Cai Wenji Legend
Jingbuhang (Columbia University )
Cai Wenji and her first husband have no children. If she continues to stay in her in-laws' house, she will only be rolling her eyes. Cai Wenji didn't want to be ridiculed every day as a broom star that killed her husband, so she resolutely returned to her home. The Cai family today is different from the past. Cai Yong is no longer a guilty person, but is highly appreciated by those in power and occupies a high position in the court. It was the sixth year of Zhongping (189), and Han Lingdi had passed away, just as Dong Zhuo was in power. Dong Zhuo had long heard that Cai Yong was particularly capable and talented, but he had never been valued, so he summoned him to the palace to serve as an agent for the wine sacrificial service. The so-called sacrificial wine is an official position in , of the Han Dynasty, which is mainly responsible for the management of books and classics. Only those with great knowledge and respectability are qualified to take responsibility.
When he was first recruited by Dong Zhuo, Cai Yong refused in his heart. After all, he also knew that Dong Zhuo was not very good-looking, and he was arbitrarily abdicated in the government. So Cai Yong said he was sick and refused Dong Zhuo's call. Dong Zhuo was not stupid either. He immediately guessed that Cai Yong was pretending to be sick and was so angry. Good thing, you old Cai, you are so angry that you dare to reject me? I still don’t believe it, and I have to let you become an official. This time, Dong Zhuo no longer issued direct instructions, but indirectly ordered prefectures and counties to recruit Cai Yong to the mansion. Cai Yong thought to himself, it’s all right, you have to find a job to support your family. In the chaotic times, I, a worker, have no choice but to do so. Since Dong Zhuo is in power now and he can look down on me, then go. After Cai Yong joined the company, Dong Zhuo did not hold grudges and respected him very much. After being appreciated by Dong Zhuo, Cai Yong was like a cheating in his career. He served as the Censor and Secretary of the State Council, almost at the level of the current central minister.
My father has become prosperous, and Cai Wenji's quality of life has also reached a higher level. During the days she went home, she lived a very comfortable life, and she was filled with fragrance and dreams every night, and she had a dark and sweet sleep. After sleeping until she woke up naturally in the morning, there would be servants to serve her dress, wash, and eat breakfast. My father Cai Yong was ordered to go to Chang'an City to become an official, and only Cai Wenji and her mother were left at home. The people in the entire mansion surrounded Miss Cai. Cai Wenji was at home with peace of mind, playing the piano and reading books every day, and she was extremely leisurely. This can be said to be the happiest time in her life.
However, in the late Eastern Han Dynasty, it was a chaotic world and the situation was changing. People who called the wind and rain the previous second may have the potential to land on the next second. Although Dong Zhuo was temporarily in power, he was in trouble with the court, was stubborn and made many enemies. Among them, Wang Yun, who served as Situ in the court, disliked him the most. In the third year of Chuping (192), Wang Yun set up a counter-espionage plan to instigate the killing of Dong Zhuo. Although Dong Zhuo was a traitor, no matter what, he was grateful to Cai Yong and provided a good job for Lao Cai in trouble. Now Cai Yong heard that Dong Zhuo was dead, he couldn't help feeling a little sad.
Logically speaking, Dong Zhuo had already stepped down at this time. If he wanted to be sad for him, it would be fine if he closed the door and secretly felt sad. But Cai Yong is so upright that he has to say it out loud, and he is in front of Wang Yun. Cai Yong remembered that during the reign of Emperor Ling of Han, he was excluded by his ministers, framed by his colleagues, misunderstood by the emperor, and then thought that he was later valued by Dong Zhuo and promoted all the way. Now that the person who valued himself is dead, what should we do in the future?
Thinking of this, Cai Yong couldn't help but feel a lot of emotion in his heart and sighed, "Alas, I can be today because of Dong Zhuo's promotion. Everyone said that he was a traitor, but no matter what, he was kind to me, Lao Cai."This made Dong Zhuo's mortal enemy Wang Yun very angry. He cursed, Dong Zhuo, a traitor from the great country, almost overthrew the Han Dynasty, and everyone was killed, but you only thought about his courtesy to you and helped him speak. Is he a traitor like him? You're tired of living! So Cai Yong was ordered to be taken into detention by Wang Yun. Cai Yong also realized that he had said something wrong, so he handed over a statement to apologize. The scholars and officials who admired his talents also pleaded for him. Wang Yun thought to himself, Alas, the old guy is probably confused, why don’t you let him go. However, before Cai Yong could pardon his old bones could not be done, he passed away in prison at the age of sixty.
