Comments on Jing Ke’s assassination of King Qin

Different evaluations of Jing Ke's assassination of the King of Qin. Su Xun of the Northern Song Dynasty criticized Jing Ke's trip and said: "It will lead to disaster soon." Bao Biao of the Southern Song Dynasty wrote an annotation for "Warring States Policy": "Ke is insignificant." Zhu Xi believed that "Ke is as brave as a man, but his actions are indescribable." But there are more people who are sure of Jing Ke. The first one is Sima Qian. The end of "Historical Records: Biography of Assassins" says: "His intentions are relatively clear and he does not deceive his ambition. It is not arrogant to be famous for future generations." Zuo Si's "Ode to Jing Ke" praised "Although he has no moral integrity, he still has a special relationship with the world." Tao Qian said of him, "Although he is gone, his love will remain with him for thousands of years." In modern times, Gong Zizhen praised him as a "chivalrous person". Most commentators believe that although Jing Ke did not understand that it was difficult for one person to turn the tide of collapse, nor did he understand that the unification of the Qin Empire was an inevitable trend of historical development, he was not afraid of violence or sacrifice, and stood up in the troubled times of the country. The spirit and spirit of not shying away from hardships and dangers are still worthy of praise. General Liu Bocheng's poem about Ye Ting, "The tragic hero reining in his horse in the Yellow River, the general weeping in the changing waters of the Yellow River", does not contain the intention of praising Jing Ke. When Ju of the Tang Dynasty denounced the King of Qin angrily, he once said: "When Fu Zhuanzhu stabs the king's official, a comet strikes the moon; when Nie Zheng stabs the Han puppet, a white rainbow pierces the sun; when Yao Li stabs Qing Ji, a warehouse eagle strikes the palace." These three sons are all men of commoners, and they are still angry. They descend from heaven and join the four ministers." ("Warring States Policy·Wei Ce") Jing Ke was one of the four famous assassins in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. First, the assassinations of Zhuan Zhu, Nie Zheng, and Yaoli were purely based on "a scholar dies for a confidant", while Jing Ke was basically not for his own selfishness but for "national affairs." "Jing Ke Assassins the King of Qin" A brief introduction to Qiu Shaohua's historical story "Jing Ke Assassins the King of Qin" comes from "Warring States Policy·Yan Ce". Sima Qian wrote "Historical Records" and included it in "Biographies of Assassins". He also used anecdotes to add some supplements to Jing Ke's life experience, saying that he was from the Wei State, and the Wei people called him Qing Qing. Speaking of Wei Yuanjun, Wei Yuanjun is not needed; he also wrote two small things about him. Once, "I discussed swords with Gai Nie, Gai Nie looked at him angrily." Another time, "Lu Goujian and Jing Kebo fought for the road, Lu Goujian He scolded him angrily. "Both times, Jing Ke gave in and retreated. It seems that this is a wise, knowledgeable and rational person, not a motivated and competitive person. Although these additions by Sima Qian are a bit brief, they are very useful for us to understand Jing Ke as a person. From the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period to the Qin and Han Dynasties, there were some very famous assassins, all of whom were characters who were not afraid of death and did not care about life. I think it's better to simply divide them into two types. Those whose motives for assassination were basically based on the simple thought of repaying gratitude (the so-called "a scholar dies for a confidant") are counted as one category, such as the assassination of Yu Rang of Zhao Xiangzi, the assassination of Han Puppet (called "Xia Lei" in "Historical Records") ) Nie Zheng. The motivation for his assassination was basically not personal selfishness, but the so-called "justice" (for example, national affairs), which can be counted as one category. For example, Cao Mo robbed Duke Huan of Qi on the altar of alliance, and "Gong Huan was allowed to return home." "Lu invaded the territory" ("The Assassin's Biography"), Zhang Liang "used his family wealth to ask for help to assassinate the King of Qin and avenge Han" and his warriors "sniped at the Qin Shi Emperor Bolang Sha with a large iron spine, and accidentally hit the passenger car." "("Historical Records: The Liuhou Family") Regardless of success (Cao Mo) or failure (Zhang Liang), his spirit may have merit. What about Jing Ke? I think he can be classified into the category of Cao Mo and Zhang Liang. The story takes place in 227 BC. At this time, the army of Qin State marched eastward in a large scale and was invincible. The six countries of Shandong were in a precarious situation and had no plan for the future①. Faced with this serious situation, Prince Dan of Yan felt deeply out of his wits. All military, political and diplomatic means were probably unable to save the immediate situation, and he was unwilling to sit back and wait for destruction (should he just sit back and wait for destruction?), so he finally thought of assassination. He thought very naively: whether it was a calamity or stabbing the King of Qin to death, the overall situation could immediately change. In fact, this is just a last resort, just in case. Jing Ke said: "This is a major matter for the country, and I am afraid that I will not be able to handle it." In addition to the general humility and pointing out the difficulty of the task, the most important point is to regard the assassination as a "big matter for the country". It clearly illustrates Jing Ke's attitude towards the country. The ideological understanding of this plan emphasizes the fundamental purpose of the behavior and the justice and seriousness of this purpose.

