How to evaluate Xiang Yu, the overlord of western Chu?

First, Xiang Yu in Sima Qian's works

We can't forget the character Xiang Yu, and we can't talk about Xiang Yu without bypassing Sima Qian and his disgusting work Historical Records. In Historical Records of Xiang Yu, Xiang Yu went from an inferior son to an ordinary soldier, to a senior general, and even to the leader of the anti-Qin Coalition forces. He is energetic, brave and arrogant. He gradually slipped into the trap he had woven with others. In many cultural classics and film and television dramas, Xiang Yu is still full of vigor and vitality, and we feel sorry and lament for this tragic hero. In other words, we still live in that era when the clouds are surging and the soldiers and horses are unmoved. Heroes and ants are no different.

Liu Zhiji in the Tang Dynasty said: "History has three qualities: talent, learning and knowledge" [1], and "Sima Qian is a rare great historian with these three qualities at the same time" [2]. In Historical Records of Xiang Yu, Sima Qian described and evaluated Xiang Yu as a historical figure with realistic attitude and fearless spirit.

Judging from the style of historical records, from the Records of the Five Emperors to the Records of Filial Piety and Martial Arts, the records of these twelve records are mostly emperors. Xiang Yu did not complete his imperial career, but Sima Qian was able to find out from the objective reality of history that at this historical stage, Xiang Yu dominated the political power and the current situation at that time, "Destroying the ambition of the five kings, dividing the world, sealing the princes, and governing from the feathers." As Guo Songtao pointed out in the first volume of Notes on Historical Records and Biography in Qing Dynasty: "When the Qin Dynasty was destroyed, Xiang Yu monopolized the alliance, divided the world, sealed princes and feathers for it, and exercised the right of the son of heaven, such as Historical Records [4]. Historical Records, created in the heyday of the Han Dynasty, is not limited to the feudal rulers' view of "victory or defeat", nor is it because of Xiang Yu's failure. Sima Qian affirmed and praised Xiang Yu's position and role in the demise of Qin, but also criticized Xiang Yu's attempt to conquer the world by his own personal wisdom and strength. " Conceited attack, fighting for their private wisdom without forgetting the past, is called overlord, who wants to rule the world by force and die in five years. "In addition, he also criticized Xiang Yu's self-pardon, saying," Killing me is not the crime of fighting. "

Sima Qian loved Xiang Yu, and was deeply attracted by Xiang Yu's short and extraordinary life because of his curious personality and sensitive and imaginative psychological characteristics. He didn't even want to expose too many shortcomings of the dead hero in Biography of Xiang Yu, so he often commented on Xiang Yu from the standpoint and tone of other characters in other biographies, such as "Ten Crimes against Xiang Yu by Wang Han" in Biography of High-impedance, in which Xiang Yu was severely criticized for being ungrateful and guilty. In the biographies of Chen Ping and Han Xin, ministers in the early Han Dynasty, Xiang Yu's behavior was directly evaluated, and his shortcomings such as contradictory personality and poor employment were pointed out, which were often discussed to the point, with clear comments and criticisms.

In the image-building of Xiang Yu, Sima Qian devoted all his enthusiasm and energy, and created his own hero with his most outstanding artistic talent. In Historical Records, Xiang Yu's image and related deeds are not only concentrated in Biography of Xiang Yu, but also involved in other biographies, from Biography of Gaozu to Fan. These chapters supplement and enrich the image of Xiang Yu in the Biography of Xiang Yu. This narrative method not only strengthens the vividness of Xiang Yu, but also makes the stories and personalities of the characters vivid and clear. Three years after Qin died, Chu and Han fought for four years, only Chu and Han fought for more than 70 times, and there were more than 40 small-scale conflicts. Sima Qian briefly explained the conflicts in the Biography of Xiang Yu. He wrote about three major battles: the Battle of the Julu, the Hongmen Banquet and the siege of Gaixia. These three events are not only the key to the success or failure of Xiang Yu's career, but also the most intense and influential events in Chu and Han Dynasties. As Zheng Banqiao said: "In 130 historical records, Xiang Yu's biographical data is the most important, and Xiang Yu's biographical data is the most important. There are several paragraphs "[5]. The success or failure of Xiang Yu's life and his personality came out with these three things. Of course, the tension formed by the duration of these three events in time and the compactness in space also strengthened the pride of Xiang Yu, a hero, and the tragic sense of "national subjugation" in his haste. Sima Qian paid attention to the pursuit of legendary plots in selecting cases to express Xiang Yu's personality and unfolding story narration, such as Xiang Yu's "Double Pupils". As well as the feeling that "he can replace him" when Qin Shihuang went to the south of the Yangtze River, the detailed description of his failure in learning books, and the portrayal of Xiang Yu's heroic deeds in Pengcheng, Gaoping and Xingyang all added personality. In addition, the details such as Gaixia Song written by Xiang Yu on the way to his downfall and the dialogue with the director of Wujiang Pavilion are too bizarre, and may even be fabricated, but they have convinced future generations.

