The origin of the word "traitor"
[Date: 2005-11-28 3:41:40] [Font: Large, Medium, Small]
About the word "traitor" Sometimes it is difficult to explain the word clearly.
From the literal meaning, "traitor" should refer to the scum of the Han nation, but if you think about it carefully, it doesn't necessarily seem to be the case in "Ci Hai". 》The definition of "Han traitor" is: it originally refers to the scum of the Han people; now it refers to the traitor of the Chinese nation. Therefore, the word "Han traitor" has ancient and modern distinctions (it belongs only to the Chinese people).
It is probably impossible to verify when the word "traitor" originated, but it certainly did not appear before the Western Han Dynasty, because there was no "Han" at that time; even after the Han Dynasty and before the Northern Song Dynasty, the word "traitor" probably did not exist, because in history Among some of the national scum recorded, Qin Hui was collectively referred to as "scum", and the word "traitor" appeared only after Qin Hui.
Not only is the meaning of the word unclear, but the application is sometimes confusing. Understand that some people in history should be classified as traitors, but no one calls them traitors; some people who have been scolding them are actually somewhat excusable.
For example, Fan Wen. The Manchus were able to destroy Li and the Ming Dynasty, and his role should not be underestimated; but he was undoubtedly a Han, and the Manchus at that time could not be considered a "Chinese nation", but did future generations call him a traitor? The descendants of Hong Chengchou and Zu Dashou were not only disdainful of their integrity, but they also didn't criticize them.
But Wu Sangui of the same period was a traitor that everyone criticized. Wu Sangui's history as a traitor was somewhat helpless. At that time, the Ming Dynasty, Dashun Dynasty, and the Manchu Dynasty were the three main forces. In terms of military strength, Li had the largest number, with one million; the Ming Dynasty followed, but it was not enough to protect himself; Wu only had 40,000 soldiers and horses. If he wanted to gain a foothold and protect his country, he would not be able to fight against the Qing without joining the Qing. He would not be able to fight through the Qing without joining the Qing. However, no matter what choice he made, he was at the mercy of others and could not have both. Moreover, from a reputational point of view, surrendering to the Qing Dynasty would be a betrayal of the emperor, and he would be condemned as a traitor; surrendering to Li would be a betrayal of the emperor, and he would be condemned as a traitor.
Wu Sangui also chose to be loyal to the emperor, and he was condemned after receiving the order. Jia went to the pass to stop the Qing Dynasty, but was forgotten by Li Ming, and Chongzhen had hanged himself in Meishan. He wanted to protect Nan Ming Hongguang, but he had no way out, so he chose to surrender to Li, but after the peasant army entered the city, they arrested and surrendered to Ming Dynasty. As an official, he robbed beauties of gold and silk; what's more, his father was tortured, his concubine was taken, and his relatives were humiliated. He chose Chengren, but was persuaded by his subordinates, and Chengren was by no means an easy decision. For Taoists, Cheng Ren can keep his reputation, but as a commander of the armed forces, he has 40,000 soldiers. What should they do if he becomes a man? This kind of irresponsibility is not the behavior of a man. , what if someone else is in this situation? He has no choice but must choose, and no matter what he chooses, he will not be a good person anyway, I am afraid that he is not a person in this situation. I can never understand it.
What is even more complicated is that according to research by modern scholars, Wu Sangui surrendered to the Qing Dynasty (his original intention was to unite with the Qing Dynasty) in exchange for the Qing Dynasty's Gyeonggi region that actually no longer existed. The soldiers came to destroy Dashun in order to achieve the Qing and Ming Dynasties and rule the north and south. This is also because "class hatred" exceeds "national hatred", which is basically consistent with the position of the Hongguang regime of the Southern Ming Dynasty that before it "fights foreigners" it must first "pacify the internal situation".
Judging from the above historical conditions, Wu Sangui can be considered a "traitor" because of the "current situation". Compared with Fan Wencheng, Hong Chengchou, and Zu Dashou, he is actually a bit aggrieved.
But this grievance is not the reason, because at that time the Han nation was ravaged by foreigners, and it was ultimately because of his key role in surrendering to the Qing Dynasty. Wu Sangui should be classified as a traitor (and one of China's top ten scum).
Let’s take a look at Qin Hui, who has been scolded the hardest and longest by us and is synonymous with traitor. Even if hundreds or thousands of years pass, Qin Hui's charge of being a traitor may not be washed away. But if you look deeper into Qin Hui's environment at that time, I'm afraid there are many reasons why he wants to appeal.
