Legend has it that Shi Nai'an was Luo Guanzhong's master, and after the completion of "Water Margin", Shi Nai'an guided Luo Guanzhong to create "Romance of the Three Kingdoms". Every time I think about it, I can't help but question it.
It is possible that Shi Nai'an is not only not Master Luo Guanzhong, but also that "Water Margin" may come out after "Romance of the Three Kingdoms". If you must say that Luo Guanzhong and Shi Nai'an are a pair of master-apprentice relationships. Then, Luo Guanzhong may be Shi Nai'an's master. Why is that?
This article will start with the image of Dadao Guan Sheng, interpret this "legendary story" in the history of ancient Chinese literature, and see if Shi Nai'an is Luo Guanzhong's master.
In the sixty-second episode of Guanhuatang's "Water Margin", "Song Jiangbing fought the Daimyo Mansion, and Guan Sheng negotiated to take Liangshanbo", the protagonist of this article, Dadao Guan Sheng, appeared.
In order to save Lu Junyi and Shi Xiu, Song Jiang fought the Daimyo's mansion. After Yujia Village, Huaishupo, and Feihuyu fought in three places, Liang Zhongshu saw that Liang Mountain was strong and irresistible, so he wrote a letter to Cai Jing, the master of the Palm Dynasty, for help. After Cai Jing received Liang Zhongshu's urgent report, he immediately summoned Tong Guan of the Privy Council and the three divisions of the Yamen Taiwei to come to discuss which general to send to rescue the Daimyo's Mansion. At this time, Ma Xuanzan, the envoy of the Yamen Defense Baoyi, turned out from behind the captain of the infantry army and recommended Pudong to inspect the big sword Guan Sheng. In front of many dignitaries, Xuanzan introduced Guan Sheng like this:
This is the descendant of the late Han Dynasty's three-point righteous and brave Wu'an Wang'an faction, surnamed Guan, famous and famous; The scale of the birth is similar to that of the ancestor Shangyunchang, so that a mouth of the green dragon glaive knife is called the big knife Guan Sheng. See doing Pudong inspection, and succumb to the subordinates.
This is the first general of Liangshan in "Water Margin", the secret appearance of Tianyongxing Dadao Guan Sheng. Xuanzan said that he met Guan Sheng in the township, that is to say, Xuanzan and Guan Sheng are probably fellow villagers. Guan Sheng was a native of Pudong, which is now southwest of Shanxi. Therefore, it is not accurate to say that Xuanzan is from Tokyo. Since he is a fellow countryman and is also very familiar with the recent situation of this person, what Xuanzan said must be consistent with the actual situation. From the words of praise, we can sort out the following information:
Guan Sheng is the descendant of Guan Yu and Guan Yunchang, and the main lineage of King Righteous and Brave Wu'an. During the Song Dynasty Huizong, Guan Yu was named the "King of Righteous and Brave Wu'an", and Shi Nai'an wrote it very accurately. Although he was enthroned by Song Huizong, Guan Yu did not get a special encounter in "Water Margin", which is also the truth of history, and he only became a petty official who "succumbed to the subordinates" like Pudong Inspection.
The Literature General Examination and the Thirteenth Vocational Officer said: "The Song Dynasty had patrols along the border of the rivers and caves, or the inspections of the Fan and Han dynasties, or the management of several states and counties, or the inspection of one state and one county, and was in charge of training soldiers, patrolling prefectures, and arresting thieves. ”
The "Dutou" written in "Water Margin" has the same responsibilities as "inspection". During the reign of Emperor Xizong of the Tang Dynasty, the eunuchs in power recruited a new army of Shence and placed a total of 54 capitals, each of which set up a general as the leader, and the capital was also called "the head of the capital". During the Northern Song Dynasty, the status of the capital was reduced, and it was a low-level military position under the command. Shi Nai'an wrote Zhu Tong and Lei Heng as Chengdu's heads, which were borrowed from military positions, so these two were the heads of the horse army and the head of the infantry army. It's just that Shi Nai'an wrote Pudong as "Pudong County", and Guan Sheng's position is slightly higher than that of Yuncheng County. However, Guan Sheng's position is still very low, and Xuanzan deeply regrets it.
In fact, according to "Three Kingdoms: The Biography of Guan Yu", after Guan Yu's death, Guan Xing inherited the title. After Guan Xing's death, Guan Tong was the heir. However, Guan Tong "Shang Princess, the official to the Tiger Ben Zhonglang General." pawn, childless, to Xingshu Ziyi to continue the seal". Therefore, even if Guan Sheng is a descendant of Guan Yu, he can't be called a "grandson".
