Why are there three kinds of distorted records in Historical Records?

Sima Qian wrote in the preface: a total of 130 articles, 526500 words. Two sets of manuscripts of Historical Records Famous Mountains in Tibet are attached to the capital. However, there are ten items missing in the cross-check, and there are records but no account books. According to the annotation of Hanshu, Zhang Yan's ten articles about dissipation are: Biography of Filial Piety, Biography of Filial Piety, Book of Rites, Le Shu, History of War, Biography of Famous Officials since Han Dynasty, Biography of Japanese People, Biography of Turtle and Biography of Fujin Meeting. But later generations also added some.

Sima Qian is a rigorous historian. He doesn't make up stories, and people who hesitate are more credible. So how do you get relatively real material? One is to use real historical materials. For example, the compilation of Biography of Qin Shihuang mainly used the records, notes and stone carvings of the Qin government. Second, the historical materials left by my father Sima Tan. The third is field collection and textual research. Sima Qian began a strong tour at the age of 20, first going to Jianghuai (Jiangsu, northern Anhui), then to Lushan, Jiangxi, then to Qilu, the hometown of Chu, and finally to Henan to collect wind and make field trips. Later, he served as a doctor in the imperial court and traveled with Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty to Shaanxi, Gansu, Bashu, Xiqiao and Southwest China, adding detailed materials for writing historical records.

Even if the events in Historical Records seem to be literary stories, they have their real basis. For example, Sima Qian wrote that Xiang Yu committed suicide in Wujiang River, which was exquisite and vivid, but not fictional. Why do you say that? Yang Chang is Sima Qian's son-in-law, and Yang Yun is Yang Chang's neutron, who once sealed Ping Tong Hou. Sima Qian left a copy of Historical Records at Yang Chang's home, which shows their close contacts and mutual trust. Yang and his son told Sima Qian about their ancestors' participation in the Battle of Gaixia. Xiang Yu was defeated in Gaixia and rushed out of the tight encirclement. A team of Han cavalry chased after him, and Xiang Yu had no face to see his elders in Jiangdong, and drew his sword and committed suicide. There were five cavalry present at that time, and everyone got a part of his body. Liu bang made them wait in line with his promise in advance. One of the five cavalry is Yang, and his fifth-generation grandson is Yang Chang. The honor and extraordinary course of the family made the Yang family unforgettable, and the deeds were passed down from generation to generation.

However, due to many reasons, Historical Records is also distorted, and the reasons are complicated, such as lack of accurate historical materials, clerical errors and subjective value preferences. As scholars have pointed out-every article in historical records is inevitably a little false, but every article is also partly true. Just like an antique, it will inevitably be repaired and rusted, but the expression of the original is always full of ancient meaning, flowing in every part.

With the discovery of archaeology, it is proved that some records in Historical Records are inconsistent with historical facts, and three examples are given:

1. According to the bamboo slips in Lu Yue, Qin Shihuang liked the wild beauty of trees in Xiangshan area and listed them in the forbidden garden, and logging was prohibited; Instead of "three thousand criminals all cut down Xiangshan trees and their mountains" as recorded in Historical Records.

According to reports, the Qin bamboo slips collected by Yuelu Academy were purchased by Yuelu Academy of Hunan University. In June 2007, 2098 pieces were collected from Hong Kong antique market. Subsequently, in August 2008, a Hong Kong collector donated 76 pieces. Bamboo ink, a small amount of wood ink, the book is written by Qin Li. The content of bamboo slips in Yuelu can be divided into seven categories: quality day, official and Guizhou leader, Mengmeng book, number book, writing book, Qin law miscellaneous copy, Qin order miscellaneous copy. It is of great literature value for studying the history of Chinese mathematics, science and technology, legal system, and understanding the historical geography, county research and dreaming custom of Qin Dynasty.

Bamboo Slips Collected in Yuelu Academy Volume 56-58 (V): On April 26th, the Prime Minister was a minister, and the minister was Xiangshan: I took the world as my own, kissed the dark (sea), reached Cangwu in the south, waded into Dongting, and climbed Xiangshan and Pingshan. The minister declared that the minister demanded that all the forbidden trees in the garden should be the same as those in the garden, and the Cangwu Ming was named Luocui Shannan. System: Yes.

