Folk stories, myths, legends and historical figures about the Yellow River

War in the Yellow River Basin

Muye Ancient Battlefield: Located in the north of Weihui City, Henan Province today, it was a suburb of Chaoge, the capital of the Shang Dynasty. At the end of the Shang Dynasty, King Wu of Zhou swore an oath here when he attacked King Zhou of Yin. He attacked Chaoge in one fell swoop and forced King Zhou to commit suicide, ending the 600-year history of the Shang Dynasty. This is the famous Battle of Makino in history.

The ancient battlefield of Xiaoshan: in the northwest of Luoning County, Henan Province. During the Spring and Autumn Period, the two countries Qin and Jin, who were already in a marriage relationship, had been fighting openly and secretly because they both wanted to be the hegemons. After the death of Duke Wen of Jin, conflicts over the struggle for Zheng became public. Duke Xianggang of Jin ambushed the Qin army in the Xiaoshan Mountains, the only route through which the Qin army passed. This is the famous Battle of Xiaoshan in history.

Julu Ancient Battlefield: in present-day Pingxiang County, Hebei Province. At the end of the Qin Dynasty, Chen Sheng and Wu Guang rebelled and were defeated by Qin Zhanghan's army. Zhang Han then suppressed another uprising army led by Xiang Liang, then attacked Zhao and occupied Handan, the capital of Zhao. King Zhao retreated to Julu and asked for help from Qi, Yan, Chu and other countries. King Chu sent two groups of troops, one led by Liu Bang to directly attack the Qin capital Xianyang; the other led by Song Yi went north to rescue Zhao. Because Song Yi was timid, he was deprived of military power by the second general Xiang Yu on the way. Xiang Yu immediately led his army to attack Julu and defeated the Qin army with nine battles and nine victories. Zhang Han asked Xianyang for reinforcements. Zhao Gao, who controlled the government, wanted to usurp the power of the country. Not only did he not send reinforcements, but he spoke ill of Zhang Han to Qin II. Zhang Han was blamed and was in a dilemma. In the end, he had to surrender to Xiang Yu, and the Battle of Julu ended. The Battle of Julu was the decisive battle that led to the peasant uprising in the late Qin Dynasty to overthrow the rule of the Qin Dynasty. This is where the famous idiom "Chasing the Deer in the Central Plains" comes from.

Kunyang Ancient Battlefield: in present-day Ye County, Henan Province. At the end of the Western Han Dynasty, Wang Mang seized the throne of the Han Dynasty. In order to consolidate his rule, in 23 AD, Wang Mang sent 400,000 troops to surround Kunyang, which was occupied by the peasant uprising army led by Liu Xuan. The peasant uprising army only had more than 8,000 people, and there was a huge disparity in the strength of the two sides. . However, under the skillful command of Liu Xiu, the Taichang partial general, the rebel army defeated the army of the New Dynasty. It took the rebel army more than a month to clean the battlefield. The Battle of Kunyang is a famous example in Chinese history of defeating the large with the small and the weak defeating the strong.

Guandu Ancient Battlefield: in the northeast of Zhongmu County, Henan Province. In 200 AD, Cao Cao, who "held the emperor hostage to order the princes", basically occupied the Central Plains, and began to compete with his powerful enemy Yuan Shao. Yuan Shao's 100,000-strong army set out from Ye to attack Xuchang. Cao Cao led more than 10,000 troops to Guandu to meet the enemy. Due to the disparity in strength between the two sides, Cao Cao adopted the tactic of avoiding the real situation and exploiting the weak, making false claims in the east and attacking in the west, and narrowly defeated Yuan's army twice. Yuan Shao relied on his large number of troops and led his army to Guandu for a decisive battle with Cao Cao. Cao Cao held Guandu and Yuan Shao was unable to advance. The two armies were in a stalemate for half a year. Later, Cao Cao adopted the advice of Yuan Shao's advisers and led 5,000 elite troops to sneak attack Yuan Shao's granary. Yuan Shao was so angry that he wanted to sneak attack Cao Cao's base camp, but he was attacked from two sides by Cao's army, which was well prepared. In the end, Yuan Shao's 100,000 army was wiped out to only about 800 people. This is the famous Battle of Guandu.

Zheng Banqiao (1693-1765), whose given name was Xie, whose courtesy name was Kerou, and whose names were Banqiao layman and Banqiao Taoist, was from Xinghua County, Jiangsu Province. His family was poor. He was elected as a scholar of Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong in the imperial examination. Jinshi.

From the seventh year of Qianlong (1742 AD), Zheng Banqiao served as the magistrate of Fan County for five years. During his term, he made outstanding achievements. He was upright, did not flatter officials, did not flatter his superiors, and acted fairly. He sympathized with the people's sufferings, did many good things for the people, and was respected by the people of Fan County. To this day, the folk song "Zheng Banqiao is an upright official, does not care about money and does not love money" is still spread in Fan County.

Fan County is located on the border, where local ruffians, villains and gentry oppress the people and run rampant in the countryside. The former local officials did not dare to provoke them. When these guys heard about the arrival of a new "stubborn" county magistrate, they went to "sniff out" the reality. When they saw Zheng Banqiao walking down the street, they gathered to start a fight and deliberately broke the porridge jar of an old man selling porridge on the street. Pretending that the old man tripped over a stone and offended the dignity of the county magistrate, he demanded to be punished for the crime of stone. Zheng Banqiao planned to lure them into the court and punished them so hard that they could not endure the punishment. They all paid for mercy and Zheng Banqiao drove the bad guys away. After going out, he gave all the money to the old man selling porridge to comfort him.

