First, let's talk about the literal meaning of "Shang Fang Sword".
I. The Han Dynasty's "Shang Fang" and "Shang Fang Chopping Horse Sword"
The "sword" doesn't need much explanation—the things given by the emperor are very precious. However, the word "Shangfang" is somewhat worth investigating. In ancient times, many of the official positions or official offices in charge of the affairs of the imperial palace had a "Shang" character. For example, the "Six Shangs" set up during the Qin Dynasty were basically a group of butlers who were responsible for serving the emperor, from bathing, dressing to eating, all of which had these six institutions in charge. The "Shangfang" is a bit like the Royal Institute of Crafts, according to the Tang Dynasty scholar Yan Shigu, this place is mainly responsible for "making imperial utensils" and "making gold and silver", in other words, it is a special factory in the palace.
Incidentally, lord Shangshu, who poured the wind wherever it blew, was also a member of the "Six Shangs" at the earliest times.
The chief of the "Shang Fang" was called "Shang Fang Ling", and the most famous of the people who held this position throughout the Han Dynasty was probably Cai Lun, who was famous for making paper. The improvement of papermaking was a national scientific research project implemented by Cai Lun during the tenure of "Shangfang", and its results were later regarded as one of the great creations in domestic history, which showed that the technical ability of "Shangfang" was so powerful that it was not simply the emperor's toy workshop. It is said that when Cai Lun was in office, as long as it was something produced by "Shangfang", "Mo Is not Seiko", its products can obviously be hung up on ISO9001 certification, and the quality management is really quite powerful.
"Shang Fang" is exactly making something, which is not very clear in the ancient books. However, this royal factory has a well-known specialty called "Shangfang Chopping Sword". It is not unusual that a sword can be used to cut people, but if it can "cut a horse", it is powerful. After all, it is something that the emperor wants to use, but you can't just casually get the pig-killing knife out to make a mistake, if the emperor Lao Tzu gets angry, a sword can't kill the poor minister, then the next person to be beheaded, I'm afraid it's the gang of "Shang Fang", so this sword is still sharper. It is said that the craftsmen who work in the "Shangfang" will also choose to forge this sword during the lunar eclipse. I didn't quite understand this reasoning, but if you think about the lines in "Nine Pin Sesame Officers", you will suddenly be enlightened- "Moon Black Wind High Killing Night", choosing to cast swords at this time is probably more energetic.
Can the sword of the Ming Dynasty behead the officials of the Qing Dynasty? Talking about the "Shang Fang Sword" in "Nine Pin Sesame Officers"
In the classic funny movie "Nine Pin Sesame Officer" (1994), there is a famous bridge section like this: When Bao Longxing had won the super lawsuit Fang Tangjing and was thinking about how to bring Chang Wei, who had raped the second young grandmother of the adulterous family, to justice, Aunt Bao, who had always only known how to mischief, suddenly came to the court and showed a "Shang Fang Sword" to help his son. Bao Longxing, who had obtained the most precious treasure, hurriedly picked up the sword brought by his mother, chased Chang Wei around in the courtroom, and even scared Li Lianying, who was hearing the jury, into a cold sweat.
However, after a period of confusion, everyone suddenly discovered that the Bao family's "Shangfang Sword" actually came from the Chongzhen Emperor of the previous dynasty. This thing is above the public court of the Qing Dynasty, in addition to having no legal effect, it may also confirm the Bao family's rebellion charges. Bao Longxing, who had turned over, could only follow Li Lianying's wishes and swallow the "Shang Fang Sword" into his stomach, which was a fluke to solve this inexplicable crisis.
"Shang Fang Sword" is the whole "Nine Pin Sesame Officer" buried a relatively deep one, in the movie, Bao Aunt first mistook a salted fish as a sword, and then at the end of the play with the real goods halfway out, and finally caused Bao Longxing to mistakenly take the "sword of the Ming Dynasty to behead the Qing Dynasty official", the show was amused to no. However, the interesting question is: what is the origin of the "Shang Fang Sword"? Is this thing really like the movie says, can it "behead the emperor and behead the courtier"? Could the ancestors of the Bao family really get this kind of high-grade goods that no one knew from the Chongzhen Emperor?
The Han Dynasty's "Shangfang Chopping Sword" now seems to have found no remains. However, during the Song Dynasty, there was a scholar named Xue Jixuan who had seen this thing. According to Xue Jixuan, the Shang Fang sword he saw had a sword box, and after more than a thousand years, it had not even rusted. In Xue Jixuan's view, this kind of technical ability is "beyond the ability of today's people." Even the Song Dynasty people could not understand how this thing was made, and it was obvious that the "Shang Fang" of the Han Dynasty did master some unique metallurgical methods, which was really powerful. [1]
Second, did Bao Qingtian of the Song Dynasty have a "Shangfang Sword"?
Xue Jixuan saw the swords of the Han Dynasty, so did the Song Dynasty have their own "Shangfang Sword"?
This is a bit complicated to say. In Taiwan, in the TV series "Bao Qingtian", which many of us are familiar with, Lord Bao, whose face is full of black paint, will always sacrifice this precious thing at a critical moment, and incidentally shout "Shang Fang Sword, such as coming in person!" Whether you are an arrogant Pang Taishi or a bad-hearted donkey, you must have soft knees and obediently kneel down at this section. In this way, the "Shangfang Sword", which represents the authorization of the emperor, seems to have such a thing in the Song Dynasty.
However, on the major news networks in China, there is an article with a less uniform title that says: Because the emperor granted his subordinates the power of life and death through the "Shangfang Sword", a system was formed in the Ming Dynasty, so it was impossible for Lord Bao of the Song Dynasty to have a "Shangfang Sword" that was enough for him to "cut first and play later". And if we think that the series of novels or folk operas on which "Bao Qingtian" is based are actually the creations of the Ming and Qing dynasties, then this statement does have some truth. Although these works are also based on history, many times, they reflect the time and space background in which the author is located, rather than necessarily the true appearance of historical facts.
