Lü Buwei, the biological father of Qin Shi Huang? Discover the mysteries of more than 2,000 years of history
The debate over whether Lü Buwei was the biological father of Qin Shi Huang has been going on for more than 2,000 years, stemming from different accounts in Sima Qian's Historical Records - Qin Shi Huang Benji and Lü Buwei's Biography. At the same time, Qin Shi Huang's biological mother Zhao Ji was Lü Buwei's singer, and the later relationship between the two also made the controversy even more confusing. So, is Lü Buwei the biological father of Qin Shi Huang? Personally, I don't think it's likely.
The mystery of Qin Shi Huang's biological father stems from Sima Qian's contradictory claims.
Historical Records - Qin Shi Huang Benji begins with the words:"Qin Shi Huang was the son of King Xiang of Qin Zhuang. When King Xiang of Qin Zhuang was taken hostage to Zhao, he met Lü Buwei's concubine, fell in love with her, took her for himself, and gave birth to Qin Shi Huang. According to this description, Sima Qian never doubted Qin Shi Huang's origins, and clearly stated that Qin Shi Huang was the son of King Xiang of Qin Zhuang.
However, Sima Qian wrote in the "Historical Records-Biography of Lü Buweile":"Lü Buwei is good at dancing in Handan, living with him and knowing his body. Zichu doesn't drink Wei, doesn't look at it, doesn't say anything, but asks for longevity. Lü Buwei thought that his family had been ruined because of Zichu, and he was very angry, but he still wanted to catch this person, so he offered his concubine. The concubine hid and gave birth to a son in the prime of life"。That is to say, when Yiren asked him for Zhao Ji, Lü Buwei was very angry at first, but he thought that his family was putting pressure on Yiren, so he dedicated Zhao Ji to him. Zhao Ji also concealed the fact that she was pregnant and gave birth to Qin Shi Huang after marrying a stranger.
As mentioned earlier, the mystery of Qin Shi Huang's life has been preserved for more than 2,000 years. The origin of this mystery is the result of Sima Qian's various research in the "Records of the Historians", coupled with the ambiguous relationship between Zhao Ji and Lü Buwei, and for a period of time, it was widely believed that Lü Buwei was the biological father of Qin Shi Huang. But I personally believe that Qin Shi Huang is undoubtedly the son of a foreigner, and the main reasons are as follows.
One of the reasons: Although the records of the "Historical Records" are different, the "Benji" is more reliable than the "Biography".
The main reason why there are different accounts of the same event in the Records of the Historians is the accuracy of Sima Qian. When Sima Qian wrote the "Historical Records", the historical materials were extremely extensive, and the time distance of some historical events was very far away, and even Sima Qian could not distinguish the true from the false.
It is said that in order to ensure the integrity of the historical materials, Sima Qian used what he considered to be the most reliable historical materials when compiling the Yi Ji and the Table, while hiding the less reliable reports in the biographies, and even putting contradictory historical materials in one place, leaving secret words for people to think and remember.
In fact, a careful study of the "Historical Records" shows that the narrative in the "Historical Records" mostly focuses on the expression of historical events and focuses on the recording of historical events; The narrative in the Biography is much richer, interspersed with a large number of character dialogues and detailed descriptions of events. "The narrative of "Lian Biography" is much richer, interspersed with a large number of character dialogues and detailed descriptions of events, making people feel as if they are in the present world.
On the contrary, we believe that due to the loss of pre-Qin historical materials, it is difficult to completely reproduce many historical events, especially many of Sima Qian's specific dialogues, which are even more difficult for future generations to know, so they must be literary creations.
Like the life of Qin Shi Huang, "The Present Chronicle of Qin Shi Huang" only provides an overview of Qin Shi Huang's life, while "The Biography of Lü Buwei" recreates the scene of that time more richly. In fact, how could Sima Qian in later generations know whether Lü Buwei was really angry at that time. However, these rumors and anecdotes, despite their low credibility, have been erased, regrettably. Therefore, Sima Qian preserved all kinds of historical materials in the form of anecdotes and wrote them in a metaphorical and contradictory way.
As mentioned above, the reliability of the Benxi Report is obviously much higher than that of the Daigu Report, and when there is a contradiction between the Benxi Report and the Daigu Report, the Benxi Report is usually used, while the Daigu Report is more often used in the expression of hearsay. When there is a contradiction between the "Benzhi" and the "County Chronicle", the "Benzhi" is usually used, while the expression of the "County Chronicle" is more based on hearsay.
Reason 2: Lei Zhen's account is unreasonable, but no one doubts his life before the Han Dynasty.
