"Romance of the Three Kingdoms" is a long historical novel that tells a series of stories and reflects many truths. People of different ages and time will have different feelings after reading it. Therefore, there is an endless topic to talk about.
—Epigraph
"Romance of the Three Kingdoms" said: The princes of the Eighteenth Road crusaded against Dong Zhuo, Sun Jian took the lead in attacking Luoyang, and saw the five-colored light released from the south well of the palace, so he fished out a jade seal. Four inches square, engraved with five dragons and bonds; missing a corner, with gold inlay; engraved with eight seal characters: "Ordered by the sky, both longevity and eternal prosperity".
Sun Jian asked Cheng Pu, "What is this?"
Cheng Pu said: "This is the heirloom jade seal." In the spring and autumn period, Bian He saw the phoenix falling on a stone at the foot of Jing Mountain. He offered the stone to King Chu Wen, and when he untied the stone, he got a piece of beautiful jade. In the twenty-sixth year of Qin Shi Huang, the jade craftsman carved the piece of jade into a seal, and Prime Minister Li Si wrote eight seal characters on it. Two years later, Qin Shi Huang went to play on Dongting Lake, and suddenly the wind and waves were fierce, and the boat was about to capsize. He hurriedly threw the jade seal into the lake, and the wind and waves subsided. After another eight years, Qin Shi Huang traveled to Huayin, and someone returned the jade seal to him. After the death of Qin Shi Huang, Ziying dedicated the jade seal to Liu Bang. Later, Wang Mang usurped the government and sent Wang Xun and Su Xian to ask for the jade seal. The Empress Dowager Xiaoyuan threw a jade seal and hit them, breaking a corner. Wang Mang ordered the craftsmen to make up for it with gold. Guangwu Emperor Liu Xiu surrendered the Red Mei Army in Yiyang and obtained this treasure, which has been passed down to the present day. Recently, I heard that the Ten Standing Servants were in turmoil, robbed the young emperor out of the north, and returned to the palace to see this treasure......"
Cheng Pu is a military general, and he can tell the approximate origin of the jade seal of the country, which is not simple. We don't have to worry about whether his words are 100% correct, lest we be called nitpicking. Then, Cheng Pu said another sentence and killed Sun Jian. He said, "Now that God has given you the jade seal, you must have the blessing of being an emperor." You can't stay here for a long time, you should go back to Jiangdong as soon as possible, don't try to make a big deal. ”
After hearing this, Sun Jian suddenly became ambitious, and the next day he asked the alliance leader Yuan Shao for sick leave to return to his hometown. Unexpectedly, Yuan Shao had learned about the jade seal from a fellow countryman, and he exposed his old background on the spot. Sun Jian was in a hurry, swore an oath, and left the village. Yuan Shao was furious and ordered Liu Biao, the assassin of Jingzhou, to intercept Sun Jian and recapture the jade seal.
Liu Biao intercepted Sun Jian according to the instructions of the alliance leader Yuan Shao, and the two sides fought a battle, and since then they have been grudging. Later, in order to avenge Sun Jian, he attacked Liu Biao's Xiangyang City. As a result, he was ambushed and died. Sun Jian's eldest son, Sun Ce, used the jade seal left by his father as collateral and borrowed 3,000 soldiers and 500 war horses from Yuan Shu to create the foundation of Jiangdong.
Besides, Yuan Shu got the jade seal of the country, so he thought that God wanted him to be the emperor. This is not whimsical, first of all, Yuan Shu has the background of the gate valve of the "Four Worlds and Three Princes", and he is a descendant. Secondly, there was a proverb circulating at that time: "Those who represent the Han Dynasty should be Tu Gaoye." In ancient times, "Shu" and "Tu" were both "road", and Yuanshu's word "highway" was in response to its prophecy. The jade seal of the country came to him like a ghost, no wonder he wanted to get into trouble.
In the second year of Jian'an (197), Yuan Shu built the Zhong clan in Shouchun, set up hundreds of officials, rode the dragon, sacrificed heaven and earth, and ascended the throne as the emperor. He didn't expect that in this way, he would become the target of public criticism and be besieged by powerful enemies. First defeated by Lü Bu, then by Cao Cao, and then by Liu Bei.
In June of the fourth year of Jian'an (199), Yuan Shu was defeated and retreated to Jiangting, leaving only more than 1,000 old and weak soldiers, the grain and grass were exhausted, the coarse rice was hard to swallow, and he couldn't ask for honey to quench his thirst. Probably because of excessive sadness, maybe it was a rush of fire, he vomited blood and died.
After Yuan Shu's death, his subordinate Xu Xuan killed his wife and nephew, seized the jade seal, and sent it to Xu Du to present it to Cao Cao, and changed it into an official hat of "Gaoling Taishou". Cao Cao thought of Yuan Shu's fate, and after weighing it repeatedly, he handed over the jade seal to the puppet emperor, Emperor Xian of Han.
