Later generations’ understanding of Zhang Fei is mostly derived from romance novels and dramas. If we want to say that Zhang Fei is truly recorded in history, it is not necessarily clear. Not only is it unclear, but there are many misunderstandings. For example, his true image and temperament are easily misled by the romance of the Three Kingdoms, and even his name is mostly unclear. So what is the true heroic character of Zhang Fei in history?
The name is irregular and the words are not smooth
The same thing that Zhang Feidi suffered from misleading is his most basic right – the right to name.
Confucius said, “if the name is not correct, the words will not be smooth.” To explain Zhang Fei, first of all, of course, we must find out what his real name is. The biography of Zhang Fei, Volume 36 of the annals of the Three Kingdoms, has accurate records: “Zhang Fei’s character is beneficial to morality, and he is also from Zhuozhou county. He is less in charge than Guan Yu.” This historical article tells us that Zhang Fei’s exact name is: Mingfei, with the word Yide. The benefit of “Yide” is the benefit of gain, benefit of income and benefit of interest. The ancients were well-known, and there were also words. Their uses were not the same. Names are used to distinguish from each other, to avoid confusion. The word, later known as the word, is mainly used to show politeness in social occasions. The general rule is: when addressing others, they should generally call their characters to show respect. When you call yourself, you should call yourself by name to show humility. For example, when Liu Bei mentioned Zhugeliang, he said, “there is Kongming in solitude, just as there is water in fish.” This can be seen in the biography of Zhugeliang, Volume 35 of the annals of the Three Kingdoms. However, Zhugeliang played “a teacher’s example” to the rear, which began with the words “Minister Liang Yan”, which can be seen in Volume 37 of selected works. Names and characters always have some kind of connection in meaning. Zhang Fei’s virtue means to increase his moral character. Continuously increasing morality will enable us to take off in the future. This is the embodiment of the prevalence of Confucianism at that time. It is completely closely related. At that time, it was very common for people to use the word “de” to take names, such as pound, pound Duke, Liu Xuande and Cao mengde. This is actually a reflection of the prevalence of Confucian ethics. However, Zhang Fei’s name was changed without authorization after thousands of years. Who is so brave? Luo Guanzhong, who wrote the romance of the Three Kingdoms. Luo Guanzhong probably thought that you Zhang Fei wanted to fly. How can you fly without wings? Look at your second brother Guan Yu. He has long feathered wings. You should also have wings! So he decided to change Zhang Fei’s handwriting. How to change it? Changed into wings, which means wings. Isn’t this a pair of wings with Guan Yu’s feathers? In this way, you two are both Liu Bei’s right arm and a pair of wings. Therefore, at the beginning of the romance of the Three Kingdoms, he said: “the surname is Zhang, the name is Fei, and the word is Yide.” As you will say, is this an accidental clerical error? The answer is No. Because Zhang Fei’s words mentioned many times in the book are “wings” of wings, it can be seen that they are not accidental, but intentional. Such a change not only destroyed the cultural gold content of Zhang Fei’s original name, but also spread fallacies from then on. I don’t know how many fans of the Three Kingdoms have been fooled. Today’s tourists, even very literate poets, go to Chengdu Wuhou Temple Museum and see the instruction board in front of the statue of Zhang Fei. According to the historical books, the word “Yide” is written. They also say that they are illiterate and write it wrong. There are two purposes to correct the name spread by Fallacies: first, to protect the long-term damaged name right for Zhang Fei and Zhang Yide, the parent official who once benefited one side in Sichuan; The second is to start with the most basic name and get to know the true heroic qualities of Zhang Fei.
Luo Guanzhong painted a snake and added feet, damaging Zhang Fei’s popularity
The second important thing that Zhang Fei suffered from misleading is popularity.
