People's impression of Tong Guan probably comes from The Water Margin. At that time, Tong Guan paid homage to the Tang envoys who controlled the military power of the imperial court, and it was incumbent on him to encircle Liangshan bandits. However, when he led 800,000 troops to Liangshan Park to suppress the Sung River Rebels, he was ambushed on all sides, killed and fled back to Bianjing alone. But as for what Tong Guan looks like, there is no detailed description in the book. In fact, if you look at History of Song Dynasty, you can first see the description of Tong Guan's appearance. The man has three characteristics: the first one is "born with ten", and H is his chin, which means that the chin of Tong Gonggong is different from that of ordinary father-in-law, but after all, it is still not as good as that of ordinary adult men, so his beard can be counted clearly, with only a sparse "ten". However, according to the ancient aesthetic standard of "taking righteousness as beauty", the "tens" of children's father-in-law alone is enough to laugh at the princes. The second one is "burly, grand view", which shows that the child's father-in-law is not only handsome, but also burly and looks great. He is really a "long beauty". The third is "as thin as iron", with bright eyes and dark skin. At first glance, he is full of masculinity, unlike a castrated eunuch. This may have something to do with his virginity in his late twenties.
Personality: "Dedicating righteousness and sparing money" and "being a gentleman"
A great event happened when Tong Guan's army attacked the northwest Xixia. When the army arrived in Huangchuan, Tong Guan was ordered to return Li because of a fire in the palace. After seeing the imperial edict, Tong Guan folded it up and stuffed it into the trunk. The commander asked him, what did the emperor write? Tong Guan replied: The Emperor wants us to succeed at an early date. In this war, Tong Guan kept a low profile. He supported and cooperated with the leading generals and fought a series of beautiful battles to quell the rebellion of the northwest tribes. At the celebration dinner, Tong Guan took out the imperial edict of the emperor and passed it on to the army generals. At first glance, everyone was surprised and asked him in fear why he did it. Tong Guan replied: "At that time, morale was high. If we stop fighting like this, how can we fight in the future? " The Lord asked, "What if we are defeated?" Tong Guan said, "So I didn't show it to you at that time. If I lose, I will bear all the blame myself. " It is said that all the generals at that time "hula" suddenly knelt on the ground, and everyone was grateful and admired. At the same time, Tong Guan also adopted the children of the fallen generals as adopted sons, which moved the generals who risked their lives and decided that Tong Guan was a boss worth working for. Tong Guan won the recognition of Hui Zong this time, and was appointed as our ambassador as an exception. Because of the recovery of Shi Jun and Zhou Tao, plus proofreading is common. In the first year of Zheng He (111), Tong Guan entered Qiu, took the Privy Council, and was awarded the title of eunuch. In the seventh year of Xuanhe (1 125), Tong Guan was made king of Yangguangjun for "recovering" Yanjing. As for the subsequent failure and the so-called traitorous behavior, there are many complicated factors, which cannot be completely attributed to Tong Guan. It is the need of political struggle to list him as one of the "six thieves". The "Six Thieves" are all brilliant people by surprise. Unfortunately, most of their skills are spent on infighting, and the responsibility is not only on them. Those so-called righteous people were bent on killing them and had to resist. This can be seen from the struggle between Sima Guang and Wang Anshi.
Although Tong Guan looks burly and extensive, he is thoughtful and has a strong insight into other people's psychology, especially Song Huizong's intentions and hobbies. He was generous, and some people said that he was just trying to win over the trusted ministers in the harem, so as to predict Song Huizong's behavior. But he is also adopting orphans, attaches great importance to military generals, and has a high death pension.
Record: the best in history
Tong Guan's experience is full of legendary tragicomedy. In his life, he created several "best" in the history of China, which of course has become an unparalleled record in the history of the Chinese nation, and may be maintained forever.
These records are:
The eunuch who held the soldiers for the longest time in China history;
The eunuch with the greatest military power in China history;
The eunuch with the highest rank in the history of China;
The first eunuch to represent the country in a foreign country in the history of China;
Eunuch crowned king in the history of China.
Edit the character evaluation of this paragraph.
Tong Guan: From the depths of history.
