Chapter 16 6. The greatest intellectual group in history

The first characteristic of the culture of the Qin and Han Dynasties is the organic combination of unity and diversity.The Qin Dynasty established a unified country, and the Han Dynasty only respected Confucianism to establish a unified ideological culture. At the same time, Qin and Han were multi-ethnic countries, so unity and diversity were combined. The second is the unprecedented frequency of cultural exchanges between China and foreign countries. Third, the level is in the advanced ranks of the world and belongs to the developed countries of the first world. Fourth, the momentum is magnificent.Chinese civilization is extensive and profound, and it is gratifying in terms of breadth and depth, especially this kind of momentum.You see, South Korea, Britain and Germany also have the Great Wall, but their Great Wall is called Long Dist Wall (very long wall), only the Great Wall of China can be called Great Wall.The Great Wall in England is called Hadrian’s Wall. Emperor Hadrian built it to prevent the northern barbarians from building it. Germany built it for the Romans against the Germans. South Korea built it against the Khitans. It’s only a few hundred kilometers, thousands of kilometers. The Great Wall is so magnificent, it's just a joke!Koreans say that Korean culture does not pursue grandeur, but delicacy. You want to pursue grandeur, not to mention that you can’t cultivate horizontally, but you can’t cultivate vertically. North Korea claims that three thousand miles of mountains and rivers are measured vertically, and you can only cultivate ten. Three-thirds, or else it will be repaired in the sea.

Although there was no Hubble telescope during the Qin and Han Dynasties, science and technology were also very developed. The first is astronomy: Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty promulgated the Taichu calendar, and the first month is the beginning of the year.In the past, the Xia Dynasty used the first month as the beginning of the year, and the new year was celebrated on January 1 every year. In the Shang Dynasty, it was changed to December 1, in the Zhou Dynasty, it was changed to November 1, and in the Qin Dynasty, it was changed to October 1.Therefore, the end of September in the Qin Dynasty is New Year's Eve, and the Spring Festival is October 1. It should be the National Day, and it is New Year's Day.The Chen Sheng and Wu Guang uprising broke out in September, and failed in November of the following year. In fact, it only took two months!Because September is the last month and November is the second month of the coming year.If you don’t understand the calendar of the Qin Dynasty, the farmer’s uncle Chen Sheng and Wu Guang are really amazing. They persisted for more than ten months. Oh shit, how could the peasant uprising take so long at that time?

Two months and it's over. It was changed back in the time of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, and the first day of the first lunar month was still used as the beginning of the year, and the beginning of the new year, everyone is more used to it.No matter how the dynasties change in the future, no one will think about changing it when the new year is celebrated on January 1, and it is not appropriate to change it.The Western Han Dynasty has the earliest record of sunspots recognized by the world, and then Zhang Heng of the Eastern Han Dynasty made the earliest scientific explanation for the lunar eclipse, which is not a dog eating the moon.Zhang Heng also invented the seismograph, which can remotely measure the direction of earthquakes.Today, this thing is useless. As soon as the earthquake happened, we knew it immediately. Premier Wen went there two hours later.But it is used to measure the direction of earthquakes remotely, not to predict earthquakes, and the United States does not have this instrument.

Hua Tuo in the Eastern Han Dynasty invented Mafeisan, which is the world's best and the earliest anesthetic in the world.Chinese medicine does not seem to advocate surgery on people.But for example, if appendicitis has perforated intestines, acupuncture is useless, and picking herbs is even more useless, so surgery is required.At that time in Europe, surgery was performed by feeding wine. After one liter of alcohol, the small amount of alcohol was swallowed to death in one breath. If the amount of alcohol was large enough to explode, the stomach was still not drunk, but still sober, so the limbs were immobilized and a stick was given, so the cecum was cut off. Yes, and life was called away by God.At that time, the death rate of Chinese people who underwent surgery was relatively low. It is a pity that Mafeisan was lost later.