Despite this, the Song people did have their own "Shang fang sword". As mentioned earlier: The "Shangfang Sword" of the Han Dynasty is actually a high-quality long sword made by the royal factory. After the Han Dynasty, although the official offices responsible for the same kind of work did not necessarily use "Shangfang" as the official name, the readers of the ancient world would still use the name "Shangfang" to call it, and the sword given by the emperor was still often called "Shangfang Sword". If we look at a poem given to the famous general Han Shizhong by Li Gang, the prime minister of the Southern Song Dynasty, it was said that he was "the sword of Shangfang was frequently given", which shows that there was still such a way of saying at that time.
The emperor gave the sword, which was quite common in ancient times. But this gift does not necessarily come with any other benefits, just to give you a face. Therefore, having a shiny and dangling imperial sword seems to be unable to do anything except show off your good stick to others. However, if the reader took the initiative to ask the emperor for orders and asked for the "Shang Fang Sword", this situation was another matter.
Let's look at an example from the Southern Song Dynasty's "Rebuilding the BilingZhi": during the reign of Emperor Xiaozong of Song, the Jin State in the north sent envoys to wish the emperor of this partial court a happy birthday. The envoy entered the Song Realm, and with the prestige of the Golden Kingdom at that time, he was arrogant and arrogant, and the officials who received him were also quite insulted and sullen.
At that time, a small official named Ding Feng, when he heard that there was such a bullying thing, somehow followed the same enemy and gave Xiaozong a song, "begging for the Shang Fang Sword", saying that he was going to rush over and kill the Jurchen envoy of the fox fake tiger Wei. According to the international situation at that time, the Great Golden State could not be offended casually, and the small Southern Song Dynasty court naturally could not agree to Ding Feng's request. However, a senior member of the imperial court admired Ding Feng's confidence, and his brother was promoted by the central government all the way, and his career was also smooth sailing, very happy. [2]
The Xianchun Biling Zhi contains a record of Ding Feng's deeds.
If you don't borrow anything, you have to borrow the "Shang fang sword" from the emperor Lao Tzu - this story shows that Ding Feng actually regarded the Shang Fang sword as a royal authority to eliminate harm for the country. In fact, before Ding Feng, many domestic literati had already pinned similar ideals on Shang Fangjian (for example, Mr. Di Renjie, who will be mentioned in other places). Although we have not seen a successful case of borrowing a sword in the literature, theoretically speaking, if the black-faced Bao Gong really intends to borrow a "Shangfang Sword" from the emperor in order to cut a villain in half, then his wish is still reasonable in the historical time and space of the Northern Song Dynasty - but this order must be "first played and then chopped", and there is no way to "cut first and play later".
Having said all this, why was the "Shangfang Sword" regarded by the ancient literati as a designated prop for asking the emperor for orders and eradicating evil? Let's keep looking.
Third, the exemplary significance of "Zhu Yun Asking for a Sword" and the quarrels of domestic literati
Let's turn back the clock and return to the Han Dynasty's "Shangfang Chopping Sword". The story of the sword's first appearance in classical literature is this:
In the late Western Han Dynasty, there was a reader known for his integrity, called Zhu Yun. It has always been the same throughout the ages, as long as it is a guy with a straight personality who engages in politics, he will definitely offend many people in the government and the opposition. This Zhu Yun's career path naturally followed the ups and downs because of his unpleasant style.
When Emperor Hancheng took over the government, Zhu Yun did not know which tendon was wrong, suddenly ran to see the emperor, and then, headlessly, in front of the Manchu Dynasty's civil and military officials, broke his mouth and scolded. Only to hear his elder brother righteously scolding sternly: The current court officials are, in my opinion, a bunch of rotten food for corpses. In order to rectify this unhealthy political atmosphere, I asked His Majesty to "give Shang Fang a sword to cut off a horse and a courtier"—in other words, Zhu Yun wanted to ask the emperor to authorize him to slaughter a certain traitor in the court with a sword. In this way, the other little kings and bastards may have a tighter skin, and the future of the Han Dynasty will have hope!
The animated version of "Zhu Yun Please Sword", this story is actually more often called "Zhu Yun Folding Sill", this is because Zhu Yun and his brother were almost pulled out of the temple and slaughtered, and the railing was broken. However, Zhu Yun in this animation seems to have folded something wrong...
Zhu Yun, who had spoken out in public to cut people, naturally failed to get a "Shangfang Chopping Horse Sword" from Emperor Hancheng. On the contrary, his white-eyed style almost caused trouble and was dragged out by emperor Lao Tzu to be slaughtered. However, although Zhu Yun's actions seemed to be quite reckless, later domestic literati always liked this story recorded in the Book of Han. "Zhu Yun's Request for the Sword" has since been regarded by readers as an exemplary sage deed, and has also made "Shang Fang Sword" a synonym for the authority granted by the emperor to his subordinates. In the future, as long as any minister looks at others unfavorably and wants to ask the emperor to let him slaughter a certain turtle king, they will move out the allusion of "Zhu Yun please sword", indicating that they intend to imitate Zhu Yun's approach and eliminate evil and uphold justice for the country.
For example, Di Renjie, a famous Minister of the Tang Dynasty who has been playing the Tongtian Divine Detective in various film and television works in previous years, did a similar thing. When Di Renjie was a local petty official, he once clashed with Zhang Guangfu, a senior officer sent by the central government. Halfway through the quarrel, Di Renjie felt very angry, so he said a harsh sentence: "If Shang Fang slashes the sword and attaches it to the neck of the king, although he is dead!" (If you can get a "Shang Fang Chopping Sword" and cut it down on the neck of your bastard ball, Lao Tzu will be willing to die!) ）
Quarrels so much that they want to cut off people's heads are really not trivial. It is worth noting that Di Renjie did not mention other divine weapons here, but rather mentioned "Shang Fang Slashing Sword", which was obviously declaring that the reason why he wanted to kill Zhang Guangfu was not only because of personal grudges. But Di Renjie was emulating Zhu Yun, a sage of the Han Dynasty, who wanted to cut the appendix for the country, remove green mold, and cut off the big trouble in his heart!
