Because of the emergency, Zhong Er and his party left in a hurry and didn't bring enough money. Not long after everyone ran out, they all drank the northwest wind.
Zhong Er was too hungry to walk. The people who accompanied him were dizzy with hunger and had no strength. Someone suggested digging wild vegetables for cooking, so everyone dug wild vegetables everywhere. But the wild vegetables dug out were cooked, but Zhong Er couldn't eat them. It's no wonder that, as the son of a big country, Zhong Er is used to eating luxurious food at ordinary times, and the wild vegetables are so bad, where can we eat them?
Zhong Er barely ate a few mouthfuls of wild vegetables, only to find that his meson was gone. Ask everyone, no one knows, and everyone has to guess that meson push is hungry and left behind.
After a while, mesons limped to catch up. Zhong Er saw meson push's leg wrapped in bandages, and the blood was still dripping down bit by bit, so he asked, "What's the matter with you?"
The meson replied, "Just now, one of Lu Yu's legs was stabbed, so I didn't keep up with everyone. Master, haven't you eaten yet? Here, drink this broth. "
Zhong Er a listen to, eyes a bright, you spoil the broth? I saw a meson pushing a small bamboo tube to open it, and a smell of meat came to my nose. Zhong Er asked for a lot, grabbed it, even ate a few mouthfuls, and suddenly felt much more comfortable.
Other attendants also drank a few mouthfuls, and immediately recovered their strength. When everyone holds their breath, they will think of a key question: where did this broth come from?
Zhong Er asked meson push, meson push prevaricated, unable to answer. When I saw the wound on meson's leg, I guessed it was almost enough. Under the questioning of everyone, Jiezitui finally told the truth: the broth is actually cooked with the meat on his leg.
This statement, Zhong Er and others were very moved. Zhong Er immediately vowed that as long as he could return to China and become a monarch, he must reward meson tui. This is the story of meson pushing "cutting stocks for the king". "Serve" means thigh, "vomit" means eating, which is interpreted as "giving to someone" here.
A few years later, Zhong Er, who had been wandering for many years, got help from the State of Qin, and finally returned to the State of Jin to become the monarch of Jin Wengong. Jin Wengong raised the accompanying hero, and meson took the opportunity to live in seclusion, but did not raise him. On the other hand, Jin Wengong seems to have forgotten his father's kindness when mesons pushed and cut stocks. He didn't expect mesons to push.
Later, some people complained about mesons, and Jin Wengong suddenly realized that he had neglected the hero himself. So, Jin Wengong sent messengers, please meson push out of the mountain, made a big officer, * * * enjoy wealth. However, Jiezitui had already seen through the world and only wanted to live in seclusion in the mountains, so he refused Jin Wengong's invitation. Jin Wengong believes that meritorious service without reward will make people make irresponsible remarks and force mesons to come out of the mountain. But meson was determined not to be an official, so Jin Wengong ordered Mianshan to be burned to force meson to step down. Who would have thought that meson tui was so determined that he grabbed a big tree and burned it alive?
After the death of meson tui, Jin Wengong also regretted his hasty decision to burn the mountain. He felt very sad because he pushed the meson to death. In order to show his nostalgia for meson tui, Jin Wengong found the tree that meson tui held before his death and made a pair of clogs to wear on his feet. At the sight of these clogs, Jin Wengong would think of meson push, and then sadly called, "Step."
Since then, the word "first step" has become a respectful name among peers.
Jin Wengong also stipulated that on the day Jiexiu was burned to death, no one could make a fire to cook, but only eat cold food to commemorate Jiexiu. Later, this custom developed into a cold food festival. The time of the Cold Food Festival has been passed down from generation to generation. Now we usually regard the day or two before Tomb-Sweeping Day as the Cold Food Festival.
From this point of view, the traditional festival of Cold Food Festival has been handed down because of the meson push and the achievement of Cold Food Festival. But is this really the case?
Second, the strangeness of the bizarre story.
