In his later years, Liu Bang sat on a high dragon chair, looking at the empty hall, and had a trance-like feeling of his origin and appearance:

I, the founder of the Han Dynasty, am I the son of Liu Taigong and Liu Yuan, or the son of Jiaolong? I, this old face, is it just a little different from ordinary people, or is it unspeakably expensive? Do I have 72 black moles on my left leg?

But he was just in a common-sense trance.

For so many years, he had long believed in his own miracles.

While crusading against the rebellious Yingbu, he was wounded by an arrow and became seriously ill when he returned to Chang'an. Empress Lu invited the best doctor for him, and the doctor packed the ticket and said, "The disease can be cured." ”

When he heard this, he became angry, and scolded the doctor on the spot: "Isn't it the destiny of heaven that I won the world with a civilian in cloth and a three-foot sword in my hand?" Fate is in the sky, although there is Bian Que, what is the use! ”

He rewarded the doctor with fifty pounds of gold, sent him away, and entered the dying of his life.

By mastering his own death, he proved his supernatural for the last time.

However, another trance struck:

I, the founder of the Han Dynasty, am I just a cloth cloth favored by the mandate of heaven, or the son of Jiaolong? I, this dying face, is it just a little different from ordinary people, or is it unspeakably expensive? Do I have 72 black moles on my left leg, which I never show?

Portrait of Liu Bang. Source: Internet

01

As early as when Liu Bang started his business to fight the world, supernatural stories about him had begun to circulate.

Liu Bang was originally a grassroots official in the Qin Dynasty system - the pavilion chief. Once, he was in charge of escorting the apprentices to Lishan to repair the emperor's mausoleum, but after walking not far, many of the apprentices had already escaped. According to this situation, it is estimated that by the time they arrived at Lishan, the people would have already escaped. So he stopped, drank a drink, and then took advantage of the darkness to release all the servants: "Flee for your lives, and so will I." This incident marked Liu Bang's transformation from a defender of the Qin Dynasty to a rebel. Seeing him so righteous, more than a dozen of the servants expressed their willingness to go with him on the spot. Liu Bang took these people to escape in the mountains of Mangxian and Dangxian (now known as Mangdangshan) and embarked on the road of anti-Qin entrepreneurship.

Then, the magic began to happen. Sima Qian's "Historical Records: Gaozu Benji" records:

Gaozu was drunk, and the night path was in the middle of the road, so that one person went forward. The former also reported: "There is a big snake in front of me, and I am willing to return it." Gao Zu was drunk and said: "Strong men walk, why be afraid!" "Before, draw your sword and smote the snake. Then the serpent was divided into two and opened. Miles of line, drunk, because of lying. When the descendants came to the snake house, an old woman cried at night. When people asked why they wept, they said, "When people kill my son, they cry." The man said, "What is the killing of a woman?" The concubine said: "My son, the white emperor, turned into a snake, when he was in charge, now he is the son of the red emperor, so he cries." "People think that their concubines are dishonest and want to flog them, but they do not see them because they are overlooked. Descendants to, Gao Zujue. Later generations told Gao Zu, Gao Zu was happy and conceited. The followers are increasingly fearful.

During the Qin and Han dynasties, the common phrase used to greet people when they met was "Wu Other" (whether there is a snake or not), which is the same as asking "Have you eaten" now. It can be seen that the snake infestation at that time was very serious. Liu Bang got drunk, borrowed wine to strengthen his courage, and raised his sword to kill a white snake that stood in the way - this is the case, even now it is not very rare, at most it shows that Liu Bang's courage is indeed extraordinary.

But in the process of spreading this matter, there was a strange plot, Sima Qian told from a third perspective, an old woman came to her son crying at night, saying that his son had been killed. They asked her, "Why was your son killed?" The old woman said, "My son is the White Emperor, turned into a snake, blocked the way, and was killed by the Red Emperor." After Liu Bang woke up, he knew that the old woman was looking for her son, and he was overjoyed. And his followers were even more in awe of him.

Just when Liu Bang killed the White Snake, Chen Sheng and Wu Guang had already raised the anti-Qin Yi banner in Daze Township, shouting the slogan "The prince will have a kind of Xiangning". According to the record of "Historical Records of Chen Shijia", after Chen Sheng and Wu Guang conspired, they went to a soothsayer to divinate the good fortune:

The diviner knew what he meant, and said: "Everything is done in one step, and there is merit." But what the hell is the foot of the divination? Chen Sheng, Wu Guangxi, reciting ghosts, said: "This teaches me to be the first to threaten the ears." Naidan Shubo said "Chen Shengwang", put it in the belly of the fish. The pawn buys fish to cook, and gets the book in the belly of the fish, which is strange. In the cong ancestral hall next to Wu Guangzhi, there was a bonfire at night, and the fox shouted: "Da Chuxing, King Chen Sheng." "The pawns are terrified at night. On Sunday, stroke is often spoken, and it all refers to Chen Sheng.

In this account, Sima Qian restores the whole process of these two uprisers "pretending to be gods and ghosts" from the first perspective of Chen Sheng and Wu Guang almost the whole time: the soothsayers knew Chen Sheng and Wu Guang's intentions, so they followed their wishes to say what they liked to hear, and then instructed them to ask the ghosts and gods for divination. It's not enough to ask people, but also to ask ghosts and gods? Chen Sheng quickly understood the soothsayer's intentions: "This is just to teach us to use ghosts and gods to intimidate everyone. He wrote the words "Chen Shengwang" on the silk with dansha and put it into the stomach of the fish waiting to be sold. The soldiers came back to cook the fish, found the silk book in the belly of the fish, and began to believe that it was a hint from heaven. At night, Chen Sheng secretly sent Wu Guang to the temple in the jungle next to the station, lit a fire, and pretended to be a fox howling: "Great Chu will prosper, and Chen Sheng is the king." "The soldiers were terrified all night. The next day, everyone talked a lot, looked at Chen Sheng, and just waited for him to give an order to follow this chosen one.

"Historical Records" is really a very clever history book. When Sima Qian wrote this book, it was Liu Bang's great-grandson Liu Che who was in charge of the world, and Liu Bang's entrepreneurship had already been successful, and about a hundred years had passed since the failure of Chen Sheng and Wu Guang's uprising. In the context of such an era, some things must be hidden, and some things can be written directly. Therefore, the failed Chen Sheng, Wu Guang, and Danshu Huming's actions were ruthlessly exposed; The successful Liu Bang, the legend of lifting a sword and cutting a snake continues to be deified.

However, Sima Qian also seems to be silently telling readers that the story of Chen Sheng and Liu Bang is actually the intertextuality of history, that they are mirror images of each other, and that a hoax can be a myth and a myth can be a hoax. Everything depends on the final result, winning is a myth, losing is a game.

Portrait of Sima Qian. Source: Internet

After the fall of the Han Dynasty, historians did not have to bear the political pressure of concealing Liu Bang's entrepreneurial story like Sima Qian, so they easily discovered the deification and fiction from the legend of his sword and snake slashing. When Zhu Xi of the Southern Song Dynasty discussed the authenticity of the historical affairs with his disciples, he once directly said: "Those who have done it during this period are like cutting snakes; If you can't do it, it's like the Danshu Fox Ming. "Taking Liu Bang and Chen Sheng's case as an analogy, it couldn't be more appropriate. Yang Xunji of the Ming Dynasty said more bluntly: "In the matter of cutting snakes, Pei Gong entrusted himself with the body of a god, and shocked the ears of the foolish couple in the world." The Great Rainbow and the Great Ni, the Canglong Red Dragon, the Black of the Flowing Fire, and the Fish of the Leaping Boat are all the ones who rise up the Zhao Emperor. This plan to cut the snake is also set up. "It exposes the trick of the entrepreneurial emperor to pretend to be Fu Rui and trust the gods.

The problem is that the foolish man and the foolish woman have always believed in this, so when the story of Liu Bang beheading the snake evolved into the myth of the Red Emperor beheading the White Emperor, "the followers became more and more fearful" - with the help of fabricated supernatural stories, Liu Bang gained political influence for the first time.

