Chapter 10 Chapter Ten: The Historical Truth of "Zhao's Orphan"

The story of "Zhao's Orphan" is well-known to those who love opera. This tragic and moving story has been performed on the stage of Peking Opera, Hebei Bangzi, Henan Opera, Yue Opera and other types of operas. It was Ji Junxiang, a playwright of the Yuan Dynasty, who first put "The Orphan of Zhao" on the stage. This play was later adapted by the great French writer Voltaire into "The Orphan of China" and staged in Europe, causing a great sensation throughout the West. Ji Junxiang's Zaju "The Orphan of the Zhao Family" is based on "Zhao Shijia" in Sima Qian's "Historical Records". The relevant text is not long, with a total of three paragraphs. Dramas are similar in plot.The author excerpts here:

In the third year of Jin Jinggong, the doctor Tu Anjia wanted to kill the Zhao family... Tu Anjia first favored Linggong, and as for Jinggong and Jia was a Sikou, he would make trouble. He was the thief of Linggong and even Zhao. Dun, Huang told the generals, "Even though Dun doesn't know about him, he is still the leader of the bandits. If a minister kills the king, and his descendants are in court, why should he be punished? Please punish him." Han Jue said: "Duke Ling met a thief, and Zhao Dun was outside. My former ruler thought he was innocent, so he did not punish him. Now all the rulers are going to punish the latter, because it is not the intention of the former ruler, but now they are punishing them arbitrarily. Reckless punishment is called chaos. The minister has a big event but the ruler does not hear about it, and there is no ruler." Tu An Jia didn't listen.Han Jue reported Zhao Shuoqu's death.Shuo refused, saying: "The son will never stop Zhao Si, and Shuo will not hate death." Han Jue promised that he would not be sick.Jia did not ask, but attacked the Zhao family with all the generals in the lower palace, killing Zhao Shuo, Zhao Tong, Zhao Kuo, and Zhao Yingqi, and all of them wiped out their clans.

Zhao Shuo's wife Cheng Gongsister (named Princess Zhuang Ji in Yuan Zaju), had a posthumous abdomen, and went into hiding in the palace.Zhao Shuo's guest called Gongsun Chujiu, and Chujiu called Shuo's friend Cheng Ying and said, "Isn't Hu dead?" Nothing, but Shuo's wife was spared and gave birth to a boy.Tu'an Jia heard about it and asked it in the palace.The lady put her son in the chest, and wished: "Zhao Zong will be destroyed, if the name is; if it is not destroyed, if there is no sound." When he asked, the son was silent.Now that he was gone, Cheng Ying said to Gongsun Chujiu, "I can't get it now, but I will have to get it again later, what can I do?" Gongsun Chujiu said, "Which is harder, being alone or dying?" Cheng Ying said: "Death is easy, but being alone is hard. Er." Gongsun Chujiu said: "The ancestors of the Zhao family met Zihou, and Ziqiang made it difficult for him, and I made it easy for him. Please die first." It is the two who seek to take the baby of another person (in the Yuan Zaju, it is Cheng Ying for the sake of it. He sacrificed his newborn son to save the orphan of the Zhao family), Yi Yiwenbao, and hid in the mountains.When Cheng Ying came out, he absurdly called the generals and said, "You are unworthy, so you can't set up Zhao Gu. If anyone can give me a daughter, I will tell the Zhao family how lonely you are."Chujiu said: "Cheng Ying, a villain! In the past, I couldn't die when I went to the palace. He tried to hide Zhao's orphan with me, and now he sells me. Even if he can't stand up, he can bear to sell it!" Bao'er called out: "God Oh my god! What is the crime of the orphan of the Zhao family? Please live, and kill Chujiu alone." The generals refused to allow it, so they killed Chujiu and the orphan.The generals thought Liang, the orphan of the Zhao family, was dead, and they were all happy.However, the Zhao family was really alone, but Cheng Ying died and hid in the mountains together.

After living for fifteen years, Jin Jinggong was ill, and he was divined, and those who failed after the great cause were evil.Jing Gong asked Han Jue, Jue knew that Zhao Gu was here, and he said: "After the great cause, the one who sacrificed in the Jin Dynasty, is it the Zhao family? All the husbands who descended from Zhongyan are all Ying. Dawu, and the emperor of Zhou, all have bright virtues. The next one is Youli Wudao, and the uncle took Zhou Shijin, who was the king and Wenhou at that time, and as for Chenggong, he has made meritorious deeds in the world, but he has never been sacrificed. Now my king alone destroys Zhao Zong, and the people of the country mourn it , so see the tortoise strategy. Only the king plans it." Jinggong asked: "Does Zhao still have descendants?" Han Jue told the truth.So Jing Gong conspired with Han Jue to set up Orphan Zhao, and summoned him to hide in the palace.The generals came to inquire about illnesses, and Jinggong saw Zhao Gu because of Han Jue's sternness and threatened the generals.Zhao Gu's name is Wu.The generals had no choice but to say: "In the past, the difficulty of going to the palace was caused by Tu'anjia, and he ordered the emperor's order and ordered the ministers. Otherwise, who would dare to make it difficult! The disease of the humble monarch, the ministers are solid and please set up the queen of Zhao Now you have a destiny, and this is the wish of your ministers." So Zhao Wu and Cheng Yinghuang were summoned to worship the generals, and then they joined Cheng Ying and Zhao Wu to attack Tu Anjia and destroy his clan.Rehabilitation is the same as Zhao Wutianyi.

