Guan Yu, as a synonym for loyalty and courage, exists in all kinds of literary works. He is a red-faced man with a long beard and a big sword. It's a piece of cake to sit at the top of a hundred thousand troops. He is a man who gives up his wealth for Yidi. Although he has traveled all over Qian Shan, Yidi, who can make you emperor, would rather not take revenge for his country. This is a beautiful existence. However, compared with Guan Yu in history, it is a bit disappointing. Where does its tall image come from?
As mentioned above, Guan Yu exists as a synonym for loyalty and courage in literary works. Although these are not necessarily the whole truth, they are not groundless. Let's take a look at some comments on Guan Yu's bravery in the Three Kingdoms in history:
Shu Wei? Liu Sima Wen's biography Wen Hui: "... Guan Xiao Yurui ..."
Shu Wei? Cheng Liu Jiangchuan? Cheng Yu: "... Guan Yu and Zhang Fei are both enemies ..."
Shu Wei? Cheng Liu Jiangchuan? Ye Liu: "... the famous Wei Yu ..."
Shu Wei? Cheng Liu Jiangchuan? Ye Liu: "... Guan Yu and Zhang crowned the three armies ..."
Wu Shu? Zhou Suchuan? Zhou Yu: "... generals of Guan Yu, Zhang Fei and Xiong Hu ..."
Wu Shu? Zhou Suchuan? Lv Meng: "... Guan Xionghu ...",
Wu Shu? Lu Xun Biography: "Meng Yue:" ...' Feather element is brave ...' "
Shu Shu? Shut up. Macelo Wong Zhao Chuan? Comment: "Guan Yu and Zhang Fei are both called enemies of ten thousand people ..."
In addition to the above, Shu Shu? Mahuang and Zhao Chuan in Zhang Guan also have vivid records of "bone scraping and healing":
Feather flavor was hit by a flowing arrow and penetrated his left arm. Although the wound has healed, every time it rains, the bone often hurts. The doctor said: "sagittarius is poisonous, and it is poisonous to the bone." If the arm is broken, the bone will be scraped to remove the poison, and the ear will be removed. " The feather stuck out his arm and let the doctor cut it. The feather suit was smooth, so the general was invited to eat and drink, and the blood flowed from his arm, full of dishes, and the feather suit made him laugh.
It can be seen that Guan Yu has indeed left a great reputation in history. In the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei were often described as warriors. For example, Xia Liu in the Eastern Jin Dynasty was "brave" and "led a strong man to push forward, and Hebei was better than Zhang Fei and Guan Yu" (The Book of Jin? Liu Yuxi); The subordinates of Tan Daoji, a famous Liu and Song star in the Southern Dynasties, and AG are "brave and good at fighting" and "comparable to Guan Yu and Zhang Fei" (Song Shu? Tan Daoji biography); Xue Andou, who is also a star of Liu and Song Dynasties, was ordered to conquer Yuzhou and stab Lu Shuang to death. Andu's "prancing and screaming, stabbing him to death, should pour his hand ... Double stone Meng Xiao, Xianyun ten thousand enemies, Andu went straight to the point, but it's not too bad to cut Guan Yu for good ("Southern History? "Biography of Xue Andou"); Yang Dayan in the Northern Wei Dynasty is the "crown of generals" and is known as the "star of the country." The world pushes it, thinking that Guan and Zhang Fu are wrong "(? Biography of Yang Dayan "). During the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, people like to compare Guan Yu and Zhang Fei with these brave warriors, which shows the worship and recognition of Guan Yu's martial arts by later generations.