02

Liu Bang, who tasted the sweetness, will inevitably make up his miraculous deeds again. And so more and more miracles came to him:

Qin Shi Huang often said that "there is a son of heaven in the southeast", so he was disgusted with it because of his eastward travel. Gaozu was suspicious, hidden, and hidden among the rocks of Mang, Dangshanze. Empress Lu asks for it with others and often gets it. Gao Zu asked strangely. Lu Hou said: "There are often clouds on the residence of the season, so the season is obtained from the past." "Gao Zu is happy. Peizhong's children may hear it, and they want to be attached to it.

Portrait of Qin Shi Huang. Source: Internet

During the Warring States period, the Qin and Han dynasties, the art of looking at qi was very popular, and it was believed that good luck and evil could be predicted by observing clouds. Even Qin Shi Huang was no exception, he believed in the predictions of the Wangqi Warlock, believing that "there is a Heavenly Son Qi in the southeast", which was a potential threat to the Qin Dynasty, but it was an opportunity for Liu Bang to cling. "Historical Records" said that Liu Bang was "self-doubting", that is, he was seated in the right seat, and thought that the "Son of Heaven" in the southeast should be in him. However, it is not enough to believe in yourself, you also need others to believe in it. So, Empress Lu came out to sing a double reed with her husband:

Liu Bang: I am hiding in the mountains, hiding as a thief, why are you so powerful, you can find me every time, as if you have opened the positioning?

Lv Pheasant: You are a person with your own aura, and you will shine wherever you hide.

Note Sima Qian's account that Empress Lü did not go to her husband alone, but "sought out from others" and brought others to find her with her. Without the participation of a third party, how could Liu Bang's story of his own cloud qi spread? After this wave of publicity, Liu Bang's popularity became even stronger, and Peizhong's children joined him one after another and followed him to do big things.

Portrait of Lu Pheasant. Source: Internet

In addition to the clouds, Liu Bang's physiognomy is also becoming more and more divine.

The first person to come out to tell the legend is still from his closest circle of acquaintances - his father-in-law Lu Gong and mother-in-law Lu Yuan. The two recounted why they married their baby daughter to a scoundrel who loves to lie, one sang red face and the other sang black face, and the focus was Liu Bang's face:

Lu Gong said: "There are few ministers who are good at looking at people, and there are many people, not as good as Ji Xiang, and I wish Ji to love himself." The minister has a daughter, and she is willing to be a concubine of Ji Ji. After drinking, Lu Yuan was angry with Lu Gong and said: "Gong Shi often wants to wonder this woman and nobles." Pei Ling is a good man, if you don't ask for it, why should you allow Liu Ji to be in vain? Lu Gong said: "This is not known to the sons and daughters." "Pawn and Liu Ji.

According to the "Historical Records", Lu Gong's family moved to Pei County to avoid the enemy. Because the relationship between Lu Gong and Pei County is very strong, he was warmly welcomed as soon as he arrived in the county, so Lu Gong held a feast, and the guests from all parties brought congratulatory gifts to cheer the party. Liu Bang, the head of the Surabaya Pavilion, also rushed to drink wine, but he didn't have a penny in his pocket, so he wrapped an empty red envelope, lied about "10,000 congratulatory money", and swaggered into the door to go to the banquet.

As soon as Lu Gong saw Liu Bang's face, not only was he not angry, he treated him as a guest, but he also specially left him behind after he was full of wine and food, and said: "I have a daughter, and I want to marry you as a wife and take care of the housework for you." "Why? Lu Gong said, because I have countless faces, I have never seen such a good face as you. Lu Yuan on the side held back the fire in her belly, and when the guests dispersed, she complained to Lu Gong: "You often say that you want our daughter to marry a good family, and the county order of Pei County has asked for marriage several times, but you don't agree." How can you casually promise her to a scoundrel today? Lu Gong didn't explain, and replied contemptuously: "What do women know." So they married their daughter Lu Pheasant to Liu Bang.

A few years after marriage, Liu Bang and Lu Pheasant already had two children. At this time, another old man who is good at face-to-face appeared at the right time:

Lv Hou and his two sons lived in the middle of the field, and an old father invited him to drink, and Lv Hou fed him. The old father said to Lu Hou: "Mrs. is a noble person in the world." The two sons of Ling Xiang, seeing filial piety, said: "Mrs. is so noble, but this man is also." "Xianglu Yuan, both are expensive. The old father has gone, Gao Zushi came from the side, and Lu Hougu has been a guest, and my son and mother are all noble. Gao Zu asked, "Not far away." "I chased after him and asked my father. The old father said: "The countryman's wife and baby are all like kings, and the kings are indescribably noble." Gao Zu Nai Xie said: "As my father said, I dare not forget my virtue." "And Gao Zugui, so I don't know where my father is.

That day, Lu Pheasant and his two children were weeding in the field, and an old man passed by and asked for some water to drink, so Lu Pheasant invited him to dinner. The old man then gave Lu Pheasant a face, saying that she was a "noble person in the world", and then showed the two children, and they all said that they were "noble". After looking at the photo, the old man left. It happened that Liu Bang came to the field, heard Lu Pheasant say this, and hurried to catch up. When he caught up with the old man, he asked him to show himself his face, and the old man said, "Your appearance is unspeakably expensive." After listening to this, Liu Bang thanked the old man: "When I am developed, I will not forget you." ”

In historical documents, this mysterious old man completely disappeared after meeting Liu Bang's family of four. Even if Liu Bang went to look for him after he became rich and rich, he couldn't find him. So, as the earliest person to identify Liu Bang's face as "unspeakably expensive", I am afraid that there is a question mark about whether there is such an old man in the world. Judging from the entire physiognomy process, the old man's disappearance out of thin air means that the promoters behind the spread of this matter can only be Liu Bang and his wife.

So far, through the appearance of his father-in-law and the appearance of the so-called mysterious old man, Liu Bang's "unspeakably expensive" face has gradually "gone out of the circle", strengthening people's perception of him. And, the more it spreads, the more bizarre it becomes. People not only believe that he is "accurate and long-faced", but also believe that he "has seventy-two sunspots on his left thigh" - although it is difficult for anyone to see such a hidden part of him except Lu Pheasant.

The crux of the matter is that in that chaotic era when anti-Qin beacons were burning everywhere, Liu Bang, who started by preaching supernatural stories, really reaped the dividends of Shintoism, and quickly rose to become a force with influence on the local political situation.

In the "Historical Records", in the first year of Qin II (209 BC), after Liu Bang instigated the people of Pei County to kill the county commander, the county father opened the city gate to welcome him and wanted to elect him as the new county commander. Liu Bang was prevaricating at first, saying something like "limited ability and embarrassment", and at this time, the fathers and elders said the reasons why they wanted to promote Liu Bang:

"The treasures and monsters of Liu Ji that I have heard in my life are expensive, and divination is not as auspicious as Liu Ji."

We have heard many miraculous things about you, and it seems that you should be honored. Moreover, we have gone through divination, and there is indeed no more auspicious person than you.

You see, what an interesting record. Through the third-party perspective (fathers and elders), Sima Qian shows that Liu Bang's supernatural story publicity has demonstrated a strong social influence in the early days of his business, and has become increasingly popular among the people. In other words, when everyone listens to such a story, they are easily "brainwashed" and convinced of the content of the story; Then, in turn, under the strong psychological suggestion, through divination and other supernatural means, the supernatural features of the protagonist of the story are further confirmed.

As the protagonist of the story, Liu Bang is naturally more eager to repeat his miracles, so we see that he was made the queen of Pei Gong:

The Yellow Emperor of the Ancestral Hall, the sacrifice is especially in Peiting, and the drum flag is provocative, and the banners are red. By the killed snake White Emperor, the killer is the Red Emperor, so the red.

Liu Bang's miraculous deeds of beheading the White Snake come in handy here again: the military flag of the incident is red, because he is the Red Emperor who beheaded the White Emperor, so he must worship red, so that more people will think that he is the Red Emperor. In this way, between the dissemination of the story and the actual action, a self-consistent closed loop is successfully constructed, which continues to occupy the minds of followers.

