Hongnong Yang Clan, also known as Huayin Yang Clan, is a famous and prestigious family that has been brilliant for thousands of years, originating from the Western Han Dynasty, flourishing from the Eastern Han Dynasty, and its peak has continued until the Sui and Tang Dynasties. During this period, many talents appeared in the Yang clan, such as Yang Chang, Yang Zhen, Yang Biao, Yang Xiu, etc. of the Two Han Dynasties, Yang Jun, Yang Qi, Yang Yu of the Southern and Northern Dynasties of the Wei and Jin Dynasties, Yang Jian (there is a controversy over false recognition), Yang Su, Yang Guifei, etc. in the Sui and Tang Dynasties, and even Yang Ye and other Yang family generals in the later Northern Song Dynasty. It has also created many familiar stories, including "Confucius in Kansai", the Fourth Emperor and the Fourth Gong, the Yellow Bird Ring, etc., which are the historical and cultural treasures of our country. Due to the long history and many stories of the Hongnong Yang clan, I will talk to you about the story of how the Hongnong Yang clan "made its mark" in the two Han Dynasties.
I. The earliest origin and initial development stage of the Hongnong Yang clan was "following the right person"
In the last year of the Warring States period, a young man named Yang Shuo settled in Huayin with his family (there was no Hongnong County at that time, and hongnong County was not established until the time of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty). Huayin, named after the north of Mount Hua, is located in the east of the Guanzhong Plain, east of tongguan, which is just the area between the capital Xianyang and the central plains important town luoyang, since ancient times, it is known as the "Three Qin Key Road, Eight Provinces Thoroughfare", which is the only place for Guanzhong to go to the Central Plains. Later, Qin Shi Huang unified the world and recruited the world's talents, at that time, someone on the Huayin side recommended Yang Shuo, but in the face of several conscriptions by the Qin Dynasty government, Yang Shuo chose to hide and not shi, and concentrated on astronomy at home. Yang Shuo's choice was wise, qin unified the country only ten years ago broke out the peasant uprising, the world chaos, heroes and heroes rose up, during the period many people invited Yang Shuo to join their camp, but Yang Shuo refused. But the strange thing is that after Liu Bang led his army into Guanzhong and invaded Xianyang, the garrison was based on shang and asked him to join, and Yang Shuo actually agreed. A hermit like Yang Shuo chose to follow Liu Bang, and I think there are two reasons: First, he studied astronomy, and at that time, astronomy was closely related to "disciplines" such as Tu chen and xiang, and it is estimated that Liu Bang's "Tianzi Qi" was studied. Second, Liu Bang's performance in entering Guanzhong also deeply touched him, Liu Bang and Guanzhong's father and father agreed on three chapters of the law, Qiu did not commit any crimes, and the reputation was very good, which was different from the ordinary peasant rebel army. Since then, Yang Shuo has followed Liu Bang with a dead heart, and because of his research on astronomy and history, Liu Bang named him Taishi. It is possible that the family had a tradition of studying astronomical calendars, and later his descendants would marry the Sima Qian family.
Yang Xi (film and television photo)
Yang Shuo's son Yang Xi was influenced by his father and also defected to the Liu Bang Group, which was also highly valued. But his style is very different from his father Yang Shuo, he is very brave and martial, and he is a famous fierce general in the early Han Dynasty. Liu Bang successively made him a lieutenant of langzhong and a guard in the palace, although these were similar to the work of the guard company, but at that time, they were only able to be done by people who were trusted around him. It can be seen that although Yang Xi's official position is not large, he is a person that Liu Bang trusts. Later, something happened that completely changed the fate of Yang Xi and his family. At the end of the Chu-Han conflict, the Han army under the leadership of Han Xin besieged Xiang Yu, and although Xiang Yu broke through, there were still twenty-eight horsemen left, still surrounded by thousands of Han troops, including Yang Xi, who was repelled several times by Xiang Yu, but he bravely pursued Xiang Yu. Xiang Yu later chose not to be humiliated and killed himself in Wujiang, Xiang Yu's head was taken away by his former former wang Feng, because killing Xiang Yu could get a heavy reward, Xiang Yu's rest of the corpses of the Han army began a fierce struggle, the death of dozens of people stopped, and finally Yang Xi and the other four people each got a part of Xiang Yu's body, yang Xi was therefore named the Marquis of Chiquan. This is the beginning of the Hongnong Yang clan, of course, at this time there is only military merit, although it is sealed, it can only be regarded as an "upstart", and there is still a long way to go from the family family. But this marquis was the "entrance roll" of the rich, and he could also be sealed. Later, Yang Xi's son Yang Shi and grandson Yang Yin both inherited the title of Marquis of Chiquan. To the Marquis of Chiquan, only Yang Yin arrived, and he was dismissed from the marquis for his crimes.