According to the "Shu Ji", "Pang Dezi will follow Zhong and Deng Hua Shu, Shu will be broken, and the Guan family will be wiped out." Guan Yu was later destroyed by Pang De's son Pang Hui, and Guan Yu left no descendants.
Guan Sheng is not a descendant, and it may not even be a descendant of Guan Yu, why did Shi Nai'an write Tianyongxing on Liangshan as a descendant of King Guan's descendant? This is a big suspicion of imitating "The Popular Romance of the Three Kingdoms".
Luo Guanzhong's "Popular Romance of the Three Kingdoms" is basically based on the official history, and in all the historical materials related to this work, Guan Yu has not been so favored, and Guan Gong's canonization of gods began with Huizong of the Song Dynasty. In the first year of Chongning (1102 AD), Guan Yu was named the Duke of Zhonghui, and Chongning was named the true monarch of Chongning for three years. In the second year of Daguan, he was named the king of Wu'an, and in the fifth year of Xuanhe, he was named the king of righteous and brave Wu'an. Song Huizong named Guan Yu as the "king", which included him in the Taoist series, and he was the first marshal under the control of his "sect leader Daojun Emperor".
Song Gaozong disagreed, and added the definite phrase "Zhuang Miao" before Song Huizong's title of Guan Yu, Miao, which has the meaning of "wrong", Liu Chan once named Guan Yu as the Marquis of Zhuang Miao, and complained very much about Guan Yu's loss of Jingzhou and other faults. Song Xiaozong seems to continue to belittle Guan Yu and crown him as "the king of Zhuang Miao, righteous and brave Wu'an". Emperor Taiding of the Yuan Dynasty rehabilitated Guan Yu, removed the word "Zhuang Miao", and renamed it "King Yingji", which basically followed the Song Dynasty's view of Guan Yu, but showed a moderation attitude. At this time, Guan Yu was still just a "king".
In "Water Margin", when Lu Zhishen was building a Zen staff in the blacksmith shop, he had a conversation with the edict. Lu Zhishen asked for a 100-pound Zen stick, and the edict said it was heavy: "It's the Guan Wang knife, and it's only eighty-one pounds." Lu Zhishen was very unconvinced, and cross-examined: "I am not as good as King Guan!" He's just a human being, too! It can be seen that Guan Yu has not yet become a god at this time.
When Shi Nai'an wrote "Water Margin", the image of Guan Yu was controversial among the emperors of previous dynasties. really made Guan Yu completely turn over, from "king" to "emperor", and became a civil and military saint alongside Confucius, "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" (Mao Zonggang Father and Son Edition) played a great role in fueling the fire.
In the forty-second year of Wanli of Mingshenzong, Guan Yu was named "Emperor Shenwei Yuanzhen Tianzun Guan Shengdi Jun of the Three Realms of Demon Fumo", and Ming Sizong Chongzhen was awarded the title of "Zhenyuan Xianying Zhaoming Yihan Tianzun", and he directly became a god. The Qing Dynasty's respect for Guan Yu was even greater, this is a later story, and it is not tabled. These titles mark Guan Yu's transformation from "king" to "emperor", from "human" to "god", all of which are behind Shi Nai'an.
Judging from the history of Guan Yu's gods, in the era in which Shi Nai'an lived, Guan Yu's status was not only not very high, but also controversial. If it weren't for "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" to elevate Guan Yu so much, Guan Sheng in "Water Margin" probably wouldn't be the descendant of King Wu'an in the late Han Dynasty.
In the Southern Song Dynasty notebook history "The Remains of Xuanhe of the Great Song Dynasty", there is indeed a story about victory. This version of Guan Sheng, some write "Guan Bisheng". The book reads:
First of all, when Zhu Mian was transporting the flowers and stones, he sent Yang Zhi, Li Jinyi, Lin Chong, Wang Xiong, Hua Rong, Chai Jin, Zhang Qing, Xu Ning, Li Ying, Mu Heng, Guan Sheng, and Sun Li to carry the flowers and stones to Taihu Lake and other places. The twelve men received the writings, and became brothers, and swore that there would be calamity, and each one came to his rescue.On the way back, Sun Li was left behind, and Yang Zhi waited in Yingzhou (present-day Buyang, Anhui). As a result, the story of Yang Zhiyingzhou selling knives to kill people and being sentenced to be confiscated into the army happened. After Sun Li arrived, he met Yang Zhi on the way, so he returned to Bianjing, gathered Guan Sheng and others, returned to Yingzhou, killed the errand, and went up to Taihang Mountain and fell into the grass together. After Chao Gai robbed the Birth Gang, he felt alone, so he sent an invitation to the twelve brothers of Taihang Mountain. Guan Sheng and others were invited to Liangshan and gathered with Chao Gai.
