In his later years, Liu Bang sat on a high dragon chair, looking at the empty hall, and felt a trance about his origin and appearance:
Am I, the founder of the Han Dynasty, the son of Liu Taigong and Liu Yu, or the son of Jiaolong? I, this old face, is just slightly different from ordinary people, or is it something more precious? Do I have 72 moles on my left leg?
But he was just in a daze for a moment with common sense.
Over the years, he has long believed in his own miraculous powers.
During the crusade against the rebellious Yingbu, he was wounded by an arrow and became seriously ill after returning to Chang'an. Empress Lu invited the best doctor for him, and the doctor assured him: "The disease can be cured."
When he heard this, he became angry and cursed the doctor on the spot: "I conquered the world as a commoner with a three-foot sword in hand. Isn't this destiny? Destiny is in the sky. Even if there is a Bian Que, what's the use!"
He rewarded the doctor with fifty pounds of gold, sent him away, and entered his final days.
By taking control of his own death, he proved his miraculousness one last time.
However, another wave of trance struck:
Am I, the founder of the Han Dynasty, just a commoner favored by destiny, or am I the son of a dragon? I, this dying face, am I just slightly different from ordinary people, or is it something more precious? Do I have 72 moles on my left leg that I never show to anyone?
Portrait of Liu Bang. Source: Internet
01
As early as when Liu Bang started his business to conquer the world, magical stories about him had already begun to circulate.
Liu Bang was originally a low-level official in the Qin Dynasty system - the pavilion chief. Once, he was responsible for escorting the disciples to Lishan Mountain to build the emperor's mausoleum. Not far away, many of the disciples had already escaped. Based on the situation, it is estimated that by the time they reach Lishan, everyone will have already fled. So he stopped, had a drink, and then took advantage of the night to release all the disciples: "You run away for your lives, and so do I." This incident marked Liu Bang's transformation from a defender of the Qin Dynasty to a The rebels. Seeing how generous he was, a dozen of the disciples expressed their willingness to go with him on the spot. Liu Bang took these people to escape and hide in the mountains of Mang County and Dang County (now called Mangdang Mountain), and embarked on the road of anti-Qin entrepreneurship.
Then, magical things began to happen. Sima Qian's "Historical Records: The Benji of Gaozu" records:
Emperor Gaozu was drunk, walking in the middle of the night at night, and ordered a man to go forward. The first man who was walking reported back and said: "There is a big snake in front of me, I would like to return it." Gaozu was drunk and said: "A strong man is walking, why should we be afraid!" Then he went forward and drew his sword to kill the snake. The snake then divided into two parts and opened up. After traveling for several miles, I got drunk because I was lying down. Later generations came to the Snake House and saw an old woman crying at night. When someone asked why he was crying, the woman said: "My son was killed, so I cried." The man said: "Why did you see him killed?" The woman said: "My son, the son of the White Emperor, turned into a snake and ruled the road. Now he is red. The emperor beheaded her, so she cried." The man thought the woman was dishonest and wanted to flog her, but she suddenly disappeared. Later generations arrived, and Gaozu was aware of it. Later generations reported to Emperor Gaozu that he was only happy and conceited. The followers are increasingly afraid of him.
During the Qin and Han Dynasties, the common expression used when people greeted each other was "Wu Ta Hu" (is there a snake?), which is the same as asking "Have you eaten yet?" today. It can be seen that the snake problem was very serious at that time. Liu Bang was drunk, and with the help of wine to strengthen his courage, he raised his sword and killed a white snake that was blocking his way. It was just such a thing. Even now, it is not very rare. At most, it shows that Liu Bang's courage is indeed extraordinary.
But in the process of spreading this incident, a mysterious plot appeared. Sima Qian narrated from a third perspective that an old woman came to her son crying at night, saying that his son had been killed. People asked her, why was your son killed? The old woman said that my son was the son of the White Emperor. He turned into a snake and blocked the road, so he was killed by the Red Emperor. After Liu Bang woke up from the drunkenness, he was secretly happy when he learned about the old woman's search for her son. And his followers feared him even more.
Just when Liu Bang killed White Snake, Chen Sheng and Wu Guang had already raised the anti-Qin banner in Daze Township and shouted the slogan "Princes and generals should rather have their own kind". According to the records in "Historical Records of the Chen She Family", after Chen Sheng and Wu Guang conspired to revolt, they went to a soothsayer to divine good or bad luck:
The diviner knew what it meant, and said: "Everything is done with one step, and it is a success. But what's the ghost of the divination with just one step?" Chen Sheng and Wu Guangxi thought of ghosts and said, "This is a teaching that I will be able to impress everyone first." It was written in a Dan book on silk. "King Chen Sheng" was placed in the belly of a fish that someone caught. The soldier bought a fish and cooked it, and found a book in the belly of the fish, so he thought it was strange. He also ordered Wu Guangzhi to set up a bonfire in the nearby Cong Temple at night. The fox croaked and shouted: "The great Chu is rising, King Chen Sheng." All the soldiers were frightened at night. On the same day, the words "stroke" often refer to "Muchen Sheng".
In this record, Sima Qian used Chen Sheng and Wu Guang's first-person perspectives almost throughout the whole process to restore the whole process of the two insurrectionists "pretending to be gods and ghosts": the soothsayer knew the intentions of Chen Sheng and Wu Guang, so he followed their wishes and said they loved each other. After listening to the words, they then instructed them to ask ghosts and gods for divination. It's not enough to ask people, why should you ask ghosts and gods? Chen Sheng quickly understood the soothsayer's intention: "This is to teach us to use ghosts and gods to intimidate people." He used cinnabar to write the three words "King Chen Sheng" on silk and put it in the belly of the fish waiting to be sold. . When the soldiers bought fish and cooked it, they found silk books in the belly of the fish and began to believe that this was a hint from God. At night, Chen Sheng secretly sent Wu Guang to the temple in the jungle next to the camp, lit a fire, and pretended to be a fox howling: "The great Chu will rise, and Chen Sheng will be the king." The soldiers were terrified all night. The next day, everyone was talking about it. They looked at Chen Sheng and just waited for his order to follow the chosen man.
"Historical Records" is really a very clever history book. When Sima Qian wrote this book, Liu Che, Liu Bang's great-grandson, was in charge of the world. Liu Bang had already succeeded in starting his own business, and about a hundred years had passed since the failure of Chen Sheng and Wu Guang's uprising. In this era, some things must be concealed, and some things can be stated openly. Therefore, Chen Sheng and Wu Guang failed, and Dan Shuhu Ming's tactics were ruthlessly exposed; Liu Bang succeeded, and the legend of killing snakes with a sword continued to be deified.
However, Sima Qian seems to be telling readers silently that the stories of Chen Sheng and Liu Bang are actually historical intertexts. They are mirror images of each other. A scam can be a myth, and a myth can also be a scam. Everything depends on the final result. If you win, it will be a myth, if you lose, it will be a game.
Portrait of Sima Qian. Source: Internet
After the fall of the Han Dynasty, historians did not have to bear the political pressure to conceal Liu Bang's entrepreneurial story like Sima Qian, so they easily discovered the myths and fictions in his legend of slaying snakes with a sword. When Zhu Xi of the Southern Song Dynasty was discussing the authenticity of historical records with his disciples, he directly said: "Those who succeed in doing so are like killing snakes; those who fail to do so are like the fox's cry in Dan Shu." Take Liu Bang and Chen Sheng. The analogy couldn't be more appropriate. Yang Xunji of the Ming Dynasty put it more bluntly: "When it comes to killing snakes, Pei Gong entrusts himself with the spirit of the gods to frighten the ears of the foolish couples in the world. The big rainbow, the blue dragon, the red dragon, the flowing fire crow, and the leaping fish are all... Therefore, the rise of the Zhao Emperor. This plan to kill the snake was devised." It reveals the trick of the entrepreneurial emperor to use the talisman and entrust it to the gods.
