Chapter 80 Chapter Thirty-Third

It might not be too much to say that Zhang Xianzhong is a murderer.Zhang Xianzhong himself claimed and prided himself on this. Zhang Xianzhong must sometimes be puzzled by the uncontrollable bloodthirsty desire that often surges in his heart, so he can only guess based on his own knowledge that he has the mission of "receiving people".During the period when Gucheng was in charge, he ordered someone to write an inscription for the newly built Guandi Temple in Shangjin County, Hubei Province, which read: Burning and slaughtering good people is not what one's heart desires, but is compelled by God's will.It is also known that cohabitation leads the soil, Kaizhou Kaixian, there is a dry law.But it's God's will, I can't help it.Just like Huang Chao's past events, there are many calamities, so there is nothing to do.

This explanation has a strong cultural background.Chinese people usually think that those heroes in troubled times are "born in response to disasters", and they are commissioners sent by heaven to collect people.For example, the story that every Chinese is familiar with begins with "Hong Taiwei mistakenly escapes the demon", saying that the heroes of the Water Margin are a group of demons locked underground, and they are accidentally released by Hong Taiwei. However, Zhang Xianzhong is the only one who has counted the heroes in Chinese history who frankly declared that he had the mission of "receiving people from the lower realms" and practiced it himself.

If living today, Zhang Xianzhong would be the best sample for psychologists to analyze "antisocial personality disorder".He behaved badly during his studies, couldn't maintain a long-term job as an adult, couldn't abide by social order, acted unplanned, impulsive, the intensity of his revenge was out of proportion to the provocation he received, his temperament was abnormal and intelligent, and his cognition had no obstacles, these Typical symptoms are very obvious. In particular, in the forty-one years of his life, there was little evidence of his love and compassion.Although he ruled the roost for a lifetime, in his eyes, the world is hopeless, and his views on life are extremely pessimistic.

The missionary was merciful, and couldn't bear to see so many innocent people die under Zhang's knife, and he begged Zhang desperately.But Zhang Xianzhong said: "I kill Ruo, and I actually save Ruo from suffering in the world. Even though I kill him, I really love him." This sentence sounds a bit mysterious, revealing Zhang Xianzhong's gray or even black outlook on life.This outlook on life is also confirmed in his famous "Monument of Seven Killings": Heaven gives everything to man, and man has nothing to give to God.The ghosts and gods are clear, and they think about themselves.

The inscription translated into vernacular is: "Everything is born for man, but man's actions are unworthy of God, so he deserves to be killed. If you become a ghost, don't blame me." Every rebel leader has enough reasons to be hostile to this world.As a poor man at the bottom of the society, Zhang Xianzhong, of course, always has the deepest hatred for this unfair society.The problem with Zhang Xianzhong is that his hostility is not only aimed at the unfair part of society, but a series of setbacks in the process of growing up made him full of hatred for the whole society and the whole world.

The deep sense of guilt brought about by the long-term killing and destruction further undermined Zhang Xianzhong's inner integrity. He was unable to affirm himself, and turned his anger on the outside world more and more to gain psychological balance.At the end of the Ming Dynasty, black and white were reversed in black and white, and there were many eccentricities, and there was a hostility everywhere.This also provides evidence for Zhang Xianzhong's unique worldview. When Zhang Xianzhong rebelled in Gucheng, he once left some words on the wall for the Ming Dynasty, "My own rebellion was caused by the Prime Minister (Xiong Wencan)", and wrote the names of all the officials he had interacted with on the wall. How much to ask for bribes on a certain day of the month.In Zhang Xianzhong's eyes, people in this world are corrupt, no official is not corrupt, no one is evil, and everyone should be killed.

Two missionaries once introduced the canons and precepts of Catholicism to Zhang. Zhang Xianzhong was very surprised by the saint of the precepts of the Catholic Church: "This law is so precise and detailed, it manages people's conscience, and sincerity is the only way. Therefore, the customs of various European countries Pure beauty actually comes from this sacred law. However, such laws are of no benefit to the people of Sichuan, who are obsessed with evil. They would rather follow my sword than follow the holy order. Therefore, I am ordered by the Lord of Heaven and Earth to die. Destroy this kind of monk party and the wicked people in the world.'”

A striking phenomenon in the peasant uprising army at the end of the Ming Dynasty was that the two major uprising leaders, Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong, had no descendants.Li Zicheng was more specific to his two wives, but neither of these two women had children, and they eloped with others one after another.Zhang Xianzhong did not seem to have loved any woman, and the women around him were often killed after staying with him for a few nights.Moreover, Zhang Xianzhong has an incomprehensible hatred for beautiful women, and is always particularly interested in torturing them. In the more reliable historical materials, there is no evidence that Zhang Xianzhong had any children, only that he has adopted many adopted sons.Perhaps it would not be unreasonable to speculate that the two leaders had sexual problems.In the era of "there are three kinds of unfilial piety, and having no descendants is the greatest", the frustration brought by this fact is hard for people today to understand.This may be an important factor that strengthened Zhang Xianzhong's world-weary sentiment.

Destroying the world has been his only source of joy for many years.Manipulating the lives of others is an important way for him to feel the value of his own existence.Besides, he doesn't know what the meaning of his existence is. Before entering Sichuan, there were many records about Zhang Xianzhong's moodiness.When he arrived in Hanzhou, many people "creeped on the left side of the road" to welcome him.Zhang Xianzhong was very happy, so he gave everyone a piece of ingot.When he returned to Xindu, some people also came to the side of the road to greet him early, but Zhang Xianzhong was furious: "Do you want Lao Tzu's ingot?" He broke off the thick branches on the roadside and beat the crowd, injuring several people on the spot .

Just as the German scholar Fromm said, "(Sadism) is an act of changing the sense of impotence into a sense of omnipotence. It is the religion of the psychologically disabled." "To control another life absolutely is to turn this Life becomes one's own thing, one's own property, and oneself becomes the god of this thing." Zhang Xianzhong's moodiness undoubtedly implies the calmness and complacency of being able to decide the fate of others at will.For a person who cannot find joy in loving, in building the world, this feeling is very important.The fate of tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of people is in their own hands, and they can be manipulated at will with absolute freedom. Isn't what I am playing the role of God in the world?Is there a more intoxicating role than this?

In "The Destructive Anatomy of Man," Fromm analyzed the sadist's heart and said: "They not only hate their enemies, they hate life." "For any living person, living thing, he has no feeling at all." Relevance and empathy.” We can clearly see this lack of sympathy in Zhang Xianzhong.He never regrets his killing behavior. In his view, killing is his responsibility, and the demon controlling his heart is God's will.He often said: "Man's life depends on me, and my life depends on heaven. There are roads in all directions, and disaster is inevitable."