Literature depends on facts and often goes beyond them. The role of Duan Yu is real in history, but in reality, he has never met Wang Yuyan who pays equal attention to beauty and wisdom. He became an emperor, later became a monk and lived to be 93 years old.
The life of the emperor
Duan Yu's real name in history is the son of Wendi Duan in Dali. At this time, he took over the regime overthrown by his father. Duan was overwhelmed and unable to recover the defeat, so he had to meditate intently. At this time, the power struggle between Duan and Gao fell on him.
Duan Zhengyan has an upright heart and is good at reconciling relations with its neighbors. Soon, he received tributes, gold, silver and jewels from many countries. At the same time, it maintained good contacts with the Northern Song Dynasty, and quickly surpassed Gao, whose rights were in jeopardy.
The good times didn't last long. In the first year of Northern Song Dynasty, a great earthquake occurred in Dali. The earthquake destroyed a lot of hard work, and Gao Group restored this chaotic situation.
The natural and man-made disasters caused by the earthquake have intensified class contradictions. In ancient times, productivity was low, population was large, and food was in short supply. Coupled with the earthquake, the problem became more acute, and people cut firewood into soldiers, unveiled the banner and embarked on the road of uprising. Finally, Gao Taiming, a member of the Gao Group, is the Prime Minister. After sealing his official position, Gao and Duan lived in peace for several years.
After Gao Taiming's death, Gao's status was unbalanced, and then Gao's related personnel were arrested and executed, which caused the dissatisfaction of Gao Group. Gao Taiming's direct descendants Gao Yi and Gao He planned to assassinate Duan Zhengyan when Duan Zhengyan entered the temple to worship Buddha.
Unexpectedly, the plan failed and was discovered by Duan Zhengyan. Duan Zhengyan didn't get angry, rewarded them with justice and let them go. Gao Yi and Gao He failed in their plan and drew their swords to commit suicide. Duan Zhengyan's action won the praise of the world. In fact, during Duan Zhengyan's reign, we have never seen any major events. Perhaps this is the charm of Duan Zhengyan!
However, Duan Zhengyan finally embarked on his father's road-seclusion. During his reign, the regime was generally stable, but the continuous natural disasters, the intrigue of the imperial court and the crumbling of the Northern Song Dynasty were enough to make him exhausted. Knowing that you are not capable enough, you can't escape the fate of abdicating as the emperor's father. It is better to become a monk and stay away from worldly fetters.
After becoming a monk, the struggle for the next heir became a struggle within the Gao clique. They fight with each other and even rise to cannibalism. Finally, Duan Zhengxing was elected as the next emperor.
Duan Zhengyan is an outstanding king in the history of our country. He took the initiative to contact the Central Plains regime, established mutually beneficial and win-win diplomatic relations, ensured the smooth flow of the Silk Road, and maintained the peace situation in southwest China for nearly 40 years.
Dali kingdom
How did Duan Zhengyan's country come into being? As we all know, Yunnan is the province with the largest number and variety of ethnic minorities in China. Among them, the Bai nationality has the largest number, and Duan Zhengyan himself is a Bai nationality.
Dali ruled by Duan Zhengyan is a continuation of Nanzhao in Tang Dynasty. After the demise of Nanzhao, Duan Siping established Dali Kingdom in today's Dali ancient city, with its capital here. They ruled a vast area, as far away as Vietnam and northern Myanmar today.
In 960, Zhao Kuangyin established the Northern Song regime, and then defeated Houshu, which solved the biggest obstacle in Dali. Duan Siping immediately sent messengers to the Central Plains to establish an alliance with the Central Plains. However, Zhao Kuangyin was wary of Dali and did not hesitate to receive the envoy of Dali. This kind of diplomacy did not succeed in the end. According to legend, Zhao Kuangyin defeated Houshu. He looked at the Dadu River on the map and said, "It's not my territory outside the Dadu River."
To Zhao Kuangyin's surprise, a century later, the dynasty he established will be inseparable from this small country from the southwest.
Duan Zhengyan was born in 1083, and he received a good court education. From the teacher's mouth, he deeply felt the charm of Confucian culture and fell in love with the Northern Song Dynasty in the Central Plains. He understood that the Northern Song Dynasty was worthy of establishing diplomatic relations with him.
At this time, the Northern Song Dynasty was in a dilemma, and the Liao, Jin and Xixia regimes were entrenched nearby. The trade road was interrupted, and only the southwest direction leading to Dali was relatively calm. Dali has repeatedly called for the establishment of equal relations, but it was rejected by "uneven territory and frequent disasters".
When Duan Zhengyan came to power, he didn't want to wait any longer. We can't take the right road, so we should take another road. He found an official in Guangzhou to dredge up and finally broke the barrier. Dali formed an alliance with the Northern Song Dynasty, and Duan Zhengyan fulfilled his ancestors' wishes.
As we know, the Song Dynasty was an era of multi-ethnic coexistence. The Han nationality living in the Central Plains is the most developed, while other nationalities are still in primitive society and slave society. Song dynasty became the object of worship and the goal of learning of these nationalities. Dali, which established diplomatic relations with the Song Dynasty, absorbed a large number of three divisions of the two academies of the Song Dynasty, set up six departments and implemented the imperial examination. The establishment of diplomatic relations between Dali and the Song Dynasty ensured the integrity of the Southwest Silk Road and better developed the trade of the Song Dynasty.
Duan Yu and Duan Zhengyan.
Duan Yu is a tragic figure in the newly revised edition of Dragon Eight Branches. He is not good at martial arts and doesn't love kingship, but he inadvertently acquired peerless martial arts. He is the prince of Dali, and is deeply bound by imperial power. I met Mu Wanqing who fell in love at first sight, but I didn't expect him to be brother and sister. Wang Yuyan, who is pursuing hard, doesn't like him.
In the real world, Duan Yu has made great efforts to establish relations with the Central Plains. He experienced the alternation of the Song Dynasty, and the Song Dynasty began to decline, so Dali stopped its cooperation with the Song Dynasty. But Gao and Duan were at loggerheads and retired. When he confessed his affairs, he became a monk. He didn't have the lofty sentiments of Duan Yu, and he was a good emperor.
Conclusion: Friends who have seen Eight Dragons know that Jin Yong wrote all the tragedies of characters. The strong-willed great man finally died, but the ignorant little man got a good ending.
The novel incorporates the roles of ethnic minorities, such as Xiao Feng, who is the most controversial figure in the whole novel. He seems to be a pawn among the Han nationality and ethnic minorities, and it is also a characteristic of the times at that time. "Tianlong Babu" is about the contradiction between ethnic minorities and Han nationality in the era of multi-ethnic coexistence. Which one truly represents justice?
Is it tit-for-tat or forbearance to reconcile the contradictions between ethnic groups? Literary and artistic creation originates from reality and is higher than reality. Duan Yu did exist in history, and his real father was Duan Zheng Chun. However, due to the needs of the author's writing, he changed it to what he wanted.