Chapter 2 preface

preface Thoughts must be public, especially the so-called thoughts of the times, or the thoughts of a certain school, etc., which are the common thoughts of most people, which is even more obvious.Whenever a big thought appears, it must be formed by absorbing the thoughts of the majority of people, and must spread to the hearts of the majority of people, become the thoughts of the majority of people, and begin to complete its mission.These few thinkers are just like the so-called foresight and foresight, and they are the same as the first to win the hearts of the people.Then, with foresight and later knowledge, and with the minds of the few thinkers, we can unearth the inner essence of the majority of minds, make them open and reveal, and open up a new realm of the majority of minds.The thinking of a certain era or school of thought has the greatest influence, that is, the deeper it absorbs the thinking of the majority, and the wider it spreads to become the thinking of the majority, so it becomes a big thought.

If the thought is divorced from the public, only one or two people create it alone, even if they think deeply, search extensively, or explain the statement in the text of the book, or create a new interpretation in the language debate, or put forward the idea based on personal understanding. Unique views, or deriving solitary attainments from remote feelings, as long as they are divorced from the masses, neither start from the hearts of the majority, nor penetrate into the hearts of the majority, such thoughts are just a few people showing off their wisdom and showing off their wisdom , although it is not hard to explore, novelty and novelty, it has won the imitation of a few intelligent, show-off, and show-offs, but it has nothing to do with the hearts of most people.Then such thoughts must still end up in books, and in words, they will be popular in some remote places, and they will never make big waves in the history of thought, and they will never break new ground.

Yu Ju often likes to recite "The Doctrine of the Mean", and especially loves to recite it as follows: "A gentleman respects virtue and asks for learning, reaches the vastness and subtlety, is extremely brilliant and the way is the mean, learns the new by reviewing the past, and respects the propriety with honesty." It is said that only virtue is common to the public, everyone has this nature, everyone has this virtue, those who ask should ask this, and scholars should also learn from this.Only when the virtues of the masses are in common can there be great knowledge.Only when learning reaches the point where everyone's virtue is more universal, will it be more extensive.Lao Tzu said: "The same is called xuan, xuan is also xuan, the gate of all wonders." It is only in the wider place that the more subtle can be seen.If what you see is rough and sparse, it will be based on a corner, and it will not be able to cover a large amount.If we can't make the most of it, we can't have similarities and differences between each other.As a result, the theory of the enemy competes and confronts each other, which is only enough to fight, but not enough to win.The big ones are like Wu Jin fighting for a city, and the small ones are like Teng Xue fighting for leadership.Each has its own views, each has its own cover, each has its strengths, and each has its weaknesses. The problem is that it cannot be broadened.If one seeks to achieve greatness, one must strive for subtlety.Only the extreme of subtlety is the cause of vastness.It is true that most people's minds are the same, and they think it is true. There must be no more words, no doubts, no creations, and no isolated opinions.You should know that to be able to say this, although it may be rough, it is actually a subtle thing.Anyone who seeks to establish isolated opinions in speech, and develops new theories in doubts and debates, looks like a fine emblem, but in fact it is rough.

In the Southern Song Dynasty, Lu Fuzhai's so-called "Pay attention to the biography and annotations to turn the hazel plug, and pay attention to the essence of the emblem to turn the Lu Shen", is to give acupuncture to those who leave the broad mind, stick to words, and deliberately seek subtleties.Only those who reach the vastness and the subtleties are the first to be brilliant.This brilliance comes from the extreme essence of knowledge, and the extremely subtlety of this knowledge comes from the realization of the profoundness of the vast virtues.Therefore, those who are really brilliant must turn to the broad virtues, which are easier to be understood and accepted by the majority of minds. Afterwards, this brilliant thought can easily lead the masses to practice. Therefore, it is said that "extremely brilliant and moderate." Everyone can Knowing that everyone can do it, this is the way of the mean, which is based on the same tendency of the vast virtues, so it can be the ultimate wisdom.And this can only be obtained when one's knowledge reaches the very subtle point.It is definitely not to be clever and show off wisdom, so that it can be done by the solitary.

However, knowledge is learned from the masses, asked from the masses, and what the masses have in common has been inherited far and wide, since ancient times.Therefore, one must warm up to the past to know the new, and not to leave the old to start the new.Not separated from the masses, not separated from the past, this is called honesty.Honesty does not show off solitary knowledge, but respects etiquette, etiquette is the custom and public behavior of a large group, which has been passed down from ancient times to the present.Although there are changes, it is not out of the ordinary.Although there are differences, they do not lose their connection.But this is what the vast minds share and enjoy together, and it is also what the vast virtues tend to share and enjoy. "Yi Da Zhuan" says: "Knowing respects courtesy and humbleness, respects emulation of heaven, and humiliation of law and earth." Li uses humility for its purpose.If it is considered high, it is contrary to the world. Everyone is shocked and thinks it is high.However, it is difficult to talk about high.If it is difficult, what is involved with the public?It is by no means the way to be honest.If people rush to know but are not honest, the wind will be weak and the world will decline.The general public suffers from it, but why is it so valuable to have such great knowledge and such great thinking?Therefore, the admiration of heaven is not because it is isolated from all things, but because it embraces all things.The admiration of sage knowledge is not because it isolates the masses, but because it is the knowledge of the masses, because it embraces the vast virtues of the masses and obtains their common subtleties.Therefore, "The Doctrine of the Mean" respects the etiquette, respects the people, respects the customs, respects the past, and respects the humble and dark with the magnificence.

