Alchemists have existed since ancient times, some can calculate and predict the future; some are even more outrageous, it is said that they can become immortal. Historical rulers or high-ranking people have different attitudes towards people. Some believe in this way, and spend huge manpower and material resources to seek immortals; But after all, there are limitations in ancient times, so it is more difficult not to believe in alchemists or ghosts and gods at all, just stay away. The following editor will talk about the views of Cao Cao, Liu Bei, and Sun Quan, the three big men of the Three Kingdoms period, on Fang Shi or ghosts.
Cao Cao——The condescending stroking
Cao Cao has many alchemists around him, probably much more than Liu Bei and Sun Quan. However, Cao Cao's attitude towards the alchemists is not very high, but condescending; in addition to the pursuit of alchemy (there is indeed a reason for this), Cao Cao's reasons for using these alchemists are mixed with more secular factors. This is obviously different from Qin Shihuang's appointment of alchemists.
Let me first talk about Cao Cao's views on ghosts and gods. At least in his early years, Cao Cao was not interested in ghosts and gods. After participating in the pacification of the "Yellow Turban Uprising", Cao Cao became the prime minister of Jinan, equivalent to the county governor. In Jinan, there are many prostitutes offering sacrifices to ghosts and gods, and there are also some prostitutes that should not be erected in shrines. After Cao Cao took office, he swept away these prostitutes and "thus eliminated the evil spirits and gods." It can be seen that Cao Cao is not afraid of these ghosts and gods, but because of this, he offended many powerful people and was forced to dormant for a period of time.
As for alchemists, Cao Cao has indeed employed a lot. According to the records in historical materials such as "Three Kingdoms", "Natural History", "Book of the Later Han", "Dao Lun", at least Zhu Jianping, Wang Zhen, Hao Mengjie, Gan Shi, Dongguo Yannian, Feng Junda, Zuo Ci, Tang Fei, Lu Girl, Leng Shouguang, Bu Shi, Zhang Diao, Ji Zixun, Fei Changfang, Xian Nugu, Zhao Shengqing, Qi Jian, Hua Tuo He was regarded as a medical scientist, but at that time he was also an alchemist who was good at health preservation and "old and young") and so on.
These characters are not limited to divination and reckoning, but rise to the level of fetal interest, inedias, deformation, ghosts and so on. It is said that Fei Changfang is only one step away from attaining Taoism. Among them were people from Yuzhou, Yangzhou, Bingzhou, Jizhou, Sili, and Liangzhou, all of whom were recruited by Cao Cao. Cao Cao did recruit these alchemists for the reason of "favoring the cultivation of nature, and also solving prescriptions", and even learned to eat wild kudzu and drink poisonous wine to maintain health. The attackers” ran to other places and caused a threat to themselves. In modern words, it is "replacing ban with robbing".
Cao Cao's attitude towards these alchemists is also more mundane. Among the above-mentioned alchemists, Wang Zhen and Hao Mengjie were managers. Because they were cautious in their words and deeds and more like scholars, they were promoted by Cao Cao to manage other alchemists. Hua Tuo was not active in treating Cao Cao's head disease, and Cao Cao knew his medical skills. Superb, but still kill Hua Tuo, because Hua Tuo cannot be used for himself.
In the Guanzhong area, there is a "fairy" Liu Xiongming, who can fly through the clouds (in fact, he does not get lost in the mountains full of clouds), after Cao Cao got him, the first order was to let him go back and collect the parts. It can be seen that in Cao Cao's eyes, the real career is greater than the imaginary fairy road.However, in his later years, Cao Cao may also have fear of ghosts and gods, because he fell seriously ill and died of bloodshed because of logging.
Liu Bei——Although he has used it, he does not believe that
Liu Bei Group or Shu Han, there are some alchemists or scholars with fang skills. Although Liu Bei has used their attitude towards them, he is not convinced. It can even be said to be a deaf ear. Regarding the Fang technicians who have been in contact with Liu Bei, the editor has little knowledge and can only find Zhou Qun, Chang Yu, Du Qiong, Li Yiqi and others. However, from these characters, we can more or less understand Liu Bei's attitude towards them.
On some major decisions, Liu Bei will still seek advice from these alchemists, after all, they claim to have the ability to predict the future. However, the opinions of the alchemists could not influence Liu Bei's decision-making. In other words, it's like asking in vain. There are two typical examples in the "Three Kingdoms". Before the "Battle of Hanzhong" and "Battle of Yiling", Liu Bei asked the alchemist's opinion.
