Liu Xuan's enthronement ceremony
For the public, from Qin Shi Huang to Puyi, among the more than 400 ancient Chinese emperors, Liu Xuan, who was called the more first emperor by posterity, was less well-known, and people with extremely strong pejorative colors such as cowardice, absurdity, and fainting were also not hesitated to attach them to Liu Xuan. But is he really such a person?
<h1 style="text-align: left;"> cowardice? </h1>
Emperor Liu Xuan (劉玄), courtesy name Shenggong, was a native of Caiyang,Nanyang (present-day Zaoyang, Hubei). Historians have always ridiculed Liu Xuan for his "cowardice," mainly because of Liu Xuan's various "cowardly" performances in various affairs such as plotting to become emperor, enthronement ceremonies, and seeing Lang officials in Chang'an Palace. However, a careful review of the three historical books of the "Records of the Eastern Han Dynasty," the "Later Han Dynasty," and the "Book of the Later Han Dynasty" is not difficult to find that the so-called "cowardice" of Liu Xuan is most likely fabricated out of thin air by later historians.
Liu Xuan
When the chiefs of the Green Forest Army plotted to support the emperor, they were divided and disputed over whether to establish Liu Xuan or Liu Xuan (字伯升). Ban Gu et al. wrote the "Records of the Eastern View of Han" that Nanyang Haojie wanted to establish Liu Xuan; Xinshi, Pinglin and other green forest troops "general Shuai Su Xi Sheng Gong", so he wanted to establish Liu Xuan. "Xi", the meaning of familiarity and habit. Liu Xuan joined the Green Forest Army earlier than Liu Ji and Liu Xiu's brothers, and the general of the Green Forest Army was familiar with him, and even had the same spirits, and it was also very understandable to want to support him as emperor.
Liu Ji
However, when Yuan Hong of the Eastern Jin Dynasty wrote the Later Han Dynasty, he somehow added the reason why the Green Forest general Shuai Xixuan was disgusted: "His general Shuai Shuai drafted the wilderness, indulged in pleasure, and had no strategy for the country. "Yuan Hong" cleverly "used the word "fox" to portray Liu Xuan's character of being powerless and deceitful.
Yuan Hong's wording was still "convergent", and the greatest influence on later generations was Fan Ye's "Book of the Later Han Dynasty", which recorded without any taboos: "Xinshi and Pinglin will indulge Shuai Le, fear Bo ShengWei Ming and greedy and cowardly." ”
The wording of Ban Gu's record is still called Pingyun, and there is no sense of praise and disparagement, which can be described as an account of facts, and has nothing to do with Liu Xuan's character; Yuan Hong's change of "Xi" to "Fox" has already implicitly reflected the meaning of his cowardly personality; Fan Ye is even more "outspoken" to record Liu Xuan's "cowardice", contemptuous meaning, and force through the back of the paper.
Similarly, Ban Gu et al. recorded the scene when Liu Xuan ascended the throne: "The crown stands in the south. Yuan Hong added some words to describe Liu Xuan's unbearable: "Sheng Gong su is cowardly, sweating and dare not speak." Fan Ye said: "Su is cowardly, ashamed and sweaty, and cannot speak with his hands raised." When the first army captured Chang'an, Liu Xuan entered the palace, and when facing the officials in the palace, Yuan Hong recorded that he was "ashamed and could not see"; Fan Ye recorded that he was "ashamed, and did not dare to look at the table with his head down".
Based on the foregoing, the reason why posterity believes that Liu Xuan is "cowardly" should mainly be "attributed" to Yuan Hong and Fan Ye. They used words such as "cowardice", "shame and sweating", and "inability to speak", directly portraying Liu Xuan as a weak and incompetent person who could not support the wall in the mud.
But, is Liu Xuan really such a person?
From the "Book of Later Han, Liu Xuan's Biography" and "Book of Continuation of the Han Dynasty" and other records that Liu Xuan avenged the killing of his brother and watched Wang Mang's first rank and looked at himself with great self-confidence, it can be seen that he was brave and courageous; all the generals advised Liu Xuan to set the capital Luoyang, and after listening to Zheng Xing's advice, Liu Xuan immediately decided to set the capital chang'an; after repeated defeats in battles with Liu Xiujun, Zhang Jiao and other generals went up to Liu Xuan and suggested plundering Chang'an and returning to Nanyang in the east to avoid the front, "more angry, should not, do not dare to repeat the words"; Zhang Jie and other conspirators to abduct Liu Xuan, after the leak, Liu Xuan designed to kill Andu Jian and other generals. These things are enough to show that Liu Xuan has the initiative to judge the situation of the times, the courage to arbitrarily judge the chaogang, and the leadership to kill and kill the generals, and his courageous, strategic, resolute and decisive character is also fully manifested, and he is by no means a "cowardly" person, let alone a puppet set up by the generals of the Green Forest.
