times and an intellectual who worried about the country and the people, what attitude did he hold toward the Sino-Hungarian war?
Tai Shi Gong Yue: Kong Shi wrote the Spring and Autumn Period, the Hidden Huan between the Chapters, and the Time of Mourning was slight, and it was reckless for its relevant worldly texts, and the words of taboo were also taboo. The worldly huns will suffer from their temporary power, but they will be obedient to their words, so as to be biased and not to participate in themselves; they will lead the vast expanse of China, and they will be energetic, and the people will make decisions because of them, and they will not make deep achievements. Although Yao xian, xing career is not successful, and Yu and Kyushu Ning. And if you want to prosper the holy unity, you can only choose each other! Only the choice will be the same!
The general idea of this summary is that when Confucius wrote "Spring and Autumn", there are more records of Lu Yingong and Lu Dinggong, but the records of Lu Dinggong and Lu Wangong are more obscure, because the latter are almost in the same era as Confucius, have certain taboos (perhaps for the same reason, Sima Qian did not directly express his position on the Battle of Han and Hungary), and they did not have any dazzling achievements. Nowadays, many people want to gain a certain amount of power, and they mistakenly do not consider the actual situation of Han and Hungary, and Tianzi makes decisions according to their remarks, so "the achievements are not deep." Although Emperor Yao was virtuous, he could not rely on himself to complete the great cause, and only after getting Dayu did he let Kyushu Xianning. Therefore, if we want to carry forward the tradition of the Great Saint King, we must only choose to appoint the generals! It's just about choosing to appoint the general!
Lu Xun said in the "Diary of a Madman", "Otherwise, why does the dog of the Zhao family look at me twice?" Sima Qian's rare repetition of "only in the choice of the generals" shows that he believes that how to deal with the relationship between Han and Hungary is related to the general chosen by the Son of Heaven, but he did not explicitly say whether the general who should choose the main battle or the general who chose the main war. Of course, this was sima qian's inconvenience in directly criticizing Tianzi, but pushing the responsibility to the chancellor, just as he criticized Wang Qi for not being able to assist Qin Shi Huang in his moral government.
Obviously, from sima Qian's passage, we can see that he has neither the idea of "main battle" nor the idea of "main peace", and his attitude is relatively vague. However, in the light of Confucius's "Spring and Autumn", as well as the criticism of the people at the time to "not participate in each other", and not to consider the actual situation of Han and Hungary (which led to successive fiascos in the second half of the Han-Hungarian War), Sima Qian seemed to be more inclined to the idea of "lord and peace" when writing the "Biography of the Xiongnu".
In his later years, Emperor Wu of Han was defeated against the Xiongnu, resulting in the collapse of the domestic economy, and the Han Empire had reached the eve of collapse, and if it continued, it would be like the Qin Dynasty of that year, so it was forced to do so, and in 89 BC, Emperor Wu of Han issued the "Wheel Of Taiwan Commandment", acknowledging that the most urgent task at that time was to recuperate. It can be said that if it were not for the later rule of Zhaoxuan for the continuation of the Western Han Dynasty, Emperor Wudi of the Han Dynasty might have been a sinner of the Western Han Dynasty, or even a king of the subjugated country. Under such severe circumstances, when Sima Qian reflected on the Battle of Han and Hungary in the second half, he had a certain idea of "lord and peace", which was actually normal; if the Han army continued to win consecutive battles, Sima Qian might not think so, as can be explained by a record of deeds before the fiasco in the "Records of History".
Under the fierce offensive of the Han army, the Xiongnu were defeated in successive battles, and when they took the initiative to ask the Han Dynasty for peace, Emperor Wu of Han summoned a group of courtiers to consult, and the "Biography of the Cool Officials" recorded that Dr. Di Shan advocated peace and relatives, believing that although he was humiliated, he could exchange money and peace with peace, which could make the world peaceful and the people happy, which was a great thing, and in contrast to the current long-term war, which led to the poverty of the people and the collapse of the domestic economy, it was better to be friendly and pro-family.
