Some time ago, in the ancient style mobile game "A Hundred Views of Jiangnan", Yue Fei was designed as a cartoon image with his upper body exposed and a lamb in his hand, which caused public indignation among netizens. This is because, in the history of ancient China, "meat to lead the sheep" has always been a symbol of humiliation and peace, and has always been a symbol of forced surrender. Despite the explanation given by the game's producer, the historical significance behind the use of a historical hero as a game character cannot be ignored and distorted! History can not be "game", there are many young players in mobile games, and relevant practitioners should be in awe of historical themes in their creation.
Let's open the history and see which dynasties and which figures have "led the sheep with flesh" and submitted to the enemy.
"Meat to lead the sheep" began with the Wu King's cutting
More than 3,000 years ago, King Wu of Zhou fell, the Shang Dynasty fell, and King Yin's brother Weizi surrendered to the Zhou Dynasty. How did the neutrino surrender? The "History of the Song Weizi Family" records: "The micro son is holding his sacrificial vessel, made in the military gate, the flesh is tied with the face, the left leads the sheep, the right hand holds the grass, and the knees go forward." Thus, the King of Wu was a minor son. "Wei Zi offered the vessels dedicated to the ancestors of the Shang Dynasty to King Wu of Zhou, took off his clothes, tied his hands, and let the courtier on the left hold the sheep, and the courtier on the right held the thatch, and he himself knelt on the ground and moved forward, moving in front of the King of Zhou Wu. In this way, he was spared his life by King Wu of Zhou.
The Shang Dynasty was the most important sacrifice, and the Zhou Dynasty also attached importance to sacrifice, and the vessels that sacrificed ancestors were just like the later jade seals of the country, which were symbols of royal power and the symbol of the land. Wei Zi offered the sacrificial vessel to King Wu of Zhou, indicating that all the descendants of the Shang kings were subject to the Zhou Dynasty. But this was not enough, he also had to kneel naked, and he also had to lead the sheep to hold the grass, because the thatch was used by the princes to wrap the tribute, and to hold the grass meant to pay the tribute; and the sheep meant that he was the tribute, and would later be like a docile sheep, as a slave of King Wu of Zhou.
In 597 BC, King Zhuang of Chu attacked the State of Zheng and besieged the capital of the State of Zheng for three months. Zheng Bo, the monarch of the State of Zheng, went out of the city to surrender, and the "History of the Chu Family" is recorded as follows: "Zheng Bo's meat leads the sheep to rebel." Here, "reverse" means to greet, and Zheng Bo took off his bare arms and led the sheep to greet the King of Chuzhuang.
We know that the "Records of History" was written by the Historian Sima Qian of the Western Han Dynasty, and the text is very concise. In the Wei and Jin dynasties, many scholars made annotations for the "Records of History", so that everyone could not understand the allusions in it. Under the sentence "Zheng Bo meat leads the sheep to reverse", the Wei and Jin chancellor Jia Kui gave a note: "The meat leads the sheep and shows submission to the subject." The so-called "meat leads the sheep" is to show submission to the strong enemy, and will honestly be the slave of the strong enemy in the future.
Is Jia Kui's annotation right? Absolutely. Because during the Wei and Jin dynasties, it was almost common knowledge that meat led the sheep to show submission.
For example, in 238 AD, Emperor Ming of Wei, fearing that the Liaodong warlord Gongsun Yuan and Eastern Wu would join forces, sent Sima Yi to attack Liaodong. Sima Yi led a large army to besiege the Liaodong capital Xiangping (襄平, in present-day Liaoyang, Liaoning), and Gongsun Yuan was unable to break through, so he asked two ministers to go out of the city to negotiate with Sima Yi, willing to tie up and surrender. Sima Yi flatly refused, cut off the heads of the two ministers on the spot, and then shouted to Gongsun Yuan: "Chu Zheng is a country, and Zheng Boyu is leading the sheep to meet him." If the lonely son ascends to justice, and Jian waits for the surrender, is it not polite? "When the State of Chu attacked the State of Zheng, the monarch of the State of Zheng also knew that the meat was leading the sheep out of the city to greet it. Sima Yi, the highest-ranking minister in the State of Wei, personally raised troops to fight against Liaodong, and you Gongsun Yuan should have led the sheep to greet me, but now he has sent two old fools to negotiate with me, don't you even understand the rules of surrender?
