PLEASE ... An introduction to Zhao Yun Zhao Zi Long and his insights~

Second

Luo Guanzhong, the outstanding master of historical novels, combined the spirit of profound realism with rich romanticism when he elaborately compiled Three Kingdoms Zhi Zhongguo Zhi Zhongyi (The Popular Romantic Romance of the Three Kingdoms), which was written in the spirit of realism and romanticism, and portrayed Zhao Yun in a glamorous way.

First of all, Luo Guanzhong went beyond the historical records and tried his best to build up the image of Zhao Yun as a tiger general who was brave enough to win over the three armies.

As I said before, the historical Zhao Yun's martial arts and prestige are not the most prominent. For? For a military general who kills on the frontier, this is, after all, the beauty of it. Luo Guanzhong, in order to make this heroic character in his mind more towering, greatly utilized his artistic imagination, so that Zhao Yun's martial valor in the Acts was fully rendered.

The Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Zhao Yun's first appearance, the first voice, extraordinary: when Gongsun Zan was defeated by Yuan Shao's general Wen Chou in Panhe, "Wen Chou drove Gongsun Zan out of the battlefield in the valley after the escape ...... Zan bow and arrows fell, helmet fell to the ground, Phi Hao longitudinal horse, but the turn of the mountain slope, his horse before the loss, Zan rolled over and fell on the slope, and Zan fell on the slope, and his horse before the loss. Zan rolled over and fell to the bottom of the slope. Wen Chou hastily twisted his spear to stab." In this critical moment, suddenly saw "grass slope left turn out a general, horse shall no armor, flick gun straight to take Wen Chou ...... big battle Wen Chou fifty or sixty, victory or defeat is not yet divided. Zan subordinates to rescue troops to koji yi brief, Wen Chou pull back to the horse to go. That teenager also do not rush to go." At this time, escaped death of Gongsun Zan only fixed God to measure their own life-saving benefactor, only to see him "body length of eight feet, thick eyebrows and big eyes, broad face and heavy face, look good, majestic." Zhao Yun's "appearance", immediately showed a hero of the world's valor and momentum, leaving a deep impression on the reader.

What really makes Zhao Yun famous is the thrilling battle of Changbanpo, which is mainly from Luo Guanzhong's skillful writing.

In a few words, it is plain and simple. According to this account, Zhao Yun, holding Liu Zen and protecting Mrs. Gan, could only retreat in a hurry, and it was impossible for him to rampage through the enemy lines. However, Luo Guanzhong weaves a series of tense and twisted plots through fictionalization, birth and rendering: first, Zhao Yun rushes into Cao Cao's army twice, rescues Lady Gan and Swarming Zhu, locates Lady Elk, and picks up Ah Dou (historically Lady Elk died before Cao Cao's southward march to Jingzhou, so naturally she could not have fled to Changzhan Slope, let alone brought Ah Dou with her), creating a special condition for Zhao Yun to be a horseman and a single gunman, holding his young master in his arms. special conditions. Then, with a sound ink depiction of Zhao Yun in Cao's army to and from the conflict, invincible, "cut down two big flags, seize the long lance three, before and after the guns and swords to cut, kill Cao camp generals more than fifty members." What a life and death? Kill Oh! Written here, Luo Guanzhong can not help but "historian" of the poem praised:

Blood stained robes through the armor red, when the sun who dares to fight with!

Yes, this amazing fight, so that Zhao Yun's image is like a marble statue, standing in the hearts of millions of readers; so that "Changshan Zhao Zilong" has become the embodiment of bravery and chastity, synonymous with superior martial arts, not only in the world at that time, but also in the later generations of the world!

Luo Guanzhong, even though boldly fictionalized in his novels, has not only made Zhao Zilong's name in the world, but also in the later generations of the world. Luo Guanzhong even in the bold fictionalization of the time, but also has a sense of proportion, have a global concept, he never blindly promote this and suppress the other, never said that Zhao Yun's martial arts over Lu Bu, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Ma Chao and so on. However, Luo Guanzhong is also a distinctive tendency, he skillfully used a variety of artistic techniques, so that Zhao Yun's martial arts and bravery has been more than others full of performance, and thus produce a more prominent artistic effect.

