First, Xiang Yu in Sima Qian's works

We can't forget Xiang Yu, and we can't do without Sima Qian and his disgusting work Historical Records. In Historical Records of Xiang Yu, Xiang Yu changed from an uneducated junior to an ordinary soldier, a senior general and even a leader of the anti-Qin Coalition forces. He is full of enthusiasm and courage, and he is arrogant and willful. He gradually slipped into the trap he had woven with others and died. Today, in countless cultural classics and film and television dramas, Xiang Yu is still full of vigor and vitality. We mourn and curse this tragic hero. Perhaps, we are just living in that turbulent era, and heroes are no different from ants.

Liu Zhiji in the Tang Dynasty said: "History has three qualities: talent, learning and knowledge" [1], and "Sima Qian is a rare great historian with these three qualities at the same time" [2]. In Historical Records of Xiang Yu, Sima Qian described and evaluated Xiang Yu as a historical figure with realistic attitude and fearless spirit.

Judging from the style of historical records, from the Records of the Five Emperors to the Records of Filial Piety and Martial Arts, the records of these twelve records are mostly emperors. Xiang Yu didn't finish his career as an emperor, but Sima Qian was able to find out from the objective reality of history that Xiang Yu dominated the political power and current situation at that time in the history of the late Qin Dynasty and the early Han Dynasty. "Destroy five princes, divide the world, seal princes and feather politics" [3], which shows that Sima Qian correctly analyzed Xiang Yu's historical achievements and promoted the times, just like Guo Songtao in the Qing Dynasty in Historical Records. Historical Records, written in the heyday of the Han Dynasty, is not limited by the feudal rulers' view of "winning or losing" and does not reduce or even deny Xiang Yu's historical achievements because of his failure. We can see Sima Qian's point of view, not to talk about heroes by success or failure. At the same time, Sima Qian affirmed and praised Xiang Yu's position and role in eliminating Qin, but also dialectically criticized Xiang Yu's mistake of trying to conquer the world with his own personal wisdom and strength. "If you think you are attacking, you will fight for your private wisdom and not learn from the past. It is called the overlord's thing. You want to govern the world by force and die in five years." In addition, Xiang Yu's self-forgiveness and self-righteousness were severely criticized. He strongly criticized Xiang Yu's view of destiny that "Heaven kills me, not the crime of using troops", pointing out that the reason for its failure lies in the absence of human beings, and the root of tragedy lies in its own defects.

Sima Qian loved Xiang Yu, and was deeply attracted by Xiang Yu's short and extraordinary life because of his curious personality and sensitive and imaginative psychological characteristics. He didn't even want to expose too many shortcomings of the dead hero in Biography of Xiang Yu. Therefore, in the biographies of other characters, Xiang Yu often stands in the position of other characters and comments in the tone of other characters. For example, in the Biography of Emperor Gaozu, "Hanwang counted ten sins against Xiang Yu", in the middle, Xiang Yu was severely reprimanded for being ungrateful, killing the emperor to stand on his own feet, being cruel and ruthless, and harming the people. In the biographies of Chen Ping, Han Xin and other ministers in the early Han Dynasty, Xiang Yu's behavior was directly evaluated, and his shortcomings such as contradictory personality and poor employment were pointed out, which were often discussed to the point and clearly praised and criticized.