Yang Chang
By Yang Xi's great-grandson Yang Chang, the situation had finally changed. Yang Chang, like his ancestors Yang Shuo and Yang Xi, was also a "right person", and he was the person of Huo Guang, a powerful general at that time. In his early years, he followed Huo Guang's side to do things, and was appreciated by Huo Guang because of his usual caution and conscientiousness. After Huo Guang took power, Yang Chang quickly entered the "fast lane" of promotion. He successively served as the chief of the general's office, shi, the lieutenant of sosu, and other officials, and later promoted to the position of grand si nong, in charge of the state finances, and was already a very high official. But at this time, there was a little accident, when someone first told Yang Chang about Shangguan's rebellion, but after he knew it, he did not dare to report it to the imperial court for fear of provoking trouble, and he actually chose to pretend to be ill at home. Later, this matter was informed of another official's rapid action and smooth rehabilitation, and at that time, the capital who assisted in handling this rebellion case was promoted to the rank of Marquis, only Yang Chang, but fortunately, because he was Huo Guang's person, he was not dismissed from his post.
Later, a few years after this incident, Yang Chang was promoted to a higher rank, became the imperial historian (nominally the second in command of the imperial court), and became one of the three dukes. Two years later, he was promoted to chancellor and became the second most important person in the imperial court besides Huo Guang. Of course, he was just Huo Guang's "fart worm" and had no opinion at all. Later, sure enough, there was another emergency, and Yang Chang was almost not scared to death. This time, fortunately, his wife Sima Ying stood up. The incident went like this: At that time, after the death of Emperor Han Zhao, Huo Guang and others supported Liu He, the grandson of Emperor Wu of Han, as the new emperor, but because Liu He was very capable of death and did many things that Huo Guang thought were absurd, Huo Guang decided to depose Liu He and re-establish the new emperor. After Huo Guang secretly discussed with Zhang Anshi and Tian Yannian, the important ministers of the imperial court, Huo Guang sent Tian Yannian to inform Yang Chang and ask everyone to act with one heart, after all, Yang Chang was a minister at that time, and the nominal leader of the imperial court. But this frightened the honest man Yang Chang, who was suddenly overwhelmed, but fortunately his wife Sima Ying stood up in time, and she advised her husband: "How can you hesitate when it is a major national affair." The great general has already made a decision, and you should also make a quick decision, otherwise it will inevitably be a big disaster. Seeing that her husband was still hesitant, Sima Ying simply spoke directly to Tian Yannian, indicating that Yang Chang was willing to obey the orders of the general. Huo Guang was very satisfied, and arranged for Yang Chang to play the performance to invite Empress Shangguan. The empress dowager deposed Liu He and created Emperor Liu Qing, the great-grandson of Emperor Wu of Han, as Emperor Xuan of Han. After the abolition of the establishment, Yang Chang, who was not very strong in psychological quality, actually died, and his eldest son Yang Zhong inherited the title, and Emperor Xuan of Han read Yang Chang's meritorious service and sealed 3,500 households.
