Chapter 30 moralist

In 1279, the Yuan army and the remnant fleet of the Southern Song Dynasty fought at Yashan in the south of Xinhui, Guangdong.In the end, the Yuan army was encircled, and the left prime minister of the Song Dynasty, Lu Xiufu, carried the Emperor Bing he had set up—a 7-year-old child—to the sea to die, and the Song Dynasty died.Not only was this a day that made many lonely ministers cry bitterly, but the epoch-making year of 1279 also left a sad page in the history of Chinese culture.Generally speaking, China's urban material culture reached its climax by leaps and bounds during the Song Dynasty, and has not shown such an outstanding posture since then.In terms of science and technology, China's arch bridges, brackets for construction, bulkheads for shipbuilding to create impermeable cabins, compass for navigation, ships with water wheels, gunpowder, three-bow bed crossbow, Zhanyi, water Bells and deep-drilling technology, and most likely steel-making furnaces and water-powered textile machines all appeared in the Song Dynasty (pictures of the latter two can be found in the "Nong Shu" in 1313, and it was only 34 years before the end of the Song Dynasty).Looking back on the past, I think the two sentences of Hu Shi's translation of Bai Lun's "Song of Lamenting Greece" very similarly express a similar emotion we have towards the Zhao and Song Dynasties.This is:

Why is this generally good situation not continuing?We cannot put the blame entirely on ethnic minorities.The damage to China during the Liao, Jin, and Yuan wars was not deep.As soon as the war stopped, we also devoted ourselves to construction.If they did not open up the situation, the Ming and Qing dynasties behind them could not maintain the high level of progress since the Tang and Song Dynasties. Such a huge question itself is abstract, and of course there are various explanations from various schools of thought.For example, the British Sinologist Mark Elvin believes that traditional Chinese agricultural production has many areas for improvement in technology, but after a certain level, labor input is large, and the results of the improvement increase disproportionately. It is only for food. At the same time, China's economy is too large, and it is not easy to make quality improvements.It cannot be said that he is wrong with such an explanation, but it is hard to believe that this has completely answered this huge question.

My explanation can only follow the position of this book on the big history, and put forward two factors that are connected with the context.One is that China's finance cannot be commercialized, so the traditional society cannot enter the stage of commercial legal management.The other is introversion in thinking, using Neo-Confucianism or Taoism as the compass, first creating a restrained social atmosphere. The two are mutually causal, and they both began to appear in the late Northern Song Dynasty. Regarding the commercialization of finance, it has been discussed in the chapter "Wang Anshi's Reform".The most important key is bureaucratic politics, and there is no way to individually and accurately protect the rights and interests of private property.The background is that the system of using a large number of small farmers as soldiers to pay taxes cannot be abolished, and the middle management lacks effective connections.We have neither the financial resources to set up courts everywhere, nor allow localities to create their own systems according to local customs, and the same small people cannot hire lawyers.If there is no distinction between judiciary and administration, county-level bureaucrats are omnipotent, and what they can master is rudimentary criminal law.Where government control is insufficient, it relies on the support of the head of the family in the patriarchal society.This was not only the case in the Song Dynasty, Hai Ruishang, a good official in the 16th century of the Ming Dynasty, clearly wrote in his collection of essays: "Anyone who is suspicious of litigation is better than his brother, rather than his brother; rather than his uncle, he is better than his nephew." Such a judge , before the hearing of the case, he has clearly written his own prejudice, and it can only appear in China.The result is truth and authority, all from the top down.Those who can afford it the most are also those who can afford it the least.Moreover, this kind of system also depends on the uniform and similar environment, and once there is abnormality, the faults and problems cannot be combed.We have already reviewed the tax discounts and Hebuy in the Song Dynasty before, which resulted in the situation that "the money is compared with silk, and the money is twice as much as silk; the money is compared with wheat, and the wheat is twice as much as money".Traditional China has never set up a special commercial court, and it is impossible for commercial capital to continue to accumulate in this environment.Because of the lack of organizational and structural depth, commerce can only roughly maintain the original rural enterprise form.

Therefore, compared with the advantages of modern Western society, such as economic diversification, China focuses on the widespread cultivation of rice and wheat to prepare for famine.If this is the case for a long time, their standard of living cannot be increased, and there is no possibility of universally manufacturing high-end commodities.Wages could neither be raised, nor was it necessary to invent labour-saving machinery.For these reasons, a high degree of division of labor is limited.In the end, the designers of technology are generally craftsmen, not learned experts. I am still talking about the history of the Song Dynasty in this paragraph, and I want to focus more on the rise of Neo Confucianism.But as soon as this topic was brought up, Chinese and foreign scholars thought it was a course of philosophical analysis, and few people paid attention to it as a historical product.