Cai Wenji and her mother heard the bad news of Cai Yong's death, and the two of them hugged each other and cried in the dark. Cai Wenji's mother was too sad and couldn't afford to get sick. She didn't take long to leave with Cai Yong. Poor Cai Wenji lost her parents all at once, no father protecting her anymore, and no mother loves her anymore. From then on, she had to survive alone.
Both parents died, which is the second level in her life.
Cai Wenji was originally from a famous family, with both talent and appearance, and was proficient in music, poetry, and calligraphy. If life is like a level-breaking game, then Cai Wenji has obtained the strongest equipment and entered the most difficult game mode. She has experienced the loss of her husband, father, and mother. God seems to be testing what kind of torture she can withstand.
Perhaps some people want to say, which of the saints, great scholars, and talented men in history has gone through hardships? It is said that when God is about to give a great responsibility to this man, he must first suffer his heart and mind, exhaust his muscles and bones, and starve his body. We must thank the hardships and setbacks, which have created great names from all walks of life and left a legacy for the world. But perhaps Cai Wenji never thought of becoming famous. Would she think about whether the world would rated her as one of the "Four Talented Women of Ancient Times" thousands of years later? I think as a woman, what she hopes is to be able to be happy with her parents when she is at home, to be able to be in harmony with her husband after getting married, to live a peaceful and peaceful life, and to live a peaceful life and live a peaceful life.
But now, there is no such possibility anymore. Cai Wenji felt so angry and painful, but she didn't know who to blame. Looking at the empty home, Cai Wenji's despair gradually emerged. In this world, she has nothing, so what else can she lose?
However, what Cai Wenji did not expect was that something even more tragic was still to come.
In the second year of Xingping (195), the country was still uncertain, and the Southern Xiongnu took the opportunity to attack the Central Plains and robbed them. For a moment, the world was in chaos. The riots everywhere kill men when they see them and rob women when they see them. The originally calm towns and villages burst into pieces and tear in an instant. The hunters of the alien race are like wolves breaking into the flock, with the tip of the knife being their fangs, and the axe and halberd being their sharp claws. They need a lot of blood to fill their desire for killing.
The war also spread to Cai Wenji's hometown.
Cai Wenji watched helplessly as innocent people were beheaded by cruelly. Small fountains gushing blood were formed at the necks where the heads were separated. People's heads were hung on the Hu people's war horses, and their faces were shaking, leaving a expression of unwillingness, fear or despair in the world. Their eyes that had not closed before they died seemed to be still staring at their abducted wife and daughter, still watching this bloody killing game, and watching their home turn into a purgatory on earth.
The white bones are exposed in the wild, and there is no rooster crowing for thousands of miles. The creatures were devastated, and the heaven was mourning for it.
Cai Wenji later recorded the chaos and tragic situation at that time in " Sorrow and Anger Poem ":
The local people are fragile, and all the soldiers come to Hu Qiang.
The hunting and besieging cities and towns, all the things that are going to be destroyed.
There are no remains, and the corpses are held back.
The male head hangs beside the horse, and the woman is carried behind the horse.
Turn west into the pass, the road is dangerous and obstructive.
I still care about my darkness, and my liver and gallbladder are rotten.
There are tens of thousands of points, and no gatherings are allowed.
The soldiers of the Huns have long heard that the women in the Central Plains are as delicious as food, and they are all extremely delicious. As a wealthy girl with great reputation and unparalleled talent, Cai Wenji made them salivate. She was just a little weak woman, helpless in this chaotic world, so when the Hu people abducted Cai Wenji, she had no power to resist.
She could only breathe deeply, as if she wanted to inhale the morning light and dusk of this land into her body.
The journey to the Huns' territory was long and bumpy. Struggling, begging for mercy, and crying are all useless, and will only further arouse the beastly nature of the Hu Qiang soldiers, attracting heavier whipping and even more unpleasant insults. Cai Wenji no longer had the strength to cry, she just breathed the air mechanically and swallowed food.
It’s really worse than death.
Want to commit suicide? There is no way to that either. Soldiers stared at each other day. If the prey you get is dead, it will be so boring. All you need is to play with you in your palms, just like watching how the fish on a chopping board will struggle after being scraped off the scales.
