【Chairman Mao comments on the Emperors of the Han Dynasty】
In Chinese history, Emperor Liu Che of the Han Dynasty was a very accomplished emperor, and successive dynasties also spoke highly of him.
Ban Gu commented in the Book of Han as "a man of great talent", Cao Zhi also said that he was "a hundred kings of merit", and Li Shimin said: "In modern times, the only ones who have settled the frontier are the Qin Emperor and Han Wu." ”
Mr. Xia Zengyou, a modern historian, also commented: "When Emperor Wu was a very strong world in China, the one who was called the lord in ancient and modern times was known as the Qin Emperor Han Wu. He also called him "Emperor of the Hundred Dynasties", which means that the merits of Liu Che during his lifetime were not only the influence on the dynasties at that time, but also the influence of many later dynasties.
Chairman Mao was familiar with reading history books all his life, so how did he evaluate Emperor Wudi of Han?
One day in 1957, Chairman Mao said in a conversation with Wu Lengxi, the head of the People's Daily: "After Gao Zu, historians praised it as the rule of Wenjing, but in fact, emperors of Wen and Jing were conservative kings and incompetent people, and there was nothing to praise for the so-called 'Xiao Gui Cao Sui'. However, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was a man of great talent, pioneering Liu Bang's achievements, and in his later years, he knew the shortcomings of luxury, martial arts, and alchemists, and he made a decree on his own sins, which was a prosperous world. ”
In this appraisal, Chairman Mao not only affirmed emperor Wudi's martial arts and martial arts, but also praised emperor Wudi's courage and practice in promulgating the "edict of sin and self- righteousness" in his later years.
In March 1965, Chairman Mao, in a conversation with the staff, added: "If I remember correctly, Emperor Wudi of the Han Dynasty was the first emperor to promulgate the Edict of Sin and Self, and the effect of sin and self has a great impact on future generations. ”
In addition, chairman Mao's famous poem "Qinyuan Spring and Snow" also mentions Emperor Wu of Han and writes down the words "Cherish the Qin Emperor Han Wu, slightly lose the literary style". This sentence contains two meanings, one is to praise the merits of Qin Shi Huang and Emperor Wu of Han, and the other is to write a little regret, that is, they are still slightly inferior in literary style.
Of course, Chairman Mao could not have made a detailed evaluation of the life of the emperor and general in a single poem, but only grasped the most important problem and pointed it out in an artistic way. In fact, Emperor Liu Che of the Han Dynasty had many meritorious deeds in history, as well as many shortcomings and deficiencies, which was also the reason why he "sinned against himself" in his later years.
On the whole, Chairman Mao still had great respect and respect for Emperor Wudi of Han, and Emperor Wudi of Han did have many praiseworthy places, created many firsts, and had a great impact on future generations.
First of all, Emperor Wudi of the Han Dynasty "deposed a hundred families and respected Confucianism alone", which formed a unity from the national level to the development of cultural and educational undertakings and the common psychological pursuit of various ethnic groups, and became an epoch-making historical event.
In addition, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was the first to establish the TaixueFu, equivalent to the current university, and launched a series of Confucian education to cultivate high-level talents and accumulate a power base for social development.
In addition, Emperor Wudi of the Han Dynasty was the first emperor to expand his territory, and in the north, he expelled the Xiongnu and built the Great Wall; in the west, he sent Zhang Qian to the western region to set up the western region capital protectorate; in the south, he destroyed the South Vietnamese state, and so on, which greatly expanded China's territory.
What Chairman Mao admired most was this groundbreaking domineering spirit of Emperor Wudi of the Han Dynasty, which was reflected in his favorite poems.
Chairman Mao loved to read Li He's poems, and in addition to liking Li He's talent, he preferred his rebellious consciousness of not superstitious feudal emperors.
Li He wrote in the "Golden Copper Immortal Ci Han Song": "Maoling Liu Lang autumn wind guest, night smell horse hissing dawn heavenly traces. In the "Bitter Day Short", it is written: "Liu Che Zang Ling has many stagnant bones, and The coffin of Ying Zheng Zi fei abalone." In the poem, Emperor Wu of han is directly referred to as "Liu Lang, Liu Che".
In this regard, Chairman Mao said: "Chinese Confucians are superstitious about Confucius, and dare not call Confucius Qiu, li he is not like this, and he directly calls him by his name to Emperor Wu of Han." ”
Chairman Mao meant that Emperor Wudi of the Han Dynasty was so good at his martial arts that everyone admired him, but I very much agreed with and appreciated Li He's use of such a direct title for him.
