In the last episode, Mr. Yi Zhongtian thinks that any historical figure has three images: historical image, literary image and folk image. Among the three countries, Cao Cao is the most complicated and has the biggest differences. From the Northern Song Dynasty, people hated Cao Cao very much. In the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Cao Cao was regarded as a traitor who sought power and usurped the throne. So, what is the image of Cao Cao in history? Professor Yi Zhongtian of Xiamen University commented on the historical materials of the Three Kingdoms from a contemporary perspective. What is Cao Cao's image in his mind?
Yi Zhongtian:
Today, when we talk about Cao Cao, it is impossible not to talk about the Three Kingdoms. The so-called Three Kingdoms, and the founding emperor of Wei is actually Cao Cao. Of course, Cao Cao did not claim to be the emperor when he was in office, but only after his death did his son Cao Pi claim to be the emperor and ratify him, but what is certain is that Cao Cao is the actual pioneer of Wei. Cao Cao has a bad reputation in history. To put it mildly, it is called a traitor, but Mr. Lu Xun said that Cao Cao is actually a capable man, at least a hero. Although I am not a follower of Cao Cao, I admire him very much. Mr. Lu Xun can be said to be the first person to reverse Cao Cao's conviction in modern times, so there are three kinds of comments on Cao Cao-hero, traitor and traitor. So which evaluation is accurate?
But when we understand the historical image of Cao Cao, we find another problem, that is, this historical image is not so easy to understand. For example, people say that Cao Cao is a traitor, and many people don't like Cao Cao. Su Dongpo said that there were many folk storytellers in the Northern Song Dynasty, that is to say, the storytellers were talking about the Three Kingdoms. When Liu Bei failed, the audience burst into tears. Speaking of Cao Cao's failure, everyone applauded. Then it shows that at least in the Northern Song Dynasty, Cao Cao was an unlikable person. So why isn't Cao Cao likable? What unpleasant things has he done? Then nothing more than three:
One is that Cao Cao is treacherous. But this doesn't count, because all is fair in war, and people who fight always cheat. But when you say the enemy, you say he is treacherous and cunning, and when you say yourself, you say you are resourceful. In fact, everything is fair in the war.
The second thing is that he usurped the Han Dynasty. This matter has nothing to do with us. Why does the emperor of this dynasty have to be surnamed Liu? Why can't I be surnamed Cao? It is unreasonable to say that this Cao, not Liu, is a traitor.
Then what the people are most dissatisfied with is that Cao Cao said such a sentence: I would rather lose the world than win it. Therefore, a person would rather feel sorry for himself than for himself. This man is so bad that people hate Cao Cao. Then we must find out whether this matter is true or not; If it's not true, wouldn't it be an unjust case? If it is an unjust case, shouldn't Cao Cao be rehabilitated? So the historical record of this matter is contradictory. Generally speaking, it is the story of Cao Cao persecuting Dong Zhuo. Cao Cao escaped from Beijing and passed by an old friend's house. The old friend's name is Lv Boshe. When Cao Cao arrived at Lv Boshe's house, Lv Boshe himself was not there, so there was a tragedy in which Cao Cao killed the Lv Boshe family.
There are three versions of this story. The first version is about Lv Boshe's absence. When Lv Boshe's son and Lv Boshe's guests saw that Cao Cao had a lot of money, they had a bad intention to rob Cao Cao and took his horse away. At this time, Cao Cao got up and drew his sword to kill these people. This is called self-defense. What history book is this story recorded in? Now, Shu Wei is a history book written by wei ren, so it is not necessarily reliable, because Cao Cao is their great-grandfather, so they may have to give him a round, which is hard to say.
So the second record is that Cao Cao lived in Lv Boshe's house and heard Lv Boshe's children making pots and pans there, and there was a sound. Cao Cao himself is Dong Zhuo's wanted criminal. He became suspicious, "doubted his own interests" and killed the Lv Boshe family. This is called manslaughter.
The third version, not too much difference, also means that Cao Cao suspected that Lv Boshe's family wanted to kill themselves, and then killed them all. After the killing, Cao Cao said sadly: It is better to die than to die. Now let's look at the third situation. Even though we believe that Cao Cao killed the Lv Boshe family by mistake, we said that sentence to see what kind of scene it was. It was Cao Cao who suspected that these people wanted to commit suicide. Of course, this suspicion is a bit too heavy, and then he killed his family. After killing, I found it was a manslaughter, and then I said sadly that the word sad is very important, that is, I killed the wrong person, and then, alas, he was also very sad. Forget it, I'd rather disappoint others than others. Let's take a look at this background. Cao Cao said that this statement was a kind of self-consolation, so he reluctantly defended his wrong behavior. However, in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, he became confident, adding the word "the world" before "it is better to die than to die", which is very different. What Cao Cao said at that time was only the truth. Although I was wrong, I killed someone by mistake. Sorry, I can't do anything now. I'm desperate now. I'd rather be sorry myself than let others be sorry. It should be said that he still kept some good intentions in it, but in The Romance of the Three Kingdoms, he became confident and felt that I was sorry for everyone and could not be sorry for me. That's a big traitor.
