Liu Bang | Merits and Demerits |
After Sima Qian, the personality of Liu Bang, the founder of the Han Dynasty, was not highly regarded by many people. Even when Liu Bang's achievements were highly praised, it was only said that He saves people from fire and water without praising their entire character. The criticism of Liu Bang may have started when Ruan Ji ascended the Guangwu battlefield and lamented that "there are no heroes in the world who made Zhuzi famous". After "Houhei Xue" became popular, the word Liu Bang became synonymous with bad character. It has never been seen before. Change. These views that deny Liu Bang's character also come from "Historical Records" and should be said to be at least partially true. But this situation is contradictory. Because great achievements come from low character, it is not only unreasonable, but also extremely impossible in fact. If Liu Bang's achievements are certain to be great, his character must also be great. Sima Qian called him a great sage, which was not an empty talk, but was supported by a large number of facts. Liu Xiang and Ban Gu said that "Historical Records" "does not falsely describe beauty and does not hide evil", which is basically the conclusion drawn from Sima Qian's description of Liu Bang. Not falsely beautiful, that is, Sima Qian's praise of Liu Bang is based on facts; not hidden evil, that is, although Sima Qian praised Liu Bang's achievements, he did not avoid and conceal his shortcomings. As a result, later generations tend to ignore Sima Qian's real beauty, and particularly focus on his non-hidden evil, which caused the embarrassment of Liu Bang's evaluation. In fact, for a ruler like Liu Bang who established the first stable dynasty in Chinese history, it is difficult to simply evaluate his personal qualities as good or bad. We should look at the mainstream, that is, the overall performance. Sima Qian's conclusion is to look at the products of the mainstream. When we evaluate Liu Bang's character today, we should also evaluate it from a historical perspective, that is, from the perspective of Sima Qian, in order to draw a true conclusion about the quality of his character.
1. Basis of Sima Qian’s evaluation
What is Sima Qian’s perspective? This is what he said in "The Book of Praise to the Great Ancestor": "The Xia government was loyal, and the loyal people were loyal to the emperor. The villains used it as wild people, so the people of Yin inherited it with respect. The people of the Zhou Dynasty inherited it with literature. The people of the Zhou Dynasty inherited it with respect. Wen Zhiwei inherited it. , the villain is jealous, so it is better to be loyal. The way of the three kings is like a cycle, and it can be said that between Zhou and Qin, it can be said that the Qin Dynasty did not change its anti-torture laws, so it is not a failure. I am changeable, I am tireless, and I have won the rule of heaven." This conclusion of Sima Qian seems to have too much fatalistic flavor, and it seems outdated today, more than two thousand years ago. Those who hold objections or disagree with this. There are not a few. However, as a serious historian, Sima Qian’s conclusions reached through thousands of years of historical investigation will not lose their reasonable content because they are not in line with today’s people or lack a sense of the times. In a sense, , Sima Qian’s profound understanding of the inherent laws of history is much better than most of us today. In Sima Qian's view, what Liu Bang did was "loyalty", as "Historical Records of Justice" said: "The Han people inherited the harsh laws of Qin and made three chapters of the law. On the contrary, they were loyal to the government, made the people tireless, and won the rule of heaven. Therefore, Tai Shigong quoted the etiquette as This praise means that the great emperor can change Qin Dynasty and make the people peaceful." If you refer to the "Preface to the Moon Table between Qin and Chu", Sima Qian's meaning will become clearer. He said: "In the past, during the rise of Yu and Xia, they accumulated good deeds for decades. They were virtuous and friendly to the people, took charge of administrative affairs, and tested them with heaven. Then they came to the throne. The kings of Tang and Wu followed Qi and Houji and cultivated benevolent conduct. After more than ten generations of Yi, he unexpectedly met with the eight hundred princes of Mengjin, but he thought it was impossible. After that, Qin started to kill Duke Xiang. As far as the first emperor was concerned, he was able to achieve the same level of virtue as the other, but it was difficult to unify him with such strength. Since Qin became emperor, it was suffering from endless wars, so there were no feudal lords, and they fell into ruin. The famous city, the leader of the army, and the maintenance of peace for all generations. However, the rise of the king's traces began in Luxiang, and he joined forces to conquer the country. He is the hero of the world. This is the so-called great sage. Isn't it heaven? Who else can be appointed as the emperor? "It turns out that Liu Bang's achievement is to be an emperor. Social life that had been turbulent for hundreds of years since the Zhou Dynasty moved eastward has returned to normal. Such an achievement can of course only be described as a great sage.
