In the Shang and Zhou Dynasties, Oracle Bone Inscriptions had the words "Zuo Cuan", "Yes" and "Yin". Jin Wen has the records of "writing history in books" and "writing Yin Shu". According to Wang Guowei's textual research in Guanlin, Zuojuan and Neishi belong to the same official position, and their officials are called Yin. They are both historians in charge of literature and recording current events.
In the Spring and Autumn Period, there were historians such as grand history, mini-history, internal history, foreign history, left history and right history. "The grand history governs the six national codes, the minor history governs the ambition of the country, the internal history governs the life of the king, and the external history governs the book, making it almost everywhere." (Liu Zhiji: Shi Tongguan Stone Slips). "The Book of Rites Jade Algae" says that "what moves is left in the history books, and what is said is right in the history books". It can be seen that the division of labor and responsibilities of historians is very detailed and clear.
After the Qin and Han Dynasties, historians had many names and different positions, but their settings remained. There are Taishi orders in Qin Dynasty, Taishi Gong in Han Dynasty, Huolang, Lan Tailing in Tang Dynasty, Zhu Xia's history, Zuo Lang's history and so on, and there are historians in all previous dynasties.
Liu Zhiji's Shi Tong in Tang Dynasty recorded the origin and evolution of the ancient historiographer system in detail. He believes that the use of history is a major event that "remembers the merits and demerits, promotes the good and avoids the evil, gains and losses once, and honors the Millennium". Without historians, there is no distinction between good and evil, between right and wrong, and between merits and demerits. The result is that "the grave is not dry, and the beauty is ruined forever." Therefore, he said: "If there are many historians and bamboo and silk will last forever, people will die and be empty. If things exist, they will be as beautiful as stars." Scholars who used it to make them sit in bags, but God made friends with them forever; Stay indoors, but look forward to the Millennium. Meet Si Qi, meet Si Qi. If it's the Spring and Autumn Period, the rebellious son is afraid, Nan Shi will come and the book will be stolen. His notes are the same, and so is his exhortation to good and punishment to evil. As far as Sri Lanka is concerned, it is very beneficial to use history. This is an urgent task for strangers and an important road for the country. If there is a state-owned family, it is indispensable! "In fact, emperors of all previous dynasties also knew how to" make history work ". However, they set up historians, followed the tradition of "a monarch must write a book" in the Spring and Autumn Period, and did not consider the issue of promoting good and eliminating evil. Their purpose was only to set up a monument for themselves and make it immortal. "Historical Records Biography of Meng Changjun" contains: "Meng Changjun is a guest, and there is often a history of waiting behind the screen, mainly remembering the gentleman and the guest. "Shi Shi recorded? Future generations are unknown. Probably describing his kindness of "being hospitable and complacent", Shi will never let him describe the crime of killing hundreds of people just because Zhao disappeared and laughed at him as a "terrible little doctor" when passing by Zhao.
In Historical Records Biography of Lian Po and Lin Xiangru, there is an interesting story about two masters, Qin and Zhao, playing drums and playing the piano. After "One Piece Belongs to Zhao", the king of Qin held a grudge and cut Zhao twice in a row, killing more than 20,000 people. Later, he wanted to make up with Zhao and asked Zhao to meet him in Mianchi. After the meeting, the king of Qin took the opportunity to humiliate the king of Zhao and said to him when he was drunk, "I overheard the good voice of the king of Zhao. Please play the harp." After Wang Zhao played the piano, Qin immediately went down in history: "One day, I will have a drink and play the piano." When Lin Xiangru saw this scene, he was deeply distressed, so he returned blows with blows. He said to the king of Qin, "The king of Zhao heard that the king of Qin was kind to Qin. Please play a pot of entertainment. " The king of Qin knelt down and asked with anger. The king of Qin still refused to hit him, so Xiang Ru threatened: "Within five steps, Xiang Ru will be invited to spill blood on his neck!" So, "the king of Qin didn't dare, just for a blow." Xiang Ru immediately asked Zhao Shiyu to put it on record: "One day, the king of Qin attacked Zhao." In this way, I play the piano for you, you play the piano for me, and the two sides are even.
