<b>The Eastern Jin Dynasty</b> "alien", <b>the ancient loyal martyr - Bian Qi</b>
The Eastern Jin Dynasty is a very peculiar dynasty in history, because the Gate Valve clan reached its peak, resulting in the weakening of imperial power, when it comes to the Eastern Jin Dynasty, many people often think of not the emperor first, but the family clan, such as Wang Dao, Wang Dun, Xie An, Xie Xuan, Huan Wen, etc. At different times, they will enter the phase and control the government of the dynasty, and be prominent for a while.
In the early years of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, there was a minister of the same period as Wang Dao, who had gone through three dynasties, had been a chancellor twice, had a prominent position, and was deeply relied on and trusted by the emperor, but he was not worldly, and was regarded as an "outlier" by the mainstream society at that time, so his popularity was not high. However, after his death, he was highly respected by later generations, and successive generations of literati historians and feudal emperors gave him high praise .
Emperor Taizong of Tang called him <b>"</b><b>the Order of the Faithful Martyrs</b><b>"</b>;
Ming Chengzu Zhu Di praised his <b>"</b><b>loyalty and filial piety through the ages</b><b>"</b>;
Emperor Gaozong of Song specially gave him the temple title of <b>"</b><b>Loyal Martyr</b><b>"</b>;
The Kangxi Emperor of the Qing Dynasty inspected Jiangnan and went to his ancestral hall to offer sacrifices and gave the imperial book a plaque of <b>"</b><b>Awe-inspiring righteousness</b><b>"</b>; the Qianlong Emperor went to the sacrifice many times and gave the imperial plaque <b>of "</b><b>DianWu Lonely Loyalty</b><b>"</b>;
The Tang Dynasty famous Xiangfang Xuanling<b></b> <b>praised him for "taking Kuang Zheng as his duty, defending the Lord, and becoming famous by following loyalty and righteousness</b><b>"</b>;
Wen Tianxiang of the Song Dynasty wrote his genealogical inscription <b>"</b><b>Thousands of Years of Innocence</b><b>"</b>;
The Ming Dynasty Bingbu Shangshu Shi Kefa inscribed it <b>"</b><b>Qiankun Zhengyi</b><b>"</b>.
This famous eastern Jin dynasty minister, who was deeply respected and revered by later generations, was named Bian Qi (壸) (kǔn). What kind of person is he? Why is it so highly regarded by future generations?
<b>1</b><b>． Born into a famous family, not fond of power and filial piety</b>
Bian Xi was born in a family of officials and eunuchs, and was a native of Heze, Shandong. His grandfather Bian Tong had held the position of Langya Neishi, and his father, Bian Chu brothers, all of whom had served as high-ranking officials, were honest in government, and were well known by the people of the time, and were known as the "Six Dragons of the Bian Clan". His father, Bian Pu, was known as "The Six Dragons of the Bian Clan, Xuan Ren (卞粹字) Peerless".
Bian Was intelligent and studious from an early age, and he was very famous as an adult, but he did not covet power, and the imperial court twice recruited him as an official, but he refused. During the "Rebellion of the Eight Kings" of the Western Jin Dynasty, Sima Qi, the king of Changsha who held power, killed Bian Pu because he was jealous of Bian Pu's Gangzheng Bu'a.
After his father was killed, Bian Returned to Yanzhou's hometown. During the reign of Emperor Huai of Jin, he inherited his father's title and served as a shulang. Later, the General Zhou Fu invited him to serve as a Zhonglang, but he refused.
After the fall of the Western Jin Dynasty, The Jin Yuan Emperor Sima Rui declared himself emperor in Jianye, established the Eastern Jin Dynasty, and Bian Qi, who had lost his family in the country, was summoned to serve as a Zhonglang, responsible for the selection of officials, and was deeply trusted by Sima Rui, and was successively promoted to the posts of Prince Zhan Shi, Scattered Horse Changshi, and Yushi Zhongcheng. During this period, he performed his duties, was diligent in government affairs, and acted impartially, which won the awe and admiration of his colleagues.