In the history and culture of the Chinese nation, many legends can appear in the form of history, and the longer the times, the less clear the legends and history are. If a thing is too unreasonable, then of course we can say that it is only a legend, not a history. In addition, some groups or individuals will write some stories for a certain purpose. Although these stories are historical materials, they are hardly objective and true. For example, the story of "sleeping on the ice for carp" obviously lacks authenticity.
There is such an unreasonable factor in the story of meson push.
Let's start with the mesons in the official history. The name of meson tui is recorded in Zuo Zhuan, Historical Records and other historical books, which shows that there really is a man in history. However, no matter which official history book, there is little introduction to the deeds of meson tui, not to mention the story of "cutting stocks and killing the king", that is, meson tui's virtue is also described in a few words, and there is nothing brilliant.
In fact, there are many celebrities in exile with Jin Wengong and Zhong Er, such as Hu Yan, Hu Mao, Zhao Shuai, Wei Xian and Dian Xian. These people are either clever in strategy or powerful. Whether wandering in Zhong Er or after returning home, they all made suggestions to Zhong Er, which played an important role in Zhong Er's eventual becoming a vassal overlord. In other words, these people who followed Zhong Er in exile have outstanding performances and are worthy of the title of "celebrities". However, we really can't find out what he thinks about Zhong Er and what problems he has solved. His only act seems to be "a gentleman who cuts stocks."
So, is the story of "cutting stocks and cutting kings" true?
According to common sense, Zhong Er and his party were down and out at that time, and they could only make a living by eating wild vegetables. In this case, after meson tui cut off a piece of meat from his thigh, he could not get medical treatment, and he could continue to wander with Zhong Er with the wound. If this is true, then the physique of meson push is really very comparable.
Moreover, even if meson tui was not infected, but survived strongly, with such a big injury on his leg, it is obviously impossible to walk normally. Of course, there may be someone in Zhong Er's entourage who can help meson push, such as carrying him. But everyone can't eat, and no one has extra physical strength. If meson push's meat cutting action finally increases the burden of the whole Zhong Er team, it will not be worth the loss, which will help.
Visible, if from the cost-benefit analysis, mesons push to cut the meat, the input cost is high, but the income is only to let Jin Wengong eat a full meal, and the input-output ratio is too low. Moreover, this temporary solution, not a permanent cure, has added a lot of burdens to Zhong Er and his party out of thin air. The author believes that no matter in which era, as long as they are normal people, they have basic interest analysis and judgment. If we know that it is extremely not worth the loss, we can only doubt the truth of the story.
Furthermore, the ancients in China have always paid attention to "being rich is influenced by parents". The ancients thought their bodies were precious. Usually reluctant to shave your head, cut your own meat when you say it? You know, during the Spring and Autumn Period, the idea of loyalty to the monarch was not as serious as that of later generations, and ministers killed the monarch everywhere. People in that era paid more attention to the contractual relationship between monarch and minister. What's more, at that time, Zhong Er was not a monarch, but a down-and-out son, and at best, he was a master-servant relationship with meson Tui. Under the social trend of thought at that time, meson tui was able to do things that even the loyal ministers in later generations could not do, which is what we call irrationality.
In fact, the ancients had long thought that the story of meson pushing to kill the king was too unreasonable. For example, Li Yu, a scholar in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, thought it was an extraordinary move to "kill the king by chopping up shares". This is what children do only when they are filial to their loved ones and have no other choice. Although the relationship between master and servant is close, after all, it can't compare with blood-related relatives. What meson tui did is really unreasonable. Almost at the same time as meson tui, there was another man named Yi Ya, who was the favorite of Qi Huangong, the first person of the "Spring and Autumn Five Bullies". Yiya is good at cooking. In order to please Qi Huangong, he even cooked his own son and gave it to Qi Huangong, which won the admiration of Qi Huangong. However, Guan Zhong, a man of etiquette who Qi Huangong relied on, saw the problem. He told Qi Huangong that the closest person to a person is nothing more than a child. How can you expect him to love you if he doesn't even love children? And this Yi Ya was cruel enough to kill his own son, so his ambition must be endless. Qi Huangong didn't listen to Guan Zhong. Later, Yiya took advantage of her serious illness to launch an uprising, which caused great harm to Qi. What meson tui did was really similar to Yiya. So Li Yu's conclusion is that what "A" did is beyond common sense and must not be true. Instead, I hope to get "extraordinary reports" in the future through so-called "extraordinary skills."