Emperors of past dynasties were very careful about the words recorded by historians. As for "a monarch must write a book", it is selective and conditional. If you have made achievements and done good deeds, you certainly need to write a big book. Even if there is no merit or good deeds, we should make something up to go down in history; Or "the beauty of a dummy is for personal gain"; Or reverse black and white and turn bad things into good things. In short, "I regard myself as good, and I learn from my shortcomings", "I don't know laymen, but I cover up evil and promote good" (Liu Zhiji: Shi Tong), and whatever is beneficial to me, "I will write" undoubtedly; Anything that is bad for you is invisible in the history books. The emperor will do some bad things more or less. Those thieves, ministers and adulterers do more bad things, but they are absolutely not allowed to go down in history and be passed down to future generations. As the saying goes, "dirty deeds can be seen once, and they are notorious for a thousand years". Which emperor in history is willing to record his "dirty deeds"? The so-called "you must write a book when you raise it" is just a lie.
Historians are different. Their attitude towards "a monarch must write a book" is quite serious. Historians in ancient China had a fine tradition of "straight pen", which became the product and virtue that later historians competed to inherit. They all know that "history is the service, advice is the tree's words", "The so-called straight author does not hide evil, and it is not empty beauty. Books are beneficial to praise and criticism, and books are harmless to exhortation" (Liu Zhiji: Shi Tong). Therefore, the words and deeds of the emperor should be recorded at any time, no matter whether you "lift" it correctly or not, you should "write it straight". Even if you are afraid of putting a butcher knife around your neck, tell the truth and don't tell lies. "It's better to destroy jade for orchid than for capacity", and never "Ai Lan is mixed, Zhu Xi is hard to distinguish".
Emperor and historian, one should "claim to be my strong point", "suppress evil and promote good", and the other should "write a portrait without covering up its shortcomings"; One is to whitewash the mistakes, and the other is to "draw inferences from one instance"; One wants to erect a monument for himself, and the other wants to "exhort" future generations. The two purposes and standards are diametrically opposed, forming a sharp contradiction and contest between the two forces. As a result of the contest, power often overwhelms the truth, and a butcher knife is better than a pen. Under the rule of feudal monarch Zhi, historians suffered many hardships, which is the reason.
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The dialectics of history is like this: the tyrants who distort history, all their scenery before their death, are at the expense of being judged by history after their death; However, historians who write straight books often get wreaths from history at birth.
"Dong Hu in Jin Dynasty, calligraphy is not hidden"; "History of Qi Nan, Cui Jian". These are two beautiful stories handed down by China for thousands of years, and they are also two pioneers of "straight writing" by ancient historians.
Dong Hu was a historian in Jin Linggong during the Spring and Autumn Period. Jin Linggong succeeded to the throne at a very young age, which is not only naive, but also arrogant. For example, he shot pedestrians with a slingshot on the high platform for fun; His cook killed bear's paw in a rage because bear's paw was not to his taste. Zhao Dun, the prime minister, remonstrated with Jin Linggong many times, but Jin Linggong didn't listen and wanted to kill Zhao Dun instead. In this case, Zhao Dun had to flee the capital and take refuge elsewhere. At this time, Zhao Chuan, a relative of his family, sent troops to kill him, then recalled to Beijing and made Jin a successful monarch. Zhao Dun continued to serve as the national minister and presided over the national government. Regarding this incident, Dong Hu, a historian of Jin State, thought that it should be the real person responsible for the killing, so he wrote bluntly in the history book: "Zhao Dun killed his king." When Zhao Dun saw this, he was surprised and explained that he was not guilty of regicide. Dong Hu said, "You are at a stage. You didn't leave the country when you went out and didn't punish the murderer when you came back. The crime of regicide is not who you are? " Zhao Dun was helpless and sighed: "Alas!" I'm pregnant, and I appreciate my kindness, so I'll call myself. "Zuo zhuan Gong Xuan two years" contains this story. So Confucius praised Donghu: "Donghu has a good history, but calligraphy is not hidden." However, Confucius also praised that "Dr. Zhao and Dr. Gu Zhiliang also regretted that the law had suffered misfortune. Crossing the border is tax-free. "Whether Confucius' comments are correct or not, let alone. But in any case, later people praised the upright historian and called him "Dong Hu". Praise the writing style of the straight book as "the pen of Donghu".
