The military power of the Qin Kingdom was further developed during the period of King Qin Zhaoxiang. Qin's joint actions with Qi, South Korea, and Wei, as well as its own independent actions, inflicted heavy losses on Chu. In order to further stabilize the situation of the six eastern countries and eliminate the forces that threatened it, Qin began to further strengthen its attack on Chu.
The alliance between Chu and Qi gave Qin a reason to advance further. This time, Queen Mother Xuan and King Qin Zhaoxiang staged a "Hongmen Banquet" together.
The reason why Qin adopted this strategy was fully considered. Previously, in the 16th year of King Nan of Zhou (299 BC), the Qin army launched an attack on Chu and captured eight cities of Chu. Although Qin has the strength to destroy Chu, the other countries are in a state of watching from afar. As long as Qin threatens their interests, all countries will inevitably unite again to deal with Qin. Another point that cannot be ignored is that the Chu people have always been brave and brave. It will not be easy for Qin to completely destroy them, and it is very likely that they will fall into the quagmire of war and be unable to extricate themselves. At that time, Qi, Wei, and South Korea will take this opportunity to attack Qin.
In view of this, Qin wrote a sincere letter to King Chu and invited King Huai of Chu to negotiate with Wuguan. When King Huai of Chu was undecided, a minister came forward and said: "Your Majesty, it is best not to go to the appointment. The State of Qin does not keep its promises and is not worthy of trust." At this time, one of the sons of King Huai of Chu said: "The State of Qin is Good intentions, why refuse?" So King Huai of Chu decided to meet with King Zhaoxiang of Qin.
As the minister said, King Qin Zhaoxiang did not go to Wuguan as agreed, but used despicable means to kidnap King Chu Huai to Xianyang of Qin State, in order to blackmail Chu State into ceding land to Qin State. King Huai of Chu resolutely refused to accept such conditions, and was imprisoned by Qin.
After the news reached the Chu State, the ministers decided to establish a new king for the sake of national security.
However, at that time, the prince of Chu State was serving as a hostage in Qi State. It can be said that the whole state of Chu is in chaos. A family cannot be without a master for a day, a country cannot be without a king for a day, and the state of Chu cannot be without someone at the helm. Therefore, most of the civil and military officials of Chu State suggested that since the crown prince is not in the country, a concubine of King Huai of Chu should be appointed as the one to ascend the throne. Firstly, it can stabilize the current situation of Chu State, and secondly, it can prevent other countries from misbehaving.
However, what they did not consider was that Prince Chu Huai had many heirs. If a concubine was appointed as king, there would be too many people who conformed to the rules. The current international situation was unstable, and Chu State might be overthrown at any time. At the same time, there are also internal turmoil in the Chu State. If a concubine is established and his name is not justified, the political situation will be in turmoil, and the originally intended result will be exactly the opposite.
Only Zhaoju could see all this clearly.
Zhaoju was an aristocratic minister of Chu State. He has done many wrong things in his life. For example, when King Huai of Chu ordered Qu Yuan to go to Qi as an envoy to convince Qi to join forces, he actually secretly communicated with Zhang Yi, causing the plan to unite to fail. Later, Qi and Qin allied forces to attack Chu. Faced with the Qin army's attack and the orders of King Huai of Chu, he actually insisted that "the generals are out and military orders will not be obeyed." He turned a deaf ear to the Chu army's plight, which led to the defeat of Chu general Tang Mei. Death. Until the decline of the Chu State, he finally changed his ways, thinking that if he continued, the country would not be preserved, and his fame and wealth would become a dream. So when King Chu was about to go to Qin for an appointment, Zhaoju urged King Huai not to go. Unfortunately, his order Yin Zilan stopped him, and King Huai of Chu could not escape his bad fate.
Zhaoju understood that only when the prince returned to the country to take charge of the plan could the Chu country be stabilized in the turmoil. Therefore, he decided to send a capable man as an envoy from Chu State to Qi State to bring the prince back.
The envoy came to Chu State, and according to Zhaoju's long-established strategy, he lied and praised the King of Qi, saying that the King of Chu State had died after going to Qin State. At that time, Qi State was one of the powerful countries in the East, and there was naturally no shortage of capable people and strangers in the country. Although they could not predict the life and death of King Chu, their analysis of the situation was still very clear.
In the end, the state of Qi came to the conclusion that something might have happened to the king of Chu, but he was not necessarily dead. The state of Chu was leaderless, so it had to take the prince back to take charge of the overall situation. Of course, Qi State would not let Prince Heng go back like this. If Prince Heng wanted to return to the country and ascend the throne, he would have to agree to Qi State's conditions: exchange for the land north of the Huaihe River.