In the war at the end of the Qin Dynasty, Liu Bang, who rose from the grassroots, eventually became the two major forces in the anti-Qin military camp together with Xiang Yu, who was born in the aristocracy. In 207 BC, Ziying, the puppet ruler of the Qin Dynasty, was forced to cancel his imperial title and change his name to King Qin. Forty-six days later, Liu Bang attacked Xianyang before Xiang Yu, and Qin died. The next four years were the stage of Chu and Han hegemony in which Liu Bang and Xiang Yu competed for the world. Facing Xiang Yu, who has been a nobleman for many generations, Liu Bang's background seems to be lackluster, so as the struggle between Chu and Han enters the white-hot stage, his early deeds begin to deify:

Often from Wang Yuan, Wu Cheng wine, drunk and lying, Wu Cheng, Wang Yuan see that there are often dragons on it, strange. Every time Gaozu left to drink, the wine was several times. And strangely, in the past few years, these two companies often abandon their responsibilities.

This is to say that Liu Bang liked to drink in his early years, and often went to Wu Cheng and Wang Yuan's wine shops to drink on credit, and slept when he was drunk. When he fell asleep, Wu Ying and Wang Yuan saw that there were dragons hovering above him. The two also felt strange before, as long as Liu Bang stayed in the wine shop to drink every time, the business of the wine store was very good, and the customers were full, and the wine sold was several times as high as usual. When they saw the strange thing that a dragon appeared, at the end of the year, the two destroyed the debt and forgave Liu Bang's debt.

The focus of the story is on the "dragon". Whether it is the previous deeds of beheading the white snake or the "unspeakably expensive" face, at this time, it has been implemented on the dragon that is more concrete, more powerful and a symbol of status. And in the end, it points to Liu Bang's life experience:

The father is called Taigong, and the mother is called Liu Yuan. First, when Liu Yuan tasted Daze, she met God in a dream. When the thunder and lightning were obscure, the prince looked at it, and saw the dragon on it. has a body, and then gave birth to a high ancestor.

According to the record of "Historical Records", Liu Yuan once rested in a place with abundant water and grass, and met God in a dream. At that time, there was thunder and lightning, and Mrs. Liu hurriedly ran over to take a look, only to see the dragon flying above, so Liu Yuan was pregnant with Liu Bang.

Combined with Liu Bang's self-deification process since the beginning of his business, this mysterious and mysterious life experience must have been fabricated by himself and vigorously publicized to the outside world. Historically, this miraculous process of conception has been called the "Myth of Birth", also known as the "Myth of Chastity Conception". It is a type of myth about the birth of the first human beings. During the Warring States Period, the Qin and Han dynasties, the myths about the birth of the ancestor of the Zhou people, such as Houji, the ancestor of the Shang people, and the great cause of the ancestors of the Qin people, were widely circulated, and became a typical legend for people of all ethnic groups to trace the life of their ancestors. Liu Bang took inspiration from this and forged his own birth myth according to the same type of story.

With Liu Bang's defeat of Xiang Yu in 202 BC (southeast of present-day Lingbi County, Anhui) and the establishment of the Han Dynasty, the lie/myth of the "Son of the Dragon" rose to become the historical memory of the entire dynasty and was passed down from generation to generation. During the Qin and Han dynasties, people generally believed that "the life of an emperor must be strange, and if it is not seen in things, it will be effective and dreamy", and Liu Bang's success in turn confirmed his extraordinary life experience, and wrote the best authentic footnote for the history of the "dragon species". At this point, the emperor (Liu Bang and his descendants) mythologized history, and the people (including the writer Sima Qian) historicized mythology.

Portrait of Xiang Yu. Source: Internet

03

When mythology becomes history, we can't help but ask: Is it the "heaven-destined" things such as the Red Emperor killing the White Emperor, Mang Dangyunqi, noble face, and the son of the dragon that created Liu Bang's success, or the ability and courage to create history with the power of the puppet to create Liu Bang's success?

In this regard, Liu Bang himself is also contradictory.

After becoming emperor, Liu Bang held a banquet in the South Palace of Luoyang, the theme of which was to discuss with the generals: "Why do I have the world?" What is the reason why the Xiang family lost the world? "——Why did I, Liu Bang, win the world? Why did Xiang Yu lose the world?

Obviously, this is a high-level review of the results of the Chu-Han hegemony.

Gao Qi and Wang Ling replied: "Your Majesty will send people to attack the city and seize the land, and the places that you have captured and surrendered will be divided among those who have made meritorious contributions, and they will share the benefits with the people of the world." And Xiang Yu is jealous of the virtuous and virtuous, the meritorious are jealous, and the talented are suspicious, and he does not give merit to others when he wins the battle, and he does not give benefits to others when he takes land, which is the reason why he lost the world. ”

Liu Bang said, you only know one thing, but you don't know the other. The reasons for his own success are:

In the planning and planning of the husband, the decisive victory is thousands of miles away, and I am not as good as the ovary (Zhang Liang). Town the country, care for the people, give wages, and keep the grain, I am not as good as Xiao He. Even an army of millions, the battle will be won, the attack must be taken, I am not as good as Han Xin. These three are all masterpieces, I can use them, so I take the world. Xiang Yu has a fan increase and can't use it, so he is captured by me.

It turned out that what Liu Bang valued most was his ability to recognize, believe in, and employ people. He didn't mention anything other than his ability, let alone anything like clouds, physiognomy, and dragon species.

Prior to this, the generals persuaded Liu Bang to become the emperor, and the reason was also Liu Bang's personality and ability, saying that he "started small, punished the violent rebellion, pacified the four seas, and the meritorious ones were named princes", people like you are not called emperors, then we will die Yunyun.

You see, they didn't mention anything about the gods. Not only did he not mention the matter of "dragon species", but also said that Liu Bang was "subtle" and was born in the grass. The implication is that the success of the grassroots is unprecedented, which is much more difficult than the success of the aristocracy, so it is more powerful and greater.

It can be seen that Liu Bang and his hero group are very clear that their entrepreneurial success has nothing to do with the miraculous stories they promote. Whether they boast or pat on the back, they are emphasizing that Liu Bang's ability and character are the fundamental reasons for the final victory in the troubled times. There is zero capital outside of ability, and there is nothing more worthy of respect than the success of the horseman.

But on the other hand, Liu Bang has come a long way on the road of self-deification. From the beginning of his business, he superimposed "supernatural functions" on himself little by little to attract people; By the time the Han Dynasty was founded, his public image had changed from an early scoundrel to a great son of a dragon.

Similarly, most of his heroes are also from humble backgrounds, except for Zhang Liang, who has a noble family background, most of them are "outlaws", these people are in and out of the prime minister, obviously breaking the previous aristocratic political tradition, how to explain this unprecedented political pattern?

Again, this requires the blessing of political mythology to better explain the process of transformation of power holders from nobles to commoners. Continuing to sanctify Liu Bang and endow the monarch with the concept of divine mandate of heaven will undoubtedly put an end to the rebellious trend of thought since the end of the Qin Dynasty that "princes and princes will have a kind of Xiangning" and "he can take his place", and prevent more commoners from taking risks to win imperial power.

With the stability of the new regime, Liu Bang and his group of heroes gradually downplayed the ability factor of the entrepreneurial process, and replaced it with a miraculous view of the Mandate of Heaven to explain the history of the rise and fall of dynasties. As a result, the scene of the Western Han Dynasty's initial ability and character was like a flash in the pan, and then disappeared completely, while the supernatural story about Liu Bang was widely circulated and intensified.

It doesn't matter whether the supernatural story is true or false in the real world, what matters is whether it is accepted and believed in the world of ideas. This is the fact that consciousness determines the facts.

Fan Xu, the founding father of the Western Han Dynasty, once asked the thinker Lu Jia: "From ancient times to the present, people say that the emperor is ordered by heaven and has auspicious signs in advance, is this really the case?" ”

Portrait of Fan Xu. Source: Internet

Lu Jia replied in the affirmative and explained:

The husband can see the wine and food, the lights and the money will be spent, the noon magpie noise and pedestrians will come, the spider will gather and the hundred things will be happy, the small will be both signs, and the big ones will be the same. Therefore, it is said that the eyes are cursed, the lights and sparks are worshipped, the noon magpie noise is fed, and the spider set is released. What's more, the great treasure of the world, the heavy position of the king, how can it be obtained if it is not the mandate of heaven? Ruibao letter also, the day to treasure for the faith, should be the virtue of people, so it is said that Ruiying. There is no faith in the destiny of heaven, and it cannot be taken by force.