According to the organizer, "April 26th" should be "April 28th" according to the characters recorded in Historical Records.

The imperial edict "Qin Shihuang banned Xiangshan" involved that when Qin Shihuang visited Xiangshan, he liked the wild beauty of trees in Xiangshan area and included Xiangshan in the forbidden garden, which was under the jurisdiction of Cangwu County.

According to Records of the Historian, in the 28th year of Qin Shihuang, the first emperor swam eastward to the county seat ... The first emperor returned, crossed Pengcheng, fasted and prayed for blessings, and wanted to leave Surabaya, Zhou Ding. So that thousands of people have no water to ask, Fude, is the southwest crossing Huaihe River, Hengshan Mountain and Nanjun County. Floating river, to Xiangshan Temple. When the wind is strong, you can't get through. The doctor asked, "What is the God of Xiang Jun?" The doctor said to him, "Wen Zhi, Yao's daughter and Shun's wife, is buried here." So the first emperor was furious and let all three thousand criminals cut down the trees in Xiangshan and smash its mountains. From Nanjun to Wuguan.

In the twenty-eighth year of the first emperor, he traveled around the world and returned to Beijing, passing through Pengcheng, fasting and praying, trying to salvage drowning Zhou Ding from Surabaya. A thousand people were sent to dive into the water to look for it, but they couldn't find it. So I crossed the Huaihe River southwest to Hengshan and Nanjun. Take a boat down the river and come to Xiangshan Temple. I was caught in a strong wind and could hardly cross the river. Qin Shihuang asked the doctor, "What God is Xiang Jun?" The doctor replied, "I heard that Yao's daughter, Shun's wife, was buried here." The first emperor was very angry, so he sent three thousand criminals to cut down all the trees on Xiangshan Mountain. Because the local area is red soil, the mountain has turned ochre red. The emperor returned to Beijing from Nanjun via Wuguan.

After in-depth study, experts believe that the bamboo slips of Yuelu Qin Dynasty are more credible than the biographies of Qin Shihuang:

Experts pointed out that according to the records of officials' missions in bamboo slips and the ancient place names in Hubei Province, bamboo slips may have been unearthed in Hubei Province. Hu Pingsheng thinks: "It is preliminarily speculated that the owner of these Qin bamboo slips, that is, the owner of the tombs, should be a local official engaged in legal work. Later, these Qin bamboo slips were discovered by grave robbers, and then they were probably lost to Hong Kong through smuggling and other means.

Bamboo slips in Yuelu belong to the Qin Dynasty, and their owners are legal workers. These are his private notes, and their historical materials are more authentic than the Historical Records written by Sima Qian during the reign of Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty. Qin is very strict with legal workers. If they fail to grasp laws and regulations and make wrong judgments, they should bear corresponding legal responsibilities. "Qin Law" classifies officials' responsibility for escaping from prison into three situations: "improper", "longitudinal prisoner" and "loss of punishment". Anyone who intentionally aggravates or lightens the punishment when escaping from prison is called "improper". Those who deliberately refuse to sentence because they should be convicted, or deliberately reduce the case to make it fail to meet the sentencing standards, are called "vertical offenders"; A person who commits a crime as a person due to negligence is called "lost punishment". During Qin Shihuang's reign, a group of officials with improper prison administration were sent to Lingnan to build the Great Wall. Those who have been sentenced to death for a long time will also be sentenced to death. Therefore, the lawyers of the State of Qin worked hard to study the laws of the State of Qin and tried their best to avoid the problems of "no permission", "imprisonment" and "loss of sentence". Since it is purely legal research and private notes, there is no need to falsify or cover up the fact that Qin Shihuang visited Xiangshan. However, there are some problems in Sima Qian's Historical Records, such as insufficient historical materials, untruthfulness or ideological constraints, and its authenticity is bound to be greatly reduced.

