Zhenzhitang Ancient History Research; This article is reprinted, the author Du Yong, to undertake the first three sections, there are abridgements.
Yi Yin was the head of the Yi clan of the Yin clan and had his own honorable status, so why did classical texts portray him as a courtier of a Ku origin? Even many people believe that "he is a slave to the dowry". As for Mencius's statement that Yi Yin was a virgin, he had been suspected since Sima Qian, and the believers were weak. So, what is the actual situation?
"Mozi Shangxian Shang" says: "Tang Ju Yi Yin is in the kitchen, granting the government, and he is obtained." And "Shang Xian Zhong": "Yi Zhi, there are private vassals of the daughters of the Xin clan, who are personally the people of the Xin clan, who are Tang Dezhi, who regard themselves as their own, and who take over the government of the world, and who govern the people of the world." And "Shang Xianxia": "Xi Yiyin was a female teacher and servant of the Xin clan, and made him a curen, and Tang had to lift it up and make him the third duke."
These statements of the Mo family boil down to what "Mozi Guiyi" said: "Yi Yin, the untouchable people in the world."
Later in the Mencius era, it seems that there was a rumor that "Yi Yin wanted soup by cutting and cooking", and Mencius did not agree with this statement when answering questions from students, arguing:
"Yi Yin cultivated in the field of Arishin,。。。 I heard that he wanted soup in the way of Yao Shun, but I did not smell it in order to cut and cook. (Mencius, Ten Thousand Chapters)
In Mencius's eyes, Yi Yin was not a man of Qu Xue's ascetics, but a prophetic and virtuous virgin. This also influenced Sima Qian's writing of the "History of Yin Benji", on the one hand, saying that Yi Yin was: "If you want to rape the soup for no reason, you are a concubine of the Xin clan, and you are responsible for the tricks, and you speak the soup with taste, and give it to the king." On the other hand, there is also a difference: "Yi Yin is a virgin, Tang makes people hire him, returns five times, and then is willing to go to Congtang, Yan Su Wang, and the Nine Lords, and Tang Ju is appointed as the government of the country."
Therefore, Yi Yin's identity appeared two different theories of the Ku people and the virgin, one humble, one noble, and the other was heavenly.
Although it is not easy for us today to judge whether Mencius's call about Yi Yin from Chen Yao Shun's way was fictionalized to the wall or had a substance, at least it can be said that Mencius's view is not entirely unreasonable.
Imagine a cook who deals with pots and pans all day long, has no certain political experience, nor has he received aristocratic education to form the necessary knowledge, just because he can make a delicious meal, he can make "soup to Yi Yin, learn from it and then subject to it, so it is not a work" ("Mencius Gongsun Ugly") This seems to be a bit of a political play.
Careful analysis of the relevant legends, some historical shadows seem to be faintly recognizable. The actual situation may be that the Yi people were displaced to the Youxin tribe due to the flood disaster, and temporarily used it as a hermitage. Because Yi Yin was talented and outstanding when he grew up, he was entrusted by the Youxin clan with the official position of "Yi Xiaochen".
Yi Yin, known as a junior minister, has recently appeared in Qinghua Jian's "House of Soups of the Red Crane", and his ministry is also a cook. Judging from the legend that was circulated and processed in Chudi, the status of the minor minister was not high. However, the oracle bone gold material shows that "a subject or a minor minister is a higher official name in Yin" is not entirely of the lowly class, especially the minor ministers who serve at the king's side.
For example, Bu Ci said that there were many people named Xiao Chen, some of whom drove for the Shang King, some were sent to perform specific tasks, and some also gave orders on behalf of the Shang King. Yu Zun, a junior minister in the late Shang Dynasty, said: "Wang Province, Yu Jing, Wang Gave Xiao Chenbei." (Integration, 5990) Xiaochen Fangding said: "Wang Gave Xiaochen five years of accumulation." (Integration, 2653) Xiaochen Yihu said, "The king gave Xiaochen Yibei Ten Pengs to be used as mothers to honor Yi." (Integration, 9249) These inscriptions say that the courtiers went out with the Shang king to investigate, and the rewards were given to shellfish or five years of taxes produced in a certain place, and they could also be cast as Yi vessels to honor the ancestors, and they were not comparable to lowly slaves.
Since Yi Yin was called a minor minister, then of course, the Ku people were not a specific labor, but an official position. The Zhou Li Tianguan Tsukasa Zai has the rank of Kuren juxtaposed with that of a diner, whose duty is to "provide six animals, six beasts, and six fowls, and to discern their names." The position of the cook who ranks before the Ku people does not seem to be very high. The official position of the chef is found in the "Book of Poetry," the "Zuo Zhuan," the "Chinese," the "Zhou Li," and other classics, and his official position is only recorded in the "Zhou Li Tianguan Tsukazai": "The chef is in charge of the king's food, drink, and food shame, so as to feed the king and his descendants." If there is no discovery of a large number of bronze inscriptions, only the duties of the cook can be observed from the literature, and it can only be a minor official. However, in the Jinwen materials, the power of the Zhou Dynasty Shanfu was far beyond people's imagination. The following is a few pieces of gold text material to see it.
