More than ten years ago, a Japanese magazine named Wen Chun Weekly conducted a survey on hundreds of celebrities most admired by contemporary Japanese. As a result, Zhuge Liang ranked first among all China people.
In Otsu, the capital of Shiga Prefecture, Japan, a large-scale festival-"Otsu Festival" is held every year. One of the most important programs is "Mountain Tour", in which more than 20 strong men pull a two-story float in the street. There are 13 cars in China, all named after celebrities, and one of them is named after someone else. Every time Zhuge Liang's birthday, from time to time, Japanese people pay for Zhuge Liang's monument.
Wuzhangyuan, located in Qishan County, Baoji City, Shaanxi Province, is famous for the death of Zhuge Liang, a famous star of the Three Kingdoms. There is also a temple of marquis of Wu, where stands a stone tablet "There is no knife outside the heart". It was built by the famous Japanese painter Noroi Yafeng on 1993 to commemorate the 60th anniversary of Zhuge Liang's death1993. "There is no knife outside the heart" refers to China's idiom "There is nothing outside the heart" to evaluate Zhuge Liang's true spirit.
Why do the Japanese remember this ancient China that has passed away for nearly two thousand years? What do they like about Zhuge Liang?
Is it because he is resourceful?
Let's put aside the historical storytelling. As far as the intelligence of Zhuge Liang recorded in the official history is concerned, it is not much better than that of Cao Cao and Sima Yi. Hu Ceng, a scholar in the Ming Dynasty, pointed out: "Zhu Gekongming is as brave as Sima Yi." It is said that Zhuge Liang is on the same level as Cao Cao and Sima Yi in intelligence and strategy. But why did all previous dynasties admire Zhuge Liang instead of Cao Cao and Sima Yi? What did Zhuge Liang surpass Cao Cao and Sima Yi?
Shinnosuke Lin Tian, a famous Japanese sinologist, wrote a biography for Zhuge Liang, entitled Zhuge Liang. In the book, Tianlin Town summed up Zhuge Liang's life with "flowers" and called Zhuge Liang's life "the life of flowers".
What is this "flower"? In the eyes of the Japanese, of course, it is their national flower-cherry blossoms.
What are the characteristics of cherry blossoms? First, they are gorgeous; Second, the flowering period is short.
Zhuge Liang's life can be described as gorgeous. He came out of the mountain at the age of 27 and created countless classic battles. From Battle of Red Cliffs to Anjuping No.5 Road, and then to Meng Huo's seven captures, its strategic strategy won a thousand miles, which was amazing.
Zhuge Liang's life is very short. Compared with Sima Yi, Zhuge Liang died young. Sima Yi died at the age of 73, and Zhuge Liang lived only at the age of 54, half a lifetime less than his opponent.
In the eyes of the Japanese, isn't this a portrayal of cherry blossoms? Bloom in early spring and wither at the most brilliant time. The purpose of this flower coming into the world seems to be to impress people, as if to make people understand the noble existence of life. And the price of all this is to wither in the most brilliant time, quietly take away the dust, vicissitudes and pain when waving goodbye, leaving the whole spring and lasting for thousands of years.
This is the life of a hero. Cherry blossoms are generally gorgeous and short-lived, which will naturally cause Japanese people to sing.
Of course, in the evaluation of China People, there is no lack of praise for Zhuge Liang. There are no cherry blossoms here. People are used to praising with words like "Do your best to die before you die". Among these awards, I think the most accurate evaluation can be summarized in four words: the list of orthodox scholars.
Zhuge Liang is a model of orthodox literati in China, which is his core value.
In other words, Zhuge Liang's quality is more valuable than his ingenuity.
Look at the Three Kingdoms. Han Shu Group has always considered itself orthodox. But this is not only determined by the status of Han clan leaders. The indispensable weight and persuasiveness also come from the spiritual quality characteristics of the core members of the whole political group. Compared with Wei and Wu, the representative figures and spiritual qualities of the group are indeed more in line with the extension of the orthodox values of "Confucianism, five permanents" with "benevolence, courtesy, wisdom and faithfulness" as the core established in the Han Dynasty.
Both Liu Bei's employment and Zhuge Liang's strategizing have condensed the core of orthodox values: benevolence, righteousness and wisdom.
During the Three Kingdoms period, "orthodox figures" were highlighted by the integration of "Confucian culture and military culture". From the perspective of "the integration of Confucian culture and military culture", there are obvious differences between the ruling groups of the Three Kingdoms and their main representatives. Although Cao Cao is based on the spirit of iron and blood, he is "non-mainstream" in terms of personal quality. Because he didn't agree with Confucianism in his early years, he publicly called on those heartless people to apply in the "recruitment notice" of "meritocracy", which was incompatible with the moral cultivation advocated by Confucianism. Later, "relying on the emperor to make the princes", there were many acts of bullying the monarch. His son Cao Pi simply usurped the Han Dynasty and directly replaced the Han family. Sima Shi replaced Cao Shi Jiangshan with conspiracy. In Confucianism's view, these are all "two-minister thieves" that cannot be allowed. It is for this reason that Cao Zhi and Sima Shi are regarded as "traitors" by Confucianism.
Wu Group's attitude towards Han and Han has always been ambiguous, and it is a cynic with two heads. "If you have milk, you will be a mother", which is also undesirable for Confucianism.
The main figures of Liu Bei's Shu-Han regime hit it off with the Confucian five permanent members. Zhuge Liang's products, in particular, not only have unshakable political thoughts of loyalty to the monarch and serving the country, but also conform to the moral cultivation of "benevolence, righteousness, courtesy and wisdom" and have good professional skills to deal with cruel competition and war. It is the perfect combination of Confucian culture and military culture, because it has both benevolence and righteousness and courage.
Even today, through the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, the most outstanding performance of the Han nationality in the Three Kingdoms period is not Cao Cao who was awarded the iron wind, but Zhuge Liang, a model of Huairou. It can be seen that the fundamental reason why Zhuge Liang was recognized by history is that he inherited the orthodox cultural connotation of China. He was gentle, influential and fearless. At this point, he really surpassed Cao Cao and Sima Yi with the same IQ level, thus becoming an outstanding representative of orthodox literati.
This point has also been recognized by Japanese academic circles. The editor, Sheng Watanabe, is arrogant in modern China, but he is respectful to Zhuge Liang. He claimed to have studied the Three Kingdoms in the fifth grade of primary school, and even changed the taste of life. Every time he reads Japanese history, he can't help crying. Why did Zhuge Liang make him cry? Because in his eyes, Zhuge Liang is a model of literati, and Zhuge Liang's spirit is based on various excellent qualities, which is very in line with the spirit of traditional Japanese literati "respecting the monarch and bustling with foreigners". Zhuge Liang's loyal attitude towards Liu Bei's son and his spirit of "going all out" caused a strong buzz in the Japanese spiritual world. They admire "a tragic hero who is as talented, loyal and diligent as cherry blossoms", so Zhuge Liang has become a model admired by Japanese ruling and opposition parties and still serves as a reference for political elites.
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