The authenticity of Qin bamboo slips has also been proved. The authenticity identification of Qin bamboo slips was conducted by experts from Jingzhou Cultural Relics Protection Center, Hubei Province, and the authenticity of Qin bamboo slips was compared and tested. Samples were extracted from Changsha Zoumalou Bamboo Slips, Jingzhou Xiejiaqiao Bamboo Slips and these Qin bamboo slips, and then attached with bamboo slips, which were sent to Wuhan University Test Center for comparative analysis to detect the aging degree and bamboo degradation degree of bamboo slips. Through the detection and analysis of scanning electron microscope, X-ray diffractometer, infrared spectrometer and differential thermal analyzer, it is concluded that bamboo slips are different from bamboo slips.

From the point of writing form, some fonts are dignified, the writing is regular, and there is the meaning of seal script; Some have a tendency to write, the word potential inclines to the right and down, and the thickness of stippling changes, which is the characteristic of Qin Li; Some are in between, or in the form of Gu Zhuo, or elegant fonts.

From the linguistic point of view, Qin pointed out that the Qin bamboo slips "The Prime Minister's Official Form and Minister's Phase (Hunan) Mountain: Self-harmony with the World" in Yuelu Academy can also be decomposed into: "The Prime Minister's Official Form and Minister's Phase (Hunan) Mountain, the top: Self-harmony with the World". Among them, "Shang" refers to the present, and the word "Yue" is omitted later. "Historical Records of Qin Shihuang's Biography" records the twenty-sixth year of Qin Shihuang, "Prime Minister Wan, Imperial Doctor Robbery, Tingweisi, etc." And "discuss with the doctor: ... life is' control', order is' imperial decree', and the son of heaven calls himself' I' and' control'. Comparing the Qin bamboo slips collected in Yuelu Academy with them, the book-making style is consistent. However, Qin Shihuang called himself "I", not "I", which was inconsistent with the system and may be a mistake.

Qin explained the right and wrong of bamboo slips and Historical Records;

1, Qin Shihuang's 28-year hunting trip, in addition to declaring the majesty of the Qin Dynasty in order to consolidate unity, also has an important purpose, which is to pray for blessings in famous mountains all over the country. So at the end of his trip, Qin Shihuang made a special trip across the river to Xiangshan. It happened that because of the reason that "strong winds are not allowed to cross", he ordered that "all three thousand criminals should go to Xiangshan to cut down trees", which was obviously inconsistent with the theme of the whole hunting trip this year, and there were contradictions.

2. Qin bamboo slips are legal texts, and the chapters are from the original book written by Qin Shihuang. Both genres belong to official documents. This Qin law is so solemnly promulgated in the world that if there is another incident of "cutting down trees in Xiangshan", it will be tantamount to shattered glass's self-destruction of his future. Therefore, we can see that the relevant records in Historical Records are untenable, and they are legends with obvious derogatory tendencies handed down from the Han Dynasty.

3. There are other Qin laws that can prove that "the appearance of the minister, the invitation of the minister: the forbidden tree is like the tree in the forbidden garden". There are many provisions in the Forbidden Garden Law of Longgang Qin Bamboo Slips, such as: "Take tussah and chop the leaves and skins of the forbidden garden." Qin law is so detailed that leaves and skins should be specified in detail. It is not difficult to imagine that trees in the forbidden park should naturally be prohibited from being cut down. To sum up, it is credible that Qin Shihuang ordered Xiangshan and other places to "ban all logging" recorded in Qin bamboo slips.

On the way to Qin Shihuang's military parade, he "had a hard time and rested under the tree" in Mount Tai. From Nanjun to Xiangshan Temple, floating on the river, almost drowning in strong wind; Going to Bolangsha, Wu Yang, is a "thief", and the big rope is fruitless; From Xianyang to Jieshi, the city walls are blocked and the floods are endless; Near Zhejiang, "water waves are evil", you have to cross the water "120 miles west", go to Huiji Mountain, worship Dayu, and so on. It can be seen that although Qin Shihuang traveled around the world with a mighty car, a luxurious lineup and a majestic posture, it was also a long journey, full of twists and turns, bumps and hardships, and his life was at stake. Qin Shihuang traveled around the world five times under such difficult conditions. Was it just to travel around the world, show off his imperial power and look for the elixir of life? Not exactly. Although Qin Shihuang was criticized in many ways due to the limitations of the times and personal reasons, it is undeniable that Qin Shihuang was an outstanding emperor with firm will, diligent in political affairs, brave in change and pursuing dreams.