② In order to gain the trust of the King of Qin and gain an opportunity to get close to the King of Qin for assassination, Jing Ke made careful preparations. First, he asked for the "Map of Dukang", and second, he asked for Fan Yuqi's head (plus Tian Guang's). He committed suicide and lost two lives before setting out. The price was high. Some of the moral concepts of the ancients are somewhat alien to us. No need to go into detail.) In order for the assassination to be successful, he had to wait for a right-hand man. Unfortunately, the impatient Prince Dan urged him to go on the road, "The sun is running out, Jing Qing has no intention!" This sentence angered Jing Ke. Generally speaking, this kind of person is most particular about keeping promises, and regards credit as more important than life. "Isn't it unintentional?" is simply equivalent to saying: Have you regretted it? As far as Jing Ke is concerned, there is no greater insult to human dignity than this! It's a pity that Jing Ke, who usually knew how to be patient and unyielding, couldn't control himself at this juncture. In a rage, he took the useless Qin Wuyang and left (Qin Wuyang made a mistake later). It was Jing Ke who could not allow others to have the slightest doubt about his character and forgot for a moment that "important matters of the country" should not be acted on impulse. He knew clearly that such a move was to "go forward but not back", but categorically said "please resign" , also Jing Ke. Human temperament is so complicated. Yi Shui farewell, it must be autumn. "When the prince and his guests knew what had happened, they all wore white crowns to send him off." White crowns are mourning clothes. It implies that the catastrophe of the country's destruction and family destruction is just around the corner. It implies that Jing Ke is gone and it is difficult to return. What a scene it is. Sad! "Gao Jianli was building, Jing Ke was singing in harmony, which was the sound of Bian Zheng." The ancients said that Bian Zheng was Shang, and its sound was sad. The sad and sad singing deeply moved the people who saw him off, "all the people shed tears". They had long tied their glimmer of hope of preserving the country and themselves to Jing Ke's dagger. Jing Ke fully understood their mood, so he went on to "make a sound for generosity" and clearly expressed his determination to die: The wind is rustling and the water is cold, and a strong man will never return once he is gone! The sound of feathers is angry. This passionate and angry song echoed in the bleak autumn wind, reverberated in the sobbing autumn water, and then like a burst of blood, spilled into the group of white clothes and crowns, causing the people present to change from "weeping and weeping" to glaring with anger. , hair on the finger crown. The spiritual power of Jing Ke, an ordinary man of flesh and blood, could be so shocking. The emotions of the person seeing him off and the person being sent off were infected by each other, like feng shui stimulating each other, and soon reached a climax, "So Jing Ke drove away and gave up." How resolute and heroic, even if the readers of thousands of years , will also be moved by it. At the Qin court, Jing Ke's performance was both regrettable and admirable. Jing Ke's swordsmanship and martial arts were really not very good. When he presented the picture, the distance between him and the King of Qin was only a short distance away. It was too late to tell, but it was too early to say, "I sent the picture, but the picture was poor and the dagger was visible. Because the left hand held the sleeve of the King of Qin, and the right hand held the dagger to poke it." ③ One person has been carefully planning for a long time; the other thing happened suddenly and was caught off guard. However, the stab missed, and the subsequent throw "missed the center pillar." At the first moment when the officials "lost their ability" and the guards did not dare to go to the palace, the assassin and the assassin were in a one-to-one battle. The situation, even if we fight with bare hands, is a fight to the death, but Jing Ke can't succeed. After a chase, Jing Ke was outnumbered and his body was wounded eight times, and his legs were cut off, but King Qin was not injured at all. I have always suspected that Jing Ke was not only poor in swordsmanship and martial arts, but also lacked what people often call "brute strength". Otherwise, how could he lose so miserably? When he was about to die, he argued: "The reason why things didn't work out was because he wanted to live in catastrophe. He must get a contract to repay the prince." However, looking at his initial movements, holding the sleeve with his left hand and inserting the knife with his right hand, it was clear that he wanted to do something. Stabbing the opponent to death has no meaning at all in "suffering disaster". Jing Ke was not afraid of death, but he was afraid of others laughing at his incompetence. The above confession is absolutely indispensable as far as Jing Ke is concerned. From our point of view, this seems to be a bit of a cover-up. Then again, Jing Ke is still a hero after all. The king of Qin set up a nine-guest ceremony to welcome the Yan envoy, with a forest of ceremonials, a spectacular scene of bells, drums and thunder, and a solemn atmosphere. Even Qin Wuyang, who had killed without blinking an eye at the age of twelve or thirteen, "changed his complexion and was frightened" and his spirit collapsed.