Di Renjie only lost such a sentence, and Zhang Guangfu was labeled a traitor—this is the quarrelsome language of the domestic literati, and the few figures put themselves together with the ancient sages, and the guy who fights with him is doomed to bad luck. All in all, Di Renjie's example illustrates the symbolic significance of the story of "Shang Fang Sword" and Zhu Yun in domestic history. As long as anyone who moves out the name of this sword is equivalent to declaring himself a follower of the ancient sages, forever on the side of justice, as if there is a holy light behind him. And the scolded guy's aura was suddenly shortened, and he could only obediently be a grandson while cooling off.
After Di Renjie, domestic readers would still occasionally take Shang Fang's sword as the final killing in public quarrels. Usually, these guys would count the crimes of their opponents in the songbook presented to the emperor, and then attach a sentence :"The subject hates not to ask Shang Fang sword to kill this thief!" Such harsh words. Throughout the ages, there have been many historical celebrities who have suffered from such threats. For example, Ouyang Xiu, who was very miserable in our high school days, was once scolded by a certain counselor in the dprk, saying that he should use the Shang Fang sword to directly correct the Fa. In addition, the famous Shoufu Ye Xianggao in the late Ming Dynasty was also twice written in the SongShu that he would cut off his head with the Shang Fang sword, and one of them was also well known to everyone in the DPRK, making Ye Xianggao feel "ashamed and landless", so he had to submit his resignation to Emperor Mingxi. [3]
Of course, just like the story of "Zhu Yun Asking for a Sword", in most of these quarrels where you participate in me and I sue him, the emperor usually does not agree to the request of the courtiers--you think, if you really let these readers take the imperial sword and cut it, then how can it be? Therefore, such a thing as "please sword shangfang" is usually just a piece of paper, decorating your righteous position, and very few people really do it. In fact, for domestic literati, the "Shang Fang Sword" does not need to be a tangible weapon. As part of the quarrel, they only need to mention the name of the "Shang Fang Sword" and the meaning it represents in their words, and you will have to suffer!
Fourth, is it like a living or a salted fish? Talking about the "Sword of Shangfang" in popular literature
Here's the point, let's sort it out:
The so-called "Shang Fang Sword" was originally a high-end specialty of the Royal Factory of the Han Dynasty. If it is purely a gift, the long sword given by the emperor does not necessarily have any special meaning except to reward the merits of his subjects. But after the story of "Zhu Yun Asking for the Sword" became a model, if the reader took the initiative to ask the emperor for the "Shang Fang Sword", then he mostly wanted to express how much he hated a villain, and then hoped to get the authority of the emperor to eradicate evil for the imperial court--well, although these guys usually did not really put it into action.
However, the Shang Fang Sword in all these stories seems to be very different from the "Shang Fang Sword" that bao Longxing's ancestors have inherited! The sword in the movie can "slash the Emperor up, cut the Emperor down", and even "cut first and play later", why do the various Shang Fang swords we talked about earlier sound weak, as if there are no such enchantments and power?
To answer this question, we must first go back and examine how the "Shang fang sword" seen by modern people was "built".
We know that the script idea of "Nine Pin Sesame Officer" was obviously inspired by the TV series "Bao Qingtian". As mentioned above, the story of Bao Qingtian, which we are generally familiar with, actually originated from the creation of folk literature and opera after the late Ming Dynasty, so the various depictions of the "Shangfang Sword" in later generations should also be traced back to these works.
In fact, "Shang Fang Sword" in the past series of works with the theme of Bao Qingtian is not much, and the time of appearance may be quite late. The example I can find so far is "Xiao Wuyi", written in the late Qing Dynasty, the first time in this novel, it is said that when a certain imperial court official went out on a "hunting tour of the heavens", he was given the "Imperial Sword of Shangfang" "as if the king came", and had the power to "cut first and play later".
In fact, in the creation of popular literature in modern times, there are still many super weapons such as the "Shang Fang Sword". For example, in the "Haigong Case" written by the Ming Dynasty sage Hai Rui, there was a "golden whip to beat the king" that "beat the unconscious king and beat the adulterous minister down"; cheng biting jin in the "Xue Jia General" series of novels held a royal axe of "cutting the king up and cutting the subject down". In addition, in various stories set in the Northern Song Dynasty, She Taijun, who is old and dragon clocked, has a mighty dragon head staff. These different props usually have the blessing of the "first king" or "first emperor", that is, the ancestors of the emperor, holding them is equivalent to Mario touching the invincible star, no matter what you are too master Taifu Taibao too aggrieved or the sun father-in-law, all of them can hit him full of teeth, very enjoyable.
Oh yes, it turned out to be Lady Hua holding the dragon head, I thought it was She Taijun ~ (Picture from "Yangmen Female General's Army Order Rushan")
Unfortunately, a large part of this addiction only exists in novels and operas, so that the storytellers under the flyover are only happy to talk, and it is absolutely not true. Let's just say the phrase "slash the Emperor of the Dead"—which emperor do you think would be willing to authorize his subordinates to stab himself to death with a sword when he is happy? No matter how enlightened Emperor Lao Tzu is, this is still unlikely to happen. We look at the Tang Dynasty sage Wei Zheng, who is famous for his confrontation with the boss, his brother just wrote a "Ten Thoughts of Emperor Taizong", plus some "bird things" that frightened Emperor Taizong, which made the later domestic literati very happy, and pursued him as a representative of the people who have been outspoken and extremely outspoken in the past and the present--even Wei Zheng, who claims to be the most courageous to offend Long Yan, can only do so, let alone talk about what "beheads the Emperor", and everyone still washes and sleeps faster.
Speaking of "beheading the courtiers" and "cutting first and playing later", these two things sound reasonable, but in fact they are quite restrictive. Who is the "courtier" and who should lose his head, and it is the emperor Lao Tzu who ultimately makes the decision. As for those petty local officials, although Grandpa Banzai doesn't necessarily care much about their heads, he can't let people cut them casually. Only when the situation is urgent is that an emperor is more likely to confer the power of "first slash and play later" to a certain minister, along with the Shang Fang Sword.
So, under what circumstances can the "Shang Fang Sword" really show its fierce power of first getting on the bus and then making up the ticket, beheading first and then making up the report? Let's move on.