If your eyelids jump, you must have good food and wine; When the lamp sparks, you get money; At noon, when the magpie crows, someone will come; When spiders gather, there will be joy. Little things have signs, and big things are even more so. Therefore, if the eyelids jump, you should pray, when the lamp sparks, you should give thanks, if the magpie crows at noon, if you feed it, and if the spiders gather, you must release it. What's more, it is the emperor's important position, not given by God, how can you get it? Heaven will show signs to the chosen one, and if it were not for this, it would not be possible to obtain the world by force.

It can be seen that in the late Qin and early Han dynasties, the concept of the Mandate of Heaven for the transfer of imperial power has been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. The more poor and lowly they are, the more they must deify themselves, so as to show the traces of "being ordered by heaven" and win the support of the people. In a sense, Liu Bang's success is the victory of grassroots god-making.

Looking back at history, Chen Sheng and Wu Guang, who shouted "The prince will have a kind of Xiangning", failed, and Liu Bang, who pretended to be a "dragon species", succeeded. When order was restored, the rulers of the empire needed the divine view of the mandate of heaven, not the revolutionary theory that everyone could claim to be kings and emperors. This was the new demand of that era.

04

The highest political myth is one in which even oneself is deeply convinced. At the last moment of his life, Liu Bang, the ancestor of the Han Dynasty, who believed that "life is in heaven, although Bian Que is of no benefit", refused to treat his illness, and confirmed the authenticity of the concept of destiny he preached with his death. So far, born in the Mandate of Heaven and died in the Mandate of Heaven, Liu Bang's life has formed a closed loop of magical life, which can be called a beginning and an end.

After Liu Bang's death, the imperial myth that arose from him is still alive and well.

We know that in the official history, the names of Liu Bang's parents are missing, only called Mrs. Liu and Liu Yuan, and according to the current names, they are Uncle Liu and Aunt Liu. This also shows Liu Bang's humble background from the side, because it was difficult for ordinary people to leave their names at that time. Even Liu Bang himself may not have an official name before he was developed, saying that "Liu Ji" is most likely named according to the ranking of Uncle Ji, indicating that he is the youngest son in the family, and the emperor changed his name to "Bang", and the word "Ji" was used.

Interestingly, while deifying Liu Bang, the Weishu of the Han Dynasty traced back to the origin of the deification of his parents. As a result, Mrs. Liu and Liu Yuan began to have their own names, named Liu Zhijia and Wang Hanshi respectively. This is not over, and the later history books further say:

Emperor Han Gao (Liu Bang)'s father was called Liu Zhijia. The mother of Zhijia, dreaming of the red bird is like a dragon playing herself, and she was born to be the emperor of Taishang. The mother's name contains the beginning, which is the queen of Zhaoling. After Zhao Ling swam in Luochi, there is a jade chicken rank red pearl, carved Yuying, swallow this king. Zhao Ling took it and swallowed it, and slept in Daze, dreaming and meeting God. When the thunder and lightning were obscure, the emperor looked at it, saw the dragon on it, and then had a body and gave birth to the season, which was for the high emperor.

Here, Liu Bang's father's life experience was also deified, and at the same time added extraordinary opportunities to Liu Bang's mother, and this series of mythological writings all demonstrated Liu Bang's destiny as the Son of Heaven.

Not only that, Liu Bang's "long sword" that slashed the white snake also started a journey of apotheosis.

As a physical object, this snake sword is respected as an important weapon of the country and enjoys the same status as the jade seal of the country. In the Han Dynasty, at the enthronement ceremony of the new emperor, the snake sword was an important prop, symbolizing the legitimacy of the transfer of power. It was not until the reign of Emperor Hui of Jin that the Luoyang arsenal caught fire, and the snake sword disappeared from history. However, as a snake sword in the spiritual sense, it has always been a historical resource for later emperors to build personal authority and highlight entrepreneurial achievements. Li Shimin once said that Liu Bang "lifted a three-foot sword to determine the world", and he himself "raised a three-foot sword to determine the four seas". Zhu Yuanzhang once said when he remembered Liu Bang: "But I and you, not a ruler of land and a people, carry a three-foot sword, and be the son of heaven." ”

Painting Zhu Yuanzhang like this is actually a kind of out-of-phase deification. Source: Internet

No matter how the dynasty changes, the political myth opened by Liu Bang continues in this way, and the mythical history of the founding of the emperor of the past dynasties is constructed layer by layer. It can be said that a series of political myths constructed by Liu Bang have become a classic model for the founding monarchs and usurpers of power in later generations to create the destiny of heaven for themselves.

Emperors from humble backgrounds need to be self-exalted, so the myth of inspiration continues to circulate. Fu Jian's mother "prayed for a son in the Ximen Leopard Temple, and her night dream was with God, so she was pregnant, and she was born in December." Zhu Yuanzhang's mother "gave a pill to the dream god, put it in the palm of the light, swallow it, and the fragrance in the mouth", and gave birth to the later destined son of heaven.

As the founding emperor, you must be shrouded in divine light, so Zhao Kuangyin, Yelu Abaoji, Zhu Yuanzhang and others all have the same genius as Liu Bang before their careers, either "red light around the room", or "red light at night".

Extraordinary people must have extraordinary appearances, therefore, Sun Quan "Fang Yi has a big mouth, and his eyes are fine", Liu Bei is "seven feet five inches long, hanging his hands and knees, and Gu Zi sees his ears", Liu Yao "is nine feet three inches long, hanging his hands over his knees, born with white eyebrows, red eyes, no more than 100 beards, and all are five feet long", Lu Guang "is eight feet four inches long, his eyes are heavy, and his left elbow has a flesh mark"......

There must be people with good looks, so Shi Shiliang showed Li Yuan his appearance and said: "The public bone law is very good, and he will be the master, I am willing to love myself, and don't forget to say disdain." With Lao Ru showing Zhu Yuanzhang the eight characters of his birthday, he pinched his fingers and counted for a long time, and held back a few words: "I have a lot of life, but it is not as valuable as your life." ”

There must be a dragon, so, when Yang Jian was young, his mother hugged him, and suddenly saw "the horns of his head come out, and his body rises". Scared, his mother threw him on the ground. A nun happened to witness this scene of "abuse" of infants and young children, and said quietly: "I could have become a dragon in the world earlier, but it seems that it will be a few years later to be so frightened by you." Not long after Zhu Yuanzhang was born, an old man came to the door, and when he entered the door, he shouted: "You have a dragon in your house." ”

It can be said that an emperor is embarrassed to appear in the history books if he has no miraculous deeds.

Throughout the myth of the emperor, when he was born, before he became the emperor, and when he ascended the throne, they were the three key nodes in the rendering of the divine mandate of heaven, and they were also the "hardest hit areas" where the founding emperors were deified in the history books, thus forming a set of patterned historical writing routines. And all of this can be attributed to Liu Bang's political legacy.

The most recent "Liu Bang-style political myth" occurred in 1915, before the President of the Republic of China Yuan Shikai became emperor.

It is said that the bath for Yuan Shikai was built at that time, and after he took a bath for the first time, when the waiter cleaned the bath, he found that there were several extra-large scales at the bottom of the pool, shining. Since then, every time Yuan Shikai bathes, a few scales remain at the bottom of the pool. Soon, the news that Yuan Shikai's bath must have dragon scales falling off spread all over the streets and alleys of Beijing, and the more bizarre it became.

It was not until Yuan Shikai's restoration failed and returned to Huangquan that the trick of "reincarnation of the true dragon" was exposed. It turned out that it was Yuan Shikai who instructed his little wife to go to the fish market to buy the scales of big fish in the name of dispensing medicine, and every time he took a bath, he secretly threw the scales in the bath.

