Break Chu: Zixu fled

Author: Shanglue
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-05-01
Features: The story of Zixu's exile leading to the destruction of Chu is one of the classic revenge tales in Chinese history. Sima Qian's "Biography of Zixu" is also a classic text narrating this story. "Abandoning minor righteousness to avenge great humiliation, his name will be remembered for generations to come," is Sima Qian's classic praise for Zixu's revenge. Under Sima Qian's pen, countless tales of revenge are vividly portrayed—Goujian's destruction of Wu, Yu Rang's assassination of Zhao, Fan Qian's entry into Qin, Sun Bin's campaign against Wei, the tale of the Orphan of Zhao, and Xiang Yu's destruction of Qin—all driven by a fierce life force rooted in cruelty, and the towering, mountainous grievances in Sima Qian's heart. But in Shanglue's portrayal, the brutal narrative, the myth of revenge, all vanish. What we see here is only the avoidance of revenge, the avoidance of greatness, and only a gloomy, cowardly, shameless figure, pushed by various ugly yet potentially what philosophers might call the "inevitability of history," step by step, mistakenly entering history and legend in the guise of a hero. Here, whether it is Wuzixu playing the flute in the Wu market or He Lu, Zuan Zhu, Yao Li, and Shen Baoxiu—all the legendary kings, warriors, assassins, and loyal ministers—are all outstanding performers of behavioral art. Of course, when you read to the end, you will suddenly realize. Behind them, there is another great artist, called history.