In the image-building of Xiang Yu, Sima Qian devoted a lot of effort. He devoted all his enthusiasm and energy every moment, and created his hero with his most outstanding artistic talent. In Historical Records, Xiang Yu's image and related deeds are not only concentrated in Biography of Xiang Yu, but also involved in other biographies. There are more than ten articles from Gao Ancestral to Fan Zhuan, which supplement and enrich the image of Xiang Yu in the Biography of Xiang Yu. This narrative not only strengthens the vividness of Xiang Yu, but also makes the story and personality characteristics of the characters vivid and clear. Qin died for three years, and Chu and Han fought for four years. There were only over 70 battles and over 40 small-scale battles between Chu and Han. Sima Qian gave a brief account of the skirmish in Biography of Xiang Yu, and wrote three major battles: the Battle of Julu, the Hongmen Banquet and the siege of Gaixia. These three events are not only the key to the success of Xiang Yu's career, but also the most intense and influential events in Chu and Han Dynasties. As Zheng Banqiao said: "In the 130 historical records, Xiang Yu's chronicle is the most important, while in Xiang Yu's chronicle, the Battle of the Julu, the banquet of the Hongmen Gate and the siege of Gaixia are the most important, and the concepts are repeatedly recited, touching and touching. The success or failure of Xiang Yu's life and his personality all follow these three things. Of course, the tension formed by the long time and compact space of these three major events also strengthened the pride of Xiang Yu, a hero, and the tragic sense of "national subjugation" in a hurry. Sima Qian paid attention to the pursuit of legendary plots when selecting cases to express Xiang Yu's character and telling stories, such as Xiang Yu's "heavy pupil" and "ability to carry the tripod", the detailed description of Qin Shihuang's feelings when he went to the south of the Yangtze River, and his failure to learn books, as well as the portrayal of Xiang Yu's heroic deeds in Pengcheng, Gaoping and Xingyang, which added personality. In addition, the details such as Gaixia Song written by Xiang Yu on the way to his downfall and the dialogue with the director of Wujiang Pavilion are too bizarre, and may even be fabricated, but they convince future generations and greatly increase the charm of Xiang Yu.

When Tai Shigong expresses Xiang Yu's character, he prefers to express it by contrast. For example, before the Battle of Julu, Xiang Yu was fearless and Yi Song was timid. After the Battle of Julu, the contrast between Xiang Yu and Liu Bang was constant and repeated. In the contrast of Xiang Yu's own personality, Sima Qian also used different styles to render, sometimes spitting and sometimes screaming. Xiang Yu in Gaixiawei wrote "Gaixiage", "If you pull out the mountain and anger the world, it will be bad to die. Nothing can be done when you are dead. What can you do? " Sobbing, sad and moving, is a portrayal of Xiang Yu's own experience and mentality in the face of failure. "Heroes are short of breath, their children are affectionate, and they can't help crying through the ages" [6], from which we can see the other side of Xiang Yu's affection besides his bravery in killing people on the battlefield. This multi-faceted perspective has made Xiang Yu a bully and lover, which is one of the reasons why Xiang Yu has been cared for and admired for thousands of years. It can be said that Xiang Yu is the first vivid figure with multiple personalities in the history of China ancient literature.

At the same time, we can't ignore that Tai Shigong wrote Xiang Yu from the perspective of tragedy from the beginning, and the whole biography of Xiang Yu has always been shrouded in a rich tragic atmosphere. Heroes are heroic, indomitable, omnipotent and fleeting. The reason why Sima Qian tried his best to describe it is not unrelated to his personal fate. Because of the humiliation of castration brought by the Li Ling case, I am more eager to write history books, and I am worried and bitter. Even in the Chronicle of Xiaowu, I didn't hide the absurdity of Emperor Wu in his later years. Sima Qian wrote that Xiang Yu would not cross the river until he died and would not surrender until he died. Rather, he wrote about his proud and tenacious heart, even with deep pain. So he criticized Xiang Yu's "death" and was full of sympathy and admiration for his suicide, because he didn't want to be ashamed.

Thanks to Sima Qian, he made Xiang Yu exude infinite charm; Thanks to Xiang Yu, he added infinite glory to Sima Qian and infinite admiration to later generations.