Soon, because of the death of his mother, Bian Xi returned home to serve the funeral. At the turn of the two Jin Dynasties, social unrest was unstable, and just after dealing with his mother's funeral, Sima Rui asked him to return to the imperial office. However, Bian Xi was extremely filial and insisted on serving his mother's funeral. To this end, he specially wrote a long letter to Sima Rui to state the reasons.
The letter said that he had no intention of pursuing the high-ranking official Houlu, and only reluctantly came out because of the difficult situation and the country's need for talents. However, his birth mother died early, and he was raised by his stepmother from a young age, and when his mother was alive, the world was turbulent, and he failed to perform his maintenance duties well, and if he could not follow the etiquette for his mother after his death, he would regret it for life.
If the country is indeed inseparable from me, then no matter what, I dare not abolish the public for private reasons, and now there are many talents in the imperial court, and it will not affect the overall situation if I stay alone. Therefore, please fulfill my filial piety in the court.
Sima Rui was touched by Bian's sincerity and filial piety, and did not force him to return to the dynasty. <b>"</b><b>The emperor is bitter with his words and does not take away his ambitions." </b><b>(</b><b>Book of Jin) It</b> was not until the end of the mourning period that Bian Xi returned to the dynasty and resumed his duties.
Bian Xi led by example, respected filial piety and etiquette, and punished him mercilessly for acts that violated moral etiquette.
At that time, there was an official in Huainan who was a small Zhongzheng named Wang Shi, who was responsible for the evaluation of the local talent grade. Wang Shi had a stepmother, and after the death of her ex-husband, she married Wang Shi's father. Later, after the death of Wang Shi's father, she returned to her ex-husband's house, was raised by her stepson in her ex-husband's family, and was buried with her ex-husband after her death. Wang Shi used this as an excuse and only served the funeral for one year.
Bian Tomb
However, Bian Xi believed that according to the Confucian etiquette system, Wang Shi should serve three years of mourning like a mother. Therefore, he went to the imperial court and impeached Wang Shi as an official, violating the etiquette system and not being qualified to be an official. He also impeached his three superiors on the grounds of dereliction of duty and connivance with subordinates in violation of etiquette. Eventually, after discussion at the imperial court, Wang Shi was removed from his post and was not appointed as an official for life.
<b>2</b><b>． We are not afraid of power, and we must uphold discipline and strict law</b>
Bian Xi served in three dynasties and was always highly valued and trusted by the emperor. During his term of office, he not only exercised strict self-discipline and handled things impartially, but also did not fear the powerful and dared to speak and dare to do.
The Eastern Jin Dynasty relied on the Gate Valve clan to build the country, Wang Dao was one of the most important heroes, the so-called "king and horse, the world together", the family clan headed by the Langya Wang clan was in a prominent position in the imperial court, with a high position and authority.
During the reign of Sima Shao, the emperor of the Jin Dynasty, the state uncle Yu Liang became increasingly powerful, and Wang Dao had conflicts with him, often under the pretext of illness. At a court meeting, Wang Dao also said that he was sick. However, later, Bian Xi learned that Wang Dao was absent from the imperial meeting because he had privately gone to send off the che general Xi Jian.
Bian Xi then went to the imperial court, impeached Wang Daoshe for private interests, undermined the imperial program, lost the integrity of the ministers, and in the imperial history, Cheng Zhongya was ineffective in enforcing the law, dereliction of duty, and asked the imperial court to remove the two from their posts and punish them. <b>"</b><b>It was when the king said that he was not in a hurry, and privately sent the general Xi Jian to ride the car, and the general Xi Jian was played to guide the loss of the law from selfishness, and there was no minister's festival. In the imperial history, Zhong Zhong Ya A Scratch King's Code, without a criterion, and please dismiss the official. (Book of Jin) Although the</b> imperial court did not adopt Bian's opinion, the Manchu Dynasty Wenwu was shocked.
