Think twice about Xiang Yu
Dong Yi Hao
A "Xiang Yu Benji" has derived many idioms or common words, such as the power to carry the tripod, the cauldron and the boat, the Hongmen banquet, the embattled song, the Chu River and the Han realm, the wall view, the overlord farewell concubine, the brocade clothes night walk, the monkey and the crown, and so on. These rich words that were born around Xiang Yu fully illustrate the richness of Xiang Yu's person.
Originally, I wanted to write a positive article echoing Li Qingzhao's "so far thinking about Xiang Yu and refusing to cross Jiangdong", talking about his bravery, his straightness, and his love, so as to prove that this person is a pure man worthy of praise. But for the sake of prudence, I re-read "Xiang Yu Benji" this morning. After reading it, I felt that I had to think twice about this matter.
Think about its "bravery". The other extreme of courage is domineering and violent, and unchecked courage will give birth to widespread evil. If you only see Xiang Yu's infinite strength, almost no defeat in his life, and the courage to take the head of the general in the army with ease, but you can't see his brutality of slaughtering cities and villages, killing prisoners, burning down palaces, and retribution, then what we are talking about is not Xiang Yu, but a saltless girl who is covered by beauty.
When looking at history, there is no single angle. Look at a person, look at his words and deeds, and analyze the causes of his behavior.
After Xiang Yu burned down the Afang Palace, he had no intention of staying in the middle of the Dingguan, but thought that "wealth and nobility do not return to their hometowns, such as clothes and brocade at night", so that they were despised as monkeys wearing hats and learning human shapes. True, he behaved very "politically immature", like a naughty boy, who treated war as a game. His concept of the world is based on his hometown, and his wealth is a gift that bursts out by fighting monsters in the game. After earning so much equipment and high-grade jewelry, I have to wear a mink and a big gold chain to drive a Rolls-Royce back to my hometown to show off. This is really a kind of "simplicity" that lacks "knowledge" training, unlike Liu Bang, who has already accepted the practice of "the world is full of knowledge, and people are well-versed in articles" and has been baptized by lessons.
He is a descendant of the nobles of the Chu State, and the nobles of the Chu State have always had absurd ideas and practices, or they would not have come up with a rhetorical and whimsical, even if they are determined to die, they will use Eguanbo to bring vanilla beauties to decorate their Qu Yuan.
Contemporary historians tend to flaunt the "aristocratic spirit", such as taking the lead and having the courage to sacrifice, and are especially amazed by the chivalrous demeanor and gentlemanly style of the European aristocracy. But this is simply a joke for Liu Bang. Liu Bang can push his children out of the car in order to escape for his life, and he can ask Xiang Yu who wants to cook his father for a cup of soup, when the Zhong Ding family meets the wild Liu Bang, history has become another form since then, unscrupulous means, the winner is king; Rabbits and dogs are cooked, and birds are hidden. If Xiang Yu wins the battle for supremacy, we Han people may have another identity, such as being called Chu? Chu's legacy not only contributed to the literature that started with Fu, but also contributed a spirit of unyielding. The slogan "Although Chu has three households, the death of Qin will be Chu" was later written as a school song by some exiled schools during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, which is the spiritual imprint left by the Chu people to the Chinese nation. The so-called Han nationality, in fact, is a collection of these spirits, if only because of Liu Bang, we are called Han people, there is a bit of "learning from the scoundrel" flavor, fortunately there is Xiang Yu such a stunned youth, such a martial artist, such a mainstream culture, do not like to learn and love the spirit of the warrior spirit of the mixture, we will produce more national pride.
Think about it again. Xiang Yu has a frank and even honest temperament, dares to do things, and has not been tamed by "literature" since he was a child, and has maintained his nature. But undisciplined nature tends to slip away, and undisciplined human nature tends to be laissez-faire. He has no wit because he lacks the patience to think. He collides head-on with the world and wins by force, so intellectually he is no more cunning or scheming than a ruffian. In an ancient civilization that advocates "surrendering soldiers without a fight", and in a great era that advocates intrigue and intrigue as the basic knowledge, Xiang Yu is undoubtedly an outlier. Even if we look at the entire history of the Chinese nation, Xiang Yu also appears as an image of a "reckless man", and under his huge shadow is the rogue class and the so-called intellectual class. The two classes were able to reach a consensus because they shared the common interest, which was to transform the naïve into obedient people. One is obedience to power, and the other is obedience to cultural forms. Obviously, Xiang Yu is a bad role model, and he needs to be "cut to fit his feet", even if he cuts off his head, he must be stuffed into the trap of "mainstream culture".
In addition to Fan Zeng, Xiang Yu lacked mentors and friends in his life. He's like the sun, too hot to burn anyone who comes near him. And his light is so strong that it will attract all light-seeking beings.