Second, the interpretation of Xiang Yu's tragedy

In the whole Historical Records, the researchers found that Sima Qian created various tragic figures 100 [7], and Xiang Yu's tragedy was unique but different from other figures. He is more of a tragic figure who walks into a dead end step by step because of his own personality and other reasons. The strong tragic feature is that he did not have superhuman leadership temperament and ability, but took the position of leader of the times and was endowed with the pursuit and call of that era. Zhu Guangqian said: "Tragic characters generally have extraordinary strength, strong will and indomitable spirit. They often represent some kind of strength and ideal, and stick to it with superhuman determination and perseverance "[8]. Xiang Yu is sad. He couldn't improve his deep-rooted defects of ordinary people, and he was involved in the important choices of the times and history in a hurry and at a loss. He even has a clown-like ridiculous and clumsy behavior, which makes us even more sad. He is serious, serious, and even stubbornly wants to complete and complete the "mission" entrusted to him, and will not change until his death.

(a) Boosters and interceptors of the wheel of time

Xiang Yu was born in a noble family of Chu. His grandfather Xiang Yan was a general of Chu and was killed by Wang Jian in Qin Chu War. His uncle Xiang Liang was the leader of the early anti-Qin coalition. Xiang Yu's childhood lived in the period when Chu gradually perished, Qin gradually became strong and gradually ruled the whole country. The bitterness of home and country brought Xiang Yu a deep hatred for the rulers of Qin. It seems that he was born with only one goal, which is to overthrow the Qin Dynasty. In Biography of Xiang Yu, the words "bitter Qin" and "dead Qin" appear repeatedly. When Xiang Yu stood by and tried to rescue Zhao from his hands, the 24-year-old young man said this:

I will attack the state of Qin with all my strength, but I won't last long. At this age, the people are hungry and cold, the foot soldiers eat taro, and the army has no food. It is an advanced drinking club. They did not lead troops to cross the river because of Zhao's food, but joined forces with Zhao to attack Qin and said, "Hide quickly." If my husband attacks the newly created Zhao State with the strength of Qin State, he will definitely promote Zhao State, which is also powerful in Qin State. Why not?

For the whole political situation at that time, Xiang Yu's analysis was concise and incisive, pointing out that Qin Jun was powerful at that time, and the anti-Qin army was in urgent need of unity. Xiang Yu pointed the finger directly at Yi Song, the supreme leader of the anti-Qin Coalition, and sternly reprimanded him regardless of the overall situation of the anti-Qin. It can be seen that young Xiang Yu has a mature atmosphere to assess the situation, combined with military strategy and personal military strength, replaced Yi Song, and finally won the key victory of Julu, winning more with less, and gradually stepped onto the position of the leader of the anti-Qin Coalition.

In 206 BC, after the banquet at Hongmen, Xiang Yu obviously gained the leadership of the whole anti-Qin Coalition. At that time, the people shouted for peace and the times also hoped for reunification. Xiang Yu, with the blood of Chu nobles in his bones, just wants to return to the era when Chu Zhuangwang won the Central Plains and held his head high, hoping to gain the status of "the Lord of Nations" like the King of Chu again, and hope to maintain this dominance for a long time in the enfeoffment system. He enfeoffed the general who fought against Qin and became the overlord of Western Chu, far away from the Guanzhong area, where the terrain was dangerous, easy to defend and difficult to attack, and the land was fertile, and Pengcheng, which was far away from home and relatively lacking in material resources, was the capital, just for a "rich and not returning to his hometown."

It can be said that Xiang Yu's goal in the anti-Qin struggle is accurate and single, which conforms to the wishes of the whole era and even the people. However, after the overthrow of the Qin Dynasty, it was short-sighted and even returned to the state of mutual criticism in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, which was a retrogression in history. The so-called historical trend is vast; From this point of view, Xiang's later period can not conform to the historical trend, but can only struggle in the historical trend and go to extinction. The truth and cruelty of this reality and the fallacy of the ideal will inevitably form a dignified and deep tragic tension.