<h1 style="text-align: left;">2, absurdity? </h1>
Many historians such as Ban Gu and Fan Ye regarded Liu Xuan's keenness for plundering, indulging in wine, and trusting villains as ironclad evidence of Liu Xuan's absurdity and immorality, which was recorded in the annals of history in a dignified manner. However, are the above things really a manifestation of Liu Xuan's "absurdity and no way"? It is not difficult to see from the relevant records of the detailed history books that the judgments of Ban Gu, Fan Ye and others are mostly nonsense.
After Liu Xuan made the capital Chang'an, he personally received the generals and asked them about the geometry of their captivity. This stunned the scholars, who seemed to them that Liu Xuan still did not get rid of the habit of thieves. After all, the Son of Heaven is rich in all corners of the world, so why should he? What is this kind of behavior, not absurd, and what is it?
According to this statement, the generals at that time were probably more absurd. Even Liu Xiu, who appeared in the form of "Wei Guangzheng", often summoned his generals to "ask for the property he had obtained", and his subordinates Wu Han and Chen Jun repeatedly plundered them. This is closely related to the fact that the peasant army has always been mobile and mobile, has no stable logistical support, relies more on captivity in the army, and the generals are mostly stubborn and small people, and the nature of captivity is nature. It can be seen from this that plundering was the norm in wartime, not only liu xuan and his subordinates. Why didn't Ban Gu and others accuse Liu Xiu and others of being desolate? Without him, Liu Xiugong became an emperor, and Liu Xuan defeated Kou and died. Ban Gu and others still have difficulty in getting rid of the shackles of the idea of "becoming a king and defeating a Kou", beautifying Liu Xiu and blackening Liu Xuan.
Liu Xuan knelt down and handed over the Chuanguo Jade Seal
Liu Xuan was greedy for wine, and his father Zhao Mengshi and Ban Gu recorded in the "Records of the Eastern View of Han" that "(Liu Xuan) drank with the woman in the backyard on the day. The generals were drunk and could not see what they said. When the time came, he ordered the servant to sit in the veil and speak. Similar to the previous paragraph, the extraordinary scenes such as "the sun in the back court" and "drunk cannot be seen" in Ban Gu's pen have inexplicably become "day and night drinking banquets" in Yuan Hong's and Fan Ye's pens. If liu xuan's lustful drinking is absurdity, then what should liu bang be said to be equally lustful and good-wine?
Zhao Meng
As for Liu Xuan's "small number of officials and knights", Ban Gu and others painstakingly collected a folk proverb: "Raise under the stove, Zhonglang will." Rotten sheep stomach, riding lieutenant. Rotten sheep's head, Kannai Hou. However, the "group small" of Liu Xuan's credit in the history books may not really be a despicable and shameless villain, but it is very likely that the "gentleman" (scholar class) who has a superior mentality has a contemptuous title for the general of the Green Forest Army who comes from a humble background. These "small groups" who were mostly from the grassroots class were able to enter the bureaucratic system because of their military merits, such as the slaughterer named Du Yu who personally beheaded Wang Mang, which was an objective fact caused by relying on military merit rewards in the war, and was not evidence that Liu Xuanxi used treachery and abused knighthoods.
The generals will loot their belongings
<h1 style="text-align: left;"> three, faint? </h1>
Let's talk about Liu Xuan's "fainting". People have always believed that Liu Xuan's killing of Liu Xuan and the imprisonment of Li Shu showed that he was jealous of his ability, did not distinguish between the wise and foolish, did not know right from wrong, and refused to accept good advice. In fact, Liu Xuan killed Liu Xuan because after Liu Xuan and Liu Xuan failed to compete for the throne, instead of TaoGuang cultivating obscurity and waiting for the opportunity, but under the domination of extreme disappointment and strong desire to claim the emperor, he was arrogant everywhere, and any emperor who had the power to kill and rob and be solipsistic could not tolerate such behavior. Moreover, what Liu Ji did was very likely to have an impact on other Haojieshi doctors, which in turn would lead to a split and confrontation with the Green Forest Army group formed by the generals of Xinshi and Pinglin. If it is not stopped in time, it is very likely to lead to the serious consequences of the disintegration of the radical regime. Although it is difficult for Liu Xuan to get rid of the suspicion of safeguarding selfish interests, it is not appropriate to simply regard it as evidence of Liu Xuan's faint administration and chaotic government. In a sense, this is also Liu Xuan's unavoidable "stop loss" move.
