Chapter 26 Chapter 6: A Dream in Taoyuan

Almost all historical events and figures that are concerned by later generations generally have three images: historical images, literary images, and folk images.Historical images are created by official history records or research by historians, literary images are created by novels or dramas, and folk images are in the minds of ordinary people. There are also three ways to read, understand and judge history: historical opinion, era opinion, and personal opinion.Those who stand on the standpoint of the ancients are historical opinions, those who stand on the standpoint of today are the opinions of the times, and those who stand on their own stand are personal opinions.

The Three Kingdoms is where the three images and the three opinions converge. This is of course thanks to Luo Guanzhong.It is precisely because of him that this period of history, which was not very important at first, is well known to almost everyone in the Greater China cultural circle, although what most people know is not a historical image. The question is: why? One of the reasons is that its literary value is not low.The number of idioms and allusions created alone is a must.But more importantly, this novel not only has a value orientation, but also its values ​​have been recognized by the government and the people for a long time, which is why word of mouth lasts for a long time.

So, what are the values? Loyalty. This is throughout.In fact, just as the tendency of "respect Liu and demote Cao", its soul is "promoting loyalty".Therefore, its first time was not Dong Zhuo's entry into Beijing, but Taoyuan's sworn brotherhood.It is precisely because of this careful and deliberate arrangement that history has become another way. What's it like? The line struggle between Yuan Shao and Cao Cao was downplayed, and the power struggle between Liu Bei and Cao Cao became a moral struggle between loyalty and treachery; Sun Quan, who played a decisive role, was eclipsed, while Guan Yu, who was not so important, shined.

Is Guan Yu not too important? Yes, at least not critically.The really important figures should have changed the historical trend and trend, such as Dong Zhuo who ruined the Eastern Han Dynasty, Yuan Shao who took the lead in separatist regime, and Sun Quan who countered the Central Plains.Looking at it this way, Guan Yu is far less important than Lu Meng, who won Jingzhou, and Lu Xun, who defeated Liu Bei. However, Guan Yu was admired even more than Zhuge Liang in later generations.He became a god in the Yuan Dynasty, and later became a saint and a Buddha, known as "Wu Shengren" and "Gaitian Ancient Buddha".This is obviously not because of his martial arts, but because of his loyalty.Riding alone for thousands of miles is his loyalty, and letting Cao Cao go during the Battle of Chibi is his righteousness.

Guan Yu is the model, banner and example of loyalty. This is also thanks to Luo Guanzhong. In fact, when Guan Yu left Cao Cao, Cao Cao respected his choice and ordered not to block the pursuit; later, when he was defeated in Chibi, Cao Cao never encountered Guan Yu at all.Many touching stories and heroic deeds of Guan Yu, including "Warming Wine and Killing Huaxiong", all depend on Luo Guanzhong's brilliant writing. Even Guan Yu's capture and surrender was justified: he couldn't leave his sworn brother, captured sister-in-law and suffering emperor alone to go to the death festival alone.Of course, the conditions were also explained by Luo Guanzhong: surrender to Han but not to surrender to Cao.

This is really full of loopholes. What is "surrender Han but not Cao"?Could it be that Liu Bei and his gang were originally "anti-government armed forces" against the Han, but now they have decided to surrender to the Han Empire?The other two things are equally problematic: it is unrighteous to Cao Cao to pass five passes and kill six generals, and it is disloyal to Liu Bei to let Cao Cao go by Hua Rongdao. Can these stories and rhetoric compiled by Luo Guanzhong be believed? In fact, there are too many flaws, such as "Three Qi Zhou Yu" is absolutely impossible, because Zhou Yu never plotted against Zhuge Liang.What's more, Zhou Yu is so elegant and elegant, how could he be pissed off by others?Zhuge Liang is upright and upright, how can he still speak frivolously after killing his allies?

That's right, Zhou Yu advocated guarding against Liu Bei, but that was after the Battle of Chibi, how could he repeatedly frame Zhuge Liang before the battle?Similarly, Zhuge Liang is not a treacherous villain, so how could he gloat and say "Zhou Lang's clever plan to secure the world, he lost his wife and lost his army"?This kind of taste and style is really unflattering. No wonder Mr. Hu Shi wanted to denounce it as "poor Confucianism". It is not surprising that there is such a vulgar Confucianism in the world, but the strange thing is that Chinese people do not think it wrong, but respect it;Why?