V. The "Sword of Shangfang" in real history and the military authorization of ancient emperors
In the popular impression, "absolute monarchy" means that the power of the entire country is concentrated in the hands of one person. But if you think about it carefully, there are so many links in the daily operation of a country, and no matter how much the emperor manages every opportunity, it is impossible to sweep away from the military logging pipe to the pit. Therefore, the government of the ancient era still has its power distribution mechanism.
Of course, when decision-making power is at stake, dictators still tend to take it into their own hands. But there are still some cases, in order to be efficient, the emperor will release some important powers and grant them to the ministers below. It's like marching combat, and the commander of the front line can't wait for the master to say wherever he goes. Everyone is already in a position, and you are still asking the emperor whether to wait and defend the area or stare at people, which is also a very strange thing if it is not exploded by the opponent.
Therefore, the generals who were sent to conscript and lead troops to fight usually received a certain range of authorizations from the emperor. In order to announce the grant of this power, the emperor would often openly give some symbolic relics to the leading generals before the army set out, so that they could "act cheaply" on the battlefield thousands of miles away and make decisions according to their own judgment.
The "Sword of Shangfang" is also one of the relics of this authorization. However, giving Shang Fangjian to gain the power position of the general was something that slowly developed after the Tang and Song dynasties. Prior to this, the emperor wanted to grant military power, and customarily used "Jingjie" or "axe". Why the festival and the gift of the sword evolved into the sword, there may be some historical stories worth investigating, but the meaning is not much different, in short, it is to highlight the authority of the general, so that the large troops who go out on the expedition can obey the commander's orders.
Of course, the wooden handle of the Shang Dynasty's "sub-ugly" has been rotten, leaving only the copper part, but you can still imagine the original appearance of this big axe. The purpose of modeling the axe is probably to increase its intimidation, although from the modern point of view, this pattern seems to be quite cute. (Photo Credit: Artron Blog, Lao Zhao's blog)
"Jingjie", "Axe" or "Shangfang Sword" often have the power of life and death attached to them. If any of the hun balls flinched and did not obey the command, the general who was ordered could directly cut off his head with the imperial sword, so that he could stand up in front of the army. This kind of thing was especially common in the late Ming Dynasty, and we see that in the Ming Shilu, the Ming Shen Sect wanted to use a literati named Xiong Tingbi to go to Liaodong to preside over the overall situation. In order to give him "heavy powers" and "long ceremonial numbers", the emperor added a Shangfang sword in addition to the edict of appointment and the reward of Larilla, and told Xiong Tingbi that if there were "generals who did not need to die", then he was allowed to "go down to the deputy commander-in-chief, first beheaded and then played".
This holy decree given to Xiong Tingbi by the Myōjin Sect was almost equivalent to the standard instruction manual for the "Shangfang Sword". Its content is very clear: the purpose of giving the sword to Xiong Tingbi is to make the "soldiers under his command use their lives" . And the scope of this sword that can "cut first and play later" is limited to officers below a certain level, and the rest of the governors and inspectors are not moving. In other words: the "Shang fang sword" that we generally have in the impression that the god blocks the killing of the god and the Buddha blocks the killing of the Buddha actually only exists in the movie, and the Shang Fang sword in Zhenggang is not so good. If you accidentally cut the wrong person, then wait for the big frieze to fall.
Moreover, from the existing literature, we can also clearly see that the Imperial Shang Fang Sword, which really carries the power of "cutting first and playing later", is actually like the example of Xiong Tingbi, all of which were awarded to military generals. A local parent official like Bao Qingtian, carrying out criminal cases and cutting bad eggs with Shang Fang sword all day long, is an unlikely thing to happen. In fact, the death penalty process in ancient times was not as simple as in the TV series, as if it could be tied to the execution ground at will, and it could be opened at any time for twenty-four hours. No matter how bad a criminal is, he usually has to send the official documents to the central government and go through the established procedures before he can be sent to die.
However, the storytellers under the overpass do not care about the hard evidence. In order to give the reader a picture of the public to kill the evil, the justices in the story must have a certain amount of power. Perhaps because of this, the Shang Fang Sword, which was frequently given to military commanders in the late Ming Dynasty, was moved to the public case novel and became the secret weapon of many law enforcement heroes.
In general, the monarch gave the sword to the general of the conquest, and gave the power of life and death, and since the Song Dynasty, some examples can be seen one after another. It was only in the Song and Yuan dynasties that the emperor was still happy; in the late Ming Dynasty, it became a relatively fixed practice to give Shang Fang swords to military commanders above a certain level. Later, the "Shang Fang Sword" could even be hung in the title of a general, showing it to scare everyone.
For example, Zheng Chenggong, who is well known to everyone, once said in a letter to the Japanese shogunate to borrow troops, saying that he was "the governor of the Southern and Northern Provinces, the Water and Army, and the Grain and Salary Control Town, who gave the python jade Shang Fang Sword cheaply and hung up to solicit the Great General Yin President to make success." Here, "giving Shang Fang Sword to act cheaply" is also a kind of name that Zheng Chenggong took to self-proclaim. Juxtaposed with the identities of "recruiting the Great General" and "Envoy of the President", it can be seen that holding a royal gift of the "Shang Fang Sword" will be a lot of fancy things.
The statue of Zheng Chenggong outside the ancestral hall of The King of Yanping County, Tainan, may be the "Shangfang Sword" given to him by The King of Longwu. Legend has it that the "Sword Pond" in Taipei City was named after Zheng Chenggong threw down the sword, so could the sword also be the "Shang Fang Sword"? (Photo Credit: Tainan Municipal Government Film and Television Support Center)
In addition to the fame, the Shang Fang Sword in Zheng Chenggong's hand was not just used to scare people. When he first started his army, this (considered by many) hot-tempered general once sacrificed the Shangfang Sword of the Imperial Gift for the loss of a stronghold, and beheaded his uncle Zheng Zhipeng, who was in charge of defending the area. This kind of practice of not recognizing the six relatives and respecting the military order alone has caused "the generals to be chestnut", and the big guys are frightened to the point of not being able to do it. The history books say that after Zheng Chenggong did this, the Zheng family's army "regained its strength", probably because the discipline was stretched out again, and no one dared to abandon the city to escape and slip away from the front.
