For Qu Yuan, we have always had a misunderstanding, that is, we thought that Qu Yuan committed suicide by throwing himself into the river because of the demise of the Chu state, but in fact, it was not. Qu Yuan's surrender to the Miluo River was 278 BC, while the chu state fell in 223 BC, a difference of 55 years. Then, the Ming Kingdom of Chu did not die, and there was still a glimmer of life, so why did Qu Yuan throw himself into the river? What is he desperate for?
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="3" > Qu Yuan was very clear that the Qin state used the method of "encroachment" against the Chu state</h1>
The State of Chu was originally a powerful country in the south, but the State of Qin in the west gradually became stronger than the State of Chu after the Shang Martingale Transformation Law. The State of Qin has the ambition to unify the world, and its way to deal with the State of Chu is two words: encroachment.
Let's take a look at the process by which the Qin state "encroached" on the Chu state:
In 342 BC, the Qin reformer Shang Martin led 200,000 troops to seize Wuguan, Chen Bing Shangluo, and incorporated the entire Shangluo Ancient Road into the territory of the Qin State; in 313 BC, Zhang Yi of the Qin State used 600 miles of shangluo land as bait to induce the King of Chu Huai to destroy the "Chu Qi Alliance", and after the King of Chu Huai understood that he was deceived, he fought with the Qin army twice, all of which were defeated, losing 100,000 elite troops and losing Hanzhong County; in 311 BC, the Qin state invaded and occupied the Zhaoling Tomb of Chu; in 298 BC, the Qin state invaded the Chu state and the fifteen cities left and right, killing 50,000 Chu soldiers; in 280 BC, In 279 BC, the Qin general Sima Mistaken invaded Chu and Northern Han; in 279 BC, Qin attacked Chu and occupied Deng, Evil, Xiling, and other places; in 278 BC, Bai Qi attacked and occupied the capital of Chu, The capital of Chu, Yingdu, and King Xiang of Chu fled east...
In short, the State of Qin was from north to south, from west to east, and gradually advanced towards the heart of the State of Chu.
After Bai Qi occupied the capital of the Chu state, Yingdu, the Chu state had already lost half of the country, why didn't he completely destroy the chu state? First, Bai Qi did not have such strength at that time; second, the Qin state did not intend to destroy Chu, because once It destroyed Chu, it would cause great panic among the five eastern countries, and it would make the five eastern countries quickly unite and form an alliance and confrontation, so it would be difficult to implement the plan of unifying the world.
Therefore, the State of Qin did not continue to attack the State of Chu, but continued to weaken the State of Chu and continued to use the method of "encroachment" against the State of Chu.
Qu Yuan was very clear about this method of "encroachment" of the State of Qin, and its main role was to kill and injure the fresh forces of the State of Chu and to invade and occupy the territory of the State of Chu. In the case of Chu's massive loss of elite divisions and the occupation of half of the country, the east fled from chaos, which could not be supported for long, and it was only a matter of time before it was destroyed, so Qu Yuan was very pessimistic and desperate, and did not wait for Chu to die before he fell into the river.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="5" > Second, Qu Yuan took reform as his sacred mission, but his path to reform was blocked</h1>
Because Qu Yuan's achievements in literature are too great, many people simply regard Qu Yuan as a poet or literary scholar. In fact, Qu Yuan was first and foremost a great politician and reformer, and he belonged to the more severe faction of the legalists. In 317 BC, King Huai of Chu supported Qu Yuan in making changes, so let's take a look at the reform measures proposed by Qu Yuan:
1. Reward farming; 2. Raise up meritocracy; 3. Counter-concealment; 4. Forbidden Friends; 5. Reward and Punishment.
Of the five measures, the first is to exert efforts from both the economic and military aspects to achieve the implementation of a rich country and a strong army; the second to the fifth is mainly to ensure that the first item can be implemented from the political aspect. The fatal thing is that items 2 and 5 all touch on the interests of the old nobility, and if they are really implemented, the old nobles and the old forces will be devastated. This is very similar to the shang martingale's change in the Qin state, and it is conceivable how Qu Yuan wanted the Chu state to change rapidly to achieve the strength of the Qin state!
