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There are many descriptions about the battle of Makino in the history books, which let future generations know about the battle that decided the fate of Shang and Zhou dynasties three thousand years ago, but there are also many records that are puzzling to read, one of which is the "Dance of the King of Wu after cutting the Song Dynasty" in the battle of Makino.

According to these records, the king of Wu sang and danced all the way after he sent troops. In the commercial suburb, the night before the battle of Makino, Zhou Jun was still "singing and dancing happily", and the next day, the battle of Makino was dancing before the song.

As we all know, the battle of Makino is the decisive battle of Zhou Ge's life. It is a war of fighting with small battles and attacking the strong with weak ones. It is a life-and-death contest of Shang and Zhou Dynasties. Song and dance represent ease and pleasure. It is very unreasonable to juxtapose the two. So, was the theory of "singing before dancing" invented by historians, or was it something else?

History records a possibility: the conquest week is an extremely sacred just war. As soon as Zhou Jun arrived, the Yin people immediately fell apart. Zhou Wuwang stands for justice and believes that he will defeat Zhou Wang, so maybe he will sing and dance all the way, laughing and laughing.

"Historical Records of Zhou Benji" records: "Although there are many divisions, I have no intention to use troops and want the prince of Wu to enter. All the divisions fought in ambush to open the king of Wu. Wu Wang rushed to it, and the soldiers collapsed. "

Mencius with all his heart records: "Benevolent people are invincible in the world, so that benevolent people are eager." How can their blood flow? " Mencius denied the bloodshed in the battle of Makino, and thought that the benevolent was invincible, and it was inevitable that it would be extremely easy to attack the ruthless with benevolence. The army even cheered the arrival of Zhou people.

This logic is that Zhou Wuwang stands for justice, Zhou Wang stands for evil, and "righteousness triumphs over evil", so Zhou Wuwang leads the army of justice, singing and dancing like an outing. But in fact, we all know that this is definitely impossible, and it is only a Confucian fantasy that benevolent people are invincible in the world. In addition, unlike these two records, he was very cautious and attached great importance to the attack week.

In ancient Qi Huangong and his father's time, Zhou people had planned the Shang Dynasty, which scholars called "cutting merchants". After a hundred years' efforts of four generations, including Gu Gongqifu, Ji Li, Zhou Wenwang and Zhou Wuwang, the opportunity of logging finally came. So, what is Zhou Wuwang's attitude in this commercial war?

First of all, two years before the Battle of Makino, Zhou Wuwang observed soldiers in Jin Meng, and 800 vassals joined the alliance. The governors said they could send troops to attack the area, but Zhou Wuwang said the time had not yet come. The so-called untimely, nothing more than the strength is still very strong, Zhou people are at a disadvantage at this time, so they rejected the proposal of uniting the governors.

Second, Zhou people are small countries and Yin people are big countries. When a small country strikes a big country, it must seize the opportunity to kill it with one blow. Therefore, before the battle of Makino, Zhou Wuwang said to boost morale, "Therefore, it is necessary to send someone to punish this D * * *. Encourage me, master, not to come again, not three times ",which means that the opportunity is rare and there will be no second chance, let alone a third time." "

At the same time, Zhou Wang's army seems to be very neat and powerful, so Zhou Wuwang once again emphasized tactical discipline. "Today's work is not limited to six or seven steps, but only stays and is neat." . Alas, master! If you don't stop when you feel four, five, six and seven, you will stop. "Require the army not to confuse ranks and formations, and have strict requirements on footwork and strike.

From these descriptions, we can see that Zhou Wuwang's attitude is very clear, and his attitude towards Makino War is very strict, so he is unlikely to be in the mood to sing and dance. In that case, what about the saying in many ancient books that "the prince of Wu fights first and dances first"? In fact, this matter is related to the "Sichuan Army".

During the Battle of Makino, besides Zhou people, there were many vassal armies in the territory. The Pastoral Oath records "Yong, Shu, Qiang, Kuai, Wei, Lu, Peng and Pu", and the second is "Shu", which is now Sichuan, so there are "Sichuan Army" in our army.

According to the records of Huayangzhi in Jin Dynasty, "Zhou Wuwang conquered the world and got the points of Bashu". After conquering this country, the division of Bashu surrendered to Zhou, so he followed the crusade against Shang Dynasty.

"Eight Records of Yang Hua's National Records" records: "Ba Shi Yong Rui, Song and Dance and Ling (Italian invasion) Yin people, former disciple defected."

It probably means that Bashu warriors charge in the form of song and dance, which is essentially a way of fighting, not an artistic or aesthetic expression. However, the problem is that "Huayang Guozhi" is a work of local chronicles, written by Chang Qu, a native of the Eastern Jin Dynasty. It has been 1300 years since the King of Wu attacked the Zhou Dynasty. Is it a historical truth that "the prince of Wu fights first, sings first and dances later"?

Whether "King Wu goes to war, sings first and then dances" describes the fighting style of Bashu warriors at that time is difficult to restore to 100% now, but from the perspective of ancient and modern Sichuan customs, it is closer to the historical truth.

When Emperor Gaozu pacified the Three Qin Dynasties, he recruited a group of Ba soldiers who were "pioneers of the Han Dynasty". These Ba soldiers were "full of energy and danced" and were also appreciated by Liu Bang. "Hua Yang Guo Zhi Ba Zhi" records: "There are many people in Langzhong who live in the water, and they are born brave. They are the pioneers of the Han Dynasty and are eager to dance." Therefore, there are also a number of "Sichuan troops dancing before the Song Dynasty" in the hegemony between Chu and Han.

Ningsheng Wang, a historian, pointed out in his "Interpretation of Dance after the Song of King Wu" that before the war, the Jingpo people in Dehong, Yunnan and the Yi people in Liangshan, Sichuan still had the custom of "singing and dancing to make them ling", that is, before the war, they held a knife in one hand and a shield in the other, painted colorful and horrible patterns, then roared while dancing the knife, creating a horrible atmosphere, and then rushed to kill the enemy. Combining the customs and historical records handed down by Jingpo and Yi people, Ningsheng Wang thought that dancing before singing should be a way of fighting for the Sichuan Army at that time.

It can be seen that Sichuanese have a tradition of "singing and dancing to dominate", which is essentially a way of fighting to create a horrible atmosphere to shock the enemy. At that time, the Shang and Zhou Dynasties and their allies had never had this custom. At first glance, it is novel, which may be mistaken for "singing and dancing, dancing before the song". In fact, this is the misunderstanding caused by cultural differences. In ancient China, people would beat gongs and drums before the war, and the ancient Sichuan Army would sing and dance.

It is puzzling that what is the relationship between this Sichuan army and Sanxingdui civilization? In the last century, in the south bank of Yahe River in Guanghan City, Sichuan Province, archaeologists discovered the famous Sanxingdui site, giving people a glimpse of the mysterious ancient Shu country. Was the "Sichuan Army" that existed when attacking King Wu sent by Sanxingdui civilization? In fact, when Sanxingdui civilization declined, it had basically disappeared by the time of attacking Zhou. Therefore, the Sichuan Army in King Wu's attack was not sent by Sanxingdui, but a branch of the ancient Shu Kingdom, which participated in the war against merchants after being conquered by Zhou Wuwang.

In a word, it is not yet 100% sure whether "King Wu started fighting, singing before dancing" refers to the Sichuan Army, but it is basically certain that the Sichuan Army participated in the Makino War.

References:

History books, historical records, interpretation of "Dance for the King of Wu", etc.