Since the Song and Yuan dynasties, novels and dramas with the theme of the Yang family have been colorful and competing for beauty. In these legendary stories, there is always a noble-looking, upright, and outspoken Eight Sages King, holding a golden hammer, beating the emperor up and beating the traitors, who is the representative of justice and the embodiment of morality in the dprk, and is deeply loved by the common people. He cleverly maneuvered between the emperor and the Yang family generals, often in times of crisis, stepped forward to help the Yang family generals through the crisis, and brought the traitors to justice. So, is there really such a virtuous prince in history? Or, is there a historical basis for that? Which historical figure is he incarnating?
In the novel opera, the Eight Sages first offered a counter-plan when Emperor Taizong of Song led an army to attack Taiyuan in the fourth year of the Taiping Revival (979), and then sent emissaries to say that Yang Ye had surrendered. Seven years later, Yang Ye was victimized by the traitors and martyred on the battlefield, She Taijun and Yang Yanzhao went to the imperial court to file a complaint, demanding that the culprit be punished, but the traitor Pan Renmei bit back, fortunately, the Eight Sages King was on the side to help, and finally put Pan Renmei to justice. After Yang Yanzhao became a general, his subordinate colonels violated the law, and Song Zhenzong, provoked by the traitors, wanted to strictly deal with Yanzhao, and the Eight Sages arrived in time to request the imperial court to send yanzhao lightly with Yanzhao's military merits, and finally got Zhenzong's permission.
Soon after the border affairs were urgent, the Eight Sages King asked for a pardon, Yang Yanzhao put on the battle robes, recruited troops to go north to cut down the Liao, and finally, Liu Lang led the army to a great victory, banshi returned to the dynasty, and captured the traitors, with the assistance of the Eight Sages King, the traitors were brought to justice. Yang Yanzhao died of illness during the reign of Emperor Zhenzong, and soon after, the Eight Sages also relapsed from the old disease and returned to heaven.
In many novels and operas, the name of the Eight Sages King is written as Zhao Defang. Zhao Defang was the fourth son of Zhao Kuangyin, the grandfather of the Song Dynasty. The "Biography of the Song Dynasty" records that during the reign of Taizu, Feng Defang was Xingyuan Yin, The Envoy of Shannan's Western Province, and Tongping Zhangshi. Later, he was crowned as a lieutenant of the inspection school. After Emperor Taizong ascended the throne, in the sixth year of the Taiping Revival (981), "Sleeping sick, year 23" (History of Song, vol. 244, "Biography of Zhao Defang").
That is to say, Zhao Defang died inexplicably in his sleep in 981, and he was only twenty-three years old. At this time, it was only two short years before Yang Ye returned to the Song Dynasty (the fourth year of the Taiping Revival, that is, in 979), and many of the deeds of the Eight Sages in the Yang family's speech occurred after Yang Ye's death, so from a time point of view, it is impossible to be the work of this long-deceased prince.
Moreover, from the perspective of small rankings, Taizu Zhao Kuangyin has four sons, and Zhao Defang is the youngest of Taizu's four sons, that is, ranking fourth, not eighth. Judging from the big ranking, Zhao Kuangyin, Zhao Kuangyi, and Zhao Guangmei were three brothers, Zhao Kuangyin was 12 years older than KuangYi and 20 years older than Guangmei, among the sons of the three brothers, Zhao Defang was born in 959, and Zhao Yuanzuo, the eldest son of Emperor Taizong Zhao Guangyi (formerly known as Kuangyi, changed to Guangyi to avoid Taizu), was born in 961, Zhao Defang was older than Zhao Yuanzuo, older than Taizong's other sons and Zhao Guangmei's sons, so in the big ranking, Zhao Defang is still fourth and will not rank eighth. In addition, after Zhao Defang's death, Emperor Taizong of Song posthumously honored him as the King of Qi, later changed his name to King of Chu, and at the end of the Northern Song Dynasty, Emperor Huizong changed his title to King of Qin. In summary, the title of "Eight Sages King" in the Yang family has almost nothing to do with Zhao Defang. So, why does the opera novel say that Zhao Defang is the Eight Sages?
