Talk about posthumous title —— Tracing the "praise" and "evil" of Guan Yu and posthumous title from history.

Guan Yu (a famous soldier in Shu and Han Dynasties, a Chinese martial artist in the Three Kingdoms Period at the end of Han Dynasty) was born in Jiexian County, Hedong County (now Yuncheng, Shanxi Province), and was called "Beard". Guan Yu, a great soldier in the history of China, is widely known. At present, Guandi Temple is spread all over the world, and its reputation is far-reaching. Why did such a saint, who is famous for his loyalty and righteousness, face doubts when he got posthumous title after his death? So what does his posthumous title "Miao Zhuang" really mean? Why is there such a controversy? To understand the doubts of Guan Yu and posthumous title, we should start with the funeral ceremony. Mourning method: mourning principle. That is, after the death of emperors, governors, ministers, etc. In recognition of their deeds and moral character, the court awarded them an evaluation title. Visible, can get the official posthumous title after death, is a living praise. Since it is a commendation, why is it controversial? The problem is that posthumous title was pacified according to his deeds and morality before his death, that is, after his death, posthumous title was used to summarize his life. Therefore, the controversy about posthumous title lies in whether posthumous title's summary of Guan Yu's life is accurate. Since there is controversy, it shows that some people think that the summary of Guan Yu's life is inaccurate, or even the opposite. The dispute between Guan Yu and posthumous title lies in Guan Yu and posthumous title's "Miao Zhuang". Let's look at the explanation of "Zhuang" first. The funeral ceremony system in Zhou Dynasty was "strong" and Wei Degang was strong and powerful. And the strength to defeat the enemy; Died in Yuanzhuang; Overcome the enemy's chaos; Strength makes courage stronger; Repeated expeditions are strong; Martial arts is not strong; Wu De is resolute and strong; Strong enough to be indecent. Guan Yu defeated Maicheng and died in Fancheng. He conquered the border of Wei for many times, and his strength was outstanding. In this way, the word "Zhuang" in posthumous title is more consistent and fair, and there is little controversy. After all, "Zhuang" died in Yuanye; Overcome the enemy's chaos; Strength makes courage stronger; Repeated expeditions are strong; Martial arts is not strong; Wu De is resolute and strong; "These items can be fully confirmed in Guan Yu's life. The focus of controversy falls on the word "Miao" in posthumous title. What is Miao? " "Miao"-both name and reality are wonderful; Hurt others and shield the sages; It's a pity to hide benevolence and hurt goodness. The word Miao is full of malice. What is "name and reality"? In fact, it is a misnomer, saying that Guan Yu's fame is far from his actual contribution, which is a typical "evil". Since it is evil, where does this "evil" come from? There is only one explanation, lost Jingzhou, lost Maicheng. Throughout Guan Yu's life, there are countless auras around him. His only "stain" is the "Jingzhou Rebellion", which is really too big and heavy. The source of Guan Yu's evil slander "Miao" Guan Yu lost Jingzhou, and Chen Shou criticized: "It is normal for a feather to be proud ... to be defeated by a dwarf." The comments here are very accurate. "Feather is just proud" is indeed a shortcoming of Guan Yu, which made him offend many people. Coupled with the usual "arrogance towards literati", Soochow has long been rebellious and doomed Guan Yu's failure. Guan Yu's slander mainly comes from the following two aspects: First, Guan Yu died in a crushing defeat and lost Jingzhou, which led to the loss of the opportunity for Shu to compete for the world. Later, Liu Bei settled the old scores, cleaned up the generals who did not save Guan Yu, and began to prepare for the decisive battle of Soochow. Until the battle of Yiling was defeated, Shu Han lost Zhang Fei and Liu Bei, and his national strength was greatly reduced, and there was no hope of competing for the world. So even if posthumous title is added objectively, Guan Yu will have a bad evaluation. Second, Guan Yu's failure directly led to the loss of Jingzhou Group's interests. In addition, Guan Yu was "arrogant to the literati" before his death. Therefore, when posthumous title was added, the literati in Jingzhou would not put in a good word, while the Yizhou Group and Jingzhou Group suppressed each other, and the people in Yizhou Group would not put in a good word for Guan Yu. Therefore, Guan Yu's posthumous title naturally brought the dissatisfaction of the literati, which probably included Liu Chan's dissatisfaction. After all, Liu Bei's death has a lot to do with the fall of Jingzhou. The dispute between Guan Yu and posthumous title can be said to be that "Miao Zhuang" posthumous title objectively evaluated Guan Yu's life and summarized Guan Yu's past achievements with "Zhuang"; Summarize Guan Yu's later mistakes with "Miao" But others don't think so. They think it is a commendatory term, and they think that the ancient "Miao" and "Mu" are interlinked. ? Xunzi Wang Zhi: "If you don't decide, the future is boundless." Note: "Miao reads as Mu. Father Akiko. Biography of the Book of Rites: "The preface is brilliant, not polite, and human nature is exhausted." Zheng Xuan's Note: "Miao is pronounced Mu. The Family History of the Duke of Zhou records that the King of Wu was ill, but he was not prepared, and the ministers were very afraid. Taigong and Zhao Gong are Miao Bu. Pei Qian's Xie Ji quoted: "The word' mu' in ancient books is mostly' Miao'. I think this view is wrong. Although "Miao" and "Mu" have similarities in ancient times, the meanings of these two words are quite different. If it really means praising Guan Yu, why not use "Mu" as posthumous title directly, but use a so-called interchangeable word, which is very clumsy? What's even more unacceptable is that posthumous title has adopted a generic word to avoid providing posthumous title and Queen Mu, because posthumous title's taboo is untenable and many posthumous title have not avoided it. For example, Empress Dowager Cixi in posthumous title is not shy about it, such as "Filial piety, the support of Empress Dowager Cixi, health, royal longevity, dedication to jubilation, the queen of sages", and "How to transport civil servants, soldiers, officials, philosophers, diligence, generosity, filial piety, merit and success" written by Kangxi in posthumous title. In addition, during the reign of Liu Bei, Fa was the only one who won posthumous title. Why didn't Liu Bei pursue Guan Yu's death? But it was not until the Liu Chan period that the memorial service was unified? Is it because you are too busy? I'm afraid at that time, an unknown argument about Guan Yu and posthumous title had already begun! References: The History of the Three Kingdoms, Xunzi Wang Zhi, The Book of Rites and Biographies, Historical Records and Biographies of Duke Zhou, Notes Collection.