{"id":4137,"date":"2010-05-05T23:43:16","date_gmt":"2010-05-05T15:43:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/2010\/05\/05\/du_shi_zhai_20100505\/"},"modified":"2010-05-05T23:43:16","modified_gmt":"2010-05-05T15:43:16","slug":"du_shi_zhai_20100505","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/en\/2010\/05\/05\/du_shi_zhai_20100505\/","title":{"rendered":"Anno\u00adta\u00adtion from His\u00adto\u00adry Read\u00ading: An inap\u00adpro\u00adpri\u00adate and child\u00adish ques\u00adtion: \u201cWhy is it so har\u00admo\u00adnious?\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

   
\nHis\u00adto\u00adry is actu\u00adal\u00adly quite inter\u00adest\u00ading; it all depends on how you look at it. Li Shimin once pro\u00adposed the \u201cmir\u00adror the\u00ado\u00adry,\u201d which states, \u201cUsing cop\u00adper as a mir\u00adror, one can adjust one\u2019s attire; using the past as a mir\u00adror, one can under\u00adstand the rise and fall of things; using peo\u00adple as a mir\u00adror, one can under\u00adstand gains and loss\u00ades.\u201d This is quite inter\u00adest\u00ading.
\n   
\nThe Zizhi Tongjian, Han Ji 27, tells the fol\u00adlow\u00ading sto\u00adry:
\n   
\nThe sec\u00adond year of Emper\u00ador Ping of Han (Renxu, 2 AD)
\n   
\nIn the spring, the state of Huangzhi offered a rhi\u00adnoc\u00ader\u00ados as a trib\u00adute. Huangzhi was locat\u00aded in the South Chi\u00adna Sea, 30,000 miles from the cap\u00adi\u00adtal. Wang Mang, wish\u00ading to dis\u00adplay his pow\u00ader and pres\u00adtige, gift\u00aded the king gen\u00ader\u00adous\u00adly and ordered him to send an envoy to pay trib\u00adute.
\n   
\nA yel\u00adlow drag\u00adon swam in the riv\u00ader above Yuexi Coun\u00adty. Grand Tutor Guang, Grand Min\u00adis\u00adter of Edu\u00adca\u00adtion Gong, and oth\u00aders all exclaimed, \u201cMang\u2019s mer\u00adits and virtues are com\u00adpa\u00adra\u00adble to those of Duke Zhou, and he should be hon\u00adored at the ances\u00adtral tem\u00adple.\u201d Grand Min\u00adis\u00adter of Agri\u00adcul\u00adture Sun Bao said, \u201cDuke Zhou was a saint, Duke Zhao a vir\u00adtu\u00adous man. Even so, there were dif\u00adfer\u00adences between them, as record\u00aded in the clas\u00adsics, so nei\u00adther com\u00adpro\u00admis\u00ades the oth\u00ader. Now, the storms are unsea\u00adson\u00adable, and the peo\u00adple are in need. When\u00adev\u00ader there\u2019s a mat\u00adter, all the min\u00adis\u00adters should agree. Sure\u00adly there\u2019s some\u00adthing to be said for it, and it\u2019s a good idea.\u201d All the min\u00adis\u00adters were dis\u00admayed. Zhen Han imme\u00addi\u00adate\u00adly fol\u00adlowed the order and dis\u00admissed the delib\u00ader\u00ada\u00adtions. Hui Bao sent offi\u00adcials to fetch his moth\u00ader, but she was ill on the way, so she stayed at her broth\u00ader\u2019s home, send\u00ading his wife alone. Min\u00adis\u00adter of Jus\u00adtice Chen Chong impeached Bao, and the case was imme\u00addi\u00adate\u00adly referred to the Three Dukes for ques\u00adtion\u00ading. Bao replied, \u201cI\u2019m sev\u00aden\u00adty years old, my mind is blind, and my grace is declin\u00ading. I share my care and care for my wife, as per the reg\u00adu\u00adla\u00adtions.\u201d Bao was dis\u00admissed and died at home.<\/strong>
\n 
\n   
\nThis sto\u00adry seems a bit strange at first glance. It goes that in the sec\u00adond year of Emper\u00ador Ping of Han\u2019s reign, the Huangzhi King\u00addom, 30,000 miles away from the cap\u00adi\u00adtal, unex\u00adpect\u00aded\u00adly offered a rhi\u00adnoc\u00ader\u00ados as a trib\u00adute. They had no inten\u00adtion of receiv\u00ading the rhi\u00adnoc\u00ader\u00ados; Wang Mang had first pre\u00adsent\u00aded the king of Huangzhi with numer\u00adous gifts in exchange for the rhi\u00adnoc\u00ader\u00ados. Grant\u00aded, the mon\u00adey spent was from the trea\u00adsury and the peo\u00adple\u2019s hard-earned mon\u00adey, and Wang Mang him\u00adself did\u00adn\u2019t spend any mon\u00adey, but why did he even offer a rhi\u00adnoc\u00ader\u00ados?<\/p>\n