However, Qu Yuan did not expect that the Chu state was different from the Qin state, the old nobles of the Chu state were much more powerful than the old nobles of the Qin state, and the support of the king of Chu Huai for the new law was far less than that of Qin Xiaogong for the new law.
Soon after the implementation of the new law, the old forces represented by the officials Dafu, Jin Shang, Zilan, and Queen Zheng Gui began to take turns to slander the King of Chuhuai, saying bad things about Qu Yuan, and the King of Chuhuai then demoted Qu Yuan from a "left disciple" to a three Lu Dafu, and exiled Qu Yuan to "Northern Han" the following year (313 BC). The law of change is premature. Later, King Huai of Chu used Qu Yuan again, but no longer trusted him. In 298 BC, King Huai of Chu died, King Xiang of Chu succeeded to the throne, and King Xiang of Chu exiled Qu Yuan to Jiangnan for nearly 20 years, and Qu Yuan's hopes for reform became a vain.
And Qu Yuan is a person who takes reform as his "destiny", and reform is his spiritual pillar, without which Qu Yuan feels that living has lost its meaning.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="7" > third, King Xiang of Chu and Zilan reigned, Qu Yuan despaired</h1>
Qu Yuan was still attached to the Chu state during his exile.
The situation in the Chu state was getting worse and worse, Qu Yuan's heart was like a knife, and he especially wanted to return to China to serve, but the reality was that the two brothers of King Xiang of Chu and Zilan were in power, and it was difficult for Qu Yuan to return to China after the end of exile, and it was even more delusional to return to China.
Let's take a look at what kind of people King Xiang of Chu and Zilan are.
First look at King Xiang of Chu. King Xiang of Chu, also known as Xiong Heng, or Qi Heng, although the name is "horizontal", but in personality, he is a king who is accustomed to "Gou And". At that time, the general trend of the world, the State of Chu should "unite against Qin", which was Qu Yuan's consistent diplomatic proposition, but King Xiang of Chu was afraid that the united State of Qi would offend the State of Qin. The State of Qin took advantage of the fear of King Xiang of Chu and proposed a marriage between Qin and Chu, and King Xiang of Chu actually agreed, and in 292 BC, he married the bride of the State of Qin and became the son-in-law of the State of Qin. In 284 BC, King Xiang of Chu also attacked the State of Qi together with the State of Qin and seized the quasi-north of the State of Qi, completely offending the State of Qi and ruining the foundation of the State of Chu's self-preservation: the Chu-Qi Alliance.
Such a Chu Xiang King, even if Qu Chu returned to China to serve, what could he do?
Look at Zilan again. Zilan was also the younger son of King Huai of Chu and the younger brother of King Xiang of Chu. The characteristics of this person, first of all, are that he has a bad character, he once accepted the property of Zhang Yi, an emissary of the Qin State, and helped Zhang Yi say good things in front of the King of Chuhuai. Secondly, Zilan was a typical diehard and conservative, and when Qu Yuan carried out drastic reforms with the support of King Huai of Chu, Zilan was the most resolutely opposed. Zilan and Jin Shang, as well as King Chuhuai's queen, Zheng Gui, often said bad things about Qu Yuan in front of King Huai of Chu, causing King Huai of Chu to alienate Qu Yuan. Third, Zilan specifically opposed Qu Yuan, who had two exiles in his lifetime, all of which were related to him. Qu Yuan was exiled to northern Han for the first time, and it is said that Zilan instigated him in front of King Huai of Chu, and there are also historical sources that it was directly exiled by the Zilan clique; the second time Qu Yuan was exiled, after King Xiang of Chu ascended the throne, Zilan said bad things about Qu Yuan in front of King Xiang of Chu, causing Qu Yuan to be exiled to the two lakes of Jiangnan and suffer a lot...
In short, there is king Xiang in the chu state court, there is Zilan, where does Qu Yuan still have a foothold? Besides, he didn't even have a chance to return to China! So he could only desperately throw himself into the Miluo River and pursue his political ideals in another space?