Neo-Confucianism in the Song and Yuan Dynasties was originally called Daoism, and the "Song History" has a "Biography of Daoism".However, the term Taoism was used by people of the time, and it seems to be in the Southern Song Dynasty. In 1183, Zheng Bing, Minister of the Ministry of Officials, mentioned that "modern scholars and bureaucrats have so-called Taoists who deceive the world and steal their names, so they should not be trusted."Chen Jia, the supervisory censor, also said to Emperor Xiaozong Zhao Chun: "My minister Fu saw that there are so-called Taoist scholars in modern scholar-bureaucrats, who say that they are able to be independent, practice is the highest, and be honest and sincere. These are the things that scholars have learned together, and their disciples claim to be able to do it alone.” The most severe target of their attacks was Zhu Xi.

However, Zhu Xi inherited the learning of Cheng Yi in the Northern Song Dynasty. "Tao Xue Zhuan" said: "As far as the Southern Crossing of the Song Dynasty, Zhu Xi of Xin'an obtained the true biography of the Cheng family." The Cheng brothers also learned from Zhou Dunyi. A mysterious figure, Chen Tuan, who is known as the "Huashan Taoist" in the world.Therefore, the above-mentioned people are even more Zhang Zai, because he also admires Er Cheng extremely, and they are all influenced by Chen Tuan. "History of the Song Dynasty" "Yi Yi Zhuan" said that "it is easy to read and easy to read, and you can't release the scroll".Therefore, Neo-Confucianism takes Confucianism as the surface, Buddhism and Taoism as the core, adds a mysterious color between righteousness and sincerity, and is rooted in a kind of universal monism. Even if there is evil, it is all related to the source of learning.

Zhu Xi is a person who is prone to troubles. There are many documents in "Zhu Zi Daquan" that he himself was a magistrate. It can be seen from it that he is a fine person and he handles affairs in an orderly manner. Therefore, Emperor Xiaozong once said: "Zhu Xi's political affairs are impressive."But as soon as he was listed in the temple, he commented on right and wrong.In the early years, Zhu Xi followed his father's behest and advocated refusing to make peace with Jin.Later, he opposed Han Tuozhou's Northern Expedition.However, he is not like Mencius who said "this time is also that time"; instead, he advertises that "the one who restores the rules of speech (before 1162) is right; the one who restores the rules of speech after Qiandao (1173) is evil." , which has turned a technical issue into an ethical issue.In 1188, he remonstrated with Emperor Xiaozong: "Your Majesty has been on the throne for 27 years, and he has followed the rules, and there is no size effect to pay for the holy will." This is already quite abrupt.And he went on to explain that the emperor's lack of achievement was due to insufficient self-cultivation. "Nothing is in the midst of swallows' idleness (the time when there is nothing to do when retreating from the court), the place of emptiness and response to things (when the soul is in contact with the Foreign Affairs Office), where the principles of heaven are not pure, and human desires are not fulfilled."As a result, "one thought of public and private evil is just an opportunity for gain or loss, and the battle is in it."His suggestion is "I hope that from now on, every moment of thought, I will carefully observe it. Is this the law of heaven? Is it human desire?"

This passage fully expresses the general Confucianism's attitude of advocating tranquility and reverence, and also emphasizes the importance of not missing the opportunity to seek goodness immediately when one's thoughts and actions are "about to be sent out" when one's mind is quiet.Its purpose is close to what Zhou Dunyi said, "Those who remain still are sincere, and those who feel and understand are also spiritual."In Zhu Zi's view, this piety induction similar to religious experience can be integrated with the "righteousness and sincerity" mentioned by the university;But Zhu Xi didn't think that this method came from personal experience; he didn't use it as personal advice to the emperor;

From the 12th century to the turn of the 13th century, China was facing a difficult situation: a huge bureaucracy without special expertise could not control an increasingly complex and changing society. Under the full mobilization of long-term budget inflation, the Southern Song Dynasty was already in danger.Especially the financial disorder.Zhu Xi pointed out that these weaknesses are not real.At the same time, his record as a magistrate also proves that the environment needs to break out of stereotypes in order to find suitable solutions to specific problems.He did not emphasize these technical factors, but rather made a fuss in the semi-theological and semi-philosophical field, which produced a lot of bad influence.