Times will always progress, history will always disenchant, so myths have become jokes. In his later years, Liu Bang sat on a high dragon chair, looking at the empty hall, and had a trance-like feeling of his origin and appearance:

I, the founder of the Han Dynasty, am I the son of Liu Taigong and Liu Yuan, or the son of Jiaolong? I, this old face, is it just a little different from ordinary people, or is it unspeakably expensive? Do I have 72 black moles on my left leg?

But he was just in a common-sense trance.

For so many years, he had long believed in his own miracles.

While crusading against the rebellious Yingbu, he was wounded by an arrow and became seriously ill when he returned to Chang'an. Empress Lu invited the best doctor for him, and the doctor packed the ticket and said, "The disease can be cured." ”

When he heard this, he became angry, and scolded the doctor on the spot: "Isn't it the destiny of heaven that I won the world with a civilian in cloth and a three-foot sword in my hand?" Fate is in the sky, although there is Bian Que, what is the use! ”

He rewarded the doctor with fifty pounds of gold, sent him away, and entered the dying of his life.

By mastering his own death, he proved his supernatural for the last time.

However, another trance struck:

I, the founder of the Han Dynasty, am I just a cloth cloth favored by the mandate of heaven, or the son of Jiaolong? I, this dying face, is it just a little different from ordinary people, or is it unspeakably expensive? Do I have 72 black moles on my left leg, which I never show?

Portrait of Liu Bang. Source: Internet

01

As early as when Liu Bang started his business to fight the world, supernatural stories about him had begun to circulate.

Liu Bang was originally a grassroots official in the Qin Dynasty system - the pavilion chief. Once, he was in charge of escorting the apprentices to Lishan to repair the emperor's mausoleum, but after walking not far, many of the apprentices had already escaped. According to this situation, it is estimated that by the time they arrived at Lishan, the people would have already escaped. So he stopped, drank a drink, and then took advantage of the darkness to release all the servants: "Flee for your lives, and so will I." This incident marked Liu Bang's transformation from a defender of the Qin Dynasty to a rebel. Seeing him so righteous, more than a dozen of the servants expressed their willingness to go with him on the spot. Liu Bang took these people to escape in the mountains of Mangxian and Dangxian (now known as Mangdangshan) and embarked on the road of anti-Qin entrepreneurship.

Then, the magic began to happen. Sima Qian's "Historical Records: Gaozu Benji" records:

Gaozu was drunk, and the night path was in the middle of the road, so that one person went forward. The former also reported: "There is a big snake in front of me, and I am willing to return it." Gao Zu was drunk and said: "Strong men walk, why be afraid!" "Before, draw your sword and smote the snake. Then the serpent was divided into two and opened. Miles of line, drunk, because of lying. When the descendants came to the snake house, an old woman cried at night. When people asked why they wept, they said, "When people kill my son, they cry." The man said, "What is the killing of a woman?" The concubine said: "My son, the white emperor, turned into a snake, when he was in charge, now he is the son of the red emperor, so he cries." "People think that their concubines are dishonest and want to flog them, but they do not see them because they are overlooked. Descendants to, Gao Zujue. Later generations told Gao Zu, Gao Zu was happy and conceited. The followers are increasingly fearful.

During the Qin and Han dynasties, the common phrase used to greet people when they met was "Wu Other" (whether there is a snake or not), which is the same as asking "Have you eaten" now. It can be seen that the snake infestation at that time was very serious. Liu Bang got drunk, borrowed wine to strengthen his courage, and raised his sword to kill a white snake that stood in the way - this is the case, even now it is not very rare, at most it shows that Liu Bang's courage is indeed extraordinary.

But in the process of spreading this matter, there was a strange plot, Sima Qian told from a third perspective, an old woman came to her son crying at night, saying that his son had been killed. They asked her, "Why was your son killed?" The old woman said, "My son is the White Emperor, turned into a snake, blocked the way, and was killed by the Red Emperor." After Liu Bang woke up, he knew that the old woman was looking for her son, and he was overjoyed. And his followers were even more in awe of him.

Just when Liu Bang killed the White Snake, Chen Sheng and Wu Guang had already raised the anti-Qin Yi banner in Daze Township, shouting the slogan "The prince will have a kind of Xiangning". According to the record of "Historical Records of Chen Shijia", after Chen Sheng and Wu Guang conspired, they went to a soothsayer to divinate the good fortune:

The diviner knew what he meant, and said: "Everything is done in one step, and there is merit." But what the hell is the foot of the divination? Chen Sheng, Wu Guangxi, reciting ghosts, said: "This teaches me to be the first to threaten the ears." Naidan Shubo said "Chen Shengwang", put it in the belly of the fish. The pawn buys fish to cook, and gets the book in the belly of the fish, which is strange. In the cong ancestral hall next to Wu Guangzhi, there was a bonfire at night, and the fox shouted: "Da Chuxing, King Chen Sheng." "The pawns are terrified at night. On Sunday, stroke is often spoken, and it all refers to Chen Sheng.

In this account, Sima Qian restores the whole process of these two uprisers "pretending to be gods and ghosts" from the first perspective of Chen Sheng and Wu Guang almost the whole time: the soothsayers knew Chen Sheng and Wu Guang's intentions, so they followed their wishes to say what they liked to hear, and then instructed them to ask the ghosts and gods for divination. It's not enough to ask people, but also to ask ghosts and gods? Chen Sheng quickly understood the soothsayer's intentions: "This is just to teach us to use ghosts and gods to intimidate everyone. He wrote the words "Chen Shengwang" on the silk with dansha and put it into the stomach of the fish waiting to be sold. The soldiers came back to cook the fish, found the silk book in the belly of the fish, and began to believe that it was a hint from heaven. At night, Chen Sheng secretly sent Wu Guang to the temple in the jungle next to the station, lit a fire, and pretended to be a fox howling: "Great Chu will prosper, and Chen Sheng is the king." "The soldiers were terrified all night. The next day, everyone talked a lot, looked at Chen Sheng, and just waited for him to give an order to follow this chosen one.

"Historical Records" is really a very clever history book. When Sima Qian wrote this book, it was Liu Bang's great-grandson Liu Che who was in charge of the world, and Liu Bang's entrepreneurship had already been successful, and about a hundred years had passed since the failure of Chen Sheng and Wu Guang's uprising. In the context of such an era, some things must be hidden, and some things can be written directly. Therefore, the failed Chen Sheng, Wu Guang, and Danshu Huming's actions were ruthlessly exposed; The successful Liu Bang, the legend of lifting a sword and cutting a snake continues to be deified.

However, Sima Qian also seems to be silently telling readers that the story of Chen Sheng and Liu Bang is actually the intertextuality of history, that they are mirror images of each other, and that a hoax can be a myth and a myth can be a hoax. Everything depends on the final result, winning is a myth, losing is a game.

Portrait of Sima Qian. Source: Internet

After the fall of the Han Dynasty, historians did not have to bear the political pressure of concealing Liu Bang's entrepreneurial story like Sima Qian, so they easily discovered the deification and fiction from the legend of his sword and snake slashing. When Zhu Xi of the Southern Song Dynasty discussed the authenticity of the historical affairs with his disciples, he once directly said: "Those who have done it during this period are like cutting snakes; If you can't do it, it's like the Danshu Fox Ming. "Taking Liu Bang and Chen Sheng's case as an analogy, it couldn't be more appropriate. Yang Xunji of the Ming Dynasty said more bluntly: "In the matter of cutting snakes, Pei Gong entrusted himself with the body of a god, and shocked the ears of the foolish couple in the world." The Great Rainbow and the Great Ni, the Canglong Red Dragon, the Black of the Flowing Fire, and the Fish of the Leaping Boat are all the ones who rise up the Zhao Emperor. This plan to cut the snake is also set up. "It exposes the trick of the entrepreneurial emperor to pretend to be Fu Rui and trust the gods.

The problem is that the foolish man and the foolish woman have always believed in this, so when the story of Liu Bang beheading the snake evolved into the myth of the Red Emperor beheading the White Emperor, "the followers became more and more fearful" - with the help of fabricated supernatural stories, Liu Bang gained political influence for the first time.