Of course, Emperor Wudi of han was not a perfect man, and he did many wrong and absurd things, and Chairman Mao had already said it very clearly when he commented on him: "In his later years, he knew the evils of luxury, martial arts, and alchemists, and he gave himself a commandment. ”
This "disadvantage of extravagance, martial arts, and alchemists" is actually the three main shortcomings of Emperor Wu of The Han Dynasty.
Of course, this is also related to the background of the times at that time.
Emperor Wu of Han was born in an era that had gone through Gaozu, Emperor Hui, and the "rule of Wenjing" to complete a large amount of primitive accumulation, and Liu Che did not know about the lack of money when he was a child, and after becoming emperor, he did not care about these things.
Later, Emperor Wu of han especially loved to cruise, most of the year spent traveling around the country, Yuan Feng first year, but also led 180,000 iron horse north tour, do not know how much wasted treasury property, but also let the people's burden more and more heavy.
The country has money, has a good life to enjoy, of course, wants to live for a few more years, so Emperor Wudi of han began to pursue immortality, surrounded by a group of people who called themselves immortals, built a cabinet, personally went to the East Sea to find immortals, the results were blind tossing, not only did not find the immortals, but also almost lost their lives, was played with by a group of warlocks.
There is also a more deadly one, that is, Emperor Wu of Han was keen to use force to solve things, fight if he did not obey, and go east and west, although he opened up the territory, he also labored and hurt the people and money, causing the people to be displaced.
Once, when Emperor Wudi of the Han Dynasty heard that the state of Dawan had sweat and blood, he spent a lot of money to buy it, but unexpectedly, people did not sell it, so he sent troops to requisition, and finally lost the battle, lost hundreds of thousands of troops, and wasted a lot of financial and material manpower.
Xiahou Sheng, a scholar of the Han Dynasty, commented: "Although Emperor Wu had the merit of conquering the four yi and recourse the territory of the vast land, he killed more soldiers, exhausted the people's financial resources, and lived in luxury, the world was wasted, the people were displaced, and the people were half dead. ”
Gu Yanwu, a great thinker of the Ming Dynasty, also criticized: "Han Wu was extremely far away from the army, and he had a selfish heart for a while, so as to enlighten the infinite calamity of future generations." ”
In his later years, Emperor Wu of Han repented of these things he had done, especially since he listened to rumors, did not ask questions, ordered the pursuit and killing of the crown prince Liu Zhao, forcing the prince to raise an army, and as a result, the soldiers were defeated and killed, and his descendants were also killed, and only one survived.
When Empress Wei Zifu heard that the crown prince and his grandson had been killed, she felt that Liu Che had become unknown to herself, and that there was no point in fighting, and that she had committed suicide with all her thoughts.
When Emperor Wudi of Han saw all this, he began to repent, reflected on his own mistakes over the years, and wrote down the "Edict of Sin and Self-Righteousness", declaring: "Since he took the throne, what he has done has made the world miserable and unrepentant. From now on, if there is harm to the people, those who have spent the world will be stopped. ”
Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty's "Edict of Self-Crime" set a precedent for emperors to publicly repent, and later people like Emperor Taizong of Tang, Li Shimin of Song Ningzong, Emperor Chongzhen of the Ming Dynasty, and Emperor Guangxu of the Qing Dynasty also issued "edicts of self-crime."
This is also another "invention" of Emperor Wu of han.
Yuan Ming of the Qing Dynasty praised in the "Yong Han Wu": "Personally inheriting Wen Jingsheng Pingye, opening up The Tang Yu has not yet had a heaven." In the end, the hero can regret it late, and the wheel platform is a god. ”
Generally speaking, Emperor Wudi of the Han Dynasty can still be regarded as a very outstanding one among the emperors of Chinese dynasties, creating the first great Han dynasty in Chinese history and influencing the history of the next two thousand years, so Chairman Mao commented: "Emperor Wudi of the Han Dynasty was a man of great talent, pioneering the achievements of Liu Bang, and in his later years he knew the evils of luxury, martial arts, and alchemists, and he made a decree on himself, which is a prosperous world." ”
【Chairman Mao's Comments on The Emperors of Past Dynasties Series】Published Articles ——
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