Chapter 37 epilogue time begins
For human beings, there are three universal and eternal questions: what, why, and how.The natural sciences, social sciences, and humanities actually try to answer them in their respective fields, but not everyone is able to answer them, or is willing to answer them.
Like history.
Among the humanities (literature, history and philosophy), history, especially archaeology, may be closest to natural science.Therefore, those who study history, especially those who study ancient history and world history, are more reliable than those who study literature like me, and they are also more reliable than those who study philosophy in general.They won't say it without evidence.It is even more taboo for historians to talk about history.Preconceived ideas, subjective assumptions, and conclusions are all violations of professional ethics in the historian circle.
The result of this is that historians are generally more willing to describe "what" rather than answer "why", even if it is just to avoid suspicion.
That's respectable, but also regrettable.
That's right, it is dangerous to set a framework a priori and then write according to a certain so-called "paradigm" before you have a lot of evidence or even access to historical materials.History is not cloth, which can be cut at will.History cannot be a "cloth shop" or a "Chinese medicine shop".No one can wear the whole cloth on their body.Putting "medicinal materials" into small drawers in a certain order, and labeling Astragalus, Codonopsis, Angelica, Atractylodes, etc., is at best a "database", not a "history".
Therefore, to oppose "taking history with theory", we should not give up eating because of choking, so that we don't want to see history.In fact, the history of civilization of a great nation must also be the history of her ideas.It is the concept, or value orientation, that determines the civilization path of this nation.The renewal or persistence of concepts constitutes a link in history.These links are like the "Nomes" (tribes and tribal nations) of ancient Egypt, linked by the Nile into a chain of beads.
The idea is the Nile.
From the place of origin to the mouth of the sea, the river bed that constitutes the development and evolution of values is logic.
History that is consistent with logic is "true history."Expounding real history according to real logic is called "speculative history".Such a writing, no matter how literary the written expression is, is philosophical at heart.Obviously, this requires historical perspective, historical knowledge, historical courage, and even intuition and inspiration.
Perhaps, talent is also needed.
Of course, enlightenment is also needed.
Inspiration comes from all sides.
Unlike professional historians, I prefer to wonder "why".In addition to nature, he is also somewhat influenced by his good friend Deng Xiaomang.Xiaomang is a superb philosopher. In the early 1980s, when he and I compared Chinese and Western aesthetics, we discussed the essential differences between Chinese and Western cultures.At that time, Xiaomang proposed that the core of Chinese culture is "group consciousness", while the core of Western culture is "individual consciousness", and that the two civilizations also have two wings, namely the "complementary structure" of cultural psychology.The idea of core is Deng Xiaomang's innovation, and the complementary structure is inspired by Mr. Xu Fuguan, Li Zehou and Gao Ertai, and the source of thought can be traced back to Nietzsche.
These points of view were later written into the book "Symphony of Yellow and Blue" we co-authored, and now form the ideological cornerstone of this volume.
But this is by no means "concept first".Rather, the conclusions themselves are the result of research.Moreover, my series of research results, such as those published in 1995, have repeatedly proved that they are established.At least, logically.
On this basis, in the early 1990s, I proposed the three major spirits of Chinese civilization.
This is influenced by Mr. Tang Yijie.Mr. Tang believes that the spirit of Chinese culture is the unity of man and nature, the unity of knowledge and action, and the unity of situation.But I think "unity of rites and music" is more appropriate than "unity of scenes".Moreover, the accurate statement should be "the unity of heaven and man belongs to man, the unity of knowledge and action is practiced in practice, and the unity of ritual and music is formed in music".Only in this way can we fully express the humanistic spirit, realistic spirit and artistic spirit of our nation.
One core (group consciousness), two wings (anxiety and optimism), and three spirits (humanistic spirit, realistic spirit, and artistic spirit), the system has been established.
This is a "cultural system".
The system must have a logical starting point.Moreover, although the establishment of the system is a gradual process, there must be a decisive moment in it.So when might this moment be, and who can be called the "founder"?
My intuition tells me that it is from Zhou.
It is not original to regard the Duke of Zhou or Zhou people as the "Jesus Christ" or "Muhammad" of Chinese civilization.The mainstream opinion in the academic circle is also roughly the same.The question is, why not Xia, not Shang, but Zhou?
Maybe, because Zhou Yuan is "between two rivers".