One is contrast. When Lu Bu was besieged by Cao's army in Xiapi City, in order to ask Yuan Shu for help, Lu Bu had to send his daughter, who was promised to Yuan Shu's son. He "wrapped the daughter in cotton, wrapped ...... in armor and carried the daughter on his back" in an attempt to break out of the siege. But in the other side of the blockade, "Lu Bu although courageous, but ultimately tied a woman in the body, fear of injury, do not dare to break through the siege." As a result, he had to return to Xiapi. Look at Zhao Yun's "unlock the armor taping, put down the cover mirror, will be protected in the arms of Adou", desperately rushed to kill, what is brave, what is timid, how sharp is the contrast!□ Second is to set off. The "Acts" has repeatedly depicted Zhao Yun's bravery through the reactions of the enemy, us and friends. To Cao's army, Zhao Yun's name had great deterrent power. In the Battle of Han Shui, Huang Zhong was surrounded by Cao's army and Zhao Yun went to meet him. He killed Cao generals Murong Lie and Jiao Bing one after another, and "killed his way into the encirclement, charging left and right as if he were in no man's land". Cao's brave generals Zhang He and Xu Huang were "too frightened to meet the enemy". When Cao Cao learned of this, he exclaimed, "The hero of Changsaka in Dangyang is still alive!" "He sent an urgent order: 'Don't take the enemy lightly wherever you go.'" On the Wu side, Zhao Yun's reputation is also well known to women and children. When Zhuge Liang got a wind from the east and Zhao Yun returned to Xiakou, Zhou Yu sent Xu Sheng and Ding Feng to catch up with him by water and land. Zhao Yun shot an arrow to break the tugging rope on Xu Sheng's boat, "Ding Feng panicked on the shore and called Xu Sheng's boat close to the shore, saying: '...... Zhao Yun has the bravery of ten thousand men, do you know when he was in Dangyang Changsaka? " When Liu Bei met his wife at Ganlu Temple, Mrs. Wu heard that Zhao Yun was standing beside Liu Bei and asked, "Is he the one who hugged Ah Dou at Changsaka in Dangyang?" and praised him, "He is a true general!" In Liu Bei's group, Zhao Yun was even more admired. When Ma Chao, who was famous for his bravery, first surrendered to Liu Bei, Zhao Yun was attacked by Liu Zhang's generals Liu? When Liu Bei first surrendered Ma Chao, it was Liu Zhang's general Liu, Ma Han who came to attack, Zhao Yun led the army to meet the enemy, "Xuan De in the city to treat Ma Chao to a drink, not settled, Zi Long chopped off the heads of the two to offer in front of the feast. Ma Chao also surprised, doubled the respect." These side of the pen, less than more, received a very good artistic effect.

Secondly, Luo Guanzhong used a lot of ink to show the virtues of Zhao Yun from various aspects.

Most of Zhao Yun's outstanding character in history has been reproduced in Romance of the Three Kingdoms. For example, after rescuing Gongsun Zan, he said, "Today, the people are in danger of being hanged upside down. Yun would like to join a benevolent and righteous lord to secure the world, not just to turn his back on Yuan to join a bright lord", to show his deep sense of righteousness; to discourage Liu Bei from distributing the famous fields and houses in Chengdu to various officials, and to oppose Liu Bei's attack on the Eastern Wu in order to avenge his own personal hatred, to show his loyalty and courageous advice; to show his selflessness by prioritizing the foundation of the Liu Bei group, not craving for beauty, and refusing to marry the sister-in-law of the Imperial Commissioner of Guiyang, Zhao Fan; to show his self-restraint and dedication by saying that He did not compete with Huang Zhong, never boasted of victory, to show his modesty and prudence, and so on, are based on history, Luo Guanzhong slightly coloring the narrative, not much to discuss here.

