Chapter 17 9. Taoism and Taoist thought and the educational spirit of Chinese culture

When it comes to Chinese culture, before and after the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, it included all the academic thoughts of various schools of thought. From the end of the Warring States Period to the Qin and Han Dynasties, as representatives that could influence all social classes, they should be regarded as Confucianism, Taoism, and Mohism. After the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the three schools were represented by Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism.The reason for this concept, which I want to explain again and again, is that I want to talk about Chinese culture without partiality, let alone in the wrong direction.Regarding the academic thoughts of Taoism and Taoism, it has a huge and long influence on Chinese history and culture, and it has a long history, and it has penetrated into every part.For example, in terms of Chinese religion and philosophy, the translation of Buddhist classics and Buddhist content has many nouns, terms, as well as annotations and descriptions. It is an undeniable fact that many of Taoism adopts academic ideas that integrate Buddhist theories.As for Confucianism, as well as the esoteric and mysterious thinking and wisdom, it is even more inseparable from Taoist thought, especially the knowledge of Laozi, Zhuangzi, and Liezi.Others, such as politics, military affairs, economy, society, literature, art, industry, farming, etc., are all related to Taoist academic thought, the predecessor of Taoism.In order to simplify as much as possible, we will give a general introduction and list the most important, most common and most familiar things, such as all the customs and habits of the Chinese nation and various places, especially the past agricultural society, fishing and hunting society, plain life, marine life and Life on the plateau, the relationship and emphasis on the five seasons, six qi, and twenty-four solar terms are almost integrated with the whole life and cannot be separated. This is due to the influence of traditional Taoist academic thought for three thousand years.Secondly, such as Fula, sending stoves, New Year's Day, offering sacrifices to the ancestors of heaven and earth, people's day on the seventh day of the first lunar month, Nine Emperors' Birthday on the ninth day of the first lunar month, Shangyuan Festival on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, spring society banquets, February festivals, etc. Flower Dynasty on the 12th, grave visits on March 3rd, calamus planting and realgar wine drinking on the Dragon Boat Festival in May, exposure to the sun on June 6th, Qiqiao on July 7th, Ghost Festival on July 15th, August The Mid-Autumn Festival on the fifteenth day of the lunar month, the climbing on the ninth day of the ninth month, and many other customs and customs, which are not described in detail, are all formed by Taoist thought.As far as the general folk habit of being superstitious about Taoist concepts is concerned, almost every month, most of the time is spent in taboos and observances, and they dare not take a wrong step.As for customs related to etiquette, such as weddings, funerals, celebrations, hangings, etc., all of them come from Taoist concepts. But we know that it has a long history, and it is a comprehensive culture that does not separate Confucianism and Taoism. Because we have lived in the academic thought of Taoism for too long, we have forgotten it and made ourselves too unfamiliar with the content of Taoism. Contrary to common sense.

As for Taoism and the close relationship between Taoism and Chinese culture and education, it is more important. We all only know that the purpose of education in China in the past was generally following the line of Confucianism, Confucianism and Mencius, to establish human ethics and morality, as for self-cultivation, family harmony, Governing the country and educating the world, the so-called fame and academic status, are just its leftovers.However, because post-Confucianism has always regarded Taoism and Buddhism as heresy, conventional concepts, so the contributions of Taoism and Taoism to Chinese education and culture are all obsequious and contradictory, forgetting the reason.Now at this stage, there are finally some senior elders who are still alive and can prove what I said.So I say a word with certainty: China’s past education, and the intellectuals of the Chinese predecessors, their personality and moral education from youth to life, mostly based on Confucianism and Taoism and the spirit of Taoism. What is the reason?This is the power of the two books of Taoism: (1) "Wenchang Emperor Yin Zhiwen". (2) "Taishang Induction Chapter".The content of these two books is tantamount to the precepts of Taoism and Taoism, that is, the educational model of Chinese culture that teaches people to do good and eliminate evil. The rules and regulations, from being a person and doing things to the results of going to heaven and becoming immortals, all take this as the standard.Beginning in the Han and Wei dynasties, and promoted by Baopuzi in the Jin Dynasty, it has been spread for two or three thousand years.The morality it advocates focuses on the cultivation of yin virtues. The so-called yin virtues are the accumulation of yin merits in folk sayings; Yinde.Based on the development of ideas and concepts, in the past, it was believed that the success of Kedi's fame was not only the result of literary knowledge, but also the result of relying on doing good and eliminating evil, and accumulating virtue through insidious work.Therefore, many generations of scholarly families, although there are slogans on the