If you don’t know the geographical knowledge in “Man Jiang Hong”, you are out!

As of now, the total box office of the film "Red River" has exceeded 4.3 billion, ranking 7th in the Chinese film history box office list.

There are some little-known geographical knowledge in the hotly discussed film "Man Jiang Hong" and Yue Fei's poem "Man Jiang Hong" that is very important.

Only by knowing and understanding them can you truly understand the film and understand Yue Fei.

Zhang Da's inscription in the movie "Man Jiang Hong". (Source: watermark)

"Breaking through the Helan Mountains"

Where exactly is the Helan Mountains?

"Drive a long chariot and break through the gap in Helan Mountain", the most controversial issue in "Man Jiang Hong" is where the Helan Mountain is.

As people familiar with history know, there is a mountain called Helan Mountain in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, which is named because it looks like a steed (sounds like "Helan" in Mongolian). This mountain was regarded as a barrier by the Western Xia Kingdom. In 1044 and 1049 AD, the Western Xia Kingdom and the Liao Kingdom fought two fierce battles here, which are known in history as the "Battle of Helan Mountain" and are also called the "Liao-Xia War" because of their far-reaching impact.

A view of Helan Mountain in Ningxia (Source: Gansu-Qinghai Grand Loop Network)

According to historical records, Yue Fei's direction of fighting against the Jin Dynasty was in the northeast, which was not in the same direction as the Helan Mountains in Ningxia. This was because the capital of the Jin Dynasty, Shangjing, was now Acheng District, Heilongjiang Province. There was a famous military town in the southwest of Shangjing, called Huanglongfu. Huanglongfu is now Nong'an County, Jilin Province, one of the five outer counties of Changchun, with extremely convenient transportation. After the "Jingkang Incident", Emperors Hui and Qin of the Northern Song Dynasty were imprisoned in Huanglongfu. So when Yue Fei encouraged his soldiers, he said, "Go straight to Huanglongfu and drink with the soldiers!" From this, an idiom was born, "Go straight to Huanglong".

Yue Fei started his fight against the Jin army from Hubei, planning to recover Henan, Hebei, and then recover the northeast. His attack direction was the northeast, while the Helan Mountains in Ningxia were in the northwest, and Yue Fei had never been to the Helan Mountains in Ningxia. If he had never been there and it was not in his attack direction, why would he "break through the gap in the Helan Mountains"? This is one of the reasons why later scholars believe that "Man Jiang Hong" was not written by Yue Fei.

However, there are many mountains in China, and many have the same name but are in different places. For example, there are two other Helan Mountains besides the one in Ningxia, one in Jiangxi and one in Hebei. Of the two, the Helan Mountain located in Ci County, Handan, Hebei (called Cizhou in the Song Dynasty) is more in line with the original meaning of "Man Jiang Hong".

Cizhou Helan Mountain, formerly known as Xishan, is located in the south of Ci County. It is a remnant of Taihang Mountain, with a maximum altitude of less than 200 meters. It was named after the Taoist Helan Zhenren of the Northern Song Dynasty who lived in seclusion here. According to historical records, Yue Fei passed through Cizhou Helan Mountain when he joined the army, and later led troops to station in Cizhou many times, so he was very familiar with this mountain. In his Northern Expedition plan, Cizhou Helan Mountain was an important military stronghold, and it was very easy to "strike Huanglong directly" after passing this mountain.

Helan Mountain in Ci County as recorded in local history (Source: Kong Fuzi Used Books Network)

Judging from the geographical location, military significance and Yue Fei's familiarity with the area, it seems more reasonable to say that the Helan Mountain in "Man Jiang Hong" is located in Cizhou.

"Eight Thousand Miles of Clouds and Moon"

Did Yue Fei really conquer eight thousand miles?

During his short but brilliant life, Yue Fei pacified bandits, marched north to the Central Plains, served his country with loyalty, and devoted himself to the cause of resisting the Jin army. The best proof of this is the words in "Man Jiang Hong" that "Thirty years of fame and glory are dust and dirt, and eight thousand miles of journey are clouds and moon." Did Yue Fei really fight for eight thousand miles in his life?

The answer is yes.

Let’s take a look at Yue Fei’s lifelong battle path as recorded in official history.

From 1122 to 1129, Yue Fei, who joined the army in Zhending Prefecture (now Zhengding County, Hebei Province), followed Liu Qian (then the prefect of Zhending), Zhang Suo (then the pacification envoy of Hebei West Route), Zong Ze (then the prefect of Cizhou) and other generals to suppress bandits and resist the Jin army.

During this period, he fought in a vast area from Shanxi in the west to the North China Plain in the east, from Hebei in the north to the Yangtze River in the south. He was promoted from squad leader to military general, and led a highly combat-effective Yue Family Army.

