Chapter 20 6. A heavy price

There is no free lunch in the world.The principle of governing the country with ethics or the exclusive respect for Confucianism has maintained the imperial system, but it has cost our nation a huge price. First of all, there is no thought.Our nation used to be very thoughtful.Confucianism has ideas, Taoism has ideas, Legalism has ideas, Mohism has ideas, and other schools and schools have ideas too.Together with ancient Greek philosophy (Socrates, Plato, Aristotle), Indian Buddhism (Shayamuni), and the theories of Hebrew prophets, these thoughts constitute the so-called "Axial Age" by Jaspers. brilliant.But that was in the pre-Qin period.The so-called "pre-Qin", that is, "before Qin", is actually "before the empire".Since entering the age of empire, our nation has no thoughts, and it also begins to be unable to think.Dong Zhongshu is not a thinker, while Wang Chong can only be regarded as a "person with ideas".Dong Zhongshu can even be said to be a wizard and politician who "knows how to use computers".He downloaded, copied, cut, and pasted the thoughts of the pre-Qin philosophers (mainly Confucianism, as well as Taoism and Yin-Yangism) into a semi-theological system, and then sold it to the empire with the trademark of Confucianism.His "contribution" is mainly to successfully realize the switch of Confucianism from folk thought to official ideology, and to design a "software program" for the empire to rule the country ethically.Over the next two thousand years, none of the few so-called "thinkers" could reach the level of the pre-Qin scholars, nor could they approach the level of the pre-Qin scholars, and none of them could surpass the framework of the pre-Qin scholars.Wang Fuzhi's knowledge is greater than thought, Li Zhuowu's emotion is greater than thought, Wang Yangming's attitude is greater than thought, and Zhu Hui'an's explanation is greater than thought.Yu Ze, Ji Kang respected nature, Wang Bi was good at talking, Ruan Ji was good at drinking, and Ge Hong was good at alchemy, but they were just some "heterogeneous".As for the Huanghuang Tang Dynasty, the sixth patriarch Huineng was the only one who could barely be called a "thinker"; and the "thought" of this Chan Master Huineng was actually not to think and to think!

All scholars said that a hundred schools of thought contend, and that golden age is gone forever. This is undoubtedly the "immeasurable merit" of the imperial system.We know that the imperial system is agglomeration and centralization in nature, because without agglomeration there is no centralization, and without centralization there is no empire.Because the state does not centralize power (the emperor distributes power to the princes, and the princes distributes power to the great officials), they will perish and be annexed; and those who can annex other countries and develop the state into an empire must be those who are good at centralizing power.The reason why the Qin Kingdom was able to annex the world is because it is good at collecting and centralizing power.In this way, gathering and centralizing power has become the "nature" of the empire.This can easily develop into autocracy, and autocracy and freedom of thought are absolutely incompatible.Despotism knows better than anyone that freedom of thought is its sworn enemy.As long as people can think freely, there will be no room for tyranny.Therefore, if the dynasties were centralized but not autocratic, or if they practiced "enlightened autocracy", the environment would be relatively relaxed (such as Tang and Song);But once thought is not free, it is no longer thought.Therefore, in order to prohibit freedom, one has to prohibit thought as well.

Of course, the Empire did not explicitly ban ideas.It only hints at the intelligentsia by means of rewards and punishments that free thought is of no benefit.At the same time, it will also earnestly tell people that free thought is not necessary.The reason why the pre-Qin scholars wanted to think was because at that time they had not yet found the best social system, the best strategy for governing the country, and the best guiding ideology.But now it is found.The best system is the imperial system, the best strategy is ethical governance, and the best thought is Confucianism.Then what else do you need to think about?If you hear it in the morning, you can die in the evening!

Without ideas, all that remains is knowledge.According to Qin Shihuang's practice, there was nothing left of learning, so we have to thank Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty.The reason why learning is still necessary is because if you want to master the way of the former kings, you have to learn; when you have questions in the process of learning, you have to ask.But this kind of questioning is by no means doubting, questioning, let alone criticizing, but asking for advice.After asking for advice, it is not thinking, but understanding.After you understand it, practice it. This is Xi Jinping.Isn't it pleasant to learn while practicing it?There is no need to think about it, because "the way of the king is prepared".As for questioning, criticizing, and subverting the doctrine of sages, don't even think about it.If you deviate from the scriptures and forget your ancestors, you will be beheaded.In short, after respecting Confucianism alone, there is learning, questioning, practice, but no thinking.

