The female knight-errant in "Tangren Novel", a history of changes in knight-errants

In 2015, the film "The Assassin" directed by Hou Hsiao-hsien was released. Shu Qi created the image of a lonely, cold, ruthless and cruel female knight in the movie. Carrying revenge, mission, hidden pain and memories, she became a killer who worked for others.

However, beneath her cold-blooded appearance is a heart full of yearning for freedom and longing for life. This film vividly shows the history of a woman's spiritual growth.

The word "female knight" often brings many associations to people. Because in the traditional sense, women are weak and docile, but the knight shows the stronger side of women under the sweet appearance. She is free and unrestrained, and like all men, she makes choices. Life and death, fighting in the world, so stories about female knights are often memorable.

In fact, the prototype of Nie Yinniang in the film comes from a story in the legend of the Tang Dynasty. In the Tang Dynasty, when knight-errants were popular, legends about female knight-errants were widely circulated in society. There were also many literati and poets who wrote many legendary and idiosyncratic stories about female knight-errants.

In Chinese history, the Tang Dynasty novels are a symbol of the peak of ancient Chinese short stories, and the stories of female knights among them are an important part of their novel creation. For this purpose, the well-known scholar Wang Pijiang reorganized and proofread the legendary novels of the Tang Dynasty that have been preserved in society, and selected the best ones for inclusion in the book "Novel of the Tang Dynasty".

Today we will talk about the anecdotes about female knights in the legends of the Tang Dynasty.

1. The past and present lives of female knight-errants

The earliest records of female knight-errants appeared in the Miscellaneous History of the Eastern Han Dynasty. For example, the Yue girl in "The Yue Girl Tries the Sword" in Fan Ye's "Wu Yue Chun Qiu" of the Eastern Han Dynasty

"The King of Yue asked Fan Li about the art of hand combat. Fan Li replied: 'I heard that Yue has virgins, and the people of the country call them. I wish the king would ask me how to fight by hand.'

So the king asked for the girl. Through her own force, the Yue girl exerted her great potential in the war between the Yue Kingdom and the Wu Kingdom.

Secondly, during the Eastern Jin Dynasty, Qian Bao's novel "Sou Shen Ji" described a girl named Li Ji who eradicated evil snakes and rescued virgins, thus becoming a legend.

However, before the Tang Dynasty, descriptions of knights in history were often dominated by men. Even when women were mentioned, the descriptions only touched on them. In the true sense, descriptions of female knights were In the Tang Dynasty. They have different images, flamboyant personalities, special skills, and revenge. They are unique in the world of heroic novels and have great artistic appeal.

For example, the Hong Fu girl in "The Legend of the Bearded Guest", the forbearing and restrained Yin Niang in "The Legend of Yin Niang", and the tough, righteous and determined Xie Xiao'e in "The Legend of Xie Xiao'e" who avenges her father and husband etc.

The reason why novels about female knights were quite popular in the Tang Dynasty has something to do with the social environment at that time.

On the one hand, in the middle and late Tang Dynasty, the society was in turmoil and the style of chivalry was prevalent.

"Old Book of Tang" Volume 2 "The Benji of Taizong" records: "At that time, the Sui Dynasty had come to an end, and Taizong was latent in his righteous deeds. Every time he broke off his subordinates, promoted wealth and raised guests, and the group of thieves and heroes, they were all willing to die. Strength. "

At the beginning of the founding of the Tang Dynasty, the "martial arts system" was established and the "mansion army system" was implemented to encourage officials and officials to practice martial arts to strengthen their bodies and protect their families and the country. Martial arts can be said to be a very characteristic trend form during the Tang Dynasty. There were many heroes in the imperial court at that time, such as Qin Qiong, Yuchi Jingde and others who were knight-errants from the bottom of society. In such an environment, it is reasonable for many women with advanced ideas to be infected and influenced by it.

On the other hand, in the middle and late Tang Dynasty, the vassal towns fought openly and secretly with each other, and hired a large number of knights and heroes to fight for power. This special social factor has also become a source of material for novel creation.

In addition, the Tang emperors were descendants of Xianbei, an ethnic minority in the north. Zhu Xi once said, "The origins of the Tang Dynasty originated from Yi and Di, so it is not unusual for women to be disrespectful." Yi and Di refer to the ethnic minorities in the north.