(1) Wang Fengfu Ke gave up his life in Chengzhou, in the year of the Eighth Division. (Integration 2797: Koding) (2) Wang Huyin's edict was ordered to be a monk, and Wang Ruoyu said: "Ke, since Yu Yu had ordered Ru to leave (enter) and die, now Yu Weishen is his destiny." (Integration 2836: Da Ke Ding) (3) Wang Ming Yin Clan Friend Shi Xuan, a member of the Canonical Ketian people. (Integration 4465: Shanfuk) (4) Wang Hu shi shi shi ordered the mountain, Wang Yue: "Mountain, order Ru lawsuit to drink and sacrifice people, used as a constitutional store, do not dare to be bad." (Integration, 2825: Shanfu Shanding) (5) Wang Mingsheng (王命豖豖曰曰曰): "Yu Ji Xi Da Nai Li, 睽傧豖璋, 帛束." (Integration, 4298: Twelve Years of Grace) (6) Wang Ge's great chamber, that is, the throne, Wang Hu Shanfu said: "Summoning Marquis Su of Jin." Entering the middle court, the prince XiJu four horses. ("Recent" 44: Su Zhong, Marquis of Jin)
The inscription on the mountain of ShanFu mentions that Wang Mingshan was in charge of the ceremony of the guests' food and drink and the storage and storage of related items, which embodied the basic function of the cook. Big and Small Keding, Da Gui, and Su Zhong, the Marquis of Jin, explained that the chefs also participated in political activities such as conveying the king's orders, reorganizing the army of the Eighth Division, and cooperating with the Heavenly Son to receive and reward the princes. Ke ze shows that the chef still has his own family property such as the local people. It can be seen that the chef is not an insignificant petty official position, but as Zhou Tianzi said to liang qi, "The son of heaven shoulders Liang Qi, and the body is the king of the state" (Integration, 187: Liang Qizhong), that is, the chef is regarded as the official of the state. The reason why the chefs had political power beyond their basic functions should be that "because these people were on the side of the king, had close relations with the king of Zhou, became the king's cronies, gradually exceeded their original positions, and often participated in some political activities, their status became increasingly important"[25]42.
Yi Yin's situation may be similar to that of the Zhou Dynasty's cooks, or he may have been misunderstood as a lowly untouchable because he served as the governor of the Xin tribal state. In fact, Cu is an ancient official, and his status is very important. According to the "Left Biography" lamenting the year of the Common Era:
Shaokang... There is a danger of escaping, and it is corrected for it...
In the process of fleeing, Shaokang first went to the post of Muzheng of the Youyou clan, and then to the yu clan as The right to serve as Yu Zheng... Cu Zheng is obviously a very important position. Unfortunately, future generations will not understand it, referring to it as lowly servitude.
Then, if there is a daughter of the king of the Xin clan, why should Yi Yin accompany him as a concubine?" When the ancients married a daughter, they would obey their nephews, which was called a concubine. "Poetry Daya Han Yi" Yun: "Han Hou married his wife, the nephew of king Fen... Zhu Di followed, Qi Qi was like a cloud. It is said that Han Hou married his wife, and there were still "Zhu Di", that is, the wife's sister who was married as a concubine (庶妻). This shows that the concubine is essentially a concubine (concubine) other than the right wife. However, Kong Yingda of the Tang Dynasty took Yi Yin as an example and redefined the meaning of concubine:
"Commentary" Yun: "Oh, send also." Concubines send concubines to go, so concubines are called concubines. The name of the concubine is not exclusively used for concubines, and whoever gives a suitable woman is called a concubine of both men and women. In the fifth year of the "Zuo Zhuan", "The Jin people destroyed Yu, and insisted on his doctor Jing Bo, to concubine Qin Muji", and the historical legend says that Yi Yin had a concubine of the Xin clan, who was also known as a concubine although the woman was also known as a concubine. ("Poetry Xiaoya I Walk Wild" Justice)
Kong's belief that both men and women can be wives is a misinterpretation. The wells cited as wives are not real wives, but political events that occur in special circumstances, which is not enough to be disciplined. Zheng Xuan thinks that the female subordinate is a correct solution. And Yi Yin is "long and virtuous", and he is also the leader of the Yi clan, not an unknown slave, and there is no reason to marry him.
The actual situation may be that Yi Yin, as an escort official with the daughter of the Xin clan, was misrepresented by later generations as a concubine because of his position as a concubine. Of course, the marriage of a monarch to a daughter is an extremely important matter, and the order of a minister to escort him is one of the contents of ancient rites. The "Zuo Chuan" Huan Gong three years old: "Whoever marries a daughter of a prince who marries an enemy country and a sister is sent by the Secretary of State to the emperor in order to pay tribute to the ancestors."
It can be seen that during the Spring and Autumn Period, the wives of princes must be accompanied by ministers, and the size of the country is different, and the level of escort officials is also different. The marquis of Qi, who married his daughter Yu Lu, personally escorted her, was considered unseemly. Although it is unknown whether there were such strict rules of etiquette at the end of the summer and the beginning of the Shang Dynasty, the situation should be roughly similar when the married daughters of the princes were escorted by heavy courtiers.
Judging from the above analysis, Yi Yin was originally the leader of the Yi clan, who had migrated to another place because the tribe suffered severe floods and lived in the Youxin clan state. Because of His talent, Yi Yin was entrusted with a heavy responsibility by the King of the Xin Clan and became the right person to manage the logistics and material supplies of the clan state. When there was a daughter of the Xin clan married yu Tang, Yi Yin accompanied him as an escort official, and later served Yu Tang. However, later generations referred to officials of the type of Li Zheng as unworthy servants, and mistook the officials who accompanied the dowry as slaves, resulting in Yi Yin's true appearance being hidden... In the case of not being able to understand the historical truth, the rendering of Yi Yin's humble origin and high position can not only provide a precedent for the debater to step up to the throne, but also find a historical basis for Shangxian politics. As a result, Yi Yin's image was shrouded in layers of fog, so that he gradually drifted away from the historical truth.