Some people believe that the Eight Sages are the embodiment of Zhao Defang's brother Zhao Dezhao. According to the Song Shi Zong family biography, Zhao Dezhao was taizu's second son, and because of the early death of his brother TengWang Dexiu, he was considered the legitimate heir to the throne. Zhao Dezhao was intelligent and heroic, and his joy was not in shape, and he was loved and trusted by Taizu, and once "gave Jin Jian a handle, such as the lawless genus must be specially condemned." The Eight Sages King in the Yang family's story often holds a golden hammer in his hand, which can fight the emperor and the traitor, which seems to be quite similar to this prince.
In October of the ninth year of Kaibao (976), Song Taizu died inexplicably in the "Shadow of the Axe Candle", and his brother Zhao Guangyi took the throne by improper means, so Zhao Dezhao lost his honorable throne. Although after Zhao Guangyi ascended the throne, he made Zhao Dezhao the king of Wugong County, ranking above the prime minister, but just to cover up his own improper position, to show the people of the world, but in his heart he had a deep wariness against this big nephew, and always wanted to find an opportunity to reject.
In the fourth year of the Taiping Revival (979), Emperor Taizong of Song sent an army to Youzhou, and in the course of the war, Emperor Taizong suddenly disappeared, and the ministers could not find the emperor for a while, and some people proposed to make Zhao Dezhao emperor. Later, Zhao Guangyi was found, and when Emperor Taizong learned of this, he held a grudge against Zhao Dezhao. After Banshi returned to the dynasty, Emperor Taizong did not pay the reward of the Northern Expedition for a long time, and the generals complained in their hearts, so Zhao Dezhao persuaded Emperor Taizong to reward the generals, but Emperor Taizong was furious and said to Zhao Dezhao: "Wait for Ru to do it for yourself, and the reward is not too late." (History of the Song Dynasty, vol. 244, Biography of Zhao Dezhao)
This sentence was said very seriously, which actually exposed Zhao Guangyi's fear that Zhao Dezhao would seize the throne with himself. After this incident, Zhao Dezhao knew that he had been deeply jealous of Emperor Taizong, so he returned to the palace in fear to take a fruit knife and commit suicide. When Zhao Dezhao committed suicide, Yang Ye had just returned to the Song Dynasty, and Dezhao should not have any relationship with the Yang family, let alone repeatedly saving the Yang family general in the future. Therefore, the Eight Sages king among the Yang family generals should not be Zhao Dezhao.
However, people expressed deep sympathy for the prince who lost his throne and died of death, so they let him evolve into a just and selfless King of the Eight Sages. Coupled with the fact that when Taizu was alive, he had given him the privilege of "being punished if he was lawless", and the "Eight Sages King" in the Yang family had exactly a golden hammer in his hand, which was used to punish the Emperor and beat up traitors, so the "Eight Sages King" as the embodiment of Zhao Dezhao seemed to have a certain source. But the problem is that Zhao Dezhao, whether in the big or small ranks, is not the eighth in the rankings, and moreover, after his death, he was posthumously awarded the title of King of Wei and later renamed the King of Yan, if he is the embodiment of the just forces in the dynasty, why should he use the inappropriate title of "Eight Sages King"?
It is also believed that the Eight Sages refer to Emperor Taizong's eighth son, Zhao Yuanyu, and according to historical records, Yuanyu did have the title of "Eight Kings". In his notebook novel "Harmonious History", the Song Dynasty shen li said that he was "born and enlightened, broad and abundant, inviolable, famous and famous, and a child who cries at night, and his family will be shocked: 'The eight kings have come.'" Emperor Taizong doted on him very much, and every dynasty would feast and serve more.