Obviously, in Sima Yi's mind, to surrender, it is necessary to lead the sheep with meat, and not to lead the sheep with meat means that his intentions are not sincere.
Sima Yi then attacked Xiangping, killed Gongsun Yuan's father and son, and brutally slaughtered more than 7,000 soldiers and civilians in the city, using the bodies of these people to build a hill.
The surrender ceremony also "broke the circle"
For example, in 280 AD, the Western Jin general Wang Mao attacked the Eastern Wu capital Shicheng (石城, in modern Nanjing, Jiangsu Province). Sun Hao, the ruler of the Eastern Wu Dynasty, seems to know more about the etiquette of surrender than the previous Liaodong warlord Gongsun Yuan, "Hao is the ceremony of preparing for the fall of the country, the white horse of the plain car, the flesh and the face, the lead of the sheep, the doctor is in decline, the soldier is public opinion, and the twenty-one people who lead his pseudo-prince Jin and Jindi Lu Wang Qian are built in the fortress gate." Sun Hao let the white horse ride the white carriage, bare his upper body, bind his hands, hold the jade seal of the country in his mouth, hold the sheep behind his back, the minister wear filial piety clothes, the guards carry the coffin, and his sons Sun Jin, Sun Qian and others came to the city gate and surrendered to Wang Mao. You see, white carts and white horses, wearing filial piety, carrying coffins, and leading sheep with meat are all "gifts of national subjugation."
Sima Shi established the Western Jin Dynasty, destroyed Eastern Wu, and later was destroyed by the Xiongnu. In 316, the Xiongnu leader Liu Yao attacked the Western Jin capital Chang'an, and the Western Jin Emperor Sima Ye "led the sheep with meat and surrendered from the city". The way to surrender was the same as that of Sun Hao, the ruler of Eastern Wu, carrying a coffin, holding a jade seal, and leading a sheep with meat.
During the Northern and Southern Dynasties, Northern Zhou attacked Northern Qi, and Emperor Yuwen Yong of Northern Zhou had people post a letter of persuasion in Northern Qi: "If the false lord does his best to plot, he reaches the destiny of heaven, leads the sheep to the left, and holds the bi yuanmen, and when hui is blessed with the grace of burning, he will be treated with the courtesy of the marquis." "If the Emperor of Northern Qi had been wise enough to meet him at the city gate with a sheep and carry the jade seal to the Gate of Renmen to plead guilty, I would have spared him a life and would have rewarded him with a marquis."
Yuwen Yong was a Humble man, and his letter of persuasion was issued in 575 AD. In other words, by the 6th century AD, even the rulers of ethnic minorities demanded that the people surrender with their flesh and sheep, which shows that this surrender ceremony has "broken the circle" - from the Han cultural circle to the Hu cultural circle.
During the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, the meat led the sheep continued to break the circle, and the Khitan people also understood the meaning of the sheep in surrender.
In 913, Yelü Abaoji, the younger brother of the Khitan lord Yelü Abaoji, rebelled again and was captured alive by Yelü Abaoji. How did Jeroboam do it? "Tie yourself up with the manuscript, and lead the sheep to worship." Tie your hands in straw rope, lead the sheep, and kowtow to Jeroboam for forgiveness.
In 926, Yelü Abaoji attacked the Bohai kingdom, and the king of Bohai was forced to surrender, and the surrender ceremony was stipulated by Yelü Abaoji: "Plain clothes, manuscripts, and sheep lead." "Put on filial piety, tie your hands with straw ropes, and lead the sheep out of the city."
In 945, Emperor Taizong of Liao led a large army across the Yellow River to attack the Later Jin dynasty and capture Daliang (大梁; present-day Kaifeng, Henan). Later Jin Shao Emperor Shi Chonggui sent envoys to the front line to negotiate: "Meat leads the sheep, and the public opinion is held, and it is welcome in the suburbs. But Yelü Deguang said, "I sent my strange soldiers to take the girder directly, and I did not surrender!" "Surrender is not enough, I will directly occupy your capital!"
