Lush Grass at the Old Tusi City
This is a Tusi city located within Lianghekou Township in Sangzhi, with the small place name Old Street or Old Tusi City, about 20 kilometers from Sangzhi county town. The Old Tusi City faces the Lishui River in front and backs onto a large mountain. Along the riverbank there are hundreds of mu of flat terraces, and the terrain is relatively open. There are about a hundred or more households of villagers living here, but the prosperity of the former Tusi city has long passed. The streets of the Tusi city have all been destroyed, and the palace where the Tusi lived has long collapsed. Only some broken walls of whitewashed walls and black tiles…
This is a Tusi city located within Lianghekou Township in Sangzhi, with the small place name Old Street or Old Tusi City, about 20 kilometers from Sangzhi county town.
The Old Tusi City faces the Lishui River in front and backs onto a large mountain. Along the riverbank there are hundreds of mu of flat terraces, and the terrain is relatively open. There are about a hundred or more households of villagers living here, but the prosperity of the former Tusi city has long passed. The streets of the Tusi city have all been destroyed, and the palace where the Tusi lived has long collapsed. Only some broken walls of whitewashed walls and black tiles still stand as they were, with green grass growing on them swaying in the wind, as if telling people the historical events that once happened in the former Tusi city.
According to relevant local chronicles, in the third year of Jingyan of the Song Dynasty (1278), Xiang Sisheng was granted the post of Sangzhi Xuanwei Si, and in the same year began building the Sangzhi Tusi city, located in Chapan Kou Village, Shata Ping Township. Fifty-five years later, his grandson Xiang Zhongshan moved the old Tusi city to Lianghekou, and from then on it lasted for 396 years in the Old Tusi City. The last Tusi king was named Xiang Guodong. This man was well-read and capable, as can be seen from an autobiographical article he left to later generations. But why the Xiang clan Tusi would collapse and disintegrate in his hands—there are many twists and rights and wrongs to discuss, but the most fundamental reason is actually just four words: fighting for power and profit. Like successive feudal courts, within the Tusi, in order to contend for the position of inheriting the Tusi king, the struggles among those with real power were quite fierce and cruel. Even between father and son, brothers, and relatives, they often killed each other and fought to the death. For example, this Xiang clan Tusi: by the generation of Xiang Guodong there were ten brothers, several of whom were born of concubines. According to Tusi inheritance custom, succession was to be rotated according to legitimate birth and age. Above Xiang Guodong, there was an eldest brother named Xiang Guozhu. When the old Tusi Xiang Changgeng was dying, he personally instructed the ministers to support Xiang Guozhu. Unfortunately, after Xiang Guozhu succeeded, he did not live up to expectations. This lord indulged in wine and women, and his temperament was extremely brutal. At this time, the grand uncle Tang Zongsheng, who held the power of experience, wanted to depose Xiang Guozhu and install his own son-in-law Xiang Guobing to inherit the throne. But Xiang Guobing was a son born of a concubine; even if Xiang Guozhu were deposed, it would not be Xiang Guobing's turn to succeed. Tang Zongsheng then discussed with the Sheba brothers Tang Zongjing, who controlled the central camp, and the two decided to launch a palace coup, killing Xiang Guozhu and his second brother Xiang Guodong together, so as to clear the obstacles for Xiang Guobing's succession. To avoid suspicion, after arranging the plot, Tang Zongsheng found an excuse to go to Jinshi on official business. As a result, although a rebellion commanded by Tang Zongjing killed Xiang Guozhu and the palace prime minister Sun Xuan and others, Xiang Guodong luckily escaped to Yunqi Fort. With the support of Zhen Daxu, the leader of Yunqi Fort, and others, Xiang Guodong raised troops and put down the rebellion, entered the palace, and became the Si master. Tang Zongjing was forced to flee to Rongmei Si to avoid trouble. After the matter passed, Xiang Guodong, out of consideration for his mother Madam Tang's face, did not pursue his grand uncle Tang Zongsheng and still let him manage affairs as experience. And Tang Zongsheng secretly plotted another coup. Not long after, unrest occurred in the neighboring Hubei Sanmao Tusi. The Tusi master Qin Xuan was removed from office by the court because of the Wuluo Si case, and his uncle Qin Fan took the opportunity to seize the Si position. Qin Xuan therefore fled to Sangzhi Tusi to seek help. Xiang Guodong sent troops to Sanmao Si and helped Qin Xuan regain the Si master's seal from Qin Fan, and submitted it to the Hubei governor. But for this he got into a lawsuit. Qin Fan filed a complaint