What is Zhao Yun like in history? Is it like in a romance novel?
Zhao Yun, one of the most popular figures in the Three Kingdoms, is also the favorite hero of the Three Kingdoms in many people's minds. This is mainly because in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Zhao Yun is a perfect representative with both wisdom and courage. However, because there are relatively few records of Zhao Yun in the History of the Three Kingdoms, especially the records of commanding troops and dominating towns, people have questioned Zhao Yun's true ability as a general in history. In addition, Zhao Yun's reputation and prestige in romance description and folk circulation are too strong, which leads many people to have a strong rebellious mentality and become a firm faction that despises Zhao Yun in history. I read a lot of articles about Zhao Yun's heated debate, and read the annals of the Three Kingdoms carefully, and gradually revised Zhao Yun's original position in my mind, and accepted the view that Zhao Yun was not a top general in the history of the Three Kingdoms. However, I still can't agree with those who belittle Zhao Yun too much and even disdain to think that he is mediocre. Here are some of my personal opinions, and experts are welcome to correct me. 1. About the History of the Three Kingdoms, it is generally believed that the author was Chen Shou (from 233 to 297, a native of Shu, who was an assistant minister riding the Yellow Gate when he was an official in Shu, and a writer and scholar after he entered Jin), and began to write after Wu Wu died (280). At that time, there was a history between Wei and Wu, such as "Wei Lue" by Yu Qian and "Wei Lue", which should be the basic materials for his foothold. Shu has no history, and Chen Shou personally collects information. Shu Wei, Shu Shu and Wu Shu were originally independent books, and it was not until the Northern Song Dynasty that they merged into one and changed their names to Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Pei Songzhi (372 ~ 45 1), an assistant official in the early Liu and Song Dynasties in the Southern Dynasties, was ordered to write Notes on the Three Kingdoms (called Pei Notes in history), which was played in Yuan Jia's sixth year (429). He said in Notes on the Three Kingdoms that Chen Shou's book "has a lot of narratives, many reviews and corrections", but he also pointed out that "there are omissions from time to time". Pei's notes are widely read, quoted from classics, complete from beginning to end, without cutting or splitting. There are more than 140 kinds of books cited, of which more than 90% have been lost to this day. In the study of the history of the Three Kingdoms, Zhu Pei and the Romance of the Three Kingdoms by Chen Shou are equally important. Although history books are the best basis for us to understand history, their credibility is certainly much more authoritative than romance, but they are not completely equal to historical facts. Because history books are also written by people, they will be influenced by the completeness and authenticity of the materials used by the author, as well as by the author's personal feelings and the environment at that time (especially the political environment). This is also the reason why the records of the same historical event or historical figure in different history books are inconsistent or even contradictory. The books of Wei and Wu in the History of the Three Kingdoms are all based on the original history books of the two countries handed down from generation to generation at that time, that is to say, the history books of these two countries should have been written and coexisted when Wei and Wu were still alive. It is inevitable that the history books under the rule of the dynasty are taboo for their own country and other countries, and their integrity and objectivity are somewhat compromised. The History of the Three Kingdoms was written in the Jin Dynasty, and Sima, the ruler of the Jin Dynasty, preached good things, which was bound to be taboo. For example, in the fifth year of Wei Ganlu, Cao Mao, a young Lord of Wei (aristocratic township), refused to be a puppet. He led hundreds of his followers to attack Si Mazhao and was killed. History books such as Hanshu, Jinshu and Chunqiu have detailed records on this matter (1). However, there are only 12 words in The Three Kingdoms Wei Shu Three Little Emperors: ugly in May, public pawn in noble township, twenty years old. The background and process of Cao Mao's death are completely