Yang Zhong did not leave much in history, but his younger brother Yang Yun was quite famous and contributed a lot to Chinese history. At that time, Sima Qian completed the "History of History" during the years of Emperor Wu of Han, but this historical masterpiece was extremely critical, and he was also blunt to Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, so in order to preserve this book that he had worked hard and endured great pain, he always chose not to make it public, and later handed it over to Sima Ying, a daughter who married Yang Chang, for safekeeping, Sima Ying later gave birth to sons Yang Zhong and Yang Yun, because Yang Yun was clever and clever and naturally studious, Sima Ying let Yang Yun read and study the treasured historical records, and Yang Yun was fascinated by this book at once, and he read it many times , longing, but also deeply affected his character, character, he is chivalrous, charitable, wide friends of talents, these personalities also laid the groundwork for his ups and downs of life. Yang Yun was initially known for his filial piety, and after his mother's death, he still served his father's stepmother who was remarried, and later after the death of his parents, although he did not inherit the title, he also left him a large amount of money, which he used to help relatives and friends. Later, after he became an official, he also served as a clean and honest official, cracked down on corruption and bribery, and later was also made a marquis for exposing the rebellion of Huo Guang's son and making great contributions. At that time, their brothers were all marquises, and the limelight was the same. However, things must be reversed, he soon fell from heaven to hell because of Geng's straight personality, he offended Emperor Xuan of Han's servant Dai Changle, this is the close friend of Emperor Han Xuan in the people during the tribulation, Dai Changle told Yang Yun that he was bold and dared to "make jokes about the emperor", Yang Yun was soon imprisoned, and later he was exempted from being a commoner. After returning home, he did not reflect, and also wrote a letter to a friend to satirize Emperor Xuan of Han, this time completely angering Emperor Xuan of Han and cutting him off. Although Yang Yun had a character of success and failure in his personal career, he at that time, after he made meritorious service and was crowned marquis, he dedicated the historical masterpiece "Shi Ji" of his foreign company Ma Qian to Emperor Xuan of Han, so that this treasure in Chinese history could be made public, which was a great credit to Yang Yun.
During the accumulation of the Hongnong Yang clan in the early Western Han Dynasty, they had actually always followed the right people, and the line was very accurate, Yang Shuo, Yang Xi's father and son followed Liu Bang, and Yang Chang followed Huo Guang, thus becoming an important subject of the imperial court, including Yang Yun, who was later killed, and also followed emperor Xuan of Han, thus obtaining the title of marquis. Yang Yun's father and son are extremely important in the history of the development of the Hongnong Yang family, starting from Yang Chang, although his personality is not good, because he is in a high position in the imperial court, bringing a political status that the family did not have before, the Hongnong Yang family began to get rid of the image of the "upstart" who robbed the corpse and was crowned, and gradually stepped into the ranks of the family family. Therefore, the Hongnong Yang clan regarded Yang Chang as their ancestor. I think that Yang Chang, who is cautious and afraid by nature, should not have thought that he had such a high status in his descendants. However, it has to be said that the marriage with Sima Qian's family was also very helpful to the "traces" of the Yang clan of Hongnong, first of all, sima Qian, because he dared to speak directly to Emperor Wu of Han for Li Ling, was later unjustly punished by the palace, and the society was generally full of sympathy and reverence for Sima Qian, and this marriage incidentally brought social prestige to the Yang family. Second, Sima Qian's daughter Sima Ying inherited her father's style, dared to do things, and helped Yang Chang make the right decision at a critical time. Including the later Sima Ying's son Yang Yun's personality and fate were also very similar to Sima Qian's, only to learn people, temperament geng, and finally all of them were guilty of words.
Second, timely transformation, gorgeous transformation, from a meritorious magnate to a family of classics
At the beginning of the Han Dynasty, many princes and generals were born, but many of them were short-lived or rich for less than three generations, and there were very few families and famous families that could be formed. There are many reasons, and one of the important factors is that their descendants rely on their ancestors and live on the merit book, and they do not want to change, nor do they want to change. In particular, some people who have been enfeoffed on the basis of military merit, if they do not change, as the country enters a stage of stable development, they will become more and more burdensome to the state. Therefore, the timely transformation of the family, especially the increase of the family cultural heritage, is extremely important. In fact, starting from Yang Chang, the Hongnong Yang clan has begun to take the road of transformation, bringing a good start, but on the real and complete transformation of the family, it is necessary to talk about the beginning of Yang Zhen, who is already in the Eastern Han Dynasty.
