In recent years, the popularity of palace fighting dramas such as "The Legend of Wu Meiniang", "The Legend of Zhen Huan", "The Legend of Ruyi" and "Yanxi Raiders" has been unabated, and the daily life of the emperor's concubines has been talked about by the audience. I believe that when you see the words "Emperor's Living Note", you will also think of the life of the emperor in various palace fighting dramas. So, is the living note really a documentary of the emperor's private life?Or is it a reality show that has undergone some "artistic processing"?
To answer this question, you have to look at what is written in the living notes.
In film and television dramas, the palace people dress up for Concubine Hua. ** Screenshot of the TV series "The Legend of Zhen Huan".
What the hell is a living note?
The Living Note is a kind of chronicle history book, which is an official work in ancient China compiled according to the year, month and day to record the words and deeds of the emperor and the major events of the imperial court. In ancient times, the Chinese formed a continuous and systematic concept of recording history and seeking truth, advocating "the king's action must be written", hoping to record the emperor's words and deeds. "The Book of Rites: Yuzao" says that "the movement is the left history book, and the words are the right history book", and the "Hanshu Art and Literature Chronicle" says that "the left history records the words, and the right history records". It was this idea of truthfully recording everything about the emperor that promoted the birth of the living note in the future.
Qing "Annotations to the Whole Book of Rites". * Linyou County Museum.
During the Han Dynasty, the various institutions of the imperial court recorded history and had to summarize and organize it. These records recorded the emperor's deeds and the operation of the imperial court in the form of chronicles, and were called "shuji" ("zhuji" or "annotation"). This type of literature already has some of the characteristics of the living note. In the Eastern Han Dynasty, the living note officially appeared. Xun Yue once said:
The story of the first emperor, there is a living note, and the festival of daily movement and stillness must be written. It is advisable to repeat the style, and the internal history is in charge of it to remember the internal affairs. ”
It can be seen that at the beginning of the birth of "Living Note", it only recorded the daily life of the harem, and did not involve the operation of the court, so that some people suspect that it was only recorded by the history of women in the palace and the internal history at the beginning.
The institutionalization of the living note began in the Wei and Jin dynasties. Emperor Hui of Jin set up Shulang and Sashuro in the secretary province in the second year of Yuankang (292). The task of the writer Lang is to take charge of the "collection of notes on daily life", organize and compile various important official documents, and make them a systematic and orderly official history book. Since then, the Living Note has become a statutory official document. An even bigger turning point occurred during the reign of Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei Dynasty. In the fourteenth year of Taihe (490), Emperor Xiaowen formulated the rules for living and setting up left and right historians. At this time, the duty of the living official was to accompany the emperor and record his words and deeds. In particular, the minority regimes of the Northern Dynasties also established the tradition of "the Son of Heaven does not look at the living notes", which is of great significance for the living notes to be truthful and straightforward.
Northern Wei Dynasty Emperor Xiaowen Rite Buddha Figure". It is now in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
During the Sui and Tang dynasties, the living note system was more perfect. "Old Tang Dynasty Book and Official Chronicles" said:
The living room is in the palm of the living note, recording the words of the Son of Heaven and the law, in order to repair the history of the story. All the system of remembering things is based on the day, the day is the month, the month is the time, and the time is the year. It must be written on the first and second days of the year, with the number of chronicles, the ceremonial cultural relics to the examination system, the worship of the reward to persuade the good, and the punishment of the dethroned to punish the evil. At the end of the season, the history of the country is awarded.
That is to say, the living notes should not only record the words and deeds of the monarch, but also a series of state affairs such as orders, chapters, worships, and exemptions, but also record them day by day, and must not be missing. In addition, when the Son of Heaven is in court, the living room is on the left, and the living room is on the right, and the content of the discussion must be recorded in the court. Every quarter, the revised "Living Note" should be handed over to the National History Compilation and Revision Organization for the revision of the National History.
After the Tang Dynasty, life was fateful. First of all, in the Song Dynasty, the principle of "the Son of Heaven does not look at the living note" was broken, and in the Yuan and Ming dynasties, the living note was in vogue and decadence. It was only restored during the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty. However, at the beginning of the Yongzheng Dynasty, in addition to describing the life of the emperor, the living notes no longer directly recorded the court discussions, but copied the edicts, edicts, and chapters, which had long ceased to be the ideal of "the monarch must write".
So, what should be written in the living notes?
