Yanzi

Yan Ying

Yan Ying? He was born in Gaomi City, Shandong Province. He was a famous statesman, thinker and diplomat of Qi State in the spring and Autumn period.

Yan Ying is the son of Yan Qiang, a senior official of Qi state. In the 26th year of Qi linggong (556 BC), Yan weak died, and Yan Ying succeeded him as a senior official. He successively served as the assistant government of Qi linggong, Zhuang Gong and Jing Gong for more than 50 years. He is famous for his political foresight, diplomatic ability and simple style of work. He is smart and eloquent. He assisted the government and remonstrated the monarch of Qi. He was flexible and principled in his foreign affairs, and defended Qi's national dignity and power.

In the 48th year of Qi Jinggong (500 BC), Yan Ying died. His thoughts and anecdotes are often found in Yanzi Chunqiu.

(inside overview, photo source: Interpretation of famous ministers in past dynasties)

Life of the characters

Linggong period

Yan Ying is the son of Yan Qiang, a senior official in the state of Qi. In the 26th year of Qi linggong (556 BC), Yan weak died, and Yan Ying succeeded him as Shangfu.

In the 27th year of Qi linggong (555 BC), Jin sent Zhongxing Xianzi to attack Qi. Qi army was defeated and linggong ran into Linzi city. Yan Ying dissuades linggong, but linggong doesn't listen. Yan Ying said: "our monarch has no courage." Jin soldiers surrounded Linzi, Qi people guarded the inner city and did not dare to attack.

Zhuanggong period

In the third year of Duke Zhuang of Qi (551 BC), luanying, the Minister of Jin, defected to Qi. Before that, the state of Qi had already made an alliance with the state of Jin in the second year of Zhuang Gong (552 BC) to imprison Luan Ying. Yan Ying then used the words of "breaking his promise and not establishing his position" to persuade Qi Zhuang Gong, who did not accept remonstrance. Afterwards, Yan Ying privately told Chen Wenzi that the monarch's treachery could not last long.

In the fourth year of qizhuanggong (550 BC), qizhuanggong set out from the state of Wei to attack Jin. Yan Ying said: "the king relies on his courage to attack the alliance leader. If he fails, it's a blessing for the country. If you do not have virtue and have credit, you will surely suffer Cui Zhu also advised: "No. My subordinates have heard that if a small country exploits the loophole of a big country's defeat and destroys it, it is bound to suffer disaster. The king wants to think about it The Duke of Qi Zhuang didn't accept their suggestion and insisted on attacking Jin. As a result, the Qi army was pursued by Jin army when they retreated. Yan ya (also known as Yan Xu, a senior official of Qi) was captured by Jin people.

In the sixth year of the reign of Duke Zhuang of Qi (548 BC), in May, Duke Zhuang of Qi was killed by Cui Zhu. After hearing that, Yan Ying, regardless of his personal safety, resolutely took him to the capital of Qi to mourn for Duke Zhuang. Yan Ying broke into Cui's house alone, took off his hat, beat his chest and feet, threw himself on Qi zhuanggong's body, cried loudly, and then got up and left. Cui Zhu's left and right wanted to kill Yan Ying, and Cui Zhu said, "he is the one the people look up to. If you let him go, I can win the hearts of the people."

Jinggong period

In the sixth year of the Duke of Qizhuang (548 BC), Cui Zhu made Chujiu, the brother of the Duke of Qijing, the king. After Jinggong ascended the throne, he made Cui Zhu the right prime minister and Qingfeng the left prime minister. The two countries were afraid of internal turmoil and instability, so they said, "those who do not want to make an oath with us will die." Yan Ying refused to take part in the oath. Qingfeng wanted to kill Yan Ying, Cui Zhu said: "he is a loyal minister, let him go."

In 545 BC, the power of Qingfeng was removed from the state of Qi. Jinggong granted yanyingying hall and 60 cities along it, which Yanzi did not accept. Zi Wei admired Yan Ying's moral character.

In 544 B.C., Wu Jizha went abroad for an interview. When he was in the state of Qi for an interview, he made friends with Yan Ying and said to him, "please return the feudalism and the regime as soon as possible. Only when there is no fiefdom and no political power can we avoid disaster. Qi's political power will belong to some extent. If it does not belong to others, the disaster will not stop. " Therefore, Yanzi returned the political power and feudal capital through Chen Huanzi, so he was free from the disaster of Luan and Gao.

In 539 B.C., the Duke of Qi sent Yan Ying to the state of Jin to ask for a daughter to be his stepmother. Yan Ying privately said to his uncle, a senior official of Jin, "the power of Qi will eventually belong to the Tian family. Although Tian had no great merit, he was able to take advantage of public affairs to give private favor. He was kind to the people and was supported by the people. " Shu Xiang said, "Jin is in the end. Pinggong levied heavy taxes on the common people, but he didn't do political work when he built terraces and pavilions. Can government affairs last forever when it falls under the private door? " Yan Zi agreed.