From the reunification of Qin Dynasty to the death of Qin Shihuang, except for ancestor worship, temple worship and worship of God and Zen, almost all the strategies for governing the country, economic construction, reform measures, territorial expansion and leadership education in Guizhou were formulated and carried out on the basis of Qin Shihuang's travels around the world, that is, inspection, collective consultation and on-site office work. For example, establish four administrative organizations such as county, county, township and pavilion, unify currency and unified measurement, unify writing, establish a national road traffic network, issue laws to protect private ownership of feudal land, expel Huns, build the Great Wall, and resettle immigrants.

One of the purposes of Qin Shihuang's parade was to publicize the legitimacy of the Qin regime and educate the world. During the cruise, Qin Shihuang praised Qin De, the sins of the Six Kingdoms, the clarity of laws and regulations and the correctness of customs mainly through stone carving. There are seven stone carvings about traveling eastward in Historical Records, and six of them were actually received: Taishan stone carving, Langya stone carving, Dangdang stone carving with "East View", Jieshimen stone carving and Huiji stone carving ode.

Eulogize Qin's virtue and sin against the six countries, such as the inscription on Yishan: "Remember troubled times, divide the country into the Republic of China, and take evidence as the theory." On the day of the attack, blood was shed in the wild, from Taigu. There are countless people in the world, and the five emperors cannot be banned. But today's emperor, one world, no more soldiers. When the disaster is eliminated, the first step is to be calm and the benefits will last for a long time. "Liang Fushan's inscription says:" From the thoughts of ministers, we can only recite merits. Governance, appropriate production, and law. Langxietai stone inscription: "Within Liuhe, the land of emperors." . It involves quicksand in the west and households in the north in the south. The East China Sea is in the east and summer is in the north. Where there are people, there are no ministers. The palace covers five emperors, Ze and Niu Ma. If you don't suffer from virtue, you will feel at ease. "

Ming laws and regulations, positive customs, such as stone carving: except the last farmers, get rich first; A quantity of documents, a book; Six relatives protect each other, and there will be no thieves. In Huiji stone carvings, in view of the backward local economy, culture and customs, and the chaotic relationship between men and women, it is particularly pointed out that "decorating the province and publicizing righteousness, marrying and having children, and dying disloyal." Stay away from the inside and outside, no lewdness, and be honest with men and women. A husband is a gift, but he is innocent when he is killed, and a man is righteous. If the wife escapes from marriage, the child is not a mother, salty and clean. "It can be seen that Qin Shihuang also paid great attention to changing backward customs and habits, trying to correct the atmosphere and change customs with severe sanctions.

Qin Shihuang traveled around the world in order to praise Qin De, offend six countries, understand laws and regulations and correct customs. He should stand on the moral high ground and act for people to see. But because of superstition, he wantonly destroyed the environment. "It is absolutely incredible to let all three thousand criminals cut down the trees in Xiangshan."

Qin Shihuang's felling of Xiangshan is the collective imagination of the people from the conquered areas in the East, and it is an antagonistic response to the conquerors' destruction of the country and control of the people. Sima Qian received the letter and recorded it in the historical records. The fallacy has spread to this day.

Second, according to Records of the Historian, it is a myth that Yi Cheung, Lian Heng and Su Qin joined hands to fight each other, and the super spy war raged. Experts pointed out that Su Qin's story actually entrusted Sima Qian with his own life experience, outlook on life and death and values.

