History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 954 Destroy it, I’m tired

[Destroy it, I'm tired]

Having offended Song Qiuqiu and his group of "Four Evils and Five Ghosts", Han Xizai would never have survived more than three episodes given the way he behaved. However, he lived for three full seasons and accompanied three generations of the Li family. The reason for this was the trust and protection that the Li rulers had in him.

However, the "Zhu Yuan defection" and the Bianzhou detention incident shook the foundation on which Han Xizai relied for survival in the Southern Tang. Moreover, after the death of the rabbit, the dog was abandoned. After the collapse of the "Four Evils and Five Ghosts" group, Han Xizai lost his value to the rulers and could no longer be reused. Even if Han Xizai had great talent, it was difficult for him to use his talents.

Dreams are always out of reach, should we give up? Disheartened Han Xizai said in despair, "Destroy it, I'm tired."

Historical records record many of Han Xizai's unruly deeds, such as his "keeping prostitutes by imperial order."

Han Xizai kept more than 40 high-end concubines, and "allowed them to come and go, and live together with the guests." The residence of a senior state official was no different from a club. Court officials talked about it and pointed fingers at him. Li Yu then issued a guiding opinion on lifestyle, pointing out that some leading cadres were living an immoral life and had a bad influence, and called on everyone to keep themselves clean and dismiss their prostitutes.

Unexpectedly, Han Xizai was very tactful and was the first to take the lead in "layoffs" and dismissed all the prostitutes on the same day. This caught Li Yu and his ministers by surprise.

Li Yu was very pleased, but... these dismissed prostitutes soon gathered at the door of Han Xizai's house again, saying that they were alone and had no means of livelihood, and after being kicked out of the house, they could only wait to starve to death. We would rather starve to death at your door! They couldn't be coaxed away, scolded, or beaten.

Han Xizai was quite helpless and could only report the situation to the organization.

Li Yu understood, OK, old Han, you want to play this trick on me? Well, you win. Li Yu gave a reply and allowed Comrade Han Xizai to be taken in.

Li Yu's instruction became Han Xizai's "business license", and from then on there was the story of "Han Linggong keeping prostitutes by imperial order".

Han Xizai never seemed to care about other people's accusations or criticisms. He did not shy away from problems in his lifestyle, but was very high-profile about them. He even wanted to have the word "lustful" written on his face. His reputation for lust and romance was not only known to everyone in the officialdom, but also became a topic of conversation among the people after dinner.

According to records, Han Xizai also often played role-playing games. He would wear monk's robes and carry a bamboo basket, and let his disciple Shu Ya (the number one scholar in the Southern Tang Dynasty, who had edited "Records of the Grand Historian") beat a bamboo board, pretending to be a pair of down-and-out beggars. They would go to various brothels to beg for food for entertainment, which became a scene in Shengzhou.

Li Yu had long heard that Han Xizai was absurd and unruly, and wanted to use him but was afraid of attracting criticism, so he sent the painter Gu Hongzhong to act as a paparazzi, sneak into Han Xizai's house and wait for an opportunity to take pictures to see what kind of person this Master Han was.

Gu Hongzhong was a famous painter in the Southern Tang Dynasty. He was best at painting figures and once painted a portrait of Li Yu. Gu Hongzhong completed this task brilliantly. His candid photo is still collected in the Palace Museum in Beijing. It is listed as one of the top ten famous paintings handed down in China along with "Along the River During the Qingming Festival" and "Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains". It is a treasure in the history of Chinese art. This is the famous "Night Banquet of Han Xizai". This scroll is divided into five scenes by a screen. Han Xizai appears in each scene. Interestingly, Qin Ruolan mentioned above is also in this painting.

The painting vividly shows Han Xizai's extravagant and decadent side. If it were put today, it would be a textbook-level negative example of violating the spirit of the eight regulations.

After seeing this picture, Li Yu shook his head and sighed, "This man has moral problems." So he was not in a hurry to appoint him as prime minister. This is also the story of how Han Xizai finally realized his dream of becoming prime minister with his own strength without the suppression and interference of Song Qiqiu and the "Four Evils and Five Ghosts" group.

Is Han Xizai really a vulgar scholar who is obsessed with beauty, whose bright future is ruined by young models in the club, and whose ambitions are high but whose skills are low? His students and friends have the same doubts and have asked him face to face. Han Xizai's answer is both comforting and regrettable:
"I am using this to disgrace myself in order to avoid becoming a prime minister. I am too old to be a laughing stock for all eternity."

It is gratifying that Han Xizai deliberately ruined his reputation and kept himself away from politics; it was not due to his nature; it is regrettable that he had to endure such a great blow to become so disheartened.

In fact, in "Night Banquet of Han Xizai", Gu Hongzhong has already given a hint, that is, Han Xizai's numb and lonely eyes in the painting are out of tune with the surrounding atmosphere of feasting and revelry.

After enduring torture for most of his life, Han Xizai's spiritual world completely collapsed. He knew that the Southern Tang Dynasty could not escape the fate of national destruction. Although Song Qiqiu and the "Four Evils and Five Demons" group no longer existed, the root cause of the Southern Tang Dynasty was never the "Four Evils and Five Demons". Han Xizai began to learn to face reality. His little energy could not change anything. In the face of the torrent of history, all struggles seemed so small and ridiculous.

He didn't want to be prime minister anymore, because he had long ago left behind a bold statement that if he became prime minister, he would march straight to the Central Plains to conquer it. If he became prime minister and the Southern Tang Dynasty was destroyed, wouldn't he become a laughing stock for all eternity as a prime minister who destroyed a country?
Six years after Han Xizai's death, the Southern Tang Dynasty fell and was replaced by the Song Dynasty. This prosperous era was just as he wished.

Many people, without any in-depth research, just skimmed through the unofficial history and arbitrarily drew conclusions, such as Han Xizai was talented but immoral and degenerate; for example, Han Xizai calculated that the Southern Tang was about to fall, and in order to avoid becoming the prime minister of a fallen country, he lay low and let things go...

Some people say that "Night Revels of Han Xizai" is a picture of the fall of the Southern Tang Dynasty, but many people do not understand the true meaning of this sentence. They mistakenly believe that Han Xizai represents the Southern Tang Dynasty's rulers and ministers who were obsessed with pleasure and lacked ambition, and that it was the Southern Tang Dynasty's corruption and degeneration that led to the country's fall.

In fact, what this sentence means is that we should carefully study the historical background, the development process of Southern Tang and Han Xizai's personal life, and then look carefully at Han Xizai's eyes in the picture...that is, the work done by Namo Choudan in the above text. Only when we understand all this, we will suddenly realize the true meaning of "The Picture of the Lost Country".

Han Xizai's life epitomizes the rise and fall of the Southern Tang Empire, and "Night Banquet of Han Xizai" distills it in a scroll. A "Night Banquet of Han Xizai" is an elegy for an idealist.

Thanks to old friends "Yang Kui" and "Book Friend 854***375" for their monthly ticket support!



(End of this chapter)