It is said that the most pathetic death in history was that of Emperor Xiaowu Sima Yao of the Eastern Jin Dynasty. This guy, like most emperors, indulged in pleasures and spent his days drinking with concubines. Once, after getting drunk, he had a quarrel with his favorite concubine Zhang. Pay attention, it was a quarrel, not an emperor scolding a concubine, but rather the emperor and the concubine yelling at each other. In the end, Sima got upset and blurted out: "I'm ignoring you! I have so many concubines, I'll go to someone else!" After saying this, he fell asleep soundly.
Zhang, who was still sober, began to think. The old man is going to ignore me? He's going to someone else, that can't be allowed! Now that I am young and beautiful, you don't care about me, then what about when I get old, will I have a good life? The more she thought, the angrier she got, and the worse it seemed. Finally, Ms. Zhang gritted her teeth, called a few maids, brought a few thick quilts, and in no time, smothered Sima to death while he was sleeping soundly. Poor innocent Sima, just because of a spat with his wife and a rash word, lost the life of an emperor that took several lifetimes to cultivate.
It is said that the most bizarre death in history was that of Duke Jing of Jin during the Spring and Autumn period.
This guy was a real ruler who held life and death in his hands. In his old age, he had some geriatric diseases. A fortune-teller from Jin State, probably tired of living, told the duke: "Your Highness, you won't live past the time of eating new wheat this year." When Lord Ji heard this, of course he was not pleased. When the new wheat came in that year, he summoned the fortune-teller, holding a bowl of rice and said: "Look, you said I wouldn't live to eat the new wheat, I'll show you I'm eating it right now!" But, you must die first, for your inaccurate prediction! After saying this, he ordered the fortune-teller to be taken out and beheaded.
As Lord Ji was about to eat, he suddenly felt unwell and told his attendants: "No, I need to go to the toilet first." Saying this, he put down his bowl and went out. His attendants waited and waited, the food got cold, and the lord still didn't return. What happened? They privately split up to look for him, searching everywhere in the palace, but couldn't find him. Finally, in the toilet, they found Lord Ji, who had fallen into the latrine and died. Later, some people praised him by saying that Lord Ji was the first emperor to die in a toilet. Sweat-inducing...
Actually, I've always had a question: were toilets really that backward 2000 years ago? Did even the ruler of a country have to squat on a pit? Were there no chamber pots... sweat again...
The Zuo Zhuan, known for its concise and powerful writing style, described this event in one sentence: "About to eat, he swelled, went to the toilet, fell in and died"... profusely sweating...
Someone once asked me, what is stupid? I said, it seems like a combination of being foolish and lacking common sense. I feel that the following two individuals could compete for the title of dying most stupidly.
One is King Wu of Qin, Ying Dang (sweat at the name of this ruler, how "X" is that?). Actually, this ruler had a great future ahead of him, ascending the throne at 17, young and talented, Qin was also thriving, and all the feudal lords feared him. Everything was fine except for being somewhat foolish, liking to compete with others in strength, seeing nothing he didn't challenge, especially large objects. At the age of 23, while traveling outside, he saw the large tripod in Luoyang and became competitive. Hearing that a strongman surnamed Meng could lift it, he insisted he could do it too. And indeed, he did lift it, but couldn't hold it, it fell and broke his thigh. With the medical conditions of the time, he didn't last a few days and died in Luoyang.
A couple of days ago, I read an article on the China Sports website, which mentioned that King Wu of Qin lifting the tripod was historically recorded as the most...