Therefore, it should be said that Cao Cao's treachery and viciousness are beyond doubt. But even so, Mao Pi of The Romance of The Three Kingdoms also said such a thing. What did he say? He said: "This is also the extraordinary place of Meng De." He said that even so, this is where Cao Cao is different from ordinary people and surpasses us! He said why? He said that if it was someone else, it would be better for everyone to be sorry for me than sorry for me. He said other people would say the same thing, but so what? In fact, what they did was the deeds of Cao Cao, and only Cao Cao said frankly. Then Mao Pi thinks that Cao Cao is treacherous, but there is honesty in treachery. At least he dares to speak treacherously in public. He is a real villain, not a hypocrite. So he said that this is where Cao Cao surpassed others, because there are too many hypocrites in this world.
There is sincerity in treachery, which is precisely a feature of Cao Cao's character. There is no denying that Cao Cao is treacherous, but he also has a frank side, even a lovely side. Let's look at the contradictions in Cao Cao's character.
Let's talk about Cao Cao's treachery first. The best example of Cao Cao's treachery is an incident that happened when he was fighting Yuan Shao. We know that there were three major battles during the Three Kingdoms period. The first battle was between Cao Yuan and Guandu, the second was between Cao Sun and Battle of Red Cliffs, and the third was between Sun Liu and Yiling. Cao Cao's historical position was established after the battle of Guandu. This war is very hard. At that time, the two armies were at loggerheads, and Cao Jun's rations were running out. We know what we are fighting for. Besides fighting bravely, fighting for weapons, fighting for strength and fighting for food is very important. As the saying goes, "the soldiers and horses have not moved, and the food and grass come first." Without food, the war won't start. Cao Cao was actually out of food at this time and was at a loss. At this time, a counselor named Xu You in Yuan Shao's camp suddenly defected to Cao Cao. Cao Cao was overjoyed and "stumbled out". What is a foot? It is barefoot, so what is the reason why Cao Cao came out to meet Xu You at this time? What do you mean? There are two possibilities: one is that he hasn't had time to put on his shoes, and he may be washing his feet. When he heard that Xu You came barefoot, he ran out and was overjoyed. The second possibility is to show respect, because barefoot is respect. We know that after Cao Cao's later high status, Emperor Xian of Han gave Cao Cao a special treatment, which was called "wearing a sword and shoes to the temple". Sword is a sword, so you can wear a sword to see the emperor, and shoes are shoes, which shows that ordinary people can't wear shoes to see the emperor. Can you wear socks? According to your status, people with high status can "go to the table in socks" and walk to the seat in socks. If you are in a lower position, you must go barefoot. So barefoot may be a sign of respect.
What happened to this Cao Cao after he rushed out barefoot? Clap your hands and smile, touch your hands and smile. Say, hey, Zi Yuan, you're here. "I'm helping you." My business will be easy, and then I will invite Xu You to sit down in the military tent. Xu You asked, "Cao Gong, what's your situation?" ? Shops and geometry. How many shops are there? Cao Cao said, hehehe, I have enough rations for one year. Xu You said, wrong, repeat. Cao Cao said, six months. Xu You is wrong again. Never tell the truth when you meet old friends. Tell the truth and give you another chance. Cao Cao said, well, I'm sorry, I was joking just now. Honestly, it's only for a month. Then Cao Cao said Liu Bang's favorite words, "Why not?" What should I do? Xu You said, "Many people are alone, and there is no help outside, and food is exhausted. This is also the day of crisis. " It is dangerous to say that you go deep with the army alone, without food and grass. What should you do? I tell you, Yuan Shao has hidden a batch of grain somewhere. What path can you cross? You should quickly lead the Qingqi to that place to burn its food and grass. In three days, Yuan Jun will be in chaos.
Cao Cao said it was great, and then personally led five thousand cavalry, copied the path overnight, put on Yuan Jun's clothes, met a sentry along the way and said that Yuan Gong wanted us to do something, so he rushed to Yuan Ying. When Yuan Ying saw Cao Jun cooking, it was of course a desperate battle. At that time, the situation was very tense. People around Cao Cao came running and said, Cao Gong, the enemy is coming. Cao Cao said, what's the panic? Don't say this before the enemy is behind me. Let's go Then he burned all the food and grass of Yuan Shao, thus turning the situation around.