with the Jingzhou Daotai, and Xiang Guodong was summoned to the Jiuxi Xie Hou case. While the lawsuit dragged on unresolved, Tang Zongsheng took the opportunity to launch a second rebellion. This time he persuaded Xiang Guocai through his clan brother Tang Zonghuang and others, and Xiang Guocai came forward to prepare to usurp the throne. Unexpectedly, Tang Zonghuang and others failed in their plot and were instead killed by the chief official Shang Chaoxian and others loyal to Xiang Guodong. Xiang Guocai was sent to Jiuxi to be dealt with by Xiang Guodong. Xiang Guodong once again forgave his brother Xiang Guocai and his grand uncle Tang Zongsheng. When the Sanmao Si lawsuit was concluded, the court ruled that Qin Xuan's son would inherit the Si position. Only then did Xiang Guodong return from Jiuxi to Lianghekou. At this time, the Rongmei Si master Tian Manru believed that Xiang Guodong had recommended Qin Xuan's son to inherit and had upheld the principles and the right way, so he specially sent envoys to congratulate him and invite an alliance and reconciliation. Xiang Guodong immediately agreed. Only then did the two sides have the later famous story of holding an alliance ceremony at the Dayanwu in Wudaoshui. In the following years, Xiang Guodong and Tang Zongsheng appeared to be at peace on the surface, but in fact the contradiction between the two sides had not been resolved. Not long after, Xiang Guocai again secretly colluded with several people in the inner office to usurp the throne again. Unexpectedly, before the matter was carried out, it was reported by someone, and Xiang Guodong ordered him to commit suicide. Tang Zongsheng feared being implicated, so he directed his three sons and son-in-law Xiang Guobing and others to instigate a third rebellion. This time, the rebel soldiers gathered more than a thousand troops and surrounded the Tusi palace. The palace stewards Fu Junlin, Xiang Changwei, and others were forced to death, and Xiang Guodong hurriedly fled at night to Yongshun for refuge. Tang Zongsheng and his son occupied the Tusi palace. Because they could not catch Xiang Guodong, they looted all the property in the palace, then took more than a thousand men and horses and fled to Hongjiaguan under the jurisdiction of Cili. When the Jiuxi Xie deputy general Bao Jinzhong heard the news, he took the leaders such as Tang Zongsheng to Wuchang, and filed a complaint with the governor's office that Xiang Guodong had arbitrarily collected silver, stirring up popular unrest. The governor's office ordered the Changsha Prefecture to try the case. Xiang Guodong was once again summoned to Changsha to respond to the lawsuit. Both sides appeared in court for a joint trial, and the verdict was: Sangzhi would implement gaituguiliu, the Tusi master Xiang Guodong would be exiled to Henan as a commoner, and Tang Zongsheng and his son and others would be settled in Yuezhou as commoners. Receiving this verdict, Xiang Guodong could not help but let out a shocking lament: “How sad, alas, alas, the roads of the world are difficult and perilous, human feelings are treacherous. In today's world, there is no lack of people who suffer injustice and grievance, but never has there been one where a rebellious subject kills people, and the great villain and wicked fool instead gets everything beautiful, while the good and innocent suffer injustice in later generations, and loyal and righteous servants of the master are wronged in the nine springs. This is truly a rare thing in ancient and modern times, a shocking thing near and far. ……This is why I think of it morning and night and cannot help but weep bitterly and sigh deeply.”
The 451-year history of the Sangzhi Tusi thus came to an end. Xiang Guodong, demoted to a commoner, believed he had suffered an enormous injustice. Perhaps to the end of his life he never understood why officials at all levels of the court would not uphold justice for this. In fact, for the need to consolidate the Great Qing dynasty, what the court wanted was to take back the governing power of the Tusi in various places. The so-called gaituguiliu meant changing native officials into officials dispatched by the court. This process of change was originally slow, but the internal turmoil in the Sangzhi Tusi happened to give the court a reason to implement gaituguiliu in Sangzhi. Therefore, the injustice Xiang Guodong finally suffered became inevitable.
From the rise and fall of the Sangzhi Tusi, we can also realize that from ancient times to the present, in the struggle for power and profit, people often become excited and crazy, even lose reason, thereby bringing endless troubles and pain, and even disaster. And every person in this world, if they truly want to live comfortably and happily, should keep a clear head. Only by completely escaping the contest and struggle for power and profit, and keeping body and mind in a peaceful state at all times, is it possible for life to possess a kind of true peace and happiness.