It was Luo Guanzhong who wrote the romance of the three kingdoms that damaged his popularity. So how did Luo Guanzhong damage his popularity? Let’s take a look at Zhang Fei’s story of “drinking off Changbanpo”, which is probably the most familiar and brilliant experience of Zhang Fei in the hearts of ordinary readers. So in this story, what wonderful performance does Zhang Fei have, and what content is distorted? According to the records in the biography of Zhang Fei, Volume 36 of the annals of the Three Kingdoms, in the 13th year of Jian’an (208) of Emperor Xian of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Zhang Fei followed Liu Bei and experienced a great test of life and death. In September of that year, Cao Cao sent a large army to kill Xiangyang, the capital of Jingzhou in the South (now Xiangyang City, Hubei Province). He was determined to attack and occupy Jingzhou with lightning speed, and to exterminate the enemy Liu Bei who lived here. Liucong, the chief executive of Jingzhou, raised his hand and surrendered to Cao Cao. Liu Bei hurriedly retreated to the south. Cao Cao immediately dispatched elite cavalry to follow and pursue them. He galloped more than 300 miles a day and night, and finally tracked Liu Bei and his party to Changbanpo in the north of Dangyang (now Dangyang city, Hubei Province). Zhang Fei, a tiger general, was in front of Changbanpo for the first time. Luo Guanzhong’s damage to his popularity is also directly related to his power. It is said that Liu Bei was beating horses and galloping ahead, while Zhang Fei and 20 cavalry men were covering behind. At that time, in front of Changbanpo, there was a river crossing road. Although it was not wide, the water was deep and the flow was rapid, so it was difficult to wade across. Liu Bei and his party had just passed the wooden bridge, and Zhang Fei immediately commanded his athletes to cut down and demolish the bridge. By the time Cao’s cavalry came to the broken bridge on the north bank, they could not cross the river. Zhang Fei immediately went to the south bank, speared horizontally, opened his eyes, and shouted loudly, “if you are Zhang Yide, you can die together!” The word “body” here is an idiom at that time, which means “I”. As I said earlier, when you call yourself, you should call yourself by name as usual to show humility. Now he calls himself Zhang Yide instead of Zhang Fei. Why? Quite simply, it is intended to elevate oneself and show contempt for the enemy. He is very principled to respect his friends and despise his enemies. He roared and threatened. What was the final result? The history book says, “no enemy dares to enter, so he is exempted.” It is a fact that Liu Bei and Zhugeliang and their party got out of danger safely. However, it is an exaggeration to describe the reason for the escape as “no enemy dares to enter”. Cao Jun’s reputation for Zhang Fei is really thunderous. However, it is not necessary to say that the other party is too scared to rush forward. Because 5000 people and horses came from the other side, the main force of which is the famous “tiger and leopard cavalry”, which is the combined name of tiger cavalry and leopard cavalry. According to peisongzhi’s notes to the book of Wei cited in the biography of Cao Ren in Volume IX of the annals of the Three Kingdoms, the tiger and leopard riding of the Cao Wei army is known as “the world’s most powerful cavalry”. The Imperial Palace Museum in Beijing now has the official seal of “leopard riding Sima”. In contrast, Zhang Fei only has more than 20 cavalry men. Do you think the other side dares to rush forward? In fact, the key reason for the other party’s stagnation lies in the obstruction of the river. The bridge was destroyed, the current was turbulent, and it was difficult to cross the river. In addition, Zhang Fei’s roar and awe finally achieved the desired effect.
So how could Luo Guanzhong damage Zhang Fei’s popularity? The forty second chapter of the romance of the Three Kingdoms adapts the above true historical scene. Zhang Fei’s roar, “biography of Zhang Fei” in Volume 36 of the annals of the Three Kingdoms was originally “Zhang yideye”, with six clear words. Luo Guanzhong changed it into eight words “I am Zhang yideye from Yan”, which is a problem. First of all, the word “Yan people” he added means people from Yan’s hometown in the pre-Qin period. However, adding these two words did not add to Zhang Fei’s glory, but destroyed his prestige and damaged his popularity. Why? Think about it. If you are a top superstar in a certain field, you can scare the other party by just giving out your name, right? For example, in basketball, it is enough to say “I am Jordan” and in football, it is enough to say “I am Beckham”. A note should be added to the front of your name to explain who you are. This clearly proves that your popularity is not enough, and your wrist is much worse, so I’m afraid the other party doesn’t know. Since Guan Yu killed Yanliang, the first general in Hebei under Yuan Shao, among the thousands of troops, the reputation of “Guan Yu and Zhang Fei are enemies of thousands of people” has been spread throughout the Cao camp. It was because he was famous that Zhang Fei shouted at the broken bridge. Since the reputation is well known to all local people, do you still need to add the word “Yan people” in front of colleagues on the battlefield? Wouldn’t it be worse and funnier if the other party mistook “Yan people” for “eunuchs” with similar pronunciation? Therefore, Luo Guanzhong’s change is really a failure to paint a snake and add feet, and it also damages the popularity of zhangfei and third Master Zhang.