The person who served as the Prime Minister of Qi at that time was the world-famous Lord Mengchang.
History only records that Mengchangjun died in 279 BC. His surname was Gui, Tian, and his given name was Wen. Therefore, more people called his name Tian Wen. Together with Lord Xinling of Wei, Lord Pingyuan of Zhao, and Lord Chunshen of Chu, he is known as the "Four Young Masters of the Warring States Period".
At this moment, Lord Mengchang is serving as a minister of Qi State, advising the king of Qi State.
The people of Qi believed that it was not difficult for Chu to find someone to serve as king, but asking Chu to dedicate its land north of the Huaihe River to Qi was tantamount to snatching food from a tiger's mouth. Therefore, Mengchang Jun said: "In addition to Prince Mi Heng, Chu State also has many princes who are worthy of great responsibilities. If Qi State does not agree to Chu State's request this time, not only will it become a grudge against Qi State, but Qi State will also be burdened. The infamy of betraying the covenant. If the Chu State becomes angry and appoints someone else to be the king of Chu, then what use will Mi Heng have in the hands of the Qi State? By then, I am afraid that Mi Heng will become a piece of Qi State's worthless body. It is tasteless to eat, and it is a pity to throw it away." ("Warring States Policy·Chu Policy")
After hearing this, everyone in the Qi State felt that what Lord Mengchang said was very reasonable, so they sent Prince Mi Heng back to the State of Chu. He became King Qingxiang of Chu. The reason why Prince Mi Heng was able to return to Chu safely and sit on the throne was undoubtedly due to Zhao Ju's greatest contribution. However, when King Qingxiang of Chu came to power, he did not re-employ Zhaoju. Instead, he made Zilan the prime minister, one person below ten thousand people.
But it was Zilan's suggestion that caused King Chu Huai to be trapped in the Qin Kingdom and his future was uncertain. Why did King Chu Qingxiang hear this and ignore it? In fact, King Chu Xiang's thoughts were the same as those of Song Gaozong later. They did not obtain the position of king "justifiably". For King Qingxiang of Chu, if it weren't for Zilan, he might not have ascended to the throne, so he "heard but ignored" Zilan.
In any case, Chu State was temporarily free from war, and the country was temporarily preserved. Prince Heng was the biggest beneficiary, replacing King Huai of Chu and beginning the era of King Qingxiang. Empress Dowager Xuan and King Zhaoxiang of Qin thought that they would seize the opportunity to detain King Huai of Chu, which would cause chaos in Chu and Qin could take advantage of this. Unexpectedly, their plan fell through, so they had to readjust their strategic goals and start new strategic operations.
The "Hongmen Banquet" did not have the intended effect, so Empress Dowager Xuan and King Qin Zhaoxiang decided to use force to frighten the Chu State.
In the first year of King Qingxiang of Chu (298 BC), the Qin army attacked from Wuguan and defeated the Chu army again, killing 50,000 Chu soldiers and capturing 15 cities including Xiyi. King Huai of Chu escaped from the clutches of Qin during this period, but was captured on the way. At this time, King Huai had been regarded as a trophy by the Qin State. Although it had no practical significance, its deterrence did exist. Three years later, King Huai of Chu was filled with resentment and died of illness in Xianyang. Only then did Qin send his body back.
After King Chu Qingxiang came to the throne, he not only did not work hard to govern, find ways to rescue his father and return to the country, and jointly planned the prosperity of the Chu country, but instead indulged in singing, dancing, and sensuality all day long. How could such a state of Chu withstand the attack of the powerful Qin?
During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, it was not uncommon for a country to take advantage of the opportunity to meet with the monarch of another country to imprison or kill him. The State of Chu also used this method. The State of Qin imprisoned King Huai of Chu, but it turned out to be a way to retaliate. However, the Qin State's seizure of King Huai of Chu had a particularly great deterrent effect on other countries, because the Chu State was still a powerful country to the eastern countries, and its king was actually imprisoned by the Qin State. This shows that the Qin State's strength is already superior to the Chu State.
The people of Chu State attach great importance to emotions. Although King Chu Huai was sorry for the country, they still missed King Chu Huai very much and regarded him as the king of the country. After the body of King Huai was brought back, the people of Chu State were extremely sad.
After learning from the painful experience, the people blamed Prince Zilan for the death of King Huai of Chu. If Prince Zilan had not persuaded King Chu Huai to attend the meeting, King Chu Huai would not have died.
