"Retreating from the three houses" is an idiom commonly used in Chinese, which means to actively avoid conflict and avoid the intensification of contradictions. In ancient times, "she" was a unit of measurement of a distance, and a round was thirty miles. In this way, to retreat is to retreat ninety miles.
Marching and fighting has always been the easiest side to win the first opportunity. Even if you sometimes choose to wait and do it, you just have to stick to it. The two armies engaged in battle and retreated not only gave the enemy an opportunity to take advantage of it, but also a huge blow to their own morale, which can be described as a taboo for soldiers.
So where does the word retreat come from?
The idiom of retreating to the three houses comes from the chronicle of the pre-Qin period, Zuo Zhuan: "The Jin And Chu zhi soldiers, encountered in the Central Plains, they broke the three houses." According to the "Zuo Biography", during the Spring and Autumn Period, when the Jin state and the Chu state were at war, The Duke Wen of Jin ordered the Jin army to retreat ninety miles to repay King Cheng of Chu for his kindness.
Duke Wen of Jin, whose name was Zhong'er, was the twenty-second king of the Jin dynasty. Before becoming the monarch of the Jin Dynasty, the experience of the heavy ear was extremely bumpy. Due to the civil unrest in the Jin Dynasty, the heavy ear as an aristocrat was threatened by many forces. In order to save his life, he could only flee to other countries with his henchmen Zhao Wan, Xu Chen, and others.
However, the larger princely states such as the State of Qi, the State of Chu, and the State of Qin were afraid of setting themselves on fire, and did not dare to accept The Jin Wengong and his party. In desperation, Zhong'er had no choice but to lead his men to flee to his mother's homeland, the country of Zhai.
Exile to Zhai Guo was only a forced move. He had wanted to wait for the Jin state to settle down and then go home, but the newly enthroned Duke Hui of Jin was still unable to stabilize the situation in the Jin state. To make matters worse, Jin Huigong was very hostile to heavy ears. In the eighth year of the Reign of Jin Huigong (643 BC), the Duke hui of Jin feared that Zhong'er would return to China to seize the throne, so he sent many assassins to zhai to assassinate Chong'er. At this time, Zhong'er and others had already lived in Zhai Guo for twelve years.
Having adapted to the life of Zhai Guo, they have long regarded Zhai Guo as their second hometown. However, in the face of the cruel Jin Huigong, Zhong'er and the others had to choose to flee again. They had heard that the prince of the State of Qi, Duke Huan of Qi, was wise and thirsty for talents, so they wanted to try their luck in the State of Qi to see if Duke Huan of Qi could accept them. On the way to the State of Qi, The Heavy Ear passed by Wei Guo. Wei Wengong, the monarch of the Wei Kingdom, was very depressed when he saw Zhong'er and others, and his heart was very disdainful.
Although Wei Wengong did not verbally insult the heavy ear, he only prepared coarse tea and light rice for the heavy ear at each meal. The sensitive heavy ear realized Wei Wengong's contempt, so he accelerated the pace of going to the State of Qi. However, the continuous rush made the body of the heavy ear very weak. I insisted on walking for a few days, and I couldn't stand the heavy ears and hungry front chest against the back. In order to survive, Heavy Ear put down the nobles' shelves and asked the villagers along the way for food.
However, seeing the heavy ears with yellow muscles, the villagers did not even look at the front eye. Heavy ears begged for it many times, and then they laughed and handed over a piece of dirt. Looking at the dirt in his hand, he couldn't speak. In the eyes of Zhong'er, shi ke can not be humiliated, not to mention that he is still an aristocrat of the Jin state. He couldn't bear it anymore, and immediately had the idea of taking his own life. Zhao Wan, who was accompanying him, hurriedly stopped the heavy ear and patiently enlightened: "The soil block represents the land, and when they give you the soil block, they want to surrender to you." ”
Listening to Zhao Wan's words, he sighed heavily, and then continued to walk forward.
After that, Zhong'er and others came to the State of Qi, the State of Cao, the State of Song, and the State of Zheng, but they did not stay long. After leaving the Song Kingdom, Zhong'er came to the Chu Kingdom again. King Cheng of Chu, the ruler of the Chu kingdom, had long heard of the name of The Virtuous Virtue of Heavy Ear, so he gave preferential treatment to Heavy Ear and others. Heavy Ear is accustomed to a life of upheaval and displacement, and feels a little flattered by such hospitality.