I came across several articles about Tong Guan, and the evaluation was quite different. Here is a comparison:
1) Does history have a true face? Everyone's behavior is multifaceted, and there is no need to forge it. As long as we delete, emphasize and ignore some, we can make a completely different evaluation of a historical figure. Tong Guan's true face may never be tested. Because he is a eunuch, historians have a natural prejudice, and then language rendering can erase their possible talents. Moreover, he concealed his misdeeds, and his performance made people feel that he died unjustly. In the past 30 years, there have been repeated similar comments: Zeng Guofan, Li Hongzhang, Chiang Kai-shek, Lin Biao, Liu Shaoqi, Deng Xiaoping ... Another example is the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, which was originally known as the peasant uprising, but in recent years, official political textbooks no longer seem to emphasize it, probably because of the anti-cult struggle. Maybe one day Hong Xiuquan will be denied as a cult leader again. All history is subjective, even the original historical materials themselves must have abridged reality and value orientation, and future generations cannot know the truth. Even in life, it is easy to make mistakes in judging people around you, not to mention judging historical figures who can't defend themselves only by local historical materials. In the study of history, it is not too important to praise or criticize specific events and figures. It may be a more worthwhile direction to understand the movement law of historical system and the resulting historical development direction. For example, The Biography of Tong Guan can at least be used for reference to the political system and military system of the Northern Song Dynasty. (See 2 and 3 below)
2) According to the traditional history textbooks, the military system in the Northern Song Dynasty was based on the recruitment system, which banned the army in separate compartments and mobilized frequently; The military power is divided into three parts, the Privy Council is responsible for dispatching, and the three lawsuits (namely, the Division before the Palace, the Division of Guards and Horses, and the Division of Guards and Soldiers) are responsible for unifying the national imperial guards and soldiers, commanding (handsome) ministers to deploy, recruit and lead troops to war in wartime, and that's all. In this way, the soldiers will be separated and will not specialize in soldiers. The Ministry of War is only responsible for etiquette, martial arts and the selection and recruitment of soldiers. The emperor's control is so strict that even the temporary pictures are decided by the emperor. Tong Guan did not dare to serve the imperial edict during the war, and "there are tens of thousands of young people who have won the battle in the west, thinking that they are pro-military and surrounded by the first house", which seems to be a warlord, but is actually a product outside the system. In the early years of Southern Song Dynasty, armies such as Yue Fei, Han Shizhong, Zhang Jun, etc. also had the characteristics of personal attachment and arbitrariness, and were called "soldiers stationed in the garrison", mostly in the relatives' villages of generals and in the old days. It can be seen that from the end of the Northern Song Dynasty to the beginning of the Southern Song Dynasty, the military system changed greatly. From the emperor's point of view, this warlord is by no means a good thing, and it is inevitable to find an excuse to kill it. The killing of Yue Fei and Tong Guan, regardless of the emperor's intention, met the objective requirements of the suspected soldier system in the Song Dynasty.
3) It seems that it is no accident that the eunuchs in the Northern Song Dynasty took charge of the troops, and the front line of Xixia was often guarded by capable eunuchs for a long time. For example, Li Xiang, a former inspector of Jingyuan, a state defense envoy, has been guarding Xihe for more than 20 years. Tong Guan is not unprecedented. In addition, Feng Shining was an ambassador and an ambassador of Zhongzhou Yong ying. He felt that after the Germans stayed and the Changhua Army stayed, it was not impossible for the eunuch to grant the position of minister. In addition, such as Ji Li and Ren Xuanqing and Zhou Wenying, they put down the mutinies in Baozhou, Zhou Bei and Zhou Huan; Cheng Yun was appointed Governor of Hebei Province, Special Envoy of Gong Yuan, and served as a water official outside. He moved to Dazhou, making the waterproofing of Hebei River profitable and using his water conservancy talents on Wang Anshi. High in simplicity, leading the secretariat of Zhongzhou with literary thoughts; Su Li's participation in Dazhou secretariat, attending classes and listening to lectures, his deputy knowing everything, and his transfer to Haizhou Ambassador Ying Yong are all examples of eunuchs in power. Reading the biographies of dozens of officials listed in the History of Song Dynasty, we can feel that most eunuchs are not people who play politics and ruin the country and the people, but they are really talented and can stand alone. Although it is often criticized by foreign officials, it is often not because of the matter itself, but because of the background of eunuchs and the needs of factional struggle. Due to strict supervision, in the Song Dynasty, although eunuchs held high positions, the eunuch's disaster was very light. This situation only existed in the main Han Dynasty (Han, Tang, Song and Ming Dynasties):