02

Liu Bang, who tasted the sweetness, will inevitably make up his miraculous deeds again. And so more and more miracles came to him:

Qin Shi Huang often said that "there is a son of heaven in the southeast", so he was disgusted with it because of his eastward travel. Gaozu was suspicious, hidden, and hidden among the rocks of Mang, Dangshanze. Empress Lu asks for it with others and often gets it. Gao Zu asked strangely. Lu Hou said: "There are often clouds on the residence of the season, so the season is obtained from the past." "Gao Zu is happy. Peizhong's children may hear it, and they want to be attached to it.

Portrait of Qin Shi Huang. Source: Internet

During the Warring States period, the Qin and Han dynasties, the art of looking at qi was very popular, and it was believed that good luck and evil could be predicted by observing clouds. Even Qin Shi Huang was no exception, he believed in the predictions of the Wangqi Warlock, believing that "there is a Heavenly Son Qi in the southeast", which was a potential threat to the Qin Dynasty, but it was an opportunity for Liu Bang to cling. "Historical Records" said that Liu Bang was "self-doubting", that is, he was seated in the right seat, and thought that the "Son of Heaven" in the southeast should be in him. However, it is not enough to believe in yourself, you also need others to believe in it. So, Empress Lu came out to sing a double reed with her husband:

Liu Bang: I am hiding in the mountains, hiding as a thief, why are you so powerful, you can find me every time, as if you have opened the positioning?

Lv Pheasant: You are a person with your own aura, and you will shine wherever you hide.

Note Sima Qian's account that Empress Lü did not go to her husband alone, but "sought out from others" and brought others to find her with her. Without the participation of a third party, how could Liu Bang's story of his own cloud qi spread? After this wave of publicity, Liu Bang's popularity became even stronger, and Peizhong's children joined him one after another and followed him to do big things.

Portrait of Lu Pheasant. Source: Internet

In addition to the clouds, Liu Bang's physiognomy is also becoming more and more divine.

The first person to come out to tell the legend is still from his closest circle of acquaintances - his father-in-law Lu Gong and mother-in-law Lu Yuan. The two recounted why they married their baby daughter to a scoundrel who loves to lie, one sang red face and the other sang black face, and the focus was Liu Bang's face:

Lu Gong said: "There are few ministers who are good at looking at people, and there are many people, not as good as Ji Xiang, and I wish Ji to love himself." The minister has a daughter, and she is willing to be a concubine of Ji Ji. After drinking, Lu Yuan was angry with Lu Gong and said: "Gong Shi often wants to wonder this woman and nobles." Pei Ling is a good man, if you don't ask for it, why should you allow Liu Ji to be in vain? Lu Gong said: "This is not known to the sons and daughters." "Pawn and Liu Ji.

According to the "Historical Records", Lu Gong's family moved to Pei County to avoid the enemy. Because the relationship between Lu Gong and Pei County is very strong, he was warmly welcomed as soon as he arrived in the county, so Lu Gong held a feast, and the guests from all parties brought congratulatory gifts to cheer the party. Liu Bang, the head of the Surabaya Pavilion, also rushed to drink wine, but he didn't have a penny in his pocket, so he wrapped an empty red envelope, lied about "10,000 congratulatory money", and swaggered into the door to go to the banquet.

As soon as Lu Gong saw Liu Bang's face, not only was he not angry, he treated him as a guest, but he also specially left him behind after he was full of wine and food, and said: "I have a daughter, and I want to marry you as a wife and take care of the housework for you." "Why? Lu Gong said, because I have countless faces, I have never seen such a good face as you. Lu Yuan on the side held back the fire in her belly, and when the guests dispersed, she complained to Lu Gong: "You often say that you want our daughter to marry a good family, and the county order of Pei County has asked for marriage several times, but you don't agree." How can you casually promise her to a scoundrel today? Lu Gong didn't explain, and replied contemptuously: "What do women know." So they married their daughter Lu Pheasant to Liu Bang.

A few years after marriage, Liu Bang and Lu Pheasant already had two children. At this time, another old man who is good at face-to-face appeared at the right time:

Lv Hou and his two sons lived in the middle of the field, and an old father invited him to drink, and Lv Hou fed him. The old father said to Lu Hou: "Mrs. is a noble person in the world." The two sons of Ling Xiang, seeing filial piety, said: "Mrs. is so noble, but this man is also." "Xianglu Yuan, both are expensive. The old father has gone, Gao Zushi came from the side, and Lu Hougu has been a guest, and my son and mother are all noble. Gao Zu asked, "Not far away." "I chased after him and asked my father. The old father said: "The countryman's wife and baby are all like kings, and the kings are indescribably noble." Gao Zu Nai Xie said: "As my father said, I dare not forget my virtue." "And Gao Zugui, so I don't know where my father is.

That day, Lu Pheasant and his two children were weeding in the field, and an old man passed by and asked for some water to drink, so Lu Pheasant invited him to dinner. The old man then gave Lu Pheasant a face, saying that she was a "noble person in the world", and then showed the two children, and they all said that they were "noble". After looking at the photo, the old man left. It happened that Liu Bang came to the field, heard Lu Pheasant say this, and hurried to catch up. When he caught up with the old man, he asked him to show himself his face, and the old man said, "Your appearance is unspeakably expensive." After listening to this, Liu Bang thanked the old man: "When I am developed, I will not forget you." ”

In historical documents, this mysterious old man completely disappeared after meeting Liu Bang's family of four. Even if Liu Bang went to look for him after he became rich and rich, he couldn't find him. So, as the earliest person to identify Liu Bang's face as "unspeakably expensive", I am afraid that there is a question mark about whether there is such an old man in the world. Judging from the entire physiognomy process, the old man's disappearance out of thin air means that the promoters behind the spread of this matter can only be Liu Bang and his wife.

So far, through the appearance of his father-in-law and the appearance of the so-called mysterious old man, Liu Bang's "unspeakably expensive" face has gradually "gone out of the circle", strengthening people's perception of him. And, the more it spreads, the more bizarre it becomes. People not only believe that he is "accurate and long-faced", but also believe that he "has seventy-two sunspots on his left thigh" - although it is difficult for anyone to see such a hidden part of him except Lu Pheasant.

The crux of the matter is that in that chaotic era when anti-Qin beacons were burning everywhere, Liu Bang, who started by preaching supernatural stories, really reaped the dividends of Shintoism, and quickly rose to become a force with influence on the local political situation.

In the "Historical Records", in the first year of Qin II (209 BC), after Liu Bang instigated the people of Pei County to kill the county commander, the county father opened the city gate to welcome him and wanted to elect him as the new county commander. Liu Bang was prevaricating at first, saying something like "limited ability and embarrassment", and at this time, the fathers and elders said the reasons why they wanted to promote Liu Bang:

"The treasures and monsters of Liu Ji that I have heard in my life are expensive, and divination is not as auspicious as Liu Ji."

We have heard many miraculous things about you, and it seems that you should be honored. Moreover, we have gone through divination, and there is indeed no more auspicious person than you.

You see, what an interesting record. Through the third-party perspective (fathers and elders), Sima Qian shows that Liu Bang's supernatural story publicity has demonstrated a strong social influence in the early days of his business, and has become increasingly popular among the people. In other words, when everyone listens to such a story, they are easily "brainwashed" and convinced of the content of the story; Then, in turn, under the strong psychological suggestion, through divination and other supernatural means, the supernatural features of the protagonist of the story are further confirmed.

As the protagonist of the story, Liu Bang is naturally more eager to repeat his miracles, so we see that he was made the queen of Pei Gong:

The Yellow Emperor of the Ancestral Hall, the sacrifice is especially in Peiting, and the drum flag is provocative, and the banners are red. By the killed snake White Emperor, the killer is the Red Emperor, so the red.

Liu Bang's miraculous deeds of beheading the White Snake come in handy here again: the military flag of the incident is red, because he is the Red Emperor who beheaded the White Emperor, so he must worship red, so that more people will think that he is the Red Emperor. In this way, between the dissemination of the story and the actual action, a self-consistent closed loop is successfully constructed, which continues to occupy the minds of followers.

