Chapter 10 Chapter 7 A Survey of Ancient Societies

Zhou and Qin were regarded by those who read history as the boundary between ancient and modern times.When we look through old books at will, we can always see phrases such as "more than three generations" and "below Qin and Han".Although the opinions of the predecessors are not very accurate, they will not be all false; and since this opinion has a source, it always has a source.But the so-called more than three generations, what kind of world is it? People always want to maintain their lives; not only to maintain their lives, but also to pursue happiness in order to expand the meaning of their lives; this is the nature of human beings, and there is no doubt about it.In the biological history of human beings, it has been unknown how many years they have united with each other in order to survive.Therefore, they love each other, see the suffering and happiness of others as much as their own; they like to be rewarded by the same kind, and they are not willing to be criticized by them; when the interests of others are incompatible, they would rather sacrifice themselves to protect others; The so-called benevolent heart of the ancients is as profound as their love for themselves.There is really no such thing as specifically referring to a seven-foot body as me, or specifically referring to a very small group as me.In order to maintain life and pursue happiness, human beings must struggle with nature.To fight against nature, the strength of one person is naturally not enough, so it is necessary to work together; the way to work together must be division of labor, which is a natural trend.The division of labor and joint efforts, naturally, the larger the scope, the more benefits, so the scope of the group is always expanding day by day.But human beings' capabilities are limited, and they cannot but form a state of hostility during the process. Why is that?In the ancient world, due to environmental constraints, human beings were divided into many small groups.In a group, the interests of each individual are the same, but not outside the group; and because material desires cannot be satisfied, there will be battles between groups, and there will be victory and defeat when there is a fight. Where there is victory or defeat, there are conquerors and conquered. "People should not harm others, but those who harm others must harm themselves." This sentence may seem pedantic, but it is actually the truth.If you explain this sentence by the theory of karma and retribution for superstitious people, it is naturally false. If you are willing to look at the facts and deduce the cause and effect calmly, you will see that it is not at all happy.Internal competition and external competition, although the objects of competition are different, they are the same as competition.Since the fight against things is transferred to people, it is possible to transfer the fight against the outside to the inside.Needless to say, there are conquerors and conquered in a group.Even if there is none, but when they are fighting, due to the division of labor, there will naturally be some people who specialize in war, and this part of the people will naturally be in a special position.In the previous group, everyone had the same interests, but now they have formed antagonism.Previously, the affairs of the public were decided by the public. Now, one person or a small number of people in power will gradually allow the public to intervene, and will gradually take measures that are against the public interest. deal with.So there are classes in the group, and the modern so-called state is formed.The above is a political argument.The root of its changes is actually due to the struggle between groups and groups, and the struggle between groups is due to the fact that some groups, forced by the environment, use plunder as a means of production.So its real root lies in economics.The basis of the economy is the method of production.In ancient times, the main livelihood was agriculture, and the production method of agriculture was from rough to fine, that is, from combination to division, so the well field system was formed, and small families of five or eight were fixed. , so that a group can be divided into countless small groups with opposing interests.The gentile system, in which interests were no longer opposed within a group, was thus tending to collapse.Now that the clan has collapsed, it specializes in manufacturing, and the industrial system that provides services to the public unconditionally also collapses.Human beings could not survive without division of labor and joint efforts. At this time, due to the improvement of living standards, they have to rely on each other more and more. The law of distribution has been abolished, and the law of transaction has been replaced. The business of business is a change that is carried out between people in the group, so that everyone's interests are in a position of opposition.As a result, people's hearts changed drastically.In the past, groups were jealous of each other, and within a group they regarded each other as one.Up to this point, within the group, their mutual envy has grown.Between groups, due to the interdependence of life, the communication is getting closer, the degree of mutual understanding is getting deeper, and the sympathy is also expanding.And because of mutual imitation and external influence, the internal organization has to change accordingly, and the customs of various places are becoming more and more unified.The assimilation of nations proceeds accordingly.Political unity is merely advancing along this trend.To put it more thoroughly, political unification is only a method to accomplish unification under the circumstances at the time.It's not politics itself that really has much power.With the progress of the World Games, the well field system was