So Cao Cao's character does have a treacherous side, but I think his treachery is also forced out in a sense. In such a dangerous environment, if he tells everything, can he still defeat the enemy? He can't help lying. He even got into the habit of telling lies.
Cao Cao is also a warm-hearted. In the war between Cao Cao and Zhang Xiu, his eldest son, Cao Ang, was killed in the battle, and his former rival, Ding Furen, was also devastated. Because Ding Furen is Cao Cao's wife, she can't have children. Cao Cao's concubine gave birth to her eldest son, Cao Ang. After she was born, Cao Ang's mother died, and so did her biological mother, so she gave Cao Ang to Ding Furen to raise. Ding Furen regards this son as his own son and has deep feelings. Cao Cao lost the battle because he got carried away and surrendered without fighting Zhang Xiu in the war with Zhang Xiu. After the surrender, Cao Cao incorporated not only Zhang Xiu's army, but also Zhang Xiu's aunt, Zhang Xiu's aunt, a beautiful woman. Cao Cao is a lecherous man. Wherever he goes, he will meet some beautiful women, so he married Zhang Xiu's aunt. Zhang Xiu's face could not be pulled down, and for other reasons, Zhang Xiu later betrayed him and made a surprise attack on him. In this war, Cao Ang also died, so did Cao Anmin, the nephew of Cao Cao, and Dian Wei, the beloved of Cao Cao. Ding Furen didn't want to, so he cried and asked Cao Cao for his son. You gave my son back to me. Where did you find my son? And it's you, the guy who has been hitting on rotten women all day, that killed my son. When Cao Cao is bored, get out and go back to his hometown. Just leave. I will go back to my parents' house. I won't talk to you again. I really went back to my parents' house.
After half a year, about a few months later, Cao Cao regretted it and drove to his parents' house to pick up Mrs. Ding. This thing is also very common today. As soon as the young couple quarreled, the wife ran back to her parents' house. It wasn't the last time that the husband laughed it off, said a few nice words and took his wife back. It is not easy for Cao Cao to do this, is it? If you miss Cao Cao's cruel temper, he will do the same to clean up Ding Furen. What does Ding Furen do at home, knitting? After Cao Cao came, she didn't stand up to meet him and ignored him. Cao Cao was bored and walked over: What about weaving? ..... Stop knitting and come home with me. ..... Cao Cao went over and touched Ding Furen's back with his hand: Oh, don't be so short-tempered, baby, will you come home with me? Shall we go home by car? It's important to know this action. This kind of "touching the back" is a kind of love action for women by men. Ding Furen continued to "click" and "click". Cao Cao is very boring: aren't you going back? If I don't go back, I'll leave. Click click. Cao Cao went for a walk and came out. When he walked to the door, he turned his head again: Stop fooling around and come home with me, will you? Click click. Well, it seems that our marriage is over. Forget it. Then find the father-in-law: my father-in-law, I'm sorry for your daughter, but she won't go back with me. Tell you the truth, she is still young, don't let her watch, you marry her and let her remarry.
Think about it. With Cao Cao's heart of stone and vicious temper, it is very, very difficult to do this step, which shows that he is very affectionate. Of course, the last father didn't dare to marry Mrs. Ding and didn't remarry. In the end, he didn't remarry either. It is estimated that my father-in-law dare not marry, nor does Ding Furen, nor does anyone dare to marry. Who dares to marry Yan's ex-wife I thought I was sick. Cao Cao has been very worried about this matter. When Cao Cao died, he said, I have done good things and bad things in my life. There are successes and mistakes. I don't care. There is only one thing, that is, I went underground to Jiuquan, and Zixiu-Zixiu is Cao Ang's word, and Cao Ang's Zixiu refers to Cao Ang-said Zixiu wanted to talk to me when she cried. How many mistakes do you think Cao Cao made in his life? He actually thinks that his biggest mistake is this, which is to make his wife angry! Explain that Cao Cao is a sentient person, a sentient person, and a sentient person. This is the warmth of Cao Cao.
