Chapter 9 Chinese Intellectuals-2

Four In the Sui and Tang Dynasties, on the one hand, they were still the first family members, and on the other hand, they were still the eminent monks in the temples, who came to be the highest representatives of the intellectual circles.Although Han and Tang were also great eras of unity and prosperity, the spirit and artistic conception of the intellectuals in the Tang Dynasty were obviously different from those in the Western Han Dynasty.The intellectuals of the Western Han Dynasty came from the countryside and were uprooted alone.The Tang Dynasty came from the family, and they all had aristocratic air.Politically and socially, their families can be traced back to five or six hundred years from the Eastern Han Dynasty, and nearly one hundred years ago. Endless hairpin tassels and coronets and titles of glory.Moreover, these positions do not rely on the privileges given by the government, like the ancient feudal nobles, and are hereditary according to law.They continue to receive this honor based on their own family's etiquette, the cultivation of their children, and each generation's own performance in politics, society, academics, literature and art, personality and integrity, and career achievements.Of course, there are many special qualifications, but for them, they always feel that this is not an external identity, but an inner influence.Therefore, the pride of family status can sometimes surpass the nobles of ancient times.The emperor's family, in this regard, is far inferior to many families.This little self-esteem of family background alone made the intellectuals of the Tang Dynasty very different from the Western Han Dynasty, and also different from those below the Eastern Han Dynasty.

Celebrities in the Eastern Han Dynasty used their reputation as social friends to compete with the court's Juelu.Below the Wei and Jin Dynasties, they used the power transfer to consolidate their family status.At that time, in the heart of the family, I couldn't help feeling ashamed from time to time.Now family status has been passed on for a long time, self-esteem has covered up self-ashamedness, and the mutual respect between family status is stronger than the lonely status of celebrities in the Eastern Han Dynasty.This is not only felt by the family itself, but also by the royal family.At that time, the royal family had a kind of inferiority complex about family transfer, which was unavoidable even in the majestic and outstanding Emperor Taizong of Tang Dynasty.He has repeatedly quarreled with others about the injustice established by the society at that time.He has repeatedly discussed feudalism.Once, all the heroes were officially ordered to be the hereditary governor, but Changsun Wuji and other 14 people refuted it with righteousness.This is not only Tang Taizong's admiration for the ancient good name, but in Tang Taizong's heart, he also felt that family status has its external and objective dignity.He intuitively felt that the Li family was not alone in the crowd, so he repeatedly thought of feudalism.We can also say that at that time, only after some feudal system of rectification and definition could the royal family of the Li family be truly higher than the group of great families respected by the world.This situation is naturally different from Han Gaozu.

Emperor Gaozu of the Han Dynasty rose to become emperor in the civilian society. At that time, he argued that he had received the destiny, and he also claimed to be favored by the destiny.The Tang Dynasty arose in a patriarchal society, so it only wanted to adjust the power of the patriarchal power to its political system.At that time, the heroes were also modest.Changsun Wuji's argument is based on the spirit of traditional Chinese culture, saying that the major principle of politics is to seek virtue and co-govern.What is the crime of the people?If they still take the blame for their incompetence, wouldn't they invite their own execution?What an enlightened opinion!Even though we can say that family status was a disguised form of neo-feudalism at that time, we cannot say that all people in family status had feudal consciousness at that time.Even in the Spring and Autumn Period, those famous Qingxian doctors, as mentioned above, can no longer be said to have only feudal consciousness.Therefore, the emerging families below the Eastern Han Dynasty often held a passive and closed attitude towards politics.In the Tang Dynasty, however, family status took an active and cooperative attitude towards political transition.They don't feel that the government will weaken their family status. They would rather support the government and support the government.This is a kind of generosity, because the family background at that time was brewed from society, not from politics.Therefore, in politics, they often hold a leading posture.They often feel that they are supporting the government rather than relying on it.

Therefore, the politics of the Western Han Dynasty were simple and rigorous, best manifested in the local administration and subordinate ministries.The politics of the Tang Dynasty, on the other hand, was magnificent and grand, best manifested in the central government and higher-level bureaucrats.Intellectuals in the Tang Dynasty, under the influence of their family status, have long been familiar with the world and political affairs.Therefore, as soon as they come out to take on major tasks, they are all energetic and talented, capable of hard work like the Western Han Dynasty, and far superior to the grandeur of the situation.The Western Han Dynasty only had many virtuous local governors, but no decent prime ministers and senior bureaucrats. This level is not comparable to that of the Tang Dynasty.Intellectuals in the Tang Dynasty liked to make big discussions, make big plans, put on big scenes, and have big organizations.The Han people are thick, and the people of the Tang Dynasty are big.The Han people are native, and the Tang people are rich.That is because of their different origins, different backgrounds, and different minds, so they behave differently in politics and society.

However, the intellectuals of the Tang Dynasty made a greater contribution to Chinese history and culture, not in politics, but in religion.To examine and measure the intellectuals of the Tang Dynasty, one should also focus on a generation of Buddhist disciples.Everyone knows it like a grand prize, so don't mention it.What's more important are the three sects of Tiantai, Zen and Huayan.We can say that they have created and completed the new Buddhism under the Chinese cultural tradition.In particular, the Zen sect from the sixth patriarch Huineng onwards can be regarded as an obvious religious revolution in terms of spirit and attitude. "If I meet the Tathagata, I will beat him to death with a stick and eat him with a dog", what kind of words are that!It was regarded as crazy Zen in later generations, but at that time, it had to have a great understanding and courage to dare to say this.The Chinese Buddhists below Wei and Jin prove that Chinese intellectuals are not devoid of religious zeal in their hearts.But the rare one, in his religious zeal, still does not lose his clear reason.And the two can be reconciled properly, and they can go side by side.If we break it down in detail, the monks of the Six Dynasties were more enthusiastic than rational.In the Sui and Tang Dynasties, reason was more important than enthusiasm.But if there is no enthusiasm behind his rationality, he can't say "beat the Tathagata to death and let the dogs eat it".