This was discovered when writing the second volume of Chinese history, "The State".It can be clearly seen at the cruising height that, except for the Egyptian civilization which has only one mother river, West Asia, India and China were all born in Mesopotamia.West Asia is the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers, India is the Indus River and the Ganges River, and the civilization of the Western Zhou Dynasty originated between the Jing River and the Wei River.Later, it developed into Chinese civilization, and it was still "Mesopotamia" between the Yangtze River and the Yellow River.
The alluvial plain between the two rivers is a blessed land for agricultural peoples.However, the Egyptian civilization has declined, the West Asian civilization has fallen, and India is diverse and multi-ethnic. It is difficult to say that there is a unified "Indian civilization".Only the Chinese civilization has lasted for 3,700 years. Although it is inevitably old and troublesome, it still has tenacious vitality.
Intuition tells me that there must be articles in it.
The article is in the system.
Unlike Egypt, West Asia, and India, the Zhou people established the most advanced, best, and most sound systems in the world at that time—well fields, feudalism, patriarchal clan, and ritual music.Jingtian is an economic system, feudalism is a political system, patriarchal clan is a social system, and rites and music are a cultural system.More importantly, these systems are interlocking and complementary, and are in line with "China's national conditions."Therefore, is stable.
This is a systems engineering.
Behind the institutional engineering is the conceptual system.From "sovereign power granted by heaven", to "people-oriented", to "ruling the country by virtue", and then to "maintaining order with propriety, and ensuring harmony with music", it is a complete and self-consistent system in itself.The Zhou people were indeed "precocious children"; the Duke of Zhou was indeed the "ancestor of culture".
But, to say that, there needs to be evidence.
Just say "governing the country by virtue".
Zhou people valued virtue, and there are a large number of documents to prove it.The problem is that literature alone is not enough.For example, according to the "Shangshu", Shang Wang Pangeng also talked about "virtue".So, "governing the country by virtue" is a unique concept of Zhou people, or did it really start in the Western Zhou Dynasty?
This has to be proven.
The method is to first check whether there is the word "virtue" in the oracle bone inscriptions and bronze inscriptions of the Yin and Shang Dynasties.If so, let’s see if its meaning is “moral virtue”.
The conclusion will come soon.Oracle has "virtue", but the meaning of the word is "get", which also means "lose". In "Gu Lin of Ancient Characters", there is no "virtue" in the bronze inscriptions of the Yin and Shang Dynasties.The first word "virtue" in bronze inscriptions can be found in "He Zun".He Zun is a bronze ware of the Western Zhou Dynasty, and it is a work of the Chengwang period. It records the historical fact that Zhou Gong built "Chengzhou" (Luoyang), and it is called "Zhaizi China".This is also the earliest written record of the word "China".
The "virtue" and "China" in bronze inscriptions appear at the same time, isn't it "God's will"?
To be honest, when I discovered this secret at a glance, I really couldn't restrain the ecstasy in my heart.But I didn't dare to make mistakes, so I immediately contacted Mr. Hu Jialin from the Bronze Research Department of the Shanghai Museum and asked him to help me "clear mine".
I asked: Is there the word "virtue" on the Yin Shang bronzes?
Teacher Hu said, probably not.
I asked again: Is the "de" on He Zunshang the earliest bronze inscription "de" discovered so far?
Mr. Hu said, currently it is.
Let me ask again: Is this "virtue" the "moral virtue"?
Teacher Hu said yes.Because the original text is "Gong De Yu Tian".He also specifically reminded me: not all the "de" in bronze inscriptions are "moral virtues".For example, the "de" in "De Ding" and "De Fang Ding" is the name of a person.
My eyes lit up: inspiration came!
Inspired by the difference between glyphs.
There is an obvious difference between the "virtue" in the bronze inscriptions and the "virtue" in the oracle bone inscriptions, that is, the oracle bone inscriptions are composed of "彳" and "目", while the bronze inscriptions have an extra "heart". There are a total of 20 oracle bone inscriptions with the word "de" included in "Gu Lin of Ancient Characters", none of which have "heart".In the bronze inscriptions, there is no "heart" that does not mean "morality" (such as being used as a person's name).The shape of the font is exactly the same as that of oracle bone inscriptions.
