Han Xin, a military genius who was proficient in the art of war and had a distinguished military record, deeply disturbed Liu Bang by his military talents, especially at the critical moment of life and death, when he threatened Liu Bang with the title of king.
So, as soon as Xiang Yu died, Liu Bang secretly took away Han Xin's military power, renamed him the king of Chu, and then demoted him to the marquis of Huaiyin.
In a casual chat with Han Xin, Han Xin confidently said that he led the troops "the more the merrier", which was not arrogant, because in the Chu-Han War, he attacked the city and captured the pass, won by surprise, never failed, and was invincible.
Even Sima Guang, a famous minister of the Northern Song Dynasty, sighed: The Han Dynasty was able to get the world, mainly due to Han Xin's merits. However, this military "genius", the once "invincible" commander of the army, finally died at the hands of a woman, leaving behind the sentimentality of "burying bones and waist mountain roads, and stationing on horses".
Surprisingly, there are still many mysteries about such an outstanding Han Xin's life history, and Taishi Gong did not mention his family lineage, nor did he leave us much information, so there are different opinions on this from the folk and the wild.
Some people think that Han Xin was born in cloth clothes and has a low status, some people think that he is a declining nobleman, and some people think that he is a "prince grandson". However, these claims have been around for years, but none of them have been supported by reliable evidence.
Ma Qian's ability to control words is extremely high, did he lay the groundwork for the truth of Han Xin's life experience? Today, we will look for clues from "Historical Records: The Biography of the Marquis of Huaiyin".
Han Xin, a man born in cloth, his hometown is in Huaiyin. In Tai Shi Gong's pen, it was not all smooth sailing. He has experienced two things: "Drifting Mother's Rice Letter" and "Humiliation of the Crotch".
In the story, Han Xin was fishing under the city, and a drifting mother saw that he was hungry and provided him with food. The story reflects Han Shin's impoverished life.
However, Drifting Mother did not expect Han Shin to reciprocate, just out of sympathy for him. The story of "The Humiliation of the Crotch" tells the story of Han Xin being insulted in the Huaiyin market.
A young butcher laughs at him for being tall but timid as a mouse, and asks him to draw his sword and challenge. Han Shin looked brave, but he leaned over and crawled over like a dog.
This story reveals another side of Han Shin, namely his meekness and humility. Drifting Mother refers to Han Xin as "Wang Sun" in the story, suggesting that Han Xin may have been of aristocratic origin.
This message coincides with other clues, as Han Shin is tall and wears a sword, which may hint at his nobility. Overall, Han Shin's background was not illustrious, but the difficulties and setbacks he experienced made him more resilient and humble.
These qualities eventually helped him leave a deep mark on the stage of history.
In ancient times, there were obvious hierarchical differences in clothing, food, housing, transportation, crown and hat shapes, and hairstyles, which can be seen from the Qinling terracotta figurines. There are "seated figurines" with rounded buns on the back, "samurai figurines" with hair buns on the left or right, and those who wear and do not wear curtains.
In addition, the literature shows that most of the people who wore the sword were the aristocratic class, because the metallurgical technology at that time was not high, and it was not easy to forge a good sword.
Judging from the Qin weapons unearthed so far, they are all bronze, how can Han Xin get a sword with a cloth coat?
In addition, Han Xin violated the laws of Qin by wearing a sword in the Huaiyin Market, why is this? Han's mother's burial place may reveal the mystery of Han Shin's origins.
What's even more puzzling is that Tai Shi Gong left a paragraph at the end of Han Xinchuan. He said that he had been to Huaiyin, and that the people of Huaiyin had told him that even when Han Xin was a commoner, his ambitions were already different.
When his mother died, he was too poor to be buried, but he chose a high ground where 10,000 tombs could be placed next to his mother's grave. I saw with my own eyes the grave of Han Shin's mother, and it was.
It is worth noting that Tai Shi Gong described Han Xin's mother's tomb here as a "mound", a tall and large tomb, and Han Xin buried his mother in a "high open land", which at that time, only after the death of high-ranking officials and dignitaries would choose a "high open place" to build a large tomb according to the ancient tomb feng shui concept, in addition, Tai Shi Gong only mentioned Han Xin's mother mound, and there was no father's mound and no ancestral grave.
Does this information reveal Han Xin's mysterious background from the other side?
Is Han Shin a down-and-out boy from an aristocratic background? From Tai Shi Gong's description of him, we may be able to find the answer. "When the beginning was cloth, there was no line of poverty", the word "beginning" here can be understood as "just beginning to become cloth", and it can also be understood as "used to be cloth".
If the latter is true, then Han Xin should have had a prominent lintel in the past, and Han Xin and his parents were not natives of Huaiyin, but migrated to Huaiyin later.
Han Xin did not know how to do business to make ends meet, and often "sent food and drink from people" without labor, but he was literate and proficient in the art of war, probably because his education came from a family of ordinary civilians.