If we read the history of Western religions, especially the period of intolerable long-term bloodshed following the Martin Luther Religious Revolution, and look back at China, the earth-shattering and earth-shattering Great Religious Revolution was carried out easily and slipperily only in the lonely sky and tranquility. What a great achievement!In the era of the most active spirit in the Chinese intellectual circles, the first is to promote the philosophers of the Warring States period, and the second is the turn of the Zen masters of the Tang Dynasty.That is another new model of Chinese intellectuals, worthy of careful study and respect by future generations.Until the Song Dynasty people still said: "Confucianism is indifferent, and heroes are mostly taken away by Fangwai." This is not bad.The first-class heroes of the Tang Dynasty all entered the Zen temple.Their cultural and ideological contributions are much more profound and greater than the achievements of their contemporaries in the fields of politics, literature and art.If we take a closer look at the speeches and stories of the patriarchs of Zen, we can say that they are really worthy of the word "hero".The intellectuals of the Tang Dynasty were all heroic.

If we really understand the power of Buddhism in the Tang Dynasty, and look back at Han Yu, he compares himself to Mencius, speaks out and rejects Buddhism, and he is really a hero of Confucianism.Those should be measured and appreciated in terms of their spirit.Scholars in the Warring States Period had a heroic spirit, and the Three Kingdoms had a heroic spirit. Those were heroes in troubled times, and the Tang Dynasty was a hero in prosperous times.It is difficult to recognize the heroes of the prosperous age, but it is even more difficult to recognize the heroes hidden in the monk's temple in the deep mountains.Huineng, Mazu and the like are really unworldly heroes.Without them, the second half of Chinese history will inevitably be out of shape.Those people have the power to decide history, but they themselves hide in the mountain gate.

In the second half of the Tang Dynasty, Jinshi gained power outside of family status and Zen temples.A family member in the early Tang Dynasty opposed feudalism while promoting the public examination system.Everyone knows that the nine-rank Zhongzheng system in the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties was a family talisman, but it was discarded when the family became powerful.Some people say that Tang Taizong once said that "all the heroes in the world are in the net", which is taken for granted by future generations. They do not understand the traditional Chinese political spirit, nor do they understand the traditional humanistic views of Chinese intellectuals.If one or two unfounded words are used to talk about the past and present, and to summarize history, the real history can only be shelved.

In the political history of the Jinshi system, the opening of the regime and the retreat of family power have attracted many new intellectuals to join the government.Those people did not come from a family background, they did not understand politics beforehand, and they had not been cultivated in traditional humanities.It's not like the scholars of the Han Dynasty who lived a simple life of half-farming and half-study in the countryside.Many of them are not formally educated in state government schools.Some of them sent food in monk temples to prepare for exams.Wang Bo's post-dinner clock is just one of them.

At that time, the examination items also focused on pomp and prose, and the most important thing was to read a "Selected Works", so it was said: "The anthology is bad, but the scholar is half. self-esteem.They have to submit their resumes and check their identities in advance.Before the exam, bring your own grease, candles, water and charcoal, spread the table utensils at the court, carry them on your shoulders, wait for the roll call, squeeze into the reed shed, and lay the straw mat on the floor.They also have to go to the door of dignitaries and dignitaries to gain reputation.Once one is on the gold list, one feels rich and honor is in sight, and one cannot help but throw a big banquet, recruit prostitutes and drink, and cheer wildly.Such a talented person, when he takes power, he still only remembers the old habit of "looking for poems on the back of a donkey in Baqiao Fengxue", and he is considered a good Jinshi.Therefore, the frivolity of Jinshi became a big evil in the society and politics of the late Tang Dynasty.

They have the inferiority complex of the Western Han people, but not the simplicity of the Western Han people.There is the momentum of the Eastern Han people to form cliques and friends, instead of honoring fame and integrity like the Eastern Han people.They had the opportunity to be rich and honored like the children of the lower family in the Southern and Northern Dynasties, but they did not have the etiquette and political knowledge of the children of the family.There is a dream like the Warring States traveler climbing the blue sky, but he does not have the courage of the Warring States traveler to despise adults and despise princes.They have yellow scrolls and green lanterns, and have tasted the life of monks, but they do not have the religious spirit and philosophical thoughts of monks.This trend, passed down directly, has indeed caused a great decline in the Chinese intellectual circles.The imperial examination system, as far as the political system is concerned, is understandable, but its abuses are really worthy of criticism.In the Tang Dynasty, there were constant opposition to this system, and constant plans to change it.But generally speaking, this system always seeks to open up the regime and select talented people.It could not be changed for a while, and the government of the Tang Dynasty was ruined in the hands of this generation