Chapter 133 Qu Yuan
In his Li Sao, Qu Yuan traced back to the deeds of Emperor Ku, praised the great achievements of Qi Huan, and described the virtuous policies of Shang Tang and Zhou Wu in order to criticize the current politics. He explained the breadth and depth of moral content, and the inevitable cause and effect of governance, chaos, prosperity and decline, all of which were explained in great detail.

Its language is simple and refined, but its content is profound and subtle, its emotions are noble and its conduct is upright. Although its sentences describe small things, its meaning is extremely grand and profound. Although the examples it cites are commonplace, the meaning they convey is extremely far-reaching.

His sentiments were noble and pure, so he liked to use fragrant herbs as metaphors. His conduct was upright, so he never relaxed his standards for himself until his death.

Being in the mud and dirty water but being able to wash clean is like a cicada being able to free itself from the mud and filth, floating outside the dust, not being tainted by the worldly turbidity, pure and noble, emerging from the mud without being stained.

To infer his noble sentiments, it is appropriate to compete with the sun and the moon for glory.

After Qu Yuan was demoted, Qin wanted to send troops to attack Qi, but Qi and Chu had a vertical alliance. King Huiwen of Qin was very worried about this, so he sent Zhang Yi to pretend to leave Qin and come to Chu with rich gifts to express his submission, saying: "Qin hates Qi very much, but Qi and Chu have a vertical alliance. If Chu can break off diplomatic relations with Qi, then Qin is willing to offer 600 li of land in Shang and Yu."

King Huai of Chu was greedy for land and believed Zhang Yi, so he severed relations with Qi and sent envoys to Qin to accept the land.

Zhang Yi deceived the State of Chu and said to the envoy: "The agreement between the King of Chu and I was six li. I have never heard of six hundred li."

The envoy of Chu State went there very angrily and told King Huai about it when he returned to Chu State.

King Huai of Chu was furious and launched a large-scale attack on the State of Qin.

Qin also sent troops to meet the enemy, and defeated the Chu army in the Danshui and Xishui areas, killing 80,000 people and capturing the Chu general Qu Yun. Then they captured the area around Hanzhong in Chu. So King Huai of Chu mobilized the army of the whole country, marched deep into the country, attacked Qin, and fought a great battle in Lantian.

When Wei learned of this, it sent troops to attack Chu and reached Dengdi. The Chu soldiers were very scared and had to withdraw from Qin. Qi hated King Huai for breaking the alliance and refused to send troops to help Chu. Chu was in a very difficult situation.

The next year, Qin proposed to cede Hanzhong and make peace with Chu, but King Huai of Chu said, "I don't want any land, I'll be content with Zhang Yi."

When Zhang Yi heard this, he said, "I, Zhang Yi, will buy the land of Hanzhong. Please allow me to go to Chu."

After Zhang Yi arrived in Chu, he presented generous gifts to Jin Shang, the minister in power in Chu, and used sweet words to deceive King Huai's favorite concubine Zheng Xiu. King Huai actually believed Zheng Xiu's words and let Zhang Yi run away again.

At this time, Qu Yuan had been alienated by him and no longer held an important official position. He had just been sent as an envoy to Qi State. After returning, he advised King Huai: "Why don't you kill Zhang Yi?"

King Huai felt very regretful and sent people to chase after him, but it was too late.
After this, the various vassal states united to attack the State of Chu, defeated the Chu army, and killed the Chu general Tang Mei. 】

Tang Dynasty, Zhenguan

Li Shimin sighed: "Qu Yuan was born at the wrong time! If he were in the Tang Dynasty, he would not have ended up like that."

"Mr. Qu's patriotism is admirable! I think this is why people still admire him so much a thousand years later!" said Changsun Wuji.

At that time, King Zhao of Qin and the State of Chu were married and wanted to meet King Huai of Chu. King Huai of Chu wanted to go, but Qu Yuan advised him, "Qin is a greedy and violent country like a tiger or a wolf. It cannot be trusted. It is better not to go."

But King Huai's youngest son Zi Lan persuaded him to go, saying, "Why should we reject the good intentions of the King of Qin?"

King Huai finally went, but as soon as he entered Wuguan, the Qin army ambushed him and detained him, trying to force him to cede land.

King Huai was furious and refused to agree. He fled to Zhao, but Zhao refused to accept him. He then went to Qin, where he died. His body was transported back to Chu for burial.

King Huai's eldest son, King Qingxiang, succeeded to the throne and appointed his younger brother Zilan as prime minister. Zilan persuaded King Huai to go to Qin and eventually died in Qin. The people of Chu blamed Zilan for this.

Qu Yuan also hated Zi Lan's actions. Although he was exiled, he still missed Chu and King Huai, and always wanted to return to the court. He always hoped that the king would suddenly wake up and change the bad customs. He always remembered his king, wanted to revive the country, and reverse the situation, so he expressed this feeling many times in one work.