The problem is that foolish men and women have always believed in this story, so when the story of Liu Bang slaying the snake evolved into the myth of the Red Emperor's son slaying the White Emperor's son, "all his followers became increasingly afraid of it" - with the help of fabricated magical stories, Liu Bang gained political influence for the first time.
02
Liu Bang, who has tasted the sweetness, will inevitably fabricate his own miraculous deeds again. As a result, more and more miracles happened to him:
The First Emperor of Qin often said that "there is the spirit of the emperor in the southeast", so he was disgusted by traveling eastward. Emperor Gaozu doubted himself, died and hid among the rocks in Mang and Dang mountains. Empress Lu always gets what everyone asks for. Gaozu asked strangely. Empress Lu said: "There are always clouds above where Ji lives, so we can get Ji from the usual." Gaozu was delighted. The disciples of Peizhong may hear this and want to possess it.
Portrait of Qin Shihuang. Source: Internet
During the Warring States, Qin and Han Dynasties, qi-gazing was very popular. People at that time believed that good or bad luck could be predicted by observing clouds. Even Qin Shihuang was no exception. He believed in the predictions of the qi-watching magicians and believed that "there is emperor qi in the southeast." This was a potential threat to the Qin Dynasty, but it was an opportunity for Liu Bang to cling to him. "Historical Records" said that Liu Bang was "self-doubtful", that is, he took his position and believed that the "Emperor Qi" in the southeast was due to him. However, it is not enough to believe in yourself, you must also believe in others. So Queen Lu came out to sing a double act with her husband:
Liu Bang: I am hiding in the mountains, and I am so secretive. How come you are so powerful, and you can find me every time, as if you have opened a location?
Lu Pheasant: You are a person with a halo, you will shine wherever you hide.
Please pay attention to Sima Qian's account. Empress Lu did not go to find her husband alone, but "asked for it with others" and took others with her to find her husband. Without the participation of a third party, how could the story of Liu Bang's own cloud spread? After this wave of publicity, Liu Bang's popularity became even more prosperous, and the children of Peizhong joined him one after another and followed him to do great things.
Portrait of Lu Pheasant. Source: Internet
In addition to the clouds, Liu Bang's appearance also became more and more mysterious.
The first people to tell the legend were still from his closest circle of acquaintances - his father-in-law Lu Gong and his mother-in-law Lu Yu. The two recounted why they originally betrothed their precious daughter to a liar who loved to lie. One was a good person and the other was a bad person. The focus was on Liu Bang's appearance:
Lu Gong said: "I am a young man who likes to look at people, and there are many people. I am not as good as Ji Xiang. I hope Ji will love himself. I have a daughter, and I would like to be Ji Ji's concubine." After drinking, Lu's wife was angry with Lu Gong and said: "Young Master I often wonder about this girl, and the nobles. I ordered you to be a good man, but I asked her not to give her, so why should I arrogantly agree to Liu Ji?" Lu Gong said: "This is not what I know." He died with Liu Ji.
According to "Historical Records", Lu Gong's family moved to Pei County to avoid their enemies. Because Lu Gong had a close relationship with the magistrate of Peixian County, he was warmly welcomed as soon as he arrived in the county. So Lu Gong held a banquet, and guests from all over the world brought gifts to support him. Liu Bang, the director of the Sishui pavilion, also rushed to drink wine, but he didn't have any money in his pocket, so he wrapped an empty red envelope, lied about "ten thousand yuan for congratulations", and swaggered in to the banquet.
As soon as Lu Gong saw Liu Bang's face, not only was he not angry, but he treated him as a guest of honor. After having a good meal and wine, he specially stayed with him and said, "I have a daughter who I want to betroth to you as your wife. Take care of the house." Why? Lu Gong said, because I have seen countless people, but I have never seen such a good face as yours. On the side, Lady Lu was holding back her anger. After the guests had left, she complained to Mr. Lu: "You often say that you want our daughter to marry a good family. The magistrate of Pei County proposed several times, but you didn't agree. . Why did you casually promise her to a scoundrel today?" Lu Gong did not explain, but replied contemptuously: "What do women know?" So he married their daughter Lu Pheasant to Liu Bang.
A few years after their marriage, Liu Bang and Lu Fei had two children. At this time, another old man who was good at face-to-face appeared at the right time:
Empress Lu and her two sons were living in the fields, and an old man came over to ask for a drink, and Empress Lu fed him. The old father said to Empress Lu, "Madam, you are the most noble person in the world." When the prime minister saw Xiaohui and his two sons, he said, "The reason why Madam is noble is this man." Xiang Lu Yuan was also noble. My old father has passed away, and my great-grandfather came from the other side. Empress Lu said that she had a lot of troubles, and that I, my son, and my mother are all very noble. Emperor Gaozu asked, "It's not far." Then he caught up and asked his father. The old father said: "The wives and babies of the people in this country are all like you. You are so noble that you are beyond words." Gaozu thanked him and said, "As my father said, I dare not forget my virtue." Since Gaozu was noble, he didn't know where his father was.
That day, Lu Pheasant and two children were weeding in the field. An old man passed by and asked for some water, so Lu Pheasant invited him to eat. The old man then looked at Lu Zhi's face and said that she was "a noble person in the world". Then he looked at the faces of the two children and they both said they were "noble people in the world". After looking at the photos, the old man left. Liu Bang happened to come to the field. Hearing Lu Pheasant's words, he quickly caught up with him. He caught up with the old man and asked him to read his fortune. The old man said: "Your appearance is beyond words." After hearing this, Liu Bang was grateful to the old man: "When I become rich, I will not forget you."
In historical documents, this mysterious old man disappeared completely after meeting Liu Bang's family of four. Even after Liu Bang became rich and powerful, he went to look for him, but he could not be found. So, as the earliest person to identify Liu Bang's appearance as "indescribably precious", there may be a question mark as to whether such an old man exists in the world. Judging from the entire face-to-face process, the old man's disappearance out of thin air means that the driving force behind the spread of this incident can only be Liu Bang and his wife.
At this point, through the fortune telling of his father-in-law and the so-called mysterious old man, Liu Bang's "indescribably noble" appearance gradually "came out of the circle", strengthening people's perception of him. Moreover, the more it spreads, the more bizarre it becomes. People not only believed that he was "long and accurate", but also believed that he had "seventy-two sunspots on his left buttocks" - although except for Lu Pheasant, it is probably difficult for anyone to see such a hidden part of his body.
The key to the problem is that in that troubled time when the anti-Qin war was raging everywhere, Liu Bang, who started out by promoting supernatural stories, really reaped the dividends of Shinto teachings and quickly rose to become a force that influenced the local political situation.
In "Historical Records", in the first year of Qin II (209 BC), after Liu Bang encouraged the people of Peixian County to kill the county magistrate, the county elders opened the city gate to welcome him and wanted to elect him as the new county magistrate. Liu Bang initially shied away, saying something like "limited ability, embarrassing big responsibilities" and the like. At this time, the elders gave the reasons why they should recommend Liu Bang:
"Of all the treasures and strange things I have heard about in Liu Ji's life, they are very valuable, and for divination, none are more auspicious than Liu Ji's."
We usually hear many miraculous things about you. It seems that you deserve to be distinguished. Moreover, after our divination, there is indeed no more auspicious candidate than you.
Look, what an interesting record. Sima Qian used a third-party perspective (the elders) to explain that Liu Bang's promotion of magical stories had already demonstrated a strong social influence in the early days of his business, and had become increasingly popular. In other words, when everyone listens to such a story, they are easily "brainwashed" and believe in the content of the story; and then, in turn, under the strong psychological suggestion, they further confirm the story through divination and other magical means. The miraculousness of the protagonist.
