These six beheaded people are the six famous gentlemen in the history of China. According to the list published by the imperial court, the ranking of the six gentlemen is: Kang, Yang Rui, Tan Sitong and Liu Guangdi.
When Liu Guangdi was killed, his home was in Luopa Hutong, near the vegetable market where he was punished. In his family, there are only his old wife Zhang Yunxian, his brother-in-law Zhang Helin and several underage children. Although Liu Guangdi has been an official in Beijing for many years, he usually doesn't like to make friends. Unlike Kang Youwei and Tan Sitong, he has many followers and high popularity. So when Cixi staged a coup and Kang Youwei and others fled, Emperor Liu Guangdi stayed at home because he thought he had done nothing wrong in the imperial court and had a clear conscience, so he didn't have to flee. Secondly, no one helped him escape, so he couldn't escape. Thus, when Liu Guangdi was unjustly imprisoned and executed as a political prisoner, the tragic situation faced by his widow and orphans can be imagined: this poor home, as the only pillar, fell down. Therefore, who presided over Liu Guangdi's funeral and escorted his family and body from the Forbidden City to his hometown in Zhao Hua Town, Fushun County, Sichuan Province has always been a mystery behind the funeral service.
There has always been a saying that is far from the historical facts, that is, the so-called chivalrous Wang Wu took care of the funeral of Emperor Guang Liu and sent his disciples to escort Liu Lingyun back to Sichuan. Wang Wu had a chivalrous reputation among the people in the late Qing Dynasty, was enthusiastic about politics, and had deep contacts with Tan Sitong. It is said that after Tan learned that Guangxu was under house arrest in Yingtai, he planned to let Wang Wu, the broadsword, lead his disciples into the ouchi to assassinate Cixi. According to some scholars' interpretation, the so-called "Two Kunlun Mountains" in Tan Prison's "Two Kunlun Mountains" refers to broadsword Wang Wu and Kang Youwei. However, no matter what kind of secret agreement Tan Sitong had with him, the capital of Guang Liu had no connection with him, and it was not Joe, a native of Sichuan in Liu Guangdi, who presided over Liu's funeral. Joe, a native of Huayang County, Sichuan Province, works as Zuo Cheng in Beijing and is one of the few intimate friends of Liu Guangdi. At that time, Liu Guangdi's colleague Tang _ worked in the punishments department, and he witnessed the plight of the Six Gentlemen. He wrote a long poem with a white line, in which he said, "Thanks to Qiao Gongxian, I am homeless." This Gong Qiao, also known as Shu Qiao. So the name of broadsword Wang Wu is a novelist's words.
According to the practice at that time, the family always sewed up the head that had left the body with gold thread. Whether Liu Guangdi's body should be treated in this way, there is no historical data, and I dare not make a hasty decision. However, the author once saw an old photo more than 20 years ago in Fushun Cultural Management Office, which was taken when Liu Guangdi's tomb was moved from Zhao Hua to Fushun County. Judging from the photos, Liu Guangdi's head was beheaded, the shape of his head was still intact, and even the firmness of his expression could be vaguely seen. Later, the famous sculptor Ye Yushan created a bronze statue of Liu Guangdi, which may also be influenced by this photo. Ye's bronze statue also captures Liu Guangdi's fortitude before his execution.
With the help of Shu Qiao and others, Liu Guangdi's small family and coffin set off from Beijing and embarked on a long way home.
After the ship carrying Liu Guangdi's coffin entered Sichuan, people along the way went to the riverside to offer sacrifices. In the last 20 kilometers from Huaide Town to Zhao Hua Town, hundreds of villagers automatically joined the team to pull the optical fiber. As for Zhao Hua Town, the hometown of mulberry leaves of Emperor Liu Guangdi, a grand memorial service was held long before his coffin arrived. On the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, after Liu Guangdi's coffin arrived in the town, the activities of people's public sacrifice to Liu Guangdi in this remote town reached a climax: the boat arrived at the ferry pier in Zhao Hua, with nine firecrackers and everyone wearing linen. Everyone is Dai Xiao, and everyone is crying. The elders in their hometown walked around the town with two long white cloths and coffins. Ba Bi, the park is in longxing temple-only a few steps away from the early schools in Liu Guangdi. On the tenth night, the public sacrifice ceremony was officially held, presided over by scholar Lan Ruitu. Lan Xian recited Wen Tianxiang's Song of Harmony of Righteousness in a mournful tone, and then read the eulogy. This eulogy not only has sympathy and reverence for Liu Guangdi, a patriotic but killed loyal gentleman, but also has anger and reprimand for the Qing government headed by Cixi:
What is the crime of loyalty?
I am a philosopher, and my country is very strong.
I'm sorry my people think so, but I don't know what I'm doing.
The Tang dynasty was filthy and the state affairs were bad.
The gully can be filled, but the white blade has been hit.
A strong life is just and magnificent.
Born English, died a wise man.
Four tables alone have contributed a lot.