When Tai Shigong expresses Xiang Yu's character, he prefers to express it by contrast. For example, before the Battle of Julu, Xiang Yu was fearless and Yi Song was timid. After the Battle of Julu, the contrast between Xiang Yu and Liu Bang appeared repeatedly. In the contrast of Xiang Yu's own personality, Sima Qian also used different styles to render, sometimes he spoke out and sometimes he was all-powerful. The song of Xiang Yu's song around said: "It is better to pull out the mountain and be angry." Sobbing, sad and moving, is a portrayal of Xiang Yu's own experience and his mental attitude towards failure. "Heroes are short of breath, and their children are affectionate. They can't help crying through the ages." [6] From this, we can see the other side of Xiang Yu's fierce killing on the battlefield. This multi-faceted and multi-dimensional perspective makes Xiang Yu a bully and lover, full and colorful, which has been concerned and respected by Xiang Yu for thousands of years.

At the same time, we cannot ignore it. Tai Shigong wrote Xiang Yu from the perspective of tragedy at the beginning. The whole biography of Xiang Yu has always been shrouded in a rich tragic atmosphere. Heroes are heroic, heroic, heroic and fleeting. Sima Qian's attempt to describe it this way has nothing to do with his personal fate. He was full of energy because of the humiliation of castration in the case of Li Ling. Even in Xiao Wu Ji, the absurdity of Emperor Wu in his later years was not concealed. Sima Qian wrote that Xiang Yu did not cross the river until he died, and he did not surrender until he died. Instead, he wrote about his arrogant and tenacious heart, which even hurt him deeply. So he criticized Xiang Yu's "I died in heaven" and was full of sympathy and admiration for his suicide because he didn't want to lose face.

Thanks to Sima Qian, he made Xiang Yu exude infinite charm; Thanks to Xiang Yu, he added infinite glory to Sima Qian and infinite admiration to future generations.

Second, the interpretation of Xiang Yu's tragedy

In the whole Historical Records, the researchers found that Sima Qian created more than 100 tragic characters [7], and Xiang Yu's tragedy was unique but different from other characters. He is more of a tragic figure who walks into a dead end step by step because of his own personality and other reasons. The strong tragic feature is that he has no superhuman leadership temperament and skills. Zhu Guangqian said: "Tragic characters generally have extraordinary strength, strong will and indomitable spirit. They often represent some strength and ideal, and stick to it with superhuman determination and perseverance" [8]. Xiang Yu is sad, he can't improve his deep-rooted ordinary people's defects, and he is in a hurry and at a loss in the major choices of the times and history. He even has ridiculous and clumsy behavior like a clown, which is even more tragic and makes us sit still. But he is serious and even stubbornly wants to complete and complete the "mission" he has given himself, and will not change until his death.

(a) Boosters and interceptors of the wheel of time

Xiang Yu was born in a noble family of Chu. His grandfather Xiang Yan was a general of Chu and was killed by Wang Jian in the Chu War. His uncle Xiang Liang was the leader of the early anti-Qin coalition. Xiang Yu's childhood lived in the period when Chu gradually perished, Qin gradually became strong and gradually ruled the whole country. The sufferings of his family and country made him hate the rulers of Qin. It seems that he was born with only one goal, which is to overthrow the Qin Dynasty. In Xiang Yu's Biography.