Therefore, Emperor Wudi of Han asked Di Shan, "If I send you to govern a county, can I stop the Xiongnu?" Di Shan said, "No. Emperor Wu asked, "What about the county?" Di Shan said, "No. Emperor Wu then asked, "What about Yi Yan (the village of the border fortress)?" Di Shan was afraid, so he replied, "Yes." After that, Emperor Wu sent Di Shan to govern a border plug, and after more than a month, the Xiongnu attacked and beheaded Di Shan. Finally, Sima Qian added: "Since then, the group of subjects has been shocked. ”
This was a confrontation between the "main peace faction" and the "main war faction" of the Han Dynasty, and in the end, Emperor Wu of Han proved with practical actions that it was difficult to make peace between Han and Hungary at that time, as evidenced by the beheaded Di Shan.
The interesting thing is that if Sima Qian's master and faction, perhaps there is no need to record this deed in such detail, you can use the Spring and Autumn brushwork - "Emperor Wu sent Di Shan to guard the border" brush stroke, but Sima Qian recorded in detail the troubles of the lord and the faction, which undoubtedly shows that he does not agree with the main and the faction, and seems to be more inclined to the main war faction.
It is neither the "main battle" nor the "main peace", so will Sima Qian be a wall-riding faction? In fact, Sima Qian's attitude was very simple, that is, the four words he used when criticizing the main war faction in the later period - "do not participate in each other", and in turn, "participate in each other".
Since Liu Bang, the Xiongnu have continued to violate the border, which not only made the people of the Han Dynasty miserable, but also the siege and pro-peace policy of Bai Deng, which also humiliated the Han Dynasty incomparably, so Emperor Wu of Han counterattacked the Xiongnu's decision, and Sima Qian did not oppose it. After achieving a brilliant victory in the first half, they should "join each other", because the Han Dynasty consumed a lot of strength, the country should have entered the stage of recuperation, and other means could be taken against the Xiongnu, not necessarily a tough military attack, but many magnates for personal interests, constantly instigated or echoed the Han Wudi Emperor to continue to send troops to attack the Xiongnu, so that a series of fiascos in the second half and the further collapse of the domestic economy.
In the final analysis, Sima Qian did not oppose war, nor did he oppose peace, and the crux of the matter was to "participate in each other" and decide whether to fight or peace according to the actual situation of Han and Hungary. Therefore, Sima Qian criticized the main battle magnates at that time in the "Biography of the Xiongnu", but in the "Biography of the Cool Officials", he implicitly criticized the Lord and Di Shan.
More importantly, Emperor Wu of Han was preceded by the "Rule of Wenjing", followed by the "Rule of Zhaoxuan", the former accumulating a material foundation for Emperor Wu of Han, and the latter smoothing the wounds of the Battle of Han and Hungary, so the Battle of Han and Hungary during the Period of Emperor Wu of Han was a victory worthy of praise. However, if there is no "rule of Zhaoxuan", Emperor Wudi of han may be a king of the fallen country, just like the Sui Emperor in later generations.
When Ban Gu wrote the Book of Han, he saw the victory of Emperor Wudi of Han from the height of history, so he gave Han Wudi of Han a high evaluation. However, Sima Qian could not see the "rule of Zhaoxuan" behind him, in the face of the withered people's livelihood and countless displaced people, he did not know where the Han Empire would go and what the end would be, so it was difficult to give a positive praise to the Han-Hungarian war, and could only leave a reflection on "only choosing the generals" and "participating in each other".
Unlike Sima Qian and Ban Gu, Sima Guang's era not only emphasized literature over martial arts, but he also vigorously opposed Wang Anshi's change of law and Wang Shao's expansion of thousands of miles, and later he also had to "return" the territory laid by Wang Shao to Western Xia, so he bitterly criticized Emperor Wu of Han for exhausting his military and military force, and was more inclined to negotiate peace with the Xiongnu.