At the end of the twenty-sixth year of Kangxi (1688), the Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang was seriously ill, and the "Living Note" on November 24 recorded:
On the Cining Palace to serve the sick. At the end of the day, the imperial cadres and the Qingmen listened to the government, and the yamen of the ministry and the courtyard were finished. University Scholars, Jue Luo Le Dehong, Mingzhu, Wang Xi, Yu Guozhu, Li Zhifang, Bachelors Qi Se, Erhetu, Lu Qi, Jue Luo Shunbai, Duo Qi, Weng Shuyuan, Kai Yinbu, Zhao Shan, Shi Wengui to fold the book to request: Officials Title Governor Shuntian College Li Yingqian reported back to the office. Shang said: "Li Yingxiao is very good at supervising the school, and he will stay on the errand again to rectify the school administration." "Bi, still Cining Palace. From this day onwards, the official Kulena, Gao descendant.
It can be seen that on the same day, Emperor Kangxi first waited for Xiaozhuang in Cining Palace, and then listened to the government in Qianqingmen and dealt with the large and small ** machine affairs. After finishing, he returned to Cining Palace to serve the sick.
Dry the door. **Palace museum.
Seeing this, many people may be disappointed, what about the melons we want to eat?
Actually, there are melons too. For example, Pu Yi was exposed as an "old man" by "Living Notes". He blew himself up in "The First Half of My Life", which Liang Dingfen wrote in "Living Notes" on the 16th day of the first month of the ninth year of Xuantong (1917, the year of Zhang Xun's restoration).
The eunuchs who are often flogged, and the seventeen flogs before and after are nearly smaller, and the ministers Chen Baochen and others do not obey. ”
Faced with this embarrassing record, Pu Yi could only admit embarrassedly that he was indeed "ruthless and majestic" in the past.
Pu Yi, who became a citizen of the Republic, has long been unable to display the power of the former emperor, and he has no choice but to bow his head and confess his guilt in the face of "Living Note". However, in history, what is the emperor's attitude towards the living note?Is it a confession, or is it straight?
Pu Yi poses with Soviet officers. ** Puppet Manchurian Palace Museum.
Take it to me!
When it comes to the virtuous monarchs of ancient China, Tang Taizong is naturally one. He knows people well and is good at his duties, and he has always been regarded as a model of virtuous monarchs. Regarding "Living Note", Taizong also contributed a lot of "famous scenes".
Bao Guoan plays Tang Taizong. ** Screenshot of the TV series "Wu Zetian".
In the thirteenth year of Zhenguan (639), the famous minister Chu Suiliang concurrently served as the living officer. Under the banner of "reading the past to be self-alert", Taizong asked to read the "Living Note". Chu Suiliang said that the "Living Note" must be written on good and evil, and there has never been a tradition of emperors, Taizong asked rhetorically: "I am not good, and I will remember it.""How do you know that Chu Suiliang is neither humble nor arrogant, and when he says where his responsibilities are, he dare not remember. Liu Xun, the waiter of the Yellow Gate next to him, said bluntly, "People have mistakes, like the eclipse of the sun and the moon, everyone can see it." If you don't remember it, everyone in the world will remember it", moved out of the world, and choked Taizong speechless.
But Taizong did not give up. In the next year, once again with the same excuse to ** national history, Fang Xuanling and Zhu Zihao also said that the emperor could not **. However, at the strong request of Taizong, Fang Xuanling had no choice but to excerpt the history of the country and write it into 20 volumes of Gaozu and Taizong's "Actual Records" ("Taizong Records" was called "Today's Records") and submitted them to the imperial review.
The Qing Palace has a statue of Xuanling in the main room. ** Portraits of Chinese Celebrities in Past Dynasties, edited by the Conservation Department of the Chinese History Museum, Strait Literature and Art Publishing House, 2003.
So, does Taizong really want to look at himself in the mirror?How could it be!Wu Jing's "Zhenguan Political Dignitaries" disclosed that when Taizong read the actual record of Fang Xuanling's entry, he saw the incident of June 4th, and there were many microtexts, which meant that Xuanling said: "In the past, Zhou Gong was in charge, Cai and Zhou were in charge, Ji Youyu was uncle and Lu Guoning, what I did was the same kind of thing, covering the security of the society and benefiting the ears of all people." ”
The so-called "June 4th Incident" refers to the Xuanwumen Incident, Taizong killed his brother and killed his brother, and forced his father Li Yuan to abdicate. Taizong couldn't accept the historian's straightforward writing, so he brought out the story of Zhou Gong and Ji You, hoping that the historian would write the Xuanwumen change as Taizong's last resort to maintain Li Tang Sheji. His careful thinking did not succeed after all. For thousands of years, the Xuanwumen Revolution has still been defined as fratricide caused by the ruling class's seizure of power.
Although Taizong's attempt to "Living Note" did not succeed, it gave a very bad start to future generations.
