Every Chinese has heard of the story of the princes of Fenghuo Opera. The story is about Zhou You Wang's favor and praise. Since Baosi didn't like to laugh, in order to make Baosi laugh, King Zhou You lighted a beacon to let the princes Qinwang. When the princes arrived, Bao Si finally smiled when he saw the princes hurrying on their way. After this time and again, the princes no longer worked as kings. As a result, the dog Rong really came. Without the help of the princes' army, the Western Zhou Dynasty would be destroyed.
This is a historical version of the story of the wolf coming, but the authenticity of this story has actually been questioned by historians. Qian Mu raised doubts in the "Outline of National History": "This is the talk of the villain."
Then, why the story of the princes of the Fenghuo Opera is not real, and why this story did not really happen and why it will be passed down to later generations Is it so beautiful that it was even written in "Historical Records" by Sima Qian as an official history?
[false rumors]
In fact, there are a lot of evidences against the lords of the beacon play, and there are also many articles that specifically explain this issue. Here are a few examples.
First of all, Mr. Qian Mu's "Guidelines for the History of the Country" "The princes can't see the beacon together, and even if they hear no invaders, they will stop their troops and stay at home. What's so ridiculous? It's a matter of ears. In the battle of Lishan, King You raised his troops to discuss the proposal, not to mention the need to raise Feng." Mr. Qian Mu's words explained at least three problems.
First of all, in ancient marches, intelligence is also very important. The princes' troops will have horses to listen to news before they arrive. If there is no enemy, the army must have known it without reaching the front line. How could he arrive at the city in embarrassment before knowing he was deceived?
Secondly, Mr. Qian Mu also pointed out that the beacon tower was promoted in the Han Dynasty to prevent the Huns. Even if the beacon tower appeared earlier, it will never be earlier than the Spring and Autumn and Warring States period when the Great Wall was just started. So in the Western Weekend, there is no such thing as a beacon tower.
Finally, from the perspective of other historical records, Mr. Qian Mu also pointed out: It was King You who took the initiative to attack Shen Guo and was defeated by Shen Guo and Xi Rong's coalition forces and died in Lishan. Therefore, there was no such thing as Xi Rong's initiative to attack Gao Jing. This statement was also mutually confirmed in the records of the Tsinghua Bamboo Slips discovered later.
[Second Edition]
Actually, the princes of Fenghuo Opera do not exist, and it is already a public opinion in academia. Since the princes of Fenghuo Opera do not exist, how did this story spread? How was it pressed on Zhou Youwang's head?
In fact, there is an ancient book that records different versions of the Fenghuo Opera princes in addition to "Historical Records". "The Spring and Autumn of Lu Shi": "The Rong Kou will come, the King of You will beat the drums, and the soldiers of the princes will be here, praise and laugh, happy. The King of You wants to praise and smile, because of the number of drums, the number of soldiers of the princes is countless Kou.”
The version of the beacon opera princes in "Lu Shi Chun Qiu" did not mention the beacon tower, but used drums instead. This is probably because there was no beacon tower or the beacon tower was not popular at the time, but This is also the biggest loophole in this record.
We can imagine that a drum in the center of the city can convey the whole city when struck. This is already the limit. How big a drum is needed to reach the ears of the princes who travel for at least one month? Moreover, the ancient drums were mostly made of cowhide. The production cost is too high, and it is impossible to set a drum every hundreds of meters like a beacon tower. So relying on drumming to warn the princes does not have any operability at all.
【Drumming Opera People】
Although the record of "Lu Shi Chun Qiu" cannot be true, this record provides a clue to find the prototype story of the princes of the Fenghuo Opera.
Although there is no drumming princes in "Lv Shichunqiu", there has been an incident of drumming with the common people in history, and this incident happened in the state of Chu in the era of Zhou Ping, the son of King Zhou You.
At that time, the monarch of Chu was the king of Chu Li, Xiong Wei. At that time, Chu State was facing threats from hostile forces, so King Chu Li agreed with the people. If the enemy was found, King Chu Li would beat the drums as a horn, and when he heard the drums, the people would take up their weapons and assist the Chu army in defending the city.
Once, King Chu Li drank too much and beat the drum by mistake. The people hurried over when they heard the drum. King Chu Li hurriedly ordered someone to explain: "I was drunk and joking with the attendant, so I hit the wrong drum." So the people dispersed.
After a few months, the enemy really came to attack, and King Chu Li hurriedly sounded the drum of war and summoned the people. But the people thought that King Chu Li was joking again, but they didn't come to defend the city. After this incident, King Chu Li had to change the alarm signal.
It can be seen that the experience of King Chu Li is very similar to the record in "Lu Shi Chun Qiu", except that the original people in the city have been replaced by local princes. This historical event is most likely the source of the lords of the beacon play, but this is only part of the whole story.