Many books have said so about Qin Hui being a traitor. But after all, the evidence is not sufficient. Most people only infer from Qin Hui's actions that he may be a traitor; and are Qin Hui's actions really his fault alone? Doesn’t anyone else have the responsibility?
The answer is no.
Wen Zhengming once wrote such a poem "Man Jiang Hong": "Don't you think that the Central Plains is frowning? Don't you hesitate to humiliate Hui and Qin? But now that Hui and Qin have returned, where does this body belong? Never praise Nan through the ages. When I crossed the border, I was afraid that the Central Plains would be restored. How could I just laugh at it? "We can see from Wen Zhengming's words that more responsibility is attributed to Wen Zhengming for Qin's death. Song Gaozong Zhao Gou. "How can a mere cypress laugh? You can do what he wants!" In fact, this is also true. Without Zhao Gou's connivance and consent, would Qin Hui have the guts to harm Yue and betray the national interests by kneeling to Jin Qu? Thinking about the "Gang of Four", we may also be able to understand who should really bear the responsibility for the "Cultural Revolution".
From the known information, we know that Qin Hui is a person who is very good at observing people's emotions and guessing the psychology of others. He guessed that Zhao Gou was afraid that his throne would be uncertain after Hui and Qin returned; therefore, he was always on guard against the embarrassing situation of sending Hui and Qin back after Song Shengjin's defeat. And Qin Hui's worries were not unnecessary. More than 300 years later, Emperor Ming Jing welcomed back his brother Yingzong, but it was a fact that he killed a generation of national hero Yu Qian.
There is another layer of relationship. Qin Hui was the prime minister in the hands of Zhao Gou. If a new master was ushered in, not only would the old master not help him anymore, but the new master might not necessarily use him again. Based on his personal interests, he would choose war or peace. The benefits speak for themselves.
This is a matter of Qin Hui's personal moral character. However, because of his lack of morality, the entire nation was humiliated, and the long-term interests of the entire nation were exchanged for personal momentary honor and disgrace. The sin was too heavy and deep. Therefore, 50 years after his death, he was deprived of the title of "Miao Chou" and was regarded as a traitor in the Ming Dynasty. Even the printed characters we use every day are called "Song" characters instead of "Qin" characters.
Writing this, I remembered another word that is opposite to traitor - "national hero".
The "History Teaching Syllabus for Full-time Senior High Schools" (Trial Revised Edition) published the year before last stated that ethnic wars in the history of our country should be scientifically analyzed and treated from the perspective of historical materialism. Such domestic ethnic wars should be treated scientifically. The war between them is "brothers fighting against each other and families fighting". Therefore, Yue Fei, Wen Tianxiang and others can only be regarded as outstanding figures of the Chinese nation, but cannot be called "national heroes".
If this theory exists, then I think that not only can we not label Qin Hui, Wu Sangui and others as traitors, but we should also label them as heroes. Because Wu Sangui's switch to welcome the Qing Dynasty should be regarded as conforming to the trend of history; Qin Hui's traitorous pursuit of glory can also be regarded as loyalty to the emperor and for peace.
Isn’t this a big joke. But this joke has actually existed. Everyone wonders if we were confused!
I also saw an article commenting on Wang Jingwei some time ago. Of course, we really cannot look at the ancients through the eyes of today's people. Wang Jingwei's early revolution can only represent his past, but his insecurity in the later years is his real result; what's more, Wang's willingness to be a traitor was not forced by anyone or was as difficult as Wu Sangui's choice. Even Wang Jingwei himself knows this. Otherwise, why did he designate to be buried in the Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum before his death to show the world that he was still a follower of Sun Yat-sen? However, he was afraid that future generations would destroy his coffin and whip his body, so he used 5 tons of hard broken steel blocks mixed with concrete. What about pouring it into a thick tomb shell? But despite this, more than a year later, his tomb was still blown up by Chiang Kai-shek. How many people in the small pavilion on the Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum know that the soil here was once defiled by traitors?
It may be difficult to overturn the convictions of Wang Jingwei, Zhou Fohai and others. One of the reasons is that the Japanese still do not belong to the "Chinese nation." As for the definition of Qin Hui, Wu Sangui and others as traitors, in addition to many historical twists and turns, the masters they "sold" at that time are now members of the "Chinese nation."
This may be the reason for the complexity of the word "traitor"!