It is said that this is a desperate poem written by Tan Sitong on the prison wall before he was executed. It is also said that this poem was "tampered" by Liang Qichao. The original poem is: "Look at the door and cast your toes in pity for Zhang Jian, He directly admonished Chen Shu for being ashamed of Du Gen. He threw the European knife in his hand and looked up to the sky and laughed, leaving the general to be punished for future generations. "The evidence is insufficient and difficult to accept."
"Looking at the door and checking in, I miss Zhang Jian." This sentence is an allusion to Zhang Jian. According to the records in "Book of the Later Han Dynasty: Biography of Dang Guo", Zhang Jian was a native of Gaoping in the late Eastern Han Dynasty. He was initially the postal supervisor in the eastern part of Shanyang. He severely punished the eunuch Hou Lan and his family members for their evil deeds, and was respected by the imperial students. Later, the calamity of party imprisonment arose again, and he was forced to flee. People respected his character and took the risk of destroying their family and clan to receive him. "Looking for a place to stay" refers to asking people to stay overnight. When Zhang Jian was on the run, many people were executed because they took him in, and even "counties were destroyed". How could he bear it?
"It takes only a moment to endure death for Du Gan", this sentence is an allusion to Du Gan. According to the "Book of the Later Han·Biography of Du Gen", Du Gen had an upright character. Emperor An of the Eastern Han Dynasty was a doctor at that time. At that time, Empress Dowager Deng was regent and had power over his relatives. When Emperor An was old, Du Gen wrote a letter asking the Queen Mother to return to power. The Queen Mother was furious and ordered people to put him in a sack and throw him to death. The law enforcement officer signaled the torturer to show mercy and took him out of the city to wait for him to wake up. The Queen Mother sent someone to investigate, but Dugan pretended to be dead for three days and got maggots in his eyes. He managed to escape and hid for 15 years. After the death of Empress Dowager Deng, Du Gen came back and became the official censor.
Tan Sitong mentioned the encounters of these two historical figures in the poem without choosing their means of refuge, showing his heroic spirit of disregarding death. He was unwilling to choose to flee and cause trouble to others, and he could not temporarily escape death by relying on the mercy of the law enforcement officers. He wanted to go to the execution ground with righteousness and righteousness in the way of "smiling at the sky with a horizontal knife."
"I am smiling towards the sky with my sword across my shoulder", showing the courage to die generously. In fact, Tan Sitong was imprisoned in a prison car and taken to the market entrance of Beijing to be beheaded. He could not help but slash the knife to the sky. Although his ambition was fierce, he could not help himself.
As for the sentence "removing and retaining the liver and gallbladder, Kunlun", there have always been many explanations. Liang Qichao called the "Two Kunluns" in "The Poems of Drinking Ice Room". One refers to Kang Youwei and the other refers to Wu Dao Wang. Later, some people replaced Kang Youwei with Tang Cichang, thinking that Tang Cichang was Tan Sitong's sincere friend, as resolute as Kunlun Mountain; some people It is believed that it refers to the two knights Hu Qi and Wang Wu who had a close personal relationship with Tan Sitong at that time, because their martial arts belonged to the Kunlun sect; some people understand "Kunlun" as "Kunlun slave" and think they are two servants of Tan Sitong; In fact, it refers to Tan Sitong himself. "Go and stay" can be used as a matter of life and death. Ji Kang's "Qin Fu" has "I am appointed by fate to go or stay". Tao Yuanming's "Returning to Lai Xi Ci" has "Hao Bu" "Commit yourself to go or stay", no matter life or death, you are an upright Chinese; some people think that "go to stay" does not mean the contrast between "go" and "stay", but is a biased structure and what is left behind. Meaning;...
Faced with an enemy that must be annihilated, it is necessary for some people to sacrifice their lives, to inform the compatriots through bloodshed and sacrifice, and to encourage the survivors and those who come after us to continue their long-term struggle. "I recommend Xuanyuan with my blood" (Lu Xun's poem). Tan Sitong's approach may be called "blood recommendation". He wanted to use his own blood to warn the world. "Reforms in various countries are all caused by bloodshed. Today, no one in China has shed blood due to reforms. This is why this country is not prosperous. If there are, please start from the same heir." He fulfilled his vow with blood.