Before Yanzi was sent to the state of Jin, Duke Jing of Qi proposed to renovate Yanzi's house, which was rejected by Yanzi. When Yanzi went to the state of Jin, Jinggong renewed his house. By the time he returned home, it had been finished. After thanking him, Yanzi demolished it and rebuilt the houses of his neighbors, just like the original ones. Then he let the original residents come back to live, saying, "as the saying goes," if you don't choose a house, you only choose your neighbors. " These people have chosen their neighbors by divination. It's bad luck to go against divination. It is the ancient system that the gentleman does not violate the indecent things and the villain does not violate the unlucky things. Dare I disobey it? "Yanzi finally restored his old house. At first, Jing Gong didn't allow it. Yanzi asked Chen Huanzi to ask for it.

In 537 BC, Zipi of Zheng went to the state of Qi, and Yanzi visited him many times. When Chen Huanzi asked him why, Yanzi replied, "Zipi is able to appoint good people and is the master of the people."

In the 12th year of Qi Jinggong (536 BC), Qi Jinggong attacked Beiyan and planned to send Yan Jiangong back. Yan Zi said, "I can't send it back. The state of Yan has a monarch, and the common people have no two hearts. Our monarch is greedy for money, the people around him are flattering, and there is no possibility of success if we do great things without faith. "

In the 16th year of Jinggong (532 BC), four ethnic groups (Luan, Gao, Chen, Bao) broke out in the state of Qi. The four families called Yanzi, and he didn't go anywhere. His subordinates said: help Chen and Bao? "Yanzi said," what's the advantage His subordinates said, "it's better to help Ziqi, Ziliang and Yanzi than to help Chen and Bao?" "Then go back?" Yanzi said, "where will the king go when he is attacked?" Qi Jinggong summoned Yanzi and then went into the palace. It is a good omen that King Buwen sent Wang Hei to lead the army with Linggu flag. Request to cut the flagpole three feet and use it. One day in May, they fought in Jidi. Ziqi and Ziliang were defeated, and they were defeated in zhuangdi. The people of the capital chased them and defeated them at lumen. Ziqi and Ziliang fled to the state of Lu. Chen and Bao shared their property. Yanzi said to Chen Huanzi, "we must give their property to the king. Humility is the main content of virtue, which is called virtue. All people have the heart to fight, so interests can not be forced, thinking of morality is better than fighting for interests. Morality and justice are the basis of interests. Too much accumulated interests will bring harm. Let it not save for a while, it can grow slowly. " Chen Huanzi gave all the property of Ziqi and Ziliang to qijinggong, and asked him to retire to Judi.

In 531 BC, Yanzi was sent to the state of Chu. The king of Chu tried to humiliate Yanzi many times, but Yanzi resolved them. The king of Chu felt ashamed and sent Yanzi back to the state of Qi.

In 528 B.C., Tian Kaijiang, Gongsun Jie and guyezi were proud to serve the king of Qi. Yanzi killed three scholars with two peaches and made them commit suicide. After the three people died, Jin and Chu took advantage of the chaos. So Yanzi recommended Tian Zaoju to Qi Jinggong and said, "although he is the son of Tian family concubine, his writing can make everyone submit and obey, and his military strategy can make everyone obey The enemy is afraid. The king wants to try So Qi Jinggong summoned him to discuss military affairs with him. Qi Jinggong was very happy and immediately appointed him general.

In the 26th year of Qi Jinggong (522 BC), Jinggong hunted in the outskirts of Lu, and then entered the capital of Lu to consult with Yan Ying about the etiquette of Lu. Qi Jing Gong had scabies, and then he suffered from malaria, but he didn't get well for a year. Yan Zi took this opportunity to persuade Qi Jing Gong to relax the government order, remove the barriers, abolish the ban, reduce taxes, and get rid of debts.

In 516 BC, Qi Jinggong was worried about comets in the sky, so Yanzi took the opportunity to admonish him to reduce the tax burden. In the same year, Confucius fled to the state of Qi, and Yan Ying advised the Duke of Qi not to grant him land.

The death of a character

In the 48th year of Duke Jinggong of Qi Dynasty (500 BC), Yanzi died and his son Yanyao succeeded to the throne. When Yanzi died, Duke Jing of Qi was very sad, and even made an improper act to mourn Yan Ying.

Main impact

language arts

Yan Ying was praised for his good remonstrance. When he admonished the king, he often did not remonstrate directly, but gently remonstrated or induced, which showed his high wisdom in political life. His language is also very distinctive, or sharp, or very implicit; or serious, or funny humor. He can take different ways of admonishment according to different circumstances and achieve the best effect. The following is about Yanzi's Speech Art in several aspects.

Direct admonishment

In Yanzi's spring and Autumn Annals, Yanzi admonished Jinggong many times. Sometimes, though the words were very serious, they made him very angry, but the effect was extremely good.

One day, Qi Jinggong went out to Gongfu. Thinking that he wanted to live forever, Yanzi used the king of Zhou to criticize him. Soon, Liang Qiuju arrived in a chariot pulled by six horses. Yanzi criticized Qi Jinggong with the same harmony. As the sun was getting late, Jinggong saw the comet and called Bo changqian to pray for the elimination of the disaster. Yan Zi criticized Qi Jinggong with the idea that he should practice politics instead of praying. Qi Jinggong became more and more angry, and he was no longer interested in sightseeing

Chinese PinYin : Yan Zi