Prince Zi Lan was criticized for urging King Huai of Chu to attend the meeting, but Qu Yuan, who held the opposite view, was praised. In the Chu State, Qu Yuan was of noble character, wisdom and talent, and won the hearts of the people. King Huai of Chu did not listen to Qu Yuan's advice and eventually died in a foreign country, which further enhanced Qu Yuan's status.
The people of Chu State value emotions, and Qu Yuan was also a person who valued emotions. King Huai of Chu failed to treat Qu Yuan well during his lifetime, but Qu Yuan's loyalty to Chu State remained unabated.
"Historical Records" records that Qu Yuan "preserved the emperor and rejuvenated the country but wanted to overthrow it, and he had three ambitions in one article." It means that Qu Yuan did not forget to miss the king, revive the country, and turn things around. He expressed this sentiment many times in his articles.
Although Qu Yuan was loyal and passionate, he was still unable to express his ambitions, and his patriotism had nowhere to show. Qu Yuan was very patriotic, he was rich in emotion and delicate in thought, and he felt sorry for the decline of his country. A person with rich emotions and delicate thoughts will inevitably complain when he is ostracized for a long time and relies on his talents.
Qu Yuan believed that King Huai of Chu did not use loyal ministers and blindly listened to the words of Zhang Yi, Shangguan officials and Zilan, which led to the disastrous defeat of the army, the loss of land, and finally the end of death in a foreign country.
So Qu Yuan wrote an article and complained about Zilan. Zilan was furious and ordered Shangguan officials to slander Qu Yuan. It is the easiest thing for several powerful people to work together to punish a powerless person. Under the instigation of Shangguan officials and Ling Yin Zilan, King Qingxiang listened to the other side of the story, and Qu Yuan was exiled.
Being loyal but being demoted, exiled, and banished one after another, even the most determined people will have a moment of discouragement. The exiled Qu Yuan came to the Miluo River with disheveled hair and unsteady steps. He sighed as he walked. He was really "gaunt in appearance and withered in description."
Su Qin failed to persuade Qin and was haggard when he returned home. At that time, Su Qin didn't know that his family had abandoned him, but now Qu Yuan felt that the whole world had abandoned him. For a person like Qu Yuan who cherishes his ideals deeply, if he cannot realize his ideals, he would rather die innocently.
A fisherman saw Qu Yuan and asked him why he went to the Miluo River. Qu Yuan said a few words with heartache - "The whole world is turbid but I am alone in the clear. Everyone is drunk but I am alone in the clear. This is how I see relief." ("Historical Records: Biography of Qu Yuan and Jia Sheng")
The sentence "The whole world is muddy but I am alone clear, everyone is drunk but I am alone awake" expresses the frustration and heartache of a talented person being abandoned vividly.
The fisherman told Qu Yuan, "The whole world is turbid, why not let it flow and make waves? Everyone is drunk, why not feed the dregs and sip the fermented wine."
Qu Yuan replied to the fisherman, "I have heard that those who are newly bathed must flick their crowns, and those who are newly bathed must shake their clothes. Is there anyone who can inspect the body and receive the warmth of things? I would rather go to the Xiangliu River and be buried among the fish in the river. In the belly, how can it be so white as bright and covered with the dust of the world?"
The fisherman said to Qu Yuan that if a person's moral cultivation reaches the highest level, his view of things is not dead, but changes with the secular customs. Since people in the whole society are filthy, they should go with the flow, or even add fuel to the flames; since everyone is drunk, they should accompany them in drinking and even eating the lees.
But ideals are not willing to surrender to reality. Qu Yuan said that people who have just washed their hair must flick off the dust on their hats; people who have just washed their bodies must remove the dust on their clothes. If a person is clean, how can he tolerate dirt?
This shows that Qu Yuan's conduct was noble. Qu Yuan was of noble character and would rather be a piece of broken jade than fall into dust and be polluted. But as long as King Qi can protect himself, he is willing to be a black and greasy tile.
The gap between people is highlighted in this way.
Finally, Qu Yuan expressed that he would rather throw himself into the river and be buried in the belly of a fish than let his innocence be insulted by the world. At this point, Qu Yuan was determined to die and was irreversible.
Facing the Miaomiao River and thinking of his innocence, Qu Yuan wrote an article "Huaisha". In "Huaisha", Qu Yuan said, "Caressing the feelings serves the will, and the government restrains oneself." This means that if you look at your heart and examine yourself, you will find that you are not at fault at all. Even though you have been wronged, wronged, and suppressed one after another, you still have no fear in your heart. After writing "Huaisha", Qu Yuan embraced the boulder and jumped into the river with a "plop". He was a great idealist who bid farewell to the chaotic Warring States period.