Liu Bei's important advisers Huang Quan, Fa Zheng and others persuaded Liu Bei to attack Hanzhong, and Liu Bei asked Zhou Qun for his opinion. Zhou Qun's divination came up with two results. First, the "Battle of Hanzhong" could only capture Hanzhong, but could not gain the population of Hanzhong; Zhang Yu, whose divination ability was stronger than Zhou Qun, advised Liu Bei not to launch the "Battle of Hanzhong".
As a result, Liu Bei listened with his left ear, but his right ear blew. Liu Bei resolutely launched the "Battle of Hanzhong", and the tactics of dividing his troops were also useful: dispatching Wu Lan and Lei Tong to occupy the lower debate; dispatching Chen Shi to attack Ma Mingge Road. Although these two battles were defeated, Liu Bei finally won the "Battle of Hanzhong". Although there is an evaluation of "getting the land but not the people", this is undoubtedly a significant victory for the Liu Bei Group.
Before the "Battle of Yiling", Liu Bei also asked Li Yiqi's opinion. Li Yiqi is said to be from the period of Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty. Like the alchemists around Cao Cao, he is often hundreds of years old and is known as a fairy. Liu Bei did not support these alchemists like Cao Cao did, nor did he actively seek alchemists like Sun Quan (mentioned later), and gave high officials a lot of money. He just sent someone to invite Li Yiqi to do divination for himself before the war. Li Yiqi painted various weapons torn apart one by one; he also painted an adult buried in the ground. Although Liu Bei was dissatisfied, he still decided to launch the "Battle of Yiling".
It can be seen from these two examples that Liu Bei did not pay much attention to the opinions of the other party. Li Yiqi was an idle cloud wild crane, and was not controlled or respected by Liu Bei; Zhou Qun, Du Qiong, and Zhang Yu all had political identities, namely, the Confucian school captain, Yi Cao Zong, and the rear secretary; later, Chang Yu spread remarks that were not conducive to Liu Bei's group, He was also killed by Liu Bei. It can be seen from these deeds that Liu Bei belonged to rulers who believed in but did not believe in alchemists.
Sun Quan——a fanatical immortal fancier
Compared with Liu Bei, Sun Quan can be said to be an avid immortal cultivation fan, even more so than Cao Cao. In the "Wu Shu" part of "Three Kingdoms", three important alchemists of Jiangdong Group are recorded - Wu Fan, Liu Dun, and Zhao Da. They are all based on calculations. Wu Fan calculated the failures of Liu Biao, Huang Zu, Liu Zhang, and Guan Yu; Liu Dun calculated that Sun Yi was killed; Zhao Da calculated Sun Quan's reign and Soochow Guozuo (with some errors).
Sun Quan asked them for their opinions on some important events, which needless to say; Sun Quan is also very keen on their calculation techniques, and hopes to learn from Wu Fan and others. But Wu Fan and Zhao Da knew in their hearts that they were relying on alchemy to eat.Even if Sun Quan was the ruler, they were reluctant to pass on their skills to Sun Quan. So Sun Quan loves and hates Wu Fan and Zhao Da. After Zhao Da's death, Sun Quan heard that Zhao Da had a book that recorded the number of elephants. He first tortured Zhao Da's family, and then opened the coffin to search for them, but he found nothing. Dabi's warlock, promised to be named Qianhuhou. It can be seen that Sun Quan trusts and attaches great importance to the warlock.
In addition to Wu Fan and Zhao Da, according to some other historical records, Sun Quan also had contact with some alchemists. For example, Ge Xuan, Zuo Ci (Cao Cao wanted to kill Zuo Ci, Zuo Ci teased Cao Cao and then moved to Jiangdong), Jie Xiang, Yao Guang, etc., are all close to immortals. It is said that Jie Xiang once taught Sun Quan the method of invisibility. However, the records of these events are not rigorous, and most of them come from strange novels such as "Bao Puzi" and "The Legend of Immortals".
However, in the records of "Three Kingdoms", Sun Quan really believed in the gods. Sun Quan once discussed immortals with Zhang Zhao, and Yu Fan made a mockery of the two, but Sun Quan exiled them to Jiaozhou. It is worth mentioning that Yu Fan is a scholar with a skill in the arts. He once calculated the death of Guan Yu and the magic of magic. Such strange people do not believe in the existence of immortals.
In "Three Kingdoms, Wu Shu, Wu Zhuan", there is also a record of an immortal's "overturning" deed. Sun Quan heard that there was a god named Wang Biao in Luoyang County, Linhai County, so he sent someone to invite Wang Biao with the prince's seal. Great respect for Wang Biao. As a result, when Sun Quan was seriously ill and officials prayed to Wang Biao, Wang Biao fled. Sun Quan believed in and was keen on the techniques of divination, even the way of immortals. But these illusory things are destined to live up to Sun Quan's enthusiasm.
References: "Three Kingdoms", "Later Han Dynasty", "Natural History"
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