But if you think how gentle Cao Cao is, you are wrong. Cao Cao is very vicious. It can be said that he doesn't know anyone when he turns his face. For example, Xu You mentioned earlier, he played a key role in the process of defecting to Cao Cao, so Xu You is also very proud. Xu You often said "Ah" to Cao Cao. He didn't call him Tsao Gong, Gong Ming or the Prime Minister, but called him a nickname. Cao Cao has two nicknames, one is Geely and the other is Auntie. Call him aunt, if I hadn't promised others, you wouldn't be here today! Cao Cao had to say with a smile, ah, yes, yes, Mr. Xu is right. I really wouldn't be here without your help. But Xu You kept saying, it's annoying, isn't it? It's like saying that you gave me this dress, of course I'm happy to wear it beautifully, but every time I wear this dress, you have to stand up and say to everyone, hey, look, big guy. I gave him this dress, but if I don't give him this dress, he will have nothing to wear. Can I be happy? Where is Cao Cao? Once Cao Cao captured Yecheng, and Xu You said to the people present, You see, without me, their Cao family couldn't get in this door. Cao Cao is the last straw. He killed Xu You. This is the cruelty of Cao Cao.
Cao Cao killed Xu You who was kind to him, but released many people who were sorry for him. For example, there was a man named Zhong Wei, who was originally a subordinate of Cao Cao. For a time, Cao Cao knew that he was in adversity and was in trouble. At that time, many of his men betrayed Cao Cao. Cao Cao said confidently, let them go, and my people will be finished. For example, Zhong Wei won't betray me. As a result, this Wei seed also betrayed and Wei seed also ran away. Cao Cao is angry. Cao Cao agreed that you were wei ren, and you betrayed me. You have the ability to go to the ends of the earth, the north has the ability to go to Xiongnu, and the south has the ability to go to Vietnam. As long as you can't run that far, I'll get you back and I'll never spare you.
Later, in the later battle, Zhong Wei was captured, and everyone gave Zhong Wei a sweat, saying that Cao Cao would definitely kill him. Where is Cao Cao? Cao Cao thought for a moment, forget it. Zhong Wei is a talented person. After he was released, he should be an official. This is Cao Cao's tolerance.
Cao Cao is indeed a very tolerant person. When Cao Cao was at war with Yuan Shao, Yuan Shao asked a scholar named Chen Lin to draft a paper. What is an activity? It's a denunciation book, because in ancient times, he was famous for his teacher, that is, whoever you want to hit always has a name. After you have a name, your army will be called the teacher of justice. Yuan Shao asked Chen Lin to write a campaign. Chen Lin is a penholder, and he wrote thousands of words, which was eloquent and lambasted Cao Cao. Where to scold, from Cao Caozu, this is really a very bad thing in China culture. Call names on parents, and call names on ancestors for eight generations. This is a bad tradition, and so is Chen Lin. Then Yuan Shao was defeated and Chen Lin became a prisoner. The following people caught Chen Lin in front of Cao Cao. Cao Cao said: Chen Lin, the two armies are at war, and it is normal to make such a condemnation. However, if you scold me, forget it. Why did you scold my parents? My parents didn't offend you. This is not good! Chen Lin said, I'm sorry, but I have to. Cao Cao said, OK, OK, OK, you are a talented person. Be your pen. Chen Lin later became the pen of Cao Cao, so Cao Cao was very tolerant.
However, Cao Cao is a vengeful person, but there are few people who have offended Cao Cao without revenge. At that time, there was a famous man named Bian Jean, who was a great scholar and writer. His articles and works are so good that he looks down on Cao Cao. Because Cao Cao was born in a bad family, Cao Cao's grandfather was a eunuch, and this Eastern Han Dynasty was ruined by eunuchs, so those scholars, intellectuals and literati despised eunuchs the most and hated them the most. Then Cao Cao's father is the eunuch's adopted son, and Cao Cao is the eunuch's adopted son. They looked down on him, and they looked down on him. They said something insulting to Cao Cao. So later, after Cao Cao shot down the place, he killed Bian Rang mercilessly. At the same time, several intellectuals were involved in the Bianrang case. Some of them escaped, but they couldn't escape after they escaped, and then they came back to surrender. One of them, Huan Shao, surrendered to Cao Cao, knelt down and begged for mercy, kowtowed and cried for mercy. What did Cao Cao say? Hum, hahaha, cry, frighten, kneel down, beg for mercy, kneel down and not kill? Don't kill if you beg for mercy? Drag it out and kill it. This matter has a bad influence. At that time, there was a rebellion, that is, how can you treat intellectuals like this? How can you treat people who have offended you before like this?