Qu Yuan committed suicide because of his lack of talent. If we look at it from a historical perspective, we were born at the wrong time. Throughout Chinese history, there are many people who were born at the wrong time, such as Sima Qian, Jia Yi, Li Shangyin, etc. There are many people.
As a man whose talent was not recognized, Mr. Sima Qian wrote a poem "Ode to a Sad Man Who Is Not Encountered". The starting sentence is: A sad man is not born well, and he is ashamed to live alone in his shadow.
Reading history carefully, it is true that "the people of Chu mourned Qu Yuan, and their thoughts have not stopped even after a thousand years. Wherever the soul floats, the fathers are empty and choked." (Su Shi's "Qu Yuan Pagoda")
Additional knowledge development follows.
There have always been different opinions about the author of "The Fisherman". The earliest work identified as Qu Yuan's was "Chu Ci Zhang Ju" written by Wang Yi of the Eastern Han Dynasty. "Chu Ci Zhang Xun" is annotated on the basis of "Chu Ci" compiled by Liu Xiang in the late Western Han Dynasty. In "Chu Ci", "The Fisherman" has been included as one of Qu Yuan's twenty-five works. Based on this, it is determined that Qu Yuan wrote "The Fisherman", and can be pushed back to Liu Xiangshi. Later generations recognized Qu Yuan's "The Fisherman", and those with greater influence include "Selected Works of Zhaoming" compiled by Xiao Tong of the Liang Dynasty in the Southern Dynasty and "Collected Commentary on the Songs of Chu" by Zhu Xi of the Southern Song Dynasty. But there are many loopholes in this theory. Judging from external evidence, when Sima Qian quoted the text of "The Fisherman" in "Historical Records: Biography of Qu Jia", it was only as part of the text and not as a quotation from Qu Yuan's original work. Wang Yi's "Chu Ci Chapters" clearly pointed out that "The author of "The Fisherman" was written by Qu Yuan" and then said that "Chu people miss Qu Yuan and recite his words to pass them down from generation to generation." The author is not Qu Yuan again. Chu people". From the internal evidence, Qu Yuan in "The Fisherman" said "I would rather go to the Hunan River and be buried in the belly of the river fish." The following is the scene of going to Hunan and sinking himself. It seems impossible to have the mood to continue writing in a relaxed style. The "smiling" fisherman. What's more, the whole article is written in the third person, which is inconsistent with Qu Yuan's identity as the author of this article. Therefore, modern people generally believe that this article was not written by Qu Yuan. Guo Moruo said: ""The Fisherman" may be the work of a Chu person who knew Qu Yuan's life and thoughts well." ("Modern Translation of Qu Yuan's Fu") Based on the actual work, this inference is relatively credible.
In the first part, Qu Yuan begins to show his face. The article explains the background and environment in which the story takes place, as well as the specific situation of the protagonist. The time is after the "Ji Fang", that is, after Qu Yuan was exiled by King Chu Qingxiang for insisting on patriotic political opinions; the location is "Jiangtan" and "Zepan", from the following four words "Ning Go to Xiangliu" It seems that it was on the bank of the Yuanjiang River close to the Xiangjiang River or a river or lake between Yuanjiang and Xiangjiang. At that time, Qu Yuan was very preoccupied and was muttering to himself as he walked. In the article, the character "gaunt in color and haggard in description" is used to vividly depict Qu Yuan's external image of a hero at the end of his life, exhausted both physically and mentally, and out of shape.