In Li Yu's view, the character of pushing mesons is too low. After all, Li Yu still thinks that the story of cutting stocks and cutting kings is true, so the problem must be meson push. However, after a comprehensive investigation of various historical materials, we can draw the following conclusion: the story of killing the king by cutting stocks itself is fictional, so the irrationality of this story pointed out by Li Yu is very insightful; But his criticism of meson push is not desirable.
Why is this story fictional? As we said before, neither Historical Records nor Zuo Zhuan, or another pre-Qin historical material, Guoyu, has ever recorded the story of mesons cutting their meat. Moreover, even in the fables of pre-Qin philosophers, there are many grotesque stories, and there is no record of mesons pushing and cutting meat. Anyone who knows something about the history of the pre-Qin Dynasty knows that Zuo Zhuan, Guoyu and Shiji can all be used as official history and reference when studying the history of the Spring and Autumn Period. And one thing, if it is not recorded in the books of pre-Qin philosophers, then its authenticity is quite doubtful. This is the story of meson pushing the butcher.
The earliest record of this story is a book called Biography of Korean Poetry in the Han Dynasty. This book is not a history book, it is a bit like an ancient book for ideological propaganda. There are many stories in the pre-Qin era, which are mixed with truth and falsehood. Many stories are interpreted in the names of the ancients, with the purpose of promoting the ethics and values of the authoritarian era. This is the same as the twenty-four filial piety of later generations, and it can't be true. Gu, a great scholar in the early Qing dynasty, also thought that the story of meson being burned to death by cutting meat was not credible.
Third, the real cause of death of meson push.
Since the story of Jietui's stock interception is not credible, is it true that Jin Wengong released Yamakaji and burned Jietui?
Let's start with historical materials and see what the original version of this story is like. As mentioned earlier, the reliable historical materials in the Spring and Autumn Period are firstly Zuo Zhuan, Guoyu and Historical Records. According to historical records such as Zuo Zhuan and Historical Records, Jie Zitui followed Zhong Er for many years. Later, with the help of Qin, he finally returned to China to take power. Qin Mugong, the monarch of Qin, married his daughter to Zhong Er and sent troops to escort Zhong Er back to China. Because the State of Qin is in the present Shaanxi Province and the State of Jin is in the present Shanxi Province, there is a Yellow River between them, so the State of Qin arranged ships to carry Zhong Er across the Yellow River.
Zhong Er is very happy that years of hard vagrancy are coming to an end. Before crossing the river, a small official who followed Zhong Er all the year round and was in charge of logistics moved Zhong Er's accumulated objects, a whore and old socks to the boat one by one and loaded a whole boat.
When Zhong Er saw this scene, he felt very humiliated. He said to the young official, "We will soon return to China to be kings, and we will eat and dress well in the future. Which is not the best? What's the use of keeping this rubbish? Don't throw them all away. "
Zhong Er had just said these words when Hu Yan heard them. Hu Yan also drifted with Zhong Er for many years. He is a pivotal figure in Zhong Er's team, and he is also Zhong Er's uncle in terms of qualifications. When Hu Yan saw that Zhong Er didn't like these old things, he wondered: Your Majesty didn't like them before he returned to China. Will he dislike us old ministers in the future? At that time, it will not be beautiful for the monarch and his subjects to turn against each other. Might as well resign now.
Hu Yan took Yu Pei from Qin Mugong and made a gift to Zhong Er, saying, "I have followed you for so many years, and I know I have made many mistakes, so I must blame you. I remember all these things myself, not to mention you? Now that you are going back to China to be your king, you will no longer need us wise old people to help you. I will resign from you here. "
Zhong Er was surprised: "How can you say such a thing? I want to enjoy the splendor with you, how can I let you go? I hereby swear to the river god that if I can't unite with all the doctors, I will die of natural causes. " With that, he picked up the jade and threw it into the river.