hidden. Although Wei and Jin Dynasties were actually established by usurping the throne by powerful ministers, they were all products of abdication in form-Wei was abdicated by Han, and Jin was abdicated by Wei (2), which was a proper regime change. Therefore, the History of the Three Kingdoms takes Wei as the orthodox, the biography of Wei Guojun is called "Ji", and the biography of Shu and Wu Guojun is called "Biography"; Therefore, there is also a corresponding problem of promoting evil and promoting good. Battle of Red Cliffs, for example, is the key to lay a solid foundation for the three-point situation, which has an important position in history and is also recorded in detail in the history books such as Zi Tongzhi Jian (3). However, the "History of the Three Kingdoms and Emperor Wudi" records Cao Cao's fiasco in this way: going to Chibi to prepare for war is unfavorable. So there was a great epidemic, many officials died, and they led the troops back. There are Jingzhou and Jiangnan County. Even so, Shu Wei and Wu Shu are based on historical books handed down from generation to generation at that time, so their materials are relatively complete and in line with historical facts. Shu, on the other hand, has no ready-made history books, which were completely written by Chen Shou himself. Therefore, among Wei Shuwu's three books, Shu is the simplest and most vague. The incompleteness and deviation from historical facts of Shu Shu should be the biggest of the three books. Second, Zhao Yun's Biography of the Three Kingdoms is very brief. Even with the historical materials such as YunBieZhuan quoted in Pei Songzhi's note, it is still very brief on the whole, and there are not many records. Based on this, many people in history questioned and denied Zhao Yun, thinking that he was just a mediocre general. I don't agree with this. 1. About Zhao Yun is just a bodyguard. This is a commonplace topic. The netizen "It's raining" once wrote a good article, which denied this statement and has been thoroughly analyzed. Just because Zhao Yun was Liu Bei's main rider in his early days and saved Mrs. Gan and his late master in Nagano, it cannot be asserted that he was a bodyguard. Dian Wei and Chu Xu, for example, clearly pointed out in the Three Kingdoms that they are Cao Cao's "Zhong Jun Suwei", whose main duty is to protect the master. If Zhao Yun's identity is the same as theirs, it will be pointed out in reflection. In addition, it is clear that the ancestors went to Shu, Yun stayed in Jingzhou, Liu Bei marched in Sichuan and Zhao Yun stayed in Jingzhou. He's not a bodyguard. As for the bright rate cloud and Zhang Fei, they all returned to Jiangxi and settled the counties. When I arrived in Jiangzhou, I sent Yunchang from Waishui to Jiangyang, and the light will meet in Chengdu. The light will make Yunchang and Deng Zhi refuse, but attacking Qishan is obviously a unified army. Dian Wei and Chu Xu have never experienced such unification. 2. About Zhao Yun's record. In the History of the Three Kingdoms, there are really few records about Zhao Yun's achievements. But as I said before, Shu has no history, that is to say, the original historical records are missing, which is completely collected by Chen Shou; In addition, Chen Shou's worship of Wei is orthodox, so Shu Shu is the simplest and most vague book in The Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Not only Zhao Yun, but also famous stars such as Guan Yu and Zhang Fei have very brief records in the History of the Three Kingdoms. Guan Yu has no other achievements except the White Spurs, Yan Liang and Xiangfan. Zhang Fei lacks other records except that Nagano broke the bridge according to the water, followed Zhuge Liang into Sichuan, and Brazil lost its Zhang He. The record of these two men is far less than that of Wei Wuzi, Liang Jiang, Cao, Xiahou and others, but Chen Shou's evaluation of them is that Guan Yu and Zhang Fei are both enemies of ten thousand people and are all tiger ministers in the world. It can be seen that there are few records of Shu generals' achievements in the history of the Three Kingdoms, which have objective reasons, not only Zhao Yun, but also not enough to be a reason to deny Zhao Yun. 3. Zhao Yun and posthumous title. After Zhao Yun's death, he was named "Shunping Hou". Some people think that the word "Shun" and "Ping" has nothing to do with being brave and good at fighting, so this is also regarded as evidence of Zhao Yun's mediocre ability and mediocre political achievements. But posthumous