As the protagonist of the story, Liu Bang is naturally more eager to repeat his magic, so we see that he was made the Duke of Pei:
In the temple of Huangdi, Chiyou was sacrificed in Peiting, and the flags were raised and drummed, and the flags were all red. The snake killed is the White Emperor's son, and the killer is the Red Emperor's son, so it is red.
Liu Bang's miraculous deed of killing the White Snake comes in handy again: the military flag of the uprising was red, because he was the Red Emperor's son who killed the White Emperor's son, so he must advocate red to make more people believe that he is the Red Emperor. The emperor's son. In this way, a self-consistent closed loop is successfully constructed between the spread of the story and actual actions, which continues to occupy the minds of followers.
In the war at the end of the Qin Dynasty, Liu Bang, who rose from the grassroots, and Xiang Yu, who was born in an aristocratic family, eventually became the two major forces in the anti-Qin military camp. In 207 BC, Ziying, the puppet ruler of the Qin Dynasty, was forced to cancel his imperial title and change his title to King of Qin. Forty-six days later, Liu Bang invaded Xianyang before Xiang Yu, and Qin fell. The next four years were the Chu-Han struggle for hegemony between Liu Bang and Xiang Yu. Facing Xiang Yu, who had been a nobleman for many generations, Liu Bang's background seemed lackluster. So as the conflict between Chu and Han entered a fierce stage, his early deeds began to be mythized:
Wang Lao and Wu Fu often drink wine and lie down drunk. Wu Fu and Wang Lao often see dragons on them, which is strange. Emperor Gaozu drank several times every time he drank. When it gets weird, the two families often break their bonds and give up their responsibilities.
This means that Liu Bang liked drinking in his early years. He often went to Wu Fu and Wang La's wine shops to drink on credit and fell asleep when he was drunk. When he fell asleep, Wu Fu and Wang Yu saw dragons often hovering above him. The two of them had also found it strange before that as long as Liu Bang stayed in the wine shop to drink, the wine shop's business was particularly good, with customers flooding in and the wine sold being several times the usual amount. When they saw something strange like a dragon appearing, at the end of the year, the two of them destroyed the debt note and canceled Liu Bang's debt.
The focus of the story is "dragon". Whether it was the previous deeds of slaying the white snake or the "indescribably precious" appearance, it was now implemented on the dragon, which was more concrete and a symbol of power and status. In the end, it points to Liu Bang’s life experience:
His father is called Taigong, and his mother is called Liu Yu. First, Mrs. Liu took a rest in Dazebei and met God in her dream. At that time, thunder and lightning were dim, and when Taigong looked over, he saw a dragon rising above it. She was already pregnant and gave birth to Gaozu.
According to the record in "Historical Records", Liu Yu once rested in a place with abundant water and grass, and met gods in her dreams. There was thunder and lightning at that time, and Liu Taigong ran over to take a look and saw dragons flying above, so Liu Lao became pregnant with Liu Bang.
Judging from Liu Bang's self-deification process since the beginning of his business, this mysterious and mysterious life experience must have been fabricated by himself and tried his best to publicize it to the outside world. Historically, this miraculous conception process was called the "myth of induced conception", also known as the "myth of chaste conception." It is a type of myth about the birth of the ancestors of mankind. During the Warring States, Qin and Han dynasties, myths about the birth of Hou Ji, the founder of the Zhou people, Qi, the founder of the Shang people, and the great cause of the ancestors of the Qin people were widely circulated and became typical legends for people of all ethnic groups to trace their ancestors' lives. Liu Bang got inspiration from it and forged his own birth myth according to the same story type.
With Liu Bang defeating Xiang Yu and establishing the Han Dynasty in Gaixia (southeast of present-day Lingbi County, Anhui) in 202 BC, the lie/myth of the "Son of the Dragon" became the historical memory of the entire dynasty and was passed down from generation to generation. People in the Qin and Han Dynasties generally believed that "there must be strange things in the life of an emperor. If they are not seen in things, the effects are just like dreams." Liu Bang's success in turn confirmed his extraordinary life experience and wrote the history of the "dragon species". The best footnote of authenticity. At this point, the emperors (Liu Bang and his descendants) mythologized history, and the people (including the writing historian Sima Qian) historicized myths.
Xiang Yu's portrait. Source: Internet
03
When myths become history, we can't help but ask: Was it the "destined" things such as the Red Emperor's son killing the White Emperor's son, the bright clouds, the noble appearance, and the son of the dragon that created Liu Bang's success, or was it the power of an ordinary man that created Liu Bang's success? Did historical ability and courage create Liu Bang's success?
Liu Bang himself was conflicted about this.
After proclaiming himself emperor, Liu Bang held a banquet in Luoyang Nangong. The theme was to discuss with the generals: "Why do I have the world? Why did the Xiang family lose the world?" - Why did I, Liu Bang, win the world? Why did Xiang Yu lose the world?
Obviously, this is a high-level review of the results of the Chu-Han struggle.
Gao Qi and Wang Ling replied: "Your Majesty sends people to attack the city and seize the land. The areas captured and surrendered will be enfeoffed to those who have merit, and they will share the benefits with the people of the world. However, Xiang Yu is jealous of the virtuous and capable, and the meritorious are jealous. , A talented person is suspicious. He won a battle but did not give credit to others, and when he seized land he did not give others benefits. This is the reason why he lost the world."
But Liu Bang said, you only know one, but not the other. The reasons for his success summarized by himself are:
My husband is able to make plans in the tent and win the battle thousands of miles away. I am not as good as Zifang (Zhang Liang). I am not as good as Xiao He in controlling the country, pacifying the people, providing wages, and constantly supplying food. With an army of millions, we will definitely win in battle and capture when we attack. I am not as good as Han Xin. These three are all outstanding people, and I can use them. This is why I conquer the world. Xiang Yu had a fan that increased and could not be used. This is why I captured him.
It turns out that what Liu Bang valued most was his ability to recognize, trust and employ people. He didn't mention anything other than abilities, let alone such mysterious things as clouds, facial features, and dragon species.
Before that, the generals advised Liu Bang to ascend the throne and proclaim himself the emperor. The reason was also Liu Bang's character and ability. They said that he "raised the subtle, punished the violent and rebellious, pacified the world, and those who had meritorious deeds often broke the earth and were named princes." People like you do not claim to be emperor. , then we will die like this.
You see, they didn't mention those weird things. Not only did he not mention the "dragon seed" thing, but he also said that Liu Bang was "from a humble background" and came from a low-income family. The implication is that the success of the grassroots is unprecedented. It is much more difficult than the success of the aristocracy, so it is more powerful and greater.
It can be seen that Liu Bang and his group of heroes knew very well that their success in starting a business had nothing to do with the magical stories they promoted. Regardless of whether they brag or flatter, they all emphasize that Liu Bang's ability and character are the fundamental reasons for his ultimate victory in troubled times. There is zero capital beyond ability, and nothing is more worthy of respect than the success of an ordinary person.
But on the other hand, Liu Bang has gone very far on the road to self-deification. From the beginning of his business, he gradually added "miraculous functions" to himself to attract people; by the time he founded the Han Dynasty, his public image had changed from a rogue in the early days to a great son of a dragon.
Similarly, most of his group of heroes came from humble backgrounds. Except for Zhang Liang, who came from a noble family, most of them were "desperate scoundrels." These people became generals and became prime ministers, which obviously broke the previous aristocratic political tradition. How to explain this unprecedented situation? What about the political landscape?
This also requires the blessing of political myths to better explain the transformation process of power owners from aristocrats to civilians. Continuing to sanctify Liu Bang and endow the king with the concept of divine destiny. For the new Han Dynasty, it will undoubtedly put an end to the rebellious trend since the end of the Qin Dynasty that "the princes and generals are more interested in each other" and "the other can be replaced", and prevent more The possibility of commoners taking desperate risks to gain imperial power.