gates of "Monk and Taoism have no fate", but they have a model of family education for their children and grandchildren on their desks. Waiting for books, if a young man who is determined to make progress and wants to study to obtain a subject name does not follow this rule, even though the articles are the best, it is difficult to hope to obtain a subject name.What's more, after entering the examination room, in the gloomy and bleak examination room, in the gloomy and ghostly environment, there are still people yelling "revenge for injustice, revenge for injustice", if you do it yourself It's a pity that not only can't pass the exam, but there are legends of sudden death in the exam booth anytime, anywhere.From our modern point of view, it may be caused by the poor sanitation facilities in the test shed, but it was indeed the most important part in the educational thought of personality and human relations in the past. This is where the idea of ​​"buying the snake and enjoying the glory of the prime minister" comes from.What's more, like Ouyang Xiu, a great Confucian in the Song Dynasty, who did not believe in Buddhism and Buddhism all his life, when he was the chief examiner and graded the papers under the lamp, this shadow would clearly appear. He saw standing in front of him indistinctly. The man in ancient clothes, Zhu Yiren, is the host who supervises the fate of the candidates who are sealed and admitted; when he is patrolling the examination room, he has a very relaxed on-the-spot poem saying: "The spring of writing is eating away at the sound of leaves." At that time, there was a very mysterious poem that was so cautious and fearful that it said: "The article has no proof through the ages, I hope Zhu Yi will nod secretly." This spirit and atmosphere continued in the Chinese cultural and educational circles until the end of the nineteenth century. At the same time, there are Wenchang Pavilion and Kuixing Tower in all provinces, prefectures, and counties, which stand tall side by side with Dongyue Temple, Chenghuang Temple, and Sanguan Dadi Ci Temple.The so-called oppression of Wenchang emperors has been popular since the Tang Dynasty. It is a Shinto that specializes in literary movement. In opera (including Beijing opera, local opera, etc.), before the gong goes on stage, Kui Xing is the first to appear on the stage, and the second is to jump into the official position to attract wealth and treasure.When the drama came to an end, it was Guan Gong who dragged the Yanyue knife to clean the stage. What does such a drama cultural thought mean?There are many articles, which can be worth thinking about.There are too many contents about "Yin Yuan Wen" and "Tai Shang Induction Chapter". People who study educational thoughts may wish to find them as a reference and read them with a very objective mind. They have a good understanding of Chinese culture and world moral education. Reconstruction, I think it is still of considerable value, young students, may wish to try it with extreme patience.Of course, the patience mentioned is also meaningful, otherwise, you may refuse to read it and feel disgusted. The daily "merits and demerits" used by scholars in the past are based on the spirit of these two books.

Here is a side note that the basic philosophy of Chinese culture on human relations and morality is based on the concept of karma from beginning to end.Regardless of Confucianism or Taoism, after all, they have not departed from this range, only the degree of depth.In Confucianism, the elements are relatively light, while in Taoism, the elements are very heavy. Later, Buddhist thoughts were added, and more emphasis was placed on the belief of cause and effect in the three generations. Therefore, in terms of moral cultivation in life, it is different from Confucianism and Taoism. It's easy to cooperate with each other and help each other go hand in hand.But in Sui.After the Tang Dynasty, until now, the concept of cause and effect in the three generations of Buddhism and the concept of cause and effect in traditional Taoism have always been in conflict with each other, and most of them exist in half-believed concepts. What is the reason for this?Because the thoughts of Confucianism and Taoism are based on "a family that accumulates goodness, there must be lingering celebrations. A family that accumulates evil, there must be surviving disasters." It comes from tradition, so the concept of karma is formed, which pays attention to the karma of the three generations of ancestors, parents, and descendants.The concept of cause and effect in the three generations of Buddhism is based on the individual, forming the cause and effect of the past life, present life, and future life. The cause and effect is discussed from the family of the grandparents, father and son, and the three generations. Talking about cause and effect is even more confusing and hard to believe.But regardless of the concepts belonging to Taoism and Buddhism, in the early Han Dynasty, Sima Qian put forward some skepticism in "Bo Yi Biography". However, in other biographies, Yi believed it with certainty.Wang Chong's "Lun Hengru" In his ideological system, he also denied the concept of fate and causality, but at the same time, he also advocated the idea that life should be good. This special knowledge about Eastern moral education involves too much, and it is only here Slightly mentioned for attention.Now what I want to use this to explain is the ideological origin of "Yin Zhi Wen" and "Tai Shang Induction Chapter", as well as the confluence of the concept of karma between Taoism and Buddhism after the Sui and Tang Dynasties, thus forming the Chinese folk , the ideological background of the national moral concept.

