The history of the Three Kingdoms is familiar to many people, but there are still many historical fogs. For example, Zhang Fei's wife is surnamed Xiahou, and she is Xiahou Yuan's niece, and this strange relationship is more familiar to many people.
This Lady Xiahou was kidnapped by Zhang Fei "while cutting firewood in her hometown", and later married Zhang Fei and gave birth to a daughter, who later became the empress of Liu Chan, the lord of the Shu Han Dynasty (The Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms Pei notes the Wei Luo). This hijacking incident is recognized by historians as "the largest abduction case in the Three Kingdoms period". But is this history just gossip? The stories hidden behind history are often a hundred times richer than in history books! Today we will use our imagination to interpret it.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > the mysterious general of Liu Bei's clique, Xiahou Bo</h1>
We know that history has buried too much information. If we reason boldly and connect some seemingly unrelated clues, we can find out. The relationship between Xiahou Yuan and Liu Bei's group may be far from being as simple as a lady Zhang Fei.
Speaking of Xiahou Yuan, let's first talk about a mysterious record left by the Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
Liu Bei's clique once had a general with a very special identity, who was once surprised by Cao Cao's battle against Liu Bei's Battle of Xuzhou. Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms and Emperor Wu: Guo Jia also advised the Duke, So Dong attacked the preparation, broke it, and gave birth to the bird and its general Xiahou Bo.
Liu Bei's general, Xiahou Bo, was recorded only once in the history books, and there was no record of it. However, "Xiahou Bo's capture" became an important deed in the "Records of Emperor Wu" about Cao Cao's defeat of Liu Bei, alongside the surrender of Guan Yu, which shows that the importance of Xiahou Bo's person was not bad within Liu Bei's clique.
Many people who love the Romance of the Three Kingdoms are also very interested in Xiahou Bo, but unfortunately there is no more historical data. Xiahou Bo, where is he from? When to follow Liu Bei? What have been the deeds? How about martial arts? There is hardly any historical data to study.
However, the absence of clear historical data does not mean that we cannot reason. Gaps in history sometimes require some imagination to fill in, as long as they do not contradict historical records. No history doesn't necessarily mean it didn't happen.
First of all, Xiahou Bo's name is very interesting. The word "Bo" is closely related to Xiahou Yuan's "Yuan" character in terms of literal meaning. If the two were brothers, what would history be like?
That's the joy of studying history. The more unrecorded characters and stories there are, the more they draw us to the truth.
There is an obvious interesting phenomenon in the Three Kingdoms era, that is, the relatively niche surnames, historical celebrities often come from the same large family. For example, during the Three Kingdoms period, all those with the surname Zhuge (Zhuge Ge), whether they were in Wei Shu Wu, were from Lang Evil Zhuge and were related to each other, such as Zhuge Liang, Zhuge Jin, Zhuge Zhi, Zhuge Xu, and so on. There is also the Yingchuan Xun clan, which was full of talents during the Three Kingdoms period, and Dong Zhuo, Yuan Shao, and Cao Cao all had Xun talents, including Xun Shuang, Xun Yu, Xun You, Xun Chen, etc. The Xun people in the Three Kingdoms period all came from this family.
It can be seen that Xiahou Bo is most likely from the Xiahou clan of Tan County, that is, the Xiahou family from which Xiahou Huan, Xiahou Yuan, Xiahou Shang, Xiahou Lian, and even Cao Cao himself came. During the Three Kingdoms period, the only Xiahou clan that may not have come from Yu Commandery was probably Zhao Yun's fellow xiahou lan (from Changshan Zhending), but there are still doubts.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > historical conjecture: Xiahou Bo is Xiahou Yuan's "dead brother"? </h1>
Judging from the name, the word "Yuanbo" first came from Ge Hong's "Baopuzi Chongjiao" of the Eastern Jin Dynasty: "It is a person who is knowledgeable in the past, and there are times in the past..." Although this word is later than the Three Kingdoms period, the separate meanings of "Yuan" and "Bo" have long existed, and it is very possible to link them to the names of brothers of the same generation.
In the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Xiahou Yuan was often regarded as Xiahou Huan's brother, but the two were actually only clan brothers, and Xiahou Dun had another brother Xiahou Lian. However, the original meaning of the word "惇" is "dunhou and diligent", and "Yuan", "Bo", and "Lian" all have the deep meaning of "pursuing morality and talent", which shows that the Xiahou family has similar naming rules. From this point of view, Xiahou Bo can be quite affirmed as a member of the Xiahou clan of Xiahou County, and is of the same generation as Xiahou Yuan, Xiahou Huan, and Xiahou Lian.
Xiahou Yuan, in history, did have a brother. The Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms, Pei's commentary quoted Wei Luo, as saying: "Shi Yan and Yu were in chaos, and Yuan, hungry and tired, abandoned his young son, and died alive and orphaned his daughter." Xiahou Yuan even gave up his young son in order to save his brother's orphan daughter during the famine. The younger brother's daughter is believed to be Zhang Fei's wife. "Wei Liu" said: "In the fifth year of Jian'an, Shi (Xiahou) Bacong's sister was thirteen or fourteen, in this county, traveling to collect trees, which was obtained by Zhang Fei. Fei knew that she was the daughter of a good family, so she thought that she was a wife, and she was the daughter of Liu Chan. ”
The next question is whether the historical records can deny the assertion that "Xiahou Bo is Xiahou Yuan's brother"?
Judging from historical records, Xiahou Yuan probably had only one younger brother, and should have become a "deceased brother" before 184-189 AD. However, the history books play a word game!
The "dead brother" referred to in "Wei Liu" as "the living brother and orphan daughter" is probably not the "dead brother"! Xu Shen of the Eastern Han Dynasty's "Commentaries on the Interpretation of Texts" explains the word "dead" - escape. The original meaning of death is to flee, and death is the extended meaning. The use of the dead, such as the dead (fugitive prisoners), the dead (the fleeing people), the dead (the fugitives), the dead (the fugitives), and so on. Therefore, the meaning of "dead brother" is likely to be "fugitive brother".
Why Xiahou Yuan's younger brother fled is unknown. However, the history books can basically confirm that Xiahou Yuan's brother is Zhang Fei's father-in-law, which is beyond doubt.
Zhang Fei's wife Xiahou Shi
It can be seen from this that the thesis that Xiahou Bo is not Xiahou Yuan's brother-in-law, that is, Zhang Fei's father-in-law, cannot be denied in the history books! The last question left by history is whether Xiahou Bo can be equated with Xiahou Yuan's missing brother? History doesn't give an answer, but some clues are intriguing.
In the next article, the author will continue to talk about the "Greatest Abduction Case of the Three Kingdoms", and interpret two strange coincidences that occurred in the fifth year of Jian'an (200 AD), and a strange thing that made future generations feel incredible - after being defeated by Cao Cao, Liu Bei fled to the northeast to defect to Yuan Shao, why did Zhang Fei completely ignore Liu Bei and run in the opposite southwest direction? (Author: Tao Mujian)