Here to emphasize one point: Luo Guanzhong in the performance of Zhao Yun's virtues, especially highlighting his vigilance and fine. Originally, the historical Zhao Yun did not stand out in this regard, but Luo Guanzhong once again utilized his artistic creativity to express this point distinctly and vividly, making Zhao Yun's image more distinctive among Liu Bei's group. When Cai Mao invited Liu Bei to a meeting in Xiangyang and attempted to use the opportunity to harm him, Zhao Yun led 300 men to accompany Liu Bei. When he arrived at Xiangyang, "Yun brought his armor and hung his sword, and never left his seat". On the next day, Zhao Yun was still "with his sword at his side", but only due to Liu Bei's order, he reluctantly went to the outer hall to be seated. Drinking a little wine, he could not rest assured, into the watch, found Liu Bei has fled the seat, he immediately led 300 troops out of the city to look for. After searching for Liu Bei, he couldn't find him, "Zi Long wanted to enter the city, but he was afraid of an ambush, so he led his army to throw himself into Xin Ye and returned". When he returned to Xinye, Liu Bei was still missing, so he searched for him all night long, and he was not relieved until he found him. The whole process of the matter can be seen his vigilance and fine. Because of this, both Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang were particularly assured of his work. When Zhuge Liang traveled to Eastern Wu, he asked Zhao Yun to pick him up on the agreed date; when Liu Bei went to Jiangdong to marry, Zhuge Liang explicitly said, "I have set up three plans, which are not feasible without Zi Long"; after Zhou Yu's death, Zhuge Liang went to Chaisang to mourn, and Zhao Yun protected him ...... Zhao Yun was never as arrogant and trusting as Guan Yu was. Zhao Yun was never as arrogant as Guan Yu, nor as reckless and careless as Zhang Fei, but always bold and careful, conscientious, and successfully accomplished his tasks again and again. This feature with his heroic and heroic, loyalty and modesty and other virtues, so that Zhao Yun has become the "Acts" of the generals portrait series of the most perfect character.

Once again, Luo Guanzhong's masterful craftsmanship kept Zhao Yun's highlights alive until the very end.

The last major experience of the historical Zhao Yun was his first northern expedition with Zhuge Liang in the sixth year of Jianxing (228). Zhuge Liang "raised his voice by way of the Xiegu Road, and Cao Zhen sent a large group of people to face him. Liang made (Zhao) Yun and Deng Zhi to refuse, and attacked Qishan. Yun, Zhi soldiers weak enemy strong, lost in the Keigu, but convergence of the crowd to defend, not a major defeat. Soldiers retreat, relegated to the town army general." In this regard, Luo Guanzhong to a large extent made a romanticization of the transformation. Firstly, he fictionalized that Zhao Yun, who was already seventy years old, volunteered to act as the vanguard before Zhuge Liang's deployment of troops, and killed the four sons of Han De, a general of the Western Liang of the State of Wei, at Fengming Mountain, scaring Han De to the point that his liver and gall were all cracked, and that the soldiers of the Western Liang were aware of Zi Long's name, and saw that the hero was still alive, so who dared to fight with him? ...they were defeated and left". The next day, he fought with the Wei army again, and in less than three rounds, he killed Han De, who was "as brave as a million men". This fight makes the reader y feel that Zhao Yun's sword has not yet aged, and he still has a strong wind. Secondly, it is fictionalized that Zhao Yun killed Cao Zhen's deputy vanguard Zhu Zhan, and made another battle achievement. Thirdly, it omits the fact that Zhao Yun "lost the battle at Migu". Fourthly, Zhao Yun and Deng Zhi's retreat was described in vivid colors: Zhao Yun let Deng Zhi retreat first under his own banner, and covered behind himself, which made the Wei troops who were afraid of Zhao Yun not dare to chase after him. Zhao Yun, however, sometimes rushed to the front of the Wei army and stabbed its vanguard Su? At the same time, he appeared behind the Wei army and gave a loud shout, which "startled more than a hundred Wei soldiers to fall off their horses". Zhao Yun then retreated safely to Hanzhong without any loss along the way. The result of this description makes this retreat seem to be a victory in the reader's mind. Fifthly, Zhao Yun declined Zhuge Liang's reward, which made "Kong Ming sighed: 'The former emperor in the day, often said Zi Long's virtue. Now it is so, the truth is also fallacious.' Is doubly respected". This series of vivid descriptions enabled Zhao Yun to maintain his reputation as a "victorious general" in his last campaign, and allowed his virtues to take on a new luster in his later years. It is in this generous and majestic artistic atmosphere that Luo Guanzhong completed the molding of Zhao Yun's image.

