A Study On The Acceptance Of Xiang Yu And Liu Bang In The Ming Dynasty

Xiang Yu and Liu Bang were a pair of important historical figures in the Chu and Han Wars.Comments on Liu and Xiang have a long history.Most of the images of Xiang Yu and Liu Bang known to the people of the Ming Dynasty come from Records of the Shiji and Hanshu.This paper mainly focuses on the criticism of Xiang Yu and Liu Bang in Ming Dynasty,and discusses the acceptance of Liu and Xiang in the time.The first chapter investigates Liu and Xiang’s historical texts such as Records of the Shiji,Hanshu,and Zizhi Tongjian.By combing through the changes in the images of Liu and Xiang from Han to Yuan dynasties,analyze the original appearance and evolution of the images of Xiang Yu and Liu Bang.Secondly,it discusses the cultural background of accepting the images of Xiang Yu and Liu Bang in Ming Dynasty,by taking the Zhengde years as the dividing line of Liu and Xiang’s image acceptance,investigates the topic selection and ideological tendency of related historical essays.The second chapter investigates the comments of Xiang Yu and Liu Bang in the early Ming Dynasty.The early stage of the Ming people han chu suppression,people praised Liu Bang for his country’s legitimacy,praised his good qualities of magnanimity,benevolence,and generosity.However,he was criticized for his selfishness and deception.In contrast,people in the early stage of Ming Dynasty denied Xiang Yu’s brutal and foolhardy character.They analyze and evaluate his policies and strategies,and discuss the reasons for Xiang Yu’s failure.Judging from the comments on Xiang Yu and Liu Bang,in the early stage of Ming Dynasty,people’s expectations for the monarch mainly included benevolence and employment.It reflects their own experience of treading on thin ice in an intense political life and an active desire to participate in national politics,it also expresses their commitment to the loyal and patriotic views of the courtiers.In the late stage of the Ming Dynasty,at the peak of Xiang Yu’s criticism,people began to rebel against orthodoxy,and the idea that "Confucius’ s right and wrong should not be regarded as right and wrong" emerged.In this period,the images of Liu Bang and Xiang Yu changed from single emperors and overlords to ordinary people with rich emotions.People praised Liu Bang’s political skill,but thought that the outline of the Han dynasty was not correct.People praise Xiang Yu as a hero through the ages,but can not hide his guilt.It can be seen from the comments that in the late stage of the Ming Dynasty,people praised the monarch’s political skill and hoped that the chief of the Ming Dynasty would be wise and keep away from crafty sycophants.At the same time,the subject consciousness of the ministers was high,and the idea of loyalty to the king continued to develop in this period.The ministers took admonition as loyalty and paid attention to the requirements of morality and ability of the ministers.The fourth chapter discusses the images of Xiang Yu and Liu Bang in Ming dynasty dramas and novels.In the aspect of opera,the influence of "Qianjin Ji" writed by Shen Cai and "Bating Qiu" writed by Shen Zizheng can not be ignored.The story of Qianjin Ji,which depicts xiang Yu as a tragic hero,has far-reaching influence."Bating Qiu" compares Xiang Yu to a heroic wit,and connects the image of a tragic hero and a frustrated scholar.The novels related to Liu Xiang’s stories include Xihan Yanyi and Zhang Zifang Mudao Ji etc,which are rich in genre and reflect the widespread acceptance of Liu Xiang’s stories.There are some classical novels in Ming Dynasty that also involve the chu and Han affairs,expressing the interest and mentality of the literati,reflecting their thoughts of helping the world to teach and correcting people’s hearts.The operas and novels related to Xiang Yu and Liu Bang reflect the strong ideological trend of emphasis on emotion and enlightenment,from which we can also see the author’s mentality and the reflection of reality.The fifth chapter summarizes the characteristics and significance of Liu and Xiang’s acceptance in Ming Dynasty.The image acceptance of Xiang Yu and Liu Bang in Ming Dynasty had the following characteristics: First is to form acceptance chain from the perspective of acceptance history.Second,many literati interpreted Shiji literariness;Third,the novel and the history of the intersection and interaction;Fourthly,it shows the demand and expectation of morality and ability of emperors and ministers.The evaluation of Xiang Yu and Liu Bang in Ming Dynasty provided topics and ideas for later generations to comment on Liu and Xiang.The exploration of literariness of Shiji by Ming Dynasty and the literary interpretation of historical texts further established Xiang Yu’s heroic image and dispelling Liu Bang’s heroic image,their practice still has a certain impact.