Chapter 3 third chapter

The previous chapter said that Confucianism and Taoism are the two mainstreams of Chinese thought.They became the mainstream, evolved over a long period of time; and from the fifth to the third centuries BC, they were just two of many contending families.At that time there were many schools of thought.The Chinese call them "Baijia". Later historians tried to classify the "Hundred Schools".The first person to experiment with classification was Sima Tan (died l10 BC), the father of Sima Qian (145-86? BC) who wrote the "Historical Records". In the last article of "Historical Records", an article by Sima Tan was quoted, entitled "On the Essential Points of the Six Schools".This article divides the philosophers of previous centuries into six main schools, as follows:

The first is the yin and yang family.They speak of a kind of cosmogony.It is named after "Yin" and "Yang".In Chinese thought, yin and yang are the two main principles of cosmogenesis.The Chinese believe that the combination and interaction of Yin and Yang produce all cosmic phenomena. The second is Confucianism.This family is called "Confucius School" in Western literature.However, the word "Confucianism" means "scribes" or scholars, so it is not very accurate to call it "Confucius School" in the West, because it does not indicate that the members of this family are all scholars and thinkers.They are different from other families in that they are all teachers who impart ancient classics, so they are the preservers of ancient cultural heritage.As for Confucius, he was indeed the leader of this family, and it is correct to say that he was its founder.However, the word "Confucianism" is not limited to people of the Confucian school, and its meaning is broader.

The third is Mohism.Under the leadership of Mozi, this family has a strict organization and strict discipline.Its disciples have actually called themselves "Mohists".So the name of this family was not created by Sima Tan, and some of the other names were newly created by him. The fourth is famous.People in this family are interested in the distinction between what they call "name" and "reality". The fifth is legalism.The meaning of the Chinese character "法" is French, law.This family originated from a group of politicians.They argued that good government must be based on written laws, not on the moral conventions emphasized by Confucians.

The sixth is the moralist.The people of this family center their metaphysics and social philosophy around a single concept, that is, Wu, or Tao.Tao is concentrated in the individual, as the natural virtue of human beings, this is "virtue", translated into English as virtue (德), which is best explained as the power (force) inherent in any individual thing.This family, Sima Tan called "moralist", and later referred to as "Taoist".The first chapter has pointed out that we should pay attention to the difference between it and Taoism. The second historian who tried to classify the "Hundred Schools" was Liu Xin (46 BC? 23 AD).He was one of the greatest scholars at that time, and together with his father Liu Xiang, he proofread and sorted out the imperial books.He compiled the results into a classified bibliography with explanations, called "Qi Lue", which was later used by Ban Gu (32-92 AD) as the basis for "Hanshu·Yiwenzhi".It can be seen from "Yiwenzhi" that Liu Xin divided the "Hundred Schools" into ten main factions, namely ten schools.Six of them are the same as those listed by Sima Tan.The remaining four are strategists, miscellaneous families, farmers, and novelists.Liu Xin said in his conclusion: "Of the ten schools of thought, only nine are the most impressive." This sentence means that novelists are not as important as the other nine schools.

This classification itself is not much more advanced than Sima Tan's classification.Liu Xin's new contribution is his attempt to systematically trace the origins of each family's history, which is the first time in Chinese history. Later scholars, especially Zhang Xuecheng (1738-1801) and Zhang Binglin (1869-1936), greatly developed Liu Xin's theory.The essence of this theory is to maintain that before the disintegration of the social system in the early Zhou Dynasty (1122 BC? 225 BC), there was no distinction between officials and teachers.In other words, the officials of a certain government department are at the same time the instructors of an academic discipline related to this department.These officials, like the feudal princes at that time, were also hereditary.So at that time there were only "official schools" and no "private schools".This means that no academic subject is taught in a private capacity.Only officials who are members of a government department can teach this science.

This theory says that in the last few hundred years of the Zhou Dynasty, the royal family lost its strength, and officials in various government departments also lost their positions.Floating all over the place.They then turn to teaching their expertise in a private capacity.So they are no longer "officials", but "teachers" of private schools.Various schools of thought emerged from this separation of officials and teachers. The whole analysis made by Liu Xin is as follows: "Confucianism is rooted in the officials of Situ. . . . Traveling in the Six Classics, paying attention to the occasion of benevolence and righteousness, the ancestors recounted Yao and Shun, the charter of civil and military affairs, and the master Zhongni emphasized his words. , is the highest in Taoism. Confucius said: "If you have a reputation, you have to try it." The prosperity of Tang Yu, the prosperity of Yin and Zhou, and the career of Zhongni are also those who have tried the effect. .Record success and failure, survival, misfortune, fortune, ancient and modern ways, and then know the essentials to stick to the fundamentals, to be self-sufficient when you are pure, to be self-sufficient when you are humble,...this is its strength. "The yin and yang family flowed from the officials of Xihe. They respected and obeyed Haotian, and the calendar resembled the sun, moon and stars. When they respected and taught the people, this was their director." The legalists flowed from the officials.Rewards must be punished, supplemented by etiquette. ... This is its director. "The flow of famous families is based on the officials of rites. The names and positions of the ancients were different, and the rites were also different. Confucius said: 'The name must be corrected! If the name is not correct, the words will not go well, and if the words don't go well, things will fail.' This is its director. Also. "The Mohists flowed out of the gates of the Qing Temple.Picking rafters from thatched huts means being expensive and frugal; raising the three elders and the fifth watch is because of universal love;It is not fate; to regard the world with filial piety is to respect the same: this is its strength. "The strategist is a descendant of officials who are pedestrians. Confucius said: 'Recite the "Poetry" three hundred times, and send them in all directions, but they can't be corrected. Even though there are many, do you think it?' And said: 'Make it! Make it!' It is said that he is in power and adapts to the situation, and he accepts orders without resignation. This is also his director.Confucianism and Mohism, combined with the name and law, knowing the state of the country, seeing that the rule of the king is consistent.This is its director. "Farmers flow from officials who are farmers. They sow a hundred grains, persuade them to plow mulberry, and have enough food and clothing. ... This is also their director." The flow of novelists comes from barnyard officials.It is also created by people who gossip in the streets and hearsay. ... If a word can be adopted, this is also the opinion of Yao and his mad husband. "("Hanshu·Yiwenzhi")