destroyed.Even the public mountains and lakes are privately owned.The more active industry and commerce are, the more they exploit consumers.The monarchs and nobles on the top also exploited the people more and more because of their increasingly corrupt and extravagant.Those who have been accustomed to war for a long time have developed a special class, which regards fighting as vigorous and conquering as honor, and believes that it is better to bleed than sweat.This is the troubled times that Confucius and other pre-Qin philosophers lived in.Thinking back to the previous period, the wars among the nations were not very fierce.Although there are class antagonisms within a country, the old organization of the time when interests were common still remains, but has not been completely destroyed.The order is not very bad, and life is not very painful, just like people who suffer from illness and prolong their lives, although they are not healthy, they can still be considered a quasi-healthy body, which is what Confucius called Xiaokang.In the previous period, when there were no internal contradictions and no external competition, it was the so-called Great Harmony.In the era of Great Harmony, material enjoyment may not be as good as later, but the most intimate suffering and joy of human beings does not lie in material things, but in the relationship between people, so the realm of the Great Contemporaneity will forever remain in human memory.Not only Confucius, but also all the pre-Qin scholars (no matter what Taoism is, the most practical Legalism is also the same. For example, "Guanzi" also distinguishes the superiority and inferiority of the emperor, emperor, king, and hegemony; "Historical Records Shang "Jun Lie Biography" also records that Shang Junchu said that Qin Xiaogong used the way of the emperor, Qin Xiaogong could not use it, but said that he used the art of enriching the country and strengthening the army).This is not a lofty ideal of a few people, but a hint from the majority.When human beings are living in this situation, they should thoroughly examine the reasons why they are here, understand the reasons, and then destroy and transform the current social organization.This is not what the ancients did not expect. The pre-Qin schools, such as Confucianism, Mohism, Taoism, and Legalism, shared this aspiration, but the reform methods they advocated were not very suitable.It goes without saying that Taoism has empty hopes and no specific plans for implementation.It is also impossible for the Mohists to focus on restraint of consumption instead of equal distribution.Confucianism hopes to restore the well fields, and Legalism hopes to stop the domineering business of large-scale industry and commerce; to bring large-scale undertakings into official operations; the relief business is also managed by the state, so as to stop the usurious exploitation of the rich, which is a bit more progressive.However, just talking about the equalization of land rights cannot solve the economic problems of the society, and talking about capital control also suffers from the lack of institutions to implement it.In politics, because of democratic politics, it has been abolished for a long time. Although all schools put the people first, they can't think of a way to let the people participate in politics. , use the method of supervision to stop the abuse of the people by the subordinates.Between countries, Confucianism hopes that there will be a Ming king who can handle the disputes among the countries and supervise their internal affairs; It is just a change of situation, and it cannot implement the ideal of the Legalists, so there is no way to go further from here.In terms of ethics, what all schools hope is to make subordinates obey their superiors, subjects should obey the monarch, sons should obey their fathers, women should obey men, and young people should obey their elders.They think that if the superiors and the subordinates have their respective positions and perform their duties, the world will naturally be peaceful. They don't know that the superiors will never be punished and will never perform their duties in a peaceful manner.All in all: There are profound reasons why the well-off world has developed into a troubled world.The World Games can only move forward, and if you want to reform, you can only follow the trend of its progress and guide it.Among the pre-Qin scholars, only the Legalists could see the trend of social progress, but their guidance could not fully follow the law.The other families all wanted to reverse the fate of the world and bring it back to the era before the well-off era, so they couldn't do it.

Even so, human beings are born to avoid suffering and seek pleasure. The pain we experience cannot be made people not feel it. Now that we feel it, we naturally want to get rid of it.To get rid of it, there must be a way, and human beings can't think of a way out of thin air.The fate of the world is only new every day, after today, there will only be tomorrow, and what people know, the latest is only what happened before today, so the methods they come up with will inevitably lose the old. This is still true today, not to mention ancient times ?The best times are over, but they will live forever in the memory of human desire.Although I recall it, I don't know the truth about it, and each takes the so-called best one as it is.Combining the so-called best of the people, reconciling and compromising, forming an idol that is roughly recognized by everyone, this is what the ancients called the world three generations ago.This world three generations ago was unrealistic, so it goes without saying.This seems to be just a historical misunderstanding, and it has nothing to do with it. However, if you think about it as an idol and practice it in this way, you will not be able to achieve your hopes, and it will also cause disputes.