The most humiliating "meat leading the sheep" in the history of the Song Dynasty
After talking about so many examples, I believe that everyone can understand the meaning of the surrender of the meat and sheep, and can realize how ignorant and disgusting it is that the ancient style mobile game designed Yue Fei as the image of the meat leading the sheep.
One of the most humiliating ceremonies in the history of the Song Dynasty, the surrender of the sheep, took place in 1128 AD in Shangjing (上京, in present-day Harbin, Heilongjiang Province), the capital of the Jin Dynasty. The protagonist who was forced to surrender to the Jin people was None other than Emperor Huizong of Song and Emperor Qinzong of Song, who had always wanted to welcome back the Central Plains.
At the end of the Southern Song Dynasty, a literati signed "Nai'an" (most likely Shi Nai'an, the author of "Water Margin"), carefully sorted out several historical materials from dozens of official and private documents, and restored the scene of Hui and Qin Erdi's flesh leading sheep.
Let's first look at the first paragraph of historical data:
On the twenty-fourth day of the sixth year of the Tianhui, the lord of the imperial family saw the ancestral temple as the second emperor, and the relatives of the palace, Gui, had been sent to tongsai prefecture to be in charge, and they were domestic slaves and military prostitutes. Thirty people, including the crown prince, and thirteen hundred concubines and lords, all lived with the empress. At dawn, thousands of soldiers rushed into the temple, and the flesh was outside the temple gate. The Second Emperor and the Second Emperor went to the robes, and Yu was dressed in robes, draped in sheep fur and waist, and felt strips in his hands. The Second Emperor introduced the mantle hall and performed the ceremony of leading the sheep. The hall is equipped with purple curtains, Chen Baoqi hundred seats, Hu Le miscellaneous... The lord slaughtered two sheep and entered the temple.
On August 24, 1128, Emperor Taizong of Jin was surrendered at the Taimiao Temple. At that time, the imperial relatives of the Great Song Dynasty, who had been taken captive to the Jin Dynasty, had been assigned, some had become slaves, some had become prostitutes, and dozens of princes and more than a thousand concubines and princesses remained in Shangjing. At dawn on this day, thousands of golden soldiers forced Song Huizong, Song Qinzong, and the princes, princesses, and concubines to come to the Taimiao Temple and hold a ceremony of leading sheep with meat. Emperor Hui and Emperor Qin were stripped of their coats, and the rest of the people were stripped naked, draped in sheepskin, and tied with wool ropes on their hands. The Second Emperor was driven to the main hall, and each led a sheep and prostrated his head to the temple. Yan Wu begmai sat on the main hall, making a tent of purple silk, and in front of him was a lavish banquet, enjoying the music and song and dance of the Jurchens. When the Second Emperor finished prostrating his head, Wu Begmai personally killed the two sheep led by the Second Emperor and used them to worship the ancestors.
Look at the second paragraph of historical data:
(Tianhui 6th August) Ding Ugly, Dedicated Taizu Temple Bi, to the Imperial Village, Four Pardons. Emperor Jin, Hou, and the kings Langjun rode on horseback, followed by Khitan Le and his party, and then led the White Banner Five: Yun "captured the Second Emperor of song", Yun "captured the second queen of song", Yun "captured the rebellious slave Zhao Huan's mother and wife", Yun "captured the kings and horses of the Song Dynasty", and Yun "captured the dependents of the two palaces of the Song Dynasty". Followed by the Eighty Seats of Precious Jade, the Soldiers Oh Hall followed. Emperor Song and Hou Jun's patou and people's clothes attacked the sheep. Kings, horses, concubines, princesses, emperors, clan women, eunuchs all exposed their upper bodies, draped in sheep's fur... After entering the imperial village for a while, they were dispatched one after another, and the senior officials were imprisoned. It was night, and after the young Zhu clan hanged himself, he was saved, but still died in the water.