Although there are many examples mentioned above, can we draw a conclusion and position Guan Yu as an ancient star? Throughout Guan Yu's life, the only great battle led by him was the battle of Xiangfan launched in the 24th year of Jian 'an (2 19). He flooded seven armies, which had a great influence on China, but later he was attacked, defeated and killed by Monroe of Soochow. This result dealt a great blow to Liu Bei Group, and also showed that Guan Yu, as a general, lacked in grasping the current situation, strategic planning, diplomacy and strategy. Because it is not the focus of this article, here is only one example, "the reflection? Wu Shu? The Biography of Zhou Yu Lu Su Monroe said: "After Monroe attacked Jingzhou, Meng Dan sent messengers to take care of the elderly at dusk, asking about the shortage, giving medicine to the patients, and sending clothes and food to the hungry and cold. ..... Feather also, on the way, several people heard about Mongolia, and Mongolia saw its ambassador and walked around the city, asking questions from various families or writing letters. "Jingzhou, where Monroe took office, is the place where people return. Guan Yu did not block the news, but also sent messengers to ask, the soldiers all know that the city is good for all ages, so what is the heart of fighting? As the generals of the whole army, the two men's means are judged by competition.
Because of this mistake, the late Master Shu Han even regarded Guan Yu as a "strong marquis" when he mourned Guan Yu in Jing Yao for three years (260 years), and there was a saying in the memorial book that "fame and fortune were wonderful". Of course, according to Mr. Han Kang Zu's research, Miao and Mu were universal in ancient times, and Miao Zhuang was similar to Yue Fei's Wu Mu, and he also said, "When studying the law of funeral etiquette, Wu De insisted on righteousness and called it wood". This was based on the position of defending Guan Sheng later, and used the reputation of the world to push back the evaluation at that time, because Liu Bei, the Lord of Shu, was named "Mu Queen", and the memorial method emphasized a golden word. If two posthumous title coexist at the same time, it is difficult to convince the public to communicate with each other.
Guan Yu's bravery is a historical fact and his initial image in literary works. In Tang Xuanzong, Lang Jun had a saying in "Don't be friends in Zhuangmiao", "The generals are talented, and the brave are better than the ancient and modern. The language of "winning every battle, ten thousand enemies with one sword" But "courage" was not Guan Yu's exclusive honor at that time. At least, Zhang Fei, who regarded it as a "brother thing", also had it. In the Three Kingdoms, Chen Shou's derogatory evaluation of them is "arrogant" and "violent and ungrateful". It seems that the two men are just equal. Zhang Fei is good at calligraphy and painting, and he has done well in Sichuan and defending Brazil. Lian Shi explained: "It is said that the slaughter of clothes is far away, the people respect diligence, and the country is also called Huan. "In that case, why later generations regarded Guan Yu as a god in literary works and real life, instead of Zhang Fei?
The second evolutionary period
Guan Yu's capital lies in "courage" and "righteousness". Since there is no absolute advantage and answer in "courage", we have to try to discuss it in "righteousness"
Liu Yiqing's Shi Shuo Xin Yu is a story describing the Three Kingdoms period in literary works, which appeared in the Southern Dynasties. This novel mainly records the anecdotes of celebrities in Wei and Jin Dynasties, indicating that these stories had been circulated as early as the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, and kept pace with the novels of Pei Lin Ziyu and Yin Yun. According to the Memorabilia of the Sui Dynasty, Emperor Yang Di watched the "water ornaments", Cao Cao poured glutinous rice balls with water, and Liu Bei leaped over Tanxi. In the early Tang Dynasty, Liu Zhiji's Shi Tong had a story that "death of Zhuge can give birth to Zhong Da". Li Shangyin, a poet in the late Tang Dynasty, wrote another poem "either teasing Zhang or laughing at Wargo for food" in "Proud Poetry". It can be seen that at the latest in the late Tang Dynasty, the story of the Three Kingdoms has been widely circulated among the people, and even children are familiar with it, all talking about the characters and stories of the Three Kingdoms. However, in the field of literature, Guan Yu did not play an important role in the "street novel" telling the story of the Three Kingdoms in the Tang Dynasty and the novel stories with the theme of the Three Kingdoms. It can be said that the image of Guan Yu before the Tang Dynasty basically conforms to the true nature of history, which can probably be understood as artistic fiction did not enter the novel creation, and more emphasis was placed on "recording".