[cold-faced beauty]
Chu Li Wang played the common people, but it was an unintentional loss, but there is also a compliment who doesn’t like to laugh in the princes of the beacon opera. We don't know whether Bao Si loves to laugh or not, but the favorite concubine of a king in Chu State really doesn't like to laugh.
King Zhou Li’s nephew, King Chu Wen, joined forces with Xiguo to attack Cai Guo. After Cai Guo was defeated, Cai Guojun held a grudge against Xi Guo, so he said to the king of Chu Wen: "The wife of the King Xi Guo, Mrs. Xi, is very beautiful, and only this woman is worthy of you."
Later, King Chuwen saw Xi. Madam, she was shocked to be a heavenly man, so the king of Chu Wen sent troops to destroy the country of Xi, and snatched Madam Xi. In order to save her husband's life, Mrs. Xi was forced to obey the king of Chu Wen.
Mrs. Xi is very affectionate with King Xiguo. After being forced to separate, she is depressed all day long and never speaks actively. King Chu Wen liked Madam Xi very much, and when he saw that Madam Xi didn't like to laugh, he asked Madam Xi why. Mrs. Xi said: "I am a woman, but I serve two men. Since I can't die, what can I say?"
The king of Chu Wen felt that it was Guojun Cai's instigation, and he destroyed the country of Xi and let it go. The wife didn't like to laugh, so she attacked Cai again. King Chu Wen caught Caihou and wanted to kill him to vent his anger, but Caihou was not guilty and was killed for no reason. Chu State Council was targeted by the princes. At this time, the minister's Fuquan forced his death to death, and he didn't let King Chu Wen make a big mistake.
[The story is born]
Actually, the prototype of the praise-si in the story is very likely to be Mrs. Xisi. The same is the country’s destruction and the captive, and he also doesn’t like to laugh or talk, and the king Zhou You in the story and the king of Chu Wen in the history also acted in order to make his wife laugh.
Put together the stories of King Chu Li, King Chu Wen and Mrs. Xi, and put them together. In fact, it is the story depicted in "Lü Shi Chun Qiu", only the name of the protagonist is changed.
After the beacon tower in the Han Dynasty gradually became popular, the last important element was added: the beacon tower. Then it was recorded in "Historical Records" by Sima Qian.
Maybe this is the process of the birth of the story of the prince of the beacon opera. But why are these old things about the ancestors of the Chu Kingdom pressed on the head of Zhou You? Why did the people who spread this story make out of nothing and arrange Zhou Youwang and Bao Si?
[The Source of Rumors]
This record of "Lu Shi Chun Qiu" is the earliest written record of the princes of the Fenghuo Opera. We know that "The Spring and Autumn of Lu Shi" was compiled by the prime minister of Qin Lu Buwei on the eve of the unification of the six countries in the Qin Dynasty and invited three thousand people.
And who wrote this paragraph, we have been unable to verify, but I strongly suspect that this is a masterpiece of Chu people. In other words, this story may be a rumor originating from Chu State.
Why is Chu State? The archetype of the princes of the Fenghuo Opera is not mentioned in Chu State. In fact, Chu State still has a tradition, and this tradition has even influenced today. Now people in Hubei always say "disobey Zhou" when expressing unwillingness and dissatisfaction.
This originated from the unfair treatment given to Chu by the Western Zhou Dynasty when it was entrusted to the princes. So Chu people have never caught a cold with the Zhou royal family. And this may also be the reason why Chu became the origin of rumors in the Western Zhou Dynasty.
When the Chu people spread the ridiculous things about their ancestors, it was inevitable that they were dissatisfied with the Zhou royal family and transferred these ridiculous things to the Zhou royal family.As the king of subjugation, King Zhou You is a natural target. There is no malicious element in the process of transferring the main body of this story. Perhaps it is really like Mr. Qian Mu's "This is a small talk." It's just ordinary people's talk.
In fact, the characteristic of rumors is to disseminate a normal event, selectively ignore key parts, expand, exaggerate, and enlarge other parts, plus inflammatory discourse and sensational headlines. With this characteristic of the rumors and the Chu people’s "disobedience to Zhou" mentality, one can imagine that they were saying that King Zhou You used the princes as fools to play, and then he was so happy when he was played to death. This story will definitely be very interesting in Chu. There is a market.
【褒姒背锅】
Since the Chu people arranged the affairs of King Chu Li to King Zhou You because of "disobedience to Zhou", why did they want to have another praise? Do you have to describe Bao Si as a national disaster?
This may originate from a sentence in the "Book of Songs": "Hehe Zong Zhou, praise and destroy it." This is a fascinating sentence. How did Bao Si be destroyed in such a big Zong Zhou? But there is only this single sentence in the "Book of Songs" without any explanation, so future generations can start to make up for it on this basis.