With the stability of the new regime, Liu Bang and his group of heroes gradually downplayed the ability factor in the entrepreneurial process, and instead used the magical view of destiny to explain the history of the rise and fall of dynasties. As a result, the scene of showing off ability and character in the early days of the Western Han Dynasty was like a flash in the pan, and then disappeared completely, while the mysterious stories about Liu Bang became widely circulated and became more and more popular.
Whether the mythical stories are true or false in the real world is not important. What is important is whether they are accepted and believed in the ideological world. This is the fact that consciousness determines it.
Fan Kuai, the founder of the Western Han Dynasty, once asked the thinker Lu Jia: "From ancient times to the present, people have said that the emperor is appointed by heaven, and there are auspicious signs in advance. Is this really true?"
Portrait of Fan Kuai. Source: Internet
Lu Jia answered in the affirmative and explained:
A husband's eyes can be opened to win food and wine, a lamp's sparkle can bring money, magpies can noisy at noon and pedestrians arrive, spiders gather and everything is joyful, the small ones have signs, and the big ones are also appropriate. Therefore, it is said that when the eyes are clear, curse them, to worship them when there are lamps and sparks, to feed them when magpies make noise at noon, and to release spiders when they gather. What's more, the great treasure in the world, the important position of the king, how can it be obtained if it is not destiny? Rui Bao Xin also means that heaven regards treasure as faith and responds to people's virtues, so it is called Rui Ying. There is no faith in destiny, and it cannot be achieved by force.
When the eyelids twitch, there will be good food and wine; when the lamp sparkles, there will be money; when the magpie crows at noon, there will be people; when the spiders gather, there will be happy things. Every little thing has signs, and even more so big things. Therefore, when your eyelids twitch, you should pray, when the lamp sparkles, you should say thank you, when the magpie cries at noon, you should feed it, and when the spiders gather, you should let it go. What's more, the important position of emperor is not given by God, how can it be obtained? God will show signs to the chosen ones. Otherwise, the world cannot be obtained by force.
It can be seen that at the end of Qin and the beginning of Han, the concept of destiny for the transfer of imperial power had been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. The poorer one is from, the more one has to deify oneself, in order to show signs of being "accepted by destiny" and win the support of the people. In a sense, Liu Bang's success is the victory of grassroots god-making.
Looking back at history, Chen Sheng and Wu Guang, who shouted "Princes and generals should rather have a seed", failed, while Liu Bang, who pretended to be a "dragon seed", succeeded. When order is reestablished, what the rulers of the empire need is the concept of destiny based on the divine right of kings, rather than the revolutionary theory that everyone can be king and emperor. This was the new need of that era.
04
The most advanced political myth is one that even oneself firmly believes in. At the last moment of his life, Liu Bang, the emperor of the Han Dynasty, who believed that "fate is in heaven, what's the use of being a magpie" refused to receive medical treatment, and died to prove the authenticity of the view of destiny he preached. At this point, Liu Bang was born and died by destiny, and Liu Bang's life formed a closed loop of magical life experience, which can be said to have a beginning and an end.
After Liu Bang's death, the emperor's myth originated from him is still alive and well.
We know that in the official history, the names of Liu Bang's parents are missing, and they are only called Liu Taigong and Liu Yu. According to their current names, they are Uncle Liu and Aunt Liu. This also illustrates Liu Bang's humble background, because it was difficult for ordinary people to leave their names at that time. Even Liu Bang himself may not have had a formal name before he became prosperous. The name "Liu Ji" is most likely based on the ranking of his brothers and uncle Ji, indicating that he is the youngest son in the family. He changed his name to "Bang" after he became emperor. "Ji" is the word.
What is interesting is that while the Wei Shu of the Han Dynasty deified Liu Bang, it also traced back to deify his parents. As a result, Liu Taigong and Liu Yu began to have their own names, called Liu Zhijia and Wang Hanshi respectively. This is not over yet, subsequent history books further stated:
The father of Emperor Gao of the Han Dynasty (Liu Bang) was named Liu Zhijia. Zhijia's mother dreamed that a red bird was like a dragon playing with her, and she gave birth to Zhijia, who was the supreme emperor. Her mother's name is Hanshi, which is Empress Zhaoling. After Zhaoling was swimming in Luochi, there was a jade rooster holding a red pearl. The inscription on it was Yuying, "Whoever swallows this will be the king." After Zhao Ling took it and swallowed it, he slept in Daze and met the gods in his dream. At that time, thunder and lightning were dim, and the Supreme Emperor looked at it and saw a dragon on top of it, so he became pregnant and gave birth to Ji, who became Emperor Gao.
Here, the life experience of Liu Bang's father is also deified, and at the same time, extraordinary opportunities are added to Liu Bang's mother. This series of mythological writings all demonstrate Liu Bang's destiny as emperor.
Not only that, Liu Bang's "long sword" that killed the white snake also started his journey to deification.
As a physical object, this snake-cutting sword is respected as an important weapon of the country and enjoys the same status as the jade seal passed down from the country. In the Han Dynasty, during the enthronement ceremony of the new emperor, the snake-cutting sword was an important prop, symbolizing the legitimacy of the transfer of power. It was not until the reign of Emperor Hui of the Jin Dynasty that the Luoyang arsenal was burned down, and the snake-cutting sword disappeared from history. However, as a snake-cutting sword in a spiritual sense, it has always been a historical resource for later emperors to build their personal authority and demonstrate their entrepreneurial achievements. Li Shimin once said that Liu Bang "held the three-foot sword to rule the world", while he himself "held the three-foot sword to rule the world." When Zhu Yuanzhang remembered Liu Bang, he once said: "You and I will not pretend to be one ruler of land and one people, but we will reach the throne of the emperor with a three-foot sword."
Painting Zhu Yuanzhang like this is actually a kind of alien deification. Source: Internet
No matter how dynasties change, the political myth started by Liu Bang will continue in this way, layer by layer building up the mythical history of the entrepreneurship and founding of the country by emperors of all dynasties. It can be said that the series of political myths constructed by Liu Bang have become classic examples for later generations of founding monarchs and usurpers to create their own destiny.
Emperors of humble origins needed to elevate themselves, so the myth of enlightenment continued to spread. Fu Jian's mother "praised for a son at the Ximen Leopard Temple. She had a dream with the gods at night, and she became pregnant, and Jian Yan was born in December." Zhu Yuanzhang's mother "had a dream in which the god gave her a pill, and there was a light in her palm. When she swallowed it, the fragrance left in her mouth", and she gave birth to the destined emperor.
As the founding emperor, one must be shrouded in divine light. Therefore, Zhao Kuangyin, Yelu Abaoji, Zhu Yuanzhang and others all had the same emperor aura as Liu Bang before they became successful, either "red light surrounds the room" or "red light at night."
Extraordinary people must have extraordinary appearances, so Sun Quan "has a big mouth and bright eyes", Liu Bei "is seven feet and five inches long, hands down and knees, looking at his ears", Liu Yao "is nine feet and three inches in length, His hands were hanging down above his knees, his eyebrows were white, his eyes were red, and his beard and beard were no more than a hundred, all five feet long." Lu Guang was "eight feet four inches long, with heavy eyes and pupils, and a flesh mark on his left elbow"...
It was necessary to have a good-looking person, so Shi Shiliang read Li Yuan's face and said: "Gong Gu is very good, he must be the master of others. He is willing to love himself and don't forget his contemptuous words." An old scholar showed Zhu Yuanzhang's birth date and counted it with his fingers. After waiting for a long time, I held back a few words: "I have many lives, but nothing is more valuable than my life."