Someone asked questions. Dong Hu's "calligraphy is not hidden" is commendable, but he didn't encounter any trouble. Why? Liu Zhiji said: "What a husband can do is obedient, and what he can't do is fierce." If Dong Hu's calligraphy is not hidden, and Zhao Dun's behavior is wrong, then I will have no scruples, and then I can be upright and make a name for myself. "("Shi Tong Zhi Yan Shu ") According to Liu Zhiji, Dong Hu's name is at present, and Zhao Dun was at that time. If Zhao Dun had not been "wronged as the law", I'm afraid Dong Hu would have been out of luck, which seems to be understandable. Historians really need a relaxed objective environment and conditions for people to speak. However, it is the responsibility of historians to respect objective facts and record them directly. Isn't that why it's impossible? History of Qi Nan is a historian who is not afraid of death when it is impossible.
During the Spring and Autumn Period, Cui Shu, the minister of Qi State, and Qi Zhuanggong clashed because of their beauty. Cui Shu took the opportunity to kill Qi Zhuanggong, established Qi Jinggong and established his own country. In this regard, Qi's Taiji records "Cui Shu regicide". Cui Shu didn't want to leave the infamy of regicide in history, and ordered a surname to be put to death. The successor, a surname, wrote the same thing and was killed again. The third teacher wrote the same thing and was killed. The fourth Taishi wrote this matter directly. Cui Shu felt that he could not kill the honest historian, so he had to forget about it. At this time, Nan Shishi, another historian of Qi, heard that three stone lions were killed one after another for recording state affairs. Afraid that no one would dare to write directly, he took a bamboo slip with the words "Cui Shu killed the king" and went to the court. On the way, I learned that the fourth Tarshish was not actually killed and went back. Twenty-five Years of "Xianggong" by Zuo Zhuan recorded the story of Qi Taishi's "painting his body with an axe", and the history of southern Qi was regarded as a model of thousands of years of ancient history in China.
With such shining examples as Dong Hu and Heather, China historians of past dynasties have become more aware of their social responsibilities and strengthened their courage to express their feelings. However, under a high degree of centralization, the will and dignity of the emperor are inviolable, and historians who really write straight books are rare. Because any emperor, even a very wise emperor, will not like historians like Dong Hu and Heather, and will not allow historians to record their evil deeds and pass them on to future generations. The power in their hands is enough to influence the behavior of historians and decide their fate. Therefore, honest historians never have much luck. As Liu Zhiji said, they either "painted oil with axes", or "amused by time", or "filled a hole with books", or were killed in secret, "unknown to future generations". However, despite this, countless historians have written it directly, and the history of the Chinese nation will continue to be written.
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Historians can't help but talk about Sima Qian's history of doom.
Sima Qian is one of the most outstanding representatives of historians such as Dong Hu and Shi Nan. Because of this, he will inevitably suffer from bad luck. Sima Qian's era was the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. However, in such a prosperous time as the Han family, Sima Qian suffered eternal injustice and unbearable shame because he put in a good word for others. Sima Qian spent more than ten years writing and writing, and wrote a masterpiece "Historical Records" covering 3,000 years from Huangdi to Emperor Wudi of the Han Dynasty. However, in a long historical period, Historical Records was regarded as a "libel book". Reality is unfair to Sima Qian, but history has made a high evaluation of Sima Qian. Liu Xiang and Yang Xiong called Sima Qian a historical genius, and Lu Xun called Records of the Historian "a masterpiece of historians, and Li Sao has no rhyme". History finally gave justice to Sima Qian.