"Songshi is very strict with officials. When Mao first took office in the world, there were only fifty people in the court, and the middle-aged official hall allowed the adopted son to come last. He also ordered officials not to keep eunuchs privately, and those who have eunuchs as goods will die. It's not far to Tang, punish me. Since then, Emperor Taizong refused to grant Wang Jien a badge at the request of the Prime Minister. True Sect wants to save Zuowei Liu, but the Prime Minister can't stop it. During the shift change, the young mother listened to the opinions of politicians. The three dynasties are the previous generations, so it is not the autumn when officials use things! The ancestors were strict in law, the prime minister was heavy, the mink was treacherous, and the heel was wiped out. The monarch and the minister were deeply worried about preventing the delay. " ("The History of Song Dynasty ◎ A Biography of Official History", p. 225)
It can be felt that the Song Dynasty did not systematically establish a eunuch's separate yamen or army (such as the Eight Commanders in Xiyuan in Han Dynasty, the Shence Army in Tang Dynasty, and the West Factory in Royal Guards East Factory in Ming Dynasty), and there was no difference between the eunuch and the literati. It is a permanent position in the administrative or military system, an unsupervised system (such as military supervision) or a position that bypasses the government and is directly responsible to the emperor (such as Royal Guards and Mining Supervision). Because it can be tolerated by the civil service system, the eunuch's administration is only unique in person, not self-contained. This is probably the main reason why the eunuch's power is not strong in Song Dynasty. Therefore, Tong Guan's control of military power and submission to others, except his Qinbing team, is not a manifestation of the destruction of the Song family system, but basically a normal internal personnel change.
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* For example, participated in: "The cloud dedicates itself with the help of the fifth effort. Fake court Fu Wei, afraid to move to counties. * * * The river opened by the city is quite useless and has not been successful for a long time. Also discussed the opening of the Qinhe River, until visiting officials followed suit, only to know that it was inconvenient. In the battle of Zhanghe River, it rained cats and dogs, and the water occupied the fields of Xing, Ming, Zhao, Shen and Qi. Four sects of Confucius tried their best to play treacherous roles, so they put more tarts on their mouths, referring to invading the river as silt fields. When it is powerful, it will promote and abolish officials, but it will do whatever it wants. Slow and arrogant, the imperial edict shall prevail, and the prison department has instructions, so it violates it. The villain is mistaken for a reward, and he is conceited. I am willing to send the official back and will still investigate and deal with it. "
Rejected: "Wang Anshi knows that there is a cloud in the river, so he added an envoy to open the Zhanghe River, with 7 million laborers and 89 million floods." Then this impeachment has the background of political reform and conservative struggle.
Sima Guang, a member of the Senate, said in a brief statement: "I have been in my post for a long time and I have committed many crimes. According to the old system of our ancestors, when we became an official of the God Hospital, we had to go out after working in the inner hall. Today, your majesty left four people alone to have a secret discussion with China and foreign countries. The situation in the former dynasty was simple and clear, depending on the market society, and the theory of things was gnashing its teeth. And your majesty's succession, but after the first self-collection, so that you get more trust than the first emperor. May Meiji be guilty to solve the world's confusion. " Considering personnel issues purely from the perspective of "morality" of the law of ancestors is nothing more than his consistent attitude of "the law of ancestors cannot be changed".
Tong Guan: Six Thieves "Six Missing One"-Tong Guan's Death
In the early morning of the first year of Jingkang, Song Qinzong (1 126), Rizo, an army supervisor, rode several times, set off from the government office of Nanxiong Prefecture, took a wooden box with a bloody head inside, passed through Meiguan and galloped away to Bianjing. On the seventh day of September, the head returned by Zhang Cheng was hung high on the head of Bianjing City, causing a sensation in Beijing.
Whose head is this? It turned out to be Tong Guan, who was once prominent and in power, that is, the 800,000 troops written in Water Margin went to the water margin to suppress the Sung River rebels, were ambushed on all sides, were killed by Tong Guan, an envoy of the Tang Dynasty, and fled back to Bianjing alone.
