Text: Xia Yan (Columnist on Reading History)
During the Spring and Autumn Period, Wu Wangfu wanted to attack the Chu State, and also released harsh words, and whoever advised him would kill him. One of the attendants tried to persuade him but did not dare, so he took a slingshot and walked around the backyard in the palace, and when he met King Wu, he told him a story.
The young man said: "There is a cicada in the tree, and it knows only that it is singing loudly, but it does not know that there is a praying mantis next to it that is ready to kill it; and this praying mantis only stares at the cicada, but does not know that there is a yellow finch behind him that is ready to attack him; this yellow finch is stretching its neck and preparing to peck at the cicada, but it does not know that I am aiming at him with a slingshot underneath." ”
King Wu suddenly realized this, so he called off.
This is the famous proverb in Chinese history: the praying mantis catches cicadas, and the yellow finches are behind. This allusion occurred more than 2,500 years ago in the Spring and Autumn Period, has been recited by future generations, and has become an important proverb to warn future generations, so that we can not take it lightly at any time, and we cannot only ignore the immediate interests and ignore the potential enemies.
So in fact, do future generations always keep in mind this allusion that was born in the Spring and Autumn Period? The answer is no, and it has happened even throughout the dynasties, and even the allusion to Wu Wangfucha has forgotten this aphorism in the face of the temptation of profit.
Let's first look at how Wu Wangfucha personally "practiced" this allusion. At the beginning of his reign, Wu Wangfucha worked hard to govern, coupled with the family foundation accumulated by his father Wu Wang lu for many years, the wu state was unprecedentedly powerful, and he successively surrendered to the yue state, twice cut down qi, and suppressed the state of Lu. A series of military victories caused Wu Wang Fuchai to begin to drift, wanting to emulate his father and dominate the Central Plains.
Wu Zixu, the grand master of the State of Wu, had repeatedly suggested that Fu Cha destroy the Yue Kingdom first and sweep away his worries, but Fu Cha believed that the Strength of the Yue Kingdom was weak and was almost destroyed by himself, and he extremely despised the defeated army general Yue Wang, who had served as a groom. Therefore, he did not heed the dissuasion, led a large army to ally with the princely states and Huang Chi, and defeated the Jin state to successfully win the alliance lord, and successfully "caught the cicada".
Later, everyone knows that the Yue King, who experienced the hardships of the Wu Kingdom, took advantage of the emptiness in the Wu Kingdom to defeat the Wu Army, and the Fu Cha Ye Guo who had created this allusion died and played the tragic "mantis". However, the "Yellow Sparrow" behind him has become one of the "Spring and Autumn Five" and has become a winner in life.
The second to stage this classic scene were the Cao Wei Group and Sima Shi. In the last years of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Cao Cao, after a lifetime of conquest, unified the north and became the bearer of the Eastern Han court, staged the classic Diaosi counterattack, and laid the foundation for his descendants to usurp the Han Dynasty. His son Cao Pi declared himself emperor after his death and established the state of Wei. After decades of hard work, Cao Cao and his sons finally completed the great cause of "catching cicadas".
But what Cao Cao did not expect was that he was suspicious all his life but pulled down a person, Sima Yi. In fact, the Sima family has been expanding its strength since the time of Cao Cao, making a lot of money in a muffled voice, and Sima Yi himself is extremely stoic and resolute. Therefore, less than twenty years after Cao Cao's death, Sima Yi followed Cao Cao's example and became the de facto ruler of Cao Wei's regime. Eventually, Sima Shi oversaw Wei, and Sima Yan proclaimed himself emperor to establish the Jin Dynasty. Cao's family business for several generations has become a "praying mantis" in Sima Shi's eyes.
This was followed by the Later Zhou and Northern Song Dynasties. In 951, Later Zhou Taizu Guo Wei launched a mutiny, established Later Zhou, and passed the throne to his adopted son Chai Rong after his death. This Chai Rong was a good emperor, although he only reigned for six years, during his reign he was diligent and loved the people, meritocratic, humble and consultative, keen on innovation, and resisted foreign enemies, which was called the first Ming Emperor of the five generations. With his efforts, the national strength of the Later Zhou Dynasty flourished, the people at home were submissive, foreign military wars were won day by day, and it was only a matter of time before the world was unified. Unfortunately, Chai Rong died young at the age of 39, leaving Chai Zongxun, who ascended the throne at the age of 7, and an ununified country.
After Zhou Shizong Chai Rong "gloriously" completed the task of "catching cicadas", our Song Taizu Zhao Kuangyin appeared. Zhao Kuangyin gained the extreme trust of Zhou Shizong by virtue of his military exploits in various wars, and even before his death, he was appointed as the inspector of the palace, equivalent to the commander-in-chief of the Forbidden Army. And Zhao Kuangyin did not "live up" to this opportunity, and launched the Chen Qiao Mutiny two months after Chai Rong's death, "taking over" Hou Zhou, and completing the great cause of unifying the world in the following years. Zhou Shizong did not expect to make a wedding dress for others in his life.
It is worth mentioning that after Zhao Kuangyin established the Northern Song Dynasty, he was very good to Chai Rong and his descendants, the "praying mantis", and he could be regarded as trusting Chai Rong.
Then let's talk about the "cicada hunting game" of the Mongols, Song, and Jin Dynasties. Under the leadership of Yan Akuta and his descendants, the Jin State destroyed the Liao State and the Northern Song Dynasty, and repeatedly invaded the Southern Song Dynasty, which had already bent its knees and sought peace, drinking the Yangtze River, and forcing the Mongols to pay tribute to him. At this time, Jin Guozhi was annexing the Southern Song Dynasty and completing unification.
However, the Jin Dynasty has been staring at the "cicada" of the Southern Song Dynasty for more than 100 years, ignoring that Mongolia in the north has quietly risen. After a generation of Tianjiao Temujin unified the Mongol tribes, he launched a fatal blow to the "persistent mantis" of the Jin Kingdom, and sneaked into the old nest of the Jin Kingdom with lightning speed, quickly destroying the Jin Kingdom.
The difference is that this fierce "yellow bird" in Mongolia not only stares at the "praying mantis", but even eats the "cicada" of the Southern Song Dynasty.
Finally, let's talk about the Ming Dynasty and the Later Jin Dynasty. In 1592, Japan invaded Korea and bullied the "younger brother" of the Ming Dynasty. With the support of Emperor Wanli of Emperor Mingshenzong, the Ming army entered the dynasty to resist the Wu. Under the command of the Ming generals Li Rusong and Ma Gui, he twice beat up Toyotomi Hideyoshi's Warring States elite. In this battle, the Ming army raised its prestige and fought against Japan for 300 years and did not dare to covet Korea again.
However, although the Ming army won the war, it also caused a very bad impact. The elite cavalry of the Ming army in Liaodong suffered heavy losses, and the military strength of Liaozhen was seriously weakened. This gave some ethnic minorities a good opportunity to expand their strength, and nurhaci, who had been dormant for a long time, unified the Jurchens and established Houjin less than 20 years after the war, and swore an oath to zhengming. The Ming Dynasty, which faced internal and external troubles, collapsed less than 50 years after the war.
Perhaps the Wanli Emperor did not expect that when he greeted the triumphant return of the Ming army at the noon gate and accepted the greetings of the hundred officials, he had become a "praying mantis" in the eyes of others.