Is “Tu'an Gu exterminated the Zhao family, and Cheng Ying and Gongsun Chujiu sacrificed their own son to save the orphan Zhao Wu.” true?
The Records of the Grand Historian, in the Hereditary House of Zhao, records the tragic story of Tu'an Gu's rebellion and Cheng Ying's rescue of the orphan; however, the Zuo Zhuan, in the eighth year of Duke Cheng, records that the Zhao family's misfortune was actually due to the illicit affair between Zhao Zhuangji and Zhao Yingqi, and that Zhuangji's slander led Duke Jing of Jin to kill Zhao Tong and Zhao Kuo, with no mention of searching for and rescuing an orphan. The Records of the Grand Historian clearly has a flavor of folk romance. The original text: 「屠岸贾不聽。韩厥告赵朔趣亡。」 It also records: 「乃二人谋取他人婴儿负之」(《史记·赵世家》,data/raw/shiji/赵世家.txt)
The historical truth of the Zhao family orphan case: Tu'an Gu or family infighting?
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