of frivolous Jinshi. Fives Since the Northern Song Dynasty, family status no longer exists, monk temples have also declined, and talents cannot be recruited.The new religion of Zen is nothing more than calling people back, returning from the real to the vulgar.But Jinshi is frivolous, and finally can't take on the world's major events.Under such circumstances, it is necessary to wait for the intellectuals of the Northern Song Dynasty to open up new trends and search for new life.Lectures in the academy were brewed from this.They want to officially transfer the religious spirit in the monastery to the real society.It is necessary to formally transform the highest transcendental concept of purity, extinction, and ultimate Nirvana into the old ideal of the Chinese traditional humanistic center of self-cultivation, family harmony, state governance, and world peace.The patriarchs of Zen in the Tang Dynasty only reinvented themselves in terms of Buddhist teachings, and first opened the way for the people of Song Dynasty.As for officially leaving the monastery and going back into the circle of political, social and real life, we still have to not give up the religious enthusiasm for caring for the masses, and we must completely destroy their ideas in theory and establish ours. Han Chiqi, that is Song Confucianism's current first job.That is a difficult enough, deep enough work! Secondly, they wanted social freedom education to replace family status education in the Northern and Southern Dynasties, Sui, and Tang Dynasties, and at the same time urged the government to build schools.For a while, academies and schools around the world were surging.But what is important is not the raising of funds, the construction of buildings, or the purchase of books.What is more important is the teachers, who must be role models in personality, nurture in demeanor, and provide specific leadership in academic thinking.In this way, public schools were not as good as academies, and private lectures became a major movement in the Song Dynasty.Those private individuals cannot rely on the government to avoid being restrained and bureaucratized.The society does not have the assistance of the great aristocrats and the largest financial resources, and they have to break away from religious forms. Unlike monks in temples, they can gather together at one call, and they have the joint support of the government and the general public.Focusing on culture, they always have an anti-government attitude towards the top, and take the path of anti-religion towards the bottom. It is a very difficult thing to be in the cracks. At that time, the examination system continued to exist and continued to develop. A generation of intellectuals still devoted themselves to studying poetry and Fu, and became officials.Noble despise those, but still want to go into the monk's temple to seek the ultimate life.Confucianists in the Song Dynasty were enemies from all directions, and they wanted to lead people on a new path amidst the temptation of politics and religion.They reject Buddhism, but they still have the spirit of sacrifice that Buddhism can save all sentient beings.They resist politics, but they still have to step into politics by themselves to fulfill their great ambition of governing the country and bringing peace to the world.When Fan Zhongyan was a scholar, he took the world as his own responsibility, "Being good at worrying about the world first, and then enjoying the world's joy." He is the standard figure who opened up the new atmosphere of this era.They always want to use new politics to complete the new religion, which is obviously the resurrection of the spirit of Confucianism in the Warring States Period. But the social background forced them to be a bit like the Eastern Han Dynasty. They relied on the social groups of scholars and wanted to put the famous teachers of the society above the court officials.It also makes them have some monks from the Wei and Jin Dynasties. The emperor should also learn Taoism and morality, so the emperor should also be our student.Ministers salute their rulers, and students salute their masters.Wang Jinggong and Cheng Yichuan were lecturers at the Sutra banquet, and they both fought hard for this, asking the emperor to bow his head formally to respect the teacher.They admire the simplicity of the Western Han Dynasty, but look down on the inferiority attitude of the Western Han people.They also refused to deify Confucius like the Western Han Dynasty.They want to have a high position and surpass the political power of the emperor's government, but they have no family background, and they are unwilling to adopt the Buddhist attitude of being out of the world, you are for you, I am for me, and strictly separate from politics.On the other hand, they just want to convince everyone with the word "reason" of the Humanities Center.The Western Han Dynasty was simple, the Eastern Han Dynasty was noble, the people of the Tang Dynasty were generous, and the people of the Song Dynasty were serious.Their over-seriousness made future generations think of their inhumanity when they heard Mr. Daoxue addressing them.But they had their spirit after all, and from then until the Qing Dynasty, seven or eight hundred years, China's politics and society depended on this spirit after all. The style of honoring scholars in all dynasties in China is the most authored, before the Eastern Han Dynasty, followed by the Northern Song Dynasty.Emperor Guangwu revived the Han industry with his students, and for a while, his classmates followed the founding of the country.In the Northern Song Dynasty, after the Five Dynasties, the monarchs and ministers were domineering, and Song Taizu also wore a yellow robe as a soldier.And ascension to the throne of the Son of Heaven, that is to say, the military power was dismissed, and he tried his best to promote the style of respecting