Zhou Mi talked about the style of people who worshiped Taoism on the eve of the death of the Song Dynasty: "Those who have false names to deceive the world can really brag about their lives. Those who manage wealth are aimed at amassing; Those who read and write are playing with things and losing their ambitions; those who pay attention to political affairs are vulgar officials. They read Zhisishu, Jinsilu, Tongshu, Taiji Diagrams, Dongximing, Quotations and so on." The achievements of these people are "their To be the prefect and supervisor, you must build an academy to set up a shrine to the sages, or publish annotated quotations from the Four Books Yan Series... If there is any discussion about him and his party, he must be ridiculed as a villain." Finally, "later in the Chunhu period (Du Zong Xianchun, Emperor Gong Dehu, including the ten years before the Yuan army entered Lin'an), every time they saw the so-called high-ranking officials and court scholars, they would be ashamed of the winter, poor clothes and poor food, high scarves and broken shoes, and people would know that they were gentlemen who learned Taoism."

In addition, the design of the traditional political system adopts a framework, and the truth is from top to bottom. The emperor's face is "Tian Yan", and his orders are "imperial decree".What Zhu Xizhi proposed concerns the hub of the synthesis of the entire Confucian classics.It can be seen in his memorials, and also heard in the sutra banquet (the history of reading and interpreting scriptures in front of the emperor's seat) where he gave lectures.The court could not take it lightly.If it is not all supported, it must be completely denied, thus leaving a tool for crony struggle.Zhu Zi served in four dynasties: Gaozong Zhaogou, Xiaozong Zhaochun, Guangzong Zhaochun and Ningzong Zhaokuo.In every dynasty, he had disputes of all sizes, and he either offended the emperor or insulted important ministers.So after he was called, he was sent abroad again, and he was the minister of literature in front of the palace and then the host of the temple.In the end, he offended Han Tuozhou in the Ningzong Dynasty, was dismissed from his post, and died in 1200.Daoism was once denounced as "false learning" by Zhao Song government.However, in 1224, Zhao Yun succeeded Ningzong as emperor, and he was the future Lizong.Han Tuozhou died early, and Lizong himself worshiped Zhu Xi's works. He once said: "I hate not being at the same time as it." So he gave Zhu Xi the grand master posthumously, and worshiped the Confucius Temple with Zhou Dunyi and Zhang Zai.Hereafter, the Four Books annotated by Zhu Xi are also the standard for selecting scholars in the past dynasties, and he can also be said to follow the orthodoxy of Confucianism. Neo-Confucianism has been studied by modern scholars.The theories of Zhou Cheng, Zhu Zhang, and Zhang Zi go in and out of the metaphysical and the metaphysical, and Zhang Zai's so-called emptiness has no form, and qi has gathering and dispersing.Because the narrative involves philosophy and is close to each person's outlook on life, we cannot say whether it is right or wrong.Moreover, it has convinced most Chinese scholars for several centuries that Confucian ethics not only have the support of natural laws, but are themselves natural laws. We cannot but appreciate its enormous power.However, at the end of the 20th century, we are liquidating the traditional political design, that is, a system that is mainly based on the legal system and the economy must first be formed with abstract formulas, and the methods given to the lower by the upper-level organizations must be mutually compatible with this design. The ideological system inside and outside is thoroughly criticized. Neo-Confucianism or Taoism mixed ethics with physical principles and psychological principles, and was still indistinguishable from European thought circles around 1200.However, around 1600, Europe had clearly distinguished the principles of ethics and physics (this is what Joseph Needham called Natural Law different from the Law of Nature), while in China the two are still confused.Neo-Confucianism or Taoism, with Zhu Xi as the general representative, does not admit that there are things in the universe that are beyond their power and cannot be explained.In chapters 11 to 13 of Feng Youlan's "History of Chinese Philosophy", 198 quotations from the above-mentioned people are excerpted, each of which is in a positive tone, as if all the knowledge that human beings should have is within their exact grasp.This attitude has undoubtedly been influenced by the omnipotence of the imperial power of the day (see the chapter "Why Reformers Are Bookworms"), that is, it has gone against the spirit of science.For example, many things mentioned by Neo-Confucians or Taoists (abstract things and concrete things are confused), can only be confirmed by each other in an artistic way, and cannot be proved by numbers.As a result, as Needham said, Zhu Xi produced an Einstein-type view of the universe before producing a Newton-type