This shows that the virtue of morality is "obtained with heart".Moreover, it was Zhou people who changed "what they saw" (get) into "what they got" (morality).In fact, He Zun's so-called "respecting the sky with virtue" is the embodiment of the idea of "matching the sky with virtue".This kind of thinking can be seen in a large number of literature records, and now there are bronze wares as evidence. "Governing the country by virtue" is unique and original creation of the Zhou people, and it is already hard evidence.
No, the "copper" certificate is like a mountain.
The following reasoning is also logical and logical.Since moral virtue is associated with "Heaven" and "China", isn't it the political philosophy of the Zhou people to "live in China by the mandate of heaven, and those who live in China rule the world"?Later, the emperors of all dynasties claimed to be "following the heavens and carrying the fortune". The Temple of Heaven in Beijing covers an area much larger than the Forbidden City. Isn't it just a continuation of the Zhou people's thinking?
Isn't Zhou the founder of Chinese civilization?
of course.
Emmanuel, know everything.Others, such as "Shang rites are rites, Zhou rites are systems", and "divine grants are religious, but heavenly grants are ethical", and "Jizhou Co., Ltd.", etc., need not be repeated.Anyway, the cornerstone of Chinese civilization has been laid, and the time has begun.
The logic is established, the evidence is solid, and the rest is the details.
The details are what the consultant team has been emphasizing.
When he started writing Chinese history, Chief Consultant Cao Yongzheng recommended to study "Our Story: America".Lu Jinbo organized an editorial team to watch collectively. Li Lei called this learning "temperament training", and Chen Qin summarized the narrative method of the documentary as "big history, small people".
That's right, and it's hard.Because the so-called "Twenty-Four Histories" are basically the "Genealogy of Emperors".Where can I find stories about little people?
However, details determine success or failure.
Discovering details requires intuition and inspiration.
The "patriotic thief" Nan Kuai mentioned in this volume is already the smallest little person we can find.As a retainer of Dr. Ji Sun's family, he is not qualified to "set up a monument".It is a blessing to be able to leave a name.This person was discovered when I was reading Mr. Yang Kuan's "History of the Western Zhou Dynasty".It can be seen that as long as you have the heart, you can always find "fish that slipped through the net" in the "grand narrative".
The key is to have this awareness.
The "sausage seller" in ancient Greece in the second volume of Chinese History "The State" was discovered when reading Stavrianos' "General History of the World".The book just attaches fragments of the satirical comedy "Aristophanes" as a "link" next to the text, but I think there is a lot to be done.Through Gilbert Murray's "History of Ancient Greek Literature", I found out that the performance of "Knight" was in 424 BC.So he quickly found the story of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty in "Historical Records: The Family of Zhao".The unlucky ghost who was killed inexplicably, although he was the "son of the gentleman", was unknown, and he was also a "little man"!
But a "sausage guy" and a "headless guy" are a lot of fun together.The comparison between Greek democracy and Western Zhou feudal system is even more meaningful.
In fact, the significance of the Western Zhou Dynasty to Chinese civilization is equivalent to that of Greece to Western civilization.Just to borrow Marx's saying, the Greeks are "normal children", while our nation is "precocious children".Therefore, in their respective childhoods, of course they will show different temperaments.
This is the subject of the next volume.
Notes: And "Zuo Zhuan" also has a similar concept. ⑦On October 2, 1949, Hu Feng published a long poem in "People's Daily", titled "Time Has Begun".As for the time when Chinese civilization really started, it was in the Western Zhou Dynasty.Before, should be regarded as a prelude. Zhou is the adolescence of our nation, both innocent and mature. The assassin who kills himself to become benevolent, the lover who pursues true love, the heroic and self-respecting warrior, the loyal minister, Envoys who are neither humble nor overbearing, ghosts and gods who obey the will of the people, all show the eternal Chinese spirit.
Notes: And "Zuo Zhuan" also has a similar concept. ⑦On October 2, 1949, Hu Feng published a long poem in "People's Daily", titled "Time Has Begun".As for the time when Chinese civilization really started, it was in the Western Zhou Dynasty.Before, should be regarded as a prelude. Zhou is the adolescence of our nation, both innocent and mature. The assassin who kills himself to become benevolent, the lover who pursues true love, the heroic and self-respecting warrior, the loyal minister, Envoys who are neither humble nor overbearing, ghosts and gods who obey the will of the people, all show the eternal Chinese spirit.