The Dragon Boat Festival has arrived, and Qu Yuan has become a hot topic again, but this festival was not originally related to Qu Yuan. So, why did people later "transfer this festival to Qu Yuan"?Qu Yuan was a poet and politician of Chu during the Warring States Period, and everyone is familiar with it. Qu Yuan's patriotism, people-oriented thinking, and idealism left a deep impression on future generations. Qu Yuan once advocated the alliance against Qin, and advised King Huai of Chu many times, but in the end he died in Qin. He was trusted by King Chu Huai in his early years, but was later framed and exiled. In the second year after the Qin general Bai Qi captured the Yingdu of Chu, Qu Yuan chose to sink the Miluo River to show his loyalty and patriotism. According to the scholar Mr. Wen Yiduo, people are willing to commemorate Qu Yuan on the Dragon Boat Festival, which shows the important position of Qu Yuan in the hearts of the Chinese people. Qu Yuan's patriotism, people-oriented thinking, and idealism have brought great encouragement and resonance to people, making him a model for hundreds of millions of people in all eras. Qu Yuan's spiritual core has gradually become the most powerful ** of this festival, and his actions and words show deep patriotism. Qu Yuan's spirit has influenced generations of people, inspiring them to unite as one, defend their homeland against foreign aggression, and inspire people to maintain courage and responsibility.
In the long history, whenever the nation is facing survival or people are at a low point, they will always take Qu Yuan as an example and draw the strength of rebirth from him. The Tang Dynasty poet Du Fu had a troubled life, worried about the country and the people, and he wrote in his poem: "I want to climb the tombs of Qu Yuan and Song Yu, but I am afraid that I can only condescend to them." "If you want to follow Qu Yuan and Song Yu, you must have the spirit and talent to match them, otherwise you will fall into the frivolous situation of the Qi and Liang periods. What Du Fu valued was not only Qu Yuan's literary talent, but also his spiritual demeanor. During the Southern Song Dynasty, the monarch was weak and incompetent, and in the face of the unfavorable situation, Lu You, the representative of the main battle faction, was depressed, and he comforted his soul with Qu Yuan's spirit, "Listening to the recitation of "Lisao" can soothe my sorrows. "Lisao" is not full of hatred, and the people with lofty ideals are full of tears. He even shouted in "The Golden Wrong Knife": "Oh, although Chu has the power of three households to destroy Qin, is there no one in this land of China!."Liu Kezhuang, a poet of the Southern Song Dynasty, said in the poem "Qu Yuan": "I can't hold a sacrifice, so I can only read "Lisao" to comfort myself.
He used Qu Yuan's spirit to motivate himself to live and die with the country, even if he could not abandon evil and follow good like the virtuous ministers of the Shang Dynasty, he would never give in, and could only express his personal sorrows in words. In 1276, Wen Tianxiang was ordered to send an envoy to the Yuan Dynasty to negotiate peace, but was detained and to be escorted to Yanjing, the capital of the Yuan Dynasty. While traveling north to Zhenjiang, Wen Tianxiang escaped, but soon after, rumors spread that Wen Tianxiang was sent by the Yuan Dynasty to persuade him to surrender. On the Dragon Boat Festival on the fifth day of May this year, he wrote "Dragon Boat Festival" to express his inner firmness: "On the afternoon of May 5, I received a bouquet of wormwood. The old people can't see each other anymore, but the new friends are thousands of miles away. The enthusiasm in my heart is still there, but my gray hair has grown day by day. I want to follow Lingjun (Qu Yuan's words) and seek solace, but unfortunately the Sanxiang River is thousands of miles away. In modern times, in the face of the powerful threat of foreign powers, Qu Yuan's spirit has been frequently mentioned. After the "918" incident, intellectuals criticized the people's policy of non-resistance.
In 1934, Gao Peilang created the six-act drama "Qu Yuan", and in 1942, Guo Moruo created an excellent historical drama "Qu Yuan". Qu Yuan's spirit of loyalty and devotion has stirred people's hearts for thousands of years, and is deeply integrated into the value pursuit and cultural consciousness of Chinese. Linking the meaning of the Dragon Boat Festival with Qu Yuan is the conscious choice of the people, which shows that people highly recognize Qu Yuan's patriotic feelings and personality spirit. However, for thousands of years, Qu Yuan has been highly regarded, but what is his preciousness?First of all, Qu Yuan worked hard to govern the country with the spirit of conscientiousness and public loyalty. He was gifted and intelligent, received a comprehensive and systematic classical education in his early years, and his extensive knowledge and political acumen made him proficient in the art of controlling chaos and good at diplomacy. During his tenure as a disciple of the Chu State, he not only assisted the monarch in governing the country, but also participated in the formulation and revision of the code system and strictly implemented the laws and regulationsAt the same time, he was good at handling foreign affairs of the court, consolidating the diplomatic relations between Chu and Qi, and his political achievements were highly praised by King Huai of Chu. However, his excellent performance attracted the envy of his colleagues.
