In the history of our country, there are often some ancient people with similar or identical names, such as Empress Yin Lihua of the Guangwu Emperor, Yang Lihua of the Northern Zhou Xuan Emperor, and Zhang Lihua, the noble concubine of the Southern Chen Emperor, who has the same name. In addition, two famous people, like Xue Pinggui and Xue Rengui, their names are often confused because they are only one word apart.
So, what is the relationship between Xue Rengui and Xue Pinggui, and are the two Xue people?
In the tenth year of the Sui Dynasty (614), Xue Rengui was born in Xiucun, Longmen County, Daizhou, Hedong Province, in the area of present-day Hejin City, Shanxi, his real name was Xue Li, and Rengui was his character.
Xue Rengui was born into a family of warrior generals, and his ancestors were Xue Andu, a famous general during the Southern and Northern Dynasties. In the generation of his father Xue Rail, because of his untimely death, the Xue family fell in the middle of the road.
Xue Rengui, who came from a poor family, could only farm as a profession when he was young, and later Li Shimin ordered the conquest of Liaodong, and under the persuasion of his wife, Xue Rengui resolutely joined the army.
In the nineteenth year of Zhenguan (645), the Tang army had been fighting on the battlefield of Liaodong for several months, and one day in March, the Lang general Liu Junqiong was besieged by the enemy army, and at a critical moment, "RenGui went to the rescue, and before the Prancing Horse Trail, he beheaded the thief with his hand, hung his head in the saddle, and the thieves were all intimidated." Because of his bravery, Xue Rengui became famous in the first battle, and in June of that year, the Tang army attacked together under the leadership of Li Shimin, according to the Zizhi Tongjian: "Xue Rengui wore strange clothes, shouted to trap Chen, and was invincible; the Goryeo soldiers were invincible, the large army took advantage of it, and the Goryeo soldiers collapsed, beheading more than 20,000 people." "
After this battle, the whole country of Goguryeo was shocked, and its people fled one after another, resulting in hundreds of miles of people being difficult to see, and Xue Rengui, who had made a miraculous achievement, was specially summoned by Li Shimin, "giving two horses and forty silk horses, and promoting the guerrilla general and the Fruit Ofe of Yunquan Province." "
Later, the Tang army attacked the city of Anshi for a long time, so it had to return to the dynasty, and Li Shimin also praised Xue Rengui, who performed well: "I don't like Liaodong, I like Qingqing." Back in Chang'an, Li Shimin made Xue Rengui the right leader Zhonglang General, and the town guarded the crucial Xuanwu Gate.
After Emperor Gaozong of Tang succeeded to the throne, Xue Rengui was still in charge of the defense of the palace, and in the fifth year of Yonghui (654), heavy rain and flash floods broke out, resulting in heavy water in the palace, and Xue Rengui disregarded his own safety and "went to the door and shouted to alarm the palace", which saved Emperor Gaozong's life. After this incident, Emperor Gaozong praised Xue Rengui and said, "Lai Deqinghu, Fang avoids drowning, and he knows that there are loyal subjects." In the second year of Xianqing (657), Xue Rengui was able to return to the familiar battlefield, and he "broke Goryeo at Guiduan City and beheaded three thousand levels." "
Soon after, Xue Rengui followed other generals to fight with Goguryeo at Hengshan, and at this time, Xue Rengui, who was already in his forties, was not old, and Shi Zai said: "Rengui entered first on horseback, and should not fall on the string." After the great victory over Goguryeo and the Khitans, Xue Rengui was given the title of General of Zuo Wuwei and a male of Hedong County. In the first year of Long Shuo (661), the Hui leader Bisu was hostile to Tang, and Xue Rengui was sent to Tianshan.
After reaching the Tianshan Mountains, the enemy sent dozens of warriors to challenge, and as a result, "Ren Guifa sent three arrows, shot three people, and dismounted from his horse for a while" and easily defeated them.
After the "Three Arrows Fixed the Heavenly Mountain", Xue Rengui went to Goguryeo again in the first year of Qianfeng (666), this time he completely surrendered it and eliminated the great trouble that had plagued the Central Plains for many years. After the surrender of Goguryeo, Xue Rengui was defeated at the Battle of Dafeichuan and deposed as a commoner, but a year later he was reactivated due to the rebellion of the Goguryeo remnants. Xue Rengui spent his life in the first year of Yongchun (682), and also achieved the Great Victory of Yunzhou at the age of nearly seventy, and he died the following year after the victory.
After reading the life of Xue Rengui, we will talk about Xue Pinggui, Xue Pinggui is a character in folklore, he originally came from a poor family, but he was favored by Bao Jun, the queen of the prime minister Wang Yunzhi.
Shortly after the two were married, Xue Pinggui joined the army and went to Xiliang. This was eighteen years gone, and Wang Baojun was bitterly guarding the cold kiln, waiting for Xue Pinggui's news in a hard life.
By chance, Xue Pinggui married Princess Daizhan and became the King of Western Liang. Eventually, he returned to Chang'an and was reunited with Wang Baojun.
It can be seen from the fact that Xue Rengui appears in various annals of history, and Xue Pinggui is only a character in folklore and opera, it is obvious that the former is a real existence, and the latter is only a fictional character. As for whether the two are related in the end, we have to see Xue Pinggui's prototype.
Regarding Xue Pinggui's prototype, there have always been different opinions, one theory is that Xue Pinggui's prototype is actually Shi Jingyao of the Later Jin Dynasty, but more people believe that Xue Pinggui was born from Xue Rengui, who was only one word away from his name.
The basis for this statement is that in addition to the first, the names of the two are similar, and the second is that the drama "Fenhewan", which tells the story of Xue Rengui and his wife Liu Yingchun, has a very similar plot to "Wujiapo", which tells the story of Xue Pinggui and Wang Baojun.
Moreover, there is also a folk story that a family in Shanxi called a drama team to perform plays such as "Fenhe Bay" in order to wish the old lady a happy birthday, and as a result, the old lady did not like the tragic ending of Xue Rengui in the opera, so she even fell ill.
In order to let the old lady heal, her son asked for a good ending for Xue Rengui, so a literati created the image of "Xue Pinggui" and arranged a happy ending for his reunion with Wang Baojun in the end, which was to make the old lady turn the crisis into safety.
In general, Xue Rengui may be the historical archetype of Xue Pinggui, and although the two can be said not the same person, they have a special relationship.