We will attack the state of Qin with all our strength, but we can't stay long. At this age, our soldiers are hungry and poor, and our army has no food. We drank too much, not because of Zhao's food. I attacked Qin with Zhao Zhili and said, "Avoid it." If the husband attacks the newly created Zhao with the power of Qin, he will take Zhao and Zhao will take over the power of Qin. Why not?

For the whole political situation at that time, Xiang Yu's analysis was concise and incisive, pointing out that Qin Jun was powerful at that time, and the anti-Qin army was in urgent need of unity. Xiang Yu pointed the finger at Yi Song, the supreme leader of the anti-Qin coalition, and sternly reprimanded him regardless of the overall situation of the anti-Qin. It can be seen that young Xiang Yu has a mature and atmospheric view of the current situation, combined with military strategy and personal military strength, replaced by Yi Song.

In 206 BC, after the banquet at Hongmen, Xiang Yu obviously gained the leadership of the whole anti-Qin coalition. At that time, the people shouted for peace, and the times also hoped for reunification. However, Xiang Yu, with the blood of Chu nobles in his bones, just hoped to return to the era when Chu Zhuangwang won the Central Plains and held his head high, hoping to regain it like the King of Chu.

The status of "all peoples follow each other", and he hopes to maintain this state of dominance in the enfeoffment system for a long time. He enfeoffed all the anti-Qin generals and became the overlord of Western Chu, far away from the Guanzhong area, where the terrain is dangerous, easy to defend and difficult to attack, and the land is fertile, and Pengcheng, which is far away from the land and relatively scarce in materials, is the capital, just for a "wealth and no return to hometown."

It can be said that Xiang Yu's goal in the anti-Qin struggle is accurate and single, which conforms to the wishes of the whole era and even the people. However, after overthrowing the Qin dynasty, he was short-sighted and even jumped back to the state of mutual attack in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period politically, which was a retrogression in history. From this point of view, Xiang's later period can't conform to the historical trend, and he can only struggle in the historical trend and go to extinction. The truth and cruelty of this reality and the fallacy of his ideal will inevitably form a dignified and deep tragic tension.

(B) the contradiction between personality differentiation and opposition

Xiang Yu's tragedy is not only unable to follow up in the early stage of conforming to the trend of the times, but also a tragedy of his personal character defect. As far as personality is concerned, Xiang is a completely divided contradiction. On the one hand, he is brave and invincible. Since Wuzhong, Xiang Yu has been all-powerful and invincible, "attacking pottery", "pulling Xiangyang", "beheading Li You" and "killing". What's more, regardless of life and death, they took the lead in cross the rubicon and won a key victory. "Summoned the governors and generals to enter the Yuanmen, but did not dare to look up and had to kneel down." His spirit is majestic and heroic. On the other hand, Xiang Yu showed the habit of being headstrong, conceited and jealous of talents. Xiang Yu seldom heard the sounds around him since he killed Yi Di, and he was very uncomfortable with the people who entered. When the princes were enfeoffed, Xiang Yu treated the close people in a special way from his personal feelings and made many enemies. Chen Yu, who is also an anti-Qin hero, said: "Xiang Yu slaughtered injustice for the world and tried his best to make kings do good and move kings to evil places" [9]; In dealing with talent issues, we will not choose talents. On the contrary, the extensive use of relatives also reduced the effectiveness of his army. "His love is not his wife's brother Kun. Although he has rare talents, he can't use it" [10], such as Xiang Bo.

Excessive connivance of "spies" directly led to the failure of Hong Men's political struggle. However, several military generals under Liu Bang, such as Han Xin and Chen Ping, were all under Xiang Yu's command and defected to Liu Bang because Xiang Yu could not be reused. As for the honorary knight, Xiang Yu has a deep lust that almost reaches abnormal condition. "Those who make meritorious deeds are honored, which is unbearable" [1 1]. How can this mentality keep talents from losing? How can we succeed in politics?