Xiang Yu is a real person, which is his advantage and his fatal shortcoming. He can maintain his "truth" because he has absolute strength, and his force value is off the charts, and no one in the world can beat him. Although it is said that all small tricks in the face of absolute strength are quite zero, history is a process of time delay, and it is not explosive power that is compared, but endurance. Although you can lift the tripod and pull up the mountain, time is like a lofty mountain and an infinite stretch, everything cannot be achieved overnight, not to mention that what you want to change is the course of history. What is needed is not personal charisma or strength, not Antey and Achilles, but the group of unknown soldiers in the Trojan Horse. The turning point of history is all about some details, and it is inadvertently triggered by small people. The so-called butterfly effect does not come from a single hero.
Straightforwardness is not a mistake, straightforwardness is also a virtue, "the gentleman is frank, and the villain is a relative". But in fact, while traditional culture advertises straightforwardness as a virtue, there is also a contrary evaluation criterion, which is not judged by morality, but written by the victor. Failure is original sin. It has nothing to do with the character of the person.
Think twice about their "feelings". Sima Qian left a stroke for Yu Ji in "Xiang Yu Benji", which is really interesting. As a person who was ruthlessly destroyed, Sima Qian actually had mercy, which is an interesting point, as a large piece of article emphasizing Xiang Yu's brave and reckless image, a piece of gentle township was reserved to set off, making the official history many anecdotes, and the article was written in many places, which is the second interesting point. Embattled in the middle of the night, the overlord didn't think about his hegemony at this time, the first thing he thought of was his horse, and then he thought of his love Ji. "Pull out the mountain and cover the world", "qi" is a metaphysics in ancient China, "people live a breath", the overlord is deflated, in essence, he has judged the spiritual death, after that, only the physical struggle remains.
"The song counts, and the beauty is harmonious. King Xiang cried a few lines, crying left and right, and couldn't look up. In addition to horses and beauties, I can think of Jiangdong's father, that is the last thing, and because of the problem of face. The so-called "shame and then courage", but Xiang Yu's lifelong courage was used up first, and in the end, only shame remained. The end of the hero is about the two saddest things in the world, combined into one scene, which has become a swan song in the world, and has been continuously interpreted by future generations.
I think a big reason for this is that I write about the tenderness behind the iron and blood, and I write about the side that official history or "literature" does not want to look at directly. There are three thousand weak waters, why does the overlord only take Yu Ji's scoop, leaving endless imagination for future generations. People see the gold content of love, which can actually make people get a trace of human warmth from the cold pool of blood on the battlefield. So I think Li Qingzhao is writing "Life is a hero, death is also a ghost." So far, when thinking of Xiang Yu and refusing to cross Jiangdong", subconsciously it is not necessarily simply to praise his bravery. Perhaps another form of mourning for Yu Ji. As a woman, it is difficult not to be affected by emotions and be the standard of right and wrong, and the three tenderness in the heroism of the overlord (especially the ability to write poems and sing songs) naturally make women fall for it. Therefore, they would rather ignore the "mentally retarded" image of Liu Bang in the eyes of the powerful and brainless, ignore the world of male hegemony and discourse, and reshape an idealized hero in their hearts, until they ignore that he is a murderous demon.
crossed the river in a broken kettle and sunk boats, and achieved Xiang Yu's hegemony; He hesitated to refuse to cross the river, burying Xiang Yu's life. The rivers and rivers are the fate of Xiang Yu's success or failure, and it is also an endless history.
The so-called "three thoughts" mentioned above may not be justified. Because after all, we have been infected by dialectical materialism for many years, and everything must be "divided into two", no matter how you say it, it makes sense, and it completely depends on where the wind turns. Although this kind of sloppy theory is a bit of a wall, it is a channel to explain the worldview when viewed as "divided into two". No one can stand the test of human nature; Anyone will have a moment when the dark room is sad; No one can be completely dead in the face of interests. For example, vanity, Xiang Yu can say the words "wealth does not return to his hometown, such as walking at night in clothes", who of us can, who dare, who would say this? Even if you think so, you won't say it in your mouth. But Xiang Yu not only said it but also did it, which makes people very real. Unlike us, we can't do the "unity of knowledge and action", not to mention, but also to cover up vanity with greater vanity. Xiang Yu was just a little proud, but he was scolded by the people of the time as "the crown of the monkey", which is obviously a judgment that is in line with the royal road rather than "humane".
In fact, I didn't want to talk about big heroes like Xiang Yu, I paid more attention to the small people behind history. They have no historical records, but they stubbornly carry the weight under the wheel of history and multiply, no matter which big man plays, they can't delay their spring ploughing, summer planting, autumn harvest and winter hiding. They are the land, they are the dust. They are the forgotten, but they tend to carry out rounds of wars and dynasties in their name. They have always been seen as a whole, a source of tax revenue and war readiness, and no one has ever cared about which specific life has a name or a surname. "Leaving the grass on the plain, one year old and one withering", but they are the most tenacious seeds, preserving the precious genes of human beings. These genes contain the code of history, and of course Xiang Yu's part, as for whether it is a good part or an evil part, a ruthless part or an amorous part, or whether the above exist synchronously or gradually dissipate, I have no way of knowing.
Because the inheritance of biological forms can be intuitively discovered, and the inheritance of the spirit is really difficult to say.
2024.05.13
One point number Dongyi Hao
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