Qu Yuan (about 339 BC? ~ about 278 BC? ) the original word, commonly known as Qu Yuan, is also a regular name from the cloud, and the word spirit is general. Han nationality, a native of Danyang (now Zigui, Hubei Province) at the end of the Warring States Period, Qu Xian, the son of Xiong Tong in the Warring States Period, and Huang Ren in the Warring States Period. Although Qu Yuan was loyal to Chu Huaiwang, he was repeatedly rejected. After the death of King Huai, Xiang Wang was exiled because he listened to slanderers, and finally died in the Miluo River. Qu Yuan is one of the greatest romantic poets in China, and also the earliest known famous poet and world cultural celebrity in China. He initiated the style of "Chu Ci" and the tradition of "vanilla beauty". His main works are Li Sao, Nine Chapters and Nine Songs. His "Songs of the South" and "The Book of Songs" are also called "Sao", which has a far-reaching influence on later poetry.
Qu Yuan was born in Danyang (now Zigui County, Yichang City, Hubei Province [1]) during the Warring States Period. His surname was Mi (mǐ) and Qu (unlike the same surname, his surname was Xiong, and men in the pre-Qin period called him Qu Yuan, not Mi).
The year of birth and death is not recorded in the official history, and there is still controversy in the history circle. It is speculated that he was born on March 6, 342 BC and died on April 26, 278 BC. Qu Yuan is a descendant of Qu Xian, the son of Chu Wuwang Xiong Tong. In 342 BC, Qu Yuan was born in Danyang, the capital of Chu State. Qu Yuan was diligent and studious since childhood. In his early years, he was trusted by Chu Huaiwang as Zuo Tu and Dr. San Lv. He often discussed state affairs with Chu Huaiwang, participated in the formulation of laws, and advocated making laws and regulations clear, appointing people on their merits, uniting with Qin State, and advocating "American politics". Qu Yuan was honest and frank, but he didn't want to listen to the words of Shangguan doctor when he was practicing the law. In addition, Jin Shang, the doctor of Yin and Shangguan, and his favorite concubine were bought by Zhang Yi, the envoy of Qin State, which not only made it impossible to accept Qu Yuan's opinion, but also alienated him. In 305 BC, Qu Yuan opposed the conclusion of the Yellow Thorn Alliance with the State of Qin, but Chu still made an alliance with the State of Qin. Qu Yuan was expelled from the capital by Chu Huaiwang and began his exile. Qin pretended to approach Chu and asked for discussion, but Qu Yuan advised him not to go. As a result, under the strong encouragement of the youngest son and others, he was lured by Qin and died in prison.
King Xiang of Chu acceded to the throne and was exiled to the south of the Yangtze River. In 278 BC, the general of Qin led the army south and conquered the capital of Chu. In May of the same year, Qu Yuan held a grudge and threw himself into Luojiang. People were very sad to hear the bad news and hurried to salvage his body, but found nothing. So, some people wrapped glutinous rice in reed leaves and threw it into the river to offer sacrifices to Qu Yuan. This ritual activity has been handed down year after year and has gradually become a custom. It is arranged on the Dragon Boat Festival on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month.
"Hair waste zhu, evening Yang. The end of the heart is straight, although it is far from it. " "In Xupu, I have a lingering feeling that I don't know what I am doing. Deep mountains and forests are hidden, which is where apes live; The mountains are steep and cover the sky, and the rain is continuous; The snow is boundless and the clouds are raining. I'm sad. My life is boring. I'm alone in the mountains. I can't change my mind and do as the Romans do, but I will be sad and poor. " During his exile, Qu Yuan left many immortal masterpieces to future generations. His works are gorgeous in words, strange in imagination, novel in metaphor and profound in connotation.
"The blue water is clear, you can lick my tassel; The water in the rough waves is turbid, so you can lick my feet. " After Qu Yuan was exiled, in a conversation with the fisherman, the fisherman advised him to "keep pace with the times" instead of "looking ahead and looking back" and asking for trouble. Qu Yuan said that he would rather die by throwing himself into the river than exposing his innocent body to worldly dust. In the eyes of fishermen, life need not be too lofty. The world is clean and honest, and you can come out as an official; The world is turbid and can rise and fall with the world. As for "thinking deeply and doing high", there is no need to end up in exile. In 278 BC, Qin conquered the capital of Chu. On the fifth day of the fifth lunar month (around June 6th in Gregorian calendar), Qu Yuan fell into the Miluo River and died. Dragon Boat Festival, that's why. Qu Yuan's deeds are mainly found in Sima Qian's Historical Records. According to Li Sao's "Born in Geng Yin", it can be inferred that Qu Yuan was born in 28 1 26th, and in Danyang, Chu on March 6th, 342 BC. He experienced three periods in his life, namely, China, Britain and China, and mainly lived in the period.