scholars.However, the style of scholars in the Eastern Han Dynasty and the Northern Song Dynasty did not value respect for Wang Dayi.In the Eastern Han Dynasty, there was a party prison, while in the Northern Song Dynasty, there were two new policies in Qingli and Xining, both of which were opposed by the crowd, resulting in chaos and even the collapse of the country.Zhou Lianxi advocated New Confucianism with reference to Buddhism, in order to find the joy of Confucius and Yan, and teach the two Cheng brothers.Confucius told Yan Yuan: "Use it to do it, discard it to hide it, but I and you have a husband." The so-called Kong Yan's happiness in Lianxi is only in his discarding it to hide it.And the second course is to give lectures in the academy and not to be an official.That is to say, although Zhang Hengqu said: "Set up a heart for the heaven and earth, establish a life for the people, inherit the unique learning for the sages, and create peace for all generations", he used this as a call.However, the so-called unique knowledge of going to the sages is also recommended to retire in the field, not to guide nobles in the court.In the Southern Song Dynasty, Zhu Zi succeeded him, and he also retired from Yanping County to seek a temple salary and focused on studying in the field.But his style of study was widely used in the Yuan Dynasty.In Ming Dynasty, the prime minister was abolished, and Fang Xiaoru was condemned by the ten clans. At that time, the morals of the scholars also tended to be in the wild, and the ambitions were not in the court.Yang Ming demoted the Longchang station far away from the imperial court for breaking the law, so he gained enlightenment and preached.His disciples Wang Longxi and Wang Xinzhai, who learned from the two kings, did not take exams, did not become officials, and gave lectures in the field, so they can be their representatives.Gu and Gao Donglin gave lectures, saying that scholars should not stay out of political affairs, and strongly denounced its disadvantages.However, the Ming Dynasty also perished due to the disaster of the Donglin Party.The survivors of the Ming Dynasty were disciples of Gu Tinglin, Huang Lizhou, Wang Chuanshan, and Li Erqu in the early Qing Dynasty. They can be said to have maintained the cultural life of the Chinese nation while the country was subjugated.It can also be described as the lifeblood of our Chinese nation. Confucius inspired it before it, and Lianxi inherited it behind it.Confucius mastered the use of Tibet for advancing and retreating, and held dual-purpose for middle use.On the other hand, Lianxi said that retreating from Tibet was the norm, and changing from advancing to using was a change.This is the general trend of the morality of scholars in China over the past 2,500 years. When Mongolia's violent storm swept into China, the scholar's reasoning did not make sense to them, and they had to rely on religion to deal with the cultural superficial interpretation of the nation.In addition to the revival of Buddhism, a new Taoism, Quanzhenism, emerged in the north.Thanks to the cover of Qiu Changchun's seven real people, thousands of lives in northern China were saved, and the vitality of traditional culture was also extended.At that time, Confucian scholars were considered to be in the company of beggars. The most lenient way was to treat them as monks and Taoists, hiding in a corner of society, unable to predict politics, and unable to occupy the leading position in the center of society.Intellectuals at that time, under such circumstances, achieved unexpected development.Poetry, opera, novels, art, calligraphy and painting, garden construction, medicine, arithmetic, calendar, engineering, water conservancy, and machinery manufacturing are all advancing in different ways.Some went to the Yamen to work as secretaries and copywriters, and some were engaged in field peddling and changed to production.Chinese society in the Yuan Dynasty really embarked on a transformation.If the Mongolian regime can be maintained for a long time, China may also develop into a polygonal sharp radiation like the West, and may be able to separate religion, literature, art, politics, and economy.Fortunately, in less than a hundred years, the Mongolian regime collapsed, and the torrent of national revolution called the Chinese to restore Han and Tang clothes.So the scholars of the Ming Dynasty returned to the old track of Tang and Song. The acting scholars of the Ming Dynasty still have the style of the Song Dynasty, but the Ming Dynasty is different from the Song Dynasty after all.The first is the material resources of the society, and the second is the inequality of the rich and the poor in the society since the Yuan Dynasty. Although it is not like the family status of the Northern and Southern Dynasties, Sui, and Tang, the scholars' families in the Ming Dynasty are much richer than those in the Song Dynasty.Especially in the south of the Yangtze River, there are groups of servants in the family, one hundred and two hundred is not surprising.The imperial examination system has changed again, 10% Jinshi, (this is not the Jinshi of the Tang and Song Dynasties, but the Jinshi of the Tang and Song Dynasties, just like the Juren of the Ming Dynasty.) The case is not a petty official, and they become politically proud.Therefore, the intellectuals of the Ming Dynasty were also more heroic, and they were more like the Tang Dynasty than the Song Dynasty.Affected the academic atmosphere at that time.If Zhu Hui'an is compared with Huiyuan and Zhu Daosheng in the Shi family, then Wang Yangming is the ancestor of the sect, Huineng and Mazu.Longxi and Taizhou under the Yangming Gate are more bold and unrestrained.All over the country, there are podiums everywhere, men, women, old and young, woodcutters and potters, traffickers and pawns, and illiterate people, they gather regularly and listen to lectures.A