However, to be realistic, it is not Luo Guanzhong’s Romance of the three kingdoms that caused damage to Zhang Fei’s name right and popularity. Before that, the Pinghua in the annals of the Three Kingdoms of the Yuan Dynasty had changed Zhang Fei’s character “Yide” to “Yide”; The roar in front of Changbanpo was also written as “I am Zhang Yide from Yan. Who dares to die with me?” It can be seen that the whole process is that the infringement and damage of the annals of the Three Kingdoms came first and the romance of the Three Kingdoms followed. Today, if we want to know the true image of Zhang Fei, we must make clear the context.
Zhang Fei has great political insight
The third thing that Zhang Fei has been damaged and distorted most seriously due to misleading is his true image. Zhang Fei, who was handed down in later generations, was made into a bold figure with a reckless style and a irascible character, competing with Cheng Yaojin and Li Kui. However, the real Zhang Fei in history is not so at all.
There is no need to give more evidence. Just look at Zhang Fei’s brilliant victory for the first time, that is, the battle of Jiangzhou to release Yan Yan. In the 18th year of Jian’an (213), Liu Bei seized the main position and attacked Yizhou. Liuzhang, the chief military and political officer of Yizhou, resisted tenaciously in Chengdu. In order to strengthen the offensive, Liu Bei urgently summoned Zhang Fei and others from Jingzhou the next year, followed Zhugeliang and led his troops to Yizhou for reinforcements. The battle of Jiangzhou started under such a background. Throughout the ages, the Yangtze River has been the nearest major traffic artery from the Jianghan plain to the land of abundance. Zhang Fei and others went up along Jiangxi and soon reached Jiangzhou City, the most important military fortress in the east of Yizhou. Jiangzhou, in today’s downtown Chongqing, was the capital of Bajun at that time. However, although Jiangzhou played an important role, its defensive forces were quite weak at this time, because Liu Zhang’s main force was already concentrated in the northwest of Jiangzhou and was fully defending the central city of Yizhou, Chengdu. Therefore, Zhang Fei quickly took down the city of Jiangzhou and captured Yan Yan, the opponent’s leader. Therefore, a vivid scene was recorded in the biography of Zhang Fei, Volume 36 of the annals of the Three Kingdoms. Zhang Fei scolded Yan Yan, who was bound, and said, “when the army arrives, why dare not surrender and refuse to fight?” When our army comes, why don’t we raise our hands to surrender and dare to send troops to resist? Yan Yan, fearless, also shouted: “Qing and others have invaded our state. But there are dead generals in our state, and there are no surrender generals!” You do not speak morally and occupy Yizhou. There are only dead generals in Yizhou who are not afraid of death. We can’t find surrender generals who are afraid of death! Hearing this, Zhang Fei flew into a rage and shouted an order: Yanyan was dragged out and beheaded in public. Yan Yan looked at death as if he were at home. He did not change his look. He said to Zhang Fei, “if you are angry, you will be angry!” If you cut your head off, why are you angry! As a result, Zhang Fei appreciated Yan Yan’s backbone, released him on the spot and treated him warmly as a guest of honor. The history books give a brief account of the specific operations of this campaign, but faithfully record the dialogue between Zhang Fei and Yan Yan. It can be seen that more attention is paid to this. And this historical scene is really wonderful. On Yan Yan’s side, the first four sentences can be said to be righteous and have backbone; The last two sentences not only treat death as if it were home, but also imply sarcasm: cut off your head and do it in anger! The implication is that you become angry from embarrassment. My words pierce your pain and show you the hard bone spirit of Yan Yan. In fact, the basic purpose of writing Yan Yan is to set off Zhang Fei. Zhang Feiyue was scolded, contradicted or even ridiculed by the other party. Instead, the more he appreciated the other party, the more he could show his rare measurement. In short, Zhang Fei’s image here is no longer a rude and brutal warrior, but a gentleman with a broad mind and who appreciates talents.