(B) the contradiction between personality differentiation and opposition

Xiang Yu's tragedy is not only unable to follow up in the early stage of conforming to the trend of the times, but also a tragedy of his personal character defect. In character, Xiang is a comprehensive contradictory separatist. On the one hand, he is brave and invincible. Since Wuzhong, Xiang Yu has been all-powerful, invincible, "attacking Tao", "pulling Xiangyang", "cutting Li You", "killing" and "people are awed, so they dare not branch off". There is salvation in the east and destruction in the west, but in the Battle of Julu, it is even more abandoned. On the other hand, Xiang Yu showed the habit of being headstrong, arrogant and jealous of talents. Since killing Yidi, Xiang Yu rarely heard the voices around him. For those who are not pleasant to hear, behead them if they are slightly disappointed; In the process of enfeoffment of the king, Xiang Yu treated people close to him specially from his personal feelings and made many enemies. Chen Yu, who is also an anti-Qin hero, said: "Xiang Yu slaughtered injustice for the world, tried his best to make good use of the land and moved the monarch to evil places" [9]; In dealing with the problem of talents, item has not selected talents and cultivated talents. On the contrary, the extensive use of relatives also reduced the effectiveness of his army. "Although he has rare talents, he can't use them" [10]. For example, the excessive connivance of Xiang Bo, a "spy", directly led to the failure of Hong Men's political struggle. And several of Liu Bang's military generals, such as Han Xin and Chen Ping, were all under Xiang Yu's command and defected to Liu Bang because they could not be reused by Xiang Yu. As for the honorary knight, Xiang Yu has a deep lust that almost reaches abnormal condition. "Those who make meritorious deeds are honored, which is unbearable" [1 1]. How can this mentality keep talents from losing? How can we succeed in politics?

At the same time, the heart of respecting and loving the benevolent, the heart of the pit pawn and the heart of the massacre are also concentrated on him. After each siege, Xiang Yu often killed the surrendered soldiers: after the battle of Xin' an city, Xiang Yu killed more than 200 thousand soldiers who surrendered to Qin; The invasion of Xianyang, however, was criticized by later scholars and historians because of the slaughter, burning and looting of western soldiers. However, he can treat people around him with kindness. "Xiang Yu, as a man, keeps his lover at a respectful distance from him, and those who are loyal and courteous will pay him back" [12], "Xiang Yu respects and loves people when he sees them, spits them out, and people are ill, so he cries and drinks them" [13]; He didn't kill Liu Bang, nor did he kill his father, wife and children. In the siege of Gaixia, it is even more beautiful and generous; On the bank of Wujiang River, he gave Tingchang a horse, feeling sad. He committed suicide and died, which became the enemy's virtue.

In addition, he is straightforward, frank and simple, and treats people sincerely. After capturing the foreign imperial city, he listened to the advice of 12-year-old children in the foreign imperial city on collecting people's hearts. At the hongmen banquet, he didn't listen to the advice of Fan Zeng, the counselor, several times, and killed Liu Bang with a plan. Fan Kuai's Banquet is generous and tolerant only because he appreciates Fan Kuai's heroic temperament; Even at the banquet, Cao told Liu Bang his informant without any calculation. In the struggle with Liu Bang, he believed in the gap that divided Liu Bang, agreed to the reconciliation treaty that divided the world, and tried his best to safeguard it. However, it is such a person who has no scheming, no scheming, and is full of suspicion and cunning to the people around him: slashing and killing Yi Song lied that it was the emperor's order; Exile the righteous emperor first, and then plot to send someone to assassinate him; Chen Ping's plan alienated the enemy. He lost his trust in General Zhong Liyan and pushed him to the opposite side of the enemy. Even Fan Zeng, the last and only counselor he respected and was close to, took away his power because of Xiang Yu's own paranoia.

It can be said that Xiang Yu's character is heterogeneous and contradictory. "If the two are different, they are all in the feather body, just like dividing books with both hands and bending their throats with one hand, but they are different." [14]. It can be seen that Xiang Yu's personality has outstanding advantages and strong defects. In fact, it is the split and opposition of his own personality, which is manifested in the immaturity of subjective psychology and may be out of control or out of control like an active volcano at any time, which determines the inevitability of his tragedy.