In the culture of the northern nomads, women can ride horses and shoot arrows, marry freely, and are subject to fewer social restrictions.

Volume 14 of "History of the North" "Biography of the Concubine" records: "The princess raised her horn bow and shot the flying owl, and it fell in response to the string; the concubine used her long bow to shoot the flying crow diagonally, and she also hit the target with one shot. . Shenwu said happily: "I, the two women, are worthy of attacking thieves." "

The second wives here refer to the two concubines of Gao Huan, Emperor Shenwu of the Northern Qi Dynasty. These two concubines themselves were masters of horseback riding and archery. Therefore, the northern nomads had a profound influence on the development of Tang Dynasty society. The influence is also closely related to the emergence of female knights.

All in all, female knights left a beautiful shadow in the history of Tang Dynasty novels, and only that era could create such touching stories. .

2. Female knights in Tang Dynasty legends

Speaking of female knights, we have to talk about the eighteen martial arts of these women.

For example. Yin Niang, who made a living as an assassin, was spotted by her master because of her unusual bones when she was a child. She was taken abducted to learn martial arts and became a master of assassination. Make the people around you aware of it.

There is also the red thread girl who walks as fast as the wind. She can travel seven hundred miles in one night without any trouble.

The heroine's strong martial arts makes her move as fast as the wind. It has become a distinctive symbol and added color to the character's image. In addition, these breathtaking sword skills have also brought a lot of inspiration and foundation for the creation of martial arts novels by future generations.

Of course, in addition, what is more impressive is the truly outstanding temperament and charm of the female knight.

For example, the red Buddha girl is thoughtful, heroic and wise. She was originally Lord Sikong. When the maid next to Yang Su met Li Jing, she concluded that this man was unusual and made a prompt decision to follow him.

Later, in the hotel, when faced with the bearded guest who broke in rashly, she remained calm. After some testing, she took the initiative to form a brother-sister relationship with her and entered the world. This woman's bold and cautious character is self-evident.

Furthermore, Xie Xiao'e is bent on revenge. She disguised herself as a man and entered the house of Shen Lan, the enemy who killed her father. Faced with a life of fine clothes and good food, she was not tempted. Faced with her enemies, she showed no signs of weakness and endured for many years until she completed her mission of avenging her father and husband.

There is also Nie Yinniang, who seems cold and ruthless, but she has a trace of warmth in her heart. The master once sent her to assassinate a certain high official. When she was about to kill her, Yinniang saw the high official and his children playing with each other. She felt compassion for the scene, delayed the task, and was scolded by her master. However, her move only added light to the character of Yinniang and made her flesh and blood.

In addition, the book "Tangren Novels" also records some stories of non-chivalrous women. Although they are not chivalrous women, they have the heart and heart of chivalrous women.

For example, in "The Story of Yang Prostitute". Yang Prostitute was originally the concubine of a marshal in Lingnan, but the marshal's wife couldn't tolerate her and kicked her away. However, when Yang Prostitute learned about the marshal's death, she resolutely returned to the marshal's grave to pay tribute to her. He mourned and returned all his belongings, and his affection was touching.

There is also Li Wa in "The Biography of Li Wa". Although she was a prostitute, she was affectionate and righteous. After the fall of Prince Xingyang, she Still never abandoning him, he took good care of him and helped him obtain fame.

It can be said that women are not inferior to men. The brilliance of humanity shining in the heroines is the most touching thing about them. This is also the reason why these classic characters can be passed down to this day.

3. Chivalrous Women’s Views on Marriage

As mentioned above, the society during the Tang Dynasty was deeply influenced by the northern nomads and advocated a free and open view of marriage and love. At that time, men and women of the Xianbei people were free to choose their spouses, and even divorce and remarriage were common.

In Volume 14 of "History of the North", "Biography of the Concubines", it is recorded that the wife of Wang Yuanye, King Changguang of the Northern Wei Dynasty, who was later the wife of Gao Huan, the Shenwu Emperor of the Northern Qi Dynasty, had many affairs with the Erzhu family. Marriage records. This concept also affected the entire social class of the Tang Dynasty.