Historical Records and Zi Tong Zhi Jian said that Zhang Yi and Su Qin were classmates and studied vertical and horizontal techniques together with Guiguzi. Su Qin advocated that all countries unite to resist Qiang Qin and unite the weak against the strong, that is, vertical union; Zhang Yi, on the other hand, advocates that powerful countries should win over some weak countries to attack others, so as to attack all weak countries, that is, Lian Heng. As a result, the two strategists turned war into friendship, covered their hands for rain, and showed their magical powers. They played with the princes of other countries in the palm of their hands and were proud of the spring breeze in the game, which made the world envy imitation. Some people even read from Historical Records and History as a Mirror that Su Qin helped Zhang Yixi swim into Qin, thinking that this was a game between two classmates of Zhang Yi and Su Qin * * * and the arranged super spy, and realized the beautiful drama of * * * making money with wisdom and deception. However, this is a surprising and magical fabrication. Actually, Zhang Yi died 25 years before Su Qin.

Zhang Yi and Su Qin have a lot in common. For example, everyone loves to study and study hard, so there are allusions to Zhang Yi's folding bamboo and Su Qin's stabbing. For example, they all had terrible experiences. Zhang Yi was trapped in Chu and hated. She was also framed as a thief who stole priceless treasures because of her poor and trivial life. She was beaten to a pulp. Fortunately, her golden words are alive and well. Su Qin went out to travel for many years, and came back in a terrible mess. His family privately laughed at him for refusing to have children, making a fuss and making him feel ashamed. Later, for example, both of them had places to play, and their performances were excellent, well-known and powerful, reaching the point where "Su Qin is vertical, Yi Cheung is horizontal, many dissenting Confucian is horizontal, and the king of Chu is vertical, where the country is important and the country they went to is light".

Su Qin lobbied other countries, gained recognition, and was sent to Zhao. After Su Qin arrived in Zhao, he put forward the strategic idea of uniting the six countries to resist Qin, and finally formed an alliance of uniting the six countries. As a "long-term partner", he attached great importance to the six countries (that is, the diplomatic liaison officers of various countries, such as foreign ministers and ministers, were not prime ministers), which made Qin afraid to go out for fifteen years. After the dissolution of the alliance, the State of Qi attacked Yan, and Su Qin said that the State of Qi returned to Yan. From Yan State to Qi State, he engaged in anti-espionage activities, which made Qi State swallow Song and hate Qin and made enemies on all sides. The diplomatic strategy of alienating Qi achieved its goal and eventually died because of espionage.

Yi cheung's ingenuity, deception and way of doing things are even worse than Su Qin's. "Anger is the fear of the princes, and peace is the destruction of the world." . King Hui of Qin named Zhang Yi as the prime minister, and Zhang Yi sent envoys to lobby the vassal states to break the "vertical" by "horizontal" and "break the alliance for Wei and destroy the alliance for Chu and Qi", which made the countries in Lian Heng change from joint vertical resistance to Qin to pro-Qin. Therefore, Zhang Yi was named Wu Xinjun by the King of Qin. After the death of King Hui of Qin, Qin Wuwang, who acceded to the throne, was militaristic and didn't like cleverness and deceit. Most ministers didn't like Zhang Yi, so Zhang Yi was forced to go to Wei, and became a success. He died a year later.

In the 1920s, Qian Mu pointed out: "The so-called Su Qin's Zhang Yi, with all his words empty, was also done by good people in later generations." According to 1973, a batch of silk books unearthed from Mawangdui No.3 Han Tomb in Changsha, especially the letters in the Warring States period, experts in the history of the Warring States have drawn three conclusions:

First, Su Qin's political career was about 25 years later than that of Zhang Yi, and Su Qin entered politics only after Zhang Yi's death. Their political activities do not intersect. The real activity date of Su Qin is about 3 12 BC to 284 BC.

Second, Su Qin's records in Historical Records and Warring States Policy are full of mistakes, and the deeds of Su Qin, Su Dai and Su Li brothers are confused, even the generations of brothers are confused. Su Qin is the youngest of the five brothers. According to historical records, "Su Qin attacked Qin from six Shandong countries", among which Su Qin was Gongsun Yan's fault, because Su Qin had not yet entered politics. According to the Warring States policy, in 300 BC, he was sent to Qi to carry out anti-espionage activities, which was completed by Su Qin and could not be recorded in his name.

Third, Su Qin is indeed a spy of Yan, but he has never worn the seal of the six countries.