According to the general understanding, Liu Guangdi was a prisoner of the imperial court. After being beheaded, he was transported back to his hometown for secret burial. However, the people of Zhao Hua held a grand public sacrifice for the political prisoner. Whether it is a public sacrifice or not, even at today's public sacrifice ceremony, which is composed of scholars, juren, squire and ordinary people, it is puzzling: didn't people in this town think that this would violate the court and even bring trouble and even kill the people involved? How will the authorities deal with this behavior of criticizing the government in the name of public sacrifice?
Many years have passed. When Wang Jingwei, a teenager, was sent to the prison of the Ministry of Punishment for the assassination of the Regent, he met Liu, who had been a guard in the prison for most of his life. When chatting with Jingwei Liu, he clearly recalled the situation of Six Gentlemen after their arrest and imprisonment, which is consistent with many ancient records including the Draft of Qing History. From the performance in prison, it is not difficult to analyze Liu Guangdi's character and his naivety and helplessness in this sudden trouble.
Never die, Liu Guangdi and others were imprisoned for four days. Six gentlemen were imprisoned in two cells. Among them, Yang Rui and Tan Sitong were locked in a room, and Liu Guangdi and Kang were locked in a room. In prison, Liu Guangdi Youzi read The Complete Works of Zhuzi and The Book of Changes. Kang Ren Guang went to prison because of his cousin Kang Youwei. He cried bitterly and said, "God, my brother is going to shoulder the burden." Hearing this, the young man could not help laughing. Liu Guangdi turned to comfort Kang. There are two reasons why Liu Guangdi is so calm: First, he thinks that whether he has been in charge of the punishments for more than ten years or spent more than ten days on the military plane Zhang Jing; I have always been a loyal minister serving the country, no matter whether I am a powerless official in Beijing or I meet reformists by chance, and I have no selfish distractions, let alone rebellion. Second, according to the ancestral training, you have to go through certain procedures before you can be tried. As long as you have a trial, everything can be made clear. If it is a big deal, I won't treat you like this Beijing official. "I will go home and do what I want."
Liu Guangdi thought there would be a trial to clarify things, but it never came. Liu Guangdi, who has been familiar with the trial procedure for a long time in the punishments department, is naive enough to forget that he met a prison edict. It is not the ancestral system and laws that control the imperial edict, but the tactics of the supreme ruler: once the trial begins, it will obviously involve Guangxu, who has been deprived of political power. The mystery lies in the fact that Cixi admitted in the imperial edict issued the day after the execution of the six gentlemen that if normal judicial procedures were followed, "talking too much would lead to strain". "It was because she didn't repeat it that she ordered the criminal to wait for a just trial yesterday." However, how did scholar Liu Canguang understand political strategy? Liu Guangdi doesn't think the government he is loyal to is bad, but the government he is loyal to is far worse than he imagined. This legitimate government, at the most critical moment, its duty is not to ensure the justice of the law, but to ensure the personal interests of the highest authorities.
At that time, the ruling and opposition parties also saw the difference between Liu Guangdi and Kang Tan. Not only are they not like-minded companions, but even Liu Guangdi and Kang Youwei have no contact at all. According to Song, who is also a Fushun native, Liu Guangdi and his friends went there once when Kang Youwei set up the Bao Dai Society in Beijing and advocated political reform, but "I was disgusted after hearing about it, but I didn't do it from the beginning." After the six gentlemen were released from prison, Prince Yi of the Qing Dynasty also greeted the officials who were going to attend the pre-trial hearing. "The situation of six people in the same case is different. I heard that Yang Junrui and Liu are both learned people with good conduct. It is extremely unfair to have a court in Luo Zhi, so they must be dealt with separately. " After hearing the news of Liu Guangdi's death, friends and fellow villagers wrote mourning poems one after another, and even more bluntly said that Liu Guangdi was implicated and suffered this great disaster: "If you don't make a plan to stay overnight, you will be sad if you are caught by fish in the pool and hope that the sky will fly after death!"
And the difference between Liu Guangdi Yang Rui and Tan Sitong, Cixi may not know, and knowing it will not help. She must execute those who called for reform before and after Guangxu. What she hates is not reform, but that these people actually threaten her core interests in the name of reform. You can bear it, but you can't. So culpable of punishment Tan Sitong must die, and so must innocent Liu Guangdi.
Today's people may mistakenly think that the reformers at that time must have won the hearts of the people. In fact, there are always few people who can see the current situation clearly in each era, and all beings often belong to the blind majority. A sad story is that when the Six Gentlemen were taken to the execution ground at Caishikou, spectators around them stood on tiptoe and someone threw cabbages at them-if these cabbages were thrown at Tan Sitong, it was Kang. As for Liu Guangdi, thank goodness, no one threw cabbages at him. Obviously, in the eyes of these Rightists who throw cabbage bangzi, Tan Hekang is not a reformist, but a disorderly party that should be chopped into pieces; As for Liu Guangdi and Yang Rui, as folks say, painful feet are attached to good feet, and they are implicated in death. -Beijing officials and people are still so familiar with it, let alone the hometown of Liu Guangdi?