In the Song Dynasty, citizens' literature and art were quite developed, and the atmosphere of "talking" gradually prevailed. The story of the Three Kingdoms, which is widely circulated, has naturally become the most commonly used theme for speakers. In the category of "talking" and "talking about history", there are also specialized disciplines and professional artists who say "three points". In Song Dynasty, Meng's Dream of China in Tokyo recorded Sanfen. Su Shi's "Zhi Lin" contains: "Jimson tasted the cloud: the children in the native land are poor, the family is tired and bitter, and they need money, so that they can sit together and listen to the old saying. To say three things about state affairs, I heard that Liu Xuande was defeated, frowning, and some people cried; As soon as I heard that Cao Cao was defeated, I liked fast songs. " According to the above information, the story of the Three Kingdoms with Liu Bei as the orthodox should have become a paradigm before or during the Northern Song Dynasty.
Since the people regard Liu Bei Group as orthodox, the famous ministers of Luan Liu Bei Group, such as Zhuge Liang, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, are bound to be loved by everyone. These sages will naturally become heroes in casual "talking". However, Guan Yu, who was very popular among the people, was not favored by the ruling class in the early years of the Northern Song Dynasty. The Northern Song Dynasty is a unified dynasty re-established after nearly a hundred years of war. Its era flavor, values and ruling style of the supreme ruler are very different from Wei, Jin, Sui and Tang Dynasties.
First of all, it has something to do with the fashion of the times. Wei, Jin, Sui and Tang Dynasties were the times when Shang Yong was martial. "Biography of the Soviet Union" records: "The attack rate is very high, and it almost fell. Things were robbed and many people were caught. The military strength is growing and invincible. Because of righteousness, people have different plans ... Jiao and Zhao Yin lead 10,000 infantry and want to never. Jun and Kuang Xiao fought 8,000 men, and Jun sent Zi Shuo and Xiao with dozens of riders to defeat Zhao Yin. You look at Yin and say,' Filial piety can break thieves, but I am worse!' Because he gave up his coffin, he rode to the north with several soldiers, but he was not allowed to enter. He turned back to Bai Mupi, and Peng Sheng and Li Qian of the yamen threw spears at him, fell off his horse, beheaded his head, cut his bones and burned them. All the three armed forces called him long live. "The Soviet army as a general, in the case of dominant and basic victory, showed bravery and rode out of the sudden array. From this example, we can get a glimpse of the martial spirit in Wei, Jin, Sui and Tang Dynasties. Xia Liu, Bi Andu, and other warriors mentioned earlier, Xue, commander in chief of Luo Diao, Xiao Mohe, Weichi Gong, and so on, all of whom made Guan Yu and Zhang Fei worth a hundred times in Wei, Jin, Sui and Tang Dynasties. However, the Northern Song Dynasty was an era of advocating literature but not martial arts. The fashion and taste of Wei, Jin, Sui and Tang Dynasties were quite worn out in the early years of the Northern Song Dynasty, and such a valiant soldier as Guan Yu was naturally left out in the cold to a certain extent.
Secondly, the Northern Song Dynasty was a secular period that emphasized practical interests and often adopted a pragmatic attitude towards ideology. "Continue to rule the country with a mirror? In the third volume, Zhao Kuangyin, the founding emperor of the Northern Song Dynasty, went to Wu Wang to worship Jiang Shang, a hero of the Western Zhou Dynasty, in the first year of Gan Yuan (963). When he saw the portraits of the military commanders of the past dynasties who participated in the sharing on the walls of the two corridors, he pointed to the token of the Qin generals in the Warring States period and said: "The killing has fallen, and there is no force. What is the enjoyment here? " He pointed out on the spot that only "people who have never had a good career" are eligible to enjoy Jiang Taigong, a martial artist, so he asked Zhang Zhao, an official of the official department, to discuss it and got it. As a result, 23 outstanding military commanders, including Guan Ying and Ban Chao in the Han Dynasty, Zhang in the Tang Dynasty, were promoted to two corridors to share, while Guan Yu and Zhang Fei were deposed. Therefore, in the eyes of the rulers in the early years of the Northern Song Dynasty, Guan Yu's position was not only a general military commander in history, but also discriminated against because of his poor political achievements.