In fact, the "Shang Fang Sword" does have this miraculous effect of sorting out military discipline. As a military official said during the Wanli Dynasty, "If the power is not heavy, the order is not obeyed", the life and death power represented by the Shang Fang Sword can effectively "shock people's hearts" and make the army "compete for the first order" for its generals. The aforementioned Xiong Tingbi, when he had just taken up his post in Liaodong, also arrested the fleeing generals of the previous war in front of the gate of the barracks, publicly counted their crimes, and then moved their heads with the Shang Fang sword. In this way, it also made the "generals feel chestnut" (the thighs of the Ming Dynasty soldiers seemed to be easily frightened), and the weather of the Liaodong army also improved somewhat. In the future, when Xiong Tingbi was once again used by the imperial court as the Liaodong Jingluo, his elder brother did not forget to take the initiative to ask the emperor for another Shangfang sword, which showed that this thing was not only beautiful, but really good to use! [4]
Sixth, the first time to perform a costume drama to get started - the actual combat "Shang Fang Sword" user guide!
Easy to use, the things given by the emperor, but there are many rules attached, do not understand the rules is very fatal. If one day you accidentally fell into the desk drawer of the room, sat on the time machine in a confused way, crossed to the end of the Ming Dynasty, and appointed the emperor of the dynasty why there are no great generals -- now it is good, the emperor Lao Tzu intends to give you a Shangfang sword, at this time, in addition to banging your head in front of the Heavenly Son, what famous hall do you have to do to thank the emperor for his great grin?
Judging from the examples of the late Ming Dynasty, if the emperor wants to give you the Shang Fang Sword, there are roughly two ways. Either hold a press conference to inform the world, or send someone to deliver you to the house. The former situation is not difficult to imagine: the ancient emperor sent generals out to fight, always like to come to the altar to worship the general, so that everyone in the world knows that you are a general appointed by the state. As a symbol of authorization, it is no longer appropriate to issue the "Sword of Shangfang" on such occasions.
Let's ask Liu Bang and Han Xin to demonstrate the "Worship on the Altar" (picture from the 13th episode of the TV series "Han Liu Bang").
After we saw that the rogue thief Li Zicheng at the end of the Ming Dynasty became arrogant in Shanxi, the important minister Li Jiantai indignantly asked the Chongzhen Emperor to march west. Chongzhen, who was delighted in the dragon's heart, immediately said that he would help Li Jiantai to conduct a grand send-off ceremony. This ceremony called "Pushing hub" is super complicated, and when all the processes are finally finished, the highlight is really played - only to see Li Jiantai's head put on a big red hairpin flower, and then the "Shangfang Sword" is slowly invited out in the sound of drum music. At this point, the ordained general finally received the imperial treasure and could lead the troops out on the expedition.
Then again, if you really meet the emperor to give you an award, then before and after the ceremony, you must not have any accidents. Let's talk about this Li Jiantai, when his brother had a hard time receiving the Shang Fang Sword and embarked on the journey, but not long after he set off, the palanquin he was riding in suddenly broke the wooden bar. This incident was considered by many to be an ominous omen, and Li Jiantai really did not live up to the prediction of the people's gods, and the brigade defeated Baoding in Henan, and the Ming Dynasty's Guozuo was lost.
Another similar example is Zheng Chenggong's uncle Zheng Zhifeng (郑洪逵), when Emperor Longwu of the Southern Ming Dynasty wanted to give him a "shrine to worship the general" and give Him the Sword of Shang Fang, but it rained heavily, so that when Zheng Zhifeng finished receiving the award and was about to step down, he fell twice in a row. As you can imagine, there must be a bunch of people who "think it's ominous" in this matter. Later, Zheng Zhifeng's army really did not help much, and the Longwu regime did not last long in Fujian, and then it was destroyed by the Qing soldiers who were heading south.
If you usually like to read some historical stories that are not there, the above two magical prophecies should feel quite familiar - the domestic people in the ancient books especially love to come to this set, whether it is a pen pole, a flagpole or a telephone pole, as long as something suddenly breaks, someone will come out and "think it is ominous", and then the protagonist of the story is ready to be unlucky. Therefore, if you are really called to the emperor to receive the prize one day, you must first check the strength of all the wooden items near the venue, and be careful that the ground is slippery, and do not fall easily. Otherwise, when you accidentally get into trouble, nine times out of ten there will be a guy with a mocking skill point over there, "Finish the egg , super ominous Oh Oh ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ " And according to the divine logic of many of these crow's mouth stories, next, you can only pray that you won't die too tragically...
In another situation, if you are serving in a foreign country far away from the Heavenly Emperor, if the Saint wants to give you the Shangfang Sword, he can only ask his subordinates to fill out the house delivery list and deliver it to the palace. However, the royal level of home delivery, of course, is not waiting for people to ring the doorbell, and then wear slippers and yawn lazily sign a name to receive the goods, the rules are very troublesome.
For example, there was a general named Li Hualong in the Wanli Dynasty who was ordered to go to the southwest of the country to quell the rebellion of the Miao people in Bozhou. Before the battle was about to be fought, a minister of the military department suddenly thought that he should give Li Hualong a Shangfang sword, so he asked the emperor and sent Li Hualong a sword. When Li Hualong received the news, he arranged a place to greet Chincha and the sword, and prepared a "Dragon Pavilion" [5], probably without incense cases, honor guards, drum music and so on.
When the messenger came to the scene holding the sword, Li Hualong still had to burn incense and pray, looking in the direction of Beijing City and prostrating his head, before finally getting his royal gift of Shang Fang Sword - I had never seen such a troublesome home delivery signing process! After all, it is something given by Tianzi, can not let you take it like McDonald's order, you should kneel and knock away, all the cumbersome ritual details please contact the university libraries to borrow the "Daming Huidian", there are detailed steps to teach, the first time you sign the Shang Fang Sword, you can get started!
The Bozhou War was one of the so-called "Three Great Marches of the Wanli Calendar", and the consumption of these three major battles was extremely large, which was an important factor affecting the financial collapse of the Ming Dynasty in the last years.