When Emperor Ming died of illness and Sima Yan ascended the throne, Although Wang Dao was an auxiliary chancellor, he was dissatisfied with Emperor Ming's edict placing Sima Yan in the first place, so he said that he was ill and did not participate in the enthronement ceremony. Bian Xi said sternly in front of all the courtiers: "Can the prince still be regarded as a minister of sheji?" The critical moment when the former emperor died and the new emperor was not established, could it be the time when the people and subjects said that the illness was pushed away! After Wang Dao heard about it, he immediately came to the ceremony by car.
During the Eastern Jin Dynasty, the status of the family clan was superior, and there was often a phenomenon of dissatisfaction with the appointment of the imperial court and refusal to take office, resulting in a great discount to the imperial court's government decrees. Once, when the imperial court recruited Nanyang Lemu to serve as junzhongzheng and Yingchuan Yuyi as court lieutenants, the two were dissatisfied with their positions and refused to go to their posts under the pretext of their father's orders.
Bian Xi immediately went to the imperial court and said that everyone has a father, and if they all reject the arrangement of the imperial court on the grounds of their father's order, then what are the words of the first saints and the way of kings and subjects? Imperial court officials are the people of the state, and when the state employs people, officials must have the dedication spirit of "not being themselves", obeying the appointment and assuming responsibility. He suggested that the imperial court resolutely put an end to this behavior of not listening to dispatches and "using private to abolish the public", and as a system provision. Bian Xi's words were unanimously approved by the imperial court, and Le Mo and Yu Yi had no choice but to obey the orders to take office.
<b>3</b><b>． Clean yourself, be diligent in political affairs and abuse the times</b>
During the two Jin Dynasties, qing talks prevailed, and the bureaucratic class of the scholar clan, in the name of "Kuangda", advocated the "inaction" ideas of Lao Tzu and Zhuangzi, and spent all day stealing peace, wandering and skeletons, indulging in enjoyment, and living a debauched life. Wang Cheng, Xie Kun and other courtiers and celebrities ignored political affairs, indulged in alcohol and entertainment, and even often made extravagant behaviors such as stripping naked to set new standards, becoming an example for the children of the nobility to chase and imitate, and the social atmosphere was extremely vulgar.
Bian Xi was extremely disgusted by this, and repeatedly reprimanded Wang Cheng and Xie Kun in the courtroom: "These behaviors of yours violate the law of etiquette, hurt and educate, and the crime is incomparably great!" This is how the dynasty overturned in the middle of the way. He also wanted to go to the imperial court and impeach the two, but later Wang Dao, Yu Liang and others tried to dissuade them. However, This attitude of Bian Xi shocked the courtier bureaucracy and made "the hearers not compromise."
Bian Xi did not fall into the customs, cleaned himself, was diligent in running the government, wanted to reverse the bad world style with his own practical actions and abilities, <b>"</b><b>worked hard to be an official, took praise and depreciation as his own responsibility, was diligent in official affairs, wanted to be on the right track of the world, and refused to be good at the same time." </b><b>"</b><b>(Book of Jin)"</b> However, affected by the great social environment, he had no choice but to accumulate shortcomings and difficult to change, and his personality was straight and serious, but it was difficult to reverse it by his own strength. Bureaucratic celebrities respected him, so although he was in a high position at that time, his reputation was not high.
The courtier Ruan Fu was indulgent, drinking and having fun all day, and when he saw that Bian Xi was busy with political affairs every day, he laughed at him: "Bian Gong was busy all day, and his mouth was like a tile stone (meaning serious and rigid), didn't you know that he was tired?" Bian Xi replied: "You are all pretending to be celebrities, and these despicable things that you can't look up to in your eyes, I don't do it, who will do it?" ”
Bian Xi adhered to principles, was honest and simple, worked hard and complained about political affairs, and was deeply valued by the emperor. He was a high-ranking official, but he did not have a decent mansion, and his son married, and he had no extra money. When the emperor heard about it, he gave the Bian family half a million yuan as a reward, but Bian Xi insisted on refusing to accept it on the grounds that he had no merit.
<b>4</b><b>． Martyrdom with one's body, loyal martyrs passed down through the ages</b>
During the Sixteen Kingdoms period of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, social turmoil, some princes with heavy armies, gradually developed the heart of disobedience, the general Su Jun is one of them.