Judging from Qu Yuan's works, he participated in the witchcraft activities of Chu as an aristocrat. Archaeological documents show that the upper nobility of Chu believed in witchcraft. Scholars said: "Comparing the gods contained in bamboo slips of Chu Tomb in Jiangling with the gods sacrificed in Nine Songs of Chu, we can find that the gods contained in bamboo slips and the gods described in Nine Songs of Chu complement each other and become a relatively complete series, which further provides circumstantial materials for people to understand the specific contents of Qu Yuan's witchcraft activities in that year." [4]
Qu Yuan lived on the eve of China's imminent reunification, and there is a saying that "the emperor of Qin is horizontal and the king of Chu is vertical". Qu was born in a famous family and was good at dealing with chaos and rhetoric. He was favored in his early years and was a leftist. All the policies and announcements of the imperial court came from him.
In order to realize the great cause of rejuvenating Chu State, Qu Yuan actively assisted Chu Huaiwang in reforming the country to make it stronger, and insisted on uniting with Qi State to resist Qin, making Chu State once a powerful vassal state. However, due to the sharp contradiction between Qu Yuan and the decadent aristocratic group of Chu State in internal affairs and diplomacy, and the jealousy of Shangguan doctor and others, Qu Yuan was later framed by a clique and alienated by Chu Huaiwang. According to Records of Historian Biography of Qu Yuan and Jia Sheng, Shangguan Doctor Jin Shang framed Qu Yuan in front of Wang Huai out of jealousy, and Qu Yuan was drafting a constitutional order for Chu Huaiwang at that time, so Wang Huai was "angry and unwilling to Qu Ping".
After being dismissed as a left disciple, Qu Yuan was transferred to be a doctor, in charge of the affairs of the three surnames of Zhao, Qu and Jing in the royal family, and was responsible for offering sacrifices to ancestral temples and educating aristocratic children.
In the 15th year of Wang Huai (3 14 BC), Zhang Yi went from Qin to Chu, and bought off Shanxi merchants, Jin merchants, Jin merchants, Jin merchants, Jin merchants, Jin merchants, Jin merchants, Jin merchants, Jin merchants, Jin merchants, Jin merchants, Jin merchants, Jin merchants, Jin merchants, Jin merchants, Jin merchants, Jin merchants, Jin merchants, Jin merchants, Jin merchants, Jin merchants, Jin merchants, Jin merchants, Jin merchants, Jin merchants, Jin merchants, Jin merchants, Jin At the same time, he deceived Wang Huai with merchants from 600 miles away, which led to the breaking of diplomatic relations between Qi and Chu. Chu Huaiwang was furious and sent a general to attack the State of Qin. King Huiwen of Qin sent his concubines Andy, Guifei Ji and Princess Gan Mao to lead the army to fight, and South Korea also sent troops to help. The two armies fought in Danyang. Qin Shihuang attempted to alienate Chu generals, making them uncooperative, defeated more than 70 generals, including Chu army, captured beggars and generals, and beheaded 80 thousand people. Subsequently, Qin sent troops to capture Hanzhong (now Hanzhong, Shaanxi) for 600 miles and set it in Hanzhong County. Chu Huaiwang was very angry, so he used all the domestic forces to attack Qin again. The two armies fought in Lantian, and the Chu army was defeated again. When South Korea and Wei heard that Chu was trapped, they all went south to attack Chu until Deng. Hearing the news, Chu left the State of Qin with his army. Therefore, Qu Yuan was ordered to send an envoy to Qi State to rebuild the friendship between Qi and Chu. Qu Yuan's book "National Mourning" is a memorial to the soldiers killed in Chu in this war.
Thirdly, Zhang Yi disintegrated the Qi-Chu alliance from Qin to Chu, which made the Qi-Chu alliance unsuccessful. In twenty-four years, Qin Chu was the "alliance of yellow thorns", and Chu was completely embraced by Qin. Qu Yuan was also expelled from the capital and moved to the Northern Han Dynasty.
Thirty years after Wang Huai, Qu Yuan returned to Du Ying. In the same year, Qin made an appointment with the military attache Wang, but Qu Yuan urged him to enter the customs. However, his youngest son advised him to join the state of Qin, ignoring the suggestions of Qu Yuan and others. As a result, he was detained by Qin on the day he joined the alliance and died in a foreign country two years later.
After King Huai was detained, Xiang Wang succeeded to the throne and Zilan was appointed as Lingyin (equivalent to the Prime Minister), and the diplomatic relations between Chu and Qin were once cut off. However, in the seventh year of his succession, Xiang Wang married Qin in order to live in peace for a while. Qu Yuan opposed their shameful position and accused Zilan of being responsible for Wang Huai's humiliating death. Zilan also instructed Shangguan doctor to vilify Qu Yuan in front of Xiang Wang, which led to Qu Yuan being exiled to Yuan and Xiang again about thirteen years before and after Xiang Wang.
When Qu Yuan was exiled for many years, the situation in Chu became more and more critical. In the 21st year of King Xiang of Qing Dynasty, General Qin attacked Chu Du Ying (now Jiangling, Hubei Province) and burned the tomb of King Chu in Yichang. This indicates the future crisis of Chu. The next year, Qin Jun went further. Qu Yuan saw that there was no hope for his once powerful country, and considered leaving other countries, but in the end he loved his hometown, threw himself into the Miluo River in grief and indignation, and died for his ideal.
The date of Qu Yuan's death may be the fifth day of May, or it may be a day close to this day. The fifth day of May was originally a traditional festival of Chu. Later, people took this day as a day to commemorate Qu Yuan, but its original intention was little known.