Zhongkang

Si Zhongkang

Zhongkang (the year of birth and death is unknown), a member of Zhongkang or Zhonglu, surnamed Si, surnamed Xia Hou, born in Yangzhai (now Yuzhou City, Henan Province), the son of Xia Qi, the younger brother of Taikang, and the fourth monarch of the Xia Dynasty.

After Houyi dethroned Taikang, he had to establish Zhongkang as king in the eighth year of linchao because the princes were not satisfied. After Zhongkang succeeded to the throne, he still built his capital in Chongyi. He died seven years in office.

In fact, it was still under the dictatorship of Hou Yi (after he abdicated, another court was set up in some poor countries to compete with Zhongkang). Zhongkang was not willing to be a puppet, but wanted to regain power. He once sent the great Sima yinhou to attack Dangyu Xihe, who was Houyi's leader, in an attempt to weaken his power. Finally, because of his weak strength, he was defeated by Houyi and retreated to Xihe area. At this time, Zhongkang was unable to recover the Xia Dynasty, so he became depressed and died of illness.

Life of the characters

To be king

In the fourth year of Taikang, Yi, the king of a poor country, heard that Si Taikang, king of Xia, was going to hunt in the south of Luoshui. He thought that this was the best time to attack the Xia Dynasty, so he personally led his army to attack the capital of Xia by Blitzkrieg and became king by himself. But soon, under the pressure of the princes, he had to give the throne to the descendants of the Xia family. At that time, Si Qi's six sons were still alive. Who should be appointed as the new king of Xia? Yuan Kang and Bo Kang are both ignorant and stupid. They can't do anything but eat, drink and play. They can't be king at all. Only old four Zhongkang was strong and ambitious, and always coveted the throne. So Zhongkang secretly acted, and several old ministers came forward to recommend him as the new king. Hou Yi, the monarch of a poor country, agreed to abdicate, but his condition was that the Xia Dynasty not only exempted the taxes of the poor countries, but also provided them with double taxes every year. Si Zhongkang was a mediocre man without political foresight. In order to sit on the throne of God, he agreed without hesitation. In this way, Hou Yi, the king of a poor country, gave up his throne and led the poor army to return to the poor stone with a large amount of property seized in Xiadu.

Si Zhongkang officially ascended the throne and was named Zhongkang. After Si Zhongkang ascended the throne, he immediately sent people to Yangxia (today's Taikang County in Henan Province) to welcome emperor Taikang back, and claimed that he was willing to return the throne to Taikang. Taikang thought that this was the humiliation of his younger brother Zhongkang and refused to return home. Zhongkang was very happy, because he didn't want Taikang to come back. Taikang didn't come back just to satisfy his wish, so he sent the army to escort Taikang's concubines and children to Yangxia to reunite with him.

be in office

In the first year of Zhongkang, Si Zhongkang appointed Marquis Yin as the great Sima, in charge of the Sixth Division. The invasion of poor countries taught Si Zhongkang a good lesson, and made him realize that if a country wants to keep power, it must have a strong army. Therefore, he ordered Marquis yinhou to be in charge of the army, enlist young and middle-aged people in the middle school, carry out military training in a planned way, and improve the combat ability.

In the fifth year of Zhongkang, there was a total solar eclipse in the Xia Dynasty. The day was like night, and people were very scared. Therefore, some people played Si Zhongkang, saying that Xi, who was in charge of astronomy, and he, who was in charge of calendar, indulged in wine all day long and neglected their duties, which led to the loss of things after drinking and the confusion of time and day, and brought disaster to human society. Therefore, they must be punished according to law. Si Zhong Kang was furious and immediately ordered Marquis Yin to arrest them. Marquis Yin always thought well of Xi and he. He thought that they were both responsible for their work. How could they suddenly become confused and commit such a felony? I'm afraid there was something else hidden in the process, but the emperor's order could not be disobeyed, so he had to lead the army. When they saw Xi and he, they knew that they had not been drinking. They told him that the solar eclipse was a normal celestial phenomenon, which could not be changed by human beings. Marquis Yin took them to see emperor Zhongkang and asked them to explain clearly. However, the foolish Si Zhongkang did not believe in science at all. Instead, he thought they were sophistry and still punished them.

In the sixth year of Zhongkang, after Si Zhongkang appointed Zhuanxu, he became a vassal of fan and was granted the title of Xia Bo in Kunwu. The Kunwu clan later developed into a powerful tribe and was an important ally of the Xia Dynasty.

In the seventh year of Zhongkang's reign, after several years of development and construction, the army of the Xia Dynasty gradually became stronger. Si Zhongkang thought that he had the ability to compete with the poor countries, so he announced that he would no longer pay tribute to the poor countries, and ordered the poor countries to continue to pay taxes to the Xia Dynasty. Si Zhongkang's unilateral act of tearing up the peace treaty angered the monarchs of poor countries, and Hou Yi led his own army to invade Xia Hou's territory again. The poor army is very brave and brave. Xia Hou's army was totally vulnerable to attack. They were terrified at the news and retreated step by step. The poor army soon came to the capital of Xia. Zhongkang died seven years ago.