Three

Now, we can discuss why Zhao Yun's image in the minds of the general readers will exceed Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, and at the top of the series of martial arts images.

There is such a statement: "Zhao Yun is the author of the most ink spent on the image of the general." I'm afraid that's not true. It is true that, according to Mao Zonggang's commentary, Zhao Yun in the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" from the seventh appearance to the ninety-seventh birth, *** spanning ninety-one times, more than Guan Yu's span of seventy-seven times and Zhang Fei's span of eighty-one times; but this is only because the historical Zhao Yun died ten years later than Guan Yu, eight years later than Zhang Fei, and the political and military struggles in the arena of the three kingdoms were much longer than those of Guan and Zhang. Luo Guanzhong could not change this basic historical fact, therefore, the time span of Zhao Yun's activities in Romance of the Three Kingdoms naturally exceeds that of Guan and Zhang. In fact, as long as the careful statistics can be seen, in the two hundred and forty titles of the Jiajing book, the direct appearance of the name of Guan Yu accounted for nineteen (in the Mao book occupies fourteen titles), the appearance of the name of Zhang Fei accounted for eight (in the Mao book occupies seven titles), and the appearance of the name of Zhao Yun accounted for seven (in the Mao book occupies five titles), which can be seen that Zhao Yun's position in the whole book is obviously inferior to that of Guan Yu, and roughly similar to that of Zhang Fei. This shows that Zhao Yun's position in the whole book is obviously inferior to Guan Yu's and similar to Zhang Fei's. What's more, the whole book depicts Zhao Yun in a positive light (note: not a general appearance, not to mention a side reference), which is significantly less than that of Guan Yu, and more or less the same as that of Zhang Fei. Just one example will suffice: the Jiajing text describes Guan Yu from "Surrendering to the Han but not to Cao" to "Thousands of miles of single-horseback riding" to "Meeting in the Ancient City," and uses eight pages (the Mao text The description of "Zhao Yun's Rescue of the Lord at Changhanshanpo" takes only one chapter (the forty-first chapter of the Mao version). In comparison, it is clear which character Luo Guanzhong was more generous with his writing.

There is also a saying that "Zhao Yun is the most ideal hero character that Luo Guanzhong has portrayed with the most effort." In my opinion, this is not quite in line with Luo Guanzhong's creative intention and character design. Admittedly, Luo Guanzhong on his own Zhao Yun image is very fond of, is full of *** carefully molded, because Zhao Yun with Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, the same, in line with Luo Guanzhong "yearning for unity, glorify loyalty and righteousness" of the political standards and moral standards; but, in Luo Guanzhong's ideal balance, Zhao Yun's weight does not exceed Guan Yu and Zhang Fei. However, in Luo Guanzhong's ideal scale, Zhao Yun did not outweigh Guan Yu and Zhang Fei. Let us compare Luo Guanzhong's overall evaluation of Guan, Zhang, and Zhao. After writing about Guan Yu's murder, Luo Guanzhong arranged five poems and one praise in a row to express his admiration and condolence for Guan Yu.

The other poem is even more praiseworthy:

Born to be a tiger general to support Yan and Liu, the father and the son never rested; a place to be admired for a thousand years, a place of towering achievements, such as Yi and Zhou!

Comparing Guan Yu with the sages Yi Yin and Zhou Gong, who were recognized as saints of worldly achievements in the feudal society, the praise and admiration can be said to be beyond description. After writing about Zhang Fei being stabbed, Luo Guanzhong arranged four poems, one comment and one praise, a more comprehensive evaluation of Zhang Fei. The bridge at Changsaka was broken, and Cao Gong's iron horse was returned. The heroes were Meng Qi and Yan Yan. The first time I saw him, he was a great admirer of the Western Shu, and his fame was very great.

After Zhao Yun's death, Luo Guanzhong arranged three poems to praise him, in addition to quoting his posthumous posthumous edict. The first poem, Temple Praise Poem