It is a complex emotion involving pain,
sorrow, bitterness and grief.( 慘愴怛悼)
Sima Qian was China's most eminent
historian. His Records of the Grand Historian is China's most classic
historical text. In his youth, he travelled throughout China conducting
detailed field investigations. In middle age, he began to organise Chinese
history from 2700 BC to 100 BC based on the materials he had collected.
In 99 BC, Li Ling, a general of the Han
dynasty, led an army of 5,000 against 80,000 Xiongnu soldiers. Due to the
overwhelming disparity in numbers, Li Ling's army was defeated. Rather than
committing suicide for his country, Li Ling chose to surrender and was captured
by the Xiongnu Kingdom.
The king at that time was Liu Che, one of
the most famous and revered rulers in Chinese history. His reign was one of the
most powerful periods in Chinese history. Later generations respectfully
referred to him as Emperor Wu of Han.
Emperor Wu of Han (Liu Che) was a staunch
advocate of Confucianism and established a system of officials judged by
Confucian principles. This led to the flourishing of Confucianism, making it
the dominant ideology in Chinese history at the time.
Li Ling was defeated when Liu Che was 58
years old. Forty-two years had passed since he had ascended the throne at the
age of sixteen. During this time, the Han Dynasty had grown extremely powerful
under Liu Che's stable and efficient leadership. Therefore, upon receiving news
of Li Ling's defeat, he experienced a mixture of pain, sorrow, grief and
bitterness. He was extremely unhappy during state meetings and was unable to
eat or sleep properly.
A few days later, however, Liu Che's mood
shifted. Not only was he angry because Li Ling had been defeated, he was also
furious because he believed that Li Ling's surrender demonstrated disloyalty to
the Han Dynasty. He considered Li Ling a traitor.
In a fit of extreme rage, the emperor of
the Han Dynasty issued a decree ordering the execution of Li Ling's entire
family for his alleged betrayal of the dynasty.
While most ministers disagreed with the
decree, none dared to voice their opposition. They knew that speaking out
against the enraged emperor would likely provoke his wrath.
Sima Qian was the only person in the entire
central government to speak out against the decree to Emperor Wu (Liu Che).
Emperor Wu was angered by Sima Qian's integrity and courage, and he was
sentenced to castration as punishment.
This idiom conveys a complex emotion of
pain, sorrow, bitterness and grief.
Dear friend, what insights or thoughts did
you gain from this story?
How would you react if you suddenly faced
setbacks after achieving great success? Have you ever experienced anger
stemming from extreme grief? I hope this story offers you some new insights.
慘愴怛悼(It is a complex emotion involving
pain, sorrow, bitterness and grief.)
司馬遷是中國最傑出的歷史學家。他寫的史記是中國最經典的歷史書。他在青年時代走遍了全中國，進行詳細的田野調查。他在中年之後根據所蒐集的材料，開始整理中國從公元前2700年到公元前100年間的中國歷史。
西元前99年，漢王朝有一個名字叫做李陵的將軍，他領導著一隻只有五千人的軍隊與八萬的匈奴王國的軍隊對戰，由於雙方的兵力太過懸殊，所以李陵率領的軍隊戰敗了，李陵選擇投降而非自殺殉國，他被俘虜到匈奴王國。
當時的國王的名字叫做是(劉徹)，他是中國歷史上最著名、最被眾人推崇的國王之一。他當國王的期間，是中國歷史上最強盛的幾個時期之一。後代尊稱他為(漢武帝)。
劉徹非常的尊崇儒家的思想，他建立了一套以儒家學說為衡量標準的官員的制度。他這個行為使得儒家思想在當時非常的興旺，儒家思想從那個時候開始成為中國歷史上最主流的思想。
李陵戰敗這個事件發生在劉徹58歲那一年，自劉徹16歲繼位成為國王之後已經過了42年，漢王朝在這42年間，因為劉徹的穩定且有效率地帶領所以變得非常的強盛，所以當他收到在李陵戰敗的消息後，他的心中感受到一種又痛苦又悲傷又悲苦又哀痛的複雜情緒，他每天參加國家的會議時感到非常的不開心，他吃不下飯晚上也睡不好。
幾天之後，劉徹的心情開始轉變，他感到非常的憤怒，他憤怒的原因不只是因為李陵被打敗而是因為他認為李陵投降的行為顯示出李陵對漢王朝的不忠誠，他認為李陵背叛了漢王朝。
漢王朝的國王在極度的憤怒的情緒下公告了一條命令，由於李陵背叛了漢王朝，因此所有李陵的家人全部都要被處死。
這條命令公告之後，多數的大臣們心中都不認同，但是卻都沒有人敢提出反對的意見，大臣們知道，在盛怒的國王面前，如果提出反對意見，那麼國王的怒氣可能會延伸到自己身上。
當時的整個中央政府中只有司馬遷勇敢地對劉徹說出的他反對這項命令的觀點，司馬遷也因為自己的正直與勇敢而惹怒了劉徹，司馬遷也因為個事件被判處宮刑的刑罰。
這句成語直接翻譯的意思是一種又痛苦又悲傷又悲苦又哀痛的複雜的情緒。
親愛的朋友，你聽完這個故事有怎樣的啟發或有怎樣的想法呢。
你如果在很成功之後突然遭遇挫敗你會有怎樣的反應呢?你是否曾經因為極度悲痛而衍伸出憤怒的情緒的經驗呢?
我期待這故事能讓你產生一些新的收穫。
出處為司馬遷-報任少卿書
https://zh.wikisource.org/zh-hant/%E5%A0%B1%E4%BB%BB%E5%B0%91%E5%8D%BF%E6%9B%B8