Before Liu Xuan killed Liu Jiao, he actually gave him a chance. If Liu Xuan had given in when he realized it, the situation might not have deteriorated; if Liu Ji continued to disobey, he would inevitably be labeled by Liu Xuan as plotting to seize the throne, and it would inevitably be completely eliminated. This is also the "routine operation" of the lord of the heroic talent against the heroes in history, rather than the embodiment of Liu Xuan's fainting.
Moreover, after Liu Xuan killed Liu Xuan, he did not cut the grass and remove the roots, indiscriminately killed innocents, and Liu Xiu also made a series of compromise and obedience gestures "with the knowledge of the times", such as "not trying to cut kunyang's own merits, and not daring to serve the funeral for Bo Sheng, eating and laughing as usual". Liu Xuan, who was unwilling to completely break with the Nanyang clique, also accepted it when he saw it, and worshiped Liu Xiu as a great general who broke the prisoners and made him the Marquis of Wuxin. One kill and one pull not only struck the Nanyang Clique, but also appeased the Members of the Lulin Clique and the Nanyang Clique who were willing to submit, temporarily achieving a delicate harmony and balance of power between the two major cliques, so that the various factions could temporarily work together to destroy Wang Mang's new dynasty.
Liu Xiu
Similarly, in order to temporarily balance and eliminate the game between the two major factions of "gentlemen" and "villains" within the original regime, Liu Xuan imprisoned dr. Li Shu, who advised Liu Xuan to stop trusting the gong and secretary of state who were appointed as "rongjing pavilion chiefs and ministers" and wanted to "extend handsomeness". It has always been regarded as Liu Xuan's fainting act of refusing to accept good advice. In fact, Liu Xuan's imprisonment of Li Shu was a consolation to the green forest army generals who were born in a humble background; not killing or convicting Li Shu was also Liu Xuan's deterrence and co-optation of the scholar class. Through both soft and hard measures, the temporary peace of the two major factions of "gentlemen" and "villains" within the radical regime was realized.
Generals
The above two things should not only not be used as an example of Liu Xuan's fainting, but should be regarded as the most appropriate measures taken by Liu Xuan, who had no deep roots other than his clan status, to eliminate strong competitors, maintain a delicate balance between various factions, and eliminate the power struggle between various factions.
In addition, the fact that Liu Xuan was appointed to the post of An Jihua after he joined the Pinglin army shows that he has a certain prestige in the army; he is loyal and fair, good at caressing, and has the ability to handle complicated affairs; after entering Chang'an, Liu Xuan recruited the people, changed the situation in which the green forest forced the marshal to flee or oppose guanzhong subjects, and reaped the effect of "three assistants and si ping"; he was humble and consulted, selected the best and the best, and had both military merits and military merits, and he also had the ability to handle specific affairs and command the generals, the generals, and the handsome, and he was both capable and strategic, and he was by no means incompetent.
<h1 style="text-align: left;"> Wen Shijun said</h1>
It is not difficult to find that the image of Liu Xuan as cowardly, absurd, and faint in the history books is not true. The root cause lies in the fact that historians influenced by the times, power, and ethical values consciously or unconsciously screen, add or subtract historical materials, and even deface and blacken Liu Xuan without any basis. On the whole, although Liu Xuan himself is not a perfect person, he is quite talented and can be called a heroic master. It is not advisable to obliterate his talents with the concept of becoming a king and defeating him, and to slander his character.
< h1 style="text-align: "left;" > Resources</h1>
Fan Ye (Southern Song Dynasty): Book of the Later Han Dynasty, Zhonghua Bookstore, 1965.
Lin Jianming: History of the Qin and Han Dynasties, Shanghai People's Publishing House, 2003.
Bai Shouyi, editor-in-chief: General History of China (Qin and Han Dynasties), Shanghai People's Publishing House, 2007.
Zhang Qichen, "Commentary on the New Regime", Journal of Henan Normal University, No. 2, 1987.
(Author: Haoran Wenshi Gaosheng)
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