Chapter 18 Chapter Eighteen

The Han Dynasty not only succeeded the Qin Dynasty chronologically, but also succeeded the Qin Dynasty in many aspects.It consolidated the unification first achieved by the Qin Dynasty. In order to achieve the goal of consolidating unity, Qin adopted many policies, the most important of which was the policy of unifying thought.After Qin unified the six kingdoms, the Prime Minister Li Si wrote to the first emperor, saying: "In ancient times, the world was scattered, and there was no way to be one. . . .And private learning is a system of relatives and illegal teachings.... If you can't help it, the dominant force will fall to the top, and the party will become the bottom." ("Historical Records Biography of Li Si")

Then he made an extremely severe suggestion: all historical records, except Qin Ji.All the writings and other documents of the "Hundred Schools of Thought", except those kept by doctoral officers, except books on medicine, divination, and tree planting, should be sent to the government to be burned.As for any individual who wants to study, they should "take officials as teachers" ("Historical Records The Book of Qin Shihuang"). Emperor Shi Huang approved his proposal and it was implemented in 213 BC.Although this is a thorough sweep.In fact, it is nothing more than a logical application of long-standing Legalist thought.Han Fei has long said: "In the country of the Ming Lord, there are no books and slips, but the law is the teaching; there are no words of the former kings, and the officials are the teachers." ("Han Feizi·Five Beetles")

The purpose of Li Si's suggestion is very clear.He must hope that there is only one world, one government, one history, and one thought.So books on practical methods such as medicine are saved from being burned, in our current terms, because they are technical books and have nothing to do with "ideology". However, it was the brutality of the Qin Dynasty that led to its rapid downfall, the Han Dynasty followed, and a large number of ancient documents and "Hundred Schools" of writings came to light again.Although the rulers of the Han Dynasty did not approve of the extreme measures of their predecessors, they also felt that if they wanted to maintain political unity, they must still unify the thinking within the empire.This was the second attempt to unify the mind, and it was carried out along a different line from that of the Qin Dynasty.

Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty (reigned from 140 BC to 87 BC) made this new attempt.He adopted Dong Zhongshu's suggestion in the process. Around 136 BC, Dong Zhongshu said in his countermeasures: "The one who unified the "Spring and Autumn" is the constant scriptures of heaven and earth, and the friendship between ancient and modern times. Today's teachers have different ways, people have different theories, and a hundred schools of thought have different prescriptions. The above cannot be unified." In the conclusion of the countermeasures, he suggested: "Those who are not in the disciplines of the six arts and the art of Confucius, all have their own ways, and do not make progress in parallel." ("Hanshu·Dong Zhongshu Biography")

Emperor Wu adopted this suggestion.Officially declared Confucianism as the official doctrine of the country, and the Six Classics dominated it. Of course, Confucianism needed to spend a considerable amount of time selecting many ideas from other opposing parties in order to consolidate this newly acquired position, so that Confucianism became comparable to that of the pre-Qin period. Confucianism is very different.We have already mentioned in the previous chapter how this process of compromise and mixing is carried out.And since Emperor Wu, the government has always given Confucians a better opportunity than others to develop their teachings.

The principle of great unification mentioned by Dong Zhongshu was also discussed in "Chunqiu Gongyang Zhuan". The first sentence of "Spring and Autumn" is: "The first year, spring, Wang Zhengyue." The explanation of "Gongyang Zhuan" said: "Why do you say 'Wang Zhengyue'? Great unity." According to Dong Zhongshu and the Gongyang School, This great unification is one of the programs that Confucius formulated for his ideal new dynasty when he wrote "Spring and Autumn". The measures that Emperor Wu implemented according to Dong Zhongshu's suggestions were much more active and moderate than those suggested by Li Si to Emperor Shihuang, although the purpose of both was to unify the thinking of the entire empire.The measures taken by the Han Dynasty were not to ban all schools of thought indiscriminately like the Qin Dynasty’s measures, creating a vacuum in the field of thought, but to select one of the “Hundred Schools”, namely Confucianism, and give it the exclusive status. as the doctrine of the state.Another difference is that the measures of the Han Dynasty did not promulgate penalties for privately teaching other schools of thought.It only stipulates that anyone who wishes to be an official must study the Six Classics and Confucianism.Taking Confucianism as the basis of national education also laid the foundation for China's famous examination system, which is used to recruit new government officials.In this way, the measures of the Han Dynasty are actually the product of the reconciliation of the measures of the Qin Dynasty and the previous private learning.This kind of private learning has become more and more common since Confucius.Interestingly, China's first private school teacher has now become China's first national school teacher.