For thousands of years, the story of "Zhao's Orphan" has shaken the hearts of generations of Chinese people. People sympathize with the benevolent and loving people of Zhao Dun's family, which was destroyed, and hate Tu Anjia, who is sinister and vicious, and has a heart like a snake. People are moved by Gongsun Chujiu Cheng Ying sacrificed his life for righteousness, Cheng Ying endured humiliation, he was relieved that Zhuang Ji's mother and son knew each other, and the orphan killed his enemy, but he never thought that this story that moved him so deeply and made a mess was actually just a folklore that Sima Qian mistakenly regarded as real history.

So, what is the historical truth of "Orphan of Zhao"?It starts with Zaofu, the ancestor of the Zhao family. Zao Fu is a coachman who is favored by King Mu of Zhou, just like a special car driver who can please the leader now.King Mu of Zhou liked zaofu so much that he sealed him in Zhaocheng. This is the origin of the Zhao family in the surname Ying.Zaofu’s grandnephew Zhao Feizi was entrusted to Quanqiu for his meritorious service. His descendants established the State of Qin, and Zhao Shu, the descendant of Zaofu’s grandson, brought him into Jin as an official. Among the five celebrities who followed Chong'er, son of Duke Xian of Jin in the early years (that is, Duke Wen of Jin, one of the "Five Overlords of the Spring and Autumn Period") in the early years, one was named Zhao Shuai (same as "Cui") after his uncle Dai. In exile for nineteen years, he never left him and was Chong'er's minister.

After Chong'er returned to the country and took the position of Jinjun, Zhao Shuai held important positions all the time, from the post-official to one of the six ministers and the ruling doctor, he can be said to be under one person and above ten thousand people.Although Zhao Shuai held a high position, he was very low-key in his dealings with others. He was admirable and humble, and Jia Ji praised him as "the day of the winter solstice". When Zhao Shuai took refuge with Chong'er in Zhai State, he married Shu Kai, a woman of the local Rong nationality, and gave birth to a son, named Zhao Dun.Later, Zhao Shuai left Zhai State with Chonger, leaving Zhao Dun's mother and son there.After Chong'er came to the throne, Zhao Shuai did not forget the old love, and brought Zhao Dun's mother and son to Jiangcheng, the capital of Jin. Because Zhao Dunxian was able to make him the eldest son, Zhao Ji, the daughter of Duke Wen of Jin, gave birth to Zhao Tong, Zhao Kuo, Zhao Tong, and Zhao Ji. Yingqi respects Zhao Dun.

Zhao Shuai's reputation and political achievements have created a good political environment and competitive capital for Zhao Dun. In 622 BC, Zhao Shuan passed away, and Zhao Dun succeeded him as the ruling doctor. Marshal of the Chinese army, the young Zhao Dun became the first Zhengqing in the history of Jin to combine military and political powers. In this year, Duke Xiang of Jin passed away unfortunately, and Zhao Dun became the de facto leader of the Jin State, and began to rule the Jin State for 20 years. After the death of Duke Xiang of Jin, Zhao Dun immediately sent someone to the state of Qin to meet Duke Xiang's younger brother, son Yong. After hearing this, Duke Xiang's wife Mu Ying brought her young prince Yigao to Zhao Dun's house to cry, and Zhao Dun had no choice but to Li Yigao became the king, this is Jin Linggong.

On the surface, Zhao Dun co-administered state affairs with Que Que and Xun Lin's father in the court, but in fact he acted alone, coerced the emperor and ministers, and joined forces with the Que family to exclude the Xun family.Under his high-pressure policy, the officials of Jin State dared to be angry but did not dare to speak out.However, Zhao Dun was good to the common people, so the masses have always been a powerful force to support him. From this point of view, he is somewhat like Cao Cao of later generations. After Jin Linggong grew up, he became more and more dissatisfied with his position dominated by others, and even sent someone to assassinate Zhao Dun. Zhao Dun had no choice but to escape from the Jin capital. Before he left Jin, his brothers Zhao Chuan actually killed Linggong on a whim.After Zhao Dun came back, although he knew that Duke Ling had been killed by Zhao Chuan, he did not allow Zhao Chuan to pay for the crime with his life. The official historian Dong Hu took up a pen angrily and wrote "Zhao Dun killed his king".