The masses refer to the ignorance of couples, if they do not know that there is a so-called thought, that there is a so-called theory, that there is a so-called doubt, and that there is a so-called invention.However, although the masses are humble, they eat and drink men and women, follow the old ways, and they form their customs together, and they are determined by rituals.Rituals come from the masses, from the habits of the masses, and from the virtues of the masses.Sage Thada, this should not be overlooked.A sage who is especially knowledgeable must be thinner than his virtues, so as to make them broad, and use them as learning, and obtain the subtleties here, so as to advance to the highest level, and finally not violate the mean.Therefore, you can learn new knowledge every day, and finally become honest.Therefore, it is said: "Shun's great knowledge is also great! Shun is good at asking questions, but he is good at listening to others' words." He also said: "The way of a gentleman is like traveling a long distance, and he must be close to himself. It is like climbing a high place, and he must humble himself." He also said: "The honest man The way of heaven is also the way of heaven. The one who is sincere is the way of man.” “The way of sincerity is called nature. You can know in advance." Although the sage has great knowledge, the masses can also know in advance.This so-called pre-knowledge is prior to the sage's knowledge and is self-knowledge.The masses are not true and knowledgeable, especially the masses have sincerity. Sincerity comes from heaven and is based on nature, so the sage comes from the masses.The virtue of a sage who respects the group is the ultimate in the vastness of the group, while learning is made in the subtle and brilliant.Extremely clever, but still not far from the mean, and still not contrary to the foolishness of the couple.But the knowledge of a sage can penetrate the mind of the heavens, reach the virtues of the heavens, and return them to the heavens.This is the great way, this is the so-called way of the mean.

However, its Chinese tradition attaches great importance to this golden mean, so traditional Chinese thought is also a kind of golden mean thought.This kind of thinking must respect virtue, go to the extreme of the vast common aspects of human nature, review the past and respect the ritual.Ming Confucian Wang Yangming advocated the theory of "integration of knowledge and action", which is almost the essence of traditional Chinese thought.This can also be called the doctrine of the mean.The doctrine of the mean is based on the husband and wife, and observes the heaven and the earth.Based on the body, conquer the common people, examine the three kings without being wrong, build the heavens and the earth without being inconsistent, question the ghosts and gods without doubt, and be a sage for a hundred generations without being confused.To the extreme, he knows both heaven and man.Smart and wise, but generous and gentle.Why?The way is inseparable from people, and learning is inseparable from people.

Stealing this idea, studying traditional Chinese thought, knowing that it must come from the body, conquering the common people, and examining the three kings.Examining the three kings governs history.The common people are recruited to seek the etiquette and customs of the society and the customs of the masses.Based on the various bodies, practice and experience, ask and think closely.It is known that traditional Chinese thought should not be sought exclusively from the debates on the words and languages ​​of books, but should be sought in behavior.Traditional Chinese thought is contained in behavior, contained in the behavior of the masses, contained in the historical traditions of the past, and the old and new of social customs.This behavior has become the behavior of the general public, and has become a behavior that has been inherited for a long time in the historical society. It is only because it is based on nature and connected with the virtues of heaven, so it can build the heavens and the earth without conflicting, and there is no doubt that it can be compared with ghosts and gods.There are sages who came out of thousands of generations, with the same heart and the same reason.There have been sages born in thousands of generations, with the same heart and the same principle.Therefore, it is possible to be a sage for a hundred generations without confusion.A sage is not born to know it, but he is good at Gu Min and seeks it.A sage has no permanent teacher. If three people walk together, there must be my teacher.The mean among the masses is the teacher of saints.The thought of the masses is the thought of becoming a saint.Only the masses do not know it, but the sage learns from the masses and knows it.And only this becomes great knowledge, and only this becomes great thought.

Last summer in Taipei, he gave four lectures as a system, initially titled "Several General Topics in Chinese Thought".The original intention is to pick up some popular geometric concepts and nouns commonly used by everyone in Chinese society at present, so as to trace the entire history of Chinese thought.From the shallower to the deeper, that is, based on common knowledge and metaphors, it expounds the inner meanings of these concepts and nouns, their evolution and evolution, and their mutual connections, so as to describe a large outline of traditional Chinese thought.The so-called lack of etiquette and seeking out the wilderness, if an era, a school of thought can really be established, if it can plow the hearts of the people at that time, if it is popular and cannot be resisted, even though its people and It is said that the past is the past, and the subtlety of its spirit will almost certainly penetrate into the hearts of later generations, stay in the sky and the earth for a long time, and cannot be ignorant in the end.Due to the cumbersome personnel affairs, the more autumn to the end of winter, the less leisure time begins.It is based on the recording of the lectures at that time, reorganized, rough and polished, easy to name it today, integrated into one volume, and published first to come out.

However, I don't know how many of the results of what I have said in this book can give a glimpse of the depth of the great unity of virtue among the crowd, and how many of them can be compared and shared by the majority of the crowd.From the path of his own knowledge, how many people can reach the subtle state, and how many can hope for a little bit of brilliance.This is all limited by my personal academic ability, and I dare not know it myself.However, I never dare to violate the teachings of the ancient saints who are honest and respectful, and I dare not despise the merits of reviewing the old knowledge shown by the ancient saints.

The reach of these four lectures is still limited to the elaboration of abstract theories.As for the specific implementation, I will further develop and prove the various realities of history and society, in order to do what I want to say, so when I have leisure in life and energy, I should not raise topics, and continue on. Interpretation, continue to write the second and third volumes, which is enough to fulfill my intention.Therefore, this volume is tentatively named the first volume, and it is first submitted to the teaching and correction of the gentlemen of the world. Two days before the end of Jiawu in the old calendar, Qian Mu Preface at New Asia Research Institute, Grampian Road, Kowloon