In fact, Sima Qian's conclusion was not his own, but was made overall based on the absorption of previous summaries. After Liu Bang's death, all the ministers said: "The Great Patriarch of the Han Dynasty made the greatest contribution by setting things right in troubled times and bringing peace to the world." The idea of ??setting things right from chaos that we are familiar with today originated from Liu Bang.
Why do you say this? Because Qin ended the war and established a dynasty, it had the conditions to do so, that is, it was Qin who should restart the cycle of the Three Kings since Xia. Just as Jia Yi said when commenting on the death of Qin: "Now that the second generation of Qin has been established, everyone in the world will take the lead and observe its politics. Those who are cold will benefit from the brown, while those who are hungry will be left with chaff. The world is crying, and this is the capital of the new master. This is It is said that working for the people is easy." But the foundation of Qin's country was not generosity, but more untimely harshness, which made the Three Kings unsustainable. This historical situation of putting things right out of chaos was only possible through Liu Bang's success. Therefore, "Lu Sheng said: The emperor rose from power, suppressed the Qin Dynasty, punished the powerful Chu, brought benefit and eliminated harm to the world, inherited the legacy of the Five Emperors and Three Sovereigns, and ruled China. There are hundreds of millions of people in China, and the country is thousands of miles away. It is the most prosperous place in the world. "There are many people, everything is prosperous, and government is governed by one family. Since the beginning of time, there has been no beginning." It can be seen that Sima Qian's evaluation of Liu Bang was based on his contribution to the people, and it was based on the few years after the Zhou Dynasty moved eastward. After hundreds of years of war and chaos, the people were displaced and finally settled due to the rise of the Han Dynasty. So, did Liu Bang intentionally make this contribution or this situation, or did he get it unintentionally? Judging from historical records, it should be intentional and intentional.
2. The heart of a benevolent person, the heart of the common people in the world
When talking about Liu Bang's success, his three advantages are always mentioned: 1. Talented and broad-minded; 2. Ability to employ people, especially the ability to control people; 3. Flexibility, intelligence, and adaptability to a superb level; but Liu Bang did not mention the benevolent heart that the times needed. And, in fact, this is Liu Bang's greatest advantage, his handsomeness among his advantages, and other advantages are just subordinate to this.
Sima Qian recorded: "The great ancestor was a man... benevolent and loving." This kind of benevolence and loving others can be seen in historical materials: it was first reflected in the imprisonment of his disciples on the way to Xianyang for the government. Then it showed that he was unwilling to accept the position of Pei Ling when he first came to Pei. Liu Ji said: "The world is in turmoil, and the princes have risen together. It is not good to appoint generals now, and everything will be defeated. If I don't dare to love myself, I am afraid that I will be weak and unable to fulfill my father, brother and children. For this important matter, I hope to choose the best one." Note. , Liu Bang's speech as the leader is different from Cao Shen and Xiao He's speech as the leader. Xiao and Cao's speech was out of fear that things would not work out, and the Qin Dynasty was racially related to his family, while Liu Bang's speech did not include personal factors. The most typical one is to enter the pass to destroy Qin, and make a three-part agreement with the Qin people to remove all Qin laws and not be rewarded by the Qin people. Furthermore, in the seventh year of the Han Dynasty, Liu Bang attacked Han Wangxin and returned to Xianyang. "Seeing that the palace was very strong, he was angry and said to Xiao He, "The Hungarians in the world have been fighting hard for several years, and the success or failure is unknown. How can the palace be excessive?" Finally, after the twelfth year of the Han Dynasty, his father stayed for a drink. Liu Bang said: "We have many people, and my father and brother cannot give too much." Disturbing the elders in my hometown shows my deep compassion for the people in my hometown. All this is not a show, but comes from pure sincerity.