Before long, Zhao Dun made his son Hei Hip the Marquis of Jin, which is Duke Cheng of Jin.On the grounds that there were no male clans in Jin, Zhao Dun set up a system of male clan officials, Yu Zi, and male line in the state of Jin, and their positions were mainly held by the children of the Qing family.The Duke clan of the Jin State is getting weaker and the Qing clan is getting stronger. This is almost a fatal blow to the monarchy of the Jin Kingdom. The split of the Jin Kingdom has been scheduled in advance. At that time, King Zhuang of Chu, one of the "Five Overlords of the Spring and Autumn Period", continued to go north to challenge the hegemony of Jin.The state of Qin also repeatedly attacked the rear of the state of Jin due to the defeat of Xiaoshan. Zhao Dun's party's ruling philosophy of attacking and rejecting dissidents caused internal conflicts in the state of Jin, and Wenxiang's hegemony was on the verge of collapse.In 601 BC, Zhao Dun passed away, and what he left behind was the disintegrated state of Jin and its disintegrated hegemony.

After Zhao Dun died, his son Zhao Shuo inherited the title.In the third year of Jin Jinggong, Zhao Shuo, as a general of Jin State, led his troops to rescue Zheng State, and fought a battle with King Zhuang of Chu. Because of this war, Zhao Shuo married Zhao Zhuangji, the sister of Jin Chenggong, as his wife. In 587 BC, Zhao Shuoying died young, and Zhao Zhuangji, who couldn't bear the loneliness, soon hooked up with Zhao Dun's half-brother, Zhao Yingqi, who was also Zhao Shuo's younger uncle.Although this kind of incest was not uncommon in the Spring and Autumn Period, Zhao Kuo and Zhao Tong, Zhao Yingqi's two brothers, couldn't stand it anymore. They thought that Zhao Yingqi had lost face to the Zhao family, so they united to bring him He was exiled to the state of Qi.Before leaving, Zhao Yingqi said: "With me here, even though Luan Shu is in power, he doesn't dare to do anything to the Zhao family. Once I leave, I'm afraid it will be troublesome. Besides, everyone has their own abilities, and I am a bit lustful." , so what if you bear with it?" Zhao Zhuangji, who lost her lover, always wanted to take revenge on Zhao Tong and Zhao Kuo. She was so dazzled by anger that she even forgot that she was also the daughter-in-law of the Zhao family.Zhao Zhuangji teamed up with the Luan and Que families who had grudges against the Zhao family to deal with the Zhao family. They took turns to frame Zhao Tong and Zhao Kuo for rebellion in front of Jin Jinggong, and finally Jin Jinggong believed it and killed Zhao Tong and Zhao Kuo.Because of Zhao Dun's dictatorship, most of the officials in the state of Jin were dissatisfied with the Zhao family, so most of them remained neutral. After killing Zhao Tong and Zhao Kuo, Zhao Zhuangji suddenly realized a problem. Now, only her son Zhao Wu is left in the Zhao family, and the power of Luan and Que is growing. Shoot yourself in the foot?After waking up from the dream, Zhao Zhuangji, who understood, hurriedly took Zhao Wu into the palace of King Jin to protect her from being killed by Luan and Que. After Jin Jinggong killed Zhao Tong brothers, he wanted to reward the Zhao family's land to the Qixi family. At this time, someone finally stood up to speak for the Zhao family. He was the new ruling doctor Han Jue. Han Jue said: " Zhao Shuai, Zhao Dun, and Zhao Shuo of the Zhao family all made great contributions to the country, but they have no descendants and lost their land. How will the people who came after this think? How can they be willing to be loyal to the country?" So, The Zhao family's land was left behind, and later it was sealed back to Zhao Wu, and the Zhao family was revived.Han Jue's words saved the Zhao family, and finally achieved the Warring States Period. He naturally became a main character in the legendary version of "The Orphan of the Zhao Family". Probably the people of the Jin state are tired of the faint, weak and incapable ruler of the state of Jin, and fall in love with the three great officials of Han, Zhao, and Wei who are rising and winning the hearts of the people. Therefore, people have deduced that the Jin king is incompetent, traitors take power, and loyal officials are killed. A marvelous story of righteous men saving orphans and orphans taking revenge. Four hundred years later, when Sima Qian, who visited famous mountains and great rivers and searched for historical anecdotes, came to the former capital of Jin, the real history of the "Orphan of the Zhao family" had been revealed by living figures such as Cheng Ying, Gongsun Chujiu, and Tu Anjia. In the end, he wrote this shocking but purely fictitious story into "Zhao Shijia" in the great "Historical Records". In fact, Cheng Ying's name happens to be a homophony of Cheng (full) baby (baby), and the murderous traitor's surname "Tu" seems to have revealed some clues of literary fiction, but he was deeply shocked by this story. People (including Sima Qian) subconsciously chose to believe and gave up doubt when they were moved.