(3) Being a giant in military ability and a deformed child in political conspiracy.

"He is more than eight feet long, can carry the tripod, and is talented, although all Wuzhong children were afraid of it." This is Xiang Yu, 24 years old. Xiang Yu lived in the land of Wuzhong in the name of violence and bravery, and shocked the local people with his heroic spirit. Xiang Yu followed Xiang Liang in the first uprising, commanded, drew his sword and beheaded him. "Everyone in the house was scared and didn't dare to get up." . In the whole war of attacking Qin, Xiang Yu always took the lead and was invincible. In fact, in the whole army attacking Qin, the army led by Xiang Yu dealt with most of the troops from Qin, including Zhang Han in the Battle of Julu and Zi Ying in Guanzhong. As for the battle between Chu and Han, Xiang Yu defeated Liu Bang many times with fewer victories. He gave a devastating blow to all the obstructionists with great courage and strength. He advocates force. When Guangwu confronted the Han army, he said to Liu Bang:

People of several years old in the world are willing to challenge Hanwang without suffering the people and their descendants.

These words can not only show Xiang Yu's extreme worship of force, infatuation with personal heroism and high confidence in his own strength, but also show his lack of personal character and ignorance of politics. From the analysis of the previous article, Xiang Yu is not completely devoid of political schemes: he tortured and exiled Emperor Yi, constantly restricted Liu Bang's power and controlled it in Guanzhong area, and enfeoffed princes to contain it. However, Xiang Yu's political vision became extremely short-sighted and powerless after Qin's death. He advocated returning to the era of disputes in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period and realizing hegemony like Chu Zhuangwang, so he missed many opportunities to destroy his opponent Liu Bang. He delayed the opportunity of fighter planes and reunifying the whole country again and again, lost his pace in the Chu-Han dispute that Liu Bang and others struggled to force out, committed suicide like a giant who was full of energy but couldn't find a place to exert himself, or naively faced an opponent full of ideas and tricks.

It is not true that the world calls Yu Han the world. Feather has the ambition to fight for the world! Seeing that the Qin dynasty destroyed the princes and had both, if you want to destroy the Qin dynasty and restore the princes, you will be the leader. Therefore, since Pengcheng, Wangdu and County were divided, and they returned to the east with the Han family, when Yudu thought that they were the champions of the world, I didn't know that the heart of the Han family was inexhaustible. I died in dongcheng, but I want to be good at fighting the world, and I am sad that I have not achieved anything. However, I don't know the heart of Han, but I have the ambition to fight for the world! 〔 15〕

Huang Zhen in the Song Dynasty hit home, indicating that Xiang Yu had no ambition to establish a dynasty and was doomed to failure in the Chu-Han War. "Where there is no ambition in Chu, there is success in Han" [16]. Xiang Yu's excessive strength in military strength leads to the expansion of military vision, while the short-sightedness of political plot leads to the dwarfing of political opinions. At the same time, the expansion of military vision constantly restricts political vision, making the latter narrower or even obscured. The interweaving of the two deepened Xiang Yu's tragedy and made people feel sympathetic, funny or disgusted.

(D) Strugglers in the bondage and transcendence of "morality"

The definition of "morality" in Modern Chinese Dictionary is that one of social ideologies is that people live together and behave in the same way, and morality plays a binding role in social life through public opinion of society or a certain class [17].