This conversation between Zhong Er and Hu Yan made the meson in the cabin next to him listen to the truth. Meson said with a smile, "Hu Yan is contributing to the master, and he doesn't want to think about it." Thank God for the master's return to China. What contribution can he make? I am embarrassed to go public with such a person. " Meson Tui thus has the heart of retirement.
When Zhong Er became Jin Wengong, he would reward the doctors who followed him wandering. Jin Wengong gave these people titles and increased fiefs, and everyone was very happy.
After rewarding many people, I followed Jin Wengong's meson push, but I didn't get a bonus. Jiezitui did not ask for it, but took her old mother to live in seclusion in the mountains.
Later, Jin Wengong was reminded that meson worked hard, how could he not be rewarded? Jin Wengong remembered this and sent someone to find meson push. Jiezitui heard that the monarch was looking for him, and he didn't want to go out of the mountain, for fear that people would say that he was seeking fame. In this way, Jiezitui and his old mother finally got married and never became an official. In order to remind himself not to forget this hero, Jin Wengong sealed a piece of land in the secluded place of meson push as a meson push field.
This is the second half of meson push recorded in history books. We can see that there is no story about Yamakaji, and meson Tui was not burned to death, but died in the mountains.
Of course, the record of meson tui's unwillingness to be an official is indeed based on history.
In fact, the matter that meson Tui was burned to death was first recorded in History of Han Poetry, and its credibility is very low. As we have said before, those who were exiled with Jin Wengong have their own skills. According to historical records, they all contributed to Jin Wengong to some extent. However, among these people, we can't find out what substantial contribution meson push has made to Jin Wengong. I didn't see him advising Jin Wengong or defending Jin Wengong. It can be said that we can't find any other deeds of meson push, except the matter of cutting stocks and cutting kings. But the truth of this matter is doubtful. This shows that the ability of meson deduction is probably not outstanding, and it can't be said that it has contributed much to Jin Wengong's team.
In this way, we can understand why meson push didn't get Jin Wengong's prize. When Jin Wengong became a monarch, he rewarded his exiled followers, which was divided into several grades. Jin Wengong himself said: "For those who can always teach me and help me establish correct values, I will reward them first;" Those who give me advice to keep my manners among princes will get a second reward; And those who have been following me and protecting me, I will give them a third reward. And those who take care of my diet and daily life can only wait three times for the reward. " It seems that Jin Wengong has an account in his heart. Although these people have wandered with me, they have played different roles and got different returns. If we engage in egalitarianism at will, it will not arouse everyone's enthusiasm and it will be unfair to those who have the ability.
According to this reward standard, meson tui seems to be inferior to the first three, at least his deeds in this respect are not recorded in the history books. So it is estimated that his contribution is to take care of his diet and daily life. So, Jin Wengong rewarded liegeman three times, but didn't give meson a push. I'm afraid it's because he can only accept the reward after three times. In addition, meson tui gave up long ago, probably because he didn't like the reward and simply retired.
Later, Jin Wengong invited meson to come out of the mountain, but meson couldn't hold on. This also reflects the pursuit of ancient intellectuals in China, that is, insisting on the perfection of their own personality, rather than bending over for fame and fortune. In this sense, it is also reasonable for meson to become a model of ancient literati. We compare many literati who later surrendered to the powerful, and then look at meson push, and naturally we will realize the nobleness of meson push. It's just that noble people belong to noble people, and people with virtue may not be talented. Most of those legendary stories are not very reliable.
Fourth, the real origin of the Cold Food Festival.
After analyzing so much, we can basically draw a conclusion: meson tui was a celebrity who followed Jin Wengong and Zhong Er into exile. Later, after Jin Wengong came to power, he lived in seclusion and did not become an official. And those bizarre stories about meson push are mostly fabricated by later generations, that is, the official history is not contained, and it is unreasonable, which is really not credible.
However, problems also follow. Since the story of meson pushing and cutting shares is not credible, and Jin Wengong's release of Yamakaji is also false, how did the custom of Cold Food Festival come from?
