There is an arrow stuck in the plaque of the Forbidden City, and no one has dared to pull it out for

Mondo Culture Updated on 2024-02-22

"Why didn't you pull out this arrow, it would be unsightly? A tourist visiting the Forbidden City said"It's not that I don't want to pull it out, but I can't pull it out, which has something to do with a previous emperor. ”A tour guide came over and said mysteriously.

The Forbidden City, the palace that has carried more than 2,000 years of Chinese civilization, is breathtaking in its splendid and majestic magnificence, but there is a unique place in this solemn imperial city.

On the plaque of Longzongmen, there is a rusty arrowhead, which is particularly eye-catching on the plaque with a blue background in Phnom Penh, where did this arrow come from? Why does no one dare to move so far? Is there an unknown story behind it?

Tenrikyo attacked

In September 1813, when Beijing was still immersed in the pleasant season of autumn, a sudden change broke the temporary tranquility.

On this day, Lin Qing, the leader of the Tianli Sect, united with the eunuchs and commanded the followers to disguise various identities to infiltrate the capital, although there were only more than 200 disciples with swords hidden in their arms, they were like entering a no-man's land, and went straight to the Forbidden City.

The guards were stunned by the sudden turn of eventsAnd the general Ce Ling, who was in charge of guarding the noon gate, was even more cowardly and incompetent, and fled as soon as he said he would, letting the disciples drive straight in.

Lin Qing and the others targeted the Longzong Gate in the depths of the palace and wanted to smash the Yellow Dragon directly, but the emperor was not in the capital, and the Longzong Gate was only defended by a dozen soldiers.

At this time, Emperor Daoguang, who was still Prince Zhi, responded decisively, and personally commanded the firearms battalion and the courtiers of the clan to fight back against the disciples.

After a fierce battle, the disciples were finally outnumbered, and were completely annihilated by the Qing army in the area of Wuyingdian, Daoguang, who was not yet the emperor at that time, showed extraordinary courage and courage in this crisis, laying the foundation for his future accession to the throne, and this uprising also became a victim of betrayal and revenge by the eunuchs, and finally ended in failure.

When Emperor Jiaqing returned to Beijing and learned of the whole farce, an arrow from a sectarian stuck in his face became a mark of shame, this sudden change broke the appearance of Jiaqing's prosperous era, and also indicated that the turbulent undercurrent of change was coming.

The failure of this uprising was related to the personal vendetta and revenge of the eunuch Liu Debao, who was originally a follower of the Tianli Sect and was later sent to the court, and was dissatisfied. In this uprising, he deliberately took the followers on a long detour and delayed the operation.

On the other hand, Li Wencheng, the main force of the rebel army, was also blocked by the Qing army in Henan and failed to meet north as scheduled. A variety of factors contributed to the failure of this operation.

Before the incident, Lin Qing conspired with Li Wencheng in Henan, planning to attack inside and outside and overthrow the rule in one fell swoop. The two agreed that Lin Qing would lead the sect to control the palace, and Li Wencheng would rebel on the periphery and respond jointly.

The rebel army also recruited many eunuchs from Hebei to participate in the planningTake advantage of their location in the palace. However, Li Wencheng exposed his whereabouts when preparing for the war in Henan, and was forced to attack in advance, staggering the time with Lin Qing.

It can be seen from this incident that the Tenrikyo religion has penetrated into all strata, and its sphere of influence has extended from Beijing to Henan. Liu Decun, a eunuch in the sect, and others acted as internal responses, ready to create chaos in the capital at any time.

The rebels chose to take advantage of the Jiaqing hunt to attack key points and members of the royal family. The court was defenseless, and it did not dare to imagine that anyone would attack the imperial city.

Tianli Sect is a branch of the White Lotus Sect, and this White Lotus Sect has appeared in various TV series, so what does they have to do with the Ming and Qing dynasties?

Zhu Yuanzhang was born in the White Lotus Sect?

The White Lotus sect originated in the late Northern Song Dynasty and is a branch of BuddhismIts founder, Mao Ziyuan, advocated "reciting scriptures and repentance, not killing, and not eating meat", advocated opposing the corruption of rulers, and called on people to cultivate their minds and cultivate their nature.

Due to the rapid development, it soon touched the sensitive nerves of the Northern Song court, and Mao Ziyuan was forced into exile. Despite this, the White Lotus Sect's power is growing day by day.

By the end of the Yuan Dynasty, the status of the Han Chinese was low due to the long period of Mongol rule and apartheid, and many peasants suffered from the dire situation.

At this time, Han Shantong, Liu Futong and others in the White Lotus Sect led the congregation to raise the banner against the Yuan, and they held high the slogan of "Sweep away the Hulu and restore China", which was quickly responded to by the vast number of peasantsLiu Futong even established the Red Turban regime, set up Han Lin'er, the son of Han Shantong, as the emperor, and fought to the death with the Yuan army.

At this time, a young man named Zhu Yuanzhang also joined the Red Turban Army, and the leader of the Red Turban Army was Jiaotu of the White Lotus Sect.

In the Red Turban Army, Zhu Yuanzhang quickly gained trust and became an important general by virtue of his extraordinary courage and intelligence. Most of the people in the rebel army were followers of the White Lotus Sect, and even married the adopted daughter of his colleague Guo Zixing, who later became Queen Ma.

After several years of bloody fighting, the rule of the Yuan Dynasty was finally overthrownAt that time, the son of the head of the White Lotus Sect ascended the throne, and in 1368, Zhu Yuanzhang took his place, established the Ming Dynasty, and established himself as emperor.

At this time, he knew that the White Lotus Sect was powerful and difficult to control, and in order to consolidate his power, he decided to eliminate dissidents, so Zhu Yuanzhang strictly banned the activities of the White Lotus Sect in the "Da Ming Law", identifying it as a "leftist heresy", and wantonly hunting and killing disciples.

