Evaluation of Xiang Yu's death

First of all, the personality theory is untenable.

With regard to cruelty, according to the records in Historical Records, Xiang Yu did show a vicious and cruel side of killing people, but this cannot be said to be due to Xiang Yu's character. On the one hand, the ancient war itself was cruel, and the collective killing of prisoners of war was very common in the pre-Qin period. On the other hand, as long as someone persuades him to be fair, Xiang Yu generally won't kill anyone. According to the biography of Chen Sheng Jixiang in Hanshu, it is very difficult for Xiang Yu to attack Waihuang. After winning, he drove men over 15 years old to the east of the city, trying to slaughter collectively to vent his anger. At that time, there was a boy 12 years old in Waihuang who persuaded Xiang Yu not to massacre the city, otherwise people in other cities would definitely fight to the end and never surrender. Xiang Yu felt right, and Hao forgave all the people who had put the knife rest around their necks. Imagine how rare it is for Xiang Yu, as a coach, to meet a yellow-tongued child in the hectic war and accept his advice. Even Liu Bang can't do it. Even in the whole history of China in the next two thousand years, I'm afraid it's hard to find several similar examples.

This is just Han Xin's story about a man's courage and a woman's kindness. Han Xin is a poor man, penniless and self-reliant, so he has always expected to get ahead. When Xiang Liang rebels crossed Huaiyin, Han Xin took refuge in Xiang Liang, and Xiang Liang appointed him as a small official. After Xiang Liang's death, Xiang Yu succeeded to the throne, appreciated Han Xin's talent and immediately promoted him. However, Han Xin is really tall. He thought that his promotion was too slow to give full play to his talents, so he defected to Liu Bang. Unexpectedly, Liu Bang didn't give him anything to do. Disappointed, Han Xin abandoned Liu again, so there was the famous story of Xiao He chasing Han Xin under the moon. After coming back, Liu Bang was recommended by Xiao He, and immediately found that in this meeting, Han Xin deliberately touted Liu Bang and belittled Xiang Yu in order to show his talents. Of course, this is understandable. It is in this case that Han Xin talked about the eternal "courage of men, gentleness of women".

Regarding Xiang Yu's character, I think Chen Ping's evaluation is more pertinent. According to the history book "The Family of Prime Minister Chen", he said to Liu Bang: "Be a man, respect his lover, and return it with courtesy. As for Gongshi, it is important, and scholars do not attach it. Today, the king is slow and polite, and those who are cheap and frugal don't come. But the king can forgive people and treat them with nobles, and those who are stubborn and shameless will return to Han. " Visible, in terms of personality, Liu Xiangyu liu bang, each has its own length, relatively speaking, xiang yu's personality is even better than liu bang, because it does not rule out the possibility that Chen Ping and Han Xin beg for a title from liu bang in disguise.

Second, the theory against the trend of "great unification" is also untenable.

This statement, in fact, has a short history, and it should probably be a new viewpoint put forward by some people after historical materialism was introduced into China. They think that before the Qin, Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties, the five-level enfeoffment system was implemented, and the male and female vassals were divided into one country and formed themselves. Although the Xia, Shang and Zhou Dynasties were "masters of the world", the masters of the world did not have strong control over feudal countries. Once the strength of a vassal state increases, it often refuses to buy the account of "the master of the world" Therefore, after the strength of the vassal States changed, conflicts often occurred and local wars broke out one after another. The people have long been tired of this situation and hope to form a centralized and unified kingdom. After Qin destroyed the Six Kingdoms, the feudal system was abolished and the county system was implemented, which exactly represented this historical trend. However, after Xiang Yu destroyed Qin, he abolished the county system and implemented the feudal system, which violated the historical trend and was eliminated by the trend.

This statement is very innovative at first glance, but it is actually just a wrong judgment of later generations. It is a fact that countries under the feudal system often fought each other, forming local wars, and sometimes the scale of the wars was quite large. However, from the day the state power appeared until the Qin Dynasty destroyed the Six Kingdoms, the people of China were used to the feudal system. After the establishment of centralization in Qin dynasty, people all over the world did not find the advantages of centralization, and even saw its disadvantages. Therefore, the people of the former six countries who suffered greatly naturally believed that the root of suffering lay in reunification. Therefore, once Chen Sheng and Guangwu appeared, they were "shadowed from the world". In addition to the land of the old Qin Dynasty, the heroes at the site of the Six Kingdoms killed county magistrates and county magistrates in an attempt to restore the hometown of the Six Kingdoms and return to the historical state of coexistence of the Seven Chivalrous Men.