Guan Sheng's prototype story is so simple, except for the surname Guan Er, there is no dime to do with Guan Yu. However, the story of Liangshan has been said in the Southern Song Dynasty, and the painter Gong Kai in the late Song Dynasty and early Yuan Dynasty did say that Guan Sheng was the grandson of Guan Yunchang in "Praise of the Thirty-six People of Song Jiang". However, Gong Kai objected to this far-fetched folk legend in a questioning tone: ".Dadao Guan wins, how can he be the eldest grandson? Yun Chang is brave and brave, and you are behind him”。Guan Yun Changyi Bo Yuntian, brave and loyal, following Liu Bei and loyal to the Han family, how can his descendants go up to the mountain to be grass cowards?
Shi Nai'an's "Water Margin", the thirty-six Tiangang characters, probably from Gong Kai's painting praise, only made some minor adjustments, transferred Lin Chong in "The Great Song Dynasty Xuanhe Legacy" into this list, and put Sun Li in the seventy-two earth evil ranks.
In "Water Margin", Xuanzan continued: "This person reads military books at a young age, is well versed in martial arts, and has the courage of ten thousand people." Cai Jing adopted Xuanzan's advice and transferred Guan Sheng from Pudong to Bianjing. The book said: Taishi Cai looked at Guan Sheng, and he was a good talent:A dignified body of eight feet five or six, with a thin three willow mustaches, two eyebrows into the sideburns, and phoenix eyes facing the sky; The face is like a heavy jujube, and the lips are painted with vermilion.
This ** is Guan Sheng, which is clearly the reincarnation of the beautiful haired public relations feather. Let's look at "The Popular Romance of the Three Kingdoms" ("Romance of the Three Kingdoms" has been polished by Mao Zonggang and his son, after Shi Nai'an), what kind of image Guan Yu is:
Xuande looked at his person, he was nine feet three inches long, and his hair was one foot eight inches long. The face is like a heavy jujube, the lips are like rubbing Zhu, the eyes of the phoenix, the eyebrows of the silkworm, the appearance is dignified, and the style is majestic.Obviously, Shi Nai'an borrowed the image of Guan Yu in "The Popular Romance of the Three Kingdoms", but he lowered Guan Sheng's height by seven or eight inches, and his beautiful hair also became a thin three-willow mustache. This is a deliberate avoidance of suspicion in literary creation, although Guan Sheng is the reincarnation of Guan Yu, Shi Nai'an deliberately changed it to avoid plagiarism. However, the suspicion of "plagiarism" by Shi Nai'an was avoided. But he was suspected of "washing the manuscript". Why, more on that later.
In "The Remains of Xuanhe of the Great Song Dynasty", Guan Sheng's story is not exciting, and Guan Sheng is not Guan Sheng, but "Guan Bisheng", which has little to do with Guan Yunchang, let alone a genetic blood connection. Gong Kai questioned and even opposed Guan Sheng is Guan Yu's descendant, and in terms of "righteousness and bravery", Guan Sheng is not worthy of being Guan Yu's descendant at all. On the basis of accepting these two materials and creating the image of Guan Sheng, Shi Nai'an sublimated the image of Guan Sheng with Guan Yunchang written by Luo Guanzhong, and told a wonderful story of Guan Sheng.
It is said that Cai Jing was overjoyed when he saw such a figure as Guan Sheng, so he asked Guan Sheng: "Liangshan Bo Caokou besieged the Daimyo, may I ask the general, what is the best way to relieve the siege?" Guan Sheng replied, ".I have heard for a long time that the grass occupies the water pool, and the crowd is shocked; Leaving the nest without permission today, it is self-inflicted. If you save the great name, you will work in vain; Tens of thousands of begging fake elite soldiers, first take Liangshan, and then take the thief, and teach him not to take care of each other.