Zhao Yuanyu was born in the second year of Emperor Taizong of Song (985) and died of illness in the fourth year of the reign of Emperor Renzong of Song (1044) at the age of sixty. When Yang Ye returned to the Song Dynasty (979), he was not yet born, so how could he use the anti-plot to promote Yang Ye's surrender? When Yang Ye was martyred (986), he was only a year old, just a baby, how could he help the Yang family to deal with the traitors? He was twenty-seven years younger than Yang Yanzhao, that is, he was a generation away from Yang Yanzhao's son Yang Wenguang, which in any way did not conform to the image of the Eight Sages in the novel opera.
Moreover, according to the historical records, Yuan Yu was a person who was deeply obscure, often closed the door, did not predict the government, and only liked to read, write articles, practice calligraphy in his life, and "quite good at the book of the two kings, Gong Feibai". (History of the Song Dynasty, vol. 245, "Biography of Zhao Yuanyu") This kind of personality is not much like the eight sages of the Yang family's generals, who are upright and do not have the courtesy of eliminating adultery and evil. Looking through the song dynasty's official history, wild history, and notes, I can't find any record of the relationship between the eight kings and the Yang family. It can be said that this Eight Great Kings, whether in their life or in their personality, will not be the prototype of the Eight Sages in the story of the Yang family.
The traditional Peking Opera play "He Hou Scolding Hall" tells such a story: He Hou was the empress of Song Taizu, because the cause of Taizu's death was unknown, he ordered his eldest son Zhao Dezhao to go to the temple to question Taizong, but was reprimanded by Emperor Taizong, and Dezhao crashed into the temple pillar and died. He Hou took her second son Defang to the temple and scolded Zhao Guangyi for being unkind. Emperor Taizong had no choice but to apologize to his sister-in-law, give her the Sword of Shangfang, and crown Defang as the "Eight Sages King", and the mother and son of He Hou left in tears. This is probably the origin of Zhao Defang's title of "Eight Sages King", and people, out of sympathy for orphans and widows, imagined Zhao Defang as the embodiment of the righteous forces in the DPRK. However, this record does not appear in the History of the Song Dynasty and the notes of the Song Dynasty.
By the time of Emperor Xiaozong of the Southern Song Dynasty, the situation had changed. Emperor Gaozong of Song died prematurely and had no children in his later years, so at the suggestion of his ministers, he adopted Emperor Xiaozong Zhao as his adopted son. Emperor Xiaozong's initial name was Bo Zhen ,later changed his name to Zhao Zhen (赵瑗), and after Emperor Gaozong, he was renamed Zhao Xuan (赵昚). He was a very accomplished emperor during the Southern Song Dynasty, during his reign, he was politically clear-cut, socially stable, light on thin endowments, developed production, advocated economy, and actively rehabilitated Yue Fei.
If it is said that from the Time of Emperor Taizong of the Northern Song Dynasty to the time of Emperor Gaozong of the Southern Song Dynasty, the power of the Song Dynasty has always been in the hands of Emperor Taizong Zhao Guangyi's family, and people have some scruples and dare not make public the secrets of these things that touch on Emperor Taizong, then since emperor Xiaozong of the Southern Song Dynasty, the regime has returned to the Taizu line, at this time, out of sympathy for the psychology of Taizu Zhao Kuangyin, it is entirely possible to record it in the historical records, even if it is not described in the canonical history, it can also be mentioned in the notes of the history of the wild. For example, the "Axe Candle Shadow", which involves the suspicion of seizing the throne, was originally recorded by the Northern Song Dynasty monk Wen Ying in his notebook novel "Xiangshan Wild Record", but because Wen Ying lived during the reign of the Northern Song Dynasty's Taizong lineage, even monks who were monks could not avoid having some scruples, so the record of this matter was glittering, if there was none.
