The historical truth behind Zhao’s orphans
The four implied narrators interpret differently
— an interview with guocanjin, a representative writer of the historical interpretation school
Recently, our reporter interviewed Mr. guocanjin, a teacher of Henan University, a representative writer and essayist of the historical interpretation school, and asked him to tell us the historical truth behind Zhao’s orphans.
Reporter: in history, scholars have never stopped exploring and arguing about the authenticity of the Zhao orphan incident since Wang Chong in the Han Dynasty, Li Han’s mengqiu Ji in the Tang Dynasty, Liu Zhiji’s Shitong in the Song Dynasty, and Rong Zhai’s essays, a chronicle of learning difficulties, and Liang’s historical records in the Song Dynasty. Why is this period of history so complicated and confusing?
Guocanjin: at present, “Zhao’s orphans” is indeed a hot topic. Everyone is interested in discussing the authenticity of the Zhao’s orphan incident itself. On the surface, the emergence of this topic is directly related to the release of Chen Kaige’s version of Zhao’s orphan, but it is not always the case. In recent years, “Zhao orphans” has always been a hot topic, but the original “Zhao orphans fever” was mostly confined to the drama circle or the cultural circle, and now it has evolved into a popular topic. The debate itself, on the one hand, shows that this period of history has cultural content, and on the other hand, it shows that this period of history has its own entanglements.
Let’s not talk about the cultural content of the “Zhao orphan” story. Let’s first analyze why this period of history is so tangled.
In addition to the obvious reason that this period of history is long, there is also a potential reason that the source of the “Zhao orphan” story contains four implied narrators. The four narrators are divided into two groups. One group is the source group. They are the historians of Jin and Zhao respectively. Why do you say so? Because the story of “Zhao’s orphan” took place in the state of Jin, the historians of the state of Jin will record it; The “orphan of Zhao” was the ancestor of the state of Zhao. The trend of the “orphan of Zhao” story affected the state of Zhao, so the historians of the state of Zhao must also trace it. Each story is told separately, and the different positions determine the different perspectives of the historians of Jin and Zhao, which also doomed the story of Zhao’s orphans to be a muddle headed account from the source. But let us not forget that there is another group of narrators, who are actually the narrators. They are the authors of Zuo Zhuan and Shiji. The author of Zuo Zhuan lived in the spring and Autumn period, during which the state of Zhao had not yet been established. Therefore, the author of Zuo Zhuan could only contact the historical materials of the state of Jin. Therefore, his lens could only focus on the state of Jin. However, the author of historical records lived in the period of Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty. He could see not only the historical data of Jin, but also the historical data of Zhao. His perspective should be broader. All these determine that there will be great differences between them when they report. A story, involving two countries, is told by four mouths. It’s hard not to tangle!
Reporter: which do you think is more in line with historical facts, Zuozhuan or Shiji?
Guocanjin: regarding this issue, I think we should hold an open mind and have a diversified perspective. We should not artificially set Zuozhuan and Shiji against each other, thinking that either Zuozhuan is close to historical facts or Shiji is close to historical facts. Why can’t both be close to historical facts at the same time? History is a polyhedron. Zuozhuan and Shiji can only record one of them. Sometimes their angles coincide, and sometimes their angles are different. When their angles coincide, their records or narratives are similar; When their perspectives are different, their records or narratives will speak their own words. We can not because the facts described when the two perspectives are the same are accurate. When they have different perspectives, they must be wrong. We should cross reference Zuozhuan and Shiji, and regard the facts they provide as complementary materials, so as to draw our own conclusions. Most of the time, it is their differences that make it possible to provide more abundant information for future generations. Based on these richer information, it is possible to restore a scene closer to the historical reality.
Reporter: in Zuo Zhuan, Zhuangji was not the victim of this incident at all, but the initiator of this incident and the most direct culprit of the Zhao family’s extermination. What’s going on?
Guocanjin: that’s a long story. For the convenience of narration, we will start with the orphans of Zhao family. The orphan’s mother is Zhuangji and his father is zhaoshuo. According to the Zuo Zhuan, Zhao Shuo was a general of the state of Jin. He participated in the Jin Chu war in 597 BC. However, he died soon after. After his death, his wife, Zhuang Ji, had an affair with zhaoyingqi. Zhaoyingqi is zhaoshuo’s uncle. Therefore, Zhuangji and zhaoyingqi have a feeling of incest. The Zhao family belonged to the upper class in the state of Jin. When such a thing happened, everyone felt very ashamed. Zhao Kuo and Zhao Tong, the other two uncles of Zhao Shuo, couldn’t stand it anymore, so they rushed their brother and adulterer zhaoyingqi to the state of Qi.