On this point, Tang Yan, a famous sage in the Tang Dynasty, made a clear comment in the book "Lengths and Shortages". "Long and short skills" have always been highly regarded, and some people call it "petty bourgeoisie rule". And Tang Kun himself was famous at that time. Even the great poet Li Bai studied under Tang Kun at the age of eighteen or nineteen. Visible Tang Yan's academic status at that time. Even Tang Kun, a great scholar, thinks that a better political system is the enfeoffment system with a little county system. He even thought that the fundamental reason why the Qin Dynasty soon perished was that the county system was blindly implemented without enfeoffment. It can be seen that before some people's "new ideas" in modern times, no one proved that people all over the world had the hope of reunification of the Qin Dynasty. (Attach the original text of Tang Yan)

Thirdly, the backward Wu and Yue culture is the root of Xiang Yu's failure.

In fact, the battle between Chu and Han was not a duel between Xiang Yu and Liu Bang, but a decisive battle between wuyue Group represented by Xiang Yu's eight thousand sons and Subei Group represented by Liu Bang, Xiao He and Han Xin. Generally speaking, it is only a confrontation between the two major forces in southern Jiangsu and northern Jiangsu. In the final analysis, it is a contest between Wuyue culture and Central Plains culture.

Xiang Yu's cronies were 8,000 children of Jiangdong during the Huiji Uprising, the second cronies were Ying Bu, the hometown of former Chu, and the soldiers who surrendered all over the country were the outermost. Xiang Yu's military and political plans were made by these cronies. Therefore, the judgment and planning of this group of people directly affected the decision-making of Xiang Yu. Among this part of Xiang Yu's cronies, Fan Zeng, a native of Chaohu, Anhui, has the strongest decision-making ability. Xiang Yu has always regarded Fan Zeng as his father, and Fan Zeng is seventy years old. It was impossible to resist Xiang Yu at the last minute, but Xiang Yu easily fell into Chen Ping's trap. The reason is that Fan Zeng is only the second confidant of Xiang Yu. Only 8,000 sons and daughters of Jiangdong really have confidence in Xiang Yu. Among these 8,000 children, Wu Chang and a strong man are the ones who can get their names and determine their native place. In addition, there are Christy Chung, Long Che, Kibu, etc. These people, being brave and resourceful, not only failed to help Xiang Yu at the critical moment, but held him back.

First of all, the intelligence and ability level of Jiangdong children is not good. Records of Historical Records and Biography of Xiang Yu show that Xiang Liang killed people in Wuzhong to avoid revenge. "Scholars and officials in Wuzhong are all from Xiang Liang, and there are great corvees and funerals in Wuzhong, and Xiang Liang often presides over them." This is not only wise, but also brave. "He is more than eight feet long, can carry the tripod, and is talented, although all Wuzhong children are afraid." Therefore, in the process of Chu-Han struggle, whoever commanded the battle personally by Xiang Yu won. However, once it is necessary to divide the troops and reject the enemy, none of Wuzhong's children can be worthy of the big post. One of the most deadly, Long Qie was killed by Han Xin. It can be said that the total annihilation of Long Zhi was a turning point in the struggle between Chu and Han. Since then, Xiang Yu and Liu Bang have changed their offense and defense, and the situation has changed greatly. History contains Xiang Yu's fear of hearing Long Qie's defeat.

Secondly, Jiangdong's children have always been martial and less literate. Wuyue was originally a secluded place in Jiangdong, and was rarely influenced by the advanced culture of the Central Plains. Occasionally, Wu Wu, Sun Wu, Fan Li, Wen Zhong and others will not last long. Moreover, wuyue conquered for many years and was soon destroyed by Chu. Therefore, in wuyue, children only know how to fight bravely, but they don't know how to write. So that in the process of marching and fighting, I only know how to fight and kill, but I don't know how to buy people's hearts and spread righteousness. Even after Xiang Yu enfeoffed the kings, some children of Jiangdong were enfeoffed as kings. As a result, these people were immoral and incompetent, and their own kingdoms were in chaos one after another, failing to provide a stable rear guarantee for Xiang Yu.

As for the choice of political system after Xiang Yu's victory, anyone who knows a little about history should advise Xiang Yu to learn from each other's strong points and combine the enfeoffment system with the county system. As a result, because no one in the cronies has this talent, naturally no one will make suggestions, while those generals who are not close are eager to break the ground and seal the king immediately and become a country of their own. Therefore, after Ying Bu was named Jiujiang, he cherished his own strength. Instead of sending troops to help Xiang Yu, he was forced by Xiang Yu to take refuge in Liu Bang. On the other hand, Liu Bang, after the establishment of the Western Han Dynasty, immediately absorbed the experience and lessons of the Qin Dynasty and Xiang Yu, enfeoffed governors, and counties and counties simultaneously, and finally stabilized the political situation.

Therefore, Xiang Yu's failure is not his personal reason, but the failure of Jiangdong Group represented by Xiang Yu. The cultural background of Jiangdong is not enough to support the governance of the whole country, so it is inevitable that Xiang Yu Wujiang committed suicide and thanked his elders in Jiangdong.