This kind of description is not so much to ridicule Qin Wuyang as a fake hero with a silver head and a gun, but rather to use Wuyang's abnormality to exaggerate the majesty of the Qin court that can kill the soul. It takes superhuman courage for Jing Ke to be able to talk and laugh freely as if no one else is around. He was alone and had a dagger, causing the huge Qin court to panic and become a mess. The arrogant King of Qin was so frightened that he could not even pull out the sword beside him (when he finally became the victor, he was still "dazzled for a long time" when faced with the dead assassin!) The ministers were so frightened that they lost their ability. At a loss, the doctor was so frightened that he even threw the invulnerable medicine bag as a weapon. Among the hundreds of people, Jing Ke was the only one who was neither frightened nor afraid of death. When the assassination attempt failed and death was imminent, his spirit of "laughing while leaning on a pillar" and scolding someone from a distance from a basket can definitely not be faked. In short, Jing Ke's courage and heroism are worthy of admiration for his courage and heroism when he took risks without losing his composure and faced difficulties. The author uses a compact and short language rhythm to describe a tense and thrilling scene. Qin Ting's majesty shocked Qin Wuyang, and Jing Ke's majesty shocked Qin Ting; Jing Ke's movements triggered a series of rapid and tortuous movements by the King of Qin, the ministers, and the doctors. And the continuity is like the sudden rotation of the axis of the machine, like the rush of turbulent water, it is really thrilling, and it will inevitably make future generations feel dizzy when they read it. The writing of this story is extremely concentrated. Writing about Prince Dan, writing about Qin Wuyang, writing about the white clothes beside the Yi River, and writing about the Qin monarchs and ministers in the court, they all write about Jing Ke in contrast. While writing about Jing Ke's words and actions, he also paid attention to revealing his inner world. The image is flesh-and-blood, plump and touching, and occupies a very conspicuous position in the gallery of Chinese literary figures. Throughout the ages, from Tao Yuanming ("Ode to Jing Ke"), who is known as the ancestor of reclusive poets in ancient and modern times, to the famous modern female revolutionary and Jianhu heroine Qiu Jin ("Song of the Treasure Sword"), poems chanting Jing Ke have continued for generations. Generally speaking, when later generations mention Jing Ke's incident, they not only lament his failure to achieve great achievements, but more importantly, praise his spirit and spirit of not being afraid of violence or sacrifice, and daring to stand up and do his best in the troubled times of the country and the nation. Xia Wanchun, a young anti-Qing hero in the late Ming Dynasty, wrote "Song of Yishui", "In the daytime, the vast sky falls into the Yishui River, and the sad and windy land rises in depression. Jingqing failed to enter the Qin Dynasty, and it is a pity that Lishan Mountain is purple in the evening. ... Woohoo, Jingqing "It is clear that Jing Ke's image of being upright and unethical gave Xia Wanchun great encouragement. There is no doubt that ancient people like Jing Ke did not know as much as we do about the process and laws of history, and about the truth that it is difficult for one person to turn the tide. But today, when the world is not at peace, once something happens to the country, we still need the spirit and spirit of not being afraid of rape or sacrifice. This may be the inspiration that Jing Ke’s story gives us. Note ① In 230 BC, Qin destroyed Han; in 228 BC, Qin defeated Zhao and captured the king of Zhao; in the same year (227 BC) that Jing Ke assassinated the King of Qin, the Qin army had already invaded Yishui, and the Yan State had Precarious. Note ② Any country among the Seven Heroes of the Warring States Period can take it as a matter of course to unify the world as its own duty, and can also naturally oppose the violent annexation of other countries; as far as the Six Kingdoms of Shandong are concerned, they oppose the Qin State, which is known as the "Tiger and Wolf Country". It has a certain degree of justice. Due to space limitations, no details will be discussed. Note ③ "Historical Records" Sima Zhensuoyin: "描, means stabbing his chest with a sword. Also (Xu Guang) said, one resists. The sound of resistance is bitter and the waves turn back, which means resistance. It is wrong." How to understand and evaluate Jing Ke Who? Yang Yimin's correct analysis and evaluation of Jing Ke must clarify the following issues: 1. Some people say that since Qin's unification of the world is in line with the direction of historical development, Jing Ke's action of assassinating the King of Qin actually hindered the progress of history. How should we understand this? Whether Jing Ke's actions can be regarded as hindering historical development should be analyzed concretely and objectively from a historical perspective. In the late Warring States period, the people who suffered from war were eager for reunification, and social and economic development also required the establishment of a unified and stable country. Therefore, Qin's unification of the world is in line with the direction of historical development; and Qin Shihuang, who played an important role in unifying the world, should also fully recognize his historical achievements. However, can we conclude from this that during the process of Qin's unification of the six countries, all countries and individuals that had resisted should be denied? Of course not.