To realize the dream. Chinese people in traditional society have always had dreams.The first one is called "Dream of Great Harmony", which means returning to the tribal era.The second one is called "Dream of Xiaokang", which is to return to the era of Bangguo.Neither of these two dreams could be realized, so I began to dream of "governing the world".This is the "Chinese dream" of the imperial age. The dream of governing the world also includes three contents.The first is to hope that there will be a good emperor who is kind and wise. This is the "Sage King's Dream".The second is to hope that officials at all levels are clean and honest. This is the "dream of honest officials".If neither the sage king nor the upright officials can be counted on, I hope that someone will help me when I see injustice. This is the "chivalrous man's dream".

A holy king, an upright official, and a knight-errant are the thousand-year dreams of the Chinese people. Luo Guanzhong has helped us realize these three dreams.The sage is Liu Bei, the upright official is Zhuge Liang, and the chivalrous men are Guan Yu and Zhang Fei.The three dreams and the three representatives are all in the Liu Bei Group. How can it not be popular to respect Liu and demote Cao? As for the truth of history, no one pays attention. In fact, the created literary images, to a large extent, originally came from the folks, and then spread widely among the folks, which intensified.The concerted efforts of the two forces have made this period of history farther and farther away from its true colors.

This is not surprising.After all, governing the world is the yearning of all people, and loyalty is the core value.As an agricultural nation, or in other words, as a non-commercial nation, we have no spirit of contract, no concept of the rule of law, and no sense of citizenship.As a result, there are only monarchs and ministers, father and son, Gangchang ethics, and loyalty in the world. Loyalty, as the core value, also came into being. It is undeniable that there is a beautiful vision and good motivation in it: loyalty is used to regulate oneself, and righteousness is used to regulate others.If I am loyal and you are loyal, order will be maintained, relationships will be maintained, and the world will be peaceful.

This is a "Taoyuan Dream". However, loyalty as a core value is very suspicious.In fact, it is full of contradictions and paradoxes inside.For example, an upright official must be loyal, a knight must be righteous, what about a sage?Whether it is loyalty or righteousness, it is not suitable for him. In this way, shouldn't the emperor be disloyal and unrighteous? It is not easy to be a king, but it is also difficult to be a minister.For example, if Zhang Liao wanted to be loyal to Cao Cao, he had no choice but to be unrighteous to Guan Yu and truthfully report Guan Yu's intention to leave.Guan Yu wanted to be righteous to Cao Cao, but he had no choice but to be unfaithful to Liu Bei.You know, when he killed Yuan Shao's general Yan Liang, Liu Beike was living with Yuan Shao. However, if you don't kill Yan Liang, you can't repay Cao Cao's great kindness, and you can't return to Liu Bei with a clear conscience. Isn't Guan Yu in a dilemma? Fortunately, Guan Yu gained full understanding and sympathy.The only thing we can't figure out is: Why are Guan Yu's Yi Cao, Anti Cao, Jiang Cao, Bie Cao, and Fang Cao all loyal, but it would be unrighteous to change to Lu Bu? Unfortunately, no one answered, and no one asked. Those who promoted loyalty left Maicheng: Liu Bei, who represented the dream of a wise king, was "thick and thick and fake", Zhuge Liang, who represented the dream of an upright official, was "many wise but close to demons", and Guan Yu, who represented the dream of a knight, both surrendered and let the enemy go . Has Mr. Luo Guanzhong thought about this? Maybe not.Because what he expressed was their opinion of the times. Times are different.The old tune has been sung, and the art of concealment and deception can also be ended.What we need to establish is a new outlook on society, morality, history and core values, otherwise we cannot achieve the great rejuvenation of the nation. This can only be accomplished through reform and opening up, market economy and legal system construction.You can call a curtain call, and you can wake up from your dream as a sworn brother in Taoyuan. Now, let's go back to history.