For example, Princess Gaomi, Princess Fangling, etc. among the Tang princesses have all remarried.

This free and unrestrained view of marriage and love is also reflected in Tang novels. In "Nie Yinniang", it is written that Yinniang "suddenly pointed to the mirror-grinding boy and the door." She thought this person was suitable, so she made a request to her father and arranged a marriage with him.

Hong Fu Nu visited Li Jing at night, eloped with him and got married. It can be said that their choice is proactive and positive. This free and open view of marriage is still enviable even in today's society.

However, there is another ending in the novels of female knights, which is to hide between heaven and earth in a Taoist way. For example, Xie Xiao'e converted to Buddhism, Hongxian Nu disappeared, and Nie Yinniang disappeared from the world.

All in all, to a certain extent, they can choose life in their own way instead of relying on men, which represents their inner sense of independence. This also adds a different color to the story development of the novel.

Of course, because of the superb novels about chivalrous women in the Tang Dynasty, there were many stories based on them later. For example, "The Heroes of Sons and Daughters" and "Green Peony" during the Qing Dynasty.

Compared with the daring and uninhibited female knights in Tang legends, the female knights in Qing Dynasty novels are firmly bound by the shackles of chastity.

For example, the thirteenth sister in "The Heroes of Sons and Daughters" finally married An Ji under the persuasion of everyone, in order not to disappoint everyone, not for her own love. Hua Bilian, the protagonist in "Green Peony", has to ask her parents to marry her after falling in love.

It can be seen that the feudal ideology of the Qing Dynasty deeply restricted women, making the choices of chivalrous women more passive and helpless. This was also a last resort in the context of the times.

Looking back at the Tang Dynasty, it is surprising that the Tang Dynasty had such open and advanced ideas. Therefore, this actually makes the image of female knights in Tang Dynasty novels more vivid and vivid.

Let me ask, even in today's society, how many women are able to make free choices in life, pursue the life they want, and find the spouse in their hearts?

Therefore, their unique and charming personalities are what touch our hearts the most. Because behind the identity of the female knight, the ideas conveyed are the desire for freedom, the pursuit of ideals, and the control of one's own destiny.

Chivalrous women are a beautiful scenery in the ideological and civilized society of the Tang Dynasty.

4. Chivalrous Women in the New Era

Of course, chivalrous women do not exist. They are the embodiment of people’s idealism about women and the perfection created in novels and literary works. Just characters.

It’s just that the characters are imaginary, but the spirit of the chivalrous woman can remain in everyone’s heart.

Some time ago, I saw a report and was very moved.

A woman named Li Minguo has stayed in the tropical rainforest in Xishuangbanna for nearly 20 years in order to restore the rainforest ecology here with her husband, Ma You.

Her husband Mayo is a German ecologist. He wants to use his own ideas and methods to reshape the ecology of this rainforest. Li Minguo followed her husband into this career without hesitation.

They have suffered many setbacks and hardships, and have also encountered strong opposition from the local government and people. Some people even set fire to the seedlings they had planted. Because compared to the immediate benefits, creating rainforests is simply a joke for people.

However, Li Minguo persisted. Later, after Ma You died of a heart attack, Li Minguo shouldered the heavy responsibility alone, leading the scientific research team left behind by Ma You and his two young daughters. , fight against the world.

More than ten years later, this piece of Brown Mountain rainforest has achieved some results and basically formed a "rainforest ecological microclimate". At this time, people gradually understood what she had done and joined in the action to improve the rainforest. Come.

For more than ten years, she has been like a lonely warrior. With a tenacious spirit and ideals in her heart, she has sacrificed everything to change the ecology of the rainforest. In a sense, she is not Is she just a female knight?

In fact, there are thousands of women in this world who are working hard for their dreams and self-pursuit, but we have never known them well.

Going further, in this society, there are many women who want to find their own value in the tedious family life in order to find a way out in the workplace. If they find their own place in society and work hard regardless of their own lives, shouldn't they be called knights?

I think that in this era, those ordinary and persistent women are more worthy of our respect and more worthy of us seeing the shining points in them than the female knights in "Tang Dynasty Novels".

The female knight-errant will remain in the memory of the times forever.