However, there was nothing he could do, so it was impossible for him to return to the court. This also shows that King Huai did not wake up in the end.

As a monarch, no matter he is smart or stupid, talented or untalented, he hopes to find loyal ministers and wise men to assist him in governing the country. However, the destruction of a country and a family keeps happening, while a wise monarch and a peaceful country have not been seen for many generations. The fundamental reason is that his so-called loyal ministers are not loyal, and his so-called wise men are not wise.

King Huai of Chu was deceived by Zheng Xiu at home and Zhang Yi outside because he did not know the duties of loyal ministers. He alienated Qu Yuan and trusted Shangguan Dafu and Ling Yin Zilan. As a result, his army was defeated, his territory was invaded, and he lost six counties. He was exiled to a foreign land and died in Qin, being laughed at by the world. This is the disaster caused by not knowing people.

The Book of Changes says: "It is sad that a well has been dredged clean but no one comes to drink the water. If the king is wise, everyone can be happy."

But King Huai is so ignorant, how can he deserve happiness?
When Ling Yin Zi Lan heard the above, he was furious and finally asked Shangguan Dafu to speak ill of Qu Yuan to King Qing Xiang. King Qing Xiang was so angry that he exiled Qu Yuan again.

[Jingchu dominated the world from the Spring and Autumn Period to the Warring States Period, but its subsequent development is regrettable.]
[The Qin State is on the verge of a doom and gloom, and this trend cannot be reversed!]
[Qu Zi was born at the wrong time!]

[Qu Yuan came to the riverside, his hair disheveled, and walked on the wild grass, chanting in grief and anger. His face was haggard and his body was thin.

A fisherman saw him and asked, "Aren't you the doctor of Sanlu? Why did you come here?"

Qu Yuan said: "Everyone in the society is filthy but I am the only one who is clean. Everyone is drunk but I am the only one who is sober. That is why I was exiled."

The fisherman said: "A person who has reached the highest level of moral cultivation does not have a fixed view of things, but can change with the secular trend. The whole society is filthy, why don't you go with the flow? Everyone is drunk, why don't you eat some leftovers? Why should you maintain a jade-like character and end up being exiled?"

Qu Yuan replied: "I have heard that those who have just washed their clothes must shake their hats and those who have just bathed must shake their clothes. How can a person with a clean body accept the dirty things? He would rather go to the river and be buried in the belly of the fish. How can a person with a pure white body accept the warm insects of the world?"

Although my body has been destroyed, my heart remains unchanged. How can my heart be fulfilled?

Qu Yuan was never afraid of death, and his original intention remained unchanged from beginning to end.

In 278 BC, the Qin army conquered the capital of Chu. Qu Yuan was heartbroken to see his motherland being invaded, but he could not bear to abandon his motherland. On May , the Dragon Boat Festival, he wrote his last work "Huai Sha" with pen and paper, then threw himself into the Miluo River with a stone and died, composing a magnificent patriotic movement with his life.

[The whole world is turbid but I am the only one who is clear, everyone is drunk but I am the only one who is sober, worthy of being Master Qu!]

[This cup is for Qu Yuan!]

Speaking of Qu Yuan, we have to talk about the story of the Dragon Boat Festival.
More than seven hundred years later, Wu Jun, a man from the Liang Dynasty in the Southern Dynasties, wrote a book called "Continued Records of the Strange Stories of Qi".

The book tells the story of a man who met Qu Yuan on the street during the Jianwu period of the Eastern Han Dynasty under the rule of Emperor Guangwu of Han, Liu Xiu.

Qu Yuan said that you stored rice in bamboo tubes to sacrifice to me, and I liked it very much, but it was all eaten by the dragons in the river. Next time, remember to wrap them in leaves and tie them with colorful ribbons, so that the dragons will not dare to steal them.

From then on, commemorating Qu Yuan on May 5th every year became a custom.

Duan is the beginning of the month, so this custom is usually called "Midsummer Dragon Boat Festival".

During the Tang Dynasty, Emperor Xuanzong's birthday was August 5th, so in order to avoid taboos, the Dragon Boat Festival was changed to Dragon Boat Festival.

May 5th is regarded as the Dragon Boat Festival. In the Tang Dynasty, the Dragon Boat Festival officially became an officially recognized festival.

In fact, Qu Yuan himself also celebrated the Dragon Boat Festival, and some of the customs of the Dragon Boat Festival already existed before Qu Yuan's death.

For example, zongzi was originally made to imitate the shape of ox horns and used for sacrificial offerings, and dragon boat racing is used to prevent diseases and epidemics at the turn of spring and summer and to worship totems.

After the An-Shi Rebellion, people looked at the scene on the sky and cried bitterly.

"That's the Tang Dynasty in my mind!"