   
\nThen anoth\u00ader bizarre inci\u00addent occurred: a coun\u00adty report\u00aded sight\u00adings of a yel\u00adlow drag\u00adon swim\u00adming in the Yangtze Riv\u00ader. That was a tru\u00adly aus\u00adpi\u00adcious omen! It\u2019s a shame there weren\u2019t any videos uploaded back then, or else the eagle-eyed neti\u00adzens would have had their work cut out. In those days, who would have both\u00adered to debunk rumors of an aus\u00adpi\u00adcious omen?
\n   
\nIn fact, in the first year of Emper\u00ador Ping of Han\u2019s reign (1 AD), the bar\u00adbar\u00adians from the far\u00adaway regions (a tribe in the trop\u00adi\u00adcal jun\u00adgles of south\u00adern Viet\u00adnam) trav\u00adeled thou\u00adsands of miles to offer a white pheas\u00adant and two black pheas\u00adants to the impe\u00adr\u00adi\u00adal court. This sto\u00adry is even more remark\u00adable, as Ji Dan of the Zhou Dynasty helped King Cheng of Zhou obtain a white pheas\u00adant from the bar\u00adbar\u00adian Yue\u00adshang clan from the far\u00adaway regions. Ji Dan was then bestowed with the title \u201cDuke of Zhou,\u201d becom\u00ading a role mod\u00adel for loy\u00adal regents who assist\u00aded young rulers. Even Cao Cao lat\u00ader referred to him\u00adself as \u201cDuke of Zhou,\u201d com\u00adpos\u00ading a self-con\u00adso\u00adla\u00adtion poem: \u201cDuke of Zhou spits out food for his guests, and the world is at peace.\u201d Of course, that\u2019s a sto\u00adry for anoth\u00ader time. Because of this sto\u00adry, Emper\u00ador Ping of Han\u2019s min\u00adis\u00adters unan\u00adi\u00admous\u00adly request\u00aded that Wang Mang be grant\u00aded the title \u201cDuke of Anhan\u201d!<\/p>\n

   
\nBut how could this be so coin\u00adci\u00adden\u00adtal? It turns out that Wang Mang, in a show of force in Yizhou, ordered the bar\u00adbar\u00adians out\u00adside the Great Wall to claim to be the Yue\u00adshang clan and offer them a white pheas\u00adant and two black pheas\u00adants. This was all a trick played by Wang Mang, who hint\u00aded at the local offi\u00adcials in Yizhou. Because he could\u00adn\u2019t speak the same lan\u00adguage as the bar\u00adbar\u00adians, sev\u00ader\u00adal trans\u00adla\u00adtions were required. To make the per\u00adfor\u00admance \u201creal\u00adis\u00adtic\u201d and ful\u00adly con\u00adsis\u00adtent with the his\u00adtor\u00adi\u00adcal allu\u00adsion, the bar\u00adbar\u00adians were also told to lie and claim to be the \u201cYue\u00adshang clan\u201d from the time of Duke Zhou. Just look at the whole thing!
\n 
\n   
\nIn the sec\u00adond year of the Chi\u00adnese AD, Wang Mang was 47 years old.
\n   
\nHe was born into a fam\u00adi\u00adly of mater\u00adnal rel\u00ada\u00adtives; the Empress of Emper\u00ador Yuan of Han was his aunt. How\u00adev\u00ader, because his father died pre\u00adma\u00adture\u00adly, he spent his child\u00adhood with\u00adout much influ\u00adence from his mater\u00adnal rel\u00ada\u00adtives. Com\u00adpared to his uncles, aunts, and cousins, he could be described as some\u00adwhat \u201clone\u00adly and mis\u00ader\u00adable.\u201d How\u00adev\u00ader, this also forged his unique char\u00adac\u00adter and tal\u00adents. He was dili\u00adgent and hard\u00adwork\u00ading, extreme\u00adly capa\u00adble, well-known, and high\u00adly edu\u00adcat\u00aded. He was unscrupu\u00adlous in his pur\u00adsuit of fame, and his sec\u00adond and eldest sons were both dri\u00adven to sui\u00adcide, ulti\u00admate\u00adly earn\u00ading their father a stel\u00adlar rep\u00adu\u00adta\u00adtion.<\/p>\n