Actually, the demise of the Western Zhou Dynasty has something to do with Bao Si. The root of the demise of the Western Zhou Dynasty lies in the abolition of the growth and the birth of a child. The abolished prince Ji Yijiu was born to the daughter of Shenhou. And the new prince who is set up is Bao Si's son Bo Fu. Later, the abandoned prince fled to Shen State, and Zhou You Wang took the initiative to attack Shen, but he was defeated and died, so the Western Zhou Dynasty was destroyed.
From the perspective of this historical process, the words "Hehe Zongzhou, praise and exterminate" are actually saying that praise and confession are relying on Youwang's favor and trust in himself, bewitching Youwang to abandon the young, and the result is triggered. Zhou Shen went to war, leading to the demise of the Western Zhou Dynasty.
This may be the original meaning of this passage in The Book of Songs, but this meaning was not conveyed in the Book of Songs, so some Chu people who hated the Western Zhou Dynasty used Mrs. Xi’s old stories to compliment them. He also kneaded the old things of King Zhou Li to King Zhou You.
Perhaps during the Spring and Autumn Period and Warring States Period, the story of the princes of the Fenghuo Opera has spread and prevailed for a while. Finally, it was compiled into "Lu Shi Chun Qiu", and this record is probably still Lu Buwei's rigorous expression after removing the false and keeping the truth.
[Why perish]
So looking back, does the demise of the Western Zhou Dynasty have anything to do with Bao Si? Is it really because of praise that confuses King Zhou You, that makes King You abolish and grow up? I think this possibility is very small.
Shen Guo was divided by Zhou Youwang's father, Zhou Xuan, in Henan Xiedi. (There is a view that it was Xishen Kingdom that perished in the Western Zhou Dynasty. I have explained this issue in other articles, so I won't go into details here.) At that time, it was because the local princes broke the ritual law, attacked each other, and broke away from Wanghua. King Zhou Xuan trusted Shenhou very much, and let his son, King Zhou You, marry Shenhou's daughter. Therefore, King Zhou Xuan hoped that Shen Guo would deter the local princes in Henan and be the leader of the southern princes. He also gave Shen the power to send troops to attack the princes.
Shenhou's daughter gave birth to Prince Ji Yijiu for King Zhou You, even if King Zhou Xuan died. Zhou and Shen are also closely bound together. If Youwang abolishes the prince born to Shenhou's daughter for no reason, he will definitely break with Shenguo. Even if Youwang is a mediocre monarch, he will destroy the Great Wall by himself. I am afraid that only IQ issues can explain it.
I think that after King Zhou Xuan died, Shen Guo relied on his high power and gradually broke away from the control of King Zhou You and became the emperor of the southern vassals. This can be seen from the later that the Zhuo State was able to follow the Shen State to attack Zongzhou, ignoring the authority of the Zhou royal family. Many princes in the south already knew only Shen Guo, but not Zhou royal family.
In addition, King Zhou You may have another consideration. Prince Ji Yijiu is Shenhou's grandson, and now Shenhou is no longer obedient to King Zhou You himself, then after Ji Yijiu succeeds to the throne, isn't there a threat to the Zhou royal family's power? This was not impossible in the harsh political environment at the time.
So we thought at first that Zhou Shen started the war because of the abolition of the elders and the young, and the situation is likely to be reversed. First, Zhou Shen had a conflict, and then Zhou Youwang decided to abolish the prince Ji Yijiu with a strong background. Gaili does not have any backKing's praise-si son Bofu. The purpose was to get rid of the danger that the Zhou royal family would be held back by the local princes.
[Why the defeated]
Zhou Youwang's abandoned Changli's infant, perhaps did not expect that the abandoned prince Ji Yijiu escaped to Shen country with the help of the queen. So in order to ensure the uniqueness and legitimacy of the Bofu, he could only send troops to warshen.
Zhou You Wang Washen was not unprepared, he also knew that Shen Guo united Xi Rong and Zhang Guo and other princes. Therefore, he deliberately held a meeting in the Taishi (North of Dengfeng City, Henan Province) to win the support of the major princes. In the same year, he began to send troops to Vashin.
Maybe Zhou You is really tyrannical and unpopular. What is more likely is that the local princes are pregnant with ghosts and are unwilling to help each other and choose to wait and see. So Zhou Youwang fell into a lonely battle, and was eventually defeated and killed.
Shen Guo attacked Ho Kyung all the way, and supported his grandson Ji Yiyu as king, that is, King Zhou Ping. Then he moved Zhou Ping Wangdong to Luoyi and put it under his nose. Since then, the Western Zhou Dynasty officially perished, and the Spring and Autumn Period began.
