How many famous figures in history are legends to this day. When it comes to certain people in a certain dynasty, everyone can more or less talk about it.
Understanding history is inseparable from books and literature as reference materials, and when it comes to history books, "Historical Records" is definitely a huge work, and Sima Qian's contributions have been praised for thousands of years.
It's just a pity that Sima Qian, such a talented person, ended up being a eunuch, which attracted the regret of many literati and writers.
Maybe many people don't know that historical fact, why did Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty castrate Sima Qian? Look at how he writes Li Ling in his historical records: If you change it, you will also be castrated!
1. Greedy for merit, Li Ling made a big mistake
Speaking of Sima Qian's experience, it is inevitably inseparable from an important person - Li Ling.
Li Ling was a famous general in the Western Han Dynasty, he was the grandson of Li Guang, a famous general in the Western Han Dynasty, so he was born in a family of famous generals. Li Ling was known for his bravery and good at war, and participated in many military campaigns against the Xiongnu.
You must know that there are many famous generals in the Western Han Dynasty, among which Huo Qubing showed extraordinary military talent at a young age, and at the age of 17, he went out with Wei Qing to attack the Huns, and made great achievements.
Unfortunately, Huo Qubing died young, only living to be 24 years old. In order to reproduce the legend of Huo Quai, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty set his sights on Li Ling, a famous general, and it can be said that he poured a lot of effort into it and gave him a very high trust.
Li Ling led 800 cavalry for the first time, and the scenery was unrivaled for a while, and everyone envied it, after all, the last one who had this honor was the "Champion Hou" Huo Quai, which was enough to see the preference of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty.
It's a pity that the 800 cavalry went deep into the Xiongnu for several miles, but they pounced in vain, and they didn't meet the Xiongnu at all, so they had to return in vain. However, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, Longyan Dayue, thought that Li Ling had courage and sharpness, and had the demeanor of a general, and even directly promoted Li Ling to the rank of cavalry captain, commanding 5,000 cavalry.
The monarch's high expectations made Li Ling eager to make meritorious service, and it was this kind of greedy and reckless thinking that buried his and Sima Qian's lives.
In 99 BC, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty ordered Li Ling to lead 5,000 cavalry to escort grain and grass to assist Li Guang's 30,000 cavalry to attack King Youxian.
Halfway through the march, Li Ling was unwilling to only do logistics work, and left the team without authorization, trying to contain the Xiongnu court with 5,000 soldiers and horses.
This behavior was not among the arrangements made in advance, and of course it was strongly opposed by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, but Li Ling swore that he had the ability to win more with less, and in the end Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty could only reluctantly agree and arrange someone to respond.
However, when Li Ling led 5,000 infantry deep into the territory of the Xiongnu, he encountered tens of thousands of Xiongnu cavalry. Although Li Ling's troops fought valiantly, they were outnumbered and eventually ran out of food.
Under such circumstances, Li Ling decided to lead his subordinates to surrender to the Xiongnu, an act that caused great controversy at the time.
After the news of Li Ling's surrender reached Chang'an, Emperor Wu of Han was initially suspicious of him and hoped that he would be able to flee back to the Han Dynasty, but as time went on, Li Ling did not appear, and Emperor Wu of Han was deeply angry.
Above the court, Qianfu pointed out that the Li Ling clan must be severely punished, and there is even a danger of exterminating the nine clans.
In particular, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty believed that Li Ling was a sinner who betrayed the country, and ordered the family of Li Ling's father, Li Guangli, to be seated together, and at the same time punished Li Ling's family.
Second, praising Li Ling, Sima Qian was blunt
Just when the court unanimously believed that Li Ling was a national sinner and should be sentenced to death, Sima Qian stood up and spoke against the tone and defended Li Ling in the "Historical Records".
Sima Qian's description of Li Ling in the Records of the Historian is mainly concentrated in the Biography of General Li, which records in detail Li Ling's life and deeds and his experiences in the conquest of the Xiongnu.
Sima Qian's portrayal of Li Ling was full of sympathy and respect, especially on the surrender of Li Ling to the Xiongnu, Sima Qian's position clearly expressed his defense of Li Ling.
Sima Qian first praised Li Ling's courage and fighting spirit. He described that Li Ling led 5,000 infantry to fight deep into the hinterland of the Xiongnu, and the 5,000 pairs of the main force had little chance of winning, but although he knew that he was outnumbered, Li Ling chose to fight against the odds, and he was still brave and fearless, fighting continuously, showing extraordinary military talent and heroism.
Although Li Ling's entire army was annihilated, the officers and men of the whole army devoted themselves to serving the country, killing more than 10,000 Huns, and a few sacrifices in exchange for greater victories, and they should all be rewarded.
In fact, there are objections in history to Sima Qian's defense statement, and some people believe that the claim that 5,000 people killed and injured more than 10,000 people is very watery and may have been fabricated by Sima Qian.
After all, according to common sense, there is a high probability that the number of deaths of the annihilated side is more than that of the victorious side, but it is impossible to study how exactly.