Speaking of Liu Bang's benevolence and love for others, it may be necessary to compare the evaluation of Xiang Yu by people at that time. Xiao He said: "The king has always been arrogant and rude. Now he pays homage to the general, as if he were calling a child." Han Xin said: "When King Xiang meets people, he is respectful and kind. His words are vomiting. When people are sick, he tears and shares food and drink. To make people meritorious. , When you are awarded a title, you cannot bear to do it. This is called the kindness of women. "Chen Ping said: "King Xiang is a man of respect and love, and those who are honest and courteous will be rewarded with honors. , It is important that the scholars do not attach themselves to this. Now the king is slow and disrespectful, and those who are honest will not come. However, if the king can spare people the title, those who are stubborn, greedy for profit and shameless will mostly return to the Han Dynasty. Remove the two shortcomings and attack the two strong points, and the world will be settled. However, the king will bully others and cannot get honest people. "Li Shiqi said: "The king of Han gathered the troops of the world and sent the princes to surrender. That is to say, he marries his generals and divides his men when they are bribed. He will share the benefits with the world, and all the heroes and talents will be happy to use them... King Xiang has the reputation of double the promise and kills the righteous emperor. No merits are recorded, and no sins committed by others are forgotten. If you conquer the city, you will not be rewarded. If you conquer the city, you will not be granted a seal. If you are not a member of the Xiang family, you will not be able to use it. If you attack the city, you will not be rewarded. . The talented people in the world are resentful, but they cannot be used. Therefore, the people of the world belong to the king of Han, and they can sit down and make plans." Gao Qi and Wang Ling said: "Your Majesty is arrogant and insulting, but Xiang Yu is kind and loving. However, your Majesty sent people to attack the city and capture the territory, and those who surrendered will benefit from it. "The above statements are actually ways to treat others, not love for others. Despite this, we can still see the essential difference between Liu and Xiang. Liu Shi benefits from the world, while Xiang Ze is the only one to benefit from it. With this premise, Xiang's Love has no substantive content and is more of a performance; while Liu tries to benefit as many people as possible.
In this way of treating others, its arrogance does no real harm to others, but its promotion of benefits brings great benefits to others. This also proves Liu Bang's benevolent heart. It is precisely because of this kind of benevolent heart that the world can be united and the final victory can be achieved. From historical records, we can see that Liu Bang’s heroes benefited more from being granted titles. In fact, the common people in the early Han Dynasty also benefited a lot. The Qin Dynasty was extravagant and extravagant, collecting more than half of the world's taxes. By the early Han Dynasty, everything was in ruins, but taxes did not increase, but decreased. "Song Dynasty Zhoumi's "Qidong Yeyu" says: The law of the well field was abolished, and the names became more and more numerous, and the two Han Dynasties were the lightest. Since Gao and Hui, the fifteen-year tax was one, and Emperor Wen issued another half-rent order. In the first year of Emperor Jing's reign, he also tried to grant Half rent; next year, the tax will be one, which is called half rent. In addition to the previous tax of fifteen, two will be levied on thirty, and now the tax will be one, which is the so-called half rent system. It was not easy to guard the rear, so Guangwu issued an edict: "The army has not been cleared yet, so the tithe is imposed. Today's grain reserves are poor, and the order is thirty taxes per one, just like the old system. This is what the Han family often does." System." This situation that lasted for hundreds of years shows that the biggest beneficiary of Liu Bang's victory was not himself and his subordinates, but the broad masses of the people. This is in line with what Laozi said: "The people are hungry because of the large food tax." "Therefore, the sage said: I do nothing, but the people will change themselves; I like to be quiet, but the people will be upright; I have nothing to do. , and the people will become rich; I have no desires, and the people will be simple." Sima Qian's evaluation also has a foothold.