Sima Qian also knew that his Su Qin was not true, but why did he do this? Taishi Gong said: Su Qin's three brothers all lobbied the princes to become famous, and their skills were good at coping with emergencies. Su Qin was killed by the opposition, and the whole world laughed at him and dared not learn from him. However, there are many differences between Su Qin and Su Qin. Su Qin rose in the state of Yan, and even the six countries are close at hand, with superior wisdom. So, I list its movements and its order, and don't make it ugly. Sima Qian became the biographies of Su Qin, because Su Qin was not easy to grow up and had something extraordinary, and he didn't want to be ridiculed and reviled again. Professor Han's Notes on Historical Records holds that Sima Qian's Biography of Su Qin can't be regarded as a history of faith, but it is a concentrated expression of Sima Qian's social ideals, values and aesthetics. In fact, Su Qin's story entrusts Sima Qian with his own life experience, outlook on life and death and values.

Thirdly, Qin Zhaoxiang respected Fan Ju and called him my uncle, but in the end, he executed Fan Ju, instead of Fan Ju retiring as mentioned in the historical records.

Some people think that history books and TV plays show that Fan Ju died of illness, not execution. According to Historical Records, Biographies of Fan Ju and Biographies of Cai Ze, Fan Ju died of illness. Finally, he voluntarily gave up the phase because he stated to him that "the sun and the moon will move, the full moon will be lost, and things will decline", and used Shang Yang, Wu Qi, Zhong You and others to persuade him to "return to the phase at this time and let the sage give it." Hearing this, Fan Ju said, "Good. I don't know enough about what I want, but I don't know what I want or what I want, but I don't know what I have. Fortunately, Mr. Jiao Jingjing ordered it. " Therefore, Fan Ju offered a proposal to Qin: "There is a new guest in Shandong, and his debater is well versed in the affairs of three kings, five uncles and secular changes, which is enough to make the government of Qin. I see a lot of people. I can't do it. I'm not as good as you. I dare to smell it. " After talking with Cai Ze, King Xiang of Zhao appreciated Cai Ze very much and worshipped him as a guest of honor. He asked after his illness, so please go back to Xiangyin. Strong should be called Hou, while critically ill should be called Hou. Fan Ju was excused from the post, and Zhao said the plan, so he worshipped it as Qin Xiang.

Fan Ju is Zhang Lu. During the Warring States Period, Ren Wei was a famous figure with far-reaching wisdom in the history of Qin State, and also a famous politician and strategist with outstanding achievements in politics and diplomacy in ancient China. In 266 BC, Fan Ju was made prime minister and sealed in Yingcheng (now east of Lushan Mountain in Henan Province), hence the name Yinghou. Originally, I wanted to make a career for Wei Liye, and my early family was poor. Later, the doctor had to send Jia to Qi, and Jia falsely accused him. He was defeated by Prime Minister Wei Qi and went to Qin after suffering. After trying to become a member of the Qin Dynasty, he began to exert all his strategies and talents to assist Qin's project, and became famous because of his appreciation and esteem. He made great contributions to the state of Qin and played a great role in unifying the world.

Why are Zhang Lu and Fan Ju the same person? Because of his poor family, Fan Ju couldn't see Wang Wei, so he joined the family of Dr. China. JOE, the special envoy of Zhao Wei, went to Qi, and Fan Ju followed him. His eloquence won the respect of King Qixiang. The King of Qi wanted to keep him as a guest, and gave him ten catties of gold, cattle, wine and other things, all of which declined. When JOE returned to China, he not only failed to praise his moral integrity, but also falsely accused Prime Minister Wei Qi of taking bribes and selling information privately. Wei Qi tortured him to pieces, wrapped him in a mat and threw him into the toilet to let the guests pee. Fan Ju feigned death and was abandoned in the suburbs. After returning home, Zheng Anping, a good friend, was asked to use Zhang Lu's pseudonym to hide himself and let his family mourn, which convinced Wei Qi that he was dead. Six months later, Zhao Haoqi of Qin sent an envoy Wang Ji to visit Wei. Zheng Anping managed to get Fan Ju to meet Wang Ji secretly. After talking, Wang Ji found that he was a rare talent and brought him back to Qin, so that he could escape.