Sima Qian was born in a family of historians, and his father Sima Tan was an official of the Han Dynasty. Sima Tan was bent on writing a history book, recording "wise, virtuous, loyal and righteous people" after Confucius' Spring and Autumn Annals. Unfortunately, he died before his ambition was rewarded. Sima Qian inherited his father's legacy of writing historical records. Unfortunately, in 98 BC, when he wrote the seventh year, a catastrophe suddenly fell on him.
At that time, in the war with the Xiongnu in the north, Li Ling, a general of the Han Dynasty, was ordered to lead 5,000 infantry to attack and go straight to the stronghold of Xiongnu Khan to kill the enemy with trepidation. Later, the Huns added more than 80,000 cavalry to surround Li Ling's troops, and Li Ling was forced to surrender to the Huns without reinforcements, fighting alone, with great casualties. When the news reached Chang 'an, Manchu officials accused Li Ling of humiliating the country. When Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty asked Sima Qian's opinion, Sima Qian frankly expressed his opinion that Li Ling fought bravely for thousands of miles because the enemy was strong and we were weak, and later there were no reinforcements, so he had to temporarily surrender the enemy. I believe he will look for opportunities to make a contribution commensurate with his failure to serve the court. To say the least, even if he achieved nothing later, his brilliant achievements before were enough to make up for it.
Sima Qian's outspoken remarks angered Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, thinking that he was "vain and neglected the Lord" and ordered him to be imprisoned for his crime. In the second year, it was rumoured that Li Ling helped the Xiongnu to train against the Han army. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty believed it and ordered the execution of Li Ling's mother, wife and children. Sima Qian was also sentenced to death. According to the laws of the Han dynasty, the death penalty can be redeemed seven times or changed to castration. Sima Qian has no money to atone for his sins, but he has to accept cruel castration if he wants to live.
The Liling incident was a very serious blow to Sima Qian. The castration he suffered not only brought great pain to his body, but also brought him great shame. Because castration is a kind of torture to the mysterious and sensitive organs of the human body, and it is a kind of torture that does not treat people as people, so it is despised because of its humiliation. What's more, in order to save his life, Sima Qian took the initiative to ask for castration, which was despised and abused by many people at that time. However, those snobs who play it by the wind and throw it when it hurts, where do they know that Sima Qian is only trying to finish a magnificent historical work and realize a lofty ideal of life? This is an unspeakable secret pain in Sima Qian's heart.
Sima Qian's humiliation was originally a grievance, but when this grievance can never be rehabilitated, how much injustice and pain should he bear in his heart? Sima Qian defended Li Ling at that time. If this is only a temporary grievance, there is hope to make it clear in the future, then Sima Qian has suffered a lot with the help of people. Because in any case, Li Ling finally "surrendered". This "fact" proves that Sima Qian's false appraisal is "wrong". However, under what circumstances did Li Ling "surrender"? After Li Ling was captured, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty immediately put his family in prison. When he heard the rumor that Li Ling was training troops for the Huns, he killed all Li Ling's family indiscriminately. Later, it was found out that it was not Li Ling who trained the army for the Xiongnu, but Li Xushi. Can a murdered person live again? Li Ling felt deeply that Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was heartless and ungrateful, and "surrendered" the Huns in a rage. Since then, Li Ling has left a stigma, and Sima Qian's unjust case has never been clarified. Who is the criminal in this historical case? This injustice and great shame pushed Sima Qian to the brink of death. But Sima Qian cannot die. He found a brilliant life goal of "being as heavy as Mount Tai" and was determined to finish the writing of Historical Records with the utmost forbearance. However, endurance is more painful than humiliation. In the process of writing, Sima Qian thought about this shame almost every day. In his book "Bao Ren An", he said that he "went back nine times a day and suddenly died when he was alive, but he didn't know where to go when he went out." Every time I think about my shame, I feel sweaty and have clothes on my back. However, Sima Qian finally overcame the concept of "a gentleman is ashamed of not being born" with tenacious will. He drew strength from previous examples of sages writing books angrily and cheered himself up. He used the same passage to motivate himself twice in Gan 'an Shu and The Preface of Historical Records for Taishi Gong. He said: "King Gavin was arrested and acted in Zhouyi; Zhong You wrote Spring and Autumn Annals; Qu Yuan's exile is a tribute to Li Sao. Zuo Qiu is blind and has "Mandarin"; Sun Tzu's art of war; It's not Shu, but Lu Lan. Han Fei imprisoned Qin, Difficult and Lonely Anger; Three hundred poems are generally attributed to the anger of sages. "On Sima Qian, the perseverance of China historians shines again.
