The story of Zhong Lichun (Zhong Wuyan)

Zhong Lichun (Warring States people), daughter of Qi Wuyanyi (now Wuyan, Dongping County, Shandong Province), Qi The Queen of King Xuan, one of China's famous "Four Ugly Girls", is also the first famous female politician in Chinese history. Zhong Lichun looks ugly, but he is brilliant and has great ambitions. He nominated himself to enter the palace to become the princess of King Qi Xuan and promote the rule of Qi.

Zhongli Wuyan is also known as Zhonglichun. Let me talk about Zhong Lichun. She is one of the four famous ugly women and talented women in history.

The story of Zhong Lichun was first seen in the "Biantong Biography" in Liu Xiang's "Biography of Women" in the Western Han Dynasty. She is from Wuyan County of Qi State and her surname is Zhong, so she is also called Zhong Wuyan. She has both ability and political integrity, but has an ugly face. She is not married at the age of forty. Many ancient books often say that she looks better than no salt. "Looks like a West" echoed. How ugly? The book contains that her forehead and eyes are sunken, and her ups and downs are out of balance, her belly grows up, her nostrils are turned upwards, her neck has a big apple bigger than a man, her head is huge, there are few hairs, and her skin is as dark as lacquer. . (Such a peculiar appearance even makes some people guess that Zhong Lichun's ancestors are probably Malays or black Dharavitu who came from Southeast Asia or India for business). Although Zhong Lichun has a surprising appearance, she has great ambitions. King Qi Xuan, who was in power at that time, was politically corrupt, dark state affairs, and irritable. He liked to flatter. Zhong Lichun risked his death to ask King Qi Xuan to save the people. He stated the four dangers of Qi and pointed out that if he did not rein in the precipice, he would destroy the country. Die. King Qi Xuan was greatly moved and regarded Zhong Lichun as his own treasured mirror. His advice was adopted by King Xuan and he became a queen, and the country ruled from then on. And China also left two idioms "Ugly wins no salt" and "Self-recommended pillow seats". Regarding Zhong Lichun's successful admonitions compared to Mencius's touch with King Qi Xuan, it is necessary to study the reasons.

As for Xia Yingchun, it should be added to later dramas. It means that King Qi Xuan also favored the beautiful Xia Yingchun after Li Chun was left. When King Qi Xuan was in trouble in the country, he favored the ugly appearance and then Zhong Wuyan; in peace, he favored the beautiful concubine Xia Yingchun, so there was a folk idiom saying "If there is something wrong with Zhong but no Yan, if nothing happens Xia Yingchun". ("Yan" should be caused by a mispronunciation of "Salt")

It remains to be verified what kind of king Qi Xuan was in history.

And there are many stories about Zhong Lichun leading soldiers in battle in folklore. In the Yuan Dynasty, Chinese opera developed greatly. A man named Zheng Dehui wrote a drama called "Ugly Qi After No Salt Series". It was about Qi Gongzi's night dream of Shuyue. The doctor Yan Ying realized his dream for him. He thought that the master would hide his wife in the countryside, and the luck was not there. Tong, and suggested that he go out of the city and hunt for ladies and wise men. The daughter of Zhong Lixin in the Wuyan town of Qi State is ugly but has both civil and military skills and talent. When she went out to pick mulberries, she met Master Qi who was chasing a white rabbit. Seeing her good words, Yan Ying persuaded Master Qi to marry her as a queen. At that time, Qin and Yan both wanted to subdue Qi, deliberately creating difficulties with problems, and asked Qi to send people to untie the jade chain and play the Puxian Qin. Zhong Lichun solved these two problems with wisdom, and deliberately humiliated the envoys and agitated the two countries to send troops. Zhong Lichun led troops to defeat them again, leaving Qi with no worries.

Zhong Wuyan should be Zhong Wuyan. The real name is Zhong Lichun, the daughter of Qi Wuyanyi (now Wuyan in Dongping County) during the Warring States Period, the queen of King Qi Xuan, one of China's famous "Four Ugly Women", and the first famous political woman in China. Family.

Zhong Lichun looks ugly, so-called "the ugly girl without salt". She "wide forehead and deep eyes, high nose and throat, hunched back and fat neck, long fingers and big feet, hair like autumn grass, skin like lacquer, wearing rags." Nearly 30

has not married yet, but she has outstanding talents and is known for her. With great ambition, he has the talent of Anbang to govern the country.

