Zhuge Liang, alias Khong Minh, nicknamed Ngo Long, Lang Nha, descendant of the Han Dynasty Tu Le Hieu Uy Gia Cat Phong. This is a brief introduction of Zhuge Liang in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
The saying reveals the mystery of Zhuge Liang
Zhuge Liang also has an older brother, Zhuge Jin, younger brother Zhuge Liang, all three of whom belong to the Zhuge family. But in 223 AD, after Liu Bei died, Liu Shan said a sentence that revealed the mystery of Zhuge Liang’s last name. It turned out that Zhuge Liang was not Zhuge Liang, but rather Cat, Cat Luong was his real name.
The cause of the incident began when Liu Bei died of illness in the White Emperor City. According to the custom of the time, the year the Emperor died could not be changed. In other words, year 223 is the third year of Chuong Vu, the new era name given by the new army to the throne must start from 224. But Liu Bei just passed away in April, in May, Luu Thien changed his era name. Kien Hung Nguyen Nien citadel.
Theoretically, this was a great disrespect to the First Emperor, but Luu Thien insisted on doing so. The courtiers under his command could not resist, so they had to follow Luu Thien’s will. The gate of the court is very easy to pass, but Zhuge Liang is not so easy. Luu Thien said to Zhuge Liang a sentence: “It is because of Cat Thi, the courtesy of this lady”.
Zhuge Liang has been Luu Thien’s sub-general for so many years, does Luu Thien not know what Zhuge Liang’s last name is? This is certainly not possible.
Could it be that Luu Thien was wrong? But this event is recorded in the history of “Wei Lu”. All history books must be handed down from ancient times, even if the Emperor is wrong, the historical official will also change, but this time the historical official will not change, but the record will remain the same. Thus, according to Luu Thien, Zhuge Liang’s surname is Cat, and Liu Thien shows respect to Zhuge Liang, deliberately using his ancestral surname.
The Zhuge Liang brothers all have the Zhuge family name, so not this surname was changed in his generation, but a long time ago, the Zhuge family changed their surname for some reason.
Going back to the time when Zhuge Liang’s ancestor was Lang Nha Duong Do (now Lam Nghi, Shandong, China). Lang Nha once appeared a heroic general in the pre-Qin period – Cat Anh. In the History – Tran Thiep The Gia of Sima Thien, there is a very famous sentence recorded: “Cat Anh went to the Eastern citadel, established Tuong Vuong as the King of Chu… At Tran, Tran Vuong killed Cat Anh”. Cat Anh for his great merit was murdered by Tran Thiep. But his merits were not buried because of that, after the establishment of the Han Dynasty, Luu Bang appointed a martyr against Qin, and made Cat Anh the Marquis of Gia district.
Cat Anh’s descendants when introducing themselves often call themselves “Gia district chi Cat” (the family Cat comes from Gia district) to distinguish themselves and other Cat family. Over time, Cat Anh’s descendants simply called themselves “Zhao Cat”. But Zhuge Liang is the descendant of Cat Anh.
Luu Thien is not the stupid person described in Tam Quoc Dien Nghia or Cao To Ban Ky. In contrast, Luu Thien likes to read history books, of course knows the background of Zhuge Liang’s ancestors. Therefore, in order to highlight that he respects Zhuge Liang, he deliberately said “It is because of the Cat, the courtesy of this lady”. That is to tell Zhuge Liang that: “He takes care of the state, I take care of the sacrifice”.
At this time, Luu Thien has just tasted a little bit of power, of course he can do whatever he wants, has long been suppressed by Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang. But arbitrarily changing the effective date is not reasonable, even if Liu Bei dies on the 1st of the new year, the whole year 223 must be the third year of Zhang Yu. Luu Thien changed his era name to Kien Hung Nguyen Nien in May, actually telling Zhuge Liang: “Your new master is me, not Liu Bei”.
Zhuge Liang can only laugh bitterly to accept, year 223 is the year Zhuge Liang is the most patient in his life, following his master for 16 years, the new Emperor is filled with hostility towards him. The Five Tigers General is left with only Trieu Van, this feeling of defeat is not understood by everyone.
Why change them?
Many people will probably wonder, why did the ancients change their last name, isn’t this disrespectful to the ancestors? Actually, there are three main reasons behind.
First, to avoid disaster. After Kinh Kha (the guest of Crown Prince Dan of Yen) failed to assassinate the King of Qin, Qin Shi Huang massively massacred the capital of Yen, and Dien Quang’s descendants were listed on the top wanted list. These people, in order to avoid arrest, changed their last name to “Quang”.
Second, based on geography. For example, Lu Cong Vong, whose real name is Khuong Tu Nha, because of his merit in the battle of Vu Vuong punished Tru, should be granted a place in Lu, so he made Lu his family name.
Third, they make up Zhuge Liang’s own surname as mentioned above. Because Duong Do already had a family of Cats, Cat Anh’s descendants deliberately called themselves “Gia district of Cat”, indicating that the Cat family moved from Gia district to Duong Do to live.
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