word can turn iron into gold, everyone is a saint.They don't lean upward, take the political line, and talk about governing the country and the world.But he leans downward, takes the social line, and focuses on honesty and sincerity.The study of conscience is originally a set of popular philosophy and common people's philosophy.Taizhou and Longxi have gone one step further and devoted themselves to social activities, which is something to be aware of.That is another new form of traditional Chinese intellectuals. Perhaps the Mohists of the Warring States Period had such a gesture.Confucianism officially took this path, and it has to be said that Wang Xueliang started in the Ming Dynasty.Tracing upwards, Lu Xiangshan in the Southern Song Dynasty has already seen this clue.This style does not come from Confucianism, but actually from Shishi.It dilutes the political nature of the Confucian tradition and infiltrates the social nature of the Buddhist tradition.This turn deserves special mention.But in this style, Huineng and Mazu completed the religious revolution in the lecture halls of Zen temples, which is a negative article, and it is easy to do well.Now if you want to engage in social education and turn it into a positive article, but still use the old style of Zen, there will inevitably be disadvantages.The first thing that is wrong is the intellectuals themselves.So Li Zhuowu and the like, who became crazy monsters and suffered severe criticism, indeed had a lot of bad influence at that time.But this road is always a new road.Chinese society since the Tang Dynasty was different from the Warring States period, and the influence of the downward trend was more important than the upward trend.The lectures in Taizhou and Longxi have many different trends, if we can continue to move forward in this spirit, we will surely be able to walk out a broad road.It is a pity that no one has continued to follow this path since the Ming Dynasty. After the middle of the Ming Dynasty, the eight-part essay in the imperial examination system began, which was a dead end, and could ruin the academic life of the next three or four hundred years.Because of the malpractice of the Kuang Zen School of Conscience, it aroused Donglin's lectures, and because of the perniciousness of stereotyped essays, it aroused the textual research school of erudite poetry in the Ming and Qing Dynasties.The name of Erudite Hongci was advocated by the Qing government.But those late Ming elders, even if they don't get this badge, they really deserve it.The Chinese style of study, in the Eastern Han Dynasty and in the Song Dynasty, all had the intention of putting academics above politics, and Donglin inherited this tradition.Buddhism in the Southern and Northern Dynasties, Sui and Tang Dynasties used religion to avoid politics.The Taizhou and Longxi branches of the Conscience School are affected by this legacy. China is a big country with a vast land and many people. It is easier and more effective to influence politics from the lower class than to influence society from the upper class. At least it should be done first.An ideal society is not easy to come into being when the upper class is politically shaken.Although Donglin gave lectures in the field, their spirit was closer to the traditional upward leaning since the Warring States period, and they did not forget politics.However, the Eastern Han Dynasty Party Gu, the Song Dynasty Puppet School, and the Late Ming Party Society finally failed to reverse the political darkness.Like the Warring States Period, the Western Han Dynasty, and the family status of the Tang Dynasty, intellectuals directly participated in politics and took control of the actual political power, which made the fortune prosperous. The shortcoming of the Han Dynasty was that intellectuals in civilian society were suddenly dwarfed by the establishment of a unified regime, and they inevitably had a sense of inferiority in their inner cowardice.The confrontation situation at that time was the confrontation between the royal family (including foreign relatives and eunuchs) and intellectuals.In the Tang Dynasty, the Niu Li party struggle was a competition between family status and imperial examinations.In the Song and late Ming Dynasties, there was no family background, but it was the confrontation between the academy lecturers and the imperial examinations.In other words, the real political power of the Tang, Song, and Ming dynasties was actually in the hands of intellectuals in civilian society.Among the intellectuals in civilian society, they are divided into families.One group is true scholars who follow the traditional spirit and hope to promote society through politics.The other faction is the fake scholars who focus on relying on the imperial examination system to sneak into the political circle and only try to grab titles.Under this confrontation, fake scholars can use all means to win, while real scholars have another set of traditional undercurrents of being noble and not being princes, and turn their backs to the lower classes of society to exert their strength.This tendency existed in the Eastern Han, Song, and Ming dynasties.Only the family background of the Tang Dynasty had created a layer of barriers between itself and the lower classes of society, and if it failed, it would be nothing.The other way is to retreat and hide in a Buddhist temple.Buddhism deteriorated in the Yuan Dynasty, and the Quanzhen religion was widely popular in the north, which is also the reason. To sum it up, intellectuals from the Eastern Han Dynasty onwards hid in family houses, from the Northern and Southern Dynasties onwards they hid in Buddhist temples, and from the Song and Ming Dynasties on in academies.The academy has the least real power, so Cai Jing, Han Wuzhou, Zhang Juzheng, and Wei Zhongzi can easily destroy them.But those who destroy intellectuals must rely on