As a result of this, the status of Confucius became very high by the middle of the first century BC.Around this period, a new type of literature appeared, called "Weishu".Weft is opposite to warp. For example, weaving cloth has warp and weft.Many people in the Han Dynasty believed that Confucius wrote the Six Classics, but there were still some meanings left. They thought that Confucius later wrote the Six Latitudes to match the Six Classics, as a supplement.Therefore, only the combination of the six classics and the six latitudes constitutes the entire teaching of Confucius.Of course, these latitude books were actually forged by the people of the Han Dynasty.

In Weishu, Confucius' status has reached unprecedented heights.For example.There is an article called "Han Hanzi" in the Spring and Autumn Period, which reads: "Confucius said: Qiu Lan Shiji. Citing ancient pictures, recommending changes in the sky, and making laws for the Han Emperor." "Picture", said that Confucius was the son of Hei Di, and also listed many miracles in Confucius' life.This is all absurd fiction.These Weishu described Confucius as a superman, as a god, who could predict the future.If these sayings really ruled China, the status of Confucius would be similar to that of Jesus, and Confucianism would become an authentic religion.

But not long after, those with realist and rationalist minds in Confucianism protested against these "very strange theories" about Confucius and Confucianism.They believed that Confucius was neither a god nor a king, but a sage.Confucius neither foresaw the existence of the Han Dynasty nor made laws for any dynasty.He just inherited the cultural heritage of the great tradition of the past, imbued it with a new spirit, and passed it on to all generations. These people in Confucianism formed a school called the Ancient Literature School.This school got its name because it claimed to have the secret collection of scriptures before the "Qin Huo" burned the books, all of which were written in ancient characters.The opposite school, Dong Zhongshu and others, is called Jinwen School.It got its name from the fact that the scriptures used were written in the script commonly used in the Han Dynasty.

The debate between these two schools is one of the biggest debates in Chinese academic history.There is no need to go into detail here.There is only one thing that must be said here.That is, the rise of the ancient literature school is a reaction against the modern literature school, and it is also a revolution.At the end of the Western Han Dynasty, the School of Ancient Literature was supported by Liu Xin (about 46 BC-23 AD).Liu Xin was one of the biggest scholars at that time.Because he fully supported the ancient literature school, people from the modern literature school later attacked him for falsifying all the ancient literature classics, which is very unfair.