Although the White Lotus Sect made great contributions to the overthrow of the Yuan Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang finally chose to completely turn against him for the sake of power, which reflects that Zhu Yuanzhang is extremely pragmatic, he can let go of his past feelings and make decisive means to achieve the goal of regime stability.

From cooperation to antagonism, the relationship between the White Lotus Sect and Zhu Yuanzhang has been full of ups and downs, becoming a typical case of political struggle, reflecting the brutal nature of power play.

The Qing Dynasty's struggle against the White Lotus Cult

After the fall of the Ming Dynasty, some people who were old and young in the Ming Dynasty and people who were dissatisfied with the rule of the Qing Dynasty secretly formed a secret society in a vain attempt to overthrow the Qing Dynasty and revive the Ming Dynasty.

These secret societies are collectively known as the White Lotus CultThe White Lotus Sect was not strong at first, but it adopted a strategy of covert development and gradually grew.

The White Lotus Sect took the vast number of poor peasants as the target of development, preached the idea of egalitarianism, and promised to eliminate the gap between the rich and the poor, which attracted a large number of peasants to join.

Branches of the White Lotus spread throughout the country and developed into a large secret organization, which actively prepared an armed uprisingto overthrow the Qing dynasty.

In the last years of Qianlong, the White Lotus Sect took the lead in launching armed uprisings in Hubei, Sichuan and other places, the combat effectiveness of the rebel army was very strong, the scale of the uprising continued to expand, and the rule of the Qing Dynasty was greatly threatened.

Qianlong had to mobilize heavy troops to suppress it, but at first several failures, after which the Qing army changed its strategy, established a stronghold in the area of activity of the rebel army, cut off its food and grass supply, and after nine years of fierce war, the uprising was finally suppressed.

Although the White Lotus Sect failed, it still had remnants of power, and these forces were transformed into the Tenri Sect to continue to grow and developThe Tianli Sect also planned many anti-Qing activities with the purpose of "opposing the Qing Dynasty and restoring the Ming Dynasty", and its sphere of influence ranged from Shandong, Hebei to Beijing.

The Tenrikyo sect mobilized the masses and staged several uprisings in the vicinity of Beijing in an attempt to overthrow the Qing dynasty, and one of its important events was the Guiyou Rebellion, which plotted to assassinate the Jiaqing Emperor, but failed again.

Despite repeated failures,Neither the White Lotus Sect nor the Tianli Sect were completely wiped out, and for more than 200 years, they failed again and again, becoming a major problem for the Qing Dynasty rule.

With strong vitality and a broad mass base,The White Lotus Sect and the Tianli Sect played an important historical role in the Qing Dynasty and were one of the important factors in the Qing Dynasty's transition from prosperity to decline.

Jiaqing's self-warning

The uprising mentioned in the first paragraph above, known in history as the "Guiyou Change", left an arrow on the Longzong Gate and became a witness to the decline of the Qing Dynasty.

At that time, Emperor Jiaqing was going out on a safariThe defenses inside and outside the imperial city were lax, and the Tianli disciples took the opportunity to attack the Donghua Gate and the Xihua Gate, and soon occupied the important places near the Longzong Gate.

The Longzong Gate had an important position in the Forbidden City, separating the Outer Dynasty from the Emperor's private residence, and the ministers could not enter it unless ordered to do so, and at this time the rebels were already close to the depths of the Imperial Palace.

The royal family was threatened, and the prince and concubine were in a panic, and the thirty-one-year-old Daoguang prince calmly respondedHe mobilized the eunuchs to fetch **, protect the concubines, and quickly closed the palace gate, reported to Jiaqing, and personally led people to quell the rebellion. Four days later, more than 700 rebels were beheaded.

Emperor Jiaqing was furious when he returned to the capital, believing that this was a blasphemy against the imperial power, and ordered the head of the rebellion to be executed, and the eunuchs and courtiers involved were severely punished.

What made him most distressed was that someone had accused Lin Qing of rebellion beforehand, but the minister did not care and allowed the situation to develop, which fully exposed the decay of the court and indicated the decline of the Qing Dynasty.

In order to warn future generations, Emperor Jiaqing ordered to leave the flying arrow on the plaque of Longzong, which was not allowed to be removedThis arrow became a witness to the decline of the Qing Dynasty, reminding the royal family not to rest on its laurels and to remain cautious and vigilant.

The rebellion that occurred in Longzongmen was actually only a microcosm of the decline of the long-weakened Qing Dynasty, which had already appeared as early as the Qianlong period, when the treasury was empty, officials were corrupt, and popular uprisings were frequent.

In order to continue the "prosperous era" opened by his father Yongzheng, Qianlong did not hesitate to squander the treasury, resulting in financial income beyond expenditure, and he indulged in accumulating the glory of the "prosperous era of the Qing Dynasty" in his later years, but in fact he was wasting national strength.

After Qianlong's death, Emperor Jiaqing ascended the throne, faced with an unprecedentedly large fiscal deficit, he diligently governed the country, trying to reverse the ills formed in the late Qianlong period, but could not do anything.

The uprisings of the White Lotus Sect in various places are a manifestation of the fluctuation of popular will, and the fact that traitors in the DPRK and China are in power also shows the corruption of the rule of officials.

The change of the arrow of Longzongmen became a symbol, reminding the Qing Dynasty that it must stop losses in time and strive for self-improvement. But the tide has turned, and the accumulated weaknesses will eventually bring this once prosperous empire to its demise. This also gives a profound warning to future generationsThe rise and fall of a country is closely related, and only by maintaining a cautious and vigilant heart at all times, being diligent in government and loving the people, can we maintain long-term peace and stability forever.

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