Why did Shan Xiongxin only drink Cheng Yaojin’s wine before he died?
Shan Xiongxin’s reputation is naturally astonishing, and the story of Wagang Village is well-known to every household. There has also been a saying among the people that "do not burn a furnace of incense in Wagang". There are many versions of Shan Xiongxin’s story before his death, so we might as well briefly talk about it here.
In the "Old Book of Tang" and "New Book of Tang", the description of Shan Xiongxin's death is very brief. Among them, the "Old Book of Tang" only has seven characters: "Dong Duping, killed in Luoyang" , "New Book of Tang Dynasty" uses the character "houdongduping, beheading Luozhu". Generally speaking, there is no mention of Shan Xiongxin drinking in the two Tang books in the official history, nor is there any scene involving Cheng Yaojin.
In "The Romance of the Sui and Tang Dynasties", the friendship between Qin Qiong and Shan Xiongxin is highlighted. At that time, everyone begged the King of Tang for mercy, but failed to do so. They had to go to the execution ground to see Shan Xiongxin off for the last time. At the execution ground, Qin Qiong promised Shan Xiongxin that his son would marry Shan Xiongxin's daughter and take care of Shan Xiongxin's family. At the same time, he cut a piece of meat from his thigh with a knife and gave it to Shan Xiongxin to eat.
Among the people, Qin Qiong has always appeared as a loyal person. He cut the meat from his leg with a knife and gave it to Shan Xiongxin to eat, which was the best performance. When I read "The Romance of the Sui and Tang Dynasties" in middle school, this scene was the one that impressed me the most, and even this was the only plot left.
Different from "Romance of the Sui and Tang Dynasties", the section in Peking Opera focuses on Cheng Yaojin, which is the section mentioned by the subject. At that time, Shan Xiongxin scolded Xu Shiji and Luo Cheng successively, but drank Cheng Yaojin's farewell wine.
In the Peking Opera, Shan Xiongxin scolded Xu Shiji for surrendering to the Tang Dynasty and recruited a group of brothers, while the curse on Luo Cheng was because the two had a blood feud, and as for his willingness to drink Cheng Yaojin The reason for the farewell wine is because the two have always had a deep relationship.
However, even in Peking Opera, Shan Xiongxin still missed Qin Qiong. Before he died, he asked Cheng Yaojin where Qin Shubao was, but he learned that Qin Qiong went to escort the grain and grass and failed to see him off. This makes the plot more tragic. Therefore, there have always been different accounts of Shan Xiongxin's death. The so-called theory of drinking Cheng Yaojin's farewell wine alone is just a Peking Opera plot and the result of historical romance, not the true face of history.