In the History of Civilization in China, Mr. Qi Liang thinks that the dispute between Chu and Han is actually a struggle between two cultures, that is, the southern Chu culture represented by Xiang Yu is superior to the Confucian culture in the Central Plains represented by Liu Bang and superior to its strength. In the confrontation between virtue and strength, Liu Bang, who was weak in virtue, defeated Xiang Yu, who was strong without virtue [18]. However, in the turbulent political change, morality is no longer the standard of pursuing justice and being tired of rhetoric, nor is it the division of who is right and who is wrong. Morality has been distorted, and it has become a cover for pursuing political interests and gaining personal fame and fortune, and has become synonymous with cunning and insincerity. At this point, the struggle more than 2,200 years ago can actually be regarded as a cruel false moral struggle behind Corporal Renyi, popular support and morality: to see who can be more cruel, more beyond and divorced from morality, and even pick up the moral sword and stab the opponent until he falls under the horse.

Obviously, Xiang Yu is a loser.

Liu Bang, who came from a civilian family, did not receive a good systematic education. In his post as director of Surabaya, he developed a vulgar style of greed, alcoholism and neglect of family property. He is an ordinary citizen everywhere, even a rogue: he is penniless and enters Lv Gong with a nominal "He Wanqian"; During the escape, the daughter and son were pushed out of the car many times to reduce the weight of the car and escape faster for themselves; When Xiang Yu threatened to "cook Tai Weng", he wanted to "share a piece of cake" regardless of his father's life and death. He insulted his Confucian scholars many times, and even after he ascended the throne, he did what Confucian scholars used to pee in their hats. In the process of competing with Xiang Yu for the world, they often go back on their words. If they lose, they will flee, and if they escape, they will make up. After a short respite, he began to secretly plan military operations. In the confrontation between Guangwu and Guangwu, Xiang Yu shot at the heart, but pretended to shoot at the heel; In order to escape better, he took out the whole city and even let women wear soldiers' clothes to cover him ... Liu Bang's words and deeds can be said to be out-and-out hooligans, showing deep-rooted vulgar hooliganism. However, it is this rascal temperament and smooth and shrewd personality that made him let go of his hands and feet in the political struggle in that era of moral restrictions and superficial "good reputation and good behavior", showing his agility and flexibility. When he entered Guanzhong, he followed Sean's advice and concluded three chapters with the people. Originally lustful and greedy, the result was "nothing to take." "Seal the treasure of Qin and return it to the military hegemony" [19]. At the hongmen banquet, he first made friends with Xiang Bo, expressed sincerity and strived for opportunities. Then he was careful and respectful at the banquet, but even if he fled after defeat, Liu Bang never gave up the idea of seizing the country. At every critical moment, Liu Bang can control his original desire, keep self-discipline, actively listen to his opinions and suggestions, and continue to complete his hegemony.

Let's look at Xiang Yu, who was born in a Chu family. He was deeply influenced by Chu culture, and the influence of Chu culture made him pursue a good name in moral understanding, keep his promise, and maintain individual perfection and independence. Xiang Yu's capital is Pengcheng, just because "wealth does not return to his hometown, such as nocturnal travel." He didn't want to kill Liu Bang at the Hongmen banquet. Because of his emphasis on faith, he is stingy with his official position and has a perverted pursuit of reputation. However, the huge contrast of the environment, in the struggle for power and interests, Xiang Yu has always been contradictory in abandoning and supporting morality:

If a king wants to be king, the first king will be king. He said: "At the beginning of the world, whenever there was trouble, princes were set up to attack Qin. And those who have been exposed to the wild for three years, destroying Qin and setting the world, are the strength and books of the general. Although the righteous emperor is useless, he should divide his land and be king. "

From this passage, we can get a glimpse of Xiang Yu's complicated and contradictory mood at that time. I'm going to be king myself, but I want to be king first. I want to take credit. I want to praise the general first, but I hate Yidi and divide the land between them. Faced with the shy morality that only needs to pierce a layer of paper, the youthful Xiang Yu had to take into account the credit, reputation, opinions and words of people around him. Although he has a high position and made the greatest contribution, he is uneasy because of the rule that "the first person who breaks the Qin Dynasty into Xianyang is king" and is tied behind his back everywhere. He was made clear by Fan Kuai at the Hongmen banquet and lost the opportunity to destroy Liu Bang. In the battle with Liu Bang, he was tortured by Liu Bang's moral stick everywhere. In the Guangwu duel, Liu Bang announced the top ten crimes of Xiang Yu, among which there was indeed suspicion of weaving, but Liu Bang clung to the moral braid of Xiang Yu's tyrannical massacre, treacherous emperor and unfair enfeoffment.