At the same time, the heart of respecting, loving and caring for the people and the heart of the pit soldiers in the massacre are also concentrated on him. Every time Xiang Yu attacked the city and dug up the land, he often killed the soldiers who surrendered: after the battle of Xin' an city, Xiang Yu pit killed more than 200 thousand soldiers who surrendered to Qin; Xianyang's invasion was due to the invasion of the West, which was criticized by later scholars and historians. However, he can treat people around him with a kind heart. "Xiang Yu is a man, respect his lover, and those who are loyal and courteous are returned to him" [12], "Xiang Yu is respectful to everyone, but spits when he spits, and drinks when he is sick" [He didn't kill Liu Bang, nor did he kill his father, wife and children. In the siege of Gaixia, it is even more beautiful and generous; On the bank of Wujiang River, he gave Tingchang a horse, feeling sad. He committed suicide and became the "sage" of the enemy.

In addition, he is frank and straightforward, straightforward and sincere. After winning Waihuangcheng, he listened to the advice of Waihuangcheng 12-year-old children on collecting people's hearts. At the hongmen banquet, he didn't listen to the advice of Fan Zeng, the counselor, several times, and killed Liu Bang with a plan. Fan Kuai's Banquet is generous and tolerant only because he appreciates Fan Kuai's heroic temperament; Even at the banquet, Cao told Liu Bang his informant without any calculation. In the struggle with Liu Bang, Liu Bang believed in the reconciliation treaty that divided the gap and agreed to divide the world, and worked hard to maintain it. However, it is such a heartless person who does not use tricks and is full of doubts and cunning to the people around him: slaying Yi Song lied that he was ordered by the emperor; Exile the righteous emperor first, and then plot to send someone to assassinate him; Chen Ping's plan alienated the enemy. He lost his trust in General Zhong Liyan and pushed him to the opposite side of the enemy. Even Fan Zeng, the last and only counselor he respected and approached, seized Xiang Yu's power because of his paranoia.

It can be said that Xiang Yu's character is heterogeneous and contradictory. "If the two are at odds, they are all in the feather body, just like dividing books with both hands and bending a throat. But they are different from each other, so it is appropriate to learn from the mind "[14]. It can be seen that Xiang Yu's personality has outstanding advantages and strong defects, but it is actually his own personality split and opposition.

(3) Being a giant in military ability and a deformed child in political conspiracy.

"He was born more than eight feet long and he can carry a tripod. He is brilliant, even though all children in Wuzhong are afraid of it. " This is 24-year-old Xiang Yu. Xiang Yu, who lived on the land of Wuzhong in the name of riots and brave decisions, shocked the local people with his tough and heroic appearance. The first attack, Xiang Yu followed Xiang Liang, commanded, drew his sword and beheaded him. "Everyone in the house was scared and didn't dare to attack." In fact, in the whole Qin army, the army led by Xiang Yu dealt with most of the troops from the Qin Dynasty, including Zhang Han in the Battle of Julu and Zi Ying in Guanzhong. As for the battle between Chu and Han, Xiang Yu defeated Liu Bang many times with fewer victories. He gave a devastating blow to all the obstructionists with incomparable courage and strength. He advocates force. When Guangwu confronted the Han army, he said to Liu Bang:

How old people in Hungary all over the world are willing to challenge Hanwang for a showdown, instead of making people all over the world and their sons suffer.

These words can not only show Xiang Yu's extreme worship of force, infatuation with personal heroism and high confidence in his own strength, but also show his personal character defects and ignorance of politics. From the analysis of the previous article, Xiang Yu is not completely without political plot: he killed and exiled Emperor Yi, and constantly restricted Liu Bang's power to control Guanzhong. However, Xiang Yu's political vision became extremely weak after the death of Qin. He advocated returning to the era of disputes in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period to achieve the same goal as Chu Zhuangwang, so he missed many opportunities to destroy his opponent Liu Bang. He delayed the opportunity of fighter planes and reunifying the whole country again and again, and lost his pace in the battle between Chu and Han under the pressure of Liu Bang and others, like a powerful giant who could not find a place to stand, or naive self-destruction.