Yes, Sima Qian's adversity is not because he writes straight, but because he makes suggestions; Not from the book Historical Records, but from the Liling incident. However, the historian who writes straight books is also an admonition officer who makes suggestions; The cause and effect of the Li Ling incident sharpened the personality of a historian. Sima Qian's greatness lies in that he can turn all disasters, humiliation, pain and distress into anger, resistance, confidence and strength after being wronged and humiliated, and can think about the tragic reality he faces with a clear mind. In this way, his personality and spirit have been sublimated as never before, and the theme and content of Historical Records have been further deepened. After the baptism of Sima Qian's mind and the great test of his personality, a song Li Sao was born.
four
500 years after Sima Qian's death, in the 11th year of Taiping Zhenjun in Northern Wei Dynasty (A.D. 450), an appalling bloody case of Ho Choi's "credentials" occurred, which left a psychological shadow on the distress of historians.
Ho Choi's name is Yuan Bo, and he was born in a noble family in Qinghe. His father, Cui Xuanbo, was an important official of Daowudi in the Northern Wei Dynasty and Yuan Di in the Ming Dynasty. He himself made great contributions in the early history of the Northern Wei Dynasty and was deeply prized and valued by Emperor Tuoba Tao. In 429 AD, Cui Hao was ordered by Mao to compile the Book of Credentials, a historical book of the Northern Wei Dynasty. Later, Mao ordered Ho Choi to supervise secretarial affairs and manage historical affairs. However, in the eleventh year of Taiping Zhenjun, Ho Choi was suddenly executed by Mao. The reason why Ho Choi was killed was "a true record".
When Mao ordered Ho Choi to compile the Credentials and comprehensively study historical affairs, he told Cui Hao to "write history books and make records". Having said that, after the real "filing", he turned his face and denied people. However, Ho Choi is very serious. He gathered some scholars and compiled the Book of Letters in accordance with the spirit of "writing straight books" by ancient historians. After the book was finished, he was very satisfied. But he overestimated the trust of Emperor Mao in himself and even lost his dignity. He agreed to the suggestion that this book should be praised and marked by Shi Min, and carved a stone and erected a monument on the road outside Kyoto, occupying 130 steps for people to browse freely. In this history book, Ho Choi recorded the early history of Tuoba Department and the experience before and after entering the customs, and even recorded the secrets of Tuoba people. Tuoba people saw that Ho Choi's "credentials" were so "prepared but not canonical" that they made this history, which was supposed to be taboo, public in a conspicuous place. Angry and scared, they quickly reported it to Mao. Emperor Mao was furious when he learned that, and immediately ordered to trace hell to pay, so a great disaster fell from the sky.
What exactly is Ho Choi's "preparation without canon"? According to the research of historian Mr. Zhou Yiliang, the "Credentials" recorded the fact that Tuoba Shiyi, the generation king, was captured alive and Tuoba Gui, who later became the king of the Northern Wei Dynasty, was exiled to Shu when Fu Jian was destroyed. This is a disgraceful history of Tuo Domineering. At the same time, the Credentials also recorded Tuoba's marriage relationship. Originally, Shi Yigui's son was Ming Di Tuoba GUI, while Ming Di and He Hou's son was Tuoba GUI. After the death of Ming Di in Xi 'an, You married He Hou, that is, his father-in-law married his daughter-in-law. When Fu Jian captured You Shi alive, because he was not familiar with the inside story, he mistakenly thought that Tuoba GUI was You Shi's son. As a result, grandpa became a father and Yi Ying was brilliant. KINOMOTO SAKURA? What happened? Ah, f? What's the best way to cover the crisper? How brave is the table? ⒍? Prepare the mirror. Is it quiet? 諡 5? Pull? Stir up the song? Are you sure? ナ ナ ナ ナ ナ? Hey? Roaring Yunlong, four mosses were placed on the sill of Frame A and sent to the south of the city, causing dozens of guards to squat on it (urinating on their heads), screaming and smelling on the road. "Not only that", Qinghe Cui Shi is not far away, john young Lushi, Taiyuan Shiguo and Hedong Liushi are all rich in-laws. His secretary, Shi Lang, died. "(Biography of Northern History Cui Haochuan) According to historians' research, 2,000 people died in this killing. No wonder, more than 300 years later, as a historian, Han Yu, a great writer in the Tang Dynasty, is still worried about Ho Choi's thought of "credentials" and laments that it is too difficult to write straight (a reply to Liu Xiucai's On History).