In recent years, I have seen that the source of these two schools is likely to be traced back to the two schools of pre-Qin Confucianism.The Jinwen School may be the continuation of the Pre-Qin Confucian Idealism, and the Ancient Literature School may be the continuation of the Pre-Qin Confucian Realism.In other words, the School of Modern Literature originated from the School of Mencius, and the School of Ancient Literature originated from the School of Xunzi. "Xunzi" has an article "Fei Twelve Sons", which says: "Study the ancient kings but don't know their traditions,...the case goes back to the old theory, which is called the five elements. It is very remote and violates no class, it is hidden without saying, and it is closed. There is no solution...Zi Si sang it, Meng Ke sang it." This passage has puzzled modern scholars for a long time. "The Doctrine of the Mean" is said to have been written by Zisi, but neither in "The Doctrine of the Mean" nor in "Mencius" mentions the Five Elements.But in "The Doctrine of the Mean", there is still such a saying: "When a country is going to prosper, there must be a pattern; when a country is going to perish, there must be evildoers." In every year, there must be a prosperous king." ("Gongsun Chou") These words seem to indicate that Mencius and the author of "The Doctrine of the Mean" (if not Zisi himself, must be a member of Zisi's family) do believe in heaven and man to some extent Induction and history loops.We will recall that these teachings are prominent in the Yin-Yang and Wuxing Schools. If Dong Zhongshu is regarded as having a certain connection with Mencius, then Xunzi's criticism of Zisi and Mencius mentioned above is more meaningful.Because if the prototype of Dong Zhongshu’s point of view really came from the school of Mencius, then Dong Zhongshu is a new development of the school of Mencius. Judging Mencius according to Dong Zhongshu, Mencius can indeed be said to be “reclusive” and “reclusive”. This hypothesis, along with facts, can add to its strength.That is, both Mencius and Dong Zhongshu believed that "Spring and Autumn" was written by Confucius, and both paid special attention to "Spring and Autumn".Mencius said: "Confucius was afraid, so he wrote "Spring and Autumn." "Teng Wengong" (2) Mencius said that Confucius wrote "Spring and Autumn" as the son of heaven.From this statement, it is easy to come to Dong Zhongshu's statement, saying that Confucius was really appointed as the Son of Heaven. There is also the fact that when Dong Zhongshu explained his theory of human nature, he always compared it with Mencius's theory of human nature.It has been pointed out in the previous chapter that the two theories of human nature are different.It's actually just a difference in terminology. If we accept this hypothesis and believe that the Jinwen School is the continuation of the Confucian idealist school, that is, the Mencius school, then it is only reasonable to assume that the Ancient Literature School is the continuation of the Confucian realistic school, that is, the Xunzi school.Because of this, the thinkers of the ancient literature school in the first century A.D. all had a naturalistic view of the universe similar to Xunzi and Taoism (in this regard, Xunzi himself was influenced by Taoism, as mentioned earlier). Yang Xiong (53 BC-AD 18), a member of the ancient literature school, is an example of holding a naturalistic view of the universe.His "Taixuan" is largely full of the idea of ​​"reversing the movement of Tao", which is the basic idea of ​​"Laozi" and "Tao". He also wrote a "Fa Yan", in which he attacked the Yin Yang school.Of course, he also praised Mencius in "Fa Yan".But this does not hinder my hypothesis, because although Mencius had some inclinations towards Yin-Yang schools, he never went to the extremes like the Jinwen School of the Han Dynasty. The greatest thinker of the ancient literature school is undoubtedly Wang Chong (27-about 100 years), who opposed idolatry with his amazing scientific skepticism.His main work is "Lun Heng".When he talked about the unique spirit of this work, he wrote: ""Three Hundred Poems", in a word, said: 'Thinking without evil'. Illness and delusion'. ("Lunheng. Tiewen Pian") also said: "There is no way to know what is effective, and no way to discuss is to have evidence. "("Lunheng Thin Burial") He used this spirit to forcefully attack the theory of Onmyoji, especially the theory of the interaction between heaven and man, whether it is teleological or mechanical.Regarding the teleological aspect of the theory of interaction between heaven and man, he wrote: "The way of heaven is natural, and there is nothing to do. If you condemn people, you do something, and it is not natural. The Huang-Lao family talks about the way of heaven, and it is true." ( "Lunheng·Condemnation") Regarding the mechanical aspect of this theory, he said: "Man is between heaven and earth, just like fleas and lice are in the clothes, and ants are in the holes. Does the air change? Fleas, gnats, and ants cannot, but people alone can not reach the principle of material energy." ("Lun Heng · Changing Chapter") So Wang Chong opened the way for the revival of Taoism in the next century.Here, the difference between "Taoism" and "Taoism" should be emphasized again. The former is religion, while the latter is philosophy.What we are going to talk about is the revival of Taoist philosophy. I call this revived Taoist philosophy "New Taoism". Interestingly, we can see that in the last years of the Han Dynasty, Taoism also began to emerge.Now some people call this folk Taoism the new Taoism.The ancient literature school