There must be a dragon, so when Yang Jian was a child, his mother hugged him and suddenly saw "horns coming out of his head and lins rising all over his body." His mother was so frightened that she quickly threw him to the ground. A nun happened to witness this scene of "abusing" infants and young children, and said quietly: "I could have conquered the world earlier, but because you were so frightened, it seems that it will be a few years later." Not long after Zhu Yuanzhang was born, An old man came to visit and shouted when he entered: "You have a dragon in your house."
It can be said that an emperor without some miraculous deeds would be embarrassed to appear in the history books.
Looking at the myths of emperors, birth, before becoming emperor, and when ascending the throne are the three key nodes that exaggerate the divine mandate of destiny. They are also the "hardest-hit areas" where the founding emperors are deified in history books, thus forming a set of standardized historical writing routines. And all of this can be attributed to Liu Bang's political legacy.
The most recent "Liu Bang-style political myth" occurred in 1915, before President Yuan Shikai of the Republic of China proclaimed himself emperor.
It is said that at that time, a bathhouse dedicated to Yuan Shikai was built. After he took a bath for the first time, when the waiter was cleaning the bathhouse, he found several extra large scales on the bottom of the pool, which were shining. After that, every time Yuan Shikai took a bath, a few scales remained at the bottom of the pool. Soon, the news that Yuan Shikai's dragon scales would fall off when he took a bath spread throughout the streets and alleys of Beijing, becoming more and more bizarre.
It was not until Yuan Shikai's restoration failed and died that the "real dragon reincarnation" trick was exposed. It turned out that Yuan Shikai instigated his young wife to go to the fish market to buy the scales of big fish in the name of dispensing medicine. Every time he took a bath, he secretly threw the scales into the bathtub.
Times will always progress and history will always lose its charm, so myths become jokes. In his later years, Liu Bang sat on a high dragon chair, looking at the empty hall, and felt a trance about his origin and appearance:
Am I, the founder of the Han Dynasty, the son of Liu Taigong and Liu Yu, or the son of Jiaolong? I, this old face, is just slightly different from ordinary people, or is it something more precious? Do I have 72 moles on my left leg?
But he was just in a daze for a moment with common sense.
Over the years, he has long believed in his own miraculous powers.
During the crusade against the rebellious Yingbu, he was wounded by an arrow and became seriously ill after returning to Chang'an. Empress Lu invited the best doctor for him, and the doctor assured him: "The disease can be cured."
When he heard this, he became angry and cursed the doctor on the spot: "I conquered the world as a commoner with a three-foot sword in hand. Isn't this destiny? Destiny is in the sky. Even if there is a Bian Que, what's the use!"
He rewarded the doctor with fifty pounds of gold, sent him away, and entered his final days.
By taking control of his own death, he proved his miraculousness one last time.
However, another wave of trance struck:
Am I, the founder of the Han Dynasty, just a commoner favored by destiny, or am I the son of a dragon? I, this dying face, am I just slightly different from ordinary people, or is it something more precious? Do I have 72 moles on my left leg that I never show to anyone?
Portrait of Liu Bang. Source: Internet
01
As early as when Liu Bang started his business to conquer the world, magical stories about him had already begun to circulate.
Liu Bang was originally a low-level official in the Qin Dynasty system - the pavilion chief. Once, he was responsible for escorting the disciples to Lishan Mountain to build the emperor's mausoleum. Not far away, many of the disciples had already escaped. Based on the situation, it is estimated that by the time they reach Lishan, everyone will have already fled. So he stopped, had a drink, and then took advantage of the night to release all the disciples: "You run away for your lives, and so do I." This incident marked Liu Bang's transformation from a defender of the Qin Dynasty to a the rebels. Seeing how generous he was, a dozen of the disciples expressed their willingness to go with him on the spot. Liu Bang took these people to escape and hide in the mountains of Mang County and Dang County (now called Mangdang Mountain), and embarked on the road of anti-Qin entrepreneurship.
Then, magical things began to happen. Sima Qian's "Historical Records: The Benji of Gaozu" records:
Emperor Gaozu was drunk, walking in the middle of the night at night, and ordered a man to go forward. The first man who was walking reported back and said: "There is a big snake in front of me, I would like to return it." Gaozu was drunk and said: "A strong man is walking, why should we be afraid!" Then he went forward and drew his sword to kill the snake. The snake then divided into two parts and opened up. After traveling for several miles, I got drunk because I was lying down. Later generations came to the Snake House and saw an old woman crying at night. When someone asked why he was crying, the woman said: "My son was killed, so I cried." The man said: "Why did you see me killed?" The woman said: "My son, the son of the White Emperor, turned into a snake and ruled the road. Now he is red. The emperor beheaded her, so she cried." The man thought the woman was dishonest and wanted to flog her, but she suddenly disappeared. Later generations arrived, and Gaozu was aware of it. Later generations reported to Emperor Gaozu that he was only happy and conceited. The followers are increasingly afraid of him.
During the Qin and Han Dynasties, the common expression used when people greeted each other was "Wu Ta Hu" (is there a snake?), which is the same as asking "Have you eaten yet?" today. It can be seen that the snake problem was very serious at that time. Liu Bang was drunk, and with the help of wine to strengthen his courage, he raised his sword and killed a white snake that was blocking his way. It was just such a thing. Even now, it is not very rare. At most, it shows that Liu Bang's courage is indeed extraordinary.
But in the process of spreading this incident, a mysterious plot appeared. Sima Qian narrated from a third perspective that an old woman came to her son crying at night, saying that his son had been killed. People asked her, why was your son killed? The old woman said that my son was the son of the White Emperor. He turned into a snake and blocked the road, so he was killed by the Red Emperor. After Liu Bang woke up from the drunkenness, he was secretly happy when he learned about the old woman's search for her son. And his followers feared him even more.
Just when Liu Bang killed White Snake, Chen Sheng and Wu Guang had already raised the anti-Qin banner in Daze Township and shouted the slogan "Princes and generals should rather have their own kind". According to the records in "Historical Records of the Chen She Family", after Chen Sheng and Wu Guang conspired to revolt, they went to a soothsayer to divine good or bad luck:
The diviner knew what it meant, and said: "Everything is done with one step, and it is a success. But what's the ghost of the divination with just one step?" Chen Sheng and Wu Guangxi thought of ghosts and said, "This is a teaching that I will be able to impress everyone first." It was written in a Dan book on silk. "King Chen Sheng" was placed in the belly of a fish that someone caught. The soldier bought a fish and cooked it, and found a book in the belly of the fish, so he thought it was strange. He also ordered Wu Guangzhi to set up a bonfire in the nearby Cong Temple at night. The fox croaked and shouted: "The great Chu is rising, King Chen Sheng." All the soldiers were frightened at night. On the same day, the words "stroke" often refer to "Muchen Sheng".
In this record, Sima Qian used Chen Sheng and Wu Guang's first-person perspectives almost throughout the whole process to restore the whole process of the two insurrectionists "pretending to be gods and ghosts": the soothsayer knew the intentions of Chen Sheng and Wu Guang, so he followed their wishes and said they loved each other. After listening to the words, they then instructed them to ask ghosts and gods for divination. It's not enough to ask people, why should you ask ghosts and gods? Chen Sheng quickly understood the soothsayer's intention: "This is to teach us to use ghosts and gods to intimidate people." He used cinnabar to write the three words "King Chen Sheng" on silk and put it in the belly of the fish waiting to be sold. . When the soldiers bought fish and cooked it, they found silk books in the belly of the fish and began to believe that this was a hint from God. At night, Chen Sheng secretly sent Wu Guang to the temple in the jungle next to the camp, lit a fire, and pretended to be a fox howling: "The great Chu will rise, and Chen Sheng will be the king." The soldiers were terrified all night. The next day, everyone was talking a lot. They looked at Chen Sheng and just waited for his order to follow the chosen man.