His descendant Wenzong, in line with the idea of "being afraid of ordinary gossip, not caring about the body, hanging into the future, and being ashamed of stealing", also wanted to **, and even revised the "Living Note". Dong Lang, the living note official at that time, did not withstand the pressure and was forced to hand it in. It can be seen that under the strong intervention of the imperial power, the living notes may not be able to write truthfully.
By the time of Emperor Taizong of the Song Dynasty, the living note official even took the initiative to propose "the first imperial palace every month, and then the history museum was lowered", which shows that the independence of the living note in the Song Dynasty was completely broken, and the value of historical materials was greatly reduced.
The Ming Dynasty's "Living Note" was even more abandoned for a long time. During the reign of Emperor Xianzong of the Ming Dynasty, Jinshi Lu Ji wrote a book, invoking the ancient system, hoping that the emperor would be able to restore his daily life. Xianzong just coldly instructed that "life is known", and there was no further follow-up. Since then, Chu Wei, He Tang and others have proposed to restore the living note, but they have not been approved by the emperor. Until the early years of Wanli, Shenzong was young, and Zhang Juzheng was in power. At that time, Zhang Wei and Zhang Siwei wrote again, and the living note was finally restored. However, in the context of the unprecedented strengthening of the monarchs of the Ming and Qing dynasties, the "Living Note" is no longer what it used to be, and has gradually become the embellishment of the ruling group.
In the eighteenth year of Kangxi (1679), Emperor Kangxi explicitly ordered that "the confidential matters of the meeting, and the summoning of the ministers to go out of the class before there is a dictation, and the notekeeper does not have to serve the class".
The court painter painted the portrait of Ming Xianzong. ** Portraits of Chinese Celebrities in Past Dynasties, edited by the Conservation Department of the Chinese History Museum, Strait Literature and Art Publishing House, 2003.
From "Living Note", look at the two major TV series "male lead" emperor
In recent years, many classic historical dramas have re-entered our field of vision through various outrageous adaptations and citations, which are hilarious and stimulate people's interest in history.
In recent years, many classic historical dramas have re-entered our field of vision through various outrageous adaptations, ** Bilibili screenshot.
There is such a scene in the classic old drama "Yongzheng Dynasty", which has become popular on the Internet in recent years. Emperor Kangxi Mulan was in autumn, and the princes hunted a lot. The thirteenth son of the emperor Yinxiang hunted 18 wild animals, and the eighth son of the emperor Yinxiang caught 11 wild animals alive. At that time, the Mongolian prince paid tribute to Yiyu Ruyi, and said that God has the virtue of a good life, and the emperor should reward Yinxi with Ruyi. At this time, Xiao Hongli (later Emperor Qianlong) came out to refute, saying that the prince thought that it was compassion to not bear to kill, and that the emperor's grandfather had shot so many beasts in his life, so there was no compassion?Then, he counted the wild things that Kangxi hunted, and said that the emperor's grandfather could only develop the ability to shoot and hunt if he did not forget his rootsIn the end, he also contributed a famous scene - "Grandpa Huang is the first Baturu of my Qing Dynasty". Kangxi Emperor Longyan Dayue rewarded Hongli with wishful wishes.
Yang Haofei plays the role of the young Hongli. ** Screenshot of the TV series "Yongzheng Dynasty".
In fact, this adaptation is in line with history from a certain point of view, because Kangxi is definitely a "little hunting expert" in the Qing Dynasty and a "key vigilant object of the Animal Protection Association". In the fifty-eighth year of Kangxi (1719), he looked back on his life hunting to the imperial guards and proudly preached:
Since I was a child, I have won 100 tigers with shotguns and arrows.
Three. Ten. Five, bear two.
10. Leopard two. Ten.
5. Lynx.
10. Elk. Ten.
Fourth, wolf nine. Ten.
6. One hundred and thirty-two wild boars. Hundreds of deer were captured. The rest of the paddock casually shot beasts, and it is too much to remember. I once had a day ** rabbit three hundred and eighteen. If you are an ordinary person, you can't count this day in your lifetime!("Qing Shengzu Records" volume 285, August of the 58th year of Kangxi).
Good guys!Shooting 318 rabbits in one day is indeed not something that ordinary people can do. Although it is not excluded that the element of bragging, Kangxi loves hunting, there is no doubt about it. Especially in "Kangxi Living Note", we can see a lot of records about Kangxi's hunting. The "Living Note" in March of the twenty-first year of Kangxi (1682) said:
On the same day (14th), the upward circle was surrounded and the two tigers were shot.
On the fifteenth, he went up to surround and shot a tiger.
On the sixteenth of Jiazi, he went up to the perimeter and shot five tigers.
On the 17th, Yi Chou, ascended to the siege, and shot the three tigers.
