Myths, legends and history are all important components of a national culture; moreover, they are intertwined and overlapped with each other. The same name often presents two aspects: virtual and real, absurd and real.
For example, Hou Yi. In the mythological system, this name symbolizes the hero who shot down the nine suns and saved the common people; but in historical records, he was the culprit who usurped the Xia Dynasty and led to the "loss of Taikang". Compared with the romance in myths, the presentation in history books is cruel, ruthless, but real, and almost condenses the standard process of power change in later dynasties.
Yu was passed on to his son Qi, and the Xia Dynasty was established. This event had at least three epoch-making significance: Chinese history evolved from the legendary "public world" to "family world", the form of social organization transitioned from tribe to state, and the social form changed from Primitive society transformed into a slave society.
However, although it was called the "Dynasty" by later generations and was called the "Three Dynasties" together with the Shang and Zhou Dynasties, the Xia Dynasty was essentially a unified tribal community in the Central Plains and still retained many characteristics of the tribal clan era. Xia Qi established his capital in Anyi and directly controlled the areas along the middle reaches of the Yellow River, which are roughly located in present-day Henan, Shanxi, Hebei, and Shandong. The leaders of each tribe were all princes and magistrates of the Xia emperor. They met regularly, paid tribute, and accepted dispatches.
So, how did the emperor maintain the relationship with the princes? Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors The legend of virtue and government is certainly fascinating, but the real goal is only one thing - strength.
The original Xuanyuan Yellow Emperor had to "get used to fighting and conquering without enjoying anything", so that he could have "the princes would welcome guests to follow";
Dayu conquered Sanmiao and killed Fangfeng , which effectively deterred the princes. With the "Tushan Conference to Delimit Kyushu", a solid foundation was laid for his son Qi;
Xia Qi defeated the Youhu clan through the battle of Gan, killed Boyi, , conquered Xihe, and killed his younger brother Wuguan. It intuitively demonstrated his own strength and majesty. How dare the princes, big and small, not follow his lead?
But does this also mean that if the power of the Xia Emperor declines and a certain prince rises to power, the world will inevitably face the possibility of changing hands?
It didn’t take long for this conjecture to become a reality.
As the saying goes, "There is no beginning, and there is an end." As the founding king of the Xia Dynasty, Xia Qi, who was once domineering and diligent in governing, quickly became corrupted. It is said that in the later period of his reign, he was no longer interested in handling government affairs and instead indulged in drinking, singing, hunting and traveling. It is said that he also personally composed the large-scale music and dance "九沙".
Things like enjoyment can easily be passed on to the next generation through words and deeds. After Xia Qi's death, his eldest son Taikang came to the throne. This "second-generation official" who had never experienced the hardships of starting a business perfectly inherited his father's genes of loving hunting and being uninterested in political affairs, and he went hunting with his entourage every day. He was completely unaware that the balance of power between himself and the princes had changed dramatically.
One day, Taikang still went out hunting with a group of his cronies. This time the group had a great time, getting farther and farther away from the capital, and even crossed the Luoshui River southward and came to the land of the poor tribes.
The leader of the Youqiong clan is Hou Yi. Although nominally subordinate to Xia Zi, Hou Yi has led the tribe to flourish over the years, and its strength has long been different from what it used to be. And in parallel with the growth in strength, there is also his ambition.
At this time, seeing that Taikang only had a handful of followers, Hou Yi thought this was a golden opportunity for him. So, he led his army to quietly cut off Taikang's return journey.
Taikang, who was happily hunting, knew nothing about this trend. Not long after, he was finally satisfied with his game. When he was preparing to cross the Luoshui River with a large amount of loot, he found that the other side was filled with Hou Yi's army, and his return was completely cut off. In desperation, Taikang quickly asked for help from the surrounding tribes, but they were wary of Hou Yi's power and had long been dissatisfied with Taikang's depravity, so they generally adopted an attitude of letting things go and not helping either.
As a result, poor Taikang had to live a miserable life of exile south of Luoshui.His five younger brothers accompanied their old mother to the river, hoping to see their elder brother from a distance and welcome him to survive the disaster and return as king; but what awaited them was only the roaring Luo River. Feeling the brilliance and prowess of their ancestors and their current miserable situation, these five brothers wrote a song and sang it to reflect the memory of their grandfather Dayu and the lamentation for their brother's situation. This is the famous " Five Sons" Song ".
Hou Yi seized the opportunity and implemented a small plan, and easily destroyed Taikang and humiliated the majesty of Xia Shi. However, after several generations of inheritance, people's support and recognition of Dayu's family is difficult to dissipate. Therefore, after careful consideration, Hou Yi established Taikang's eldest brother Zhongkang as emperor.
His elder brother's lesson came first. After taking the throne, Zhongkang cheered up and worked hard. He trained the army and rectified politics, hoping to save the decline, suppress Hou Yi, and regain the glory of the family. But haste makes waste, and his overeager mentality accelerated his failure.
A few years later, a solar eclipse occurred in the Xia Dynasty. At that time, in the face of such "divine punishment", the emperor usually personally held sacrificial activities and "recalled" the sun, which was the so-called "save the sun" ceremony. However, because Xi He, who was in charge of astronomical work, failed to predict the solar eclipse before and did not show up in time during the sun-saving activities, Zhongkang, in order to scare the monkeys and deter the princes, not only killed Xi He, but also wiped out his tribe. Kill.