At that time, after King Qi Guowei died, Zipijiang came to the throne as King Xuan. After King Qi Xuan ascended the throne, Tian Ji and Sun Bin were re-used to rectify state affairs. Later, he rescued Han and defeated Wei, and killed Wei general Pang Juan. All the princes shuddered. For many years, they have been in harmony with each other. King Qi Xuan relied on his strength, was indulged in wine, and built a snow palace in the city for feasting, and forty miles outside the suburbs for hunting in the garden. Thousands of tourists gathered in Jimen to set up a lecture room on the left and right, discussing Japanese affairs, not practicing real politics, dictating the power of the ministers, leaving the loyal ministers, and Qi State was in decline.

Zhong Lichun became anxious after learning about these incidents. She worried about the safety of her country. So he decided to meet with King Qi Xuan. One day, King Qi Xuan held a banquet in the Snow Palace to celebrate Chen Nv Le. She came outside the palace gate and said that she had something to meet with King Qi. Seeing her ugly, the gatekeeper refused to let her in. He also said that she is "the daughter of the world's strongest frequency". She said: "I am a non-salt person of Qi Zhi. My name is Zhong Lichun. I am more than 30 years old. I cannot choose to marry. The King Wen is leaving the palace for a banquet, and I am here to ask for a visit. I am willing to enter the harem to prepare for the sweeping." , Was recruited.

Seeing her ugly, all the ministers who attended the banquet hid their mouths and laughed. King Xuan asked: "My imperial concubine is ready. You are ugly and can't stand in the country. Do you have special talents for your work as a king of thousands of times?" "I don't have magical abilities, and I have unique cryptic skills." Demonstrate to Gu, if it doesn’t make sense, decapitate.” Zhong Lichun was not afraid, she raised her eyes and dazzled her teeth, raised her hands four times, squeezed her knees, and said, “Danger, danger!” Wang Xuan didn’t understand. , Asked the ministers, but did not understand. King Xuan then called Zhong Lichun to the front and asked her to explain. Zhong Lichun said: "The king pardons me from death, so I dare to say it." King Xuan agreed. She said: "The king has four losses. I raised my eyes to express the change of the beacon; dazzled my teeth, and punished the remonstrance on behalf of the king; raised my hand and waved the minister on behalf of the king; stretched his knees and demolished the platform of the banquet on behalf of the king. "The King Qi Xuan was furious and wanted to kill her. "Ask the king to let me explain your four losses, and then kill me.

I heard that Qin Yongshang Yang, the country is prosperous and strong, will soon send his soldiers out to fight for victory with Qi, and the king’s unscrupulous generals will gradually relax. I must suffer from it, so I raised my eyes and looked. I heard that “the ruler has accusers, and his country will not be destroyed; the father has accusations, and his family will not be destroyed.” The great king is indifferent to female sex, and the famine in the country is not loyal. Admonishment, so I dazzled my teeth to be admonished by the king. And the king credited the slanderer, I was worried about the wrong society, so I raised my hand and waved it for the king. The king built the palace, the terrace and the pond, exhausted the power of the people and wasted Guofu, so the king is torn down on behalf of the king. Your four losses, my lord, are as perilous as eggs, still stealing the present, regardless of the future. I risk my death to speak, if I am accepted, I will die without hate." King Qi Xuan After listening, I felt like I woke up from the dream, and was deeply moved, saying: "Without Zhong Li's words, I still don't understand my fault."

So he stopped the banquet and carried Zhong Lichun to the harem with a car. Using the technique of divination, he chose a good day and auspicious day, and Li Zhong Lichun was the queen. And "stop the stage, stop the female music. Retreat flattery, go to carve. Choose soldiers and horses, real estate treasury. Four public gates, recruit bluntly, extend to the side." Qi State ruled, "Qi State ruled by The merit of the ugly girl." In addition, Zhonglichun's home was sealed with the town of no salt, and Zhonglichun was named the monarch of no salt. Later generations also called it "no salt empress". To this day, the legend that "The Empress of No Salt is ugly, she is the country of Qi" is still widely circulated among the people. Among the stone portraits of the Wu Family Temple in Jiaxiang in the Han Dynasty, there are portraits with inscriptions of the two persons: "The King of No Salt, Zhong Lichun, and the King of Qi Xuan". Later generations put the story of Wuyan Empress on the stage of literature and art, and wrote and acted the story in Yuan opera and local opera. The story of Zhong Lichun is recorded in Liu Xiang's Biography of Women.