Looking at the heavy ears like sitting on a needle felt, Zhao Wan smiled and said, "The lord has fled for so many years, and there are many countries where he has stayed. Not to mention the big countries that treat us slowly, many small countries have a special contempt for us. Now that King Chu Cheng respected the lord so much, the lord could not resign. Because this is heaven helping the Lord. After listening to it, he nodded his head, and from then on he was humbled in front of King Chu Cheng.
Heavy ears have great ambitions and want to achieve their lofty ambitions. Although he is in a foreign country, he insists on reading and studying every day. More than ten years of fugitive career not only tempered the will of the heavy ear, but also made the heavy ear understand gratitude. One day, Zhong'er sincerely said to King Chu Cheng, "Whether it is a rare treasure or a silk satin, the great king has everything here." I thought about it for a long time, but I really didn't know what to use to repay the king. ”
King Chu Cheng smiled and said, "Then you have to think about it carefully, after you return to the Jin Kingdom, what should you use to repay the widow?" After thinking about it for a while, he said sincerely: "I will certainly remember the kindness of the Great King, and if the Chu and Jin countries are forced to start a war, I will retreat ninety miles to repay the favor." King Chu Cheng did not pay attention to it after listening to it, but the heavy ears of Yinuo Qianjin always remembered this matter.
After that, Zhong'er returned to the Jin Dynasty and inherited the throne, known as the Duke wen of Jin. After The Jin Dynasty came to power, the comprehensive national strength of the Jin State was greatly improved, and it gradually gained the strength to win the Central Plains. After the Jin state became stronger and stronger, it quickly aroused the alarm of the Chu state. The general Zi Yu of the State of Chu was worried that Duke Wen of Jin had the intention of annexing the State of Chu, so he constantly advised King Cheng of Chu to attack the State of Jin. King Chu Cheng repeatedly refused, but Ziyu still insisted on his opinion.
Over time, King Cheng of Chu was tired of it, and had to agree to let Ziyu lead the army to attack. In the fifth year of the Reign of Duke Wen of Jin (632), the Chu and Jin armies lined up in the area of Chengpu (城濮, in present-day southern Fan County, Shandong Province). Before the battle could begin, Duke Wen of Jin gave the order to retreat ninety miles. After receiving the order, some of the generals of the Jin state were very dissatisfied, and they frowned and complained: "Our Jin army is led by the monarch, while the Chu army is only led by the courtier Ziyu." If the courtiers do not avoid the monarch, why should the monarch avoid the courtiers? ”
Faced with the dissatisfaction of his subordinates, Jin Wengong was unmoved and still insisted on letting the army retreat. It wasn't until after ninety miles back that Jin Wengong let everyone stop. Seeing the Retreat of the Jin Army, Zi Yu immediately ordered the Chu Army to launch an attack. Although the Jin army failed to take the lead, Jin Wengong calmly analyzed the battle situation and allowed the Jin army to avoid the first round of attack of the Chu army in time. Then, Jin Wengong used the suddenly blowing sand to cover up the tracks of the Jin army, and then took advantage of the Chu army's unpreparedness to launch a sudden attack, breaking the Chu army into two pieces. Zi Yu saw that the army could not take care of each other, and quickly issued the order to retreat.
After that, the Jin army pursued decisively and beat the Chu army to the ground. Ziyu tried many times to reorganize the army, but failed. In the end, the trance-like Ziyu committed suicide, and the Jin army won the victory. News of the Jin state's defeat of the Chu state reached the Zhou capital Luoyi, and both King Xiang of Zhou and his ministers believed that Jin Wen had made a great contribution. King Xiang of Zhou also personally went to Jiantu (present-day southwest of Yuanyang, Henan) to comfort the Jin army. Taking advantage of this opportunity, Duke Wen of Jin built a new palace for Tianzi in Jiantu, and also invited the princes of various countries to hold a general meeting and conclude a covenant. In this way, Jin Wengong became the hegemon of the Central Plains, which was the "Battle of Chengpu".
In the Battle of Chengpu, Jin Wengong not only kept the promise of that year, but also defeated the Chu army with his outstanding military talents, leaving a good story. As the second overlord of the Spring and Autumn Period, the word "overlord" is well deserved.
Resources:
["Twenty-three Years of Zuo Chuan, Duke of The Twenty-Three Years", "Retreat and Three Retreats" Allusions"