Since ancient times, the suffering of loyal ministers has aroused people's tears of sympathy. In China's traditional operas, people have long been familiar with the story of loyal subjects' suffering. Now, such a loyal minister in distress is actually his own township party, a neighbor who watched him grow up and an elder in his hometown. How can he hold a vigorous memorial service for such a loyal minister instead of crying? In the memory of loyal ministers, people in these remote places will eventually gain unparalleled moral superiority.
Liu Guangdi and his hometown of Zhao Hua, as well as Fushun and Sichuan in a wider range, have always had endless affection and homesickness. His character and talent have always been talked about by fellow villagers.
In the late Qing dynasty, when there was almost no official and no greed, Emperor Liu Guangdi was a rare anomaly, which was one of the reasons for his death and made the people in his hometown grieve. Every time the villagers talk about his death, there is always an aggrieved remark, which is called: "Good life does not last long, and it will harm people for thousands of years." Wang Lun, a countryman of Liu Guangdi, was promoted to Yuanwailang. He has some other things, such as three or four thousand dollars, and proposes to share them with Liu Ping. Liu Guangdi "dare not accept them"; Liu Guangdi was promoted to Zhang Jing's military officer. According to the usual practice, a foreign company remitted a sum of money to Beijing. Liu Guangdi also flatly refused. The visitor said in surprise, "Don't be too conceited when others accept you and one person refuses?" In addition, "every year, according to the law, military colleagues can get more than 500 yuan, but they can't get any money at all." Liu Guangdi's family lives in Beijing and lives on a small income. He himself "wore robes for ten years, which was not easy", and his children "asked people for help". They rely on their wives to do housework, so they are as old as old women before they are 40. When Liu Guangdi was arrested, "Tiki was shocked to see that his furniture was evaluated and his wife was like a servant girl." Are you an official? " "
It can be asserted that Liu Guangdi, who was deeply educated by Confucian morality, adhered to the Confucian tradition. He cares about the country, worries about the current situation and advocates reform; Because there are not many intimate friends in Beijing, he often writes long letters criticizing state affairs and sends them to Liu and his son in his hometown. After the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, he wrote thousands of words, hoping that the country would reform in order to survive. But because he is not good enough and others are unwilling to fight for him, this news can only be sent to Liu and the elders in his hometown for leisure. So it can be said that although Liu Guangdi is an official in Beijing, his thoughts, his character, his conduct and his almost stubborn love for the poor are everywhere in his hometown. In a sense, he is the idol and pride of his hometown people, especially the hometown scholars. When the country whose building is falling down unexpectedly beheads its idol and pride, people in their hometown will inevitably have deep doubts about this country besides grief, so they will ask questions of loyalty and righteousness.
If loyalty and patriotism are too metaphysical to be understood and moved by ordinary people in every hometown, then Liu Guangdi's enthusiasm for his hometown has given them visible warmth. When he was in the capital of Emperor Liu Guangdi, he came across that his teacher, Li Shaoya, was old and blind, with no food and clothing. He immediately wrote to Liu Qingtang, Liu's son, hoping that he would take out 30 gold from the 200 gold he gave himself every year and give it to the lonely old man. Sichuan suffered two earthquakes and floods in its hometown. Liu Guangdi and fellow villager Jing Kuan immediately raised money and sent it back to their hometown for disaster relief.
In the eyes of hometown people, Liu Guangdi is a conscientious and honest official, enthusiastic about public welfare undertakings and often takes care of his family's hometown. He was a scholar who once educated the countryside and enlightened others, and also a loyal minister who was patriotic but destroyed by treacherous court officials. And the loyal minister who is far away from them in the play actually watched him grow up, be admitted to Jinshi and sit on a wooden chair. Therefore, the people of Zhao Hua mourn for Liu Guangdi. In fact, they are not only mourning their idols, but also expressing their strong dissatisfaction with the government. At the same time, they are desperate for the fall of Huang Zhong and the cruel reality of Fuxi Leiming Thunder.
Before being arrested, Liu Guangdi said to his friend with indignation: "I am dead and my loyalty is exhausted." In fact, as he asserted, after this group of intellectuals who hoped to get the country out of the bottleneck through reform were executed, later intellectuals were no longer willing to believe in this dying dynasty and no longer had hope for reform and change. Among the people, even the lowest people have long understood that it is foolish to take risks to reform or even change their heads in order to protect other people's mountains and rivers. So the best way is to stand by and look on coldly, and this dynasty will be renamed.
As for this huge public sacrifice to political prisoners, will it attract pressure from the authorities as we feared before? Surprisingly, the government allowed this to happen, neither obstructing nor sending troops to arrest these people who don't know the truth. In fact, in Liu Guangdi's earlier criticism of the current situation, he already answered: "At present, all government affairs in the imperial court are related to the hook case, and the bureau has been set up. The minister stole an hour of peace and kept his promise to keep friends; A small minister, playing skillfully, made a fortune and went to do private affairs. Serious people think they are stubborn but not smooth; People who speak bluntly think that they are impetuous and not calm. " It is impossible for local officials not to know such a grand public sacrifice. However, under the official style of "make peace now and make arrangements", because the central government in Beijing has not given any instructions on this matter, the best way for local officials is to pretend that they have not seen or heard it, that is, it has never happened.