In the war at the end of the Qin Dynasty, Liu Bang, who rose from the grassroots, eventually became the two major forces in the anti-Qin military camp together with Xiang Yu, who was born in the aristocracy. In 207 BC, Ziying, the puppet ruler of the Qin Dynasty, was forced to cancel his imperial title and change his name to King Qin. Forty-six days later, Liu Bang attacked Xianyang before Xiang Yu, and Qin died. The next four years were the stage of Chu and Han hegemony in which Liu Bang and Xiang Yu competed for the world. Facing Xiang Yu, who has been a nobleman for many generations, Liu Bang's background seems to be lackluster, so as the struggle between Chu and Han enters the white-hot stage, his early deeds begin to deify:

Often from Wang Yuan, Wu Cheng wine, drunk and lying, Wu Cheng, Wang Yuan see that there are often dragons on it, strange. Every time Gaozu left to drink, the wine was several times. And strangely, in the past few years, these two companies often abandon their responsibilities.

This is to say that Liu Bang liked to drink in his early years, and often went to Wu Cheng and Wang Yuan's wine shops to drink on credit, and slept when he was drunk. When he fell asleep, Wu Ying and Wang Yuan saw that there were dragons hovering above him. The two also felt strange before, as long as Liu Bang stayed in the wine shop to drink every time, the business of the wine store was very good, and the customers were full, and the wine sold was several times as high as usual. When they saw the strange thing that a dragon appeared, at the end of the year, the two destroyed the debt and forgave Liu Bang's debt.

The focus of the story is on the "dragon". Whether it is the previous deeds of beheading the white snake or the "unspeakably expensive" face, at this time, it has been implemented on the dragon that is more concrete, more powerful and a symbol of status. And in the end, it points to Liu Bang's life experience:

The father is called Taigong, and the mother is called Liu Yuan. First, when Liu Yuan tasted Daze, she met God in a dream. When the thunder and lightning were obscure, the prince looked at it, and saw the dragon on it. has a body, and then gave birth to a high ancestor.

According to the record of "Historical Records", Liu Yuan once rested in a place with abundant water and grass, and met God in a dream. At that time, there was thunder and lightning, and Mrs. Liu hurriedly ran over to take a look, only to see the dragon flying above, so Liu Yuan was pregnant with Liu Bang.

Combined with Liu Bang's self-deification process since the beginning of his business, this mysterious and mysterious life experience must have been fabricated by himself and vigorously publicized to the outside world. Historically, this miraculous process of conception has been called the "Myth of Birth", also known as the "Myth of Chastity Conception". It is a type of myth about the birth of the first human beings. During the Warring States Period, the Qin and Han dynasties, the myths about the birth of the ancestor of the Zhou people, such as Houji, the ancestor of the Shang people, and the great cause of the ancestors of the Qin people, were widely circulated, and became a typical legend for people of all ethnic groups to trace the life of their ancestors. Liu Bang took inspiration from this and forged his own birth myth according to the same type of story.

With Liu Bang's defeat of Xiang Yu in 202 BC (southeast of present-day Lingbi County, Anhui) and the establishment of the Han Dynasty, the lie/myth of the "Son of the Dragon" rose to become the historical memory of the entire dynasty and was passed down from generation to generation. During the Qin and Han dynasties, people generally believed that "the life of an emperor must be strange, and if it is not seen in things, it will be effective and dreamy", and Liu Bang's success in turn confirmed his extraordinary life experience, and wrote the best authentic footnote for the history of the "dragon species". At this point, the emperor (Liu Bang and his descendants) mythologized history, and the people (including the writer Sima Qian) historicized mythology.

Portrait of Xiang Yu. Source: Internet

03

When mythology becomes history, we can't help but ask: Is it the "heaven-destined" things such as the Red Emperor killing the White Emperor, Mang Dangyunqi, noble face, and the son of the dragon that created Liu Bang's success, or the ability and courage to create history with the power of the puppet to create Liu Bang's success?

In this regard, Liu Bang himself is also contradictory.

After becoming emperor, Liu Bang held a banquet in the South Palace of Luoyang, the theme of which was to discuss with the generals: "Why do I have the world?" What is the reason why the Xiang family lost the world? "——Why did I, Liu Bang, win the world? Why did Xiang Yu lose the world?

Obviously, this is a high-level review of the results of the Chu-Han hegemony.

Gao Qi and Wang Ling replied: "Your Majesty will send people to attack the city and seize the land, and the places that you have captured and surrendered will be divided among those who have made meritorious contributions, and they will share the benefits with the people of the world." And Xiang Yu is jealous of the virtuous and virtuous, the meritorious are jealous, and the talented are suspicious, and he does not give merit to others when he wins the battle, and he does not give benefits to others when he takes land, which is the reason why he lost the world. ”

Liu Bang said, you only know one thing, but you don't know the other. The reasons for his own success are:

In the planning and planning of the husband, the decisive victory is thousands of miles away, and I am not as good as the ovary (Zhang Liang). Town the country, care for the people, give wages, and keep the grain, I am not as good as Xiao He. Even an army of millions, the battle will be won, the attack must be taken, I am not as good as Han Xin. These three are all masterpieces, I can use them, so I take the world. Xiang Yu has a fan increase and can't use it, so he is captured by me.

It turned out that what Liu Bang valued most was his ability to recognize, believe in, and employ people. He didn't mention anything other than his ability, let alone anything like clouds, physiognomy, and dragon species.

Prior to this, the generals persuaded Liu Bang to become the emperor, and the reason was also Liu Bang's personality and ability, saying that he "started small, punished the violent rebellion, pacified the four seas, and the meritorious ones were named princes", people like you are not called emperors, then we will die Yunyun.

You see, they didn't mention anything about the gods. Not only did he not mention the matter of "dragon species", but also said that Liu Bang was "subtle" and was born in the grass. The implication is that the success of the grassroots is unprecedented, which is much more difficult than the success of the aristocracy, so it is more powerful and greater.

It can be seen that Liu Bang and his hero group are very clear that their entrepreneurial success has nothing to do with the miraculous stories they promote. Whether they boast or pat on the back, they are emphasizing that Liu Bang's ability and character are the fundamental reasons for the final victory in the troubled times. There is zero capital outside of ability, and there is nothing more worthy of respect than the success of the horseman.

But on the other hand, Liu Bang has come a long way on the road of self-deification. From the beginning of his business, he superimposed "supernatural functions" on himself little by little to attract people; By the time the Han Dynasty was founded, his public image had changed from an early scoundrel to a great son of a dragon.

Similarly, most of his heroes are also from humble backgrounds, except for Zhang Liang, who has a noble family background, most of them are "outlaws", these people are in and out of the prime minister, obviously breaking the previous aristocratic political tradition, how to explain this unprecedented political pattern?

Again, this requires the blessing of political mythology to better explain the process of transformation of power holders from nobles to commoners. Continuing to sanctify Liu Bang and endow the monarch with the concept of divine mandate of heaven will undoubtedly put an end to the rebellious trend of thought since the end of the Qin Dynasty that "princes and princes will have a kind of Xiangning" and "he can take his place", and prevent more commoners from taking risks to win imperial power.

With the stability of the new regime, Liu Bang and his group of heroes gradually downplayed the ability factor of the entrepreneurial process, and replaced it with a miraculous view of the Mandate of Heaven to explain the history of the rise and fall of dynasties. As a result, the scene of the Western Han Dynasty's initial ability and character was like a flash in the pan, and then disappeared completely, while the supernatural story about Liu Bang was widely circulated and intensified.

It doesn't matter whether the supernatural story is true or false in the real world, what matters is whether it is accepted and believed in the world of ideas. This is the fact that consciousness determines the facts.

Fan Xu, the founding father of the Western Han Dynasty, once asked the thinker Lu Jia: "From ancient times to the present, people say that the emperor is ordered by heaven and has auspicious signs in advance, is this really the case?" ”

Portrait of Fan Xu. Source: Internet

Lu Jia replied in the affirmative and explained:

The husband can see the wine and food, the lights and the money will be spent, the noon magpie noise and pedestrians will come, the spider will gather and the hundred things will be happy, the small will be both signs, and the big ones will be the same. Therefore, it is said that the eyes are cursed, the lights and sparks are worshipped, the noon magpie noise is fed, and the spider set is released. What's more, the great treasure of the world, the heavy position of the king, how can it be obtained if it is not the mandate of heaven? Ruibao letter also, the day to treasure for the faith, should be the virtue of people, so it is said that Ruiying. There is no faith in the destiny of heaven, and it cannot be taken by force.

