Speaking of the great writer of the Tang Dynasty Han Yu, the first thing people think of is his famous works such as " The Master Says " and " The Horse Says ". The teacher is a teacher, so he preaches, learns and solves doubts. There is a Bole in the world, and then there is a thousand-mile horse. Such famous sayings have been passed down through the ages. In fact, Han Yu once wrote a very interesting article called " tribute to crocodile article ". Once upon a time, there were huge saltwater crocodiles all over the southeast coast of ancient China, but now only the alligator with reduced fighting power is left. This may have a lot to do with this "Article on Crocodile Sacrifice".
The saltwater crocodile, also known as the Gulf crocodile, is the largest of the crocodiles. It can reach several meters in length and is very ferocious. The alligator is a very small crocodile with a very gentle attitude. It feeds on small fish and shrimps, and its combat effectiveness is even pitifully low. Everyone who lives by the Yangtze River knows that alligators like to watch people washing clothes. When I was a child, I often saw my grandma washing clothes by the river. If an alligator came by and wanted to get a closer look, grandma would hit the crocodile on the head with a mallet. Then it swam away in despair.
For people living along the Yangtze River, the alligator has never been a threat. It can even be said to be harmless to humans and animals. Its fighting power is not even comparable to that of an adult duck, and it does not pose any threat to humans. However, saltwater crocodiles are different. In distant ancient times, people living on the southeast coast could be said to have suffered from saltwater crocodiles. It was not until the arrival of the great writer Han Yu that the situation improved.
In the fourteenth year of Tang Yuanhe, Han Yu was almost killed by the angry Tang Xianzong because he firmly opposed Tang Xianzong to welcome the Buddha's bones. Thanks to Pei Du's various rescues, he saved his life. As the saying goes, accompanying a king is like accompanying a tiger. Although Han Yu was very talented in literature, he was still alienated by Emperor Xianzong of the Tang Dynasty and was sent to the remote Chaozhou District to serve as the governor.
During the Tang Dynasty , Chaozhou was an undeveloped and wild land, far less prosperous than the Central Plains. It was full of poisonous insects and hordes of ferocious beasts, and the people living here suffered greatly. As soon as Han Yu arrived in Chaozhou, he heard that there was an evil creek within his jurisdiction, and a group of huge saltwater crocodiles lived in it. These crocodiles do all kinds of evil. Not only do they prey on people's cattle and sheep, but they sometimes jump onto the shore and injure people. Every year, countless people are killed by crocodiles.
Han Yu wanted to do harm to the people and eliminate these crocodiles that were causing harm to his hometown. However, he was a scholar after all, so he naturally had to use his expertise before the war began, so he wrote an article "Sacrifice to the Crocodile" to advise the crocodiles to move away as soon as possible. Don't stay here and harm the people. If you don't listen, I will lead everyone to destroy you.
Han Yu cited scriptures in the article, saying that he was ordered by the emperor to guard this place, but the crocodile dared to fight against this governor, which was really audacious. Then Han Yu expressed his position in the article, saying that he must fight against the crocodile to the end. He advised the crocodile to be self-aware and not to live on this land with the governor.
At the end of the article, Han Yu persuaded the crocodiles to move quickly, saying that the other side of Chaozhou is the sea, which is vast and can accommodate everything from Kunpeng giant whales to shrimps, crabs, and . He hopes that crocodiles can move to the sea. Moreover, Han Yu also seriously set out a timetable for the crocodile, requiring it to move away within three days. If it fails in three days, it will take five days, and if it fails in five days, it will take seven days. If it doesn't work within seven days, then you are looking down upon the governor. At that time, the governor will lead soldiers and civilians who are good at hunting to catch you all. When the time comes, don’t regret it!
Han Yu's "Essay on Sacrifice to the Crocodile" is indeed very interesting, with humorous language, broad and progressive, and magnificent momentum. It can be regarded as a masterpiece. Moreover, according to the "New Book of Tang Dynasty·Han Yu Biography", after Han Yu's "Crocodile Sacrifice" was written, the crocodiles in the evil stream moved sixty miles westward, and the crocodile problem that had plagued Chaozhou for a long time was eliminated. From then on, crocodiles were no longer seen in Chaozhou.
From today's perspective, the statement about the crocodile moving in " New Book of Tang Dynasty " is naturally not credible. How could the crocodile move because of an article? However, precisely because it was impossible for crocodiles to move, Han Yufa took the initiative after finishing "The Crocodile Sacrifice" and led the crowd to hunt and kill crocodiles. After all, Han Yu was a great literary figure of his generation. Under his personal influence, in the following hundreds of years, residents along the southeastern coast formed a custom of hunting saltwater crocodiles, and the number of crocodiles was greatly reduced. Later, due to the influence of small glaciers, the seawater temperature dropped significantly, which also led to the demise of the saltwater crocodile.
In fact, Han Yu's "Crocodile Sacrifice" is not just about crocodiles. Han Yu's purpose of writing this article is more to satirize the increasingly serious vassal phenomenon in the Tang Dynasty since the Anshi Rebellion. These warlords in the vassal towns who defended one side regarded the imperial court as nothing. Not only did they refuse to obey the imperial court's orders, they often rebelled and endangered the imperial court's safety. Han Yu's purpose in writing this article is also to criticize this phenomenon.