The more you move northwest, the more wind and sand, the drier the air. Although Cai Wenji has never taken geography classes, she judged that this place is already the hinterland of the desert based on the surrounding scenery. She knew very clearly that she was far away from her hometown and the possibility of going home was becoming increasingly slim. Is this the end of her life?
It’s finally here. Cai Wenji was regarded as the most delicious delicacy and presented it to the Southern Xiongnu Zuoxianwang , the highest-ranking official there.
She is so fair, delicate and weak that Zuo Xianwang likes it very much.
Cai Wenji later wrote " Hu Zao Eighteen Beats " based on her experience in Hu, with one sentence, "The Hu people spoiled me and had two sons." Some people may have misunderstandings when reading this sentence: Cai Wenji, like Wang Zhaojun, married far away from the desert. She was favored by Zuo Xianwang of the Huns and gave birth to two children for him. The family of four may not be quite happy. Indeed, the plot of "The heroes of the grassland conquered the noble daughter of the Marquis in the Central Plains" makes it easy to imagine a sweet and abusive article "The Zuoxian King of the Huns only favors Han people little wife". However, in real history, there has never been heart-wrenching, no sweetness.
Cai Wenji is not Zuo Xianwang’s wife at all. The wife of Hun men is usually called 公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公She was not even considered a concubine. According to historical records, there was no such concubine as Cai Wenji among the concubines of Zuo Xianwang of the Southern Xiongnu.
And "Book of the Later Han Dynasty: Biography of Dong Si's Wife" says that Cai Wenji is "unforgettable" to the Zuo Xianwang, which means that she fell into the hands of Zuo Xianwang, rather than marrying Zuo Xianwang. Cai Wenji herself also said, "I am not alone in my life, but I have no enemy", "Rong Jie forced me to be a family member", "Who should I sue for the evil and humiliation?" It can be seen that she has never been the legitimate wife of King Zuo Xian, but a female slave who was beaten and scolded at will and suffered humiliation. She is the doll of King Zuo Xian’s desires and a tool for him to show off his status.
War is blood and fire, swords and swords, the neighing of war horses, the upside down of the universe, the rolling smoke and dust, the broken limbs and broken arms, and the corpse wrapped in horses. And women have the same pain when they become victims of war. This pain is even more cruel because it takes a long time.
This is the most beautiful and weak group in the Lingchi enemy clan. Cut it down with one knife, which will make you feel pain, but will not let you die.
The Huns' army occupied the land, wealth of the Central Plains, and women in the Central Plains. The plundering of women in the enemy tribe is the most sad and beautiful move in every war. These women will not be killed simply. After all, what they get through violent means is just temporary pleasure, and what the Hu people want is a long-term and complete occupation.Occupying the bodies of women in the Central Plains forced them to use their mothers to deliver children with the blood of the Huns, and use them to trap their hearts that want to go home. Women who become mothers cannot tolerate the separation of mother and son, so they are gradually assimilated, their edges and corners are worn out, and they are as soft as a pile of mud.
They gradually had dark skin, could speak a little Hun language , and gradually got used to eating beef and mutton dairy products, and became a Hun woman.
For the northern barbarian such as the Huns, the young woman of the Han is the most precious jewelry and is worth fighting for. The scars are all symbols of heroism. This is not only the pride of men conquering women, but also the pride of alien races conquering the Central Plains. Although they have been surrendering to the Central Plains for a long time on the surface, their hearts that are ready to move have never stopped beating. Now they take the noble Central Plains women for themselves and play with them freely. At this moment, they feel the joy of victory and the pleasure of revenge.
Besides, Han women are so beautiful and rare.
The women of the Huns were mostly born roughly due to their genes and living environment. They were exposed to wind and sun on the grassland, with dark faces and two red pieces of red on their high cheekbones. They grew up eating beef and mutton, and they were relatively strong, able to carry their shoulders and carry their hands. They looked like a single punch could kill a cow. And the women in the Central Plains are all so soft and tender and fair. Although there are many definitions of beauty, and the Xiongnu women also have their simple and strong beauty, perhaps because "scarcity is precious", the Xiongnu men like soft and delicate Han girls.
What's more, Cai Wenji is a famous talented woman from all over the Central Plains. After getting her, she is simply a supreme glory.
(To be continued)