In the first year of Yankang (220), Cao Pi, the king of Wei, forced Emperor Xian of Han to build an altar and let Chan. Under the altar, Chen soldiers were more than 300,000, and the emperor trembled and enshrined the jade seal to Cao Pi. Pi Chuanrui, Rui Chuanfang, Fang Chuanfang, fashionable Chuanhuan. After forty-five years, in the second year of Wei Xianxi (265), Sima Yan, the king of Jin, imitated the story of Cao Pi and forced Cao Huan, the lord of Wei, to rebuild the altar of Zen and cede the throne to him. On the first day of December, Cao Huan stood on the altar with a jade seal in his hand, and in front of the Minister of Civil and Military Affairs, he invited Sima Yan to the altar to accept the Zen gift. Like Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty, he trembled and presented the jade seal of the country to Sima Yan. As a result, the King of Jin became the Emperor of the Great Jin Dynasty, and Wei died.
The story of the jade seal written in "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" ends here. But I can't get enough of it, and I want to talk about things related to the jade seal of the country.
First, is it just as Cheng Pu said, whoever gets the jade seal of the country will have the blessing of being the emperor? Judging from the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms," the answer is no. Sun Jian got the jade seal, but instead of being the emperor, he set himself on fire and lost his life. Sun Ce did not regard the jade seal as an artifact of the emperor, but realistically used it to exchange for soldiers and horses from Yuan Shu and go to fight the world himself. Yuan Shu believed that with the jade seal, he could be the emperor's destiny, but he got into trouble and had a big dream in the Spring and Autumn Period. Xu Xuan killed people and seized treasures, gave them to Cao Cao, and got an official hat, which is a bit self-aware. Cao Cao didn't believe in the "blessing" theory, and turned around and gave the jade seal to Emperor Xian, so he did not fall into the notoriety of "usurping the Han". Cao Pi and Sima Yan changed their dynasty to become emperors, relying on strength, not the jade seal.
Second, how did the jade seal of the country change from a seal to a national treasure that "symbolizes the mandate of heaven"? There is no answer in "Romance of the Three Kingdoms". We have to speculate based on the fragments recorded in the official history and the wild history. It is said that after Qin Shi Huang ruled the world, he ordered Prime Minister Li Si to be responsible for carving seals for issuing proclamations and edicts. As for the saying that "the wind and waves in Lake Town, Huayin returns to the ancestral dragon", I am afraid that few people will believe it. At the end of Qin, Liu Bang took the lead in attacking Xianyang, and the jade seal fell into his pocket. However, at that time, Xiang Yu and Fan Zeng had not regarded the jade seal as a treasure that "symbolized the mandate of heaven". Otherwise, they would definitely not bypass the kid surnamed Liu at the Hongmen banquet.
The deification of jade seals began in the Western Han Dynasty. Liu Bang has a group of literati under him, who are particularly capable of blowing. In order to deify Liu Bang, they even said that Liu Yuan and Long Ye were together and gave birth to Liu Bang, the "True Dragon Son of Heaven". These shameless people fabricated that Liu Bang got the jade seal, which is a lie such as "divine authority granted by the monarch" and "destiny of heaven", which is a piece of cake. Unfortunately, two hundred and twenty years later, someone broke Liu Bang's dream of relying on the deified jade seal to pass on the family to thousands of generations. Wang Mang got the jade seal from his aunt, the Empress Dowager Xiaoyuan, and sat on the dragon chair in a grand manner.
Fourteen years later, the Green Forest Army invaded Chang'an. The captain of the Praetorian Guard, Gongbin, took advantage of the chaos to kill Wang Mang, stole the jade seal and presented it to Liu Xuan, the first emperor. In the first three years (25 years), Liu Xuan was defeated and surrendered to the emperor Liu Penzi, who was supported by the Red Mei Army, with the jade seal. Two years later, the Red Mei army was defeated by Feng Yi at Yindi Pass, northwest of present-day Luoning, and fled to Yiyang, where they were besieged. Liu Penzi presented the jade seal to Emperor Guangwu Liu Xiu, expressing his sincere surrender. At this time, Liu Xiu had been the emperor for two years, but he did not have the jade seal of the country in his hand, and his confidence was a little lacking.
Now that he has obtained the jade seal, he will offer it as a god, and hype that he has the jade seal of the country and is the emperor who conforms to the mandate of heaven. Liu Xiu seemed to have forgotten that Wang Mang, Liu Xuan, and Liu Penzi also owned jade seals, could it be that they were also emperors who "conformed to the mandate of heaven"? After more than 100 years, Dong Zhuo made a rebellion and lost his national treasure. Later, the fate of the jade seal was already known to the readers, and they no longer nagged.
Third, "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" tells readers: In Chinese history, there was a precious cultural relic that made countless heroes bend their waists - the jade seal of the country. It has left a splendid brilliance in the history of Chinese culture, and it has also left endless topics. Although the jade seal has been missing for thousands of years, its story can never be finished.
Looking at the history of the future, the legend of the "jade seal of the country" will definitely become more and more magical. If there is still a time for the "Jade Seal of the Country" to see the light of day, no matter where it appears in the world, "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" proves that its ownership belongs to China!
To be continued......
About author:Zhang Zemin, born in 1949, is a native of Chenwu Village, Chenwu Township, and a member of the Communist Party of China. Before his retirement, he served as the director of the county CPPCC office and the director of the Culture and History Commission.
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