About pseudo elbow

"Book of Jin? Biography of Zhang Shi" records that an officer received a seal with the text "Emperor's Seal" and dedicated it to Zhang Shi. At this time, Zhang Shi had taken over his father's position as the governor of Liangzhou, the captain of the Qiang school, and the Duke of Xiping. He became the second person in power of the former Liang regime (one of the Sixteen Kingdoms) that separated the northwest. So the officials came forward to express their gratitude, and it is estimated that there will be some people who want to persuade him to move forward. Zhang Shi was very angry and said: "Gu Chang was very angry at Yuan Benchu's plan, why did you suddenly say this!" So he handed the seal to the court. Zhang Gui, Zhang Gui's father, was appointed by the imperial court to guard Liangzhou. Over the past ten years, he has made great achievements and won the hearts of the people. However, Zhang Xi still kept his father's aspirations in mind and only wanted to maintain peace in troubled times. He did not dare to proclaim himself king or emperor. He thought about it, and often resented Yuan Shao (characterized by Benchu) for making troubles, so he wanted to hand over the seal.

What is Yuan Shao’s elbow? This involves the allusion of "pseudo-elbow". After consulting the information, it usually refers to "Yuan Shao's move to seal Cao Cao", and there is no more detailed explanation. Without careful study, it is difficult to understand the reason.

According to "Three Kingdoms? Book of Wei? Records of Emperor Wu": "Shao tasted another jade seal and raised it to his elbow while Taizu was sitting. Taizu laughed and became disgusted." This happened. In the first year of Chuping (AD 190). In the first month of this year, ten princes raised troops to attack Dong Zhuo at the same time, and elected Yuan Shao, the governor of Bohai at the time, as the leader of the alliance. Cao Cao has also raised a rebel army, but unfortunately there are not many soldiers, so he can only accompany the allies. Dong Zhuo moved the capital to Chang'an because he was afraid of the Allied forces, but the Allied forces were stranded midway, unwilling to make progress, and even killed each other internally. Yuan Shao once wanted to establish Youzhou Mu Liu Yu as emperor with Jizhou Mu Han Fu, but Cao Cao sternly refused. In this context of world crisis, at a certain cocktail party, Yuan Shao "raised the jade seal to his elbow" in front of Cao Cao. Cao Cao smiled on the outside but was disgusted on the inside.

The object being raised is a jade seal, and the person holding the seal is Yuan Shao. Why is Cao Cao disgusted with this? There is no more description in "Three Kingdoms", so I think it can be explained from the word "simultaneous elbow" in "Book of Jin". Zhang Shi's word "imitation elbow" shows that this word was already commonly used at that time, and Yuan Shao's move was already known to everyone in the world. After all, it was only more than a hundred years ago.

Elbow is easy to understand. It is the name of the upper limb joint. It generally refers to the bendable part where the upper and lower arms meet, that is, the elbow. "Shuowen" refers to "arm joint", and some also say "elbow or wrist". Not going into this. The key is how to interpret the word "simultaneity". In modern Chinese, the word "ai" generally has three meanings: 1. drafting, designing; 2. planning; 3. imitation. In fact, these three meanings are relatively close and come from the same original meaning. In "Shuowen", there is "Piu, Du Ye", and Du means to speculate and measure. This is the original meaning of Xiu, and modern Chinese explanations are derived from it. So "preparing the elbow" is actually "measuring the elbow", which is similar to "tailoring the clothes", but this time it is "measuring the elbow and trying to print". When the ancients wore seal ribbons, they had to hang the seal bag on their elbows to see if they fit properly. Since you have to use your elbow to try on the jade seal, of course you have to "raise it to your elbow."

To understand the "raise to the elbow" movement, you must also understand the strict etiquette system in ancient times. Wearing something that exceeds your own identity is "transgressing the etiquette system." In ancient times, jade seals were undoubtedly very precious things. Although the jade seal obtained by Yuan Shao was not necessarily the jade seal of the emperor at that time, it should be related to the royal family. Ordinary officials can only wear gold, silver, and bronze seals according to their rank. Jade seals are by no means something that ministers can wear casually. At the cocktail party, Yuan Shao proudly "made an elbow" in front of everyone. In Cao Cao's eyes, it was equivalent to "trying on the dragon robe" or "trying to sit on the dragon chair" as a frivolous and arrogant act of disobedience. Cao Cao probably saw that Yuan Shao had a disobedient heart.

Some people say that Yuan Shao may have raised his seal to Cao Cao's elbow in order to tease him. This is difficult to understand. Later generations often wrote "raise to the elbow" as "raise to the elbow" without the word "qi", indicating that the matter of raising the seal has nothing to do with others. Yuan Shao was trying to amuse himself by testing seals. He measured his own elbow and could not measure someone else's. Therefore, "lifting to his elbow" actually meant "lifting to his own elbow". This was his real purpose. The measurement result must be "just right", and then the flatterer can shout "like an emperor". Just imagine, if it turns out that Cao Cao is "just right", what's the point?

In Cao Cao's eyes, the scene of the trial printing was like a group of ugly pictures of "monkeys wearing a crown". At this time, Cao Cao was the "capable minister in governing the world". He turned the tide for the Eastern Han Dynasty and defeated traitors. He claimed to be a loyal minister of the Eastern Han Dynasty. How could he not despise Yuan Shao for his "imitation elbow"?

Yuan Shaozhi was a man of great talent and talent, and one person created an allusion, which is still laughed at by future generations. Later generations used "imitation elbow" to refer to the act of coveting.

(2018.10.29 Changsha)