Yuan Shikai proclaimed the emperor to provoke public anger, and someone wrote a couplet to scold him.

In 1911, with a gunshot, the Xinhai Revolution officially broke out in Wuhan, and all provinces across the country issued declarations of independence to break away from the Qing government and support the revolution. Soon, the Republic of China was formally established. But the good times didn't last long. The warlord headed by Yuan Shikai relied on his army to force Sun Yat-sen to give up his position and became the President of the Republic of China.

At this time, China got rid of the decadent rule of the feudal dynasty, and the whole country was full of vitality, presenting a brand-new look in pursuit of democracy and freedom. However, Yuan Shikai used the power in his hands to perverse, exclude dissidents, and attack those who oppose him in the government, thus establishing a dictatorship.

As the power in his hands increases, his ambitions are getting bigger and bigger. He has the idea of ​​holding power forever and passing it on to the next generation. Under his instruction, the staff around him invented all kinds of "auspiciousness" to find reasonable excuses for his restoration. Soon, he claimed that he had the support of heaven and the people, and he became the emperor.

After the fall of the Qing Dynasty, the feudal monarchy has long been unacceptable by the people of the whole country. After the restoration, the provinces became independent successively, formed an army to defend the country, and crusade against Yuan Shikai, and there was an upsurge of "seeking Yuan" throughout the country. Warriors can fight against Yuan Shikai, while literati do not have an army, but they can create public opinion against Yuan Shikai. Many literati wrote articles scolding Yuan Shikai, and many others did not dare to express their opposition, so they hid the meaning of opposition in the couplet.

For example, "袁世凯 for the ages, the Republic of China, ". On the surface, there is nothing wrong with this couplet. Yuan Shikai and the Republic of China are compared, boasting that the two will be immortal. But a closer look shows that the number of characters in the two couplets is different. Although Qiangu is very neat for Long Live, Yuan Shikai is not appropriate to the Republic of China, and three characters do not match four characters. After analyzing this, many readers may understand that the ironic meaning of this couplet is here. The word "Yuan Shikai" does not match the word "Republic of China". The true meaning of this couplet is that Yuan Shikai is sorry for the Republic of China.

The irony of this couplet is actually quite euphemistic. It's just that I can't judge the restoration of the incident. It didn't directly attack Yuan Shikai himself. The other couplet is not so polite. . This couplet is not only ironic and emotional, but also very peculiar. This pair of shanglian is "one, two, three, four, five, six, seven", and the bottom is "孝悌忠信礼义廉". If you look at the couplet alone, you will only feel that this pair is barely matched, but there is nothing practical. Meaning, there is no connection between the upper and lower links. To understand the true meaning of this pair, we must understand it literally. The shanglian is composed of numbers. There is no "eight" in the shanglian. The word "shame" is missing in the "li Yijian" in the xialian. The implied words are "forgetting eight" and "shameless". The combination means that Yuan Shikai is shameless. King Eight. From these two couplets, it can be seen that Chinese culture is really broad and profound, and even cursing people can criticize such an artistic and culturally literate. People with a lower level will think it is praise when they see it, which is really impressive.

The popularity of so many ironic couplets also proves how unpopular Yuan Shikai's restoration action is, and this is also doomed to his destiny. Sure enough, in this situation of domestic and foreign difficulties and opposition from the whole people, Yuan Shikai was shocked and frightened, and finally died of depression. In just 83 days, Yuan Shikai and his dream of the emperor were swept into the garbage dump of history, and this farce came to an end.