But learning without thought does not constitute scholarship.Therefore, traditional Chinese academic circles exhibit such characteristics: there is little thinking, only knowledge; little wisdom, only knowledge;The so-called "confucian classics" is to drill the dead end; the so-called "controversy" is often infighting, or even nothing more than power struggles and personal attacks between schools and sects. This is not just the sorrow of academia, but the sorrow of the whole nation.Because a nation cannot live without free thought.Without free thought, there is no mind; without the mind, there is no backbone.Chinese people are honest.But backbone is not the same as spirit.In order for backbone to truly become backbone, free thought must be the premise.Only when the thought belongs to oneself, the bones are one's own and will have backbone.You only need to look at how a group of court ministers acted impulsively and misled the country in the last years of the Qing Dynasty, and you will know how much disaster will be brought to our nation without scientific spirit, rational analysis and free thinking.

The Empire has no freedom of thought, nor freedom of speech.On the contrary, it is not uncommon to see cases of criminals using speech.Kong Rong and Ji Kang were killed in this way.Kong Rong was killed because he said that children are the result of their parents' pleasure, so there is no such thing as kindness.This is disobedience and disobedience.Ji Kang was killed because he was "not Tang Wu but thin Zhou Kong".This is outrageous.Of course, none of these are the real reasons why they were killed.But the fact that the rulers can kill people on this ground shows that the empire can punish crimes with speech, and it also shows that the empire has no freedom of speech. It also shows that anyone who dares to doubt and attack the ideology of the imperial system will be sentenced to death.Both of these things happened when the imperial rule was at its weakest.This is the case when the empire itself is in danger, and it is conceivable when its restraint is very strong.In the era of Emperor Qianlong, all horses and horses were silent throughout the country, and there was a dead silence.Everyone is silent, and at most they can only do dojos in snail shells, such as the Qianjia School.

A society without freedom of thought and expression cannot be truly moral.It can be seen that moral construction runs through the whole process of governing the country with ethics.All soldiers and civilians must conduct themselves in strict accordance with the moral principles set by the government.For those immoral people and things, there is an obligation to express opposition and condemnation.In Yuewang Temple, West Lake, Hangzhou, there are kneeling statues of Qin Hui and others.Almost all the people who came to mourn Yue Fei, including ordinary tourists, would cast angry and contemptuous glances at the four traitors, and even spit and pee.This shows that governing the country with ethics is indeed effective, and moral concepts are deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.However, it is a pity that Qin Hui and his ilk did not "cut off their children and grandchildren" because of this.The tragedy of framing Zhongliang continued to be staged, and there were groups of traitors and puppet soldiers.And these people, if they have been to the Yuewang Temple, then, as usual, they will urinate and spit on the four traitors, and they will never burn incense to worship.

It can be seen that it is very doubtful how much such moral indignation comes from genuine moral sense.In my opinion, that is probably more of a political statement and a moral show.The Chinese are very good at this kind of performance.As long as the highest authority gives an order, it is easy to achieve the same hatred against a certain "traitor" or "villain".As for whether this person is really guilty, no one has to go into it, and there is no need to go into it.For these "angry people" (angry people), all they need is a chance to express themselves, that is, a stage to show their political reliability and moral integrity.This requires a "negative model" as an opportunity.The typical opposite in politics is "rebellious officials and thieves", and anger towards them can express one's loyalty.The negative model in life is "adulterant adulterer", and anger towards them can express one's purity.Therefore, once a traitor or adulterer or adulterer is found, the people will demand that they be paraded in the streets, and they will spit, throw stones, and shout slogans at the demonstrators while watching.In fact, if a person commits a crime and is punished by the judiciary according to law, what does it matter to the public?Murder pays for life, steals and goes to jail, execution is what it is, why do we have to "exhibit" it?However, both the government and the public have this requirement.The reason is that in the government, they just want to make an example of others; in the public, they cannot "perform morality" to prove that they are "good people", and they cannot experience the pleasure in this kind of performance, that is, the sense of moral superiority ( See my book "Men and Women in China").