It is not true that the world says that Yu Han strives for the world. Yu Di has the ambition to fight for the world! Yu saw that Qin destroyed the vassal and had both, so he wanted to destroy Qin and re-establish the vassal, as if he were the leader. Therefore, since she was divided into Pengcheng, Wangdu, counties and counties, she returned to the east with Han, thinking that she was the master of the world and didn't know that Han's heart was endless. She died in Dongcheng, but if she wants to be good at fighting in the world, she will be sad if her career is unsuccessful, and Han Xinyu doesn't know who she is.

〔 15〕

Huang Zhen in the Song Dynasty hit the nail on the head, seeing that Xiang Yu had no ambition to establish a dynasty at all, and was doomed to failure in the Chu-Han War. "Chu perished without ambition, Han prospered" [16]. Xiang Yu's excessive military strength led to the expansion of his military vision, while the short-sightedness of his political plot led to the dwarfing of his political views. At the same time, the expansion of his military vision constantly restricts his political vision, making the latter.

(D) Strugglers in the bondage and transcendence of "morality"

The Modern Chinese Dictionary defines "morality" as one of social ideologies, which takes people living together and their behaviors as norms and guidelines, and morality restricts social life through public opinion of society or a certain class [17].

In the History of Civilization in China, Mr. Qi Liang believes that the dispute between Chu and Han is actually a struggle between two cultures, that is, the southern Chu culture represented by Xiang Yu is superior to the Confucian culture in the Central Plains represented by Liu Bang and superior to its strength. In the confrontation between virtue and strength, Liu Bang, who was weak in virtue, defeated Xiang Yu [18]. However, in the wave of clouds, it is no longer who is right or wrong. Morality is distorted and becomes a cover for pursuing political interests and gaining personal fame and fortune. It has become synonymous with cunning. At this point, the struggle more than 2,200 years ago can actually be regarded as a cruel false moral struggle behind the corporal of benevolence, benevolence and morality: to see who can be more cruel and more

Obviously, Xiang Yu is a loser.

Liu Bang, who came from a civilian family, did not receive a good systematic education. In his post as director of Surabaya, he developed a vulgar style of greed, alcoholism and neglect of family property. He is an ordinary citizen everywhere, even a rogue: he is penniless and enters Lv Gong with a nominal "He Wanqian"; During the escape, the daughter and son were pushed out of the car many times to reduce the weight of the car and escape faster for themselves; When Xiang Yu threatened to "cook the old man", regardless of his father's life or death, he wanted to "share a piece of cake." He insulted his Confucian scholars many times, and even after he ascended the throne, he still peed on the hats of former Confucian scholars. In the process of competing with Xiang Yu for the world, he often reneged, fled when he lost, made peace when he escaped, and began to secretly plan military operations after a short break. In the confrontation between Guangwu and Guangwu, Xiang Yu shot at the heart, but pretended to shoot at the heel; In order to escape better, he took people out of the city, and even let women put on soldiers' clothes to cover him ... Liu Bang's words and deeds can be said to be an out-and-out hooligan, and his deep-rooted vulgar hooligan bloodline was revealed in him. However, it is this rogue temperament and smooth and profound personality that allowed him to let go of his hands and feet in the political struggle in the era of moral restrictions and superficial "good reputation and good deeds." He showed agility and flexibility, and had the potential to become a great entrepreneur: when he entered Guanzhong, he followed Sean's advice and made three chapters with the people. Originally lustful and greedy for money, the result was "not for women" and "sealing Qin treasures and returning to the army" [19]. At the hongmen banquet, he first got acquainted with Xiang Bo to show his sincerity and strive for opportunities. Liu Bang never gave up the idea of seizing the country. At every critical moment, Liu Bang was able to control his original desire, keep self-discipline, actively listen to his opinions and suggestions, and continue to complete his hegemony.

Let's look at Xiang Yu, who was born in a Chu family. He was deeply influenced by Chu's Chu style. Influenced by Chu culture, he showed the pursuit of good reputation, kept his promise, and kept his individual perfection and independence in moral understanding. Xiang Yu made Pengcheng his capital only because he didn't want to take the opportunity to kill Liu Bang at the Hongmen banquet, because he was loyal. He is stingy with his official position and has a perverted pursuit of fame. However, the great contrast of the environment is that he doesn't want to return home with wealth.

