Chapter 18 Chapter 18

Among the Confucian classics, the most criticized one is "The Doctrine of the Mean". So what is mean? Cheng Yichuan, a scholar of the Northern Song Dynasty, explained: "What is not biased is the middle, and what is not easy is the mediocrity. The middle is the right way of the world, and the mediocre is the law of the world." Mr. Cheng Yichuan means: in the middle, that is, neither up nor down, nor left nor right, which means an objective attitude towards life.Yong, on the other hand, is an existence that is not easy through the ages. It actually refers to the laws of life, society, the world, nature, heaven and earth, and the universe.Therefore, only by adhering to the most calm and objective attitude towards life is it correct and neutral.And only by grasping the objective laws that have never changed through the ages can one be called mediocre.

Cheng Yichuan's explanation sounds quite reasonable, but if anyone wants to take medicine according to the prescription, he will immediately encounter huge troubles.The trouble is, what kind of attitude towards life is objective and correct?Why is your attitude towards life, Cheng Yichuan, correct and objective, while others are wrong and subjective?Besides, why do you, Cheng Yichuan, follow the objective laws when doing things, why do others violate the laws when doing things? If this problem is not resolved, there will be big jokes and big mistakes. At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Xiang Xu, a servant, lost his head by learning the doctrine of the mean. He believed that filial piety is the greatest principle in the world. If a son honors his father, the world will be peaceful, and if a son is rebellious, the world will be in chaos.It coincided with the great uprising of the Yellow Turban Army, and the court was at a loss, so Xiang Xuyue came out and offered a clever plan: send a general, holding a copy of "Book of Filial Piety", to the bank of the Yellow River, and read it to the north, and the Yellow Turban The army will surely perish without a fight.When the emperor saw this suggestion, he immediately became furious, thinking who is this person, what's the point of making such a mess, hurry up and send this Xiang Xu to prison.So Xiang Xu was imprisoned and died.

Coincidentally, Xiang Xu's brain is already weird enough, but there are people in later generations who are even more outrageous than him.During the Ming Dynasty, there was a strange man named Wang Zhen who also believed that filial piety was the greatest truth in the world. As long as he was filial piety, the world would be peaceful and everything would prosper. Therefore, whenever there were quarrels in the village, Wang Zhen would be serious. He took the book and went to stand at the door of someone's house, and read the book in a rhythmic manner. At the end of the reading, when someone in the village got sick, lost something, or whatever happened to him, he called Wang Zhen and asked him to stand in front of him. Read to everyone at the door.

The reason why Xiang Xu and Wang Zhen made such a big weird joke is because their understanding of the mean is very close, but the way of the mean is wrong, so it seems weird. If the word "moderate" is broken, it can be said to be earth-shattering, but in fact it is just the word thick and black. Why do you say that?Let's take a look at the Chinese character first, the middle one means impartiality, but if you want to be impartial, you will inevitably have to get along with each other. If you are a little thin-skinned, it will be difficult to do this. Besides Yong, if Yong is really an eternal law, then black is the most realistic description of the law.

Think about it, what are the characteristics of the law?Be objective!Just as Lao Tzu said: "The world is not benevolent, and everything is a humble dog." This sentence means that the law is unreasonable and unreasonable. If it should be ruthless, it should be ruthless. , is a black character. Whether Zhongyong is thick and dark, let’s take a look at the explanation of an official of the Ming Dynasty. In the Ming Dynasty, there was a great painter Dong Qichang, who was famous for his excellent calligraphy and painting skills.It's just that although this person is a very talented artist, his character is extremely bad and low-handed. Relying on his good paintings, all the high-ranking officials in the capital will follow him. This Dong Qichang became more and more rampant. , very busy.The people who were bullied by him innocently cried and went to beat the drums to complain, but officials from all over the country still wanted to befriend Dong Qichang and let him give him a painting, which was so elegant and elegant, so the people cried and shouted, and no one complained. bother.

Finally, one day, Dong Qichang's evil deeds were brought to the yamen of an upright official by the bitter master. The official immediately took Dong Qichang down without hesitation, and confronted the people he had hurt in court. The Ministry of Punishment requested severe punishment. What this official did was tantamount to stabbing a hornet's nest. Not only Dong Qichang's family didn't understand and didn't like it, but even the officials in the DPRK were also angry.Everyone said, what a talented artist Dong Qichang is, we must cherish talents, how can we punish him just because he robs men and dominates women?

So the officials of the court and China went out of Beijing one after another to find this upright official to argue with. Many officials surrounded him and accused him: "The sage doesn't do excessive things. Tell yourself that Dong Qichang's paintings are so good. Even if it kills a few men and robs a few women, so what? As for you getting so angry?" At that time, the upright official looked at the officials and said slowly: "I am not a saint, so I only do excessive things, you can figure it out!" This sentence made all the officials dumbfounded and speechless. .And that Dong Qichang finally confessed his crime and was punished.

Let's take a look at this strange thing.In the process of handling the case, only this upright official was truly "moderate". He upheld the correct attitude towards life, followed the correct social laws, and did the right thing.However, Dong Qichang's power relations are deeply intertwined. People think that this upright official's actions are wrong and not in line with the golden mean.And if this upright official wants to stick to his correct views, he can only fight against everyone and not follow the golden mean. This story tells us: When everyone loses the mean, the mean you uphold must be thick and dark.