On the other hand, in the war in which he led his troops to fight, Li Hualong demonstrated an effective use of the "Shangfang Sword": we know that the number of Ming troops in the ping-broadcast war added up to about 200,000 people, and the entire command system can be said to be quite large. In this large army, if someone brought relatives and friends to visit Apache in three or fifty years, it was a serious violation of military discipline, and only one Shang Fang sword was probably not enough. To this end, Li Hualong creatively came up with a solution: he also distributed the power of life and death attached to the Imperial Gift Shang Fang Sword to the chief soldier and the supervising officer under his command.
What's going on? It turned out that Li Hualong gave these generals and supervisors "a sword each" and instructed: If you encounter a guy who violates military discipline, you can also "take him to the ling banner to act as a gift." The emperor granted power to Li Hualong through the "Shangfang Sword", and his elder brother copied several Shangfang swords on the grounds of "Yang Body Sacred Will" to distribute the emperor's authorization downwards. From this example, it seems that the general who was given the Shang Fang Sword can independently share such power within a reasonable range!
Then again, the emperor Lao Tzu gave you the sword for your purpose, which is to make it convenient for you to lead the troops to fight on the front line. If the war is over, it is reasonable to say that you should also return the sword of Shangfang to the country. For example, after the end of the Pingbo War, Li Hualong called an officer under his command and sent the sword back to Beijing.
However, occasionally it seems that there will be cases of non-payment. For example, Yang Sichang, the governor of Xuanda Shanxi during the Chongzhen period, when he first took office, he found that there were two Shangfang swords left in the warehouse of Shanhaiguan, so he hurriedly wrote a report to the emperor and handed back the two swords. From this point of view, Bao Longxing's ancestors regarded the "Shang Fang Sword" as an heirloom, which may be said to be a very foul thing. However, it may also be that when the ancestor of the Bao family thought of returning the sword to the emperor, Chongzhen had been hung on the head of the coal mountain, and the Ming Dynasty was no longer there.
7. The Shang fang sword of the Qing Dynasty? Talking about the "Sword of The Blade of The Dragon" and the "Banner of King's Destiny"
Before the end of the article, let's answer the classic question of Li Lianying in the "Nine Pin Sesame Officials": Can the sword of the Ming Dynasty be used to behead the officials of the Qing Dynasty?
The true context of this question actually has to go back to the line that Li Gonggong had said before--when Bao Longxing picked up the sword and chased the murderer Chang Wei around in the public court, Li Lianying, who was almost affected, panicked and said: "Since the founding of the Qing Dynasty, I have never heard of any Shangfang sword!" And when everyone finally figured out the origin of this sword, his brother was relieved and mocked Bao Longxing, saying that what he was holding in his hand was something that we did not have in the Qing Dynasty.
So: did the Qing Dynasty really not have the Shangfang Sword?
The most straightforward answer is no. Therefore, although a Qing Palace drama called "Shang Fang Sword" was filmed in China, that play was mostly nonsense, and in fact, there was no record of the Qing Emperor giving the Shang Fang Sword to his subordinates in the literature.
"I'm afraid we don't quite act in this drama, emperor~" (Picture from the TV series "Shang Fang Sword" Episode 1)
However, the fact that the Qing court did not use the name "Shangfang Sword" did not mean that they did not have such a thing. Let's recall the story we said earlier: the emperor gave the Sword of Shangfang, essentially through this symbolic artifact, to grant a general (applicable to a certain range) the right to kill, this authorization may have had its needs in every past era, and the Qing Dynasty was no exception. In ancient times, it was customary for the emperor to give the general an authorization, most of which was a large axe; after the Song Dynasty, it gradually became a common thing to give the Shang Fang sword. When the Manchus entered the country, they had their own considerations and their own trade-offs in the face of Han culture, and the ritual festival of giving the Shang Fang Sword was probably considered by them to be a trivial link that could be cut and abandoned, and the advantages outweighed the disadvantages. [7]
So, what should the Qing Emperor take as a gift authorized to the general? The answer to this question may be said to be the "Curb Bilung Knife". In some Qing Dynasty documents and modern accounts, the "Sword of Shubilong" has been equated with the "Shangfang Sword" before the Ming Dynasty. The name "Shu bilong", as anyone familiar with Qing history knows, was one of the four ministers of the Kangxi Dynasty (the other three being Sony, who did not pay for food, Ao Bai, who tricked a little girl into going to see a goldfish, and Suksaha, who seemed to have nothing to say). The "Sword of Billon" is naturally his sabre.
Everyone knows that Sony doesn't pay for eating, but between Ao Bai, Goldfish (not Xie Goldfish of "Shoot The Royal Master") and the little girl, what happened...
Why the sabre of Qiu Bilong was particularly retained in the Qing Palace seems to have remained unanswered. In any case, in the history of the Qing Dynasty, which can be collected in the literature, this knife was indeed used by the emperor to grant the right to kill exclusively. In the early years of Qianlong, Emperor Gaozong of the Qing Dynasty gave him the "Shu bi long sword" to a bodyguard, and ordered him to go to the southwest region and behead the ineffective general Ne Qin (ironically, this Ne Qin was the grandson of Shu Bi Long himself).
At the time of Xianfeng, the "Sword of Curbing Bilong" was given to a minister of Chincha who was ordered to suppress the Taiping Army, so that he could "canonize punishment and suppress military discipline". There are only two examples of the "Shubilung Sword" given in the Zhengshi, and only the latter example can be said to be similar to the intention of the sword given at the end of the Ming Dynasty to "make it cheap". Therefore, it may not be accurate to judge that the "Qibilong Sword" is equivalent to the Shangfang Sword of the Ming Dynasty on these examples alone. [8]
In fact, the Qing Dynasty things that are closer to the "Shangfang Sword" in the sense should be the "King's Order Banner". Compared with the Shangfang Sword of the Ming Dynasty, such treasures were more widely used by the emperor to confer on high-ranking military attaches. From the governor of a province to the chief soldier of a town, most of them have an unequal number of "king's order flags". In the official version of the Qing court, this thing is the same as the Shang Fang Sword of the previous dynasty, which is used to "regain the power of the town", so that they can grasp the power of "cutting first and playing later" within a certain range. Compared with the military use of the Shang Fang Sword, the "Wang Ming Banner" actually appears more in civilian criminal cases, and is used to bring people to justice on the spot. Therefore, in the public hall of the Qing Dynasty, the royal treasure that will really be invited out by Bao Longxing should also be more likely to be the "King's Order Banner".