"Historical Records" is really a very clever history book. When Sima Qian wrote this book, it was Liu Bang's great-grandson Liu Che who was in charge of the world. Liu Bang had already succeeded in starting his own business, and about a hundred years had passed since the failure of Chen Sheng and Wu Guang's uprising. In this era, some things must be concealed, and some things can be stated openly. Therefore, Chen Sheng and Wu Guang, who failed, and Danshu Huming's work was relentlessly revealed; the successful Liu Bang, the legend of the sword and snake was continued to be deified.
However, Sima Qian seems to be silently telling readers that the story of Chen Sheng and Liu Bang is actually the essays of history. They are mirrors of each other. The scam can be myths, and myths can be scams. Everything depends on the final result. Winning is the myth, and if it is defeated, it is a game.
Sima Qian portrait. Source: Internet
After the Han Dynasty was destroyed, the historians did not have to bear the political pressure of Liu Bang's entrepreneurial story like Sima Qian. In the Southern Song Dynasty, Zhu Xi, when discussing the authenticity of Secretary Shi and Practitioners with his disciples, said directly: "In the meantime, the successful people, such as cutting snakes; those who can't do it, such as Danshu Foxing." Liu Bang and Chen Sheng Come and make an example, it is really more appropriate. Yang Xunji of the Ming Dynasty said more straightforward: "Snake, Pei Gong supports his gods, and the fools of the horrible sky. So the rise of the Emperor Zhaoyi. This is also set up by the snake. "It exposed the tricks of the entrepreneurial emperor's fake borrowing Fu Rui and supporting the gods.
The problem is that the fools and women have always believed in this set, so when Liu Bang's story has evolved into the myth of the Chi Emperor Chi Emperor, "the people who are increasingly fearful" - For the first time, Liu Bang obtained political influence.
02
Liu Bang, who tastes the sweetness, will inevitably make up his own deeds again. As a result, more and more miracles should be on him:
Emperor Qin Shi often said that "there is a Tianzi gas in the southeast", so he was annoyed because of the east tour. Gao Zu was suspected of himself, dying, hidden between the rocks of Mang and Laoshan Ze. Lu Hou and everyone seeking them often. Gao Zu was asked. Lu Hou said: "There are often clouds in Ji Suo, so he has always won the season." Gao Zuxin was happy. Pei Zhong's children or hear it, who want to attach them.
Portrait of Qin Shihuang. Source: Internet
During the Warring States Period and Qin and Han dynasties, looking at qi was very popular. At that time, people believed that they could predict the good and bad by observing the cloud. Even Qin Shihuang was no exception. He believed that the prediction of the Qi Qi warlock believed that "there is a natural son in the southeast", which is a potential threat to the Qin Dynasty, but Liu Bang is an opportunity to attach. "Historical Records" says that Liu Bang "suspects", that is, he is seated on the name, thinking that the "Tianzi Qi" in the southeast is in response to himself. However, I believe it is not enough, and I also believe it. So Lu Hou came out to sing the double reed with her husband:
Liu Bang: I hide in the mountains and hides the secret. Why are you so magical and can find me out every time, like a positioning?
Lu Yan: You are a person with a halo, and you will glow everywhere.
Please note that Sima Qian's description is that Lu Hou is not alone to find her husband, but "asking for people" and looking for others. Without the participation of a third party, how can Liu Bang's story of his own Yunqi spread? After this wave of propaganda, Liu Bang's popularity was even more prosperous.
Lu Yan's portrait. Source: Internet
In addition to Yun Qi, Liu Bang's face also spreads more and more.
The earliest people who came out to tell the legend are still from his closest acquaintance circle -father -in -law Lu Gong and mother -in -law Lu Yan. The two recruited why the baby daughter Xu was assigned to the rogue who loved to lie.
Lu Gong said: "The ministers are very good, there are many people, and there are many people, and they are as good as Ji Xiang. I hope Ji loves themselves. The minister has a daughter, and is willing to be a broom." Chang wants to strange this woman, and the nobleman. Pei Ling Shan Gong, ask for it, why do you ask for it? "Lu Gong said:" This is not known to the children. "
According to the "Historical Records", the Lu Gong family moved to Peixian to live in order to avoid enemies. Because Lu Gong's relationship with Pei County was very irony, as soon as he arrived in the county, he was warmly welcomed, so Lu Gong set up a feast, and guests from all parties brought congratulatory gifts. Liu Bang, the director of Surabaya, also rushed to drink, but there was no text in his pocket, so he wrapped a empty red envelope, lied that "Congratulations 10,000" and shook the door to the banquet.
As soon as Lu Gong saw Liu Bang's face, he not only was not angry, but also regarded him as a guest. After the wine was full, he left him specially. Take care of housework. "Why? Lu Gong said that because I have countless people, I haven't seen such a good face as you. On the side, Lu Yan stood up with a stomach, and after the guests were scattered, they complained to Lu Gong: "You often say, let our daughter marry a good family, Peixian County command several times to ask for relatives, you disagree . Why do you give her a rogue? "Lu Gong refused to explain and contempt back:" What do women know? "So he married his daughter Lu Yan to Liu Bang.
A few years after marriage, Liu Bang and Lu Yan had two children. At this time, another old man who was good at appeared in a timely manner:
Lu Hou and the two sons lived in Tianzhong. There was an old father who asked for drinking. The father -in -law Luhou said: "Mrs. Madam is noble in the world." Ling Xiang's two sons, seeing Xiaohui, said: "Madam is so noble, this man is also." Xianglu Yuan, also expensive. When the father had gone, Gao Zuyi came from the side. Lu Hou had a good guest, and he was expensive. Gao Zu asked, saying, "Not far away." Nai chased and asked the old father. The old father said: "The wives of the villagers are like monarchs, and the monarch is expensive." Gao Zu is Xie Xie said: "As the father said, dare not forget the virtue."
That day, Lu Yan and the two children were weeding in the field. One of the old men passed by and asked for some water to drink, Lu Yan asked him to have a meal. The old man then faced Lu Yan, saying that she was "noble in the world", and then showed the two children, and they both said that they were "nobles." After reading the phase, the old man left. It happened that Liu Bang came to the field and listened to Lu Yan, and quickly caught up. After chasing the old man, he also showed himself to himself. The old man said, "Your appearance is expensive." After hearing it, Liu Bang was grateful to the old man Dade: "Wait for me to develop, and you will not forget you."
In historical documents, the mysterious old man disappeared completely after the family of Liu Bang's family. Even after Liu Bang was rich and noble, he couldn't find him. Then, as the earliest identification of Liu Bang's "expensive", there is no such old man in the world who may have a question mark. From the perspective of the entire face, the disappearance of the old man's out of thin air means the spread of this incident. The pusher behind it can only be the Liu Bang couple.
At this point, through the look of his father -in -law, and the so -called mysterious old man's look, Liu Bang's "expensive" face gradually "out of the circle" to strengthen people's perception of him. Moreover, the more spread, the more bizarre. People not only believe that he is "prosperous and dragons", but also believes that he "has seventy -two sunspots in the left" -sly, it is difficult for someone to see him such a secret part except Lu Yan.
The key to the problem is that in the big troubled times of the anti -Qin beacon, Liu Bangshi, who started to preach the gods, has eaten the dividends of teaching at Shinto, and the rapid rise has become a force that affects the local political situation.
In the "Historical Records", in the first year of Qin II (before 209), after Liu Bang encouraged the people of Pei County to kill the county magistrate, the old man in the county's old man opened the gate of the city to welcome him to recommend him as the new county magistrate. At the beginning of Liu Bang, Liu Bang said, saying some scenes such as "limited ability, embarrassment". At this time, the elders of the father said why he should recommend Liu Bang:
"Liu Jizhen was heard in his life, it was expensive, and it was the best of Liu Ji."