However, by the time of Emperor Xiaozong of the Southern Song Dynasty, the Taizu clan regained power, so the famous historian Li Tao transferred the theory of "axe sound candle shadow" to his famous historical work "Continuation of Zizhi TongjianChang", and wrote the suspicion that Emperor Taizong was not correct in his position. Since then, The Song Taizu Zhao Kuangyin died inexplicably in the "Axe Candle Shadow", and the suspicion that Zhao Guangyi was in the wrong position was widely spread among the people, and people still have different opinions and endless discussions. However, Emperor Taizong Zhao Guangyi's character was far less than that of his brother Zhao Kuangyin, and after coming to power, he spared no effort to persecute Taizu's two sons, so that people deeply sympathized with Taizu and his descendants, and also expressed a certain hatred for Emperor Taizong, so they fabricated that Taizu's descendants held gold hammers in their hands, beat up the emperor, and beat the traitors, so as to make up for people's psychological shortcomings.
From this point of view, the image of the "Eight Sages King" is likely to have been fictionalized at first on the basis of people's sympathy for Taizu and his second son, people feel that Taizu was heroic and wise, founded the world, but he died in the "axe candle shadow", and after his death, Jiangshan did not pass into the hands of his sons, but was sought by Emperor Taizong by improper means, and his two sons were finally persecuted to death by Emperor Taizong, so the hearts of the people were quite unfair to Taizu.
And feudal society also takes "father death and son succession" as the orthodoxy of the imperial succession system, and Emperor Taizong's brother-in-law is no longer in line with the ethical principles of feudal orthodoxy, and there is also the suspicion of killing brothers and killing nephews and taking the throne, so the literati who have orthodox concepts and sympathize with Taizu's lineage have fabricated an image of "Eight Sages" as the embodiment of Taizu's son. In accordance with the privilege of "if the law is not punished" given by Taizu during his lifetime, the power of Emperor Taizong and his children and grandchildren can be restrained, so as to comfort people's unbalanced psychology of the Taizu family losing the world.
In short, the appearance of the "Eight Sages King" in the story of the Yang family increased the dramatic conflict in the struggle of political forces in the imperial court, met the psychological requirements of people to revere loyal subjects and punish power traitors, and also made up for people's psychological needs for Taizu's family to complain. It can be said that the image of "The Eight Sages King" is a fictional character that combines some anecdotes of the imperial court and the relevant emotional renderings of the people, and then undergoes artistic processing by playwrights and novelists. And the golden hammer he was holding could even be used to defeat the Emperor, which actually reflected people's resistance to the supreme imperial power.
It should be pointed out that when we read historical novels or dramas, or when we appreciate historical movies and TV series, we must have a certain reserve of historical knowledge and historical discernment, so that we can have a correct understanding of the characters in them, and we cannot completely correspond the characters in novels, dramas, movies or TV series with historical prototypes, and mistakenly think that this is the historical prototype. If so, it will appear ignorant.
For example, among the Yang family generals, Pan Renmei's prototype is the famous song general Pan Mei, who is a founding hero, morality, conduct, and merit, which are fully affirmed in the various histories of the Song Dynasty, but in the literary works with the theme of the Yang family, they are portrayed as a traitor. This is seriously inconsistent with historical facts and deserves our attention and discernment.
For another example, in the Yang family's literary themes, from Yang Ye to Yang Wenguang, there are four generations. Yang Ye's son was Yang Yanzhao, Yanzhao's son was Zongbao, and Zongbao's son was Wenguang. However, in the main history, there are only three generations, and Yang Yanzhao's son is Yang Wenguang, not Zongbao. It can be seen that Yang Zongbao is a fictional character in literary works. After all, literary works are different from historical facts, and can allow certain processing, and even make some fiction to enhance the twists and turns of the story, the complexity, and enhance the attractiveness of the work. However, history books should be rigorous and conform to historical facts. This is something we need to pay more attention to when reading literary works and history books.