On both sides of the gate of the Zhuge Liang Hall of the Wuhou Ancestral Hall, a pair of "attacking the heart" has been passed down through the ages: if you can attack the heart, you will disappear on the opposite side, and you will know from ancient times that the soldiers are not belligerent; if you do not judge the situation, you are lenient and strict, and later you have to think deeply about Shu.
This couplet was hung in the Wuhou Ancestral Hall during the late Qing Dynasty and during the Guangxu Dynasty. Why hang such a couplet? Who wrote it? What's the point?
The author of the couplet was named Zhao Fan, a native of Yunnan, who had repeatedly failed to take the imperial examination and returned discouraged, when the governor of Yungui, Cen Yuying, hired him to work at home as a private school teacher for his son Cen Chunxuan. In 1900, when the Eight-Nation Alliance entered Beijing, Cixi and Guangxu fled westward, and it was Cen Chunxuan, a student of Zhao Fan, who served as an escort. When they arrived in Xi'an, Cen Chunxuan and Zhao Fan met many years later, and when they shared the feelings of teachers and students, Cen Chunxuan recommended his teacher to Cixi, so Zhao Fan went to Sichuan as an alternate Taoist. Two years later, the Boxer Rebellion broke out in Sichuan, Cixi appointed Cen Chunxuan as the governor of Sichuan, and when he went to Sichuan to quell the chaos, Cen Chunxuan hurriedly transferred Zhao Fan to Chengdu, let Zhao Fan serve as a salt tea envoy, managed salt tea and Comprehensive Provincial Lijin, and gave the two richest departments to Zhao Fan to manage.
The differences between the two men stem from their different attitudes towards countering chaos and governance. Cen Chunxuan launched a bloody suppression of the rebel army, and engaged in a big campaign in the official field, making everyone in the official field endanger themselves. However, with excellent foresight, Zhao Fan felt that the qing qi had been exhausted, and thought that Cen Chunxuan's administrative measures and the rebel army were too strict, and many times of advice were fruitless, so he had the idea of writing advice. He knew in advance that Cen Chunxuan was coming to Wuhou Ancestral Hall, so he wrote down this "Attacking the Heart Alliance", carved it and hung it in the Zhuge Liang Hall, hoping that Cen Chunxuan would learn from Zhuge Liang's experience and lessons, and that he would think deeply about shu and be lenient and strict.
After Cen Chunxuan arrived at the Wuhou Ancestral Hall, when he saw this union, his face was ugly, and he did not say a word, and the two gradually drifted apart from then on. Later, Cen Chunxuan was promoted to the governor of Liangguang for his merits in quelling the chaos, while Zhao Fan was demoted to a magistrate in Yongning Province, Sichuan (Yongning Province was in the Area of Xuyong, Sichuan). For a long time, among the educational circles and teachers in Sichuan, there was a saying "Teacher's Tao, try to see Yongning Dao", which means that students do not respect teachers, and teachers have no dignity.
This is the origin and background of the Attack heart alliance.