In order to prevent Su Jun's rebellion, Yu Liang, a powerful minister and foreign relative, was worried about Su Jun's rebellion, and suggested that the imperial court summon Su Jun to serve as the Grand Sima of the Dynasty, and Ming Ascended and secretly surrendered, taking the opportunity to relieve him of his military power. At that time, the courtiers had no objections, only Bian Xi tried his best to stop it, saying to Yu Liang: "Su Jun now has heavy troops, and he is close to the capital, so doing so will inevitably trigger Su Jun to rebel in advance and endanger the imperial court, so he should make a good plan and slowly reduce his military power."
But Yu Liang was bent on going his own way. Su Jun learned the news and joined forces with Zu Yue, who had long been dissatisfied with Yu Liang, and jointly rebelled in the name of rebelling against Yu Liang.
After Su Jun raised an army, the imperial court ordered Bian Xi to lead an army to defend. Bian Xi knew that the enemy was strong and we were weak, and he would die nine times in his life, but he did not hesitate and went out on the expedition in anger. His subordinates advised him to prepare good horses in advance to prevent him from escaping on horseback when he was defeated, but he sternly refused.
Bian Xi led his troops to fight with the rebels in Xiling, was quickly defeated, and after retiring from the army, he asked the imperial court for his guilt, and the imperial court ordered him to continue fighting, and then the two sides fought fiercely in Qingxi, but still could not resist the rebel offensive. After the rebels attacked the city, they set fires everywhere, and The Bian army was defeated.
At that time, Bian Had a back sore, but he was still a pioneer, charging into battle, fighting to the death, at the age of 48. The two sons who fought with him, Bian Xiao and Bian Xu, saw their father sacrifice and desperately killed the enemy, and both died in battle.
The three fathers and sons sacrificed their lives for the country at the same time, and Lady Pei of Bian Xi endured grief and touched the bodies of her two sons and cried: <b>"</b><b>The father is a loyal subject, Ru is a filial piety, and the husband hates it!" </b><b></b><b>(Book of Jin).</b>
Bian Xi tomb stone carvings
After Su Jun's rebellion was quelled, the imperial court posthumously awarded Bian Qishizhong, the general of the Hussars, and the Kaifu Yi Tongsan Division, with the title of "Zhongzhen".
In the chaotic world, under the social atmosphere of pure talk and indulgence and pleasure at that time, everyone was drunk and sober, scrupulously abided by the principles of loyalty, filial piety, and honesty, and during the period of government, they were righteous, respected etiquette, honesty in government, and painstaking efforts, and did their best for the stability of the regime in the early days of the founding of the Eastern Jin Dynasty. The three fathers and sons of Bian Xi were loyal to the country, sacrificed their lives to become benevolent, and were praised by later generations as "the way of loyalty and filial piety, gathered in one door", which has been praised endlessly for thousands of years and is highly respected.
<b>About the Author</b>
Ma Xuemin, with a university degree, was the editor-in-chief of today's Development Zone News, an organ newspaper of the Working Committee of the Heze Development Zone of the Communist Party of China, and a member of the Shandong Provincial Essay Literature Association, the Heze Writers Association, the Heze Folklore Society, and the Heze Confucian Studies Society. In 2012, he presided over the compilation of "Danyang Zhi", authored "Chunhua Qiushi", "History of Heze Development Zone", majored in the 10-volume "Kaipu Cao Xuma Clan Genealogy", and participated in the compilation of more than ten books such as "Caozhou National Examination Famous Scholars", "Caozhou Literary Circle Collection", "Caozhou Famous Soldiers Collection", "Heze Development Zone Community Overview", "Memory of Hundred Villages", "Heze Development Zone Chronicle" and so on. His works were selected for the "Jiaodong Prose Twelve Families ma Xuemin Volumes". In 2021, Qilu Evening News Qilu One Point "Qingwei Supplement Contracted Writer" and the winner of the first "Qingwei Prose Award".
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