How Han's mother and Han Xin's orphans and widows survived in Huaiyin is also a question worth thinking about.
Historically, orphans and widows like Liu Bei's mother and son had to sell straw sandals to make ends meet, if Han Xin's mother and son were also poor and destitute, how could Han Xin not know any survival skills?
All of this shows that Han Xin may be a down-and-out aristocratic boy.
Why didn't Tai Shi Gong clearly point out Han Xin's origin? Perhaps Ban Gu and Sima Guang also sensed some clues from this, so they both tacitly deleted the relevant description: Han Xin, from Huaiyin.
His family was poor, his character was poor, he was not elected as a **, and he could not do business. He often relied on handouts from others to make ends meet.
After his mother died, he also did not have enough money to bury him, so he chose to build a cemetery on the high ground so that it could accommodate 10,000 people.
This may indicate that Tai Shi Gong did leave us clues about Han Xin's life history, but he may not have found Han Xin's family history, nor did he know who his ancestors and biological father were, so he did not clearly indicate whether Han Xin was a "cloth cloth" or a "nobleman".
Why was Han Shin able to swagger and walk in front of everyone with a sword? There may be two reasons.
First, this happened before Qin destroyed Chu in 223 BC, when there was no Qin law; Or it happened before the Qin king ordered the seizure** (221 BC).
Second, according to the records of Taishi Gong, the pre-Qin and Qin dynasties underwent three transformations, and the scope from officials to ordinary people continued to expand, which meant that the people of all countries at that time could carry ** to adapt to foreign expansion wars.
Therefore, Han Shin's carrying a sword does not indicate that he is noble or low. In addition, Sima Qian only collected a few pieces of information about Han Xin, and even Han Xin's birth time was not found, which is strange.
Although the Qin Dynasty's household register was not destroyed in the war, we still cannot understand its specific content from the historical records.
Why is Hanxin's account information blank? It may be that he is not an ordinary person, but has a prominent background.
Historically, the Qin Dynasty's strict household registration system allowed many nobles to hide their identities, and Han Xin's situation just shows that his background may not have been just a commoner's cloth.
Why didn't Sima Qian record Han Xin's age and family? This may be because he did not find Han Xin's household registration information, or it may be that Han Xin's household registration information is incomplete, or it may be that Han Xin himself does not know his family history.
According to historical records, the "three clans of Yixin" (parents, brothers, and wives) were killed, which indicates that Han Xin's family may have been found. Drifting mother uses "Wang Sun" to call Han Xin, and the word "Wang Sun" literally means a descendant of the royal family, of course, it is also commonly referred to as a noble son.
Some people suggest that Han Xin is the "grandson of the king of Han", which may be because in 230 BC when Qin attacked Korea, many Korean people migrated east to escape the war, and Han Xin's family may be one of them.
But considering that there were two people named "Han Xin" at that time, one was Han Xin, the Marquis of Huaiyin, which we are familiar with; The other is the grandson of Han Xiang Wang Jicang, "Han Wang Xin", so it is possible to confuse the deeds of the two.
Combined with the above problems, we need to do further research and analysis.
According to the brief text of the "New Qianshou Military Order" in the Qin Slips in the Yuelu Academy, we can see that although the former people of the Six Kingdoms were a group of conquered people, the Qin State still recognized their nobility, and they still held titles.
Therefore, if Han Xin's parents were exiled to Huaiyin because of Qin's attack on Korea, then he was an ordinary nobleman who could have regained his aristocratic status after the unification of Qin.
However, according to the regulations in the Qin Dynasty's household register, it is likely that Han Xin was registered as the "city registration" of the Jia people. Therefore, we can say that Han Xin's background may be higher than the scope of being treated leniently by the Qin State, and he is in the ranks of being feared.
Han Shin was born around 228 BC as a butcher boy. He was tall enough to wear **, but was already in his teens at the time.
Because of poverty, he could not be elected to be a official, nor could he do business to support himself, so he could only live in other people's homes and eat idle food. According to the laws of the Qin Dynasty, when a man reaches the age of 17, he needs to register with the township government and begin military service.
Han Xin was already 19 years old when the "crotch humiliation" incident occurred, and after this incident, people all over the street laughed at him for being cowardly. According to Taishi Gong, Han Xin followed Xiang Liang with a sword in the first year of Qin II, so Han Xin was about 19 years old or older in 209 BC.
As for whether Han Xin knows his background, we don't know this.
We have already said that Huaiyin is not Han Xin's hometown, but because his parents moved here. The surname "Han" is one of the six secretaries of the Jin Kingdom, and the ancestor of the surname is Han Qian, the Korean monarch of the Warring States Period.
This means that Han Shin's bloodline may be related to the Korean royal family. In 228 BC, only Korea was destroyed by the Qin state. Therefore, regardless of Han Shin's birthplace, it is possible that his parents migrated here after the destruction of Korea.
