汉王刘邦由子午道入汉中至南郑就国原因探析

On the Reasons for Liu Bang’s Decisive Choice to Entering Hanzhong to Nanzheng through Ziwu Path

子午道是王莽时正式开通的由长安到汉中郡治西城县的官方驿道。刘邦至南郑就国,为何由当时未正式开通的子午道入汉中,而不选择更为便捷的褒斜道入汉中?原因有二:其一,走子午道可快速入山,“以备诸侯盗兵袭之”,安全可以得到保障;其二,刘邦需先至汉中郡治所在的西城县视察并布置军事事务,再到南郑就国,如此则只能选择经由子午道。由于张良至褒中以及北返归韩都是经由褒斜道,所谓“烧绝栈道”,应是两次,一次是刘邦烧绝所经由的子午道,另一次是张良所建议的烧绝褒斜栈道。两者均可起到“以备诸侯盗兵袭之,亦示项羽无东意”的作用,但只有烧绝褒斜栈道才能真正起到相应的作用。

Ziwu Path,an official path,was opened in Wang Mang’s period piercing through Qinling Mountains from Chang’an (the capital) to Xicheng County of Hanzhong Prefecture.Why did not Liu Bang choose the short-cut path,Baoxie Path but the roundabout Path,Ziwu Path,to enter Hanzhong? There are reasons for this.One is for safety,that is,the roundabout path was a shortcut to go into forest,sneakily avoiding robbery.The other is for a deeper motive,that is,he could conduct reconnaissance and deploy his troops before his arrival at the destination.Zhang Liang,a tactician,formerly made a round-trip from the State of Han to the city of Bao through Baoxie Path,and so there should be twice the burning of the plank roads.One was the burning of Ziwu Path done by Liu Bang when he went through Ziwu Plank Road,and the other was the burning of Baoxie Path advised by Zhang Liang.Thus,the two burnings of the plank roads lent themselves respectively to the strategic avoidance of robbery and to the indication for Xiang Yu of no-return to the East,with the two strategies brought into full play.