view of the universe. (Here we can also promote what Francis Bacon said that modern science is the result of constant doubts about Per-sistent Disbelif.) However, this book points out that China’s Second Empire (Sui, Tang and Song Dynasties) showed an open character, and the Third Empire (Ming and Qing) showed a kind of restraint. At the same time, the cultural trend has begun to be introverted. It has begun in Neo-Confucianism or Taoism. Zhou Dunyi once served as a middle- and lower-level magistrate in the Shenzong era of the Northern Song Dynasty. He was close to Lu Gongzhu and Zhao Bian, and was recommended by them.The two Cheng brothers both served in court, and Cheng Hao and Wang Anshi were expelled due to verbal conflicts.Cheng Yi disagreed with Su Shi and was exiled, and was deprived of office after his death.Zhang Zai also offended Wang Anshi first, and then returned ill after he disagreed with You Siyili.Zhu Xizhi was not tolerated by the Southern Song court, as mentioned above.Even Lu Jiuyuan, who was at the same time as him (people at the time did not regard him as a Taoist, and his biography was only recorded in "The Biography of Scholars" in "Song History"), was also impeached by Shizhong because of the matter.At first glance, it seems that their thoughts should represent an opposition trend in politics, which may spark a new trend of thought.But in fact, precisely because Zhao Song could not find a specific solution between political economy and the legal system to open up a way out, these leaders in the ideological world turned to themselves and hoped to enhance morality.For example, their so-called tranquility, respect, and independence, as well as the above-mentioned "every thought must be carefully observed", are all in the traditional way of "restraining oneself and returning to ritual". First, they are introverted, and second, they use their commentary It is omnipotent, thus creating an orthodox atmosphere.That is to say, Zhu Zi’s knowledge of Dao is still nothing more than external things to “prove” his own belief in reciting poems and books in the past, without the determination to pursue the truth, and has no substance with Lu Jiuyuan’s so-called “Six Classics Annotate me, I annotate the Six Classics” difference.Although they worshiped Confucius and Mencius, Confucius and Mencius, especially Confucius, paid attention to practical actions, and did not form their words and deeds into a ideological system, thinking that this is the source of all truths. Zhou Cheng, Zhu Zhang's academic thinking is longer than discipline and shorter than creativity.Because the purpose is the "defense" advocated by Han Yu, so we have to take a defensive position.Zhang Zai said: "My way is self-sufficient, why do I ask for it?" It already shows his conservative character. What Cheng Hao is afraid of is also "the hazelnut of the right way, and the obstruction of the sage", which still shows that he cannot take the initiative.Therefore, although they form a great ideological net, there are no new approaches and new clues for people to develop.Zhu Xi gathered the great achievements of various schools, and he constituted human desires as a negative factor in opposition to the principles of heaven, which is most noteworthy.Strictly speaking, human desires are opposed to natural laws (he himself knew that there was something wrong with this, so he added a note to the "food and sex" section: "Sweet food and pleasure are not sex, and its' nature Then', eating and sex solidifies the nature of the law of nature, and this is also the case. Gaozi didn't know the so-called 'rules of the sky', but seeing that he eats and looks happy, it is called nature." This kind of explanation is far-fetched and hesitant. Contradictions between the opposing concepts mentioned above).Regardless of whether it is correct or not, the opposition of human desires and natural principles not only shows the thick lines of ideology, but also reveals the distinction between the best and the worst, and the gentleman and the villain.So it is no wonder that the legal system could not be implemented that day.When Zhu Xi was a local official, he followed the principle of "the son of man does not accumulate personal wealth". It is no wonder that Cheng Yi sent Dengwen Guyuan to be sentenced in 1086, but he could not resign.His reason is: "It is not the courtesy of an employer to talk about morality and lead a lawsuit." Here, he has inadvertently expressed that the judiciary is inferior to the lecturer, and the two may conflict with each other. We cannot think that Zhou Cheng, Zhu and Zhang were responsible for the fall of the Song Dynasty. Their thinking narrowly emphasized the distinction between gentlemen and villains, and obliterated personal self-interest, but strengthened the foundation for future autocratic imperial power. Its influence reached hundreds of people. year.Today's civil law in China has not fully developed, and there is still a tendency to replace law with moral concepts, and it cannot be unrelated to Song Confucianism.