another group of intellectuals.This is because after the Tang Dynasty, the imperial examination system was implemented, and the political power was opened up rapidly, and the educational institutions for cultivating talents could not keep pace.If this is the case, the government will be opened up, and the fake scholars will be seduced to hinder the ideal future of the real scholars.If we understand this major trend, the Taizhou and Longxi factions can complement each other with Donglin Fushe.If the current intellectuals can continue to follow the late Ming Dynasty, still follow these two roads, stand in the middle of the road, and can advance or retreat, they can still generate considerable power in the political society.Unfortunately, the Manchu Qing regime blocked both of these roads. six The new trend of academic style in the Qing Dynasty was concentrated in the Erudite School.They paid attention to discovering practical knowledge in past historical documents, but neglected to cultivate living people in the current real society.The Manchu Qing regime continued to suppress, and the spirit of teaching in the academies could hardly be revived, and the undercurrent of anti-government was still hidden in the hearts of the Erudite School.The elders of the late Ming Dynasty still pay attention to all political and social problems, seek to diagnose and diagnose diseases in the past history, formulate new plans, and look forward to the prosperity of the king.Unfortunately, their ideal time did not appear for a long time, and gradually this hope dimmed, and the Erudite School turned to the research of ancient scriptures as their object.Collation, exegesis, and textual research are all about seeking truth from facts.But this fact is no longer a matter of real life, but only turning to the pile of old papers to live as a silverfish.What they are labeling is anti-Song Zunhan.However, Confucianism in the Han Dynasty focused on mastering the classics and making use of them, deifying Confucius in order to strive for political leadership.Qing Confucianism did not have such a meeting.The court decrees interpreted the ancient scriptures according to Song Confucianism.Qing Confucianism suppressed Song Confucianism in terms of collation, exegesis, and textual research.Anti-Song is tantamount to anti-government, anti-law, but its capabilities also stop here.Their anti-government has avoided real politics. At most, they can't learn from Ah Shi, but they can't learn from words.Their orthodox learning is only in collation, exegesis, and textual research, and not in the current specific matters of governing the country and the world. In the past, the Tai students of the Eastern Han Dynasty used clear discussions to oppose the study of chapters and sentences of the government doctoral school at that time.Now Qing Confucianism, on the other hand, has turned to the study of Han doctor's chapters and sentences to oppose the imperial court's imperial examination merits.Their academic spirit is actually somewhat similar to that of the Yuan Dynasty. They are all digging into the corner, going to a corner, away from life, and escaping from the real center of political society.People in recent times admire the Qing Confucian scholarly method and believe that it is close to the spirit of Western science, but they have strayed away from the old path of traditional Chinese intellectuals.I underestimate the practical life of politics, society, history, religion, etc., and prefer purely written books.In other words, it is separated from the center of humanities, and is limited to the books in the pile of old papers, and it is academic for the sake of academics.They don't want to be photographs and teachers, they don't think about living people, they don't care about the community of people, they only focus on a few distant and ancient books, and they really become some scholars and scholars.They don't pay attention to the living teaching that everyone can be a saint, they just want to teach people to read the book of saints.And when reading the books of sages, it is not important to understand the general meaning and discern the truth, but to focus on the words and sentences of the version, the sound of the words, and the textual research of things.In short, it avoids humanities as the center.Han Confucianism deified saints, while Qing Confucianism bookished saints.People in recent times have also said that the academics of the Qing Dynasty were similar to the Renaissance in the West, but this statement definitely does not reflect the truth of Qing Confucianism.If we are forced to compare it with the Western Renaissance, it should be Song Confucianism, not Qingyu.This trend did not change until after Daoxian, when the Qing regime collapsed for the first time. Ruan Yuan was a general who was a member of the Qianjia School of Bowen and Textual Research in the Qing Dynasty.In his later years, he put forward the second book "Tong Kao of Documents", which is called Er Tong.He said: If you don't read these two books, you can't be a master of Confucianism.If you don't learn these two kinds of knowledge, you can't be general learning.His eyes shifted from classics to history, which turned to political, social and real people.But in general, they are still anti-Song, so they cannot have the religious spirit that traditional Chinese intellectuals have always cared about the community of large groups.From Ruan Yuan to Gong Zizhen, and then to Kang Youwei, he tried to deify Confucius again, and then tried to use the deified Confucius to fight for political leadership.However, scholars in the Western Han Dynasty came from the countryside, lived a simple and simple life in the countryside, and mostly honed themselves from the practical affairs of lower-level politics.Confucianism in the Qing Dynasty was similar to people in the Ming Dynasty. Most of their lives were urbanized.And the