The ancient people in China are in urgent need of hard-working and brave examples.

In the first year of Tianhan (before 100), I worshipped the corps commander. At that time, the relationship between the Han Dynasty and Xiongnu was good and bad. In 100 BC, the Xiongnu regime acceded to the throne, and Han was honored as his father-in-law. As a gesture of friendship, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty sent Su Wu to lead 100 people to Xiongnu, accompanied the Xiongnu emissary detained in the Han Dynasty to return home, and gave Khan a generous gift to express his gratitude.

Unexpectedly, when Su Wu completed his mission and prepared to return to China, civil strife broke out in the upper Huns, and Su Wu and his party were implicated, detained and asked to betray the Han Dynasty and submit to Khan. Xiongnu Khan sent Wei Fa to lobby Su Wu, promising generous rewards and high-ranking officials, but Su Wu sternly refused. Seeing that persuasion was useless, the Huns decided to use torture. It was winter and it was snowing heavily.

Khan ordered Su Wu to be placed in an open crypt, with no food or water, hoping that this would change Su Wu's faith. Over time, Su Wu was tortured in the cellar. When he was thirsty, he ate a handful of snow. When he is hungry, he chews his sheepskin coat. When he was cold, he curled up in the corner to keep warm with a fur coat.

After many days, Khan saw Su Wu dying and still refused to give in, so he had to let Su Wu out. Khan knew that there was no hope of persuading Su Wu to surrender, but he respected Su Wu's integrity more and more, didn't have the heart to kill Su Wu, and didn't want him to return to his own country, so he decided to exile Su Wu to Siberia's Baikal region and let him shepherd sheep.

Before he left, Khan summoned Su Wu and said, "Since you don't surrender, I will let you herd the sheep. When these sheep give birth to lambs, I will let you go back to your big man. " After being separated from his companions, Su Wu was exiled to the inaccessible Lake Baikal. He found that these sheep were all rams. Here, you can't escape on your own.

Su Wu was accompanied only by envoys representing the Han Dynasty and a small flock of sheep. Su Wu takes this messenger to herd sheep every day, thinking that one day he can bring it back to his own country. When he was thirsty, he ate a handful of snow. When he was hungry, he dug up wild fruits collected by wild rats to satisfy his hunger. When he is cold, he uses sheep to keep warm. In this way, day after day, year after year, all the oxtail ornaments hung on the envoys fell off, and Su Wu's hair and beard turned gray.

Extended data:

Introduction to Su Wu:

Su Wu (140-60 years ago), Zi Ziqing, Han nationality, was born in Ling Du (now Xi, Shaanxi Province), the son of Su Jian, the magistrate of Dai Jun County. The minister of the Western Han Dynasty was A Lang. In the first year of Tianhan (BC 100), he was ordered to send an envoy to Xiongnu as a corps commander and was detained. Xiongnu nobles repeatedly threatened to induce them to surrender; Later, he moved to Beihai (now Lake Baikal) to herd sheep, threatening that he would not be released to China until the ram gave birth.

Su Wu went through hardships and stayed in Xiongnu for nineteen years. It was not until the end of the Yuan Dynasty (8 1 year ago) that it was put back to the Han Dynasty. After the death of Su Wu, Emperor Gaozu Xuan Di listed him as one of the eleven outstanding figures in Qilin Pavilion, which showed his integrity.

Baidu Encyclopedia-Su Wu Mu Yang (historical allusions)

Baidu Encyclopedia-Su Wu (Minister of Western Han Dynasty)