Wang Xiang wants to be a king, and the first kings will meet each other. He said: "If the world is in trouble, set up a vassal and then attack Qin. And those who have been exposed to the wild for three years, destroyed Qin and ruled the world, are all capable of meeting governors and their relatives. Although the righteous emperor is useless, he should divide his land and rule his country. "

From this passage, we can get a glimpse of Xiang Yu's complicated and contradictory mood at that time. If you want to be king, you should first praise the generals and bear a grudge against the righteous emperor, but you should share the land with the king equally. In the face of shy morality that only needs to wear a layer of paper, young and energetic Xiang Yu must take into account credit, reputation, and the opinions and mouths of people around him. Although he is strong and has made the greatest contribution,

However, he was uneasy because of the clause of "breaking the Qin Dynasty into the king of Xianyang first" and was tied behind his back everywhere. He was made clear by Fan Kuai at the Hongmen banquet and lost the opportunity to destroy Liu Bang. In the struggle with Liu Bang, he was tortured by Liu Bang's moral stick everywhere. Among the ten major crimes of Xiang Yu announced by Liu Bang in the Guangwu confrontation, there is indeed a suspicion of weaving, but Liu Bang firmly grasped the moral braid of Xiang Yu's tyrannical massacre and unfair enfeoffment.

It can be said that on the one hand, Xiang Yu hopes to set an example and model of virtue among the vassal army and people around him, on the other hand, he must destroy this example and model at any time, and even constantly accept the moral crusade and ridicule of Liu Bang and other vassal kings. His deep sensitivity made him hate this kind of ridicule and criticism. His own quality and personality defects prevent him from becoming a famous virtuous man like Shun, Yu and Liu Bang, let alone his opponent.

In the end, Liu Bang, an immoral man who went beyond the name of morality, defeated Xiang Yu who struggled with morality. As for Xiang Yu, who struggled in the moral bottom line and the letter of benevolence and righteousness, Zhuangzi had long seen the moral injustice of "stealing the country as a vassal" [20]. Finally, in order to save my excessively sharp self-esteem and reputation, I died by my own hands. We can only say that his death was tragic. We don't need to think too much about whether he is a real moral martyr or an immoral admirer.

Ching-Ming Ko, a scholar in Taiwan Province, pointed out that the temperament of the tragic hero is "a strong sense of self, and an absolute strong desire and will for self-shaping and self-realization" [2 1]. No matter from the perspective of the times, from the perspective of Xiang Yu's own personality contradiction, or from the perspective of moral struggle, Xiang Yu was doomed to be a tragic figure from the beginning, and his life can be described as a "prosperous chaos", beautiful and beautiful. The good reputation he pursued all his life was not defeated by his stubborn, almost stubborn and arrogant self-esteem character. He was obsessed with the life and lifestyle he chose, even though he was wrong from the beginning, but he was willing and made efforts. Only when the lifestyle he chooses cannot continue, or even suffers from reputation or psychological torture and loss, will he rashly choose death instead of living.

Third, the Millennium echo of Wujiang's suicide

For thousands of years, Xiang Yu's story is still echoing and being interpreted. At the end of this mighty hero's farewell to beautiful women, this classic picture of ups and downs is fixed in people's minds at that moment, and Xiang Yu's tragedy has reached its peak.

Today, we give these words a wider meaning because Sima Qian's description is incisive, affectionate and thoughtful, wonderful and tragic.

We saw that Xiang Yu left the beauty, and his entourage was 100. Surrounded by the south, he fell into osawa by mistake and could not take off. He said he rode a horse:

I am eight years old now, and I have fought more than 70 wars. I never lost, I conquered the world. However, I'm stuck here today. If I die today, it's not a war crime. Today, I am determined to die. I am willing to fight for you quickly and win the third battle. I'll break the siege, cut the flag for you, and let you know that I won't fight if the sky dies.

What we can see from Xiang Yu's tone and discourse content is that he is almost infatuated with his high confidence in his own strength, full of pride and majesty of the bully, and at the same time dismissive of losing his way. He is quick-witted, quick-witted and quick-hearted, and just wants to fight quickly to solve his depression. Here, Xiang Yu has not made up his mind to die, but also hopes to break through, just waiting for the words of Wujiang Pavilion.