If your eyelids jump, you must have good food and wine; When the lamp sparks, you get money; At noon, when the magpie crows, someone will come; When spiders gather, there will be joy. Little things have signs, and big things are even more so. Therefore, if the eyelids jump, you should pray, when the lamp sparks, you should give thanks, if the magpie crows at noon, if you feed it, and if the spiders gather, you must release it. What's more, it is the emperor's important position, not given by God, how can you get it? Heaven will show signs to the chosen one, and if it were not for this, it would not be possible to obtain the world by force.

It can be seen that in the late Qin and early Han dynasties, the concept of the Mandate of Heaven for the transfer of imperial power has been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. The more poor and lowly they are, the more they must deify themselves, so as to show the traces of "being ordered by heaven" and win the support of the people. In a sense, Liu Bang's success is the victory of grassroots god-making.

Looking back at history, Chen Sheng and Wu Guang, who shouted "The prince will have a kind of Xiangning", failed, and Liu Bang, who pretended to be a "dragon species", succeeded. When order was restored, the rulers of the empire needed the divine view of the mandate of heaven, not the revolutionary theory that everyone could claim to be kings and emperors. This was the new demand of that era.

04

The highest political myth is one in which even oneself is deeply convinced. At the last moment of his life, Liu Bang, the ancestor of the Han Dynasty, who believed that "life is in heaven, although Bian Que is of no benefit", refused to treat his illness, and confirmed the authenticity of the concept of destiny he preached with his death. So far, born in the Mandate of Heaven and died in the Mandate of Heaven, Liu Bang's life has formed a closed loop of magical life, which can be called a beginning and an end.

After Liu Bang's death, the imperial myth that arose from him is still alive and well.

We know that in the official history, the names of Liu Bang's parents are missing, only called Mrs. Liu and Liu Yuan, and according to the current names, they are Uncle Liu and Aunt Liu. This also shows Liu Bang's humble background from the side, because it was difficult for ordinary people to leave their names at that time. Even Liu Bang himself may not have an official name before he was developed, saying that "Liu Ji" is most likely named according to the ranking of Uncle Ji, indicating that he is the youngest son in the family, and the emperor changed his name to "Bang", and the word "Ji" was used.

Interestingly, while deifying Liu Bang, the Weishu of the Han Dynasty traced back to the origin of the deification of his parents. As a result, Mrs. Liu and Liu Yuan began to have their own names, named Liu Zhijia and Wang Hanshi respectively. This is not over, and the later history books further say:

Emperor Han Gao (Liu Bang)'s father was called Liu Zhijia. The mother of Zhijia, dreaming of the red bird is like a dragon playing herself, and she was born to be the emperor of Taishang. The mother's name contains the beginning, which is the queen of Zhaoling. After Zhao Ling swam in Luochi, there is a jade chicken rank red pearl, carved Yuying, swallow this king. Zhao Ling took it and swallowed it, and slept in Daze, dreaming and meeting God. When the thunder and lightning were obscure, the emperor looked at it, saw the dragon on it, and then had a body and gave birth to the season, which was for the high emperor.

Here, Liu Bang's father's life experience was also deified, and at the same time added extraordinary opportunities to Liu Bang's mother, and this series of mythological writings all demonstrated Liu Bang's destiny as the Son of Heaven.

Not only that, Liu Bang's "long sword" that slashed the white snake also started a journey of apotheosis.

As a physical object, this snake sword is respected as an important weapon of the country and enjoys the same status as the jade seal of the country. In the Han Dynasty, at the enthronement ceremony of the new emperor, the snake sword was an important prop, symbolizing the legitimacy of the transfer of power. It was not until the reign of Emperor Hui of Jin that the Luoyang arsenal caught fire, and the snake sword disappeared from history. However, as a snake sword in the spiritual sense, it has always been a historical resource for later emperors to build personal authority and highlight entrepreneurial achievements. Li Shimin once said that Liu Bang "lifted a three-foot sword to determine the world", and he himself "raised a three-foot sword to determine the four seas". Zhu Yuanzhang once said when he remembered Liu Bang: "But I and you, not a ruler of land and a people, carry a three-foot sword, and be the son of heaven." ”

Painting Zhu Yuanzhang like this is actually a kind of out-of-phase deification. Source: Internet

No matter how the dynasty changes, the political myth opened by Liu Bang continues in this way, and the mythical history of the founding of the emperor of the past dynasties is constructed layer by layer. It can be said that a series of political myths constructed by Liu Bang have become a classic model for the founding monarchs and usurpers of power in later generations to create the destiny of heaven for themselves.

Emperors from humble backgrounds need to be self-exalted, so the myth of inspiration continues to circulate. Fu Jian's mother "prayed for a son in the Ximen Leopard Temple, and her night dream was with God, so she was pregnant, and she was born in December." Zhu Yuanzhang's mother "gave a pill to the dream god, put it in the palm of the light, swallow it, and the fragrance in the mouth", and gave birth to the later destined son of heaven.

As the founding emperor, you must be shrouded in divine light, so Zhao Kuangyin, Yelu Abaoji, Zhu Yuanzhang and others all have the same genius as Liu Bang before their careers, either "red light around the room", or "red light at night".

Extraordinary people must have extraordinary appearances, therefore, Sun Quan "Fang Yi has a big mouth, and his eyes are fine", Liu Bei is "seven feet five inches long, hanging his hands and knees, and Gu Zi sees his ears", Liu Yao "is nine feet three inches long, hanging his hands over his knees, born with white eyebrows, red eyes, no more than 100 beards, and all are five feet long", Lu Guang "is eight feet four inches long, his eyes are heavy, and his left elbow has a flesh mark"......

There must be people with good looks, so Shi Shiliang showed Li Yuan his appearance and said: "The public bone law is very good, and he will be the master, I am willing to love myself, and don't forget to say disdain." With Lao Ru showing Zhu Yuanzhang the eight characters of his birthday, he pinched his fingers and counted for a long time, and held back a few words: "I have a lot of life, but it is not as valuable as your life." ”

There must be a dragon, so, when Yang Jian was young, his mother hugged him, and suddenly saw "the horns of his head come out, and his body rises". Scared, his mother threw him on the ground. A nun happened to witness this scene of "abuse" of infants and young children, and said quietly: "I could have become a dragon in the world earlier, but it seems that it will be a few years later to be so frightened by you." Not long after Zhu Yuanzhang was born, an old man came to the door, and when he entered the door, he shouted: "You have a dragon in your house." ”

It can be said that an emperor is embarrassed to appear in the history books if he has no miraculous deeds.

Throughout the myth of the emperor, when he was born, before he became the emperor, and when he ascended the throne, they were the three key nodes in the rendering of the divine mandate of heaven, and they were also the "hardest hit areas" where the founding emperors were deified in the history books, thus forming a set of patterned historical writing routines. And all of this can be attributed to Liu Bang's political legacy.

The most recent "Liu Bang-style political myth" occurred in 1915, before the President of the Republic of China Yuan Shikai became emperor.

It is said that the bath for Yuan Shikai was built at that time, and after he took a bath for the first time, when the waiter cleaned the bath, he found that there were several extra-large scales at the bottom of the pool, shining. Since then, every time Yuan Shikai bathes, a few scales remain at the bottom of the pool. Soon, the news that Yuan Shikai's bath must have dragon scales falling off spread all over the streets and alleys of Beijing, and the more bizarre it became.

It was not until Yuan Shikai's restoration failed and returned to Huangquan that the trick of "reincarnation of the true dragon" was exposed. It turned out that it was Yuan Shikai who instructed his little wife to go to the fish market to buy the scales of big fish in the name of dispensing medicine, and every time he took a bath, he secretly threw the scales in the bath.

Times will always progress, history will always disenchant, so myths have become jokes.