Chapter 55 4. Xiang Yu and Achilles' heels

Xiang Yu died, and the tragic hero finally called a curtain call to history.However, through the ages, how many people are still crying for Xiang Yu's suicide, and even many literati have made various imaginations and assumptions about why Xiang Yu refused to cross Jiangdong.Du Mu, a great poet in the late Tang Dynasty who wrote the biography of Afang Palace in the Qin Dynasty, wrote a poem for it with infinite emotion: Du Mu believes that victory or defeat is a common thing for military strategists, as long as Xiang Yu bears the burden of humiliation and makes a comeback, then everything is possible in the future.However, Wang Anshi of the Song Dynasty made a different voice from Du Mu:

Wang Anshi believes that it is important to bear the burden of humiliation, but Xiang Yu's situation is gone and the people's hearts are lost. Even if Xiang Yu tries to make a comeback, no one will respond, and he will only be reduced to a failure in the end. According to modern novel theory, there are two kinds of characters, one is flat and the other is round.If Du Mu and Wang Anshi only understand and observe Xiang Yu from the perspective of a politician, in the words of a modern novelist, it is that they have underestimated Xiang Yu.We know that any hero is a human being first and a hero second.Since we are human beings, we always have uniqueness and limitations, the most obvious of which are reflected in personal thoughts and emotions.

Because of this, some people linked Xiang Yu's death with Yu Ji.In Chinese history, there has never been a shortage of heroes who want beauty but not country. Moreover, Xiang Yu is such a sentimental man who attaches great importance to affection and both hardness and softness. It seems reasonable to commit suicide to die for love. Poppies are important, but love is desperate.But I personally think that there are multiple factors in Xiang Yu's tragedy, but Xiang Yu's aristocratic blood and cultural destiny are the most important reasons. Let's take a look at Xiang Yu's family history first.The Xiang family's fortune was due to the fact that Xiang Yu's ancestors were the generals of the Chu State for generations, and they were entrusted to Xiangdi, so they were named Xiang.From the Xiang family to Xiang Yan's generation, they became even more prestigious.Xiang Yan not only made great contributions to the state of Chu, but even defended the honor of Xiang's ancestors with her family and life. This honor is that she would rather die on the glorious battlefield than be a failed slave!

As a result, the heroism of the Xiang family was passed down from generation to generation. It was like a relay race. Xiang Liang took over from Xiang Yan, and Xiang Yu took over from Xiang Liang.Therefore, Xiang Yu has been unable to get rid of the influence of his family and ancestors since he was born. His only mission in life is to defend the honor and interests of the Xiang family for generations. Xiang Yu's natural aristocratic heroism is like tigers, leopards and lions in the animal world. This inner spirit makes them disdain to be companions with dogs and sheep.This is because human reproduction is like animal breeding. If you want to keep the honor of the family forever, the offspring of tigers and leopards must be tigers and leopards. Not only can they not become dogs and sheep, they will even regard dogs and sheep as the most hated s things.

Fortunately, Xiang Yu inherited the excellent tradition of the Haw Par family.What's even more frightening is that Xiang Yu also pushed the glorious history of the Hubao family to its peak.Once, he roared and the world trembled; once, he looked at the world at a glance; once, he was the biggest king in the world. For Xiang Yu, fighting for the honor of the family is the ancestral motto, and it is a dream to return home with glory and prosperity.Therefore, when the final failure collapsed mercilessly like a landslide, instead of saying that he had no face to see Jiangdong's elders, it was better to say that he had no face to see Xiang's ancestors!He had to die to apologize to Xiang's ancestors, and to keep Xiang's heroic aristocratic heroism by committing suicide!

From this point of view, Xiang Yu's suicide is both a relief and a fate.So he found a very appropriate excuse for his death in the end - it was God who was going to kill me, and it was not a crime of war! It's a pity that when Sima Qian heard Xiang Yu's words, he thought it was a futile whitewash for himself before his death.In my opinion, this is not whitewashing or an excuse, but Xiang Yu's deep fear of fate and his profound experience of fate in life.Because, from the moment he was born, fate injected the seed of tragedy into his body, that is, a flawed character, and character determines fate, so he can only let his character control his own destiny like a devil, and finally go to destroy!