We usually hear a lot of deeds about you, it seems that you should be expensive. Moreover, we have no more auspicious candidates than you.
You see, how interesting is it. Through the third -party perspective (the elders of the father), Sima Qian explained that Liu Bang's heterogeneity was promoted in the early days of his entrepreneurial business, and he was getting deeply popular. In other words, it is easy to be "brainwashed" by listening to such a story, and I am convinced of the content of the story. The difference between the protagonist.
As the protagonist of the story, Liu Bang naturally has more urgent to repeat his own differences, so we see that he was established as Pei Gong:
Emperor Huang Emperor, sacrificing Chiyou, is more than Pei Ting, and the flags of drums are red. The killing snake Bai Emperor, the killer Chi Emperor, so he was red.
Liu Bang's different deeds of the white snake, where he came in handy here again: the flag of the arms was red, because he was chopped the Red Emperor of the Emperor, so he must advocate red to make more people determine that he was red The emperor's son. In this way, between the story dissemination and actual actual acting, it has successfully constructed a self -consistent closed loop, which continues to occupy the mind of the follower.
In the late Qin War, Liu Bang, who had risen in grassroots, eventually became the two major forces in the Anti -Qin Military camp with Xiang Yu, who was born in the aristocracy. In 207 BC, the Qin Dynasty's rulers were forced to cancel the emperor and renamed the Qin King. Forty -six days later, Liu Bang first entered Xianyang in Xiang Yu, and Qin died. The next four years is the stage of the Chu and Han dynasties that Liu Bang and Xiang Yu compete for the world. Faced with Xiang Yu, who was a nobleman, Liu Bang's origin seemed to be lacking. So as Chu and Han struggled to enter the fierce stage, his early deeds began to deified:
Wang Lao and Wu Fu often drink wine and lie down drunk. Wu Fu and Wang Lao often see dragons on them, which is strange. Emperor Gaozu drank several times every time he drank. When it gets weird, the two families often break their bonds and give up their responsibilities.
This means that Liu Bang liked to drink in his early years, and often went to martial arts and Wang Yan's wine restaurants to drink, drunk and slept when he was drunk. By the time he fell asleep, Wu Lang and Wang Yan often saw dragons around him. The two also felt strange before. As long as Liu Bang stayed in the wine shop every time, the business of the wine restaurant was particularly good. The customer was full of the wine, and the soldiers sold were several times more common. When they saw the strange things that appeared in the dragon, at the end of the year, the two destroyed the arrears, eliminating Liu Bang's debt.
The focus of the story is "Dragon". Regardless of the previous chopping white snake's deeds, or "expensive" face, at this time, it has been implemented on a more symbolic, more powerful and identical dragon. In the end, it is directed to Liu Bang's life:
The father said Taigong, the mother said Liu Ye. First of all, Liu Ye tasted Daze's puppet, dreams and God met. At that time, thunder and lightning were dim, and when Taigong looked over, he saw a dragon rising above it. She was already pregnant and gave birth to Gaozu.
According to the record of "Historical Records", Liu Ye had resting in a plump place of water and plants, dreams and gods. At that time, the thunderbolt was intertwined, and Liu Taigong hurried over to see, and saw the dragon flying above, so Liu Xun was pregnant with Liu Bang.
Judging from the self -demeanification process of Liu Bang since the beginning of the business, this mysterious and mysterious life must be fabricated by himself and promoted it out. Historically, this kind of unique conception process is called "Sensory Myth", also known as "chastity conception myth". It is a kind of mythical type of human ancestor. During the Warring States Period and Qin and Han dynasties, the myths of the world's ancestors, Houyi, Shang's ancestors, and the ancestors of the Qin people were widely circulated, and it became a typical legend of the traceability of people in all ethnic groups. Liu Bang was inspired by it, and in accordance with the same type of story, he foraken his own myth.
As Liu Bang defeated Xiang Yu in the lower 202 BC (now southeast of Lingxian County, Anhui) and established the Han Dynasty, the lies/myths of the "son of the dragon" rose to the historical memory of the entire dynasty, passed down from generation to generation. People in the Qin and Han dynasties generally believe that "the life of the emperor must be strange, but not seeing things, then the effect and dreams." Liu Bang's success in turn confirms his extraordinary life, and wrote about the history of "dragon species". The best authentic footnote. At this point, the emperor (Liu Bang and his descendants) mythicalization of history, and the people (including the historian Sima Qian) historic the myth.
Xiang Yu portrait. Source: Internet
03
When myths have become history, we can't help but ask: In the end, the "destined" things of the Chi Emperor killed the Emperor Bai Emperor, the mango Yun Qi, the noble face, and the son of the dragon created Liu Bang's success, or created with the power of the husband. Historical ability and courage have created Liu Bang's success?
In this regard, Liu Bang himself is also contradictory.
After the emperor, Liu Bang set up a banquet in Luoyang Nangong. The theme was to discuss with the generals: "Why do I have the world? What is the reason why Xiangli loses the world?" - Why does Liu Bang get the world? Why did Xiang Yu lose the world?
Obviously, this is a high -level review of the results of the Chu and Han Dynasty.
Gao Qi and Wang Ling replied: "Your Majesty sent someone to attack the city to seize the land. Those who have talents are suspicious. If you win the victory, you will not give meritorious meritorious merits. If you win the land, you will not give them benefits. This is why he loses the world. "
Liu Bang said, you only know one of them, I do not know the other. The reason for his own summary is:
In the coupons of the husband, I decided to win thousands of miles away. I am not as good as Xiao He in controlling the country, pacifying the people, providing wages, and constantly supplying food. With an army of millions, we will definitely win in battle and capture when we attack. I am not as good as Han Xin. These three are all outstanding people, and I can use them. This is why I conquer the world. Xiang Yu had a fan that increased and could not be used. This is why I captured him.
It turned out that Liu Bang valued the ability of himself, believers, and employment. He did not mention things other than ability, nor did he not mention Yunqi, face, and dragon species.
Prior to this, the generals persuaded Liu Bang to be the emperor. The reason was also Liu Bang's person and ability. Then we will die.
You see, they did not mention those things about the ghosts and ghosts. Not only did he not mention the "dragon species", but he also said that Liu Bang was "fine" and came from the underlying grass people. The meaning of grass roots is unprecedented. This is much more difficult than the success of the nobles, so it is more powerful and greater.
It can be seen that Liu Bang and his heroes are very clear that their successful entrepreneurship has nothing to do with the strange stories they promoted. Regardless of whether they are bragging or fart, they are emphasizing that Liu Bang's ability and character are the root cause of the ultimate victory in troubled times. Capital beyond abilities is zero, and no success is more respectful than the success of the husband.
But on the other hand, Liu Bang has gone far on the road of self -deification. From the beginning of his entrepreneurial, he stacked "Divine Function" to himself little by little to attract the people. By the establishment of the Han Dynasty, his public image had changed from an early rogue to the son of a great dragon.
Similarly, his hero group also has a low origin. In addition to Zhang Liang, who is noble in his family, most of them are "rogues". These people will appear, obviously breaking the previous noble political tradition. What about the political pattern?
This also requires the blessing of political myths in order to better explain the process of power owners from nobles to civilians. Continue to the sacredness of Liu Bang and give the monarchy to the god of destiny. For the new Han Dynasty, it will undoubtedly end the rebellious trend of "the prince will have a kind of" and "one and the intergenerational" since the end of the Qin Dynasty, and prevent more from more. The possibility of civilians and taking risks to obtain imperial power.