has eliminated the yin and yang element in Confucianism.These ingredients were later mixed with Taoism to form a new type of miscellaneous school called Taoism.During this process, Confucius' status was restored from the status of a god to that of a teacher, and Lao Tzu became the leader. This religion imitated Buddhism, and finally had temples, priests, and religious ceremonies.It has become an organized religion, almost completely devoid of pre-Qin Taoist philosophy, so it can only be called Taoism. Before that, Buddhism had been introduced to China from India via Central Asia.The difference between "Buddhism" and "Buddhism" must also be emphasized here. The former is religion, while the latter is philosophy.As I said earlier, Buddhism greatly inspired Taoism in terms of institutional organization.In terms of religious belief, the development of Taoism was greatly stimulated by national sentiment. People watched angrily as foreign Buddhism successfully invaded China.Some people do think that Buddhism is the religion of barbarians.So Taoism is a local belief in China, and to a certain extent, it developed as a local religion to replace Buddhism. In the process, it borrowed a lot of things from its foreign counterparts, including institutions, rituals, and even large Part of the classic form. However, besides being an organized religion, Buddhism also has its philosophy, namely Buddhism.Although Taoism has always opposed Buddhism, Taoism regards Buddhism as its ally.Of course, in terms of rebirth, Taoism is inferior to Buddhism.But in the mysterious form, the two are very similar.The "Tao" of Taoism is indescribable in Taoism; the "truth" in Buddhism is also indescribable in Buddhism.It is neither "one" nor "many"; neither "not one" nor "not many".Such a noun term is exactly what the Chinese say "fantastic". In the third and fourth centuries A.D., famous Chinese scholars were generally Taoists, and they were often close friends of famous Buddhist monks.These scholars are generally proficient in Buddhist scriptures, and these monks are generally proficient in Taoist classics, especially.The conversation they had when they met was called "clear talk" at the time.When they talked about "non-nonsense", they just laughed and said nothing, and it was in silence that they understood each other. In such occasions, the spirit of "Zen" appears.Zen is a branch of Chinese Buddhism that is truly a combination of the best of Buddhist and Taoist philosophies.It had a huge influence on later Chinese philosophy, poetry, and painting.We will discuss it in detail in Chapter 22. Now, let us return to the political and social background of the Han Dynasty's dominance of Confucianism and the subsequent revival of Taoism.The victory of Confucianism was not just due to the luck or hobby of some people at that time.Certain circumstances existed at the time that made the victory of Confucianism almost inevitable. Qin's conquest of the six countries relied on the ruthless spirit based on Legalist philosophy, which was manifested in both internal control and external relations.After the fall of the Qin Dynasty, everyone condemned the harshness of the Legalists and completely ignored the benevolence, righteousness and morality of the Confucianists.Emperor Wu announced in 140 B.C. that those who ruled Shen Buhai, Shang Yang, Han Fei, Su Qin, and Zhang Yizhi were not allowed to be virtuous officials (see "Hanshu·Wudi Ji"). The Legalists thus became Qin's scapegoat.Among other schools, Confucianism and Taoism were the most distant from Legalism, so naturally there was a reaction in favor of Confucianism and Taoism.In the early Han Dynasty, Taoism, the so-called "learning of Huang Lao", was actually very popular.For example, Emperor Wu's grandfather Wendi (reigned from 179 BC to 157 BC) loved "Huang Lao" deeply; the great historian Sima Tan had the highest evaluation of Taoism in his "On the Essential Points of Six Schools". According to Taoist political philosophy, a good government should not meddle too much, but as little as possible.Therefore, when the sage king is in power, if his former king has too much management and caused bad consequences, he will try to eliminate it as much as possible.This is exactly what the people of the early Han Dynasty needed, because one of the sufferings caused by the Qin Dynasty was that it had too much control.Therefore, when Liu Bang, the great ancestor who established the Han Dynasty, led his revolutionary army into Chang'an, the capital of the Qin Dynasty, he made an agreement with the people in three chapters: the murderer died, the wounded and the thief was punished; in addition, all the harsh laws of the Qin Dynasty were abolished (see " "Historical Records Gaozu Benji").The founders of the Han Dynasty practiced the "Huang-Lao doctrine" in this way. Although they practiced it, it was undoubtedly completely unconscious. Therefore, Taoist philosophy just met the needs of the rulers in the early Han Dynasty. Their policy was to get rid of the harsh laws of the Qin Dynasty, rest with the people, and restore the country's vitality after the long-term war that exhausted everything.When the vitality is restored, Taoist philosophy is no longer applicable, and a program for further construction is needed.The rulers found it in Confucianism. The social and political philosophy of Confucianism is conservative and revolutionary at the same time.It is conservative because it is essentially an aristocratic philosophy; it is revolutionary because it gives new interpretations to this aristocratic politics.It upholds the distinction between the gentleman and the villain, which was