The average straight-line distance from Shanxi to Hebei is about 200 kilometers (400 li), and the marching distance is 300 kilometers (600 li). Assuming Yue Fei went back and forth once a year, the total distance in 7 years was 2,100 kilometers (4,200 li). In this way, there are already "four thousand miles of clouds and moon".

Starting from stationing troops in Ezhou, Hubei in 1134 AD, Yue Fei organized four large-scale northern expeditions.

The first time the troops reached Xiangyang, Hubei, the second time they recovered parts of Henan and Shaanxi, the third time they focused on recovering Caizhou, Henan, and the fourth time they won a great victory in Yancheng, recovering Zhengzhou and Luoyang in Henan, and the troops headed straight for the old capital Bianjing (now Kaifeng, Henan). The main battlefields of the Northern Expedition were in Hubei, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Henan, Hebei and other places. Take the distance from Ezhou, Hubei to Luoyang as an example. The straight-line distance between the two places is 700 kilometers (1,400 li), and the actual march is calculated as 1,000 kilometers (2,000 li). The total distance of the four Northern Expeditions is 4,000 kilometers (8,000 li). The Northern Expedition to fight against the Jin army was 8,000 li, plus the previous 4,000 li to suppress bandits, a total of 12,000 li.

From this we can see that what Yue Fei said in his poem, “eight thousand miles of road under clouds and moon,” is not an exaggeration at all.

Map of Yue Fei's Fourth Northern Expedition (Source: Map Emperor)

"Bingzhou has been home to many heroes since ancient times, and has fought wars for hundreds of years."

Why was the film shot in Taiyuan?

Yue Fei was born in Tangyin, Henan Province, lived in Ezhou, Hubei Province for a long time (he was named King of E after his death), and was finally killed in Lin'an (now Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province). He fought in battles across thousands of miles.

The core story of the film "Man Jiang Hong" most likely took place in Lin'an, but it could also take place in other places. Why did the director or screenwriter choose Taiyuan, Shanxi?

Every character, every prop, and every address in the film has a profound meaning and is not arbitrary. The film was shot at the Taiyuan Ancient County Film and Television Base, which should be related to Taiyuan's unique geographical location and its historical origins with the Song Dynasty.

It is worth a trip to the ancient city of Taiyuan (see watermark for the source of the picture)

Shanxi has always been a place of simple and strong people, and has always been the main battlefield for the competition between the Han agricultural society and the nomadic peoples. Taiyuan was formerly known as Bingzhou, Jinyang, and Dragon City. During the Tang Dynasty, it was called "the place where the dragon rises" (Tang Gaozu Li Yuan started his army in Jinyang and conquered the world).

During the Five Dynasties, the Later Jin, Later Han, and Northern Han all established their capitals in Taiyuan, which is why there is a famous saying that "Bingzhou has been home to many heroes since ancient times, and wars have lasted for hundreds of years during the Five Dynasties" (Ouyang Xiu of the Song Dynasty). In the early Northern Song Dynasty, it took the court more than ten years to pacify the Northern Han. Emperor Taizong of Song, Zhao Guangyi, was very angry about this and set fire to the ancient city of Jinyang. This move not only slowed down the development of Taiyuan, but also sowed bad consequences for future generations.

Because for the capital Bianjing, Taiyuan was the best barrier. Without the barrier, Liao and Jin could march straight in and attack the capital. Therefore, the Northern Song Dynasty was invaded by nomadic peoples in the north for a long time, until the famous "Jingkang Change" occurred, the Northern Song Dynasty was destroyed, and the Southern Song Dynasty had no choice but to negotiate peace and kill the famous general Yue Fei, and live in peace in a corner.

From this, we know that Taiyuan is actually the "city of national destiny" of the Song Dynasty: when Taiyuan is built, it prospers; when Taiyuan is burned, it declines. Using Taiyuan as a filming site to warn future generations to pay attention to urban construction may be the deeper consideration of the director and screenwriter of the film "Man Jiang Hong"!

References:

1. Paper "A Study on the Poem "Man Jiang Hong" in Song, Jin and Yuan Dynasties", author Liu Manli, Nanjing Normal University, 2014

2. Thesis "A Lofty Aspiration and Loyal Heart - Appreciation of Yue Fei's "Man Jiang Hong", author Wu Renwei, "Shanxi Elderly", 1996.10

3. Paper "A Brief Analysis of the Historical and Cultural Value Characteristics of Taiyuan City", author Che Chunbi, "Shanxi Architecture" 2018.08

4. Historical books such as "History of Song Dynasty" and "Jin Tuo Lu Bian"

END

Author: Wei Deyong, member of Shenzhen Writers Association, Guangdong

Editor: Guru