These words also have a lot to do with the taste of Yun Chang's imitation of Guan Yun Chang's tone. Luo Guanzhong's Guan Yu, familiar with "Spring and Autumn", speaks in martial arts, although it is a bit elegant, but it is different from other Confucian generals, and it is the language temperament that can only be used by such generals to fight. What Guan Sheng said to Cai Jing really seemed to come from Guan Yunchang's mouth.
This is a plan to encircle Wei and save Zhao, Guan Sheng really inherited the style of the ancestors, and he is by no means a reckless general, it is really a pity that such a general succumbed to Pudong for inspection. If there was no Guan Yu written by Luo Guanzhong, I am afraid that the story of this Pudong inspection would not be so exciting.
In the image of Guan Sheng, Shi Nai'an tried his best to arrange the righteousness of Gong Kai, adopted the folk tale Guan Sheng is Guan Yu's great-great-grandson, and boldly sublimated the image and meaning of Guan Sheng with the support of "Popular Romance of the Three Kingdoms", borrowing Guan Yu from Luo Guanzhong's pen, highlighting the "loyalty, righteousness, and bravery" of the heroes of Liangshan, and strengthening the theme of "Water Margin" "Doing the right thing for heaven and protecting the land and the people".
The first person in the martial arts of "Water Margin" must be Shi Wengong, and Lu Junyi's martial arts level is raised by "Zheng Sikou". Shi Nai'an's Lu Yuanwai is just a symbol, what is really written is the "Jade Qilin", a divine horse that can shine on the jade lion at night, a symbol of Liangshan's military strength, and Lu Junyi's own martial arts are not high. Among the generals of Liangshan, Qin Ming lost to Shi Wengong in 20 rounds, Lin Chong and Qin Ming's martial arts are equal, and under normal conditions, Lin Jiaotou can't beat Shi Wengong. On Liangshan, the only military general who can draw with Shi Wengong is Dadao Guan Sheng.
Let's say that Guan Sheng led 15,000 men, with Xuanzan and Hao Siwen as deputy generals, divided into three teams, left Tokyo, and came to Wangliang Mountain. When he arrived at Liangshan, Guan Sheng set up camp and was not in a hurry to start a war, so as to transfer back the Songjiang brigade to achieve the purpose of "encircling Wei and saving Zhao". A group of naval army leaders who stayed in Liangshanbo heard that Guan Sheng's soldiers and horses were coming, and tried to secretly rob the camp and capture Guan Sheng alive.
At the second watch of this day, Zhang Heng, the boat Huo'er, with more than 100 minions, quietly approached the Guansheng camp from the waterway. At this time, "Guan Sheng was lighting a lamp and reading a book in the Chinese military tent." Zhang Heng went to the vicinity of Guan Sheng's camp, "I saw the lights and candles in the tent, Guan Sheng twisted his beard in his hands, and sat and read."
These two details are still from Luo Guanzhong's pen, Guan Yu Bingzhu reading "Spring and Autumn". In order to avoid suspicion, Shi Nai'an did not write what book Guan Sheng was reading. If "Water Margin" is in front, Guan Sheng may have to read "Spring and Autumn". Therefore, Mr. Jin Shengxian criticized "another wonderful cloud in disguise".
Guan Sheng used a little trick and captured Zhang Heng and the minions alive. On the fourth watch that night, he set up an ambush to capture Ruan Xiaoqi, who was stealing the camp in Liangshan for the second time. Guan Sheng did not engage the Liangshan brigade in battle, but he showed outstanding combat strength, which was by no means comparable to Lin Chong's generals, and his wisdom would definitely not lose to Shi Wengong, who was also good at planning.
Song Jiang, who was far away in the Daimyo's Mansion, heard that Guan Bodhisattva (Guan Sheng became a "Bodhisattva", which should be caused by the title of Wanli in the 42nd year, which was probably changed by the author of the sequel) The great-grandson led the army to conquer Liangshan, and saw through the trick of stealing the camp and robbing the village twice, Zhang Heng and Ruan Xiaoqi were arrested, and they were shocked and immediately returned from the Daimyo's Mansion. The danger of the Daimyo's Mansion was solved, and Guan Sheng's plan succeeded.