However, things are like chess, and things often develop unexpectedly. At the end of the Northern Song Dynasty, Hui Zong was the first emperor to pursue the seal of the ancients. Before the first year of Chongning (1 102), Guan Yu was made a loyal minister, and in the second year of Daguan (1 108), Guan Yu was made king of Wu 'an, declaring peace. Why are the feelings of the Northern Song Dynasty imperial court changed so much? We still look for the reasons from the direction of the above two Guan Yu's declining status.
First of all, it is that Song Ting respects literature and does not respect martial arts. At the beginning of the founding of the People's Republic of China in the Song Dynasty, it was an oppressed dynasty from beginning to end. The invasion of northern Khitan and the bending of the knees and peace of the Song people can be said to have enveloped the whole Northern Song Dynasty. As a result, the whole nation has a strong desire. The narrower the world, the better the past and the nobler the memories. The more obvious the tendency is, the strong spirit and temperament symbolized by military strategists such as Guan Yu are becoming the needs of the times. They complied with the sense of dependence from the weak side of human nature and produced hero worship in that period; Based on the needs of this spirit of the times, Guan Yu and Gan Ning, who were famous for their bravery in the Three Kingdoms period, were both crowned by Song Tingce. Guan Yu was always endowed with the image of loyalty and righteousness of "America once upon a time", which was particularly helpful to the rulers, which created superior conditions for his tall image than other military commanders in the same period.
Second, Song Ting's pragmatic attitude towards ideology. Since Zidi ceded sixteen states to Qidan, and the implementation of Song Ting's policy of valuing literature over martial arts, the weakness of the Northern Song Dynasty did not happen overnight. It can be said that under the strong pressure of the north, it is always in a weak and weak situation. At this time, we need the corresponding ideology to support it, and the emotional expression of Liu Bei and Han Shu Group is similar here. The Northern Song Dynasty court, like Liu Bei Group, was orthodox, and it was also to guard against thieves in the north. In this way, the image of Liu Bei's monarch and subjects is bound to be promoted to a certain height.
Based on the above two points, Guan is described as a typical image of "courage" and "righteousness". Let's revisit a question mentioned above: In terms of courage, Zhang Fei is no worse than Guan Yu; On righteousness, it does not necessarily mean that Zhang Fei is unfaithful. Why is Zhang Fei not as tall as Guan Yu? It is true that Zhang Fei has never been unfaithful to his master Liu Bei in his life, but the problem is that he has not shown his due righteousness. Compared with Guan Yu's capture and surrender, he was serving Cao Gong, and immediately ran away from home after knowing that Liu Bei was here. Zhang Fei seems a little pitiful. He was never captured or sent back. If we want to discuss whether Zhang Fei will surrender and betray Liu Bei after his defeat, I believe no one will say yes, but compared with Guan Yu, he seems to be inferior in typicality, plasticity and shock. Therefore, in people's eyes, in the literary image, this absolutely just and brave role belongs to Guan Yu. In addition, let's take a look at the sentence of "teasing Zhang or laughing at Deng Ai to eat" in Li Shangyin's "Proud Poem", which shows that Zhang Fei's image has been like the image of a boor in The Romance of the Three Kingdoms at the latest in the late Tang Dynasty, and the reasons are certainly worth discussing, but since this is not the scope of this article, I won't say much here; What I want to say here is that once this rough image is formed, it is doomed to be impossible to become a perfect image respected by the government and established by the people.