Since then, the arrogance of some hooligans and bullies in Fan County has been reduced, and social order has become much safer.

“I can’t help but be lazy when I drink Tao Pai Yamen, and I go deep into the forest to ask about the customs in my shoes.” Zheng Banqiao, as a county magistrate, hates “drinking Tao Pai Yamen” and often wears casual shoes to ask about the folk customs. He said in "The Book of Fanxian County Office to the Shedi Mo Di": "I think the first class of people in the world are farmers... The first farmer cultivates a hundred acres of land, the second is seventy or eighty acres, and the third is fifty or sixty acres." He worked hard, worked hard, cultivated and harvested to feed the people of the world, so that there were no farmers in the world and the whole world would starve to death." Especially in years of famine, he "did not neglect his home" and took care of the sufferings of the people. Keep in mind: "I lie down in the Yazhai and listen to the bamboos rustling, which is suspected to be the suffering of the people. I am a Caozhou county official, and I care about each branch and leaf." According to the "Fan County Chronicles and related materials": Every summer, the water in the Yellow River surges. Zheng Banqiao often patrolled the embankment day and night, and sometimes even lived with the people in a nunnery to strengthen the embankment and prevent troubles. Because of his diligence and love for the people, the remote Fan County "has been imprisoned several times," and "has never left any traces." There was a short-term situation of relative peace and prosperity, and the people also got a chance to recuperate.

In the 12th year of Qianlong's reign (1746 AD), Kan Banqiao was transferred to the Wei County magistrate. In the 18th year of Qianlong's reign (753 AD), he resigned and returned to his fields, living in seclusion in Yangzhou and making a living selling calligraphy and paintings.

Zheng Banqiao was unsuccessful in politics, but he made great achievements in painting, calligraphy, poetry, etc., and was a representative of the "Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou". He has profound attainments in painting, calligraphy and poetry, and is known as the "Three Wonders". The combination of the "three unique arts" constitutes a complete artistic whole, forming its characteristics of true energy, true meaning and true interest. He is especially good at painting orchids and bamboos, which are vigorous, refreshing, sparse and well-organized. He is also good at poetry, regardless of body shape, and is caused by the head. , he writes straight from the heart, no matter the romantic narrative, it is all moving. His calligraphy is a fusion of official, regular and cursive calligraphy. He calls himself "six and a half calligraphy". It is free and smooth, garden-like and ancient, and he is a master of his own. He is praised by future generations as a master. Law.

The story of the Yellow River. Why Chinese people call them the descendants of Yan and Huang. The story of Dayu’s flood control.

The legend of the carp jumping over the dragon gate. The allusion of the crowing of chickens and dog thieves. The origin of the name of Sanmenxia.

The legend of the Foolish Old Man who moved the mountains.

In ancient times, there was a man named Feng Yi in Tong Township, Huayin. He was restless in farming and wanted to become an immortal. He heard that if a person drinks the juice of daffodils for a hundred days, he can transform into a fairy body. So I looked for daffodils everywhere.

Before Dayu regulated the Yellow River, the Yellow River had no fixed channel and flowed everywhere, often causing disasters. . Feng Yi ran around looking for daffodils, often crossing, crossing, and crossing the Yellow River, and often dealing with the Yellow River. Ninety-nine days later, he found a daffodil and sucked its juice for a day, and he became an immortal. Feng Yi was very proud and crossed the Yellow River to a small village to find daffodils. The water here was not deep, so Feng Yi waded across the river. When he reached the middle of the river, the water suddenly rose. He panicked, slipped, fell into the Yellow River, and drowned alive.

After Feng Yi died, he became the water god of the Yellow River and was known as He Bo.

He Bo followed the Jade Emperor's instructions and wanted to draw a river map. He first went to his hometown. Checking the water conditions and drawing a river map was a hard job. By the time He Bo finished drawing the river, he was already old and weak. He Bo looked at the river map and clearly drew where the Yellow River is deep and where it is shallow; where it is easy to break the embankment and where it is easy to burst; where it should be dug and where it should be blocked; where the water can be cut off and where the flood can be drained. I can only lament that I don’t have the strength to regulate the Yellow River according to the plan, which is very sad. He Bo thought that one day there would be a capable person to manage the Yellow River. At that time, granting him the river map would mean that he had not worried in vain.

He Bo spent his remaining years peacefully under the Yellow River and never appeared again. Unexpectedly, the Yellow River continued to rise and flooded frequently. The people knew that the Jade Emperor sent He Bo to control the water, but they did not see his face. They all scolded He Bo for not fulfilling his duties and not caring about the lives of the people.

Later, when Dayu came out to control the water,

Dayu said to Hebo: "I am Dayu, and I came to you specifically to ask for advice on how to control the Yellow River." He Bo Bo said: "My hard work and river management methods are all on this map. Now I will give it to you."

"

When Dayu showed the picture, he saw that the picture was densely packed with circles, clearly depicting the up and down, left and right water conditions of the Yellow River. Dayu was very happy. He wanted to thank him. He Bo, when he raised his head, He Bo leaped into the Yellow River and disappeared.

Dayu obtained the map of the water conditions of the Yellow River. He worked day and night and based on the instructions on the map, he finally controlled the Yellow River.