The story of Yi Yin.
Yi Yin is said to have been adopted by a pair of slave parents. The adoptive father is a cook, and the adoptive mother is mainly responsible for picking mulberry and raising silkworms. Because she lives in Yishui, she gave him the surname "Yi". Yi Yin's biological mother turned into a hollow mulberry tree because she violated the warning of the gods in good faith, and was raised after being discovered by mulberry pickers.
Because his adoptive father was a cook, Yi Yin later learned a cooking skill, and even learned a set of methods of governing the country from cooking. It is rumored that after he was hired as a dowry slave by Shang Tang, he often cooked delicious food for Shang Tang. On one occasion, Yi Yin was cooking for Shang Tang with a tripod and a chopping block on his back, while explaining it to him. He started with cooking, covering raw materials, heat, five flavors and so on, but he didn't stop there. He derived from these cooking things to the way of governing the country, and the two were constantly combined. Yi Yin taught Shang Tang that governing the country should also pay attention to the temperature like cooking, pay attention to the balance in all aspects and so on. Yi Yin's way of governing the country was later praised by Laozi in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period as "cooking a little fresh will rule a big country".
In addition to being a chef and prime minister, Yi Yin is said to have been a spy. In order to crusade against Xia Dynasty, Yi Yin took risks and went undercover in Shang Dynasty. He not only succeeded in alienating Xia Jie and his ministers, but also established a relationship with Xia Jie's favorite concubine Xian Xi. Through her, he obtained a lot of information about the Shang Dynasty, which was part of the foundation for him and Shang Tang to eliminate the Xia Dynasty.
The story of Tai Jia killing Yi Yin.
Yi Yin is a generation of wise men, not only because he is the founding hero of Shang Dynasty, but also because he has assisted many kings, which is related to the story that he exiled Tai Jia and re-established him as king. This story has the same records in Historical Records, Mencius and many other ancient classics, but in the bamboo history book Chronicle, it finally developed into the killing of Yi Yin by Tai Jia.
ZhuShuZhi is a historical book created during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, which records the history from Xia Dynasty to the Warring States Period. It was discovered by grave robbers in the Western Jin Dynasty and was born. Although the book's record of pre-Qin history is quite different from or even contrary to the traditional records of official history such as Historical Records in many places, some of its records are considered closer to historical facts because they are in line with Oracle Bone Inscriptions's archaeological findings. The history of Yi Yin's exile in Taijia is inconsistent with the records in traditional history books.
According to traditional historical records, Yi Yin exiled Tai Jia to the Children's Palace and ruled on his behalf. Three years later, Yi Yin welcomed the reformed Tai Jia back and re-established him as king. The chronicles of bamboo slips records this story as follows: after Yi Yin exiled Tai Jia, he became king on his own. Seven years later, Tai Jia escaped from the Children's Palace and killed Yi Yin, who gave birth to his son.
There is a big difference between these two descriptions. The version of Tai Jia killing Yi Yin not only tells the story of Yi Yin's early death for more than ten years, but also completely subverts his image as a saint. Although this version seems to be more in line with the historical background at that time, the traditional version is relatively more credible because of the historical evidence of unearthed cultural relics such as Oracle Bone Inscriptions. Moreover, if the traditional version is determined to be false, it can be speculated that Confucius, Mencius, Sima Qian and other sages at that time were either false or cheated, which had a great influence. Therefore, about this period of history, historians have not yet reached a conclusion.
The story of Yi Yin's downfall.
Dingding in Yi Yin is an allusion from Sima Qian's Historical Records Yin Benji, which mainly tells the story that Yi Yin gave Shang Tang a chance to talk about cooking and told him the way to govern the country. Some scholars also use these four words as idioms to refer to the opportunity to seek self-worth.
In Sima Qian's description, there are two versions of the story of Yi Yin meeting Shang Tang. In the first edition, Yi Yin's name is Aheng. He wants to see Shang Tang, but he has no choice. So he went to work as a dowry cook for Xin Wang's daughter and got to know Shang Tang. Later, Yi Yin came to see Shang Tang with a frying pan, vegetables and a chopping block on his back. First, I chatted with him about his cooking and taste, and then took the opportunity to persuade him to practice kingcraft. So the story of Yi Yin's negative tripod comes from this version.
Another version of the story said that Yi Yin was a hermit with talent and virtue. He refused to be an official, so he refused to be hired by Shang Tang five times before agreeing to come down. Yi Yin told Shang Tang about the ancient emperors' way of governing the country, and he attached great importance to it. Yi Yin once left Shangtang to find Xia Jie, but later he hated Xia Jie and returned to Shangdu. When entering the city, Yi Yin met two other virtuous female doves and girls' houses in Shangtang. After he went back, he wrote two articles, pigeons and ladies' toilets.
Yi Yin's negative tripod comes from this allusion, which is often used to refer to assisting the emperor in later poetry articles. Words like "negative ding", "one" and "one silver dish" have similar sources and meanings.
As for using Yi Yin's negative tripod as an idiom, although there are no relevant examples and evidence, this metaphor is also very appropriate, because the negative tripod cooking is an opportunity for Yi Yin to get to know Shang Tang, so he is reused, which can be said to have realized his self-worth.