What is the background of the Southern Song Dynasty after the Northern Song Dynasty? First of all, it inherited the Northern Song Dynasty, and it is still in a weak and weak situation, and the power of Jurchen is much stronger than that of Qidan people. These subjects of the Southern Song Dynasty who experienced the difficulties of happiness and well-being were only more courageous than those of the Northern Song Dynasty, and the Northern Expedition of Guan Yu and even the Shu Han regime was crowned with the meaning of "great unity in the Spring and Autumn Period". Secondly, the abnormal development of Neo-Confucianism in the Southern Song Dynasty turned this country into a Confucian country that emphasized loyalty to the monarch, patriotism, courtesy and integrity. Loyalty, forgiveness and faithfulness are also the most important indicators of a person's personality status in society, and the image of Guan Yu is the representative of loyalty that meets this indicator. In addition, Pei's Biography of Jiang Biao quoted in Notes on the Three Kingdoms has the sentence "Zuo's biography is rich in feathers and satirizes catchy words", which also made him greatly favored by literati at that time. In the Ming Dynasty, Wen Zhiming's Inscription of Icons praised Guan Yu for this: "Without power, there is no force, and without husband, there is no force." Who is like a mighty general, reading with his shirt on at night? "In the third year of Jian Yan in the Southern Song Dynasty (1 129), Guan Yu was sealed again and became the king of Wu 'an and the king of Yi. In the fourteenth year of Xiao Zong (1 187), Guan Yu became the king.
Three-stage setting
By the Yuan Dynasty, the story of the Three Kingdoms was still popular not only in "talking" but also in folk operas. As a folk art, traditional Chinese opera should naturally be praised for this historic hero. According to the ancient records such as Selected Songs of the Yuan Dynasty, there are about 60 kinds of zaju adapted from the stories of the Three Kingdoms, such as Guan Hanqing's Dream of Meeting the West Shu with One Knife, Zheng Guangzu's Three Wars Lyu3 bu4, Riding Alone for a Thousand Miles, Gu Chenghui Taoyuan Bridge, and Cutting Four Mouths with One Knife. Guan Yu is the protagonist.
Later, because the drama "is a transcendental school in drama, it is absolutely different from other dramas" (Guo's words), even its stage art has its own uniqueness. China traditional opera actors are generally divided into four categories: Dan, Beauty, Refinement and Miscellaneous, or five categories: Life, Dan, Refinement, Beauty and Ugliness. Their lives are subdivided into old students, young students, martial arts students, old martial arts students and red students. And "Red Student" is a unique enterprise specializing in Guan Gong. The so-called "five locks" are also very special when playing the role of Guan Gong. Five locks are two locks in the ear and two locks in the mouth, which must be called "Guan Gong"; In addition, the dragon crescent moon blade is also a specialty of Guan Gong. In addition to the basic forms commonly used in traditional Chinese opera, Guan Yu's performance has many special and extremely strict requirements and many unwritten rules. For example, the actor who plays Guan Yu needs to fast and be alone ten days before the performance, smoke and take a bath by himself, burn incense and kowtow to the statue of Guan Yu before going on stage, and draw a golden shop to kill chickens and sacrifice saints and red faces in the background, which is called "broken face". After the performance, the actor should hang an amulet of Guan Di's icon on his helmet or chest. Especially in the performance of "Walking in Maicheng", it is even more eerie. Sandalwood and candles were burning on the stage and under the stage, and the fog filled the venue, just like setting up a Dojo for longevity. All these show Guan Yu's detachment in folk and literary works.
By the Yuan Dynasty, in addition to the unusually developed operas, the development of novels was also extremely prosperous. What we are seeing now is a relatively complete story novel of the Three Kingdoms, which was published in the 31st year of Yuan Dynasty (1294) and Jian 'an Yushi (1321-kloc-0/323). Its plot is not bound by historical facts and presents a strong folk color. From the basic outline, there is the embryonic form of Romance of the Three Kingdoms, but the story is short and the writing is rough. For the "speech" of historical artists in Yuan Dynasty, it is just an outline or a copy. In this case, there will never be only one. It is on the basis of the creation of these folklore, folk artists and lower-class literati that Mr. Luo Guanzhong absorbed a lot of materials annotated by Mr. Pei Songzhi and wrote the novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Although the story of the Three Kingdoms was engraved in the Yuan Dynasty, its main story was basically formed in the Song Dynasty. For example, the introduction of Liang Shiping's story in The History of the New Five Dynasties, which was formed between Song and Jin Dynasties, tells that Cao Cao, Liu Bei and Sun Quan were reincarnated as heroes Han Xin, Peng Yue and Chen Yi who were killed by Liu Bang, and the Han Xiandi who was oppressed by Cao Cao was reincarnated as Liu Bang. This plot became more independent in later Feng Menglong's Yu Shi Ming Yan, and wrote a story of "making the nether world look like a broken prison", adding characters such as Xiang Yu, Guan Yu is the afterlife of Xiang Yu, and Lv Matong and other six people will be killed in five passes, and let Guan Yu avenge his previous life one by one; Although this is another story, it can be seen from one side that during the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, both literati and ordinary people took great care of Guan Yu.