In the absence of negative examples, this kind of performance is expressed as "good people and good deeds".For example, after the death of parents, they live next to the tomb or in the tomb passage, and do not eat fine rice or wear brocade clothes for three years.The etiquette system even makes detailed and clear regulations on these performances, such as "wearing sackcloth and wearing filial piety" or "holding a mourning stick" (meaning that one cannot stand due to excessive grief).This is not surprising at all, because the main means of governing the country with ethics is "ritual".Since ritual is a kind of ceremony (etiquette), it must be performative, and it must also cultivate the habit of performing.What is puzzling is the brutal and violent tendencies that officials and people inadvertently reveal when expressing moral indignation.When they condemned and criticized those so-called "rebellious officials and thieves" or "adulterous men and women", they actually didn't regard each other as human beings at all. They not only humiliated and cursed to the utmost, but often tortured them.Many criminal laws in ancient China were extremely cruel, such as "execution by Ling Chi" or "riding a wooden donkey".The so-called "riding a wooden donkey" means stabbing a woman's vagina with a hard object, causing her to die tragically;In addition, there are gunfire (death by barbecue), car splitting (dividing the body by five horses), beheading (cutting at the waist), and castration (castration of male genitalia), all of which are appalling.In fact, this can't even be called "beastly behavior", because wild animals never have such behavior, so it can only be called "cruel and inhumane", or even "destroyed by conscience".

The problem is not how cruel these criminal laws are, but how society generally agrees with this cruelty.Although some tortures were gradually abolished (such as the scrapped cars during the reign of Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty), new tortures were invented.For example, Lingchi was "invented" by Emperor Wenxuan of the Northern Qi Dynasty, and it has been popular in all dynasties since the Tang Dynasty.Later, Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang invented "Peeling and Real Grass", and even a gentleman like Hai Rui expressed his approval.In fact, the intellectual circles in ancient China were also insensitive to these tortures. For example, sayings such as "thousands of cuts" or "eating meat without skin" were often seen in literati's writing.What is this indicating?It shows that in the era of empire, there was both civilized comity and barbaric violence.

A nation that advocates comity and loves peace appreciates violence so much and tolerates cruelty. It seems unbelievable on the surface, but in fact it is the inevitable result of ethical governance.Because the "ethical governance" of the empire is not really to promote morality or cultivate morality, but to maintain the hierarchical order, maintain the centralized system, and put on a warm cloak (kingdom) for this violent rule (hegemony).But the violent nature of the empire will not be changed because of this coat, nor will the violent tendencies in the hearts of the subjects of the empire be eliminated.On the contrary, as long as there is an opportunity, such as the king's way is not good or the world is in chaos, or it is just to punish "rebellious officials and thieves" and "adulterants and adulteresses", the hidden nature and tendency of violence will inevitably and unstoppably manifest , became a heinous atrocity.The ruler needs to use this kind of atrocity to exercise his power, and the ruled needs to use this kind of atrocity to vent their depression.What's more, in the ethical order of "lord, minister, father, son", the weaker side has never been respected.Therefore, even if they only temporarily become powerful figures (such as the "rebel army" who rose up or the "righteous people" who punished corruption), they will not know how to respect others, let alone the concept of "human rights".Obviously, the result of governing the country with ethics is not only the loss of ideology and legal system, but even morality will disappear in the end. In fact, due to the lack of scientific rationality (ideology) and practical rationality (rule of law), "benevolent kings" can easily become "tyrants", and "good people" can easily become "mobs".As for those local gentry who maintain law and order and promote ethics, they can easily become local tyrants and evil gentry who run rampant in the countryside and take advantage of the common people in lawsuits.The local tyrants are relative to the government, and the evil gentry are relative to the noble gentry.From a gentry to an evil gentry, it is only one step away, just as kingly way and domineering are just two sides of the same coin.Under such circumstances, the dynasty can still be maintained, thanks to the fact that the empire has a large number of officials who sincerely believe in Confucianism and are loyal to their duties.In fact, the emperor's superiority is often just a symbol; the common people have no power and power, but they are actually nothing.Only officials are truly the backbone of the empire.Once the bureaucratic group is defeated, the end of the dynasty will come. Therefore, we must also look at what happened to the officials and bureaucratic system of the empire, and why these officials and this system eventually led to the demise of the dynasty.