A major historical case like this happened once in the Qing Dynasty, which was the "Zhuang History Case" with the widest involvement and the heaviest nail in the early Qing Dynasty.
In the eighteenth year of Shunzhi, Zhuang, a rich man in Nanxun Town, Wucheng, Zhejiang Province, thought Tai Shigong was blind, but he also wanted to write a book like his predecessors. It happened that the neighbor had a manuscript of the Ming Dynasty, which was drafted by Zhu Guozhen, a cabinet scholar during the apocalypse of the Ming Dynasty, and his father Zhuang Yuncheng bought it with 1 0,000 silver. On the basis of Zhu Guozhen's original manuscript, Zhuang accepted guests, supplemented the content and polished the text, and compiled a book "Ming History". Zhuang Long Ting died soon. His father decided to engrave this book in order to realize his son's last wish. At the same time, he hired more than a dozen celebrities to participate in proofreading to show his attention. Because there were many taboos in the manuscript after Zhu Guozhen's death in Ming Dynasty, Manchu got this book, hell to pay. The banker was hacked to death, and the dead were dug up and slaughtered. In addition, everyone who participated in the book, including the preface, proofreader and sponsor, even those who carved, printed, sold, purchased, collected and read the book, were executed. Someone calculated that at least 1000 people were killed according to the records of 700 disasters.
Chen Gongyin, a poet in the early Qing Dynasty, said in a poem, "Only writing is a storm, although ghosts cry, they sing." . I don't know who killed many people.
Poor Zhuang is not a historian, but he has suffered this loss.
five
It should be noted that in the history of our country, not all historians can write straight, and of course not all historians will suffer.
Liu Zhiji said: "In ancient times, I only heard that seeing a sentence with a straight pen, but I didn't hear that I was convicted with a song." In Liu Zhiji's time, he had long felt that "it is close at hand, but it is like panning for gold in the sand", so he repeatedly lamented that "there are many passes in the world, but it is difficult to record them" and that "ancient books also make thieves and ministers afraid, and this book also makes loyal ministers and righteous people ashamed." If Nan and Dong were endowed with spirits, they would gnash their teeth under the grave. ""history is not correct, there are books to replace it. " Why? Liu Zhiji believes that the reason is that Confucius praised Dong Hu's calligraphy, but at the same time he put forward the fallacy that "the son is hidden as the father and straight in it". Liu Zhiji pointed out: "The lid is the secret of the father, straight in it, and The Analects of Confucius is also suitable. Just don't hide evil and promote good in it. Since then, the meaning of Chunqiu has also dropped, and the rate has changed from the old chapter. If it involves historical things, you must hide more. Although the straight road is not straight, Ming teaches how to survive. "Those who are rich in music have a theoretical basis for distorting history with the ethical concept of' son as the father's secret' and the moral standards of' taboo as the elder',' taboo as the honorable person' and' taboo as the monarch'. They are either "dancing and writing, pretending to be non-literary"; Or "From the first hypothesis, Fu Wei is at the end of the pen"; Or "everything is empty, and if you talk too much, you will lose"; Or "the beauty of a dummy is for personal gain"; Or "falsely accuse others of evil, and report it." Liu Zhiji thinks that these people are "trustworthy traitors and murderers who carry things". We should "throw ourselves into the city and throw ourselves into the tiger".