Coincidentally, at the end of Yuan Dynasty and the beginning of Ming Dynasty, the harsh political and living environment was cruel in reality, which made people close to the beautiful spirit again and again like the Song Dynasty. Guan Yu is the spiritual sustenance of the people, including Mr. Luo Guanzhong, the author of Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Because people's aspirations, wishes and ideals lack opportunities and possibilities in reality, I hope that I or others can, like Guan Yu, sweep away social and political violence and corruption with their outstanding ability and personal charm. There was chaos in the world at the end of Yuan Dynasty, which was an era of advocating courage and calling for heroes. The image of Guan Yu in Romance of the Three Kingdoms reflects the requirements and spirit of this era.
In the early Ming Dynasty, the founding emperor Zhu Yuanzhang was a civilian, or he wanted to preach loyalty, patriotism and loyalty to his men. In the fourth year of Hongwu (137 1), Guan Yu was established as the true king, which made Guan Yu officially change from a man to a god. Since then, temples have been built everywhere. In the seventh year of Wanli (1583), Zongshen was added as Xie Tiandi, and in the forty-second year of Wanli (16 13), it was added as Sanjiefu Mundus and Weiyuan Town Tianzun. In the Qing dynasty, the emperor praised Guan Yu, saying that it was because he wanted to replace Yue Fei, the hero who crusaded against the ancestral Jurchen nationality, in order to calm the anti-Qing psychology of the Han people, and flaunt Guan Yu's loyalty did not pose a threat to the Qing regime, but was beneficial; Another reason may be that Jurchen turned to the Romance of the Three Kingdoms as a strategist, and its founding monarch Nurhachi was one of them. The General History of the Qing Dynasty written by Japanese Daoye Junshan states that "(Nurhachi) loved reading The Romance of the Three Kingdoms and The Water Margin when he was a child because he met the Han people", and they greatly admired the Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Finally, in the ninth year of Shunzhi (1652), the Qing ancestor made Guan Yu emperor Guan Sheng, and Guan Sheng was loyal to SHEN WOO. In the thirty-third year of Qianlong (1758), Emperor Gaozong of the Qing Dynasty granted loyalty to SHEN WOO and changed Miao Zhuang to be a brave general.
From the first seal of Song Huizong to the Qing Dynasty, Guan Yu received more than a dozen seals from emperors, becoming one of the only two saints in China history, just like Confucius. Therefore, people call him Guan Fuzi, Guan Shengzi and Wu Shengzi. The evolution of Guan Yu's image can be said to be a portrayal of the formation of Chinese values and systems. As a historical figure, Guan Yu's evaluation in The Official History of Three Kingdoms is not high. Chen Shou once commented that he was "just conceited" and "defeated by short skills and vulgar mathematics", but he never imagined that after thousands of years, Guan Yu could overwhelm everyone and be promoted to the whole Chinese nation. However, it can be seen that Guan Yu's historical image and literary image are in line with the Chinese tradition of beautiful aesthetic ideals for thousands of years, so that he can survive with a lofty and great image whether he is in opposition or not. From this, we can have a deeper understanding of the spirit and mode of China's traditional culture and a more accurate understanding of the nation's sense of sublimity.