In addition, although we cannot be exact at what age Han Shin lost his father, in 226 BC there was a rebellion of the old nobles in Sinjeong, and Han Shin's father may have participated in the rebellion, so he died at a young age.
Of course, there is also the possibility of dying of illness, but judging from the fact that Han Shin did not bury his parents in the same place, it is less likely that he will die of illness.
However, during the anti-Qin period, all countries had already established monarchs, but Korea did not, Xiang Liang listened to Zhang Liang's suggestion and established Hengyang Jun Han as the king of Han, at this time Han Xin had already joined Xiang Liang's anti-Qin team, and he was still an unknown person, so why didn't he go to recognize his relatives?
Does Han Shin know his father's identity? This is indeed a doubt, but it is unlikely. The reasons are as follows: First of all, Han Xin did not receive the title of military merit during his military service, otherwise he would have been able to become an official a long time ago, and he would not have been tired and humiliated by the people.
And with Han Xin's ability, this should not be a difficult task. Secondly, during Sima Qian's field trip, he found the tomb of Han's mother, and said that he "had different aspirations". This shows that Han Xin's deep-rooted idea of "tearing the earth and sealing the king" is something that ordinary nobles dare not think.
If Han Xin didn't know his background, how could he be so sure that he would definitely be crowned a king and a prince in the future? In addition, when Han Xin was "humiliated by the crotch", Tai Shi Gong portrayed his psychology at that time, the strong arrogance and ambition of the nobles.
During the dispute between Chu and Han, Han Xin couldn't wait to coerce Liu Bang to make him the king of Qi, but he did not take the opportunity to establish himself as king. After being demoted to the Marquis of Huaiyin, he was ashamed to be in the same position as the Marquis of Jiang and Guan Ying, and even laughed at himself for being in the company of people like Fan Xu.
Drifting mother called him "Wang Sun", but Han Xin never refuted it. Drifting mother is not young, she should have witnessed the situation of Han Xin's parents moving in, and people can distinguish each other's identities from the clothes and car dealerships, so Drifting mother called him "Wang Sun".
And the "slaughtering boy" was young and didn't know Han Xin's life experience, and thought he was just a down-and-out ordinary aristocratic child. In addition, Han Xin's knowledge of the art of war, in an era when there was no paper and educational resources were limited, only families with high enough status had such bamboo slips or wooden slips.
Therefore, Han Xin is very clear about his background, eager to restore his status as a "prince and grandson" and the glory of his family in the past, and has no determination to dominate the world. This is also the reason why he concealed his life experience after the establishment of the Han Dynasty, for fear of arousing Liu Bang's jealousy.
Therefore, who Han Shin's father is has become an unsolved mystery.
Some people say that his father was the grandson of King Han Xiang. This statement actually confuses the life experience of Han Xin, the king of Han, who is the grandson of Han Xiang Wang Ji Cangshu.
In addition, if Han Shin's father is the grandson of King Han Xiang, and Han Shin is also the grandson of King Han Xiang, then why did Han Shin's father give his son a name that is the same as that of a brother in the clan?
Moreover, if Han Shin is a descendant of the Korean royal family, then he should not take the same name. Another point of view is that some people say that his father was Han Feizi.
However, Han Feizi's life history is still a mystery, and Taishi Gong only said in "Historical Records: The Biography of Han Feilie" that he is "the son of Han".
Later generations of scholars have been perplexed by the word "Zhu", who have been arguing about which son Han Fei was among the members of the Han royal family.
According to the year of Han Fei's birth and death, some people believe that he is the son of King Han Li, some people believe that he is the son of King Han Huanhui, and some people believe that he is the son of Han Wangan, the last monarch of Korea.
Professor Shi Juehuai believes in "Han Fei's Commentary" that Han Feizi should be the second son of Han Cang, the king of Han Xiang, the son of Han Li, and the relationship between Han Huan Hui and Han Wangxin as brothers or cousins.
However, there are some doubts about this view, for example, if Han Xin was born before 228 BC, then he was barely connected to Han Feizi, but how could there be two "Han Xin" in a family at the same time?
Han Xin's father and Han Wangxin's father had not seen each other for many years, and Han Wangxin joined Liu Bang's team when Zhang Liang led his troops to follow Liu Bang to attack Yangcheng, and was named a general. Han Xin left Chu and returned to Han after Liu Bang entered Shu.
It wasn't until Xiao He's recommendation that people knew that there was still a Han Xin in the Han army. Han Xin's life experience directly points to Han Xiangwang's second son, Han Li, who fought with his younger brother Gongzi to become the crown prince after the death of the prince's infant (296 BC), but he was still a "proton" in Chu at that time.
Su Dai designed that Gongzi Lice could not return to Korea, and finally returned to Chu. After that, Han Shin was probably the grandson or great-grandson of Han lice.
February**Dynamic Incentive Plan Han Fei's identity was recognized by the Han royal family, and it is unlikely that he is the son of Han Xin or Han Xin's biological father, otherwise it would be impossible to give his son the name "Han Xin".