Chapter 17 Chapter 3 The Bottleneck of Literati as Officials

Zheng Sixiao, whose original name is unknown, was an ordinary literati in the late Southern Song Dynasty. "Sixiao" comes from "Zhao (Zhao)", which means remembering the hometown of Zhao Song.He did not die heroically like Wen Tianxiang and Lu Xiufu, but continued to fight against the Yuan Dynasty by writing books and biographies. His representative work "History of the Heart" has high historical value.It records that the social hierarchy at that time was "ten colors", which were "one official, two officials, three monks, four Taoists, five doctors, six workers, seven hunters, eight people, nine Confucians, and ten beggars".Xie Fangde's "Dieshan Ji" of the same period also has this record, which is roughly the same as Zheng Sixiao's "History of the Heart", with slight discrepancies, the eighth class is prostitution.In any case, literati and intellectuals are not welcomed by the ruling class in any year when the dynasty changes.This raises a question, what is a literati?What do they do?

Whenever one mentions literati, one will think of intellectuals. The two belong to the same class, and they are called differently in different historical eras.According to the interpretation of "literati" in "Chinese Dictionary" as "a scholar with a high level of education", literati belong to the high-level intellectuals.In ancient China, scholars were an important social class. Before the Qin and Han Dynasties, the ruling class was the emperor, princes, officials, and scholars.After the Qin and Han Dynasties, scholars were reduced to civilians, and scholars, farmers, industry, and merchants became part of society, but the status of scholars was higher than other classes.

The concept of a literati is relatively easy to understand. Anyone who has an educational level, not to mention being rich in knowledge and knowledge, can at least write a composition or make up a jingle. If he can make a beautiful sentence and spread it widely, he will be immortal. "Zuo Zhuan" contains: "The supreme one is to establish virtue, followed by meritorious service, and then to establish words. Although it will not be abandoned for a long time, this is called immortality." This is the concept of "three immortals" in Confucianism.Lide ranks first. China is a country of etiquette, which has always paid attention to the cultivation of virtue. If moral stories such as "Kong Rong gives up pears" and "Sima Guang smashes the vat" can be sung by later generations, it will be immortal.Making meritorious service requires a specific historical environment, which is generally not easy to do.Relatively speaking, it is relatively easy to make a speech. Now that the Internet tools are extremely developed, anyone can make a speech, but whether it can become an immortal speech can only be tested by time.Establishing morality, meritorious service, and establishing words are the three major goals of Chinese literati. Whether you agree with it or not, these three highest goals have always existed in the hearts of every Chinese literati.The premise of making a statement is that there must be a book on display. The older the literati, the more urgent the mood in this regard. They have to give themselves a final conclusion on their career or knowledge that they have struggled for a lifetime.Therefore, it is understandable that retired officials publish books at their own expense because of their Liyan complex.Because of the concept of "three immortals", literati have many problems.

The folk proverb "one who has no use is a scholar", what role did literati play in history? Yelu Chucai once made a classic conclusion on Han Confucian scholars. Mongolia conquered the world by force and did not attach importance to civil rule.After Temujin’s Western Expedition, “The Chinese envoy Bie Die waited for him to say: ‘Although the Han people are acquired, it is useless, it is better to get rid of them all, so that the grass and trees can be used as pasture land.’” It is suggested that all the Han people be killed and the Chinese headquarters As a natural pasture, this suggestion was firmly opposed by Yelu Chucai.When they arrived at Wokuotai, Emperor Taizong of the Yuan Dynasty, they had a big prejudice against literati. In their eyes, Chinese people were the only ones, and their work ability was not as affordable as that of craftsmen.It is very strange for the Mongols, where everyone works, that there is such a profession as reading in the big country of the Central Plains.Yelu Chucai said: "Those who make utensils must use good craftsmen, and those who keep success must use Confucian officials. The career of Confucian officials has not been accumulated for decades, and it is almost not easy to complete." These words summarize the core role of literati, that is, Guard the country.The rulers of the Yuan Dynasty may not be aware of the truth that "it is difficult to start a business and even more difficult to maintain a business", and they always look down on literati.Confucian officials and craftsmen are to some extent the same, but the types of work are different. One makes utensils and the other governs the world.

Troubled times produce heroes, and troubled times produce capable ministers.In the great historical era of changing banners and flags, drastic changes are far more effective than writing, and the role of civil servants and Confucian scholars cannot be manifested in troubled times.When the empire needed to develop or a social crisis occurred, the role of civil servants was most concrete, such as social reform. Social reform is the product of social crisis, that is, the development of society deviates from the right track and slides to the brink of collapse.Usually at this time, there will always be ideologically awakened intellectuals jumping out, trying to bring the society with deep-rooted abuses back to the original point through reforms, and lead to the ideal road in the consciousness of the ruling class.Such as the reform of Guan Zhong in the Spring and Autumn Period, the Shang Yang Reform of Qin Dynasty, the Wuqi Reform of Chu State, the Wenjing Reign of Han Dynasty, the Zhenguan Reign of Tang Dynasty, the Xining Reform of Song Dynasty, Zhang Juzheng Reform of Ming Dynasty, the Reform Movement of 1898 in the late Qing Dynasty, etc.On the eve of the collapse of the dynasty, the literati and intellectuals usually stood up to turn the tide. After the civil servants and scholar-bureaucrats failed to save, other classes or armed forces seized power or rebelled against them, and then changed the dynasty. The development of history usually follows this law.

It can be seen that in a narrow sense, literati are those intellectuals who recite poems and write poems. In a broad sense, they are the intelligent class who can control the course of history. At the same time, they are also responsible for the creation and inheritance of culture and materials. Completed.If the society lacks literati and intellectuals, then we will not be far away from slash-and-burn farming.Confucianism emphasizes that "study is excellent and you are an official", and it advocates that "if you are poor, you will be good for yourself, and if you are good, you will benefit the world."Here comes the question again, can literati be good officials?

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