"Is that our Tang Dynasty?" [As mentioned before, Qu Yuan was a poet. It was from him that China had writers who were famous for their literature.

He was the first true writer in our country, the founder of romantic literature, and the first patriotic poet in our country.

The "Chu Ci" style he created is unique in the history of literature, and is known as the "Feng Sao" style together with the "Book of Songs", which has had a positive influence on the poetry creation of later generations.

Perhaps the poem of his that we are most familiar with is "Li Sao", which we are required to recite in our textbooks.

But this one poem alone is on the list of the most difficult texts to memorize in high school. Although we can understand its wording and structure, it is really difficult to recite and write the entire text. The next most difficult poem to memorize is Zhuangzi's "Xiao Yao You".

But in addition to "Li Sao", his works also include "Heavenly Questions", eleven "Nine Songs", and one each of "Far Travel", "Buku" and "Fisherman".

Fortunately, we don’t have to memorize these. 】

Spring and Autumn Period
Zhuang Zhou was very happy to hear that his poem "Xiao Yao You" was passed down to later generations and that people were learning to recite it.

However, when I heard that it was listed as the most difficult to memorize along with "Li Sao", I found it a bit difficult to understand.

“Is “Xiao Yao You” difficult to memorize?”

Tang Dynasty, Zhenguan

"Li Sao is indeed a rare masterpiece!" Li Shimin said, "But what is that high school?"

"This high school should be a private school or something like that," Wei Zheng said.

Li Shimin also thought this was possible: "I really want to know what the schools in the future will look like."

[Later, the immortal poet Li Bai wrote in "Song on the River": "Qu Yuan's poems and fu are as bright as the sun and the moon, while the palaces and pavilions of the King of Chu are empty hills and mountains."

Su Shi of the Song Dynasty also said: "The only person whose writing I aspire to admire throughout my life but cannot even reach one tenth of his level is Qu Yuan."

The teacher even said: "Qu Yuan's name is even more sacred to us. He is not only a talented singer in ancient times, but also a great patriot, selfless, fearless, brave and noble. His image remains in the minds of every Chinese. Whether at home or abroad, Qu Yuan is an immortal image. We are the witnesses of his longevity."

Over the years, Qu Yuan has become a spiritual symbol.

In 2020, our Tianwen-1 successfully landed on Mars. The new name is derived from Qu Yuan’s long poem "Heavenly Questions".

It implies that the journey to explore scientific truth is long and the pursuit of technological innovation is endless.

Nowadays we eat rice dumplings during the Dragon Boat Festival, recite "Li Sao" and visit Qu Yuan's Temple.

If the Master knew this in the afterlife, he would surely be very pleased.

His dream has now come true.

His spirit will always inspire the world. 】

A rocket appears in the sky and rises into the sky.

Men and women eating rice dumplings were all smiles, the dragon boat race on the river was lively and the crowd of onlookers was dense.

Students in the bright classroom recited: "I sigh deeply and wipe away my tears, mourning the hardships of people's lives."

In the Qu Yuan Temple, the statue of Qu Yuan stands tall, and tourists walking in groups stop to gaze at it.

Such a scene shocked the ancient people.

“Is that the afterlife?”

"They must be doing well, look how happy those kids are smiling!"

"What the hell is that thing? It actually flew into the sky!"

"There are so many rice dumplings! The dragon boats are rowing really fast, and the riverside is full of people. It's really lively!"

“When will we be able to live like that?”

"..."

Spring and Autumn Period
Confucius looked at the lively scenes of later generations and the bright schools, and suddenly laughed.

"That's the harmonious society!"

Tang Dynasty, Xuanzong Period

Du Fu was very excited when he heard Li Bai's name: "Poet Immortal, Taibai, you are the Poet Immortal. I knew you would be remembered in history!"

"Compared to the title of Immortal Poet, I am more interested in things from later generations. What is that thing called 'Tianwen-1' that flew into the sky used for?" Li Bai asked curiously.

Du Fu said: "The name Tianwen should mean exploring the sky."

Song Dynasty, Renzong Period

Su Zhe patted Su Shi next to him and said: "Brother, your name seems to be written on the sky curtain."

"I heard you. I'm not as good as Qu Yuan!" Su Shi said, "But the rice dumplings look delicious. How about we try some?"

"Zongzi, but the Dragon Boat Festival has long passed. Where can we buy Zongzi?" Su Che asked.

Su Shi thought for a moment and said, "Since I can't buy them, I can make them myself. Zongzi is very simple!"

"We are here to take the exam, not to eat, drink and have fun."

Su Shi smiled and said, "By the way, it doesn't affect anything."

Ancient people from all dynasties were envious when they saw the future for the first time.

special period
"Look comrades, we succeeded! We succeeded! For our descendants to live a life like Tianmu in the future, we must fight to the last drop of blood! Long live China!!!"

[This episode ends here, see you next time! ]

(End of this chapter)