A Study Of Self-Cutting Writing In The Hanshu

Self-death of characters is a common phenomenon in the Book of Han,and is vividly narrated by Ban Gu.This paper is concerned with the analysis of Ban Gu’s view of life and death,the sorting out of self-cutting incidents,the summary of writing patterns and the excavation of the social environment of the Western Han Dynasty.To a certain extent,the self-cutting writing in the Hanshu reflects Ban Gu’s view of life and death,and at the same time,Ban Gu’s view of life and death also has a certain guiding effect on the self-cutting writing.On the one hand,Ban Gu’s strong sense of respect for life makes him show great sorrow when writing about self-cutting,and he criticizes it unmercifully in the face of meaningless self-cutting.On the other hand,Ban Gu attaches great importance to moral integrity,and when faced with the choice between moral integrity and life,Ban Gu is often in a dilemma.He respects life,cherishes it,and does not speak lightly of death;at the same time,he greatly admires those who cut themselves to preserve their moral integrity,and when writing about their cutting themselves,Ban Gu incorporates a certain amount of praise.In addition,the reason why Ban Gu formed such a view of life and death is closely related to his education in Confucianism and the environment of his time.The self-cutting writings in the Hanshu are numerous,widely distributed,and in a variety of situations,but they can still be sorted out according to certain clues in order to achieve clarity and organization.Taking time as the line,the writing on self-sacrifice can be incorporated into the reigns of different emperors;taking identity as the line,the characters of self-sacrifice can be divided into three major categories,namely,the Liu clan,the hundred officials and ministers,and the concubines of the harem;in addition to this,there are two special phenomena,namely,multiple self-sacrifices in the family and attempted self-sacrifices.The narrative of self-sacrifice in the Book of Han shows a fixed pattern of writing.The first is the biographical part,which is often very detailed in its account of the self-sacrifice incident.Ban Gu,in accordance with the logic of time,describes the reasons for the self-sacrifice,the speech and behavior before the self-sacrifice,the methods used in the self-sacrifice and the arrangements for the posthumous events of the self-sacrifice,forming an all-round self-sacrifice writing in the biographical part.Secondly,the whole book as a whole is written in different styles for the same self-homicide event,and there are often diverse ways of expression,which forms the mode of writing a diverse account of self-homicide in the whole book as a whole.The reasons for this diversity of accounts are closely related to the influence of the Spring and Autumn writing style and the constraints of imperial power.The self-cuts of the characters in the Book of Han are not only a personal and accidental choice,but also a reflection of the social environment of the Western Han.Firstly,the rulers of the Western Han period were very concerned about the phenomenon of calamity,and when it occurred,the king had to reflect on himself,and then there was an unwritten rule that subjects had to suffer on behalf of the king,and some subjects even had to suffer by cutting themselves.Secondly,the influence of the leniency of the penal system in various periods of the Western Han Dynasty on the self-punishment of people,under the harsh laws,more guilty people chose to punish themselves to end their suffering.Finally,it is the influence of the moral culture of the scholars,who valued courtesy and moral integrity,and who did not want to be humiliated by imprisonment and chose to cut themselves as a way to end their suffering.The writing of self-cutting in the Book of Han reflects more and deeper social style of the Western Han Dynasty,which has certain significance.