On the 19th, Ding Mao, ascended to the siege, and shot the four tigers.
On the 20th, Wuchen, went up to the siege and shot a tiger.
On the 21st, he went up and shot two tigers.
In seven days, 18 tigers were shot and killedis worthy of the first Baturu, and it is really the reincarnation of Wu Song!
Emperor Kangxi used iron to cross guns. **Palace museum.
According to the record of "Living Note", Kangxi's behavior of fighting tigers not only promoted the way of riding and shooting, but also eliminated harm for the people. On February 24, the 22nd year of Kangxi (1683), Emperor Kangxi hunted in the Great Wall Ridge of Wutai Mountain and shot a tiger to death. The governor of Shanxi Province said that there were often fierce tigers near the Great Wall Ridge, and the merchants were deeply affected. The emperor shot the tiger to death, "the future will never be injured and devoured, and the residents of Shangjia will live in peace", praying that the emperor will give a place name, and Emperor Kangxi will give the local name "Shooting Tiger River".
In addition to his beloved tiger, there are also records of him shooting leopards, wild boars and other things in "Kangxi Living Note", and it is also recorded that Emperor Kangxi will reward the wild boars he has obtained to the ministers of the interior, the capital commander, the Shangshu, the forward commander, the protector commander and other internal and external **.
Qing Yuling's "Hunting Picture Axis". **Palace museum.
Speaking of Kangxi, we have to mention Kangxi's excellent heir, Yongzheng, the "Four Masters" who is nicknamed "Fat Orange". A "The Legend of Zhen Huan" makes the play sometimes affectionate and dedicated.
1. Yongzheng, who is sometimes suspicious and mean, gives people a deep impression. In "The Legend of Zhen Huan", Yongzheng's affection seems to be forever only left to the "White Moonlight" Chunyuan, when Zhen Huan found out that Yongzheng just regarded himself as a substitute for Chunyuan, he shattered his three views and asked himself what he was. Yongzheng mocked, saying, "It's a bit like a cloud, and it's also your blessing." Such a scumbag behavior made Zhen Huan angrily reprimand, "The love and time in the past few years have been wrongly paid".
Yongzheng in film and television dramas. ** Screenshot of the TV series "The Legend of Zhen Huan".
Emperor Yongzheng in the film and television drama has been trying to find a "stand-in" similar to Chunyuan's appearance. In real history, is the appearance of the concubine so important to Yongzheng?
Of course, appearance is not only one of the criteria for the harem concubines, but also a factor that affects the success of the previous dynasty. In ancient China, there were four so-called criteria for the selection of officials: "body, speech, calligraphy, and judgment", and the requirement of "body" was to be physically magnificent, so the tradition of judging officials by appearance was very long.
Yongzheng is also a "beauty party". He once praised the minister Zhang Ruozhen for being "a good conscience", praised Zhang Mingjun for his "good fortune", and also ridiculed Jiang Zhixiu for "being like a bastard", and once jokingly called the minister Song Huajin a big black fat man. In the final analysis, Yongzheng deeply agrees that "since ancient times, judgment by body and words has been the way to employ people, so it is necessary to look at their appearance, words and actions as a choice", which is also reflected in "Yongzheng Dynasty Living Registration".
According to the "Living Note", on the sixth day of the seventh month of the fifth year of Yongzheng (1727), Emperor Yongzheng thought that Haidu "seemed to be confused", so he ordered the retreat. On the 17th, he saw the minister Ren Keshen, "seeing that his person is very mediocre", and transferred him to the magistrate of Yuanshi. In March of the sixth year of Yongzheng (1728), Emperor Yongzheng relieved Liu Guoxun of his post as an envoy to Jiangxi. At first, when Emperor Yongzheng met Liu Guoxun, he felt that he had a bad face, "he was slippery and improper, and he could not be trusted". It was only under Yang Wenqian's strong recommendation that he was appointed as the Jiangxi Inspectorate. Later, it was discovered that Liu Guoxun was in charge of Hubei Yiyan Road, embezzling more than 1,400 taels of Jing tariff silver, and 28,000 taels of silver by salt merchants. It seems that Emperor Yongzheng is still a little accurate in looking at people.
Yongzheng Tongbao. ** National Museum of China.
The Book of Sui and the Book of Records say that "those who note the daily life record the words and actions of the people." By combing through the development of the living notes, we can find that the content of the records is quite rich, and it is not only the words and deeds of the monarch. It used to play the role of "the king's book", but under the imperial power, he was eventually reduced to a vassal and became a record book for the emperor. However, even if the Notes on Living evolved into a book of praises, some of the records in it could still serve as the key to deciphering history.