After the meat led the sheep, Wu Begmai and his wife, sons, brothers, ministers and others rode forward on horseback, followed by Hui, the Second Emperor of Qin, and the crown prince, princess, and concubines. Jin Bing held up a banner, one of which read "Captured the Second Emperor of Song", which means "Captured Song Huizong and Song Qinzong"; one banner wrote "Captured Song Erhou", which means "Captured Empress Zheng of Song Huizong and Empress Zhu of Song Qinzong"; one banner reads "Captured the rebellious slave Zhao Huan's mother and wife", which means that song Qinzong's mother and wife were captured; one banner reads "Captured Song Kings and Horses", which means that the princes and horses of the Song Dynasty were captured; and one banner reads "Captured the Two Palaces of Song and Song Qinzong's Dependents", which means that all the concubines of Song Huizong and Song Qinzong were captured.
Emperor Huizong of Song, Emperor Qinzong of Song, Empress Zheng, and Empress Zhu all wrapped their heads in handkerchiefs and wore civilian costumes and sheepskins; more than a thousand people, including princes, horses, princesses, concubines, and eunuchs, were all naked and draped in sheepskin. On this evening, from Empress Zheng and Empress Zhu to the princess and concubines, they were all sent to the big tent that Yan Wu begged to buy, and then released. On this night, Empress Zhu attempted suicide by hanging herself and threw herself into the water and died.
Behind the ceremony is an even more tragic historical memory
The Northern Song Dynasty perished during the Jing kang period of Emperor Qinzong of the Song Dynasty, and history called it the "Shame of Jing Kang". If we modern people are not familiar with this history, we absolutely cannot understand the infinite humiliation brought about by the subjugation and surrender, and it is definitely not a simple and flesh-and-blood surrender ceremony that can end. When the Northern Song Dynasty fell, tens of thousands of people in Kaifeng City alone were slaughtered by Jin Bing, and tens of thousands of women became prostitutes in Jin Bing Camp. Emperor Hui and Emperor Qin were escorted north by Jin Bing, across the Yellow River, to Yanjing (present-day Beijing), where hundreds of imperial relatives were tortured to death, and hundreds of clan daughters (women of the clan) committed suicide because of Jin Bing's humiliation. The women who survived arrived at the capital of the Jin Kingdom and were assigned to the Emperor, Prince, and General of the Jin Kingdom. Those who are pregnant on the way are forced to "remove the fetus", that is, forced abortion, and then selected by the nobles of the Golden State after the body is restored...
As for Emperor Huizong of Song and Emperor Qinzong of Song, he has been living a life inferior to that of a prisoner ever since. In 1136 (Baidu Encyclopedia mistakenly made 1135), Emperor Huizong of Song froze and starved to death in a crypt in wuguocheng (present-day Yilan County, Heilongjiang Province). After death, the body was smashed to the ground by Jin Bing with a wooden stick, first burned, and then thrown into a pit of water, and it is said that the oil oozing from the corpse can light the lamp. In 1161, Emperor Qinzong of Song was proposed by Emperor GuanyanLiang of the Jin Dynasty, who was preparing to attack the Southern Song Dynasty, in a horse pen in Yanjing, and was forced to play polo with another emperor of the fallen kingdom, Emperor Tianzuo of Liao. After Yan Liang's order, jin soldiers shot emperor Liao Tianzuo with arrows, and Song Qinzong was frightened and fell off his horse, and then was repeatedly trampled to death by the Jin soldiers and horses.
More than a hundred years after the death of Emperor Qinzong of Song, the Mongol army invaded the capital of the Southern Song Dynasty, Lin'an, and Emperor Gong of Song and Empress Quan surrendered to the Mongol left minister Boyan. Bo Yan said: "Don't tie the neck to lead the sheep." "If you are gracious, you will not be allowed to lead the sheep any longer." When Empress Quan heard this, she cried out to Emperor Gong of Song: "Holy Mercy and Living Ru of The Heavenly Son of Hetian!" "People don't kill us, people don't kill us!"
Why did Empress Quan cry? Because she knows that the flesh of the sheep is the most humiliating surrender, the most perverted humiliation, and the most painful history.
Therefore, if the ancients saw the picture of Yue Fei's flesh leading the sheep, they would be very confused and not understand whether this was too ignorant or too shameless.
Text and courtesy photo/Lee Kai-zhou