"Although Jiangdong is small, its territory is thousands of miles, and hundreds of thousands of people are king. May the king cross urgently. Today, the only minister has a boat, and the Han army can't cross it. " Wang Xiang smiled and said, "What can I do if the sky dies?" Besides, 8,000 people crossed the river to the west with Jiangdong's children, and none of them came back today. How can I see them? If you don't say anything, is a person worth it? "

Today, countless years later, we have no way to verify whether this thrilling dialogue is true or an empty work under the psychology of seeking truth in officialdom. However, we can see that both the sincere pavilion and the complex and uneasy overlord of Chu look natural and the language is in line with their own identity.

But these are still left to future generations for endless speculation and painstaking speculation and verification. In the Records of Historical Records, Xiang Yu's "What Pass Do I Have to Pass" commented: "Wang Xiang would not want to fall into his hands. Watching it collapse? Don't you want to take it off? After listening to Tingchang's words, I refused to get on a boat with a leaf, but I also gave him a horse that loved him. The horse was rough, generous, kind and lovely [22]. In addition to pointing out that Xiang Yu's personality is straightforward, honest and lovely, the most important thing is to point out that the reason for Xiang Yu's suicide is lifeless, not really crossing the river. "I don't want to fall into his hands for seven feet", guided by Fu Tian's derailment. He escaped from the house of flying daggers, panicked and hurried all the way, strayed into osawa and fell into his own psychological trap. Out of his inner self-esteem for his good reputation and noble spirit, he did not explain. However, modern scholars believe that this plot may come from Sima Qian's artistic fiction in Historical Records. Sima Qian, who admired the spirit of "being ashamed of honor", added such a dialogue to the road of hero's defeat, and earnestly and sincerely wrote the voice of the hero who died in battle. Looking back, he said:

No matter whether Sima Qian was fictional or true at that time, and under what circumstances he wrote the plot to resist crossing the river, what Tai Shigong didn't expect was that later generations talked more about Xiang Yu's "crossing the river but not crossing it" and the attitude behind these remarks, which triggered a deeper cultural and psychological dispute in China.

(A) "Crossing" and "King"

Tang Du Mu wrote in Wujiang Pavilion:

The victory or defeat of a strategist is unexpected, and men should be ashamed of it.

There are many talented children in Jiangdong. It is not clear whether they will make a comeback. [23]

Du Mu, who traveled all his life, expressed in his poems that the overlord of Chu was a shameful person. And predicting the outcome of battlefield disputes is not a matter of life and death. Xiang Yu should be defeated and unyielding, based on Jiangdong and make a comeback. His poems are full of deep regret and sadness. This attitude of wanting Xiang Yu to kick down the ladder and make a comeback as king profoundly embodies the spirit of traditional Confucianism-"bear the burden of humiliation" and "make great plans if you can't bear it". In the face of greater interests and greater disasters, people's psychology of pursuing advantages and avoiding disadvantages is obviously manifested as: for a more valuable and beneficial goal, they would rather endure and suffer the pain and trauma in the process of obtaining higher interests, and even give up and refuse the temptation of small interests and enjoyment from all sides in this process.

For thousands of years, countless moralists, countless politicians, and people who are educated and influenced by them are also the same. "endure a calm moment, take a step back and broaden the horizon", "only after suffering can you be a master" Metaphysically, this tolerance for life setbacks caused by shame and the tolerance attitude of refusing to enjoy small favors in life lead to the endless strength of Chinese national tradition and hongyi spirit.

Finally, looking at Xiang Yu through Du Mu's poem Tiaojiang Pavilion, we will be surprised to see the other two key figures mentioned in this article-Sima Qian and Liu Bang. Without exception, Xiang Yu crossed the Wujiang River. Both Sima Qian and Liu Bang suffered from the "Wujiang River" in their own lives: Sima Qian thought that "the scale is greater than the imprisonment" [24], but they suffered the most shameful imprisonment. Liu bang's life is also full of twists and turns. However, both of them were able to pursue greater value (Sima Qian wrote historical records and Liu ruled the world), endured mental and physical trauma and crossed the "Wujiang" port safely. The difference is that in the process of crossing the Wujiang River.