Tong Guan was a eunuch, eunuch and military commander in the late Northern Song Dynasty. According to "History of Song Dynasty", after Tong Guan entered the palace, he benefited greatly from his strong handling ability and the recommendation of Prime Minister Cai Jing. Hui Zong once ordered Tong Guan's army to attack Xia Guo to the west, and the army took away hundreds of thousands of Qing Tang. When the army arrived in Huangchuan, Tong Guan was ordered to return to Li because the palace was on fire. Seeing that the fighter plane was mature, Tong Guan flatly decided not to serve the imperial edict, continued to advance westward, won a total victory, and even recovered four states. Tong Guan was deeply appreciated by Hui Zong and was appointed as the ambassador of Jingfu Hall and the observer of Xiangzhou. Soon, as Wu Kangjun moved to our time and restored Shi Jun and Zhou Tao, it was common to add calibration. In the first year of Zheng He (111), Tong Guan entered Taiwei and led the Privy Council. Since then, Tong Guan has been ranked in the three public places, and fought heavily in the northwest frontier, dealing with foreign Xia, Liao and Jin for more than ten years. In the second year of Xuanhe (1 120), Tong Guanxuan, a Hui sect, was the commander-in-chief, with a rate of150,000 troops to suppress the peasant uprising army in Fang La. After more than 450 days of fierce fighting, more than 70,000 insurgents were annihilated. Tong Guan was given a surname for his work. In the seventh year of Xuanhe (1 125), Tong Guan regained the territory of Yan Quan, became the king of Yangguangjun, and took command of the frontier of a military town and stationed in Dayuan. At that time, Jin had destroyed Liao and invaded the south on a large scale. Seeing that the tide was over, Tong Guan refused to listen to the orders of Qin Zong to stay in Bianjing, and fled to Bianliang from Dayuan to accompany Huizong to the south. Therefore, Chen Dong and others wrote that six people, including Cai Jing and Tong Guan, committed treason and six thieves. Tong Guan's main crime is "making estrangement with Liao and Jin". In fact, the resentment of Liao and Jin was not caused by Tong Guan, and the estrangement was not caused by Tong Guan. Tong Guan has been a soldier for 20 years. In the battle with Xia, Liao and Jin, he won and lost, but he did his best not to defect to the enemy and mistake his country. The demise of the Northern Song Dynasty lies in the corruption of the imperial court and the collapse of the economy. One of the important reasons why Tong Guan became the target of public criticism is that he was born as a eunuch and court officials looked down on him. Coupled with Tong Guan's arrogance, he made enemies up and down. Hui Zong Zen, Qin Zong ascended the throne, and Tong Guan broke his promise. In the first year of Jingkang (1 126), he was demoted three times in a row. In July, he was demoted to Jiyang Army (now Yaxian County, Hainan Province) and ordered Zhang Cheng, the suggestion, to pursue and behead Tong Guan's top ten sins.
Tong Guan "was burly and handsome, with a dozen beards. He is as skinny as iron, not a eunuch. " (Biography of Song History, 227). Although Tong Guan was demoted, people were still afraid of his fragility and bravery. Therefore, Zhang Chengfeng chasing Tong Guan, dare not treat sth lightly. Rizo chased Nanxiong all the way, first sent someone to "visit" Tong Guan, pretending that there was an imperial edict to give tea and medicine, and asked Tong Guan to return to Beijing as Fu Xuan, Hebei Province. The special envoy will arrive tomorrow and deliver the imperial edict. Tong Guan believed it and smiled: "I am still indispensable!" And leave the people sent by Mr. Zhang. The next morning, Mr. Zhang came, and Tong Guan rushed out with joy and knelt on the imperial edict. Rizo immediately declared that he would apply for the top ten charges in Tong Guan. When Tong Guan realized it was too late, Zhang Chengpa sent someone to cut off his head with a knife.
The second day early in the morning, Rizo and his party rode several times, starting from Nanxiong Prefecture, holding a wooden box with Tong Guan's bloody head, and rode through Meiguan to Bianjing. On the seventh day of September, Tong Guan's head, escorted by Mr. Zhang, was hung high on the head of Bianjing City, causing a sensation inside and outside Beijing. From then on, the bearded "Xiang" disappeared in the eunuch phalanx, and at the same time, the "six thieves" in the Northern Song Dynasty also lost a thief.