It can be said that on the one hand, Xiang Yu hopes to set an example and model of virtue among the vassal army and people around him, on the other hand, he must destroy this example and model at any time, and even constantly accept the moral crusade and ridicule of Liu Bang and other vassal kings. His deep sensitivity made him hate this kind of ridicule and criticism. His own quality and personality defects prevent him from becoming a famous virtuous man like Shun, Yu and Liu Bang, let alone his opponent. He can only get deeper and deeper into the moral trap woven by others and himself.

In the end, Liu Bang, an immoral man beyond the name of morality, defeated Xiang Yu, who struggled to adhere to morality. As early as before them, Zhuangzi saw at a glance the moral unfairness of "the thief is a vassal" [20]. The trend of history and times will not care and stay because of too small details, but will be more inclined to those who are divorced from morality and ignore morality. As for Xiang Yu, who struggled with the moral bottom line and the letter of benevolence, righteousness and courtesy, in order to save his excessively sharp self-esteem and reputation, he finally committed suicide on the banks of the Wujiang River. We can only say that his death was tragic. As for whether he is a truly moral martyr or a person who worships strength without morality, we don't need to think too much.

Ching-Ming Ko, a scholar in Taiwan Province, pointed out that the temperament of the tragic hero is "a strong sense of self, and an absolutely strong desire and will to shape themselves" [2 1]. No matter from the perspective of the times, Xiang Yu's own personality contradiction or moral struggle, Xiang Yu was doomed to be a tragic figure from the beginning. His life can be described as a "violent rise", beautiful and beautiful. The good reputation and good name he pursued all his life are not lost to his stubborn, almost stubborn and arrogant self-esteem character. He is obsessed with the life and lifestyle he has chosen. Even if this life and lifestyle is wrong from the beginning, he is willing and willing. Only when the lifestyle he chooses cannot continue, or even suffers from reputation or psychological torture and loss, will he rashly choose death instead of living.

Third, the Millennium echo of Wujiang's suicide

For thousands of years, Xiang Yu's story is still echoing and being interpreted. At the end of this mighty hero in the past, he sighed and said goodbye to the beauty. This classic picture of ups and downs is fixed in people's minds at that moment, and Xiang Yu's tragedy reached the highest point.

Today, we give these words a wider meaning because Sima Qian's description is incisive, affectionate and thoughtful, wonderful and tragic.

We saw that Xiang Yu left the beautiful woman, with hundreds of followers, and fell into osawa by mistake. Call it riding yue:

I joined the army at the age of eight and have fought more than 70 wars. I never lost. I ruled the world. However, this chess piece is trapped here. My death today is not a war crime. Today, I am determined to die. I am willing to fight for you quickly, and I will win three wars. I will break the city and cut the flag for you to let you know that the sky will destroy me, which is not a war crime.

From Xiang Yu's tone and discourse, we can see that he is almost infatuated with his high confidence in his own strength, full of the arrogant look and dignified posture of the bully, and at the same time he is contemptuous and disapproving of failing the right path. He is quick-witted, quick-witted and quick-hearted, and just wants to fight quickly to solve his depression. Here, Xiang Yu has not made up his mind to die, and he still hopes to break through, but the words of the director of Wujiang Pavilion, who is waiting for him, have made him feel at a loss and just want to die.

