Who are Zhang Jian and Du Gen in Tan Sitong's fatal poems?

Zhang Jian: A native of Gaoping in the late Eastern Han Dynasty, because of the impeachment of the eunuch Hou Lan, he was falsely accused of "forming a party" and was forced to flee. During his escape, all the families who accepted him to stay were willing to receive him without fear of implication. The matter can be found in "Book of the Later Han·Biography of Zhang Jian".

Du Gen: A native of Dingling in the late Eastern Han Dynasty, Empress Dowager Deng was the regent and the eunuch had exclusive power during the Han Dynasty. She wrote a letter asking the Empress Dowager to return her power. The Empress Dowager was furious and ordered someone to put him in a bag and throw him to death. The executioners admired him. Du Gen is a human being, so he doesn't use any force and wants to wait until he leaves the palace to release him. The Queen Mother was suspicious and sent someone to investigate. When she saw maggots in Du Gen's eyes, she believed that he was dead. Dugan was eventually able to escape. The matter can be found in "Book of the Later Han Dynasty: Biography of Du Gen".

It comes from a seven-character quatrain "Inscription on the Wall in Prison" written by Tan Sitong, a modern reformist politician and thinker, while in prison in the 24th year of Guangxu's reign (1898). The original text of the poem is as follows:

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Looking at the door and checking in, I miss Zhang Jian, and bear death for a moment while waiting for Du Gen.

I am smiling to the sky with my horizontal sword, leaving my liver and gallbladder intact.

Vernacular interpretation: The escape life is so tense that when I see someone’s home I come to stay. I hope that Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao, who have fled, can be protected by people like Zhang Jian. I also hope that my comrades can endure death and wait to complete the great cause of reform like Dugan. I walked out with my sword, looking up to the sky and laughing, because those who left and those who stayed were honest and upright, just like the majestic Kunlun Mountains.

Extended information

"Inscribed on the Wall in Prison" This poem is a desperate poem written by Tan Sitong on the wall of the prison before his death. On June 11, 1898, Emperor Guangxu promulgated the edict "Ming Determining the State" and announced the reform. On September 21, 1898, Empress Dowager Cixi launched a coup, imprisoned Emperor Guangxu and began to hunt down and massacre reformers. Tan Sitong refused others' advice to escape at that time (Kang Youwei fled to Hong Kong via Shanghai, Liang Qichao fled to Japan via Tianjin), and was determined to die and was willing to die for the law to awaken and alert the people of the country.

The first two sentences of the poem express precisely this: some people hurriedly fled for refuge "looking for a place to stay", which reminds people of Zhang Jian, a noble and upright man; some people stayed voluntarily "bearing to die for a moment" , not afraid of death, so that more people can come out and serve the great cause of the rise and fall of the imperial court unyieldingly like Du Gen, who is equally upright and upright.

"I am smiling at the sky with my horizontal sword" is a continuation of the previous two sentences: If Kang and Liang Zhujun can escape safely and wait for the danger, then it is not a pity for me, Tan, to save my life. When facing the bloody butcher knife calmly, he laughed to the sky. "Let the devil's palace shake with laughter." The poet Tan Sitong was well prepared for death. When the coup occurred, his comrades repeatedly urged him to take refuge in the Japanese Embassy, ??but he flatly refused. It was precisely because he was determined to die that he was able to remain calm and regard death as home.