generally accepted in feudal China in the time of Confucius.But at the same time it insists that the distinction between a gentleman and a villain should not be based on blood, as before, but on merit.Therefore, it believes that a person with virtue and talent should be a person who occupies a high position in society, which is completely correct. The second chapter has already pointed out that the family system was the backbone of ancient Chinese society, and Confucianism gave the family system a theoretical basis.With the disintegration of the feudal system, the common people were liberated from the hands of the feudal lords, but the old family system still existed.Therefore, Confucianism still exists as the theoretical basis of the existing social system. The main consequence of the abolition of feudalism was the official separation of political and economic power.In fact, of course, the new landlords wielded great power in local society, including political power.But at least in office they were not local political rulers, although through wealth and prestige they were often able to exert influence over state appointees.This is finally a step forward. Many of the new aristocrats, such as bureaucrats and landlords, are far from the virtuous and talented people required by Confucianism, but they all need some knowledge specially provided by Confucianism.This is knowledge of the red tape by which social distinctions are maintained.After Liu Bang, the founder of the Han Dynasty, subdued all his opponents, his first act was to order the Confucian Shusun Tong, together with his disciples, to formulate court rituals.After trying out the new court rituals for the first time, Liu Bang said with satisfaction: "I am known as the emperor's nobleman today!" ("Historical Records Biography of Liu Jingshu Suntong") Shu Suntong's practice was disapproved by some of his Confucian colleagues, but it succeeded. From this we can see why the new aristocrats like Confucianism, even though they may object to its true spirit or may not know it. But the most important thing is the fact that I pointed out in the third chapter, that is, Westerners call Confucianism the "Confucius school", which is very inaccurate. It should be noted that Confucianism is the "Confucianism" school.This kind of "Confucianism" is not only a thinker, but also a scholar. They are proficient in ancient cultural heritage. This dual identity is not possessed by other schools.They teach ancient texts, preserve great cultural traditions, and interpret them to the best of their ability.In an agricultural country, people always respect the past, so these Confucians are always the most influential. As for the Legalists, although they became Qin's scapegoats, they were never completely abandoned.In Chapter thirteen, I have pointed out that the Legalists were realistic politicians.They are the ones who can come up with new ruling spells for new political situations.Therefore, as the territory of the Chinese Empire expanded, the rulers had to rely on Legalist theories and techniques.This has led the orthodox Confucianism since the Han Dynasty to always accuse the rulers of various dynasties of "confucianism and law".But in reality, regardless of Confucianism and Legalism, each has its appropriate scope of application.The exclusive domain of Confucianism is social organization, spiritual and moral civilization, and academia.The exclusive scope of legalist doctrine is limited to the theory and technology of practical politics. Taoism also has the opportunity to travel.There were several periods in Chinese history when the political and social order was in chaos. People had no time and no interest in the study of ancient classics, and they naturally tended to criticize the existing political and social systems.In such an era, Confucianism naturally declined and Taoism naturally flourished.At this time, Taoism provides sharp criticism to oppose the existing political and social systems; it also provides an ideology that escapes reality to avoid harm and danger.These are just right for the needs of people born in troubled times. The Han Dynasty fell in 220 AD, followed by a long period of division and chaos, which did not end until the Sui Dynasty unified the country in 589 AD.These four centuries have two characteristics.One feature was frequent wars and dynastic changes, with a series of dynasties ruling central and southern China and a series of dynasties ruling northern China.Another feature is the rise of several nomadic peoples, some of whom crossed the Great Wall by force and settled in North China; some migrated peacefully.Several dynasties in the north were established by them, and their influence has never been extended to the Yangtze River.Because of these political characteristics, these four centuries are collectively known as the "Six Dynasties", also known as the "Northern and Southern Dynasties". It was a politically and socially dark century, and pessimism was in vogue.In some respects it is very similar to the Middle Ages in Europe, and the time is also a period of time.At this time, in Europe, Christianity became the dominant force; in China, a new religion, Buddhism, developed rapidly.It would be quite wrong, however, to say that this was a century of low culture—some people say so.On the contrary, if we take the word culture in a narrow sense, we can say that in this century, we have reached a peak of Chinese culture in several respects.Painting, calligraphy, poetry and philosophy are all superb during this period. The next two chapters will talk about the main national philosophy of this period, which I call "New Taoism".