After the sixth issue of "Sun Tzu's Art of War" was broadcast, "China in the Classics" originally thought that it would have to wait for the last month to be updated, but we did not expect that only one week later, we saw the seventh issue of "Chu Ci". In the form of drama, the program brilliantly interpreted Qu Yuan's life, vividly explained Qu Yuan's unchanging feelings of home and country and his unswerving spirit of exploration, which once again touched us.
Qu Yuan seems to us to be a familiar stranger. We say familiar because we spend every year the Dragon Boat Festival, which is said to commemorate Qu Yuan, and we have read or heard about Qu Yuan's works such as "Leaving Sorrows"; we say strange because we still have a lot of ignorance about Qu Yuan. For example, Qu Yuan called himself "Yu Yuan", "The name Yu Yue Zheng Ze Xi, the character Yu Yue Lingjun", why did Sima Qian also call "Qu Yuan's person, name Ping, Chu Zhi's surname is also" in the "History of Qu Yuan's Biography of Jia Sheng"? Who is Qu Yuan's last name? Qu Yuan died in the Dragon Boat Festival, so what year and month was he born? In the program, it is mentioned that Qu Yuan has worked as a doctor and a left disciple, what is his official position? Let's talk about these issues.
Draw the point
01
How much does Qu Yuanping know?
The most reliable and systematic information about Qu Yuan's life and deeds is the "History of Qu Yuan's Biography of Jia Sheng". The "History of Qu Yuan Jia Sheng Lie" begins: "Qu Yuan," the name Ping, Chu Zhi also has the same surname." That is to say, Qu Yuan, surname Qu, mingping, character yuan, "Chu Zhi tong surname" means that Qu Yuan is also a nobleman of the Chu state, and the king of Chu is the same ancestor. However, we also noticed that in the program, the king of ChuHuai is called Xiong Huai, surnamed Xiong, and Qu Zhi's surname is Qu, which does not seem to be "the same surname", what is going on?
"History (Passed Down classics, comparison of literature and white)"
This brings us to the surname culture of the pre-Qin period. In the pre-Qin period, there was a difference between surname and surname, in simple terms, surname was a sign of blood relations of a clan; while clan was a sign of blood relations between family branches within a clan. For example, Qu Yuan and King Huai of Chu belonged to the same surname, which was the "芈" in the "Biography of Mi Yue"; the Xiong clan originated from the name of the ancestor of the Chu royal family at the time of Yin Zhou, and the Qu clan originated from qu Yuan's ancestor, the son of King Wu of Chu, who was enfeoffed in Qu Di in the early Spring and Autumn Period. Therefore, from the perspective of the descendants of the same surname, Qu Yuan is "the same surname as Chu".
The Legend of Mi Yue
Qu Yuan's family was a prominent family of the Chu state, and from the Spring and Autumn Period to the Warring States, Qu's descendants were active in the political arena. According to the "Zuo Biography", during the Spring and Autumn Period, the Duke of Qi Huan cut down Chu, and it was Qu Quan of the Qu family who held an oath of alliance with the princes of the Central Plains at Zhaoling on behalf of the Chu State. Before the oath was taken, Qi Huangong held a grand military parade, wanting to show off his might in front of Qu Quan, but he said without humility: "If you subdue people with virtue, who in the world dares to disobey?" If you want to coerce by force, then we in the Chu country take Fangcheng Mountain as the city and the Han River as the pool, and no matter how many soldiers you have, you can't do anything to us. Qu Yuan's diplomacy is "skillful in rhetoric", which can be said to have inherited the legacy of his ancestors.
"Zuo Zhuan (Chinese Classics Complete Annotated And Translated Series)"
Sima Qian said that "Qu Yuan's name is Ping", but in the program, according to Qu Yuan's self-description in "Leaving the Troubles", his father named him "Zhengze" and the character "Lingjun". So is Qu Yuan the name Ping Ziyuan or the mingzheng character Lingjun? What is the relationship between these two sets of names? Scholars have different views on this issue. Some people think that "zhengze" and "lingjun" are Qu Yuan's small names and small characters, and some people think that this is Qu Yuan's pseudonym. However, everyone is more unanimous in that "regularity" and "spiritual average" correspond to "flat" and "original". Wang Yi said in the Chu Ci Zhang sentence: "Those who are just plain and can be law-abiding are nothing more than heaven; those who cultivate evenly are not gods on the earth." Gao Ping yue yuan, so father Uncle Yong named me Ping Yi Fa Tian, and the word I was the original Yi Fa Di. Words can be safe from above, and the people can be raised below. That is to say, "regular" and "lingjun" are actually Qu Yuan's interpretation of the meaning of his own name, pinning a beautiful meaning.
"Supplementary Notes on Chu Ci (Chinese Sinology Library)"
We all know that the legend says that Qu Yuan died on the Dragon Boat Festival, that is, the fifth day of the first month of May. So what day is Qu Yuan's birthday? Qu Yuan's "Departure from Sorrow" says: "Regent Zhen is in Meng Qixi, but Gengyin Wu surrenders." "It's his birthday." "Regent" is the abbreviation of Regent, the year of the star chronology divides the heavenly palace into twelve equal points such as sub, ugly, yin, 卯, etc., called the twelve houses, and the year in which the year the star points to the yin palace is called the year of Yin, alias is called setig. "陬", referring to the lunar month, is another name for the first month. According to the summer calendar, the first month is the month of Yin. The first month is the beginning of the year, so it is called "Meng Qi". "庚寅" is the date of Qu Yuan's birth, so Qu Yuan was born on the day of the yin month of yin. As for the specific date, different scholars have calculated different results, and it is generally believed that Mr. Pu Jiangqing's estimation of the conclusion is the most refined, that is, the fourteenth day of the first month of the first year of the Chu Wei King (339 BC).
