Historical facts of Zhao orphans

To put it simply, according to Zuo Zhuan and Guoyu, Zhao rose in the state of Jin. Zhao Dun was an official of the state of Jin, and his son Zhao Shuo held an important position, married a successful daughter of Jin and gave birth to a son. Two years after Zhao Shuo's death, his uncle Zhao Ying committed adultery with his widow, was exiled to Qi by the Zhao family and killed Zhao Ying, which caused great dissatisfaction. Three years later, Liu 'an and Yun, who jointly hated Zhao, slandered Jin Chenggong for Zhao's rebellion, so Zhao was eliminated. Zhuang Ji and her son, Wu Zhao, who was at least 6 years old at that time, lived safely in Gong Jing Palace. After about two years, Duke Jing of Jin accepted Han Jue's suggestion and restored Zhao's position. Zhao's orphan inherited Zhao's high position in the six ministers of the three armed forces, and drew a satisfactory full stop for this bloody love-hate relationship.

Zhuang Ji's love and hate were not uncommon in all countries in the Spring and Autumn Period. Therefore, these two books do not elaborate on the story of "Zhao's orphan", and the focus is not on "orphan". Let's look at the historical interpretation of "Zhao's orphan" since the Han Dynasty, represented by Historical Records.

In the early years of the Western Han Dynasty, when Sima Qian wrote Historical Records, according to the legends since the Warring States Period, he invented a new version of The Orphan of Zhao, which is the well-known story of The Orphan of Zhao. It shows the theme of taking loyalty, courage and loyalty as the core and finally achieving great achievements through extraordinary humiliation. This is obviously related to Sima Qian's own humiliating experience. In fact, it is generally believed that these books were written by Sima Qian according to pre-Qin legends. Tu'an Gu, Cheng Ying, Gongsun Chujiu, there is no such person, and there is no revenge of Wu Zhao. But it is this fabricated story that has influenced future generations to this day. It became the blueprint of the movie Orphan Zhao.