However, if this cup of tea is only tasted here, the real taste has not been tasted yet. The real flavor lies in Zhang Fei’s political foresight and careful consideration behind his handling of Yan Yan. Yan Yan’s native place and family are not recorded in the annals of the Three Kingdoms by Chen Shou. However, the earliest existing complete local chronicles in China, the national chronicles of Huayang by Chang Yu of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, can just make up for this shortcoming. Volume 12 of the book records that Yan Yan is a “riverside man”. Linjiang county is a subordinate County of Bajun, which is now the Zhongxian County of Chongqing. The Ba of ancient Bashu is a vast area centered on today’s Chongqing, including the so-called “three Ba”, that is, Ba County and the adjacent Badong and Brazil counties. According to the records in Volume 1 of the annals of Huayang, the folk customs in this area at that time had two interrelated characteristics: one was that the people were straightforward, that is, simple and honest. The second is the spirit of advocating martial arts. There are many generals, so the saying is summarized as “there are generals in Ba and ministers in Shu”. The Yan Family of Yan Yan is also an Aboriginal clan in Linjiang County: “Linjiang County: Yan, Gan, Wen, Yang and Du are the big surnames.” Ganning, the famous general of Sunwu, came from the Gan family in Linjiang county. The Yan Yan family, ranked first among the five families, is still above the Gan family. The reason why Yan Yan has extraordinary backbone is that he is deeply influenced by the local upright folk customs, so he is not a soft bone by nature. Second, his family is the best in the local area. He can’t lose face to his family. Third, he was in his hometown of Bajun to defend the first military fortress, and he could not humiliate the local generals.
Knowing Yan Yan’s background and personality, let’s take a look at Zhang Fei’s series of actions towards Yan Yan, which is not only a general gentleman’s demeanor, but also a profound and farsighted political vision. There are at least three points of foresight: first, Yan Yan is not only the representative of the general group in Ba County, but also the representative of the local big families in Ba County. Giving him preferential treatment can play a very important exemplary and leading role in winning the support of the local upper class groups in Yizhou. Second, Yan Yan’s character is simple and straightforward. Once he becomes a guest of honor, he will try his best to help you, rather than engage in conspiracy and tricks. Third, if you want to get Yan Yan’s sincere support, you must first give Yan Yan enough face, let him fully display the hard bone spirit of returning to death, and then release him. In this way, you can protect his image from damage and avoid him being laughed at later. This is the careful consideration of methods when trying to win Yan Yan.
After understanding the above three points, let’s review Zhang Fei’s words, deeds and actions. The taste is really very good. All this fully shows that the real Third Master Zhang Fei is not a rude and reckless person who only knows how to call cha cha in the drama, but a thoughtful person with foresight. Zhang Fei’s biography, Volume 36 of the annals of the Three Kingdoms, said that after he was lenient and Yan Yan, “he flew through zhanke and met with the former Lord in Chengdu.”. From then on, Zhang Fei went all the way to Chengdu to meet Liu Bei. It can be seen that the political effect of the righteous interpretation of Yan Yan is really very good. Guan Yu caught the brave general pound in Fancheng, and cut off Pound’s head after three times and five times. In contrast, Zhang Fei is more thoughtful and long-term than his second brother.
This is exactly: Yan Yan’s strategy of righteous interpretation lies in that Zhang Fei is a careful man.