Chapter 2 2. No regret medicine

Tribes became nations not because of gossip.Human beings invent countries, not to mention having fun.But this event is considered to be no different from "expulsion from Paradise", whether the garden of Eden is Jehovah's or Rembrandt's.Anyway, after entering the era of the state, the good times are over. This is the consensus of many people. Like the two poets of Greece and Rome. Before that, it was the Golden Age, the Silver Age and the Bronze Age.The golden age is the best, human beings are beautiful and noble, and society is just and peaceful.The Silver Age was so-so, but no longer innocent.The Bronze Age was full of wars, but faith and divinity remained.The iron age was a mess, human beings became greedy and cruel, mistrusted and incompatible with each other, had no faith, and no longer had truth, humility and loyalty.

Of course, the two poets are slightly different.In the Greek poets, the Iron Age preceded the Heroic Age.The Age of Heroes was better than the Bronze Age, where humans lived with demigods and heroes.It is a pity that the heroes were involved in the Thebes War and the Trojan War, and never recovered. This is really "one generation is not as good as one generation". There are similar sayings in our nation.For example, the golden age and silver age of Greece and Rome are called "Datong" in Confucianism.The characteristic of the world of great harmony is that "the world is for the public."Property is public property, power is a public tool, leaders are elected civil servants, and all ethnic groups are dedicated to the public, so they do not close their doors at night, do not pick up lost things on the road, everyone gets what he wants, and the world is peaceful.

As for the age of black iron, it can only be called "troubled times" in Confucianism. Datong, Xiaokang, and troubled times are the three stages of history in Confucianism.Yao and Shun were Datong, Xia, Shang and Zhou were well-off, and Spring and Autumn and Warring States were troubled times. Corresponding to these three stages of history are three guiding ideologies and political philosophies: Great Harmony preaches the way of the emperor, Xiaokang talks about the kingly way, and troubled times talks about domineering.Of course, Confucianism advocates the kingly way.Because Datong is no longer possible, and the troubled times are not normal.Therefore, we should "respect the king's way, conduct benevolent government, and strive for a well-off society" to build a harmonious society.This kind of thinking is actually a kind of "middle way".

But this is just the opinion of one family, and the scholars have other opinions. For example, Zhuangzi only recognizes "the age of Emperor Xi", and Mozi only recognizes "the age of Yu".In fact, even Confucius admired "the age of Yao and Shun".It's just that his old man is more realistic, thinking that it is good to be able to return to the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, but in fact he is the next best thing. Looking at it this way, we also have four stages.For example, Nuwa to Fuxi can be called the Golden Age; Yanhuang to Yao and Shun is the Silver Age; Xia, Shang and Zhou Dynasties are the Bronze Age; Spring and Autumn and Warring States is undoubtedly the Black Iron Age.For the first three paragraphs, there are disputes.Regarding the latter article, there is no disagreement except for the Legalists.

In this way, once human beings establish a country, wouldn't it just go from bad to worse, tantamount to embarking on the road of no return? Of course not, and there is no regret medicine to take. In fact, the era of clans and tribes was not as beautiful as Zhuangzi and Greek and Roman poets and philosophers said.Do not close the account at night?That's nothing to steal.The war between Yanhuang and Chiyou was the same as the later generations, and blood flowed like a river. More importantly, if a nation has no country, or fails to establish its own country, her history will always stay in prehistoric times, such as certain Indians.On the contrary, as long as a country has been established, even if it is lost later, it will have its own civilization, such as Judaism.

The country is the watershed between civilization and prehistory. No wonder Confucius not only did not deny Xiaokang, but also talked about it. The question is, why does one enter the age of civilization only when a country is established?What does the state mean to man? Man, is he really an animal that must invent a state and live in it?If so, why do so many people lament that the present is not as good as it used to be, and miss the clan and tribal era? Where is the logic of the state?

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