With the stability of the freshman regime, Liu Bang and his hero group gradually faded the ability of the entrepreneurial process, and explained the history of the dynasty with the different views of the destiny. As a result, the scene of the ability to swing in the early Western Han Dynasty and the character's character were like a short -lived, and then completely disappeared, and the strange stories about Liu Bang were widely circulated and intensified.
The authenticity of the gods in the real world is not important. It is important to be accepted and believed in the ideological world. This is the fact that consciousness determines the facts.
Fan Ye, the founding of the Western Han Dynasty, asked the thinker Lu Jia: "From ancient times to the present, people said that the emperor was ordered to be ordered by heaven.
Fan Yan portrait. Source: Internet
Lu Jia gave a certain answer and explained:
The husband's eyes are wine and food, the lights are spent money, the noon is noisy and the pedestrian comes. Therefore, the eyes are spelling, the lights are worshiped, and the noon noise is fed, and the spider collection is released. The treasure of the world, the monarch is important, why is the destiny? Rui Baoxin also, Tianbao is a faith, and the virtue of people, so it is called Rui Ying. Destiny has no faith, you can't get it.
If the eyelids are jumping, there must be wine and food; the lights are flashed to get money; at noon, the magpie will come, and someone will come; There are signs of small things, especially for big things. Therefore, the eyelid jump is to pray, the lights will be thanked by the spark, and the magpie will be fed at noon, and the spider will put it together. What's more, the emperor's weight is not awarded by heaven. How can it be obtained? Heaven will show that the sign of the candidate is not the same, if not, it will not be able to get the world with force.
It can be seen that in the late Qin and early Han Dynasty, the migration view of the imperial power has been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. The more you are from the poverty, the more you need to be self -deified, so as to show the traces of "being killed by heaven" and win the support of the people. In a sense, Liu Bang's success is the victory of grassroots.
Looking back at history, Chen Sheng and Wu Guang, who shouted "The Prince of Hou Ning Ning", failed, and Liu Bang, who pretended to be "Dragon Seed", was successful. When the order was rebuilt, what the imperial rulers needed to be awarded the destiny of the monarchy, not that everyone could call the king's revolutionary theory. This is the new needs of that era.
04
The highest political myth is that you are convinced. At the last moment of life, he believed that "life is in heaven, although he is flat and He Yi" Han Gaozu Liu Bang refused to cure the disease, and confirmed the authenticity of his preaching view of destiny. At this point, he was born in destiny and died in destiny. Liu Bang's life has formed a closed loop of a magical life.
After Liu Bang's death, the emperor's myth from him was still endless.
We know that in the history, the names of Liu Bang's parents are missing. They are only called Liu Taigong and Liu Ye. According to the present name, Uncle Liu and Aunt Liu. This also illustrates Liu Bang from the side, because it was difficult for ordinary people to leave a name at the time. Even Liu Bang himself may not have a formal name before it was developed. It is said that "Liu Ji" is likely to be named according to the ranking of Uncle Bozhong, indicating that he is the youngest son in the family. "Season" is the word.
Interestingly, while the Word of the Han Dynasty was deified Liu Bang, he chased the roots and traced the source of his parents. As a result, Liu Taigong and Liu Ye began to have their own names, namely Liu Zhijia and Wang Hanshi. This is not over yet, and the history books have been further named later:
Emperor Han Gao (Liu Bang) said Liu Zhijia. The mother of Jiajia, the dream of the red bird, the dragon, and the birth of Jia, who was the emperor of the Taishang. At the beginning of the mother name, it was for Zhaoling. Zhao Ling swims in Luochi, with jade chickens named red beads, engraved with Yuying, and swallowing this king. Zhao Ling swallowed it afterwards, and went to Daze again, dreaming and God's encounter. It was Shi Lei Dian, and the emperor looked at it. Seeing that the dragon was on it, there was a life season, which was the Emperor Gao.
Here, Liu Bang's father's life has also been deified, and at the same time, Liu Bang's mother has added extraordinary encounters. This series of mythology writing all shows Liu Bang's life.
Not only that, Liu Bang's "long sword" of the white snake also opened a deified journey.
As a real thing, this snake -cut sword is respected as the heavy weapon of the country, and it has the same status as Chuan Guo Jade Seal. In the Han Dynasty, at the ascending ceremony of the new emperor, the snake sword was an important prop, symbolizing the legitimacy of the transfer of power. Until the Emperor Jin Hui, the Luoyang arsenal fire disappeared from history. However, as a spiritual chopping sword in a spiritual sense, it has always been the historical resources of the emperor's authority and showing entrepreneurial achievements. Li Shimin once said that Liu Bang "raised three -foot sword to set the world", and he was "three -foot sword to set the four seas." When she missed Liu Bang, Zhu Yuanzhang said: "However, I and Ru, without a fake soil, lift three -foot sword, and place to the emperor."
Draw Zhu Yuanzhang into this look is actually a kind of dedication. Source: Internet
Regardless of how the dynasty replaced, the political myths opened by Liu Bang continued in this way, and the myth history of the Emperor of the Dynasties and the founding of the Kingdom founded the country. It can be said that a series of political myths built by Liu Bang have become the classic model of creating their lives for their lives in the founding monarchs of the future.
The humble emperors need to live from Gao, so I feel myths continue to spread. Xun Jian's mother "Qizi was on the Ximen Leopard Temple, and her night dream was intertwined with the gods, so she had pregnancy, and she was born in December." Zhu Yuanzhang's mother, "Dream God grants a pill, placed light in the palm, swallowed it, and the mouth of the mouth was aroma."
As the founding emperor, he must be shrouded in the light, so Zhao Kuangyin, Yelu Abaoji, Zhu Yuanzhang and others all had Liu Bangli before the hair.
A very person must have a very good appearance, so Sun Quan "Fang Yi's mouth, with fine light", Liu Bei "seven feet long and five inches long, his knees surrounded, Gu see his ears", Liu Yan "ninety -three inch, Hands over your knees, raw his eyebrows, with red eyes, but not more than a hundred roots, all of which are five feet long. "Lu Guang" eight feet long and four inches long, the eyes are heavy pupils, and the left elbow has meat marks "...
For those who have good phases, Shi Shiliang showed Li Yuan and said, "The public bone is very, and he must be the master, willing to love himself, don't forget the words." After a long time, a few words were stunned: "I push my life more, it's not as expensive."
There must be a dragon, so when Yang Jian was young, his mother hugged him, and suddenly saw "the upper corner of the head, and the forestry up." He was so scared that he threw him to the ground. A nun just witnessed this scene of "abuse" infants and young children, and said quietly: "I could have been a dragon in the world earlier, and it seems that it will be a few years later." Zhu Yuanzhang was born. An old man came to the door, and he shouted: "Your family has a dragon."
It can be said that an emperor was embarrassed to show up in the history books.
Throughout the myth of the emperor, when the birth, the front, and when the throne, is the three key nodes of rendering the gods of God's gods. It is also the "severe disaster area" of the founding emperor in the history books. And all of this can be attributed to Liu Bang's political heritage.
The recent "Liu Bang -style political myth" occurred in 1915, and the President of the Republic of China Yuan Shikai became the emperor.
It is said that at that time, the bath for Yuan Shikai was built. After the first time he took a shower, the waiter cleaned the bath and found that there were several large scales at the bottom of the pond, which shone. After that, every time Yuan Shikai took a bath, he had a few scales to stay at the bottom of the pool. Soon, Yuan Shikai's news must have the news of dragon scale falling off.
It was not until Yuan Shikai's restoration of the restoration and fate to Huang Quan, and the drama of "Reincarnation of Zhenlong" was dismantled. It turned out that Yuan Shikai instructed his little wife to go to the fish market to acquire the scales of big fish in the name of the pill. Every time he took a bath, he secretly threw the scales in the bath.
Times always advanced, and history will always be charm, so myths become a joke.
