In the glorious history of China for more than 5,000 years, there have been many famous people, but for these figures, our understanding of these characters often seems a little narrow when we first come into contact. Taking Yan Jiansheng in "The Outer History of Confucianism" as an example, you may think that he is too stingy and refuses to even change the wick.
But did we really get to know him?
After Yan Jiansheng and his brother who had separated from each other were involved in the lawsuit, in order to solve the legal problems for his brother, Yan Jiansheng did not hesitate to spend more than a dozen taels**;And when his wife was seriously ill, it cost thousands of taels to treat the disease.
Looking at what he did, can it be simply summed up by "slamming the door"?
Taking Ji Xiaolan as an example, when we mention him, we may think of the image of the scholar who misled the country in the TV series.
However, in the tomb of Ji Xiaolan discovered in Hebei, the skeletons of seven women accompany him, revealing a little-known side. Ji Xiaolan, the word Xiaolan, his achievements in literature are more prominent, but they are very different from the image in the TV series.
As you can see from his portrait, he may not be so handsome and dashing. At the age of six, Ji Xiaolan won the first place in the children's examination, at the age of 23, he took the township examination to solve the yuan, and at the age of 30, he achieved excellent results in the Zhengke examination and became a member of the Hanlin Academy, and since then he has started his career in officialdom.
First of all, it needs to be clarified that Ji Xiaolan's real official position in history is to co-organize a university scholar, which is clearly recorded in the history books and belongs to the subordinate products.
As a result, his actual power at court is not as great as in the TV series. The reason why Ji Xiaolan is famous is more because of his literary achievements. It took him 13 years to compile the Siku Quanshu, which caused a huge sensation when it came out, mainly focusing on Confucianism, and strongly discriminating against and suppressing Western science and technology, treating it as "heretical", excluding criticism of Confucian articles, and also suppressing Song and Yuan miscellaneous dramas, Ming legends, etc.
However, this work also pioneered the multi-level compilation and preservation of ancient books, reflecting the dignity and value of traditional culture. According to the analysis of later generations, this book covers almost all the classics of Chinese history before the Qianlong period, which has provided great help for future generations to understand Chinese history, and is a relatively complete collection of documents preserved in Chinese written records.
In "Iron Tooth and Bronze Tooth Ji Xiaolan", Ji Xiaolan is portrayed as an infatuated man who only loves one person in his life.
But is that really the case?According to the clear records of the history books, Ji Xiaolan "If you don't take a maid for a day, your skin will be cracked and your muscles will be pumped." During the compilation of the "Siku Quanshu", his eyes even became blood-red due to the absence of a maiden for several consecutive days.
Contrary to the image of women in film and television dramas, Ji Xiaolan in history is a person who loves lust like life. He had six concubines, nicknamed "Merry Genius", and was quite indulgent in terms of women.
In the tomb of Ji Xiaolan unearthed in Hebei, the skeletons of seven women accompany him, revealing a little-known side of him. In history, Ji Xiaolan followed the social atmosphere at that time, took six concubines, and also had many confidants in other aspects.
This is completely different from the image presented in film and television dramas.
Therefore, the evaluation of historical figures cannot only rely on one-sided written records. To fully understand and grasp historical figures, it is necessary to look at them from multiple dimensions such as the social background, historical environment, and humanities and society of the time.
Get a complete picture of the lives of historical figures, and don't attribute success to individuals and don't blame individuals for failures.
We can't use the standards of today's society to hold our predecessors to the test, and we don't expect them to do things that only our descendants can do. At the same time, don't judge the human history of the time just by a few films. Just like Ji Xiaolan, there is a huge difference between the image in "Iron Tooth and Bronze Tooth Ji Xiaolan" and the real image of Ji Xiaolan in history, allowing us to understand this great talent more comprehensively.