Seeing that her lover zhaoyingqi was driven away by the troublemakers in the family, Zhuang Ji quit. She was overwhelmed with anger and was determined to vent this evil spirit. But who can stand up for her? She thought of Luan and Ying, who had a grudge against Zhao. Luan and Ying were aristocrats of Jin. Of course, they were willing to take advantage of this opportunity. Therefore, Zhuangji, Luan family, Ying family and others framed Zhao family for rebellion in front of Duke Jing of Jin. Jinggong believed it and killed the Zhao family, leaving only Zhuangji and her son Zhaowu. Zhao Wu’s father had already died. Now the whole family has been killed, so he has become a real orphan of the Zhao family. Therefore, it can be said that this is a bloody case caused by adultery. In this sense, Zhaowu’s mother is indeed the initiator.
Of course, we should not forget that this is the viewpoint of Zuozhuan.
Reporter: Why did the historical records not mention Zhuang Ji’s adultery and framing, but put all her guilt on tu’anju? Is there really tu’an Gu in history?
Guocanjin: we should pay attention to such a basic historical fact: after the disaster that the family was destroyed, the orphan of the Zhao family, that is, Zhao Wu, who later served as the Minister of the Jin State, realized the revival of the Zhao family in the Jin State. The Zhao family, together with the Zhi family, the Wei family and the Han family, became a famous force in the Jin State. When zhaoxiangzi, the great grandson of Zhaowu, was born, the three families of Zhao, Wei and Han divided into Jin and the state of Zhao was established. Therefore, Zhaowu can be called the most direct ancestor of the state of Zhao.
The ancients had a tradition of compiling history. Of course, Zhao also wanted to compile his own history. The Zhao family, who established the country, obviously has the absolute right to speak about their own history. Therefore, they will disclose some history in their history books and contribute their own exclusive materials. Of course, in this process, they will also provide another interpretation of history.
Zuozhuan was written early. It is generally believed that zuoqiuming, the author of Zuozhuan, was a native of the state of Lu in the spring and Autumn period. Since he lived in the spring and Autumn period, it is impossible for him to know much about the events after the “three divisions of Jin”. The “three divisions of Jin” is an important historical event and is considered to be the dividing line between the spring and Autumn period and the Warring States period. Therefore, it is impossible for the author of Zuo Zhuan to see the history compiled by the state of Zhao. He can only understand the history of the period of “Zhao orphans” through the historical records of the state of Jin. It is impossible for the Zhao family to have the right to speak in this period of history of the state of Jin. Therefore, the negative image of the Zhao family is inevitably strengthened. Therefore, we have seen the relatively negative image of the Zhao family in Zuo Zhuan – incest, arrogance and self blame… While Sima Qian lived in the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. As a Tai Shi Ling, he was able to access more and more detailed historical materials. Of course, we will also see that the descendants of the Zhao family have completely different interpretations of history. Therefore, he has the power to make his own judgment, decide his own choice, and on this basis, draw a different conclusion from Zuozhuan.
Reporter: in fact, Han Jue is the most critical figure in Zhao’s revival?
Guocanjin: compared with historical records, in Chen Kaige’s Zhao orphans, Han Jue was “operated on”. The biggest operation is the “downgraded use” of Han Jue. At present, there is still controversy about whether tu’anju is such a figure. Even if tu’anju exists in history, his official position cannot surpass Han Jue, let alone his superior. Because Han Jue is the Minister of Jin. To use an inappropriate metaphor, it is that Han Jue is directly under the leadership of the Central Committee and has a high political status. Therefore, it is impossible for him to be controlled by tu’an Jia, let alone the scene in Chen Kaige’s version of Zhao’s orphans – Han Jue is disfigured by tu’an Jia.
Han is an Ivy League in the political arena of Jin. Han Jue’s political career has been smooth sailing. His descendants established Korea.
Not only that, Han Jue also played a vital role in the process of Zhao’s Revival: Duke Jing of Jin was ill in his later years, and the result of divination was that Zhao’s soul was haunted. Han Jue took the opportunity to persuade Duke Jing of Jin to rehabilitate Zhao Xue. As a result, the orphans of the Zhao family were given high priority by Duke Jing of Jin, and the Zhao family once again established its position in the Jin State.
Reporter: there are different interpretations of Zhao’s orphans in different times. What do you think of this issue?
Guocanjin: the problem you are talking about is actually the acceptance history of Zhao’s orphans. Some times accept “righteousness”, some times accept “Chivalry”, some times accept “loyalty”, and some times accept “destiny”
The spring and Autumn period is a big time. People’s behavior and thinking mode should be very different from today’s. Normal behavior in that era would be considered unacceptable today. This is also the reason why Chen Kaige’s version of Zhao’s orphan made such a big adjustment to the story.
The orphans of the Zhao family are actually more of a literary image, which has different interpretations in different times. This is a normal phenomenon. Not to mention the legendary Zhao orphan, isn’t the image of Confucius changing with the times? Every era has the image of Confucius in the eyes of people of every era.
Perhaps the interpretation and acceptance of Zhao orphans in our time will be ridiculed and surpassed by future generations, but this is the destiny of history, and we have no way.