This is what Liu Xin said about the origin of the Shi Family's history.His explanation of the meaning of each family is insufficient, and his classification of each family as one "official" is sometimes arbitrary.For example, when he describes Taoism, he only refers to Laozi and completely ignores Zhuangzi.For another example, there is no similarity between the functions of famous scholars and ritual officials. The only thing is that they both emphasize the difference. Liu Xin's theory may be wrong in the detailed plot, but he tried to find the origin of each family from a certain political and social environment, which undoubtedly represents a correct point of view.I quote him for a long time because his description of various schools is itself a classic document in Chinese historical materials.

The study of Chinese history has made great progress in contemporary times, especially in the years before the Japanese invasion in 1937.On the basis of recent research I have been able to form my theory of the origin of the various philosophies.The spirit of this theory is consistent with Liu Xin's, but it must be expressed in a different way.This means that the problem must be looked at from a new perspective. Let us imagine what ancient China, for example, China in the tenth century BC, was like politically and socially.The apex of the political and social structure at that time was the royal family of King Zhou, who was the "common master" of all countries in the world.There are hundreds of countries under King Zhou, which are owned and ruled by the king.Some countries were established by the heroes of the founding of the Zhou Dynasty, and they distributed these newly occupied territories to their relatives as fiefs.Others were ruled by former enemies of the Zhou family, but they now recognized the King of Zhou as their "co-lord".

Under the rule of the monarch, the land in each country is divided into many fiefs, each of which has its own feudal lord, who are all relatives of the monarch.At this point, political power and economic control are one and the same.The owner of the land is not only the political and economic master of the territory, but also the political and economic master of the residents.They are "gentleman", which literally means "son of the king", but has been used as a common name for the class of feudal lords. Another social class is the "little man" class, or "common people", that is, the ordinary people.These people are serfs of the feudal lord, who farm the land for the gentleman in peacetime and fight for the gentleman in wartime.

Not only political rulers and landowners, but even the few who had access to education were members of the nobility.Therefore, the "home" of the feudal lord was not only the center of political and economic power, but also the center of academics.Attached to them are officials with various professional knowledge.But ordinary people have no share in education, so there are no scholars among them.This is the fact reflected in Liu Xin's theory: there was no distinction between officials and teachers in the early Zhou Dynasty. This feudal official system was officially abolished in 221 BC by the first emperor of the Qin Dynasty.But it began to disintegrate hundreds of years before it was formally abolished, and after thousands of years the economic remnants of feudalism survived in the form of the power of the landlord class.

The reasons for this disintegration of the feudal system are still not agreed among modern historians.It is beyond the scope of this chapter to discuss these reasons.It is enough to explain this point here, that is, in the history of China, the seventh to third centuries BC was a period of great social and political changes. Nor can we be sure now, exactly when this feudal system began to disintegrate.However, as early as the seventh century BC, some members of the aristocracy lost their land and titles due to wars or other reasons at that time, and thus became ordinary people.There are also some ordinary people who have become senior officials of the country because of their special talents or special favor.These examples show the true significance of the disintegration of the Zhou Dynasty.This is not just the disintegration of a specific royal family, but more importantly, the disintegration of the entire social system. With this disintegration, the original official representatives of various academic disciplines fell among the common people.They were either aristocrats themselves, or specialists with hereditary positions in the service of the aristocratic ruler Shijia.In the "Yiwenzhi" quoted above, Liu Xin also quoted a sentence from Confucius: "If the etiquette is broken, seek the wild", which is what he meant. These original aristocrats or officials lived among the people and spread all over the country, and they lived in their private capacities by their special talents or skills.Those who taught academics to other private individuals became professional teachers, so the separation of teachers and officials appeared. The word "family" of each family mentioned above implies that it is related to individuals or private individuals. Before no one imparts his own thoughts in a private capacity, it is impossible to have any ideological "family", and it is impossible to have any "family". "thought of. There are different "homes" because each of these teachers is an expert in a certain academic and technical skills.Therefore, there are experts who teach classics and guide rites and music, and they are called "Ru".There are also experts in war martial arts, they are "Xia", that is, warriors.There are specialists in the art of speaking, and they are called "debaters."There are experts in witch doctor, divination, astrology, and alchemy. They are called "alchemists".There are also actual politicians who can act as personal advisors to feudal rulers, known as "men of magic".Finally, there are some people who are very learned and talented, but suffer from the political turmoil of the time, withdraw from human society and hide in the natural world. They are called "hermits". According to my theory, the six schools of thought mentioned by Sima Tan arose from these six different kinds of people.To paraphrase Liu Xin, I can say: Confucianism is based on scribes. The Mohists flowed from warriors. Taoists flow out of hermits. Famous scholars flow from debaters. The yin and yang families are based on alchemists. The legalists flowed from the legalists. The following chapters explain these statements.