Chapter 29 Preface to Wu Yu Wen Lu

Preface to Wu Yu Wen Lu Anyone who has been to Beijing will never forget the street cleaners on the streets of Beijing.On the endless street, in the dense dust, they carried a bucket of water, rested slowly, and sprinkled it on the ground spoon by spoonful, spreading it far and evenly.Where the water is sprinkled, the dust really does not rise.But the fierce and terrifying sunlight refused to help, it just shone on the endless street like fire.The place where the water was sprinkled was dried in the sun in a short while; in a short while the wind blew over or the car passed by, the misty dust flew up again!Sprinkle whatever you sprinkle, and let whatever you dry dry.But those scavengers in blue coats and blue trousers with their breasts exposed did not stop spraying because the sun was against them.They still sprinkled spoonful by spoonful, spreading far and evenly, until sunset and dark, they carried the empty buckets and walked back slowly, thinking in their hearts, "I'm done with today's work." !"

Mr. Wu Youling is a scavenger in China's intellectual circles.He stood on the endless road, and his eyes, mouth, nose, head and neck were filled with the lingering pore dust.He couldn't take it anymore, and he couldn't bear to see the countless pedestrians bumping back and forth in the dust and mist of the scum, smashing their heads and breaking their feet.Therefore, he aspired to be a scavenger, often carrying a load of hard-earned water, and sprinkled it spoonful by spoonful on the dusty street.When he sprinkled his water, not only did he not get paid, but he was often scolded by countless old men who were used to eating hole dust, blaming him for not knowing the goods, blaming him for not recognizing the delicacy of pore scum, and blaming him for being picky. Get in the way of pedestrians on the road with a spoon in the water!They often threw stones at him, and they cried and begged those adults and lords who ate Kong Chen's soup to stop him from carrying water and clearing roads.But he didn't care, he still did his clean job.Sometimes, when he was tired and disappointed, he suddenly looked at the other end of the endless road from a distance, and it seemed that there were a few people sprinkling water there to clear the road. His heart was happy again, and his spirit was encouraged again. Woke up.So he still picked up water, and sprinkled it spoonful by spoonful on the long street that was spinning and drying.

This is the spirit of Mr. Wu.Mr. Wu and our friend Chen Duxiu are the two most powerful attacking figures on Confucianism in recent years.The two of them, one in Shanghai and the other in Chengdu, are so far apart, but they have a lot in common in spirit.Many of Duxiu's articles attacking Confucius (contained more in the second volume of "New Youth") focus on a major concept that "Confucius's way is not suitable for modern life".At that time, Mr. Wu also wrote many non-Confucian articles in Sichuan, and his main idea was just a concept that "Confucius's way is not suitable for modern life".Mr. Wu is a person who has studied law and politics, so his method is slightly different from Duxiu's.Mr. Wu himself described his method:

When Bu Ning Bing Wu traveled to Tokyo, he wrote several poems, most of which were non-Confucian theories.After returning to Shu, he often used the Six Classics, "Tongkao of the Five Rites", "Tang Law Shuyi", "Manchu Qing Laws", and other histories discussing rites and prisons to communicate with Lao Zhuang, Montesquieu, Compare and compare the works of Zhen Kesi, Muller, John, Spencer, Endo Takayoshi, and Kubo Tenzui with the constitutions, civil laws, and criminal laws of European and American countries.In the past ten years, I have seen a lot. As a result of Mr. Wu's use of this method, his non-Confucian articles generally pay attention to the various rituals, laws, systems, and styles that are based on Confucianism.He first proved that these etiquette and legal systems are based on the basic dogma of Confucianism, and then proved that all these etiquette and legal systems are rituals that cannibalize people and legal systems that trap people.From the aspect of intellectual history, he pointed out that since Lao Tzu, many ancients were dissatisfied with these deceptive and cannibal rituals, so that we know that the rituals strongly supported by Confucianism were criticized and criticized by thinkers thousands of years ago. Attacked, let alone in today's social life that has undergone tremendous changes and changes?

Mr. Wu's method, I think it is very good.We should study what effect it actually has on a doctrine or a religion: "What kind of ritual system did it produce? What has happened to the system of etiquette and law it produced?How much happiness in life has been increased or damaged?What kind of national character has been created?Does it fuel progress?Is it hindering progress? "These questions are the criteria for criticizing a theory or a religion. Using this kind of practical effect to criticize a theory and religion is the most severe and fair method. Although Mr. Wu never explicitly stated that he used this kind of reality The standard of doctrine, but I think he must agree with my explanation.

Those "defensive" old gentlemen also know how powerful this practical standard is, so they came up with a way to avoid it.They said: "All these practical abuses are not the original purpose of Mr. Kong, but are the result of Shu Suntong, Dong Zhongshu, Liu Xin, Cheng Hao, Zhu Xi and others misunderstood Confucius. You scold and scold, but only scold Uncle Sun. Tong, Dong Zhongshu, Liu Xin, Cheng Hao, and Zhu Xi, but they can't scold Mr. Kong." So some people say that Datong in "Li Yun" is the true Confucianism (Mr. Kang Youwei); others say that the Four Teachings, Four Jue, and San Shen are true Confucianism (Mr. Gu Shi).Regarding this kind of evasion, Duxiu said the most joyfully: the Confucianism of the Confucians of the Han and Song Confucians, and the Confucianism of today's Confucianism, and the real Confucianism are two, and that Confucianism is corrupted by later generations.What I want to ask today is why the Confucianists since the Han and Tang Dynasties did not follow Dao, Fa, Yang, and Mo, and people don't call them Dao, Fa, Yang and Mo?

Why is it only because of Confucius that it became corrupt again?You can think deeply about the reason. ("New Youth" Vol. 2, No. 4) This reason is the most obvious: Why don't all kinds of cannibalistic ethics systems have other signs, but Mr. Kong's sign?Precisely because the two thousand-year cannibalistic rituals and legal systems all bear the signboard of Confucius, so this signboard of Confucius—whether it is an old shop or a counterfeit—must be taken down, crushed, and burned! Let me introduce this old hero of "Sichuan Province's one-hand punching shop" to all Chinese teenagers - Mr. Wu Youling!

June 16, 1921 "Hu Shi Wen Cun" Volume Four