In"Patriarchal system"Under the influence of the aborigines, the aborigines attached great importance to the issue of blood, especially in such a major matter as succession to the throne, and there was no room for negligence. If there is really something wrong with Qin Shi Huang's bloodline, then the possibility of his succession to the throne is almost null and void if there is even the slightest suspicion.
If it is really as stated in "Historical Records-The Biography of Lü Buweilie", Zhao Ji"Giving birth to a child"In the great period, then the lineage of Qin Shi Huang is very problematic. Ancient"Period"Yes"jī", which refers to a woman's prime or fertile season. Let's break them down separately:
Period"Refers to one year: Zhao Ji gave birth to Yingzheng a year after marrying a foreigner. If Cho Ji was pregnant before marrying a foreigner, then her pregnancy period would be more than 12 months. Modern medicine states that a full-term pregnancy lasts about 280 days (40 weeks), and even if the pregnancy is longer, it can only last for 44 weeks, i.e., about 10 months. Of course, this does not mean that there are no pregnancies beyond this period, but the probability is very small; Is Zhao Ji really one of these rare pregnancies? So-called"Period", referring to full-term childbirth: if Zhao Ji gave birth to Yingzheng at term, and was pregnant before marrying another person, wouldn't it be obviously abnormal for Zhao Ji to give birth to Qin Shi Huang in less than 10 months without arousing suspicion? As mentioned above, no matter what"Period"What does it mean, the descriptions in "The Biography of the Daughters" do not conform to physiological common sense, nor do they conform to common sense, which is enough to arouse the suspicion of others.
You must know that before Qin Shi Huang returned to Qin, Yiren had already married a wife and had children in Qin. If there were any doubts about Qin Shi Huang's background, even with Lü Buwei's help, he would not become an heir because of his royal blood. However, before the Han Dynasty, from the birth of Yingzheng to the time he was declared the heir, to his ascension to the throne, no one had the slightest doubt about his origins, not even the slightest rumor.
Reason 3: Lü Buwei has no reason to do this, and royal blood is the key to his investment.
Before Lü Buwei met him, King An had more than twenty sons, because his mother and son were not favored, it can be said that he did not have the slightest chance of inheriting the throne, otherwise he would not have been sent to Handan, Zhao State, as a hostage. The reason why Lü Buwei regarded aliens as"Odd goods", mainly because he was a member of King Qin's family.
You must know that Lü Buwei not only scattered all his family wealth, but also took great pains for his relatives to succeed to the throne smoothly. First, he applied business principles such as mutual benefit and win-win to politics, and through a series of investment plans, he facilitated the cooperation between Zichu and Mrs. Huayang. At the same time, the reason why Lü Buwei was able to persuade Mrs. Huayang to marry a different race seemed complicated and dramatic on the surface, but in fact it was to re-establish a political alliance between the princes of a certain line of the Ying clan and the relatives of the Mi family.
The key to Lü Buwei's actions was the ancestry of the alien race and its descendants. If there is a problem with Yingzheng's bloodline, even if Lü Buwei has the ability to turn the world upside down, it is impossible to put Yiren on the throne. Therefore, protecting the purity and credibility of King Qin's bloodline was Lü Buwei's top priority, and he did not dare to back down. In this matter, he will not make mistakes, so he is worried that it will be too late to avoid suspicion.
One might say that Lü Buwei did not want his son to contribute to the country by ascending to the throne. First of all, this contradicts the description in the Biography of Lü Buwei. If Lü Buwei really had such ambitions, why did he get angry when a stranger looked at Zhao Ji, who was already pregnant? Isn't this what he wants, shouldn't he be happy to give Zhao Ji to a stranger?
Second, Lü Buwei is not a fool. Even if Qin Shi Huang is really his son, he has the ability to put Yingzheng on the throne. Doesn't he think that after Ying Zheng ascends the throne, he will really admit that he is his father because of his words? Unless he wants to create chaos in the country. If Yingzheng didn't admit it, wouldn't Lü Buwei's series of actions be in vain?
As we have said earlier, Lü Buwei has no reason to hand over the pregnant Zhao Ji to a foreigner, otherwise, once Qin Shi Huang's bloodline is exposed, all his investments will come to naught, and his own life, Qin Shi Huang's life and the life of the Lu family will be difficult to guarantee. In fact, Lü Buwei was not a careerist who wanted to usurp the throne, but a businessman who only engaged in political speculation.
To sum up, I personally believe that there should be no problem with the birth of Qin Shi Huang, and his biological father should be King Xiang of Qin Zhuang. Moreover, most of the controversy about the birth of Qin Shi Huang occurred after the Han Dynasty, and there are probably too many political factors in it.