"Jiangdong is small, the land is far away, and there are hundreds of thousands of people, which is enough for the king. May the king rush by. Today, I have a boat, and the Han army has arrived, so there is no way to cross it. " King Xiang smiled and said, "What can I do if the sky dies?" ! Besides, 8,000 people crossed the river to the west with Jiangdong's children, and none of them came back today. How can I see them? If you don't say anything, is a person worth it? "

Today, countless years later, under the psychology of an official seeking truth, we have no way to verify whether this thrilling dialogue is true or not. However, we can see that both the sincere pavilion owner and the complex and uneasy Chu overlord look natural and their language conforms to their own identity.

But these are still left to future generations with endless speculation and painstaking speculation. In the Records of Historical Records, Xiang Yu's Who am I going to cross is commented as follows: "Wang Xiang's original intention is not to fall into his hands with a body of seven feet. Watch it collapse? Don't you want to take it off? I listened to Tingchang's words and refused to get on the boat with a leaf, but I also gave him my love for his horse, which was rough, bold and lovely [22]. In the evaluation, in addition to pointing out Xiang Yu's frank, honest and lovely personality, the most important thing is to point out that the reason for Xiang Yu's suicide is lifeless, not really crossing the river. "He was seven feet tall and didn't want to fall into his hands." Fu Tian tricked him into making an introduction, which led to osawa. Now, isn't it Liu Bang's pre-arranged ambush? Running all the way, who left the house of flying daggers and was in fear, strayed into Ozawa and fell into his own psychological trap. I didn't explain, because my heart was defending my good reputation and noble spirit. However, modern scholars of Historical Records believe that this plot may come from Sima Qian's artistic fiction. Sima Qian, who respected the spirit of "respecting shame", added such a dialogue to the heroes on the way to defeat, earnestly and sincerely wrote the voices of the heroes who died in battle, looking back, maintaining dignity, facing shame and never looking back until death. This reason can also be said to be reasonable.

No matter whether Sima Qian's description was fictional or true at that time, under what circumstances, Tai Shigong did not expect that later generations would talk more about Xiang Yu's "crossing or not crossing", "king or not king" and the attitude behind these remarks, which triggered a deeper cultural and psychological dispute in China.

(A) "Crossing" and "King"

Tang Du Mu wrote in Wujiang Pavilion:

The victory or defeat of soldiers is unexpected, and men should be ashamed.

There are many talented children in Jiangdong. Whether they will make a comeback is still unknown. 〔23〕

Du Mu, who traveled all his life, expressed in his poems that the overlord of Chu was a shameful person. And predicting the outcome of battlefield disputes is not a matter of life and death. Xiang Yu will be defeated but not strong, based on Jiangdong, and make a comeback. His poems are full of deep regret and sadness. This attitude of wanting Xiang Yu to cross the river and come back for the king profoundly embodies the traditional Confucian thought-"bear the burden of humiliation" and "a little tolerance leads to great mischief." In the face of greater interests and greater disasters, people's psychology of seeking advantages and avoiding disadvantages clearly shows that in the process of obtaining higher interests, they would rather endure pain and trauma, and even give up and reject small interests from all sides in this process.

For thousands of years, countless moralists, countless politicians, and people who are educated and influenced by them are also like this. "Calm down and stand for a while, take a step back and broaden your horizons" and "Only after suffering can you be a master". Metaphysically, this tolerance for life setbacks, led by shame, and the forbearing attitude of refusing to enjoy life for small favors guide the strong and unyielding spirit of the Chinese nation.

Finally, we will be surprised to see the other two key figures mentioned in this article-Sima Qian and Liu Bang through Du Mu's poem "Tiaojiang Pavilion". Without exception, Xiang Yu crossed the Wujiang River. Both Sima Qian and Liu Bang encountered the "Wujiang River" in their own lives: Sima Qian advocated the spirit of respecting shame and thought that "the scale was greater than the imprisonment" [24], but suffered the most shameful imprisonment; And Liu Bang's life is also tortuous. However, both of them were able to pursue greater value (Sima Qian wrote historical records and Liu ruled the world), endured psychological and physical trauma and safely crossed the "Wujiang" port. The difference is that in the process of crossing the Wujiang River.