To understand a historical figure, you need to understand his life background, growth environment, life history and so on.
But these understandings are superficial, and being able to feel a historical figure, or even truly appreciate his choices at every step, requires him to have a certain soul fit.
Maybe it's through something similar to him, or maybe it's living in the same environment as him that we can get to know a historical figure more empathetically.
Just like understanding Gongsun Zhan, you need to have a certain life experience. Many people are young and do not understand Gongsun Zhan, and it is not confused to read it, why?
01 Gongsun Zan growth environment
Gongsun Zan is known as the White Horse General, and it is said that troubled times produce heroes, and he was born in the Three Kingdoms period at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty. At that time, the warlords were in a melee, and there were those who were dedicated to Han, and there were those who were eager for the tiger.
The second gong Sun Zan was born in Beiping, and although his ancestor and father were Han officials, he could only be a county official because his mother was a concubine in the family, and according to Han etiquette law, he was not taken seriously.
However, he was very beautiful in Beiping with his own ability, and he had the best cavalry team at that time, "White Horse Yicong", which was all established by his own ability, and even Zhao Zilong was under him.
The reason why he was able to become a generation of warlords at that time from a small official was mainly because Wuhuan rebelled, and Gongsun Zan built an army to fight against the Hu people.
He successfully expelled Hu Yu, and in more than two hundred days, he not only broke through the siege, but also won a complete victory in this war.
But his reputation reached the ears of the Hu people, who feared Gongsun Zan and did not dare to invade since.
During the rebellion in Jizhong , it was also Gongsun Zan who led his troops to repel the rebels, and in the eyes of many people, Gongsun Zan was synonymous with invincibility.
Gongsun Zan himself also thinks so, after experiencing one victory after another, Gongsun Zan feels that he is the chosen son, he feels that he has the ability to change the world and change everything.
The imperial court continued to give Gongsun Zan knighthoods to fight against the northern ethnic minorities in Youzhou and pacify the entire north.
At that time, Gongsun Zan was full of spirits, he had his own career, his own army, and his own ideals and ambitions. Gongsun Zan still had a good friend at that time, and this person was Liu Bei.
Although Gongsun Zan was a military general, he had a good relationship with Liu Bei. It's a pity that such a spirited teenager ended up dying by self-immolation, what's going on?
02 The ending is tragic
Gongsun Zan always wanted to show his majesty after gaining trust, and he became famous, and many ethnic minorities in the north did not dare to invade, except that Wuhuan, who always looked at the tiger.
Gongsun Zan believed that violence should be countered with violence, and it was best to drive Wuhuan to extinction.
However, at that time, Liu Yu, the Taishou of Youzhou, believed that the way to treat Wuhuan should be to persuade him to surrender, because Liu Yu was a civil servant, and he naturally did not want to fight and kill, and he hoped that Gongsun Zhan's approach was consistent with the ideas of the imperial court.
The two never reached a consensus, so the things that Liu Yu gave to Wuhuan were snatched away by Gongsun Zhan, and the contradictions between the two continued to intensify.
Liu Yu can be regarded as an elder of the Han Dynasty, he treats people very generously, just because of the difference in concept with Gongsun Zhan, the two have frequent contradictions, and they are secretly fighting in the early stage, but they are dead and alive in the later stage.
As a Wen general, Liu Yu naturally could not fight Gongsun Zhan, and this victory ended in his defeat. And Gongsun Zan has since become the overlord of Youzhou.
Because the victory came too quickly, Gongsun Zhan's frivolous conceit reached its peak at this moment, and he not only wanted to dominate Youzhou, but also wanted to occupy the whole of Hebei and even the whole world.
At that time, Hebei was under the control of Yuan Shaolie, who had just arrived in Jizhou and failed in his first confrontation with Gongsun Zhan, and later when he was ready, Gongsun Zan was defeated.
At this time, Liu Yu's subordinates also waited for the opportunity to launch a counterattack against him, and Gongsun Zan finally realized his conceit.
Gongsun Zan felt that when he expelled the Hu people before, he felt that he was the darling of heaven.
But when he was defeated, he felt that he was an ordinary person, that he was not omnipotent, and he could not change the world.
When he recognized all this, he had lost the desire to dominate the world, and when he saw that he had lost his power, he stopped thinking about making a comeback.
He no longer resisted, just like when he drove Liu Yu's family to extinction, he killed all his family, and finally set himself on fire, ending his ordinary and extraordinary life.
Gongsun Zan also recognized the truth more and more as he got older, and many people can only really read Gongsun Zan when they are not confused, what do they understand him?
03 Really read Gongsun Zhan
Gongsun Zan has always felt that he is the chosen son, as long as he wants, everything can be in his control.
Many of us today feel like we were invincible when we were younger, only to experience some setbacks when we realize that we can't change the world.
It's not even easy to change ourselves, we are just the most ordinary ordinary people.
Many people, like Gongsun Zhan, have a sharp spirit when they are young, and feel that the other party is contrary to their own opinions, and they have to constantly fight with it, but after not being confused, they may find that the person is just a guest in their own life.
Those calculations are not necessary, these require a certain amount of experience to understand.
epilogue
Gongsun Zan has the courage and chivalry of a young man, and also has the recklessness of a young man.
Perhaps each of us is Gongsun Zan and has experienced times when we are arrogant, but we have all been more or less suppressed by reality and society. We cannot change the world, only our own ego. Are you Gongsun Zhan?