As soon as Song Jiang returned to Liangshan, he immediately faced Guan Sheng. The two armies faced each other, Guan Sheng's advance lieutenant praised the enemy, and Huarong on Liangshan's side engaged in the battle. The second general fought for ten rounds, Hua Rong sold a flaw, and left after returning to the horse. Xuanzan didn't know what the plan was, so he chased after him, and Hua Rong shot three arrows in a row, hitting Xuanzan's back heart guard. Xuanzan hurriedly retreated to his own position, so that people would report the battle situation to Guan Sheng. Guan Sheng heard that Xuanzan suffered a loss, "Huo Di stood up, the green dragon knife, rode the charcoal horse, opened the door flag, and went straight to the front of the battle." ”
The Qinglong Yanyue Knife basically copied Guan Yu's weapon, and the Red Rabbit Horse must not be able to live again, but Shi Nai'an matched Guan Sheng with a high-imitation war horse, named "Fire Charcoal Horse". In the sixth article of "The Popular Romance of the Three Kingdoms", "Lu Bu assassinated Ding Jianyang", it was written: Li Suce opposed Lu Bu and took a red rabbit horse, and when Lu Bu saw it, "Sure enough, the horse was covered in red ...... like coals."Therefore, the full name of Guan Yunchang's mount is "Huotan Red Rabbit Horse".
The Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms also wrote about Lu Bu's mount: "Bu Youliang Horse is called Red Rabbit". "The Biography of Lu Bu in the Book of the Later Han Dynasty" also said: "Bu often meets a good horse, called Chi Su, can gallop and fly the trench", the history book only mentions the red rabbit (Cusdi), does not say that this horse is like a charcoal. In "Tales of the Three Kingdoms", the red rabbit horse is also written, and the word "fire coal" is also not mentioned. Obviously, Guan Sheng's "charcoal horse" should be a copycat Luo Guanzhong.
In this story, Jin Shengsian kept criticizing, repeatedly saying that Guan Sheng was "Yun Chang in disguise", and suspected that "Popular Romance of the Three Kingdoms" could probably find some evidence from Guan Sheng before "Water Margin".
But he said that Guan won the battle and fought a battle of words with the heroes of Liangshan for a while. Lin Chong was waiting to fight, but there was already a thunderbolt Qin Ming couldn't hold it back, and brandished a mace to win the battle. When Lin Chong saw it, he was worried that Qin Ming had snatched the first credit, and he also stood up to the Eight Snake Spears and won the battle with Qin Ming.
This is the highest-level battle of the generals of "Water Margin", and the first three of the five tiger generals of Liangshan came out together, and the second and third places teamed up to challenge the first place, which is really rare.
These three people had a vicious battle in front of the two armies, only to kill like a marquee, and the three war horses raised the dust, and they were confused. Shi Nai'an didn't say how many rounds they fought, but judging from the battle scenes, the number of rounds must not be less.
Just when the three of them were fighting in the dust, Song Jiang suddenly called Ming Jin to withdraw his troops. Lin Chong and Qin Ming retreated to their own camp according to the order, and Guan Sheng also collected his troops and returned to the camp.
Guan Sheng dismounted his horse and unloaded his armor, puzzled, and thought to himself: "I can't fight the second general, look at the loss with him, Song Jiang took the military horse, I don't know what it means?..
It seems that Guan Shengli is very difficult to fight Lin Chong and Qin Ming, and if he continues to fight, he will lose. Although Guan Sheng couldn't beat Lin Chong and Qin Ming's joint challenge, his martial arts strength was already very strong. With the two members of the Five Tiger Generals, it was almost dark before "seeing what he lost", if he went head-to-head, Lin Chong and Qin Ming would be defeated by Guan Sheng.
From this point of view, Guan Sheng's force should not be under Shi Wengong, and it is undisputed that he ranks first among the five tiger generals of Liangshan. However, the "Five Tiger Generals" are also suspected of copying "The Popular Romance of the Three Kingdoms".
However, he said that Lin Chong and Qin Ming were recalled by Song Jiang to their own formation, and they were very puzzled, and shouted together: "I am waiting to capture this guy, why did my brother withdraw his troops and stop fighting?" Song Jiang replied
Virtuous brother, I am loyal and self-controlled; Take one of the two, not what you want. Even if he was caught for a while, he was not convinced. I look at the brave generals of the big sword, the loyal ministers of the world; The ancestors are gods, and every family is a temple. If this person is allowed to go up the mountain, Song Jiang is willing to give way.Guan Sheng didn't understand why Song Jiang wanted to collect his troops when he was "looking at the loss with him", so he called someone to send Zhang Heng and Ruan Xiaoqi to ask. Ruan Xiaoqi said: "My brother, Shandong, Hebei is well-known, called timely rain to call Baoyi Song Gongming. You bastard, you don't know how to save the righteous and faithful! ”
Mr. Jin Shengxian criticized after "people who don't know loyalty".scolding Guan Sheng with these six words, it can be said that he can't be scolded, but it is just in tune with Guan Sheng, why not?