One of them, Chen Gong, left Cao Cao for this reason and defected to Lu Bu. The Romance of the Three Kingdoms says that Chen Gong left Cao Cao because Cao Cao killed the Lv Boshe family. No, the historical fact is that Cao Cao killed Bian Rang and Huan Shao, and Chen Gong couldn't stand it. He left Cao Cao and was bent on helping Lu Bu to fight Cao Cao. Later, when Lu Bu was defeated, Chen Gong became a prisoner, and Cao Cao didn't want to kill him. Cao Cao told Chen Gong that as long as he surrendered, let bygones be bygones. Because Cao Cao at this time, he also felt that the previous practice was wrong. He also felt that the prime minister could punt in his stomach, and the general didn't kill Chen Gong if he wanted to be a general. Chen Gong resolutely refused to surrender, and Cao Cao had no choice but to kill him. Before trying to kill him, Cao Cao asked this question. Chen Gong's word is Gong Tai, and he said Gong Tai. What will your mother do if you die? Chen Gong said, I heard that people who govern the world with filial piety will not kill other people's parents. How is my mother? It depends on Zuo Zongtang. Cao Cao said yes, bus stop, bus stop, what about your wife and children after you die? Chen Gong said, I heard that people who govern the world with benevolence will not hurt other people's children. What about my wife and children? Please let Zuo Zongtang decide. Ah, Cao Cao said yes, then I'll send you on your way. Then he began to cry, sent Chen Gong to the execution ground and cried and died, and then took Chen Gong's family to his home, treating Chen Gong's family better than before Chen Gong turned against him.
So Cao Cao is a very complicated person. Just now we have talked about all aspects of him, which is not the whole of his personality, but only a part of his personality. He is cunning and honest, passionate and vicious, tolerant and vindictive. If we only look at one story of Cao Cao and one side of Cao Cao, we will come to the conclusion that the blind touch the elephant, which is not comprehensive. Therefore, in our view, Cao Cao may be the most complicated figure and diverse image in the history of China. He is extremely clever and extremely stupid; Cunning and treacherous, frank and sincere; Open-minded and suspicious; Generous and narrow-minded It can be said that everyone has a demeanor and a villain's face; Heroism, children's feelings; Yan has a temper and a bodhisattva heart. He is such a person. He seems to have many faces. One moment this face appears, and another face shows us. But it should be noted that no matter which face it is, it belongs to Cao Cao and will not be recognized by others. Being able to unify such a complicated personality in one person is remarkable in itself. What is this? It embodies the atmosphere of Cao Cao. How's the atmosphere? A hundred rivers are full of tolerance. Cao Cao is just a tolerant and very large-capacity person. Everything that is contradictory is unified with him.
Moreover, he has been treacherous all his life and finally achieved it. Cao Cao died and left a legacy. At that time, writing this legacy was a will, writing a will, and big people wrote wills in a format. Tell me what contribution I have made in my life, look back on myself, and then say where I want to be buried, and so on. This is a will. This is not the case in Cao Cao's will. Cao Cao's will rarely mentions his political career. That's all he said. He said that I have done a lot of things in my life, right and wrong, and I am right on the whole. As for small mistakes and big temper, it is not worth emulating. That's it. What's next? He talked about some housework. He said that after my death, the incense in my house was incense and spices. You should divide it up and don't waste it. My little wives and my singers have worked hard all their lives. They served me well and served me well. Don't treat them badly. Let them continue to live in Tongquetai. Don't drive them away. These people are idle and have nothing to do. What can they learn to do? Learn to weave sandals with ribbons. In case our Cao family goes bankrupt in the future, we can sell these shoes for something to eat. He talked a lot about such things, so his will was looked down upon at that time. He said that a great hero didn't say anything brave or inspirational before he died, encouraging our successors to "sell shoes to remember my wife". What a scandal! Even Su Dongpo gave an eight-word evaluation, which was called "being a traitor all his life, seeing the truth when he died", saying that this guy had been treacherous all his life, and before he died, he gave away the clues and the fox's tail was exposed. So it is such a villain.
But I have always respected Mr. Su Dongpo. I don't think so. I think this just shows Cao Cao's atmosphere. I won't say grandiloquence, I won't say political contributions, I won't say national affairs, I will say these little things. What will you do to me? What can you do to me? You call me a villain, and I am a villain. So what? I am Cao Cao, and I don't care what you say about me. This is me. What's this called? "Only heroes can be his true colors, and those who love themselves are real celebrities." Cao was beaten so badly that it shows that he is a hero, a great hero! But this hero is very cunning and treacherous, so he is a cunning hero, referred to as a treacherous man. And this adulterer is very cute, so I think the evaluation of Cao Cao is these five words-lovely adulterer, so how is Cao Cao an adulterer, how is he an adulterer, and how is he cute? Please watch the next episode of The Mystery of the Traitor. Thank you.