Su Wu’s life as a sheep herder was so difficult, why didn’t he eat the sheep?

Su Wu Shepherd is a very tragic and touching story. He was originally a minister of the Han Dynasty and sent an envoy to the Xiongnu to express his friendship to the new Shanyu and thank him for his consistent support to the Han Dynasty. Unexpectedly, during his mission to the Huns, they encountered a civil strife among the Huns. As a result, Su Wu was interrogated and exiled to Beihai to herd sheep. He could not return to the Han until the ram gave birth to a lamb. Su Wu never gave in. He suffered a lot on the border, suffered from hunger, and even ate rotten fruits stored by wild rats. Therefore, people are curious as to why Su Wu would rather eat dead and rotten fruits than kill rams to satisfy his hunger?

Let’s start with the background of Su Wu Muyang. In the beginning, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty sent Su Wu as an envoy to the Xiongnu because the new Shanyu was friendly and regarded the Han as his "father". This mission was of great significance to the Han Dynasty, because the Xiongnu had always been very hostile to the Han Dynasty, and all the envoys who had been sent on more than 10 consecutive missions were detained. The new Shanyu not only expressed friendship, but also returned the detained Han Dynasty envoys. The purpose of Su Wu's trip was to further harmonize the relationship between the two parties, and he specially brought gifts to thank Shan Yu.

However, during his mission, the Huns were in turmoil. King Feng and Yu Chang rebelled and tried to kidnap Shanyu's mother and defect to the Han Dynasty. The rebellion of Yu Chang and others this time to the Han was negotiated with Su Wu's deputy general Zhang Sheng during the Han Dynasty, and they received Zhang Sheng's verbal commitment. Unexpectedly, the rebellion by Yu Chang and others failed, King Feng died on the spot, Yu Chang was also captured alive, and Zhang Sheng was betrayed.

After Su Wu learned about this, he knew that the mission of establishing diplomatic relations with the Xiongnu had failed. He had no face to face the Han Dynasty, so he drew his sword and committed suicide. He was later rescued by Wei Lu, and he recovered after being treated for half a day. Chanyu was impressed by his integrity and tried to recruit Su Wu to surrender, so he only captured Zhang Sheng. During the trial, Yu Chang was beheaded and Zhang Sheng knelt down to ask for surrender. Wei Lu pointed out that the adjutant was guilty and the supervisor should also sit down. However, Su Wu believed that he had not participated in the rebellion and resolutely refused to comply.

The more steadfast and unyielding Su Wu was, the more Chanyu admired him, and the more he wanted to surrender, he tried all kinds of methods and used all kinds of torture (legend has it that Lian? Ice stool? All used). But no matter what, Su Wu still refused to give in. In desperation, the Chanyu had no choice but to exile him to Beihai to herd sheep, claiming that after the ram gave birth to a lamb, he would be released back to the Han Dynasty.

Why eat rotten fruit instead of ram? Is it because of integrity?

After Su Wu arrived in Beihai, his survival faced a severe test due to the lack of food supply and the harsh climate. However, he dug up the fruits stored by wild rats every day and ate them, but he still refused to kill the ram for food.

Some people may say that those rams Chanyu are all numerous. If one is eaten, the officials sent by the Chanyu will immediately find out and will be punished even more cruelly. However, sheep are also subject to birth, aging, illness and death. If Su Wu wanted to eat sheep, he could just use the death of the sheep as an excuse. The Chanyu only sent people once in a long time, and threw the sheep away after they were dead. If Su Wu wanted to eat these sheep, it would be very easy. But he didn't do that.

Moreover, the Chanyu did not care about the number of these sheep at all. For example, Su Wu was not punished after his cattle and sheep were stolen by Ding Ling people. In fact, Shanyu's main purpose of letting him go to the barren North Sea to herd sheep was to kill and eat the sheep when he couldn't bear the hunger. Eating it means surrendering, and Shan Yu can force him to surrender justifiably.

Su Wu has always adhered to his integrity, preferring to eat rotten fruit to satisfy his hunger, or even go hungry, rather than eat the food in front of him. In this way, we express the unyielding national integrity of "never surrender". Nineteen years later, Su Wu did not eat a single cow or sheep, finally letting Chanyu give up and proving his loyalty to the Han court.

After returning to the Han court, Su Wu was given the title of Marquis of Guannei and ranked as one of the eleven heroes of Qilin Pavilion. After 19 years of adhering to integrity, the clouds will clear and the moon will shine. If he ate that sheep, I'm afraid he would no longer be favored by future generations.