In fact, this "He Ye" is very easy to explain, it is said that Song Jiang is known for his loyalty and righteousness in "Water Margin", and Guan Sheng is "righteous and brave" to crown Shuibo. Shi Nai'an wrote like this, which is to split Guan Yu's loyalty and courage into Song Jiang and Guan Sheng.
Let's say that when Song Jiang appeared, Shi Nai'an described his image like this:The eyes are like a phoenix, and the eyebrows are like lying silkworms. Dripping and slippery ears hanging beads, bright eyes painted.
Because Mr. Jin Shengxian deleted this Song Jiang's hymn, although Guan Sheng and Song Jiang were "together", he couldn't understand why the two were together, so he asked "He Ye".
Song Jiang's image seems to be closer to Guan Yu, making up for Guan Sheng's "defect" that he does not have "lying silkworm eyebrows", and the faces of these two people are combined again, and they are closer to the "King of Righteous and Brave Wu'an".
On Liangshan, Song Jiang advocated "loyalty and righteousness" and "self-defense of loyalty and righteousness". At the time of the great gathering of Liangshan, Shangying Tiankuixing, nicknamed Hu Baoyi, is the meaning of Hu Qun Baoyi, which is the head of Liangshan's loyalty and righteousness, and the embodiment of loyalty in "Water Margin". Guan Sheng is the "Heavenly Brave Star", with deep righteousness, but Shi Nai'an highlights Guan Sheng's "bravery", and leading the five tiger generals is a symbol of righteousness and bravery. However, there is still one thing that Song Jiang and Guan Sheng's appearance is different from Guan Yu, that is, "beautiful hair". It just so happens that Zhu Tong, the head of the Ma Army in Yuncheng County, is the "beautiful bearded man".
When Zhu Tong appeared, Shi Nai'an wrote like this:
He was eight feet four and five in length, with a tiger beard, one foot five inches long; The face is like a heavy jujube, the eyes are like a star, and it looks like Guan Yun; The people of Manxian County call him a beautiful bearded man.Zhu Tong has a beautiful hair, which seems to be most similar to Guan Yunchang, but it is only three inches shorter. However, if you take a closer look, Zhu Tong is actually not like Guan Yu. Guan Yu is Danfeng eyes and lying silkworm eyebrows, Zhu Tong does not have lying silkworm eyebrows, and his eyes are "eyes like stars". The so-called eyebrows are not like each other, and Zhu Tong has lost Guan Yunchang's inner temperament. It's just because the face is like a heavy jujube, there is a tiger hair, and you can look at the big appearance of the feather from a distance.
Even Zhu Tong's appearance and interior are far from Guan Yu. But it is still obvious that if Song Jiang, Guan Sheng, and Zhu Tong are put together, it is the appearance of Guan Gong in "Popular Romance of the Three Kingdoms".
However, Shi Nai'an did not dare to surpass Luo Guanzhong's Guan Wang with these three people, the tallest of them was Guan Sheng's eight feet five or six. This shows that Shi Nai'an compared to Guan Yu in Luo Guanzhong, and wrote Guan Sheng, the descendant of King Guan, and then supplemented it with Song Jiang and Zhu Tong.
There is a big internal gap between the images of Zhu Tong and Guan Yu, so this character cannot be defined by "loyalty". Judging from Zhu Tong's story, his behavior is also extremely disloyal to his profession and superiors, and he is the head of patrolling and arresting thieves, but he has repeatedly let go of key criminals for personal gain. However, Zhu Tong privately released Chao Gai, guided Song Jiang to escape, and let go of the murderer Lei Heng on the way to escort, all out of righteous anger. This point, like Luo Guanzhong's fictional Guan Yu Huarong Dao letting Cao Cao go, is caused by "deep righteousness".
After Liu Bei led his troops to Huarong Dao to ambush Guan Yu, he said to Zhuge Liang: "My brother Yunchang is deeply righteous, if Cao Cao really goes to Huarong Dao, he is only afraid to let go." Although Zhu Tong repeatedly derelicted his duties and fled criminals, he could not be compared with Guan Yunchang's private release of Cao Cao, but Shi Nai'an wrote that Zhu Tong was very similar to Guan Yu, and he was talking about "righteousness". When Shi Nai'an wrote the book of Zhu Tong letting Song Jiang go, the retrospective was called "Zhu Tong's Interpretation of Song Gongming", which was still about the word "righteousness".