   
\nHow\u00adev\u00ader, his career also had its ups and downs. At the age of 38, he became the pow\u00ader\u00adful Grand Mar\u00adshal under Emper\u00ador Cheng of Han. How\u00adev\u00ader, when Emper\u00ador Ai of Han ascend\u00aded the throne, he was ostra\u00adcized by the emper\u00ador\u2019s in-laws and lost his posi\u00adtion, near\u00adly even his life. Final\u00adly, when Emper\u00ador Ai died and the nine-year-old Emper\u00ador Ping of Han ascend\u00aded the throne, Wang Mang\u2019s aunt (now the Empress Dowa\u00adger, now 72 years old) took charge of gov\u00adern\u00adment and brought Wang Mang out of his idle home to assist in the admin\u00adis\u00adtra\u00adtion. This time, Wang Mang final\u00adly had the oppor\u00adtu\u00adni\u00adty to \u201cbecome the moth\u00ader-in-law of a daugh\u00adter-in-law\u201d!<\/p>\n

   
\nWang Mang\u2019s work at the time had two main focus\u00ades: to do every\u00adthing he could to make his aunt hap\u00adpy and make the old lady will\u00ading\u00adly put all pow\u00ader in his hands; to vig\u00ador\u00adous\u00adly devel\u00adop the \u201cWang Mang fan club\u201d and \u201ccheer\u00adlead\u00ading team\u201d among his sub\u00adjects, while com\u00adplete\u00adly and thor\u00adough\u00adly elim\u00adi\u00adnat\u00ading dis\u00adsi\u00addents.<\/p>\n

   
\nSo the court began to stir. Every time there was a stir, there would be \u201cfan clubs\u201d singing prais\u00ades, and even \u201ccheer\u00adlead\u00aders\u201d would cheer, as if they were going to praise Wang Mang to the sky.
\n 
\n   
\nFinal\u00adly, one elder\u00adly gen\u00adtle\u00adman could\u00adn\u2019t stand the \u201cnau\u00adsea\u201d any\u00admore. He was the Grand Min\u00adis\u00adter of Agri\u00adcul\u00adture, one of the Nine Min\u00adis\u00adters. I imag\u00adine he was rough\u00adly equiv\u00ada\u00adlent to the cur\u00adrent Min\u00adis\u00adter of Finance and Min\u00adis\u00adter of Agri\u00adcul\u00adture, a high-rank\u00ading offi\u00adcial. While every\u00adone else was boast\u00ading and singing along, this Grand Min\u00adis\u00adter of Agri\u00adcul\u00adture, Sun, sud\u00adden\u00adly asked a rather unpro\u00adfes\u00adsion\u00adal question\u2014at least, some\u00adthing naive and inap\u00adpro\u00adpri\u00adate! He actu\u00adal\u00adly said that even the great sages of ancient times, such as the Duke of Zhou and the Duke of Shao, had their moments of dis\u00adplea\u00adsure and dis\u00adagree\u00adment, and that Con\u00adfu\u00adcian texts record\u00aded them, say\u00ading noth\u00ading neg\u00ada\u00adtive about either of them. So, what was wrong with the world today? The wind and rain were out of sea\u00adson, the peo\u00adple were starv\u00ading, and yet, when the min\u00adis\u00adters dis\u00adcussed mat\u00adters, they were unan\u00adi\u00admous in their praise. This, this, this main\u00adstream voice\u2026 how could it be so har\u00admo\u00adnious?<\/p>\n

   
\nWow! Such a naive ques\u00adtion, just like the one in \u201cThe Emper\u00ador\u2019s New Clothes,\u201d was\u00adn\u2019t asked loud\u00adly, but the effect was like thun\u00adder! The min\u00adis\u00adters were hor\u00adri\u00adfied, and the \u201ccheer\u00adlead\u00ading\u201d host imme\u00addi\u00adate\u00adly called a halt!
\n 
\n   
\nHow\u00adev\u00ader, Chi\u00adna is not a fer\u00adtile land for fairy tales after all. This mat\u00adter will not end so eas\u00adi\u00adly. Those who raise child\u00adish ques\u00adtions will inevitably be pun\u00adished lat\u00ader.
\n   
\nSome\u00adone on the fan club imme\u00addi\u00adate\u00adly picked out Old Man Sun\u2019s flaws: He\u2019d botched the process of wel\u00adcom\u00ading his mother\u2014she\u2019d fall\u00aden ill on the way and stayed at his broth\u00ader\u2019s house to recu\u00adper\u00adate, and the sev\u00aden\u00adty-year-old had only tak\u00aden his wife and chil\u00addren back to his home in Beijing\u2014well, that was com\u00adplete\u00adly against all moral prin\u00adci\u00adples! How could such an unfil\u00adial per\u00adson be wor\u00adthy of serv\u00ading as an offi\u00adcial in the Celes\u00adtial Empire?<\/p>\n