Speaking of Yang Zhen, we have to first talk about his father Yang Bao. Yang Bao was a famous scholar during the turn of the Han Dynasty, he was Yang Chang's great-grandson and Yang Zhong's grandson. In the last years of the Western Han Dynasty, foreign relatives interfered in politics and the political situation was chaotic, but the development of classics was rapid, and many Confucian masters were born, among whom there was a master named Ouyang Sheng, who was one of the early doctors of classics in the Western Han Dynasty, annotated the Book of Shang, and was the founder of the Ouyang Doctrine of Shangshu. It was in this context that Yang Bao could not live in seclusion and study the Confucian Ouyang Doctrine, thus becoming a great Confucian at that time. Yang Bao also has a very famous allusion to the "knotted grass ring" in the "ring". This is a beautiful story about the Hongnong Yang clan. The story says that Yang Bao saved a yellow bird that was bitten when he was a child, helped it heal the injury, and then released it. Later, yang Bao once dreamed that Huang Que had returned to repay his kindness by transforming into a boy dressed in yellow, and gave Yang Bao four white rings, and said to him: "Make the gentleman Sun white, and ascend to the throne of the three things (three dukes), so ringed." "It is a harbinger that there will be four people of the Three Dukes after Yang Bao.
Statue of Yang Zhen
This legend comes true! Later, although Yang Bao's son Yang Zhen was only born in his fifties, he was erudite and talented, full of economy, known as "Confucius of Kansai", and his social prestige was extremely high, and he successively went to the local area to do the Jingzhou Assassin History, Donglai Taishou, and later entered the dynasty as a taishi and taichang, and later soon became a taiwei (one of the three dukes of the Eastern Han Dynasty), and later his son Yang Bing, grandson Yang Ci, and great-grandson Yang Biao all became taiwei, and the real "four worlds and four dukes" were much higher than Yuan Shao's "four three dukes" of the Runanyuan clan. Moreover, Yang Zhen was an official who was honest and honest, and at that time, an old friend looked for him to send ten pounds of gold at night to ask for a recommendation for promotion, Yang Zhen refused, and the person who asked for the official said, "The ignorant person in the twilight." Yang Zhen said, "Heaven knows, God knows, I know, the Son knows." What ignorance is! "The seekers are ashamed. This is the famous "Yang Zhen Four Knowledge". Yang Zhen was not afraid of the powerful, and dared to fight against the foreign relatives and eunuchs who controlled the government at that time, because the eunuchs who offended were dismissed from office, and then repatriated to their hometowns, Yang Zhen was humiliated and chose to commit suicide. The influence of Yang Zhen's official conduct was extremely far-reaching, and he was admired by scholars at that time and in later generations.
Yang Zhen's sons Yang Bing, Yang Feng, and Yang Mu, his grandsons Yang Ci, Yang Shi, Yang Tong, and his great-grandsons Yang Biao and Yang Zhong were all deeply influenced by him. After several generations of development, the Hongnong Yang clan became one of the most prestigious scholars at that time, and had a profound impact on the politics and culture of the Eastern Han Dynasty.
Third, loyal to the country and the imperial court, always be the representative of the "clear stream" of scholars
Whether it was Yang Xi, Yang Chang, Yang Yun and others in the Western Han Dynasty, or Yang Zhen, Yang Bing, Yang Ci, Yang Biao and others in the Eastern Han Dynasty, they were loyal to the imperial court and upright officials, and some also paid the price of their lives for this, but the Hongnong Yang clan never gave up their faith and adhered to the values of their own families. I have said the stories of Yang Chang, Yang Yun, Yang Zhen and others before, and below, I will talk about the loyalty of Yang Bing, Yang Ci, and Yang Biao's three generations of ancestors who have been loyal to the country.