Again, Taoism and Taoism, from the Wei and Jin Dynasties to the Tang and Song Dynasties, have an indissoluble bond with Chinese literature just like Buddhism and Zen. Dividing the boundaries, the literature of the Wei and Jin Dynasties contains more elements of Taoism, whether it is poetry or prose.In the literature of the Tang Dynasty, both Taoism and Buddhism are equally important, especially in Tang poetry. As for the Tang Dynasty's notebook novels, there are mostly elements of Taoism.The literature of the Song people seems to be more inclined to Zen, whether it is poetry or prose, this is generally the case.In the operas and novels of the Yuan Dynasty, there were more elements of Buddhism than Taoism, and it was only after the Ming and Qing Dynasties that they gradually embarked on the path of fusion.In order to talk about such a serious topic, and finally to make everyone more relaxed, we might as well cite some materials about Taoism and Taoism in Tang Dynasty poems, so that people can feel a little bit of the artistic conception of immortality after reading.Among the famous scholars and talented scholars in the Tang Dynasty, for example, Li Shangyin’s famous poems contain Taoist emotions everywhere, "Come is empty words, go extinct, the moon is tilted upstairs at five o'clock. Dreams are far away, hard to cry, The book is pushed to the point where the ink is not yet thick. The wax shines on a half-cage of golden emeralds, and the musk deer is slightly embroidered with hibiscus. Liu Lang already hates Pengshan Mountain, and Lianshan Mountain is 10,000 times away. "It's like his "Jinse", " There are fifty strings on the zither for no reason, one string and one pillar to think about the Chinese New Year. Zhuang Shengxiao dreamed of butterflies, Wangdi Chunxin entrusted cuckoos. There are tears in the moon and pearls in the sea, and the sun in Lantian is warm. Jade smokes. This feeling can be regarded as a memory, but it was accidental at that time. "Liu Lang, Pengshan, Zhuangsheng Dream Butterfly, Wangdituo Rhododendron, Canghaizhulei, Lantian Nuanyu, etc., all of which he used are allusions related to Taoism and Taoism, without such cultivation, artistic conception and emotion. This is more like Wang Wei's poem with Taoist artistic conception, "Accumulated rain, empty forest, fireworks late, steamed pears, cooked millets, and Dongkou, deserted paddy fields, white mandarin ducks, yin and summer trees, singing orioles. Xi in the mountains. Watching Chaomo quietly, Matsushita Qingzhai folds dew sunflowers. Ye Lao competes with others for a seat, why are seagulls more suspicious." Each has its own flavor.As for the poems of famous monks and Taoist priests in the Tang Dynasty, there are many good works, because they are generally limited to the prejudice and prejudice of the poetic style, so they easily ignore the past. It's better to put your ears into the mountains, because you will never worry about killing people." "The incense seal in front of the Buddha was burned in the morning, and the golden tin was the door to illuminate the loneliness. The boy didn't know the teacher's disease, so he told the wind to break the good plantain." "It seems The crane is like a cloud, not worrying about family and country or poverty. It is planned to lie on the pillow and lie high on the sun, and sell it to the world's honorable people." "The sail force splits the waves of the sea, and the horse's hoof breaks the chaotic mountains. Fame and fame are stronger than wine, drunk It makes people's hearts stay awake." Wait, it's all in a chaotic life, a cool and tranquilizer that you take occasionally can be very helpful for self-cultivation.As far as Pei Hang's encounter with immortals in Tang Dynasty's notebook novels, and the fairy tales of Yunying's dripping marriage, adding to the fantasies and stories of many immortals in later generations, they are all the vitality given to Chinese literature by Taoism and Taoism, and there is no decadence or decline. , gray mood.The works of famous poets in the Song Dynasty, such as Su Dongpo, Wang Anshi, Huang Shangu, etc., are inseparable from the thoughts of Taoism and Buddhism. What year is this eve? I want to ride the wind to go back, lest Qionglou Yuyu, the heights are too cold! Dance to find out the shadows, how is it like being in the world! Farewell to the time? People have sorrows and joys, and the moon has cloudy and sunny waxes and wanes. This matter is difficult in ancient times! I hope that people will live a long time, and the cicadas will be together for thousands of miles." The green ox has left the yoke for a long time, and the white crane is here to visit the descendants." There are many such sentences. If you want to study Taoism and Chinese literature, there are many articles in it, and you must not let them go.