   
\n\u201cThe peo\u00adple\u2019s voice is as loud as thun\u00adder\u201d \u2014 who is this unfil\u00adial son?
\n   
\nSo, such a high-rank\u00ading Min\u00adis\u00adter of Agri\u00adcul\u00adture was actu\u00adal\u00adly \u201ccom\u00admit\u00adted a crime\u201d for this and was dis\u00admissed from office! How\u00adev\u00ader, it was a bless\u00ading in dis\u00adguise, as the old man was able to live out his life at home.
\n 
\n   
\nWhen word got out, this inci\u00addent had a some\u00adwhat deter\u00adrent effect. Peo\u00adple like Grand Chan\u00adcel\u00adlor Wang Chong, Impe\u00adr\u00adi\u00adal House\u00adhold Offi\u00adcial Gong Sheng, and Impe\u00adr\u00adi\u00adal Sec\u00adre\u00adtary Bing Han were all quite sen\u00adsi\u00adble. After repeat\u00aded self-exam\u00adi\u00adna\u00adtion, they wor\u00adried about not being able to play the role of \u201cfan club\u201d or \u201ccheer\u00adleader,\u201d and they all found excus\u00ades to with\u00addraw from the con\u00adtro\u00adver\u00adsial sit\u00adu\u00ada\u00adtion.<\/p>\n

   
\nAnoth\u00ader man named Mei Fu was also quite capa\u00adble. He was cer\u00adtain that Wang Mang would usurp the Han Dynasty, so to avoid the sit\u00adu\u00ada\u00adtion, he played the \u201cdis\u00adap\u00adpear\u00ading game.\u201d One day, he sud\u00adden\u00adly left his wife and chil\u00addren and dis\u00adap\u00adpeared. Lat\u00ader, some\u00adone saw him in Kuai\u00adji. It turned out that he had changed his name and became a gate\u00adkeep\u00ader!<\/p>\n

   
\nHis\u00adtor\u00adi\u00adcal records can be quite humor\u00adous, even record\u00ading Mei Fu\u2019s dis\u00adap\u00adpear\u00adance: \u201cKnow\u00ading that Wang Mang would usurp the Han throne, Mei Fu aban\u00addoned his wife and chil\u00addren and dis\u00adap\u00adpeared, his where\u00adabouts unknown. Lat\u00ader, some\u00adone saw Mei Fu in Kuai\u00adji, and he changed his name to \u201cWu Shi Men\u00adzu.\u201d
\n 
\n   
\nSure enough, three years lat\u00ader (in 5 AD), Wang Mang poi\u00adsoned Emper\u00ador Ping of Han, who was already his son-in-law, and made the two-year-old Ruzi Ying the emper\u00ador, and him\u00adself the \u201cregent emper\u00ador.\u201d
\n   
\nThree years lat\u00ader (in the eighth year of the Chi\u00adnese AD), Wang Mang was tired of being the \u201cact\u00ading emper\u00ador\u201d, so he asked the five-year-old Ruzi Ying to \u201cabdi\u00adcate\u201d the throne to him and changed the coun\u00adtry\u2019s name to \u201cXin\u201d.
\n   
\nAfter indulging in the emper\u00ador\u2019s life for anoth\u00ader four\u00adteen years, he final\u00adly lost his empire and his life in the chaos \u2014 end\u00ading his \u201chyp\u00ado\u00adcrit\u00adi\u00adcal and sin\u00adful life\u201d in offi\u00adcial his\u00adto\u00adry and folk tales, or \u201ca quite con\u00adtro\u00adver\u00adsial life\u201d in the eyes of his\u00adto\u00adri\u00adans, at the age of 68.
\n 
\n   
\nHe left a huge mess behind him\u2026
\n 
\nA\u2011League Records on May 5, 2010<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u5386\u53f2\u5176\u5b9e\u86ee\u597d\u73a9\u7684\uff0c\u5c31\u770b\u4f60\u600e\u4e48\u53bb\u770b\u5b83\u3002\u674e\u4e16\u6c11\u63d0\u51fa\u8fc7\u4e00\u4e2a\u201c\u955c\u5b50\u8bf4\u201d\uff0c\u8bf4\u662f\u201c\u4ee5\u94dc\u4e3a\u955c\uff0c\u53ef\u4ee5\u6b63\u8863\u51a0\uff1b\u4ee5\u53e4\u4e3a\u955c\uff0c […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wp_typography_post_enhancements_disabled":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[494,495,496,69,451,493,450],"class_list":["post-4137","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-timemachine","tag-494","tag-495","tag-496","tag-69","tag-451","tag-493","tag-450"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4137","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4137"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4137\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4137"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4137"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4137"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}