"Water Margin" imitates the traces of "Popular Romance of the Three Kingdoms", similar to the current "manuscript washing", decomposing Guan Yunchang's "loyalty, righteousness, and bravery" on the bodies of Song Jiang, Zhu Tong, and Guan Sheng, constituting the big clue and context of Liangshan Juyi. It is also the Tiangang and the earth that is locked in the Taoist Demon Palace, because of righteousness, because of the courage and strength, and because of loyalty and righteousness, "for the heavens, to protect the land and the people".
As mentioned above, the five tigers of Liangshan are also suspected of copying "Popular Romance of the Three Kingdoms". Lvye Lao Dao believes that the "Five Tiger Generals" should be Luo Guanzhong's first initiative in Romance. There seems to be no record of the "Five Tiger Generals" in all dynasties, and Luo Guanzhong's Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Zhao Yun, Ma Chao, and Huang Zhong were also not named the Five Tiger Generals by Liu Bei.
Shi Nai'an ranked the heroes of Liangshan, and the eight hussars and vanguard envoys in the military general series, as well as the infantry army and the navy army, all referred to the establishment of the ancient army. However, the Five Tiger Generals should have borrowed from Luo Guanzhong's "Popular Romance of the Three Kingdoms", not his first creation.
Among the five tiger generals, Lin Chong ranked second, in addition to losing slightly to Guan Sheng in martial arts, the more important reason was to refer to Luo Guanzhong's writings.
Lin Chong is nicknamed the leopard's head, and his appearance is described in detail in the episode "The flower monk uprooted the weeping willows, and the leopard's head strayed into the White Tiger Hall".Raw leopard head ringed eyes, swallow collar tiger whiskers, eight-foot long and short body.
Looking at the image of Zhang Fei in the first "Sacrifice to Heaven and Earth Taoyuan Righteousness" in "The Popular Romance of the Three Kingdoms", it is not difficult to see that Lin Chong is a copy of Zhang Fei:Xuande looked back and saw that his body was eight feet long, with a leopard's head and eyes, and a swallow-jawed tiger whisker.
Lin Chong is the head of the 800,000 forbidden army, but he uses the Zhangba snake spear to fight. Although guns also belong to the category of spears, there are still differences after all. Shi Nai'an wrote like this, and it is also possible to refer to Zhang Fei's weapons. Luo Guanzhong said: Liu Bei wanted to raise an army to fight against the Yellow Turban Army, so he was given horses, ** and 1,000 gold and iron by businessmen Zhang Shiping and Su Shuang. So, Xuande built a double-strand sword, Guan Yu built a Leng Yan saw, and Zhang Fei asked for a steel spear with eight points.
When Lin Jiaotou Fengxue Mountain Temple, he used a small flower gun to carry a wine gourd, and then he also used this gun to kill Chapo and Fu'an. However, when Sanda Zhujiazhuang captured Hu Sanniang alive, the weapon became a snake spear.
Lin Chong went to Liangshan to change his weapons, because Shi Nai'an had to prepare for the ordering of the five tiger generals.
Guan Sheng is a descendant of Guan Yu, nicknamed "Big Knife", referring to the Guan family's ancestral Qinglong Yanyue Knife (Leng Yan Saw). The big sword corresponds to "Yi Yong", and "Tian Yong Xing" ranks fifth in the thirty-six Tiangang, which is the highest ranking of Liangshan military generals. The Five Tigers will be the first battle force lineup in Liangshan, and Guan Sheng will naturally be ranked ahead of Lin Chong, Qin Ming, Hu Yanzhuo, and Dong Ping. Shi Nai'an imitated the five tiger generals in "The Popular Romance of the Three Kingdoms", and the Guan family did not rank first among the five tiger generals, who would dare to move forward?
Although Lin Chong was a veteran of the three dynasties of Liangshan, he had rich experience and strong martial arts. However, in "Popular Romance of the Three Kingdoms", Zhang Fei is Guan Yu's third brother, how can there be a reason for the younger brother to be ranked in front of the elder brother? Therefore, Lin Chong could only rank second among the five tiger generals.