deification of Confucius as a master has formed a new trend in the academic world, which is either grotesque or wild.Gong Zizhen became the object of shock and admiration for intellectuals below Daoxian, while Kang Youwei straightforwardly regarded himself as a sage, grotesque and wild, and learned from each other.Only Jiang Zhongyuan, Zeng Guofan, Hu Linyi, and Luo Zenan appeared in Hunan, where Sinology was not strong in the Qing Dynasty. They intended to promote Song studies, but were involved in military life.Jiang, Hu, and Luo all died early, leaving only Zeng Guofan, who was also older than the army. In the academic circle, he was limited by the ancient prose of the Tongcheng School, which was not deep and influential.The academia in the late Qing Dynasty really failed to welcome the new era, but made some preparations and foundations in advance. In other words, the current new era is actually all caused by external shocks, rather than being conceived by the internal.Therefore, the Revolution of 1911 only changed the order of the traditional regime in the Qing Dynasty.However, the 240-year-old Qing regime has already overthrown the fate of traditional Chinese intellectuals.So after the 1911 Revolution, Chinese intellectuals eagerly got out of the pile of old papers, and then fell into the wild and grotesque path.Therefore, in this short period of time, because there is no new learning, there are no new talents.Because there are no new talents, it is impossible to cope with this new situation.I just want to build a new political shelf out of thin air, without pillars and pillars, how can this shelf be built? After 1911, there was a general trend, everyone advocated new learning, and everyone expected to be a newcomer.The old one is out of breath, like an old tree that has been cut in half and cannot continue to breathe.If you want to graft, you must also graft on the old root.Now they are ruthlessly doing root digging.After the political revolution, shout cultural revolution.Insufficient of the cultural revolution, they continued to shout about the social revolution. They thought that they had to dig up the roots of the old before they could plant new ones.This is the great trend of Chinese intellectual circles in the forty years since 1911.Unfortunately, forty years of hard work are not worth two thousand years of potential culture.This aspiration is like putting on a new coat, but it does not replace the old body. Let me cite the most obvious example. Among the intellectuals in the past forty years, which one can forget about politics?Which one is willing to bury his head in academia all his life?Occasionally, it is rare.Such as Wang Guowei, such as Ouyang Jingwu, it is still the tradition of Qianjia, they are not standing in the center of the crowd society, standing on the road, still can not be said to have a big impact on society.Everyone else yearns for Westernization, but there are few scholars who are truly Westernized.They are not willing to give up doing translation work.The only exception is Yan Fu, who devoted his whole life to translation and did not take his own writing lightly.But in the end, it is inevitable to be involved in the political whirlpool.The second is the refusal to specialize in one school of Western academics, who believes in learning, sticks to the rules, and does not exceed the rules.Know that creation is difficult, and learning is not easy.It is already difficult to learn from one school of thought, and it is even more difficult to learn from Greece, down to modern times, to comprehensively cover Western Europe, ancient and modern countries, to pick up their elites, and to grasp their mastery. If China really wants to learn from the West and sincerely seek to become Westernized, the eminent monks of the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, Sui, and Tang should be a good example.It must be believed, eager to learn, guard against death, and be kind.Observing the death festival proves that it is hard to learn, that is, it proves that it does not believe in faith, so how can it be good?China's 40 years of Westernization have failed to achieve anything, which is the fault of the intellectuals.Those who talk a lot about Westernization and lose hope of the time actually want to be Huineng Mazu, and they are unwilling to be Daoan, Sengzhao, Huiyuan, and Zhu Daosheng first.To refuse to lower your head to be a disciple or a believer in the West, but long ago wanted to hold your head up and be a master and a leader in China, this is still not enough wildness below Daoxian.Gong Ding'an's poem: "But you can't be a teacher if you open up the atmosphere." For a hundred years, most of you have been thinking about opening up the atmosphere.They boast that they are learning from the Western Enlightenment, but they regard China's 2,000-year academic culture as barbaric and childish.They refused to learn Buddhism sincerely, and only used Sakyamuni to scold Confucius Laodan.Refusing to be a real scholar first, and honestly retreating to a corner of society, like Western scholars, they advance side by side and radiate from multiple angles.However, it has long regarded itself as the leading center of political society, and first regarded itself as a new orthodox system.Is it so easy to establish orthodoxy? If one is really willing to believe that one school is learning from the West, in all fairness, there is only the Communist Party today, but they are only willing to learn from Lenin and Stalin, not Marx and Engels.What they devote themselves to is still politics, not academic thought. Chinese intellectuals in the past often wanted to use academics to lead politics, but the new intellectuals of the past forty years only want to use politics to manipulate academics.From this point of view, that is, from its best point of view, today's Chinese intellectuals are still not free from the inner shackles of