At that time, Qu Yuan was drafting a decree, and Shangguan Dafu tried to take the credit, but Qu Yuan refused, and framed Qu Yuan for being proud of his merits, inciting King Chu Huai to alienate Qu Yuan. After that, the state of Qin took the opportunity to sow discord between Qi and Chu, putting the state of Chu in a predicament, and Qu Yuan expressed his views to King Huai of Chu in a stern manner without being understood. However, King Huai of Chu failed to heed Qu Yuan's advice, which ultimately led to the rout and unfortunate end of the Chu state. In addition, King Chu Huai was detained by the Qin State under Zhang Yi's planning, and Qu Yuan once strongly persuaded the King of Chu Huai not to enter Qin, but the King of Chu Huai insisted on going and was finally detained by the Qin State. Subsequently, the Qin state demanded that the state of Chu cede strategic places under the threat of detaining the king of Chu Huai, and Qu Yuan tried to persuade the king of Chu Huai not to give in to the threat of the Qin state, but the king of Chu Huai eventually died of depression in the state of Qin. King Chu Qingxiang was even more ignorant and incompetent, he not only married the princess of Qin, but also appointed Zilan, who had persuaded King Chu Huai to enter Qin, as Ling Yin. Soon after, Zilan instigated Shangguan Dafu to slander King Chu Qingxiang, which led to the tragic end of Qu Yuan's exile. In 278 BC, the Qin general Bai Qi attacked the state of Chu again, captured the capital of Ying, and burned the tombs of the first kings of the state of Chu. King Qingxiang was forced to retreat to Chendi, and the state of Chu fell into a precarious situation.
In the face of the loss and powerlessness of his homeland, Qu Yuan's heart was like ashes, and he chose to boulder and throw himself into the Miluo River. In order to commemorate Qu Yuan, his descendants threw rice into the river with bamboo tubes on May 5, the day of his martyrdom, which became an important Xi of the Dragon Boat Festival. Qu Yuan was a loyal, patriotic, and staunch anti-Qin man. He did not oppose the unification of the world, but only hoped that the state of Chu would be able to shoulder this heavy responsibility. At that time, the state of Chu had a vast territory, a prosperous culture, and many talents. According to the analysis of the great Confucian Wang Fuzhi in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, if the Chu State could choose a suitable geopolitical development strategy, it was very likely to achieve the great cause of unification. "Although Chu has three households, the death of Qin will be Chu. At the end of the Qin Dynasty, Chen Sheng and Wu Guang, who took the lead in the uprising, and Xiang Yu and Liu Bang, who later dominated the world, were all Chu people, which confirmed from the side that Qu Yuan's ideals and Wang Fuzhi's vision were not delusional. However, "King Huai of Chu was a vain, shallow, and arrogant monarch", and he reused his ministers and alienated the virtuous, which led to his own imprisonment and ruined the foundation of the Chu State for hundreds of years. Qu Yuan was sad and indignant about this, but he was helpless. Sima Qian also expressed deep respect for Qu Yuan's behavior and asked a question: Why didn't Qu Yuan go to other countries to make a career?
In his opinion, "If Qu Yuan travels to other countries, there is no country that will not accept him, so why bother to suffer himself?""Qu Yuan's era lacked the national consciousness of scholars, and many people crisscrossed the world, and even appeared like Su Qin and Zhang Yi. But Qu Yuan was unwilling to go with the flow, and he was even more unwilling to go to a foreign country to seek the best fortune. During the reign of King Chu Huai, Qu Yuan was alienated;During the reign of King Xiang, Qu Yuan was exiledAfter Bai Qi attacked Chu, Qu Yuan finally sank into despair. Until the last moment of his life, he never forgot his homeland, hoping that the monarch of Chu would wake up, "imitate the kings of the past", change the atmosphere of the last days, and make the country strong. Qu Yuan's values have left a strong mark on history. He was not only a patriotic poet, but also a statesman with grand ideals. In a "troubled era" that advocated conquest, Qu Yuan advocated moral politics. Although he was born in the state of Chu, he was not imprisoned by Chu culture, but was deeply influenced by Confucian culture, admired the ancient holy kings, and respected the five tyrants such as Duke Huan of Qi. Qu Yuan's works involve the idea of "benevolence and righteousness" many times, as he said in "Lisao": "Who can be used without acting with righteousness?"Who can not be trusted for their good deeds?
and "valuing benevolence and following righteousness, prudence and kindness in order to obtain rich rewards" expressed in "Huaisha". This idea coincides with the concept of "advocating the rule of virtue" advocated by Confucius and the concept of "practicing benevolent government" emphasized by Mencius. According to the views of scholars such as Wang Yi, Liu Xian, and Dai Zhen, Qu Yuan's works "established the Tao of Uprising based on the Five Classics", "absorbed the essence of Confucian classics", and reached the realm of "pursuing purity" in terms of "heart", "knowledge", and "speech and intention". Therefore, Qu Yuan's works have gone beyond the category of mere literary works and show a high depth of thought. Qu Yuan's works also run through deep thoughts of loving the people, such as the poem "It is not the sin of the people to send disasters from heaven, so why let them suffer?".The people are scattered and lost, just like the arrival of spring and the people move east", all of them show deep concern for the people's livelihood and the desire to save them. In addition, Qu Yuan was also a political reformer who adapted to the times. In "Lisao" and "Cherish the Past", he recalled the past when he was trusted by King Chu Huai, as well as the experience of being ordered to change the law, "insight into the flaws of the law", and initially achieved the goal of "the country is rich and strong and the law is stable".