Because, after all, the rulers of the Qin State were feudal landlords, and their main way to unify the world was through annexation wars, which were full of predatory and destructive nature, thus causing serious disasters to the people of the annexed countries. For example, in the famous Changping Battle between Qin and Zhao, Qin general Bai Qi killed 400,000 Zhao soldiers, and most of the dead were farmers. During the war, "the people had no livelihood, their races were separated, and they became concubines." ("Warring States Policy·Qin Policy") The defeated country had to pay tribute to the victorious country, and the people shouldered a heavier burden. . Therefore, for the annexation of Qin, the people of the six countries often wept and mourned each other, shared their worries with all their strength, and resolutely resisted. In short, the process of history is an extremely complex phenomenon. Therefore, we affirm Qin’s achievements in unifying the six countries, and at the same time, we highly appraise Qu Quyuan’s lofty patriotism. Of course, we also fully affirm Jing Ke’s just actions against the violent Qin and affirm his awe-inspiring righteousness. heroic spirit. In other words, from the perspective of historical development and social progress, Qin's achievements should be affirmed; and from the perspective of resisting the invaders and representing the interests of the oppressed people, Jing Ke's actions should be fully affirmed. 2. Some people say that Jing Ke assassinated the King of Qin just to repay the prince for his kindness. Therefore, Jing Ke is not worthy of recognition. Whether this view is correct should also be analyzed in detail. Jing Ke's willingness to risk his own life to enter the powerful Qin Dynasty and assassinate the King of Qin was undeniable. The factor of repaying Prince Dan for his kindness was undeniable. Until his death, he still thought about it: "I must get a contract to repay the prince." However, can he repay the prince with his kindness? Is the significance of Jing Ke’s action of assassinating the King of Qin limited to this? Of course not. When Prince Dan first met Jing Ke, he hoped that Jing Ke would do something to save the Yan Kingdom from destruction and resist the annexation of the violent Qin Dynasty. Jing Ke's answer at that time was: "This country's major affairs, I am afraid that I am not enough to serve as an envoy." This shows that Jing Ke mainly wanted to serve the Yan State. Later, when Jing Ke encouraged Fan Yuqi to commit suicide and offer his head, he said that it could relieve Yan's troubles, and avenging the general also showed that Jing Ke mainly considered state affairs. Therefore, although Jing Ke's action of assassinating the King of Qin had the element of repaying Prince Dan for his kindness, it was mainly to resist the violent Qin and save the Yan State and even the six kingdoms from peril. It can also be said that Jing Ke's repayment to the prince was based on resisting the violent Qin and saving the weak Yan State. In other words, repaying the prince was achieved by resisting the violent Qin and saving the Yan State. Such actions have their own justice, so the character Jing Ke has been admired and praised by people for thousands of years. Therefore, it is undesirable and unobjective to analyze the problem by separating Jing Ke's thought of repaying the prince and his desire to resist the violent Qin and save the Yan State, so as to deny Jing Ke as a person. 3. Some people think that it was too cruel for Jing Ke to persuade Fan Yuqi to commit suicide. So is it so? In order for Jing Ke to go to Qin to assassinate the King of Qin, he had to get close to the King of Qin first, so tokens became the key. Therefore, motivating Fan Yuqi to commit suicide and sacrifice his head was actually a last resort plan adopted to ensure the success of the assassination of the King of Qin. Moreover, for Fan, if the Yan Kingdom dies, not only will he be unable to avenge his "parents and clan", he will also have nowhere to live. Therefore, there is no way out for living an ignoble existence, and sacrificing one's life can be a righteous act. Obviously, this is not an absolutely bad idea for General Fan. Furthermore, there is nothing selfish about Jing Ke's actions - "The general's revenge will be avenged, and the shame of Yan's mausoleum will be eliminated." What's more, he himself will "carry a dagger into the unexpected Qin Dynasty." Therefore, Jing Ke's actions are understandable, and from this we can see Jing Ke's foresight and shrewdness. In short, Jing Ke is a character who is not only righteous and considerate of death, but also has foresight, wit and calmness, and can be called a hero!