The "Wang Ming Banner" was a really useful thing in the legal system of the Qing Dynasty, and many examples of local officials "respectfully requesting the king's order" and beheading criminals can be found in the literature. However, we may also put ourselves in the shoes of this matter: the power of "cutting first and playing later" is very powerful. But if, when you send the report, the emperor thinks that this person should not be beheaded, then won't you be unlucky?
Thinking of it this way, if officials are not completely sure, I am afraid that they will not dare to casually "cut first and play later." We can see some examples in the literature, where the emperor reprimanded the magistrates who had the "banner of king's order" for "sticking to the request" and did not immediately behead the offender. Conversely, there are other examples of the emperor's feeling that the criminals in the case "should only ask for justice according to the usual orders, why should they ask the king's orders" - it seems that it is not easy for this "first cut and play later" power to be properly grasped! [9]
The Qibilong Knife and the Wang Ming Banner, the former is still in the collection of the Palace Museum in Beijing.
Korea and Vietnam: A replica of the "Sword of Shangfang"!?
At the end of the article, I would like to share an interesting little discovery: "Shangfang Sword" since it came from the Heavenly Dynasty, this precious thing has actually spread to other parts of the East Asian world with the influence of the Han cultural circle. I don't know if there is anything like the Shang Fang Sword in Japan, but in the history of Korea and Vietnam, you can actually see a replica of the "Shang Fang Sword".
For example, in Lee's Joseon's Records of Korea, not only can we find many examples of literati trying to emulate "Zhu Yun's Request for a Sword", but there are also many records of monarchs giving the "Shang Fang Sword" to the general of the unified army and attaching importance to his powers. For example, in the early 17th century, when the newly reigned Emperor Renzu of Joseon, Li Wei, once received the marshal of the capital, Zhang Wan, he personally gave Zhang Wan," the "Shangfang Sword," and told him, "Those who do not use their lives below the generals will use this sword." Such practices and statements are fundamentally the same as the cases of the late Ming Dynasty. Interestingly, even though the "Shangfang Sword" disappeared during the Qing Dynasty, there were still instances in Korea where the king gave the Shangfang Sword to his subordinates until the middle of the 19th century. [10]
Speaking of Vietnam, in the ninth year of Guangxu (1883), Tang Jingsong, who voluntarily ran to Beiji to recruit the Black Flag Army, also saw a "Shang Fang Sword" with "exquisite inlays". According to the Nguyen Dynasty general Huang Zuoyan, because he "commanded the military affairs of The Northern Plateau", the monarch of the Nguyen Dynasty gave him this sword of the same name. [11] Apparently, in Vietnamese history, there was also a system of giving Shang Fang Jian more power to the general. All in all, the next time you see "Shang Fang Sword" in a Korean drama or a Vietnamese movie, don't be surprised. Such interesting little details may still be hidden in many unexpected places in the history of cultural exchange in the East Asian world hundreds of years ago!
The story of shangfang sword in real history is little known, compared with the "shangfang sword" created by movies and television, which may be more "real" to people. From the "Nine Pin Sesame Officers" to the "Bao Qingtian" serial, to the folk novels and operas since the Ming and Qing dynasties, the "Shangfang Sword" in our minds is mostly shaped in this context of succession. And this "Shang fang sword" of the concept of simulation may continue to be hammered down in the future in various secondary creations that play with history.
Writing this, we have roughly explained the story of the "Shang Fang Sword". As for the villain Chang Wei's yellow coat in the movie and the deathless gold medal of Wu Sangui, the king of Pingxi, whether he can compete with the "Shang Fang Sword" (of course, this is a zhang fei-yue fei style problem), probably can also pull out a bunch of historical stories that are not there. Limited in space (in fact, this article of more than 10,000 words has no moderation ah ah ah =="), can only come to a clichéd next decomposition! In the historical corner of the movie, we will see you next ~next ~~ again~
Further reading and references:
The most clear and complete treatise on Shang Fangjian is currently the most clearly and completed treatise, Dang Tui Zhou Yuefeng, Shang Fang Jian Kao, Zhejiang Historiography Series, Vol. 1 (2004), pp. 63-76.
For a collation of examples of ming dynasty swords given to Shang Fang, see Bai Hua, "The Ming Dynasty System of Giving Shang Fang Swords", Ancient Civilizations, 1:4 (2007), pp. 83-114.
◎ There are very few specialized studies on the topic of "Shangfang Sword", and many relevant first-hand historical materials have not yet been quoted (in articles within my eyes), and some issues need to be discussed. As a result, this article has more (but still simple) annotations, which, in addition to trying to make points, also list some of the material I have picked up for the reader to index.
Notes:
[1] For the observations of the lunar eclipse casting sword and Xue Jixuan, see [Song] Xue Jixuan, The Collected Sayings of the Waves, vol. 31, "Remembering the Sword of Han Shangfang".
[2] See [Song] Shi Nengzhi, (Xian Chun) Re-cultivation of The Chronicle of Biling, vol. 17, "Characters, Jinling, Ding Feng".
[3] The Song Dynasty official Lü Jie (劉诲) impeached Ouyang Xiu and wanted to "please the sword of Shangfang", see [Song] Li Tao's "Continuation of the Zizhi Tongjian Long Edition", vol. 270, Zhiping 3rd Year Spring Moon Noon. In the Ming Dynasty, Ye Xianggao was impeached by Liu Zhixuan and "hated to beheaded by the sword above", see [Ming] Gu Bingqian, Three Dynasties Essentials, vol. 16, "Red Pill"; [Ming] Ye Xianggao, "Continuing Lun Title Grass", vol. 9, "Hearing the Words and Begging for Relief".