The Cold Food Festival is indeed a very old traditional festival, in fact, it is even older than meson push. Before the Spring and Autumn Period of Jiexiu's life, China people had the custom of Cold Food Festival. To talk about this festival, we must trace it back to the times of ancient ancestors.
As one of the symbols of human civilization, our ancestors invented the technology of drilling wood for fire, and since then, human beings have mastered a kind of natural energy for the first time. The invention of artificial fire has greatly improved people's quality of life, which is a milestone feat in the history of human development. However, the ancient technology of making fire was very backward, and great progress was not made until the Chinese nation entered the early stage of civilization. It's easier said than done, but it's still hard to do. Therefore, in the early * * * institutions, there were professional officials who were responsible for making fires and preserving kindling.
Fires and kindling are inseparable from wood. And all the year round, the wood you can find is different in each season. Usually when the seasons change, people will look for new wood suitable for fire. Especially in the early spring of each year, vegetation begins to grow, so it is necessary to find new firewood at this time. This process is called getting a new fire. When the seasons alternate, it is often when the old fuel is exhausted and the new fuel has not been found, the ancients have to eat cold food temporarily. This custom later evolved into the Cold Food Festival.
On the other hand, the gradual immobilization of the Cold Food Festival is also related to religious beliefs. In the eyes of the ancients, although fire can bring a lot of convenience to people's lives, once it is not well controlled, it is also very harmful. It is precisely because fire is so powerful that in the eyes of our ancestors, fire is a very mysterious thing, and there are gods behind it. In order to show respect for Vulcan, people put out the fire, rekindle it, hold sacrificial activities and burn some grains as sacrifices every winter to the next day 105. This is the cultural origin of the Cold Food Festival.
In fact, the ancients ate cold food at the Cold Food Festival, which was often not limited to one day. According to historical records, in some dynasties, even in the 105 days after the winter solstice, people did not make a fire, but ate cold food. This custom is somewhat inhuman, so the imperial government has also introduced various relevant regulations to limit this behavior, and finally shortened it to the Cold Food Festival. It can be seen that the origin of the Cold Food Festival has nothing to do with meson push.
So, what is the relationship between meson push and Cold Food Festival? Speaking of it, it is still the "credit" of the Han people. People in the Han dynasty especially like to collect celebrity stories in the pre-Qin period, and often mix them together without screening, and then think they are all true. Many people also like to add some content to previous works. At that time, before printing was invented, books were copied by hand, so it was common to polish the original. In the long run, many bizarre stories have been handed down by the Han people. This habit of the Han people was related to the whole social atmosphere at that time and the cultural policies of the rulers of the Han Dynasty. This problem is more complicated, so I won't analyze it much. In a word, the earliest known connection between meson push and Cold Food Festival is a book called New Theory in Han Dynasty. This book is not a serious history book, and the authenticity of its contents is certainly not credible.
From the Han Dynasty to the rulers and then to the ordinary scholars, they all realized that it was necessary to establish the morality and values of the whole society by publicizing some typical deeds, which was conducive to social stability. Under the guidance of this goal, plus some legendary story materials, they have processed many such stories. It is for this reason that meson push is related to the Cold Food Festival, which is irrelevant.
It seems that meson push did not make the Cold Food Festival, but the Cold Food Festival made meson push.
Although the Cold Food Festival has nothing to do with meson push, it does not mean that meson push has not left us spiritual wealth. As mentioned earlier, the intellectuals in ancient China had a tradition of "being eager to learn and be officials", but on the other hand, there were also a large number of people who "didn't bow down for rice". For them, fame and fortune are floating clouds, and the pursuit of independent and free living conditions and perfect personality is their ultimate goal. Jiezitui is the representative of this kind of people and an aspect of the excellent traditional culture of the Chinese nation.
In a word, meson tui is a noble but fleeting figure in the long river of history, but later generations borrowed his name as material and made up many stories. Jiezitui has not been forgotten like other historical figures, thanks to these stories. This should be a kind of luck of meson push; However, these stories have caused a huge fog to our history and culture, forming a misunderstanding for more than two thousand years.