title is only an honorary title, and it is not necessary to use the words "brave", "brave" and "strong". For example, Cao Ren praised "loyalty", Xia and Du praised "loyalty", Cao Hongzan praised "Gonghou" and Zhang Fei praised "Huanhou". What can these famous posthumous title say? 4. About Chen Shou's evaluation of Zhao Yun. Chen Shou commented: Huang Zhong and Zhao are strong and fierce. They are slaves. Are they followers of Guan Shui and Teng? Seeing the word "slave", many people regard this comment as the basis for belittling Zhao Yun, but in fact they completely misunderstood the author's original intention. Chen Shou compared Huang Zhong and Zhao Yun to "slaves" and compared them to "planting vines". (1), strong: it means strong and brave. Huang Zhong and Zhao Yun are both valiant soldiers. There should be no objection to this. (2) claws: these are the two most deadly weapons of wild animals. Without claws and teeth, wild animals will become waste. Therefore, the word "minions" is obviously a commendatory term here, describing Huang Zhong and Zhao Yun as one of the bravest generals in Han Shu Group. Also known as "minions", Zhang Liao and Li Dian, the famous Cao Wei generals, once defeated100000 people in Wudong with 7000 people. Biography of the Three Kingdoms Zhang Liao: In six years, the emperor recorded the contributions made by Liao and Dian in Hefei, and said, "In the battle of Hefei, the Liao and Dian armies had 800 soldiers and broke 100,000 thieves. Since ancient times, they have used soldiers, but nothing happened. So far, the thief has been a pawn of the country. Divided into 100 households in Liao and 100 households in Dian, and gave one viscount. " Zhang Liao ranked first in the Biography of Wei Wuzi, with brilliant military exploits. He was deeply loved by Cao Cao and his son, and he was extremely lucky (4). Many people regard him as the number one in the Three Kingdoms. After Zhang Liao's death, Xelloss "shed tears". Later, he remembered his and Li Dian's achievements and wrote a letter in recognition, calling him a "slave". "Slave" is not a derogatory term, is it? ! 3. Guan and Teng: namely Guan Ying and Teng Gong, the founding fathers of the Han Dynasty. Guan Ying was young, but he fought bravely ―― although he fought less and fought fiercely, like Guan Ying, he fought bravely and was the commander-in-chief of Liu Bang's cavalry. He led his troops to pursue Xiang Yu, defeated him, forced Xiang Yu to commit suicide, and removed the biggest obstacle to Liu Bang's hegemony. Xia Houying (the father of Xia Houdun) commanded the troop convoy to attack quickly and fight bravely ―― using the interests of personnel carriers to fight against diseases. Although its chariot troops are not as good as infantry, they can sweep thousands of miles and drive straight ahead, which has made great contributions to Liu Bang's rapid entry into the customs and breakthrough in Xianyang. In the eventful years when Liu Bang proclaimed himself emperor and put down the rebellion of the kings, both of them fought countless battles, made great achievements and were awarded extremely long titles, both of which were well-deserved generations of famous soldiers (5). Chen Shou compared Huang Zhong and Zhao Yun to these two men, which is highly praised. Just look at the biographies of Guan Ying and Xia Houying in Historical Records. And the argument that "Zhao Yun is just a mediocre general" is broken. 3. Although there are not many records about Zhao Yun's achievements in the History of the Three Kingdoms, Shu Shu, unlike Shu Wei and Wu Shu, lacks original historical materials. In addition, Chen Shou's "History of the Three Kingdoms" is based on Wei, and the whole Shu book is quite brief, with few records of Guan, Zhang, Ma, Huang and Zhao, so Zhao Yun cannot be denied on this basis. The five people listed by Chen Shou speak for themselves. As for Chen Shou's final evaluation, it is obviously a high praise for Zhao Yun rather than a belittle. Therefore, although Zhao Yun's ability in history is not as good as that in the romance, he is definitely an excellent general who is brave and good at fighting, and he is not as mediocre as some people say. In addition, Zhao Yunzhong, Yi, Ren and Qian are very admirable in character. And he "advised Liu Bei to return the Tian family in Chengdu to the people" and "advised Liu Bei to attack Wu", all of whom had strategic vision and political wisdom, and were more knowledgeable than ordinary counselors, which was not simple for a military commander.