Chapter 17 5. Is it wrong to not pull out a hair?

Among the pre-Qin scholars, Yang Zhu was the most misunderstood. No one knows about Yang Zhu's life anymore. We can only speculate that he should have lived after Mozi and before Mencius, and had as much influence as Mozi.The ideological circles at that time were either in favor of Yang Zhu or Mozi, and they had nothing to do with Confucius.This is really wonderful! So, what is Yang Zhu's proposition? Nothing. What is "not pulling out a hair"?It is "to benefit the world by plucking out a hair, if you don't do it."The idiom that does not pull out a hair comes from here.

This is indeed an astonishing statement, and it is even more difficult for the Mo family to accept it. yes!For the sake of the world, Mozi wished to polish off all the fine and coarse hairs on his legs; but Yang Zhu would not pluck even a single hair even if it was beneficial to the world.Mozi never leaves anything behind, while Yang Zhu never removes anything; Mozi is not selfish, Yang Zhu is not beneficial to others, of course they are tit for tat, and this is where the contention of a hundred schools of thought arises. It was Mozi's student Qin Huali who challenged Yang Zhu. This student, we have met in the last chapter.He is the big disciple of Mohism who led 300 students to station in Song City.

Qin Huali asked: Why do you want to save the world by pulling out a single hair of Mr. Yang Zhu said: The morals of the world cannot be saved by a single hair. Qin Huali said: If you can, would you like to? Yang Zhu ignored him. Qin Huali went out and told Yang Zhu's student Meng Sunyang about it. Meng Sunyang said: You don't understand Mr.'s intentions!Let me speak for Mr.Excuse me, if someone proposes to beat you up and give you a huge sum of money, what would you do? Qin Huali said: Do it! Meng Sunyang asked again: Why cut off your leg and give you a country? Qin Huali didn't speak.

So Meng Sunyang said: Compared with the skin, the vellus hair is insignificant; compared with the limbs, the skin is insignificant.Everyone understands this truth.However, without hair, there would be no skin, and without skin, there would be no limbs.Then I ask, can it be ignored because the vellus hair is tiny? Qin Huali said he had nothing to say. In fact, when Meng Sunyang asked him if it would be okay to exchange one leg for another country, Qin Huali already knew that the question waiting for him must be: cut off your head and give you the whole world, why not? Can you agree with that?

Well!If the head cannot be chopped off, can the legs be chopped off?If the legs cannot be chopped, can the meat be dug?If the meat cannot be dug, can the skin be torn?If the skin cannot be torn, can the hair be plucked?If you can, you can, if you can't, you can't. That's logic. Mohist is logical, so Qin Huali has nothing to say. Meng Sunyang's words are of great significance. Yes, the overall interests are indeed greater than the local interests.Even Meng Sunyang said, "A hair is smaller than the skin, and the skin is smaller than a knot."But this by no means means that the parts can be sacrificed at will, because the whole is nothing but the sum of the parts.If you don't take partial interests seriously, if you sacrifice one today and another tomorrow, will the overall interests still be there in the end?

Therefore, don't say "the big river is not full of small rivers".The truth is: Great rivers and rivers are made up of trickles.If all springs, streams, and small rivers are dry, will there still be Yangtze River and Yellow River? Similarly, if all personal interests are sacrificed, may I ask, are there still collective interests, national interests, and great interests in the world? Therefore, don't treat Xiaomin as a human being. In other words, don't arbitrarily violate and deprive individuals of their rights in the name of the country. Yes, compared to the country and the world, an individual may be like a hair.However, a hair is also a life, and a small person is also a human being.Whoever wants to take Xiaomin like me seriously, just pull it out casually, sorry, quit!

This is what it means to be unrepentant. But, if plucking a hair can save the world, why not? Of course. However, three questions must be asked clearly. First of all, can plucking a hair really save the world?It seems impossible, because "the world is not worth a dime".If not, why pull it out? Second, who will pull it out?If it is yourself, it is called self-sacrifice, selfless dedication, and should be respected.If it is someone else, a collective, a country, or a public authority, then you have to ask them why? This question cannot but be asked.We must know that state power is transferred by citizens.The sum of citizens' alienated rights is the state power.So, may I ask, have we surrendered the right to life?No.Except for the tax that must be paid by law, have other property rights been transferred?nor.

So, why pluck our hair? Of course, soldiers, criminal police, firefighters, etc. have surrendered their right to life.Enlisting in the army means signing a transfer agreement.But they did not cede property rights.Their lives are not for squandering. This leads to the third question: what is the purpose of pulling out the vellus hair? Under the circumstances at the time, it could only be used to satisfy the arrogance and lust of rulers big and small.This is exploitation, even predation.It's just that this kind of exploitation and plunder is under the banner of "being selfless, benefiting the country and the people".The so-called "plucking a hair to benefit the world" is nothing more than a trap and a trap: first trick us into giving up our hairs, then trick us into giving up our limbs, and finally trick us into giving up our lives.

Therefore, the way to deal with it is to simply tell the truth: Don't say you want my life, even if you only need a hair, you won't give it! Perhaps this is the logic behind Yang Zhu's few words. Looking at it this way, is it wrong to be indifferent? That's right. So Yang Zhu's thought became the first declaration of human rights in Chinese history, and even in world history.

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