Shiji v2: Revenge-Seekers (complete)

Some closing comments on this volume which dealt with two famous revenge-stories in the Spring and Autumn period. Goujian's story is worth remembering for playing a huge role in Chiang Kai-Shek's Nationalist (Kuomintang) party's rhetoric/propaganda. The humiliation that Goujian endured to eventually enact his revenge deeply resonated among Chinese in light of Japan's aggressive foreign policy during the early 20th century and the Woxin Changdan (臥薪嚐膽) idiom was frequently used as a nationalist slogan. Chiang Kai-Shek, born in Zhejiang which was the same place that Yue was situated, similarly saw the connections between Goujian and himself. He ordered the compilation of Goujian's biography in two versions (one in literary, the other as colloquial) and his personal diaries note how he used Goujian's story to convince himself not to respond to Japanese provocations even in the face of harsh vocal opposition. After defeat in the Civil War to the communists, Chiang and the Nationalists still holding out in Taiwan once again evoked Goujian's story to nurture hope. For more detailed information, I recommend reading History and Popular Memory: The Power of Story in Moments of Crisis.

Meanwhile in Japan, Woxin Changdan (pronounced as Gashin Shoutan in Japanese) was famously evoked regarding the Triple Intervention to settle the First Sino-Japanese War. Japan saw the foreign diplomatic intervention as an under-handed Russian scheme which robbed Japan of greater gains from the war. As Japan was in no shape to confront a Russia backed by France and Germany at the time, it endured the humiliating conditions only to later have its revenge in the Russo-Japanese War.

Now regarding Wu Zixu, the Shiji chapter on his life is notable for concluding with a commentary from Sima Qian:

The poison of resentment in man is extreme indeed! A king cannot provoke it in a minister, much less in a peer! If previously Wu Zixu had been made to follow Wu She in death, how would he differ from an ant? But he rejected a small principle to wipe away a great shame, and his name is passed on to later generations. Now, whether hard-pressed on the Yangtze River or begging food along the road, how could his mind, even for a moment, forget Ying? Therefore, he silently endured and obtained merit and fame. If not a man of virtue, how could he have reached to this?

If you recall the very first chapter of this manga which covered Sima Qian's life, you'll remember that Sima Qian also chose to endure shame by being castrated in order to complete his father's dream of writing the Shiji. It's clear that Sima Qian saw himself in the story of Wu Zixu, but as historian Stephen W. Durrant notes in The Cloudy Mirror, their methods of revenge are different in style. Wu Zixu violated ethical norms by whipping a corpse while Sima Qian simply slaved away in the imperial archives and wrote a book. So if Sima Qian concludes that Wu Zixu "silently endured and obtained merit," then it's more likely a case of Sima Qian becoming carried away by his own biases and describing his own situation instead of Wu Zixu's life.

Hope you enjoyed the short history lesson. I'll do volume 3 in late summer/early fall.

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And it's time for v2 of Shiji! This should be more exciting than the first volume, as it's all about famous revenge-stories set in the Southern Chinese kingdoms of Chu, Wu, and Yue and you know what they say about the fiery temper of Southerners... The first two stories will be about Wu Zixu.

The famous whipping of King Ping's corpse is, I think, one of the earliest recorded examples of posthumous sentences, though I would imagine there was probably an earlier instance in the Fertile Crescent. My money would be on ancient Egypt. A more well-known instance in Western history is probably Oliver Cromwell's posthumous hanging and beheading. Wikipedia even has a list.

This incident is probably where Chiang Kai-Shek's famous quote about "Japanese being a mere disease of the skin while Communists being a disease of the heart/internal organs" comes from. Also, the origin behind 臥薪嚐膽 (Wo Xin Chang Dan) was even more confusing than I thought. I have no idea why some Song-dynasty literati decided to add the 臥薪 part when it was never used in the Shiji. However, I did find two interesting theories (not sure how credible, though) on it. One explains how 臥薪 is a corruption of 臥辛 (since 薪 and 辛 are homonyms) which is a contracted form of a phrase meaning, "to rub spice in sleepy eyes." The "rubbing spice in sleepy eyes" is something that the Spring and Autumn Annals of Wu and Yue (a historical record written during the Han Dynasty) does mention for Goujian as an example of the many harsh measures he imposed on himself in addition to licking gallbladder. 

Another explanation is that the 蓼薪 (specific type of spicy herb that Goujian rubbed in his eyes according to the Spring and Autumn Annals of Wu and Yue) was misunderstood and corrupted into 臥薪, which would mean sleeping on firewood. If there's a Chinese-speaker who can use the Chinese internet and find a better explanation, let me know.

Download:

Shiji v02:   Mega

Shiji v02 c01:   Mega
Shiji v02 c02:   Mega
Shiji v02 c04:   Mega
Previous volumes: Mega