But at that time, if the emperor punished a tribe collectively and indiscriminately, it could only be because the other tribe rebelled; at this time, Zhongkang treated the Xihe tribe just because of "dereliction of duty", which not only failed to calm the princes, but also aroused the rebellion. Outrage. So Hou Yi took the opportunity to attack again, defeated and captured Zhong Kang.
Zhongkang died in depression not long after. Hou Yi was no longer polite this time. He formally usurped the throne of emperor and exiled Zhongkang's son Xiang to Erchun (斟行, 斛irrig), where the Xia people gathered.
But the cycle of history comes so quickly. Out of confidence in his superb archery skills and strong strength, Hou Yi quickly lost his enterprising spirit and became obsessed with hunting like Xia Qi and Taikang, and entrusted political affairs to his cronies Hanzhuo .
Who is Hanzhuo? He was originally a child of the chief family of Hanguo (roughly located in today's Shandong). He was expelled because of his long-term idleness. After wandering to poor countries, he was fortunate enough to be adopted by Hou Yi.
At Hou Yi's side, Han Yun also showed his talents in playing and daring to play, and came up with many good ideas for fun. In addition, he was very good at flattering horses and playing both sides, which made Hou Yi feel very comfortable, so he Being used as a confidant.
At that time, although it was already known that Han Yun had done a lot of tricks behind the scenes, such as hiding things from superiors and bullying subordinates, buying people's hearts, cultivating power, etc., Hou Yi relied on his prowess and bravery and believed that Han Yun could not make any big waves, so he opened the door. With one eye closed, he just regarded him as a little follower who was greedy for power.
But in reality Hanzhuo is far from that simple. Witnessing the "glorious deeds" of Hou Yi and others who committed crimes and usurped the Xia Dynasty, the fire of desire in his heart was fully ignited. Moreover, because he has been wandering around the world since he was a child, Han Yun is uneducated and has no skills. Although he is proficient in tactics, he has no sense of benevolence. His methods will be better than his predecessor, and he will be more decisive and vicious than Hou Yi, who "leave a line in everything".
After several years of hard work, even Hou Yi's most trusted family member, Fengmeng , was bought out. It is said that Peng Meng served Hou Yi all year round and was smart, studious and progressive. Hou Yi liked this young man better, so he taught him his exquisite archery skills without any reservation. But as everyone knows, this kind of trust makes him die without a place to die.
One day, when Han Yun had made all the preparations, his party members revolted: somewhat similar to the original Taikang, Hou Yi was on his way out for hunting when he was suddenly betrayed by the generals around him. He was caught off guard and suffered a complete defeat. What was far more tragic than Taikang's was that Hou Yi was not only killed, but his body was also cooked by the generals and forced to be eaten by his son. After being rejected, Hou Yi's son was also killed by these former confidants.
Although Hou Yi was exterminated, the matter was not over yet. His power, position and inheritance were all inherited by Hanzhuo, and even his wives and concubines were accepted by him. Later, these women gave birth to two sons for Han Yun, one named ào and the other named 豷(yì). These two sons were strong, brave and good at fighting. When they grew up, they were ordered to destroy the Erzhe where the Zhongkang tribe lived. Xiang, who had lived in hiding for many years, was also brutally killed.
As the saying goes, the law of heaven is reincarnated and the laws of nature are clear. Han Yun and his son, who were vicious and violent and did bad things, did not end well either. When Chu Xiang was killed in Erzhen, his pregnant wife escaped from birth through a hole in the wall and returned to her parents' Youyong clan tribe. Later, she gave birth to a child, named Shaokang.
When he grew up, Shaokang fled to the Youyu tribe, a descendant of Emperor Shun, in order to avoid Han Yun's pursuit, and gained the trust of the leader Yu Si. Here, he married Yu Si's daughter and systematically learned the skills of governing the government and leading troops in battles. Then he actively contacted the old officials of the Xia Dynasty and quietly accumulated strength for the restoration of the country.
After years of preparation, Shaokang not only successfully restored his country, but also defeated and executed Hanzhuo and his son. According to legend, Han Yun, who had committed a heinous crime, was killed by Ling Chi and received the retribution he deserved.
In the hands of Shaokang, the Xia Dynasty finally stabilized, and " Shaokang Zhongxing " appeared that was widely praised by later generations.
From the time when Taikang lost the country to now when Shao has recovered the country, the large-scale political turmoil that lasted for decades and spread across the Yellow River Basin in the early Xia Dynasty finally came to an end.
Among them, although Hou Yi was not an extremely evil person, he single-handedly caused this catastrophe, but he brought it upon himself and suffered the most tragic end, which is sighing.
Combined with the tortuous and cruel process mentioned above, it is easy for people to have this understanding: Although the current statements about the Xia Dynasty exist more in history books, and the relevant cultural relics have not been excavated on a large scale for the time being, the true nature of this dynasty Sex is worth believing in. After all, what happened to Taikang, Houyi, Hanzhuo, and Shaokang has almost never been recorded in history books in later generations. Such cold-blooded and cruel political struggles only exist in reality that far exceeds works of art.
