Chapter 11 Naked self-hype in "The Record of Li Bai"

naked self-promotion What Li Bai saw was the benefit behind the fame.He saw that he was "a rare commodity to live in", so he packaged himself. Sichuan people have always had a tradition of self-hype.Since Sichuan is not easy to produce people, if a person wants to come out, unless he is indeed an unborn genius, and he must adopt unconventional means of operation.Sichuanese Sima Xiangru and Chen Ziang are good examples of successful self-hype by using unconventional means.Li Bai is very clear about the means by which these senior fellows achieved success, so he naturally wants to imitate them.

How does Li Bai hype himself?He said on any occasion that I am the ninth grandson of Li Hao, King Wuzhao of Beiliang, with noble blood. Fabricate a life experience for yourself - this is a common tactic used by traditional Chinese self-hype, and there are too many examples of this in Chinese culture.An ordinary person, if he becomes famous, he must deify his own identity.During the Qin and Han Dynasties, Chen Sheng and Wu Guangda revolted in Ze Township. Chen Sheng asked Wu Guang to take people to learn how to call a fox, and he was always called "Chen Shengwang".He also bribed the chef to find a carp, write the words "Chen Shengwang" on silk, and stuff it into the belly of the fish. When everyone cut the fish open and saw the words "Chen Shengwang", Wu Guang said, "God!" They want Chen Sheng to be the king.Chen Sheng and Wu Guang failed, and Sima Qian told the truth.

Another person in "Historical Records" who succeeded in self-hype is Liu Bang.Liu Bang is purely a lumpen proletarian, and his life experience is completely fabricated by himself. "Historical Records" says that Liu Bang was originally called Liu Ji, and the "Ji" in "Bo Zhong Shu Ji" is a ranking, indicating that Liu Bang did not have a name. "Historical Records" also mentions that Liu Bang has an older brother named Liu Zhong. Isn't that still the ranking of "Bo Zhong Shu Ji"?My elder brother is called Liu Er, and I am called Liu Si. Only the sons of uneducated and statusless people are called that. "Historical Records" also mentioned that Liu Bang's father is called "Liu Taigong", and Liu Bang's mother is called "Liu Nai". Isn't it just Mr. Liu and Mrs. Liu?As soon as you hear the name, you know that you are from a poor and lower-middle peasant.

Although Chen Sheng once said, "It's better to have kindness than princes and generals", but the ancients emphasized that princes and generals should have kindness.Why did Chen Sheng and Wu Guang fail?The reason is that they did not set up "the descendants of the six kingdoms". Only the descendants of the kings of the six kingdoms can be called kings, which is the cultural background at that time.Liu Bang, a lumpen proletarian who is nothing, why should he be emperor?Liu Bang had no choice but to cuckold his father. He said: I am not my father's son.why?Liu Bang said: Our family is very poor and we farm in the countryside.Once when my father delivered food to my mother, he saw a dragon lying on top of my mother, and gave birth to me when he came back.So, I am not Liu Taigong's son, I am the dragon's son.How shameless!But he had to, the son of the dragon and the grandson of the dragon can be the emperor.

There is another story: Liu Bang was originally a pavilion chief, and one night he took a group of people to a certain place, and the people in front suddenly refused to leave. Liu Bang asked why, and replied that there was a big white snake in front of him.Liu Bang went there, because he was not afraid after drinking, so he picked up his sword and slashed at it, and the big white snake broke in two.The next morning he sent someone to see and found a white-haired old woman crying there. Everyone asked her why she was crying, and the old woman said, "Chi Di Zi kills me Bai Di Zi." God's son killed it.It just so happened that everyone knew that Liu Bang had killed a big white snake the day before, and as a result, Liu Bang was regarded as the son of the Scarlet Emperor in the sky.Of course, the narration in "Historical Records" is very mysterious, making us feel how great Liu Bang seems, but if it is exposed, it is worthless.It was nothing more than Liu Bang hired an old lady with money, and also gave some money to a few of his subordinates, who were all "trusted" by Liu Bang.In order to gain cultural recognition, Liu Bang had to fabricate a magical life experience for himself.

Li Bai's motivation and method are the same as Liu Bang's: I am a descendant of the royal family, of course I am much nobler than you.This is also the reason why Li Bai always emphasized that he is a "banished immortal".Li Bai said: When my mother gave birth to me, she dreamed of Taibai Jinxing coming down to earth, and the cultural Kunlun Hezhizhang appointed me as a "banished immortal". I am not a fairy descending to earth, what is it?Li Bai worshiped the most famous Taoist priest at that time as his teacher, and even registered to be a Taoist priest, all to prove that he was a "banished immortal".He can't wait to tell others: You are all mortals, only I am a fairy.The current Tang Dynasty, the most powerful era in history, has finally ushered in a genius like me. This is a gift from God to our era, and you should all worship me.Give me money when I should, and take care of my food when I should.With the title of "Exiled Immortal" and being able to write good articles, naturally people everywhere ask him to write articles and give him a lot of money.Naturally, he dared to say such big words as "the money will come back after all the money is gone".

There is a phenomenon worthy of attention: all materials about Li Bai's legendary life experience come from the same channel - Li Bai's dictation.Li Bai is his manager and press spokesman, and all the news is released by himself.He can say whatever he likes, and he can say whatever is beneficial to him.He said that he was a descendant of Li Hao, Wuzhao King of Beiliang, that he was a Taibai Jinxing descended to earth, and that He Zhizhang called him an "exile immortal", which was nothing more than self-promotion.