The ancient star is Jupiter
In the program, Sabine gave Qu Yuan the citrus of Qu Yuan's hometown. According to the "Notes on the Water Classics", the name "Zigui" is related to Qu Yuan. Yuan Shansong is quoted in the "Water Classic, Jiang Shui Notes": "Qu Yuan's sister Xian, Wen Yuan's exile, also came and returned, Yu Ling was self-expansive, and the whole township hoped to see him and obey, because of his name, he returned." This means that Qu Yuan was a good sister, and when he heard that Qu Yuan had been exiled back to his hometown, he also returned to his hometown and persuaded Qu Yuan to open a point, and the people of the whole township hoped that Qu Yuan would listen to his sister's opinion, so the name of this place was "Zi Gui". This, of course, is the saying of the hereafter. However, Qu Yuan may indeed have an older sister, and the "Departure from Sorrow" mentions "The Daughter-in-Law's Chan Yuan", and Wang Yizhu says that the Daughter-in-Law is Qu Yuan's sister.
"Notes on the Water Classics (Complete Notes on The Complete Translation of Chinese Classics)"
02
What official did Qu Yuan do?
It is mentioned in the program that King Huai of Chu, because he admired Qu Yuan's talent and virtue in writing the "Ode to Orange", appointed Qu Yuan as the Third Lu Doctor and asked him to educate the children of the clan. Although the Qu family, from which Qu Yuan was born, was still very powerful at that time, the Qu Yuan clan seemed to have declined. Qu Yuan may have been very "poor" in his childhood, and he once said in the "Recitation": "The poor who forgets his body." Dongfang Shuo's "Seven Sayings" also says: "Ping was born in the country and grew up in the wilderness." It seems to mean that Qu Yuan lived in the countryside near Yingdu in his early years. Therefore, King Huai of Chu's appointment to Qu Yuan and his kindness to Qu Yuan's acquaintance probably touched Qu Yuan, so Qu Yuan's feelings for him were so deep that after king Huai of Chu died in the Qin kingdom, Qu Yuan also wrote "Summoning Souls" to summon his souls.
Qu Yuan and king Huai of Chu
So, what kind of official position is Dr. Sanlu? Wang Yizhu said: "The office of the three Lu is the three surnames of the royal family, namely Zhao, Qu, and Jing. Qu Yuan ordered his genealogy, led his virtuousness, and took the liguoshi. That is to say, The Three Lu Doctors should be an official in charge of the affairs of the royal family, on the one hand, to "order their genealogy", that is, to sort out the genealogical relationship; on the other hand, to "lead their virtuous and virtuous soldiers", that is, to educate the virtuous children of the clan as a national model. Qu Yuan said in the "Ode to Orange": "Although the age is young, it can be a teacher. It can be seen that he was indeed a "division commander". In the "Departure from sorrow", it is said: "Yu is both the nine mu of Zilan and the hundred acres of trees." It should also be about the education and cultivation of the virtuous children of the clan, so the idiom "Zilan Shuhui" is now mostly used to refer to the noble behavior of schools or teachers to cultivate talents.
The Chronicle of Qu Yuan's Biography of Jia Sheng also records that Qu Yuan was "a left disciple of King Huai of Chu". The official position of "left disciple" is rarely seen in history books, and is only mentioned in the "Biography of Chunshen Junlie". It is said that after King Chu Kaolie ascended the throne, "with the left disciple as Ling Yin, the title of Wu, and the title of Chun Shen Jun", it indicates that Chun ShenJun originally also held the position of left disciple, and later promoted to Ling Yin (the prime minister of the Chu state). Chun Shenjun was a minister who accompanied King Kao Lie when he was a hostage in the Qin kingdom, indicating that the "left disciple" should be a position very close to the monarch, possibly an advisor to the monarch and the like. Therefore, Sima Qian said that Qu Yuan "entered the country and discussed state affairs with Wang Tu", which also confirmed the identity characteristics of the left disciples.
"The Legend of Mi Yue" Chun Shen Jun Huang Xie
Some people also believe that Chun Shenjun was directly promoted from "left disciple" to "Ling Yin", indicating that the level of left disciples should be relatively high. However, after the monarch ascends the throne, it seems that it is not difficult to understand that after the monarch takes the throne, it is not necessarily difficult to promote his own cronies, so this position is not necessarily more senior. However, the relationship with the monarch must be very close, so the "Records of History" records that after Qu Yuan was slandered, King Huai was "angry and alienated", that is, he was alienated by the monarch. Some scholars have also noticed that when the Anthology notes cite the aforementioned "Biography of Chunshen Junlie", the "Left Disciple" is written as "Zuo Situ", and people can't help but think that "Zuo Disciple" and "Situ" are not related.
In short, due to insufficient information, Qu Yuan still has many unsolved mysteries, which are worth further exploring. However, for ordinary readers, it is more important to feel Qu Yuan's great spirit by reading his great works! "Departure from the Troubles", "Heavenly Question", "Nine Songs", "Nine Chapters", just like the starry sky at night, brilliant and magnificent, fascinating! The three complete editions of Chu Ci make wonderful translations of the works of Qu Yuan and other Chu Ci writers, sweeping away the obstacles to reading for us and building a bridge to a great heart.
(Co-ordinator: Lu Quan; Editor: Si Qi)