He believes that when Li Ling was besieged by the heavy Xiongnu troops, when the food was exhausted and the reinforcements did not arrive, Li Ling's surrender was also out of helplessness, not a betrayal in the true sense.
It is emphasized that Li Ling's surrender was a decision made to save the lives of soldiers due to the disparity in troops, isolation, and siege.
In fact, it is a wise choice to preserve oneself in times of crisis, with a view to one day returning to Dahan and continuing to serve the motherland.
Contrary to Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty's thoughts, Sima Qian also mentioned that Li Ling was loyal and could be learned from heaven and earth.
After his surrender, Li Ling wrote to Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty expressing his loyalty to the Han Dynasty and his willingness to make meritorious service to atone for his sins. This reflects Li Ling's mixed emotions and his loyalty to the Han Dynasty.
On top of that, Sima Qian also pointed out that Li Ling's surrender caused great controversy and misunderstanding at the time, and many people considered him a real traitor.
Sima Qian justified Li Ling's name through the "Records of the Historians", believing that his surrender was out of helplessness and should be understood and tolerated.
Through the above description, we can see that Sima Qian's evaluation of Li Ling is full of sympathy and understanding, and he tries to restore the historical truth, correct the misunderstanding of Li Ling, and present a comprehensive and three-dimensional image of Li Ling.
It's a pity that his outspokenness not only did not change Li Ling's ending, but completely angered Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty and was sentenced to an extremely insulting palace punishment.
3. For many reasons, Sima Qian angered Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty
Just when the crowd was angry, Sima Qian defended Li Ling in the "Historical Records", arguing that his surrender was out of helplessness and not a real betrayal.
This sympathy and support for Li Ling was seen as a challenge to Emperor Wu of Han's authority, especially since it could be interpreted as a question of the correctness of Emperor Wu's decisions.
Questioning the Son of Heaven was a sin of "great disrespect" in the Han Dynasty, no wonder Liu Che was so angry.
Sima Qian's account of some historical events in the Records of the Historian may have touched on the interests or personal privacy of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty.
For example, there are also some criticisms of the decisions made by Emperor Wu of Han in his later years, which may be seen as disrespectful to the emperor or unsupportive of the imperial court's policies.
Sima Qian also offended some powerful people because of his outspoken and outspoken personality, which also exacerbated the contradictions between him and Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty to a certain extent.
In general, the main reason why Sima Qian angered Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was that in the process of compiling the Records of the Historians, his records and evaluations of some historical events and individuals touched on the sensitive points of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, which not only challenged his authority, but also may affect his personal interests.
Sima Qian was seen as disloyal to the imperial court for various reasons, and in the later years of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, when Sima Qian angered Emperor Wu of Han by defending Li Ling, he was sentenced to palace punishment, which was an extremely cruel punishment for prisoners in ancient China.
But Sima Qian, who suffered such humiliation, was greatly devastated, both physically and mentally. However, he did not give up on his ideals and career because of this.
After suffering the palace punishment, Sima Qian strengthened his determination to complete the "Historical Records".
He turned his personal grief into a passion for historical research, and finally completed this great work "Historical Records", which is known as "the swan song of historians, the rhyme of separation".
The 130 Historical Records records the history of 3,000 years from the time of the Yellow Emperor to the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, and is the first general history of ancient China and one of the greatest historical documents in Chinese history.
Sima Qian's persistence and perseverance not only earned him dignity for himself, but also left a valuable cultural heritage for future generations.
Although Sima Qian's life ended in tragedy, his contribution to history and the circulation of the monumental work "Records of the Historian" have made his name immortalized in the annals of history and a great figure in the history of Chinese culture.
As for Li Ling, after he surrendered, he was made king by the Xiongnu and married the Xiongnu princess. Despite gaining a high status in the Xiongnu, Li Ling still missed his homeland and tried to escape back to the Han Dynasty many times, but without success.
As for the final outcome of Li Ling, there are different accounts in history. One theory is that Li Ling eventually died of illness in the Xiongnu; Another theory is that he returned to the Han Dynasty in his later years, but this claim is not supported by solid historical evidence.
The story of Li Ling is also a history full of tragedy. He single-handedly fought against the mighty Xiongnu army, showing extraordinary courage and wisdom, but his eventual surrender and subsequent circumstances condemned him of treason, which became a controversial topic in history.
Li Ling's ending also reflects ancient Chinese society's extreme views of loyalty and betrayal, as well as the complex relationship between personal fate and national interests.
epilogue
Sima Qian's life was short and brilliant, although the ending was sympathized and regretted by countless people, but if it was brought into the perspective of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, he felt that such a rebellious and openly contrarian courtier, it was already merciful not to kill and vent his anger.
The decision of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty led to the tragic fate of Sima Qian, but Sima Qian did not give up his ideals and career, but spent his life to complete the great historical work "Historical Records", leaving a valuable cultural heritage for China and the world, which is worthy of admiration by future generations.
Resources
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