China's own traditional culture, they are still leaning upwards, not downwards, they are still striving for political leadership, and they are still high-ranking intellectuals. Sing the spirit of governing the country and the world.In the West, science, religion, philosophy, and art are divided into different categories, and each has specialties.Once they arrived in China, they merged into a torrent and became a call to overthrow old traditions, overthrow old culture, create new politics, and build a new society.If this is the case, everything will become a high-spirited talk.If it is not a high-spirited talk, it should be a manifestation of a great spirit.But such a great spirit must at least contain a kind of religious zeal, that is, a concern for the large social group.In the past forty years, what Chinese intellectuals have unfortunately lacked the most is this.Following the Qing Dynasty, belittling Song Confucianism, shouting to overthrow the Confucian family, imitating the West, advocating individual freedom, but refusing to accept Christianity sincerely.Trying hard to turn China into a polygonal and sharply radiating Western society, it left a big gap and failed to take care of the lower class of society as a whole. Modern Chinese people's admiration for Westernization, but finally ended in the communism of Marxism, Enrichment, Leninism, and Sri Lanka, and unified the whole of China. So far, it has reached more than 30 years. There are also reasons for this, which can be explained . The division of politics and religion in the West, first from Greece and Rome, down to modern times, in all aspects of politics, is in a state of division and competition, and there is no way to escape.Its unified trend is only religious.But Jesus was a Jew, and the differences between the nations of Western Europe can be seen from this.Marx was also a Jew. Although he advocated materialism and did not believe in Christianity, his communism actually transcended national boundaries.This is only available to the Jews, but not to Western Europeans.Lenin used it as a call for revolution, but so far the Soviets still cannot break away from their European imperialist tradition.However, communism has a kind of universality, a kind of unity of nations, that is, it has a commonality of a large group of human beings, which is far beyond the modern commercial capitalism of Europeans, and it has a broad commonality.This is obviously beyond doubt. Although modern China was vying for Westernization and had the call of "Mr. Sai" and "Mr. Virtue", it was only popular in Beiping. At that time, Nanjing Central University was opposed by "Xueheng Magazine", which was quite self-respecting of Chinese traditional culture.自守。此亦断然不可否认一现象。共产党又迎合社会多数，遂易一时成功。抑且在当时之西方人，终亦以中国之共产化不失为西化之一端，乃从旁赞助，美国人即为其最显著之一例。苏俄势力自西方再度东侵，外蒙古自主独立，关外三省乃及朝鲜半岛之北部，全归苏俄势力范围，此皆出美国人主张。当时美国人虽与中华民国同抗日本，但一则中国兵力弱，不如苏俄之可恃。再则中国究是东方黄种人，与苏俄之同为西方白种人者究有别。美国人不惜用大力引进苏俄，使得重返东方，史迹鲜明，尽人可知。民主政治与极权政治，资本主义与共产主义，以民族血统之更大分别言，实为一小分别。而黄色人种与白色人种之相异，则为一大分别。此以近代美国人心理言，已有显证。 我们再把最善意的看法来看中国共产党，可说他们已把马克思唯物史观与共产主义当作一种宗教信仰，由此激发了中国近代知识分子对社会大群体之关切，由此得到隐藏在其内心深微处一种宗教要求之变相满足。但中国果能继续此一趋向，则中国自将完全走上苏维埃化，而非完全西方化。苏维埃实是近代西方文化一大反动。此四十年来，中国知识分子尽力提倡西化，而结果却走上了对西化之激剧反动。此一转变，只可说依然是中国传统文化之内在要求在背后作梗。我们必先认识此一意义，乃可再进一步来推论中国之是否果能化成苏维埃。 余尝谓西方人没有中国传统之天下观，即人类相处之道义观与伦理观。西方之共产主义则为唯物的，仅重血气外向的人生，不近中国传统心性内向的人生，其间有一大区别，而中国人乃不自知。故中国而共产化，其摧残中国传统文化乃益甚。由唯心转而为唯物，较新文化运动之排斥西方耶教，为更趋于唯物化，此则距中国人自己传统为更远。而中国人苦于不自知，此尤大堪磋叹了。中国传统文化精神，正在由个性人格中反映出普遍人格，此即人人皆可为尧舜，人人皆可成佛之传统信仰。此一信仰建基于儒家之性善论。道家虽不明白提倡性善论，但其内在倾向依然主张人性善，故以归真反朴回向自然为理想。从竺道生到慧能的佛学，主张人人皆具佛性，仍是中国传统变相的性善论。耶稣教在中国不能像佛教般广深传布，其惟一症结，即在性善性恶两观念之极端冲突下受阻碍。马克思唯物史观与阶级斗争，则仍由西方传统性恶观点下演出。否则一切人生，决不致专为物质生活所操纵。一切意识，决不致专为阶级立场所决定。一切历史进步，决不致专由阶级斗争而完成。 耶教的性恶观念尚有上帝作调剂，马克思唯物史观乃始为彻头彻尾之性恶论。耶教上帝关切全人类每一个人之整个人生，马克思共产主义最多只关切到某一个阶级的物质生活。马克思只讨论经济，不讨论灵魂，因此共产主义在西方，便断不能与耶教并存。信仰马氏，必先推翻耶稣。而中国传统文化，则正因其不能接受耶稣，而可断其更不能接受马克思。若要共产主义在中国生根，则势非彻底推翻中国传统文化不为功。此四十年来的中国知识界，正在此一目标下努力，早已为共产主义披荆斩棘，导其先路。所不幸者，则如上文所分析，中国近代之不能彻底西化而转向苏联，其背后仍系中国传统文化之潜势力在暗地操纵。 这里再该提起耶稣教在西方整个文化系统中之地位与功用。西方文化体系，若专就外形看，显属一种多角性的尖锐放射。而每一角度之放射指向，都见其世俗欲极强烈，权力追求之意志极执着，个性上之自我肯定极坚决。只有耶稣教教人超越现世，转向上帝，再回头来把博爱牺牲精神冲淡实际人生中种种冲突，而作成了那一个多角形的文化体系中之相互融和，与最高调协之核心。若在西方文化中抽去耶稣教，则必然会全体变形，成为矛戟森然，到处只是唯物与斗争之一个人类修罗场。中国人在其自己文化之潜意识下，用另一眼光来看耶稣教，既己把它拒绝，而在其自己传统文化中本所蕴藏的一种人文中心的宗教热忱，即对于社会大群体之关切心，却又经此三百年来之学术转向而迹近于遗忘。如是则近代中国知识分子，自外言之，已不能有超越现实，而作高一级的向往之精神表现。自内言之，又不能超越小我，牺牲个人，对社会大群体生关切。在此情形下，其先对西方文化，因其对于自己传统的模糊观念而存一种鄙夷轻视的心理，其次又迫于现实利害之权衡而转身接受。无论其拒其受，其对西方文化，总是涉其浅，未历其深，遇其害，不获其利。 若西方之宗教信仰，乃始涉及人生之内心深处。中国人所谓仁、义、礼、智、信，礼与信皆指内心言。西方宗教亦可谓别有其一番礼与信。至于科学与民主，则无内心可言。近人如梁任公以中国重礼治与西方重法治相对，此可谓深得文化分别之大旨所在。法治重外在刑法，其主要在多数意向。而多数人则多重外物，不知重内心。然而人生所遇外物则多变，惟心性乃属天生，乃有常可循。中国文化之相传五千年以达今日者，主要乃在此。 五四运动时所对西方文化之认识，亦只提出民主政治与科学两项，并又鲜明揭起反宗教的旗帜。但在西方文化，苟无耶稣教，民主政治只像在对人争权，科学只像在对物争利，一切全落在物质与权利上，全成为一种斗争性，全是功利色彩，循是演进，则自然会走向马克思。而自己传统文化，又一时急切摆脱不掉，菁华丢了，糟粕还存。民主政治与科学精神在此潮流下全会变质，于是政治高于一切，一面还是人文中心，而一面走向极端的性恶论。 中国当前知识分子，论其文化传统，本已学绝道丧，死生绝续，不容一线。经历了满清政权两百四十年的传袭，中国传统精神，早已纸片化了。而就其所处身的社会立场言，则又单薄得可怜。两汉有地方察举，魏、晋、南北朝有门第，隋、唐以下有公开考试，传统政治下有铨叙与监察制度，都使他们一面有所倚仗，一面有所顾忌。从倚仗中得心安，从顾忌中得使心不放。中人以下也可循此轨辙，幸无大过。而农村经济之淡泊安定，又是中国传统知识分子最后一退步。 近百年来，政体急剧转变，社会经济亦同时变形。以前知识分子之安身处，现在则一切皆无，于是使其内心空怯，而又无所忌惮。而近代中国知识分子之新出身，则又是古无前例，完全走上以外国留学为惟一的门径。一批批的青年，在本国并未受有相当基础的教育，即便送往国外。试问举世间，哪一个国家，了解得中国？又是哪一个国家，真肯关心为中国特地训练一辈合适中国应用的知识与人才？他们走进每一个国家，选定每一门课程，互不相关地在仓促的三四年五六年间浅尝速化，四面八方，学成归来。了解不同，想像不同，传统不同，现状不同，拼凑安排，如何是好？各国间的政俗渊微，本原沿革，在他们是茫然的。本国的传统大体，利病委曲，在他们则更是茫然的。结果都会感得所学非所用。激进的，增加他们对本国一切的憎厌和仇恨。无所谓的，则留学外国变成变相的科举。洋翰林，洋八股，虽谑而允，受之不愧。中国传统知识分子，自唐以下，虽都参加科举，却并不从科举中养出，现在则完全托由在外国代办新科举的制度下，来希冀新中国的理想新人才。 理想是一件百衲衣，人才也是一件百衲衣，这须待自己手里针线来缝绽。哪一条针线不在手，一切新风气、新理论、新知识，正面都会合在对中国自己固有的排斥与咒诅，反面则用来作为各自私生活私奔竞的敲门砖与护身符。中国当前的知识分子，遭遇是艰苦的，职责是重大的，凭借是单薄的，培养是轻忽的。结果使国内对国外归来者失望，国外归来者也同样对国内的失望。憎厌中国，渐渐会转变成僧厌西方。 然而我们却无所用其愤慨，也无所用其悲观。中国将仍还是一中国，中国的知识分子，将仍还成其为中国的知识分子。有了新的中国知识分子，不怕会没有新中国。最要关键所在，仍在知识分子内在自身一种精神上之觉醒，一种传统人文中心宗教性的热忱之复活，此则端在知识分子之自身努力。一切外在坏境，全可迎刃而解。若我们肯回溯两千年来中国传统知识分子之深厚蕴积，与其应变多方，若我们肯承认中国传统文化有其自身之独特价值，则这一番精神之复活，似乎已到山穷水尽疑无路，柳暗花明又一村的时候了。风雨如晦，鸡鸣不已，新中国的知识分子呀！起舞吧！起舞！ （一九五一年作，载《民主评论》二十一、二十二两期）