Si Zhongkang was the emperor at the age of 41. He was in power for 18 years (Lu Shi Hou Ji). He died in the 18th year of Zhongkang at the age of 59. (according to Lu Shi, Zhong Kang died at the age of 18.)

Related anecdotes

solar eclipse

"Emperor Zhongkang, Xihe indulged in prostitution, abandon the chaos of the day." Shiji · xiabenji is also a common sentence about current affairs, there is no astronomical phenomenon in it. The main idea is: "in emperor Zhongkang's time, Xihe (the official in charge of astronomy and calendar) indulged in wine and sex, delayed farming time and neglected his duty.". In the Xia Dynasty, the observation of celestial phenomena had been attached great importance, and "observing the celestial phenomena and giving time" became a kind of national policy. According to the records in the book of history of Xia, Xihe, the official in charge of observing the celestial phenomena in the period of Zhongkang in the Xia Dynasty, failed to give notice of the solar eclipse in time, so that when the solar eclipse occurred, people did not know what strange things happened, and they were in a panic. Zhongkang period of Xia Dynasty is about 4000 years ago. The record of this eclipse is the earliest record of solar eclipse in China and the world.

In the history of China, special departments and personnel have been set up for astronomical observation for a long time. Its purpose is to understand the law of the sun and the moon, and to make the calendar as precise as possible to meet the needs of farming in the agricultural society. The second reason is more complicated. The dominant idea in ancient China is the concept of "harmony between man and nature". This concept holds that "heaven" is a God with will and personality, and the emperor of heaven dominates the human world. In the process of domination, the emperor of heaven often changes his mind Through the changes of astrology, it gave omens and warnings to the world. Therefore, the imperial court of each dynasty had a huge celestial institution to monitor the changes of astrology day and night. As the medium and messenger of the king's communication with heaven, the status and prestige of astronomical officials are extraordinary. Because of the important position of astronomical officials, the imperial court often had high expectations for them, and they did not dare to slack off all the time.

origin

In the Xia Dynasty, the fourth monarch, Wang Zhongkang, had just recovered from the turmoil of the former Taikang period. There was a certain "resurgence" inside and outside the court. In the golden autumn of this year, the wheat waves are rolling and the sky is clear. The farmers are harvesting the fruits of a year's labor in the fields. At noon, people suddenly find that the light of the sun, which was originally high in the sky, is weakening little by little. It seems that a black monster is eating the sun little by little. This is "dog eats the sun"! When the gongs are suddenly knocked, the dogs can scare the people away.

It is the imperial court and the emperor who are most afraid of this celestial phenomenon, because "the heavenly dog eats the sun" indicates that there will be disaster in the country, which may endanger the status or life of the emperor. At that time, the imperial court had formed a set of "saving the sun" ceremony. Whenever there was a "dog eating the sun", Xihe, the astronomer who monitored the astronomical phenomena, would observe it at the first time, and then immediately report it to the imperial court as soon as possible. Then Zhongkang immediately led the officials to set up an altar in front of the hall, burning incense and praying, and contributed money to heaven to recall the sun. But this time, time passed for a long time, we watched the sun disappear little by little, and the endless night would cover the earth. All the civil and military officials and Emperor Zhongkang had gathered in front of the palace, but Xihe was not seen. Having missed the best rescue time, Emperor Zhongkang could not think much about it and hastened to preside over the ceremony.

There was a hurry inside and outside the hall. The music officials in the palace were in a hurry to ring the drum for saving the day. The officials in charge of coins were in a hurry to get money from the bank. Other officials were also in a hurry to arrange the ceremony. At this time, the sky was getting darker and darker. Suddenly, the sky and the earth fell into the night. It was difficult to distinguish the shadow within a few steps, and the sun was completely devoured by the heavenly dog. Emperor Zhongkang led all the officials to kneel down and beg for God's forgiveness again and again. At this moment, everyone was very scared. He thought that the sun might never come out because there was no timely rescue, and the end of the Xia Dynasty was coming.

I don't know how long later, when people feel completely desperate, a little light appears on the west edge of the sun, the earth is gradually bright, the sun is more and more exposed, and the dog finally spits out the sun! Emperor Zhongkang and all the civil and military officials breathed a sigh of relief.

"Dog eating the sun" is finally over. At this time, Emperor Zhongkang finds out that astronomer Xihe has not appeared. Such a big thing has happened. Xihe, who is shouldering heavy responsibilities, has disappeared. Emperor Zhongkang is very angry and immediately sends people to look for him.

Several officers rushed to Qingtai (the astronomical observatory at that time) and finally found Xihe in the hut beside Qingtai. The astronomer, who had a heavy responsibility on his shoulders, was asleep. When he asked his subordinates, they found out that Xihe had been drinking all night, but he was still drunk. The officers did not dare to delay. They put Xihe up and put him in the car and sent him to the palace.

When he got to the hall, he knelt down in front of the emperor. Xihe was still in chaos, and he didn't know what was going on. When Emperor Zhongkang inquired about the situation, he realized that it was Xihe who had been drinking too much. He was so angry that he immediately ordered Xihe to be beheaded.

Historical records

Records of the historian Volume 2 Xia Benji II

Family members

Father and ancestor

Grandfather: Xia Yu

Father: Xia Qi

brother

Elder brother Taikang

Chinese PinYin : Zhong Kang