Yang Bing, like his father Yang Zhen, is very clean and honest for officials, and even his salary is calculated on a daily basis. Because he was a teacher to Emperor Huan of Han, Liu Zhi, he repeatedly advised Emperor Huan of Han to behave. Later, after Yang Bing became a lieutenant, he resolutely cracked down on corruption and perverted the law. At that time, eunuchs and foreign relatives took turns to govern, eunuchs were very powerful, their sons and henchmen were all over the imperial court and localities, these people were in cahoots and committed many evils, Yang Bing, together with the upright ministers of the DPRK, wrote a letter to punish more than fifty people, including the Xiongnu Zhonglang general Yan Yan, Qingzhou Thorn Shi Yangliang, and Liaodong Taishou Sun Ying, who were supported by Emperor Huan of Han, and the atmosphere in the dprk and China changed. Yang Bing even dared to fire directly at the favored eunuchs, at that time, Hou Zhan, the younger brother of Hou Lan, was extremely greedy, embezzling and accepting bribes accumulating as much as 100 million, Yang Bing impeached Hou Gan, Hou Lan, and other eunuchs such as Gu Yan, and Hou Gan committed suicide in fear. Due to the evidence found from Hou Shan at that time, the evidence was overwhelming, and although Emperor Huan of Han favored the eunuchs, he still had to remove Hou Lan from his post and cut the title of Gu Yan. Compared with his father Yang Zhen's "four knowledge", Yang Bing also has his own "three no confusion". Yang Bing did not drink alcohol, did not remarry after widowhood, and did not covet money. He once said, "I have three doubts: wine, sex, and wealth." Although Yang Bing's many things were very contrary to his ears, but they were all loyal, Emperor Huan of Han still respected his teacher, so after his death, Emperor Huan of Han gave a special cemetery near his own imperial tomb to accompany the tomb for burial, which was a great honor as a human subject.
Yang Ci
Yang Bing's son Yang Ci was also the emperor's teacher, but this emperor was the Han Ling Emperor. Yang Ci was not afraid of his own safety, nor did he cherish his official position, and he repeatedly argued with the Han Ling Emperor for the current government, and he was deposed several times. On one occasion, after the Outbreak of the Yellow Turban Rebellion, Yang Ci's words angered the Han Ling Emperor and he was ordered to return to his hometown. Later, when Emperor Ling of Han later saw Yang Ci's previous letter on preventing uprisings, he was deeply moved and made Yang Ci the Marquis of Linjin. When Yang Ci died, he was also greatly honored, and the fainting Han Ling Emperor wore mourning clothes for three days and did not go to the court, and personally held a grand funeral for him.
Yang Biao
Yang Ci's son Yang Biao was influenced by his family when he was a teenager and was also an extremely dignified official. At this time, the Eastern Han Dynasty was already at the end of the period, all kinds of corruption incidents occurred frequently, and the eunuchs headed by Wang Fu were in chaos, and the country was in many difficulties. Wang Fu was a big red man around the Han Ling Emperor, and even treated him as his own father. At this time, Yang Biao risked his life to collect evidence and joined forces with the upright ministers of the DPRK to expose Wang Fu's corrupt behavior, so that the big moths of the imperial court were finally eliminated. Later, the northwestern warlord Dong Zhuo took control of the government, and he also dared to fight, verbally rejecting his intention to move the capital, and later followed Emperor Xian of Han to Xuchang to protect the young emperor with great loyalty. In the end, he saw that Cao Cao had the heart to usurp the Han Dynasty, and there was no hope for the revival of the Han Dynasty, so he chose to go into hiding. Later, his son Yang Xiu was killed by Cao Cao. Yang Biao's body was emaciated, and once, Cao Cao asked Yang Biao, "Why is Gong He so thin?" Yang Biao said: "Shame on the foresight of the sun, like the love of the old cow licking calf." Cao Cao was deeply ashamed. This is the origin of the idiom "old calf".
Why the Hongnong Yang Clan can continue for nearly a thousand years, from Yang Zhen to Yang Biao can see the hint, their four generations have never tended to be inflamed and attached, and they have been loyal to the martyrs and loyal to the door! This is incomparable to many family families. Later, their glory continued until the Wei and Jin Dynasties, the Sui and Tang Dynasties, and even the Northern Song Dynasty. This is closely related to their good family style, profound cultural heritage, and standing up at critical times, daring to struggle, and not being afraid of sacrifice. This is a glorious family worthy of praise! There are many more family stories of the Hongnong Yang family, and their family history and the development of the country are deeply integrated, becoming an important force in promoting the development of history!