Judging from the Liangshan Five Tiger Generals and their rankings, "Popular Romance of the Three Kingdoms" seems to be earlier than "Water Margin". This is also a basis for investigating or questioning who came first and who came after in "The Popular Romance of the Three Kingdoms" and "Water Margin", and the master-apprentice relationship between Luo Guanzhong and Shi Nai'an.
However, before "The Popular Romance of the Three Kingdoms", there was also a "Three Kingdoms Romance", in which it was also said that "the emperor's uncle was enshrined as the general of the Five Tigers, but he did not see his beloved brother Guan Gong, so that his henchmen gave him gold beads, went to Jingzhou, and sealed Guan Gongshou Tinghou." This should probably be an earlier version of the "Five Tiger Generals". Shi Nai'an should have read this plain talk, and the Liangshan Five Tigers will come from here, and it is also reasonable.
The problem is that elevating Guan Yu was the first to be done by Luo Guan in Romance. Therefore, Guan Sheng's writing is so expressive, and it seems that it also benefits from the successful shaping of Guan Yu in "Popular Romance of the Three Kingdoms".
Dadao Guan Sheng appeared very late, but he is a big figure in Liangshan. After this person went up the mountain, Liangshan's "loyalty, righteousness, and bravery" all returned to their positions, and the next thing was to break the Daimyo Mansion, and Liangshan got the "Jade Qilin". Then, the jade unicorn ** shines on the jade lion at night to complete the great gathering. The arrival of Guan Sheng sublimated Liangshan's loyalty and courage in the name of Guan Yunchang, and the theme of "Loyalty" in "Water Margin" got a relatively perfect footnote.
According to Shi Nai'an's foreshadowing in the first seventy episodes of "Water Margin", the heroes of Liangshan finally participated in the Anti-Jin War and completed the oath of "doing the right thing for heaven and protecting the land and the people", and "loyalty, righteousness, and bravery" all ended successfully. Therefore, Shi Nai'an used it against Gong Kai's intention, and with the help of the image of Guan Yu in "The Popular Romance of the Three Kingdoms" and the meaning of "loyalty, righteousness and bravery", he injected more positive energy into "Water Margin", highlighting the core theme of "walking for the sky, protecting the land and the people".
From Guan Sheng's story, it seems that it can be concluded that "The Popular Romance of the Three Kingdoms" is earlier than "Water Margin", and Luo Guanzhong did not complete the creation of this masterpiece under the guidance of Shi Nai'an. Luo Guanzhong should not be a student of Shi Nai'an, but Shi Nai'an may have borrowed from Luo Guanzhong's writings and found another way, taking the story of Shuibo Liangshan as a clue to show a historical picture of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms to the early Ming Dynasty.
Even if it is borrowed, or even "washing", it will not affect the greatness of "Water Margin". At that time, the stories of Pinghua and miscellaneous dramas about "Water Margin" and "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" had been widely circulated. Shi Nai'an's works surpass Luo Guanzhong in many aspects, and Lvye Lao Dao ranked "Water Margin" at the top of the four famous novels, which should be well deserved.
Shi Nai'an is Luo Guanzhong's teacher, and "Popular Romance of the Three Kingdoms" was completed under Shi Nai'an's guidance after Shi Nai'an completed "Water Margin". This statement was originally a legend, and there is no substantiation. Luo Guanzhong used the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" as the blueprint, and referred to historical materials such as "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms", "Book of the Later Han Dynasty", and "Zizhi Tongjian", as well as ancient notes such as "Shishuo Xinyu", and created "The Popular Romance of the Three Kingdoms".
Similarly, Shi Nai'an also had the opportunity to read "Three Kingdoms Romance" and other Pinghua miscellaneous dramas, implanting Guan Yunchang in "Water Margin". Therefore, who comes first and who comes after in "Popular Romance of the Three Kingdoms" and "Water Margin", whether Shi Nai'an and Luo Guanzhong have a master-apprentice relationship is really an unsolved case in the literary world, and it is estimated that it will be difficult to crack.
Regarding the question of who comes first and who comes after "Water Margin" and "Popular Romance of the Three Kingdoms", Luo Guanzhong and Shi Nai'an, who is the master and who is the apprentice, in addition to Guan Sheng's artistic image that can be glimpsed and hazy, there are many clues to find out the subtleties and draw personal opinions. The stories implied by these clues are also part of these two famous books, and how they are, and let the old green field slowly tell.
February** Dynamic Incentive Program