Xiang Yu's fate is like the reappearance of the fate of Achilles in ancient Greek mythology.Achilles is the son of the sea goddess in Greek mythology. When he was just born, the god told his mother that Achilles must die on the glorious battlefield. When the sea goddess heard the news, she was like a thunderbolt, because she loved her son so much.But one day he will leave her, so what should he do?The goddess of the sea found a way to grab Achilles' heels and soak them in the divine water, so that he would have an invulnerable body, so that he would not be killed on the battlefield!

When Achilles grew up, he really became a brave and invincible war hero.He participated in the famous Trojan War in ancient Greece, and defended the honor and dignity of the ancient Greek nation all-powerful and unstoppable.However, when the Trojan War was at a critical moment, God once again told his mother that he was about to be killed in the war. Therefore, the goddess of the sea advised Achilles to restrain himself, no matter who came to challenge him, he could not go out, and he had to wait until she got back the armor before going into battle.But Achilles finally couldn't stand the temptation and went to the battlefield, and was shot in the heel by an arrow from Apollo, the sun god, and died on the spot.

The reason why Achilles was shot to death was because the goddess of the sea grabbed his heels and stood upside down to soak in the magic water, but she forgot to soak this place alone, so it became his death spot.This myth tells us that no matter how powerful an individual is, no matter how perfect the protection you take, you cannot escape the sanction of fate.And fate punishes individuals, not a natural disaster, but implanting weaknesses into the body, allowing it to self-destruct. This is the most perfect means for fate to punish human beings in the legend, and because of this, Achilles' heel has become synonymous with a fatal weakness in individual human beings.From this perspective, Xiang Yu's failure should not only be attributed to fate, but also to himself.His biggest enemy is not the princes, but himself, but it is a pity that he was defeated by himself.

The weapon that defeated Xiang Yu himself was violence, and his superstitious belief in violence made him fall into a state of madness.He believed that violence could wipe out all black forces and establish a new era.But since he set a big fire in Xianyang, he was wrong. He doesn't know that in this world, violence is just a tool coated with poison, not an absolute and universal survival skill.He also doesn't know that in this world, there is one thing more effective than violence, and that is humanity.Violence without humanity is self-destructive violence. Digging someone else's grave is actually digging one's own grave.

Everything is predestined, the tomb where Xiang Yu is buried is in Gucheng. Gucheng, which is today's Dong'e Town in the southwest of Pingyin County, Shandong Province.After Xiang Yu committed suicide, all the Western Chu Kingdoms surrendered, leaving only the Lu Kingdom to continue to resist.The State of Lu is the hometown of Confucius, the sage of Confucius. The reason why the State of Lu did not surrender was because Xiang Yu was once named Duke of Lu by King Huai of Chu. Liu Bang became angry.This is really a kingdom that is so pedantic that it can't be said. If they don't teach them a lesson, they really don't know how to write dead characters.So Liu Bang dispatched troops and generals to prepare to slaughter the city. However, when Liu Bangbing approached the city, he heard the sound of music and reading from the city.This scene is too shocking. A country as small as an egg may be smashed to pieces as long as it is lightly hit by a stone.But they knew this, but why did they still maintain such a calm and elegant posture in front of the enemy? Liu Bang finally understood that this is the legendary loyal emperor, the weapon he will use to rule the world in the future.An inexplicable emotion surged into Liu Bang's heart. He immediately canceled his plan to attack Lu, but asked people to hang up Xiang Yu's head, and told them that Xiang Yu was dead, and the world would change his surname to Liu from now on! The State of Lu confirmed that Xiang Yu was dead, so he had to surrender in Kaesong. This scene in Lu State is like the last melancholy twilight song in the evening, slowly drawing the curtain down for history.In the last song, Liu Bang buried Xiang Yu with the ceremony of Duke Lu, presided over the ceremony himself, and wept aloud. For Liu Bang, at this moment, tears are the best way to vent.For eight full years, the world was in chaos, the princes were like knives, the common people were like grass, and the melee of the princes was like a knife cutting the grass. From east to west, from north to south, the magnificent rivers and mountains are now only left with this heart-wrenching devastation. Cry, cry, if you don't experience darkness, how can you look forward to the dawn.After this night, our tomorrow will usher in a new dynasty, her name is: Han Dynasty! !