[4] For Xiong Tingbi's request to the Emperor of the Apocalypse to grant the Shang Fang Sword, see Ming Shilu Xizong Shilu, vol. 11, Apocalypse, June of the first year of the Apocalypse. It is worth noting that although Xiong Tingbi was once impeached by the Ming Dynasty officials, saying that he was holding the Shangfang sword in Liaodong "as a mighty zhi". But he himself had complained that Shang Fangjian had not been able to help him effectively rectify the many chaos in the army. The example of Xiong Tingbi to Shang Fangjian may illustrate the limits of the utility of this imperial authority.
[5] The "Dragon Pavilion" here may have been a wooden shrine or palanquin dedicated to the Emperor's Longevity Tablet. For some investigations of the "Dragon Pavilion", see Li Wenliang, "Erecting the Great Qing Banner and Bong Banzai Pai: The "Emperor's Long Life Sacred Will Plate" and local society at the time of the Zhu Yigui Incident," Taiwan Historical Studies, 19:2 (2012), pp. 20-21.
[6] For these stories of Li Hualong and Yang Sichang's Yu Shangfangjian, see [Ming] Li Hualong, The Complete Book of Pingbo, vol. 6, "Song Discussion, Surrender of the Sword"; Vol. 9, "Card Tickets, Issuing Swords". [Ming] Yang Sichang, "The Collected Works of Mr. Yang Wenwei", vol. 7, "Please stay in the python jade to build a temple as a loyal shu".
[7] I have not found any discussion in the existing research on "why the Qing Dynasty did not give shang fang swords", but I think it may be possible to consider this matter from two directions: one is that the frequent shang fang sword in the late Ming Dynasty was caused by the fire in the late Ming Dynasty, and the imperial court needed generals with heavy power to control one side, but the military arrangement in the early Qing Dynasty was already another consideration, or there was no need to give the Shang Fang sword again. The second is that the Manchu group of the Qing Dynasty has always maintained a unique "Manchurian Way" in military culture, which also maintains or relates to the Manchu self-identity. Under such circumstances, if a Manchurian emperor wants to give a Manchurian general a weapon, then it seems that the Shangfang Sword from the Han culture will not be a good choice. In addition, some interesting comparisons may be extended between the Ming Dynasty's Zhishang Fang Sword and the Qing Dynasty's "Wang Ming Banner" mentioned later.
[8] For an introductory article on the Shu bi long knife, see Tang Lusun, "From the Shang Fang Sword to the Wang Ming Banner and the Qi Bi Long Sword", in Yu Shi, "Assorted Platter"; Wang Baoguang, "The Sword of Shu Bi Long", "Forbidden City", No. 3, 1985, pp. 10-12; Zhou Shao, "Ao Bai and Shu Bi Long", Forbidden City, No. 4, 2009, pp. 62-63.
For the qing people regarding the Sword of Shubilon as the "Sword of Shangfang", see [Qing] Xu Ke, "Qing Barnyard Notes", "Article Class: The Sword of Shu bilong": "Its weight is equal to the axe and sword of Shangfang in ancient times".
As to why the Qiu Bilong Sword was kept in the Qing Palace, the three articles quoted above did not explain the reasons or were skeptical. My own speculation is that this may be related to the fact that the Nyūrō Ulu Edu family, who was from the Khun Bilung clan, has always served as a guard of the inner court and is particularly close to the royal family. For this study, see Naofumi Uchida, "The Erdu Family of the Niuhulu Clan and the Inner Court Guards of the Early Qing Dynasty," Journal of Chengda History, 36 (2009), pp. 17-54. Mr. Wang Baoguang's article "Curbing the Bilong Sword" once speculated that the "little god feng" mentioned in the "Heavenly Occasional News" was the Qibilong Dao. If this statement is true, then the Qiubilong Dao may not have been "taken back to the Inner Palace" as Mr. Tang Lusun said, but may have been placed in the Qing Dynasty Emperor's "throne next to the throne, and it must not be left at once", as stated in the "Heavenly Occasional News".
Finally, some documents indicate that the "Shu Bilong Dao" appeared in the Guangxu Dynasty and the War of Defending the Country against Yuan in the early years of the Republic of China, but these legends do not seem to be easy to find strong documentary evidence to support, and it is difficult to determine their authenticity.
[9] The "Banner of King's Command" is similar to the nature of Shang Fangjian, as can be found in Na Silu, Central Judicial Trial System of the Qing Dynasty (Beijing: Peking University Press, 2004), p. 242.
For qing dynasty officials often contradicting the opinions of the emperor in the use of the "Wang Ming Banner", see Zhang Shiming, "The Leniency and Strictness of the System of Respectfully Requesting the Wang Ming Banner to Advance the Fa-rectification System during the Qianjia Period", Journal of Inner Mongolia Normal University (Philosophy and Social Sciences Edition), 38:4 (2009), pp. 44-58.
The function and intention of the Qing Dynasty government in designing the Wang Ming banner still seem to have a definite explanation in ancient books. Chen Yunzhu also expressed the same confusion when studying the "Wang Ming Banner" held by the general soldier of Taiwan Town. Her extended discussion of the "Banner of King's Command" can be found in the book, "A Reanalysis of the Chief Military Officers of Taiwan in the Qing Dynasty from the Institutional Level," Taiwan Literature 57:3 (2007), pp. 183-186.
[10] For the sword of Emperor Injo of Joseon, see [Joseon] Records of Injo, vol. 1, Injo's First Year of the First Year of the Reign of Emperor Injo. For the fact that in the middle of the 19th century, There were still swords given to Shangfang in Korea, see [Joseon] Records of Gojong, vol. 3, 3, 3 September of Gojong's 3rd year: Gojong received the envoy Li Jingxia, "Ordered to give the sword of The Fang Dynasty, 敎曰: The overseers are below, and the despotics can also be" It may be worth noting that these examples of sword-giving began to appear in the Joseon Dynasty Records, probably after the emperors of the late Ming Dynasty began to frequently award the Shang Fang sword to military generals.
[11] For the "Shang Fang Sword" that Tang Jingsong saw and owned by Huang Zuoyan, see Tang Jingsong, Diary of a Request, vol. 2.