The second part is the main body of the article. In this part, the fisherman comes on stage and begins a question-and-answer session with Qu Yuan. Instead of describing the appearance of the fisherman, he directly wrote down the two questions in his mind. When asked about Qu Yuan's identity: "Zi is not the Sanlu doctor?" Qu Yuan used to be the Sanlu doctor (official name) of Chu State. Apparently the fisherman recognized Qu Yuan and asked rhetorically to confirm his identity. The second question was the crux of the question: "Why do you do this?" The fisherman was in such a state of desolation that he had never expected. This question led to Qu Yuan's answer, and then started a ideological confrontation between them. Qu Yuan explained that the reason why he was exiled was that "the whole world is turbid and I am alone pure, and everyone is drunk and I am alone awake", that is, he is different, a loner, uncompromising, and uncompromising. This led to further discussion from the fisherman. In view of Qu Yuan's self-righteousness and self-confidence, the fisherman proposed that we should learn from the example of "the saint is not stagnant in things, but can move with the world." ”, taking a path of self-protection that is independent of the world and harmful to the whole body. He believed that Qu Yuan did not need to "think deeply and exalt himself" and had high standards of independence in everything from his thoughts to his actions, thus bringing about the disaster of exile for himself. The fisherman is a hermit and a true believer in Taoism. Laozi said: "Be the same as its light, be the same as its dust." ("Laozi") Zhuangzi said: "Be imaginary and surrender to the snake." ("Zhuangzi Yingdiwang", later idioms are "empty and surrender to the snake") The philosophy of life adopted by the fisherman , attitude towards life is inherited from Lao and Zhuang. The "sages" he cited refer to figures such as Lao and Zhuang. The great sage of Confucianism said: "If the Tao is different, we will not conspire with each other." ("The Analects of Confucius, Wei Linggong") adheres to the noble personality of "Su Shi is independent, horizontal but not flowing" ("Nine Songs of Orange") Qu Yuan, of course, was incompatible with the fisherman's "advice". He further expressed his thoughts and opinions in a righteous manner. He used two simple and vivid metaphors: "A new bather must flick his crown, and a new bather must shake up his clothes" to illustrate his attitude of being clean and self-sufficient and never joining the ranks of others. He also used two rhetorical questions that his innocence should not be tainted, indicating that he would "rather go to Xiangliu" and stick to his ideals at the expense of his life. Qu Yuan once stated clearly in "Li Sao": "I have a good heart, and even though I died nine times, I still have no regrets!" "Since I can't do anything for good governance, I will live where Peng Xianzhi lives!" "Yu Yu" Qu Yuan in "Father" is exactly such a strong man in life who always adheres to his ideals and does not hesitate to sacrifice his life for righteousness. Sima Qian included the text of "The Fisherman" as historical materials in Qu Yuan's biography, which must be based on the authenticity of the written content, which is at least consistent with Qu Yuan's consistent ideological and character.
In the last part of the text, the text focuses on the fisherman. After hearing Qu Yuan's answer again, the fisherman "smiled" and stopped answering Qu Yuan. He sang the song "The water in the waves is clear" and "drummed and left". The description of the fisherman in this part is very vivid. Qu Yuan did not listen to his advice. He was neither sullen nor angry, nor forced others to do anything. He parted ways with Qu Yuan calmly with the detached attitude of a hermit. The song he sang was later called "The Fisherman's Song" (the song was included in the 83rd volume of "Yuefu Collection" by Guo Maoqian of the Song Dynasty as an "ancient poem" in "The Fisherman's Song"), also known as "Canglang Song". ” or “The Boy’s Song”. The lyrics use "clear water" and "turbid water" to describe the clarity and darkness of the world. The so-called clear water can wash hats and tassels, and turbid water can wash feet. The general meaning is still the above "sages are not stagnant in things, but can move with the world." This is a more vivid image of the fisherman's philosophy of life. transformation statement.
This last part is not found in the biography of Qu Yuan in "Historical Records". From the structure of the whole article, this part is indispensable: it further exaggerates the image of the fisherman; the ending of the fisherman saying goodbye and singing away also gives the whole article a long-lasting charm. Many researchers believe that the work "The Fisherman" praises Qu Yuan. However, from the description of the whole text, especially from this ending, it seems difficult to see that the author meant to specifically praise Qu Yuan and disparage the fisherman. The value of "The Fisherman" lies in its fairly accurate description of Qu Yuan's thoughts and character, and at the same time, it also successfully created the image of a hermit who was able to escape the world. The image of the fishing hermit whistling haze in many poems and songs of later generations cannot help but remind us of the "Fisher Father" in the Chu Ci. If we must distinguish the emotional tendency of this article between Qu Yuan and the fisherman, we might as well think that he is more inclined to the fisherman who is a typical hermit.
"The Fisherman" is a beautiful piece of prose that is highly readable. The beginning is about Qu Yuan and the end is about the fisherman, both of which are very expressive with not much ink; the middle adopts a dialogue style, often using metaphors and rhetorical questions, which is vivid, vivid and philosophical. From a stylistic point of view, among the Chu Ci, only this article, "Bu Ju" and some works of Song Yu use the question and answer style, which is relatively close to the writing style of later Han Fu. The predecessors said that Han Fu "was commissioned by the poets and developed from Chu Ci" (Liu Xie's "Wen Xin Diao Long·An Interpretation of Fu"). In the history of the evolution of style, "The Fisherman" undoubtedly has an important position that cannot be ignored.