There is also Zhang Zhongjing, a medical sage who wrote "Treatise on Febrile Diseases and Miscellaneous Diseases", but he does not seem to be as famous as Hua Tuo. Many medicines have Hua Tuo brand names, while Zhang Zhongjing's brand names are rare.Zhang Zhongjing is like a professor at the University of Medicine, while Hua Tuo is like the chief surgeon in the clinic, with different focuses. my country is also the first country in the world to invent paper, and paper already existed in the early Western Han Dynasty.Before the invention of paper, ancestors wrote characters on tortoise shells and animal bones, called oracle bone inscriptions, and later on bamboo slips and silk.For example, books are divided into two volumes. The word "book" proves that our ancestors once wrote characters on bamboo slips, and the number of volumes in a book shows that our ancestors once wrote characters on silk.Books bound in this way began in the Song Dynasty. In the Tang Dynasty, paper books were also rolled up to a length of more than ten meters. Therefore, when reading, there is a small case, like a book curler. come out and see.Fifty readings of Confucius, "Three Wonders of Wei Bian", the bamboo slips are compiled with leather strips, and Confucius broke the leather strips for stringing books three times. It is too heavy and not environmentally friendly, or it is not very Chinese. There are too few forests.The great writer Dongfang Shuo wrote a memorial to Emperor Wu, which weighed 170 catties, and two people carried it into the palace.I don't know how many words this old man wrote, only 170 catties.At that time, silk was very expensive, and people were generally reluctant to use it to write, so paper was made in the Western Han Dynasty, although it was not easy to use.

In the Eastern Han Dynasty, Cai Lun improved papermaking. Cai Lun is a eunuch, and eunuchs are generally not good people, there are only two good ones, who are famous in history, Cai Lun and Zheng He.Cai Lun made great achievements in papermaking, and was named Longtinghou, the lowest level of Marquis.Papermaking spread to Korea, Vietnam, and Japan in the fourth century, and to Central Asia, Arabia, Africa, and Europe in the eighth century.Before Chinese papermaking technology was introduced, Indians wrote characters and Buddhist scriptures on leaves, called the Bayeux Sutra. Whoever wants to have that thing is extremely precious, and Tang Sanzang brought it back from India. According to the classics, the ground will rot when it is wet, and the ground will be broken when it is dry, which is not easy to preserve.So Indians don't understand what happened 300 years ago. It's not that they don't pay attention to writing history, but that the leaves are gone, and history is ultimately composed of legends.At that time, Europeans wrote on parchment, which is actually parchment. If you write a book, the whole country will eat sheep for ten years, and there will be no sheep in the whole country.Therefore, the spread of Chinese papermaking has made a considerable contribution to the development of world culture.

Dong Zhongshu and Wang Chong of the Western Han Dynasty reflected two completely different philosophical views in the Han Dynasty. Dong Zhongshu believes that heaven and man are closely related, and Confucianism should be used to rule the world.The core of Confucianism is the interaction between heaven and man, and the divine right of the king.Among the four schools of Confucianism, Mohism, Taoism, and Legalism, the Legalists were the first to be favored, which resulted in the rapid demise of the Qin Dynasty.At the very least, you can't use all legalists.The Mohists definitely can't use it, and any dynasty agrees with the system of electing the emperor.Then Taoism and Confucianism remained, so in the early 70 years of the Han Dynasty, Huang Lao's art was practiced, Taoism was admired, quiet and inaction, and allowed to develop naturally.As a result, the country is strong, the economy recovers, the people live and work in peace and contentment, the power of the princes and kings grows, and the Xiongnu threatens them.The imperial court does nothing, and the local tyrants do everything. It seems that Taoism can't do it either.

So only Confucianism is left to choose.Confucianism can incite the people, benevolent government, the people are more important than the emperor, but it emphasizes the people too much, emphasizes the people, and ignores the emperor, so Dong Zhongshu came into being.He transformed Confucianism, which is the interaction between heaven and man.In fact, Confucius did not talk about strange powers and gods, and Confucius did not talk about gods, gods and ghosts.If you ask Confucius what happened after his death, Confucius would be very upset.If you don't know life, how can you know death? Confucianism only pays attention to how to be a gentleman and saint when you are alive. It is good to live well. We don't discuss things after death.In fact, it also represents Confucius' attitude of seeking truth from facts, "knowing what you know, not knowing what you don't know". You really don't know what happens after death. You just need to "respect ghosts and gods" and respect them. , and then stay away from him, don't keep thinking about it in your heart.

So Dong Zhongshu was dishonest, and changed Confucius' meaning into the interaction between heaven and man, "The great origin of Tao comes from the sky, and if the sky does not change, so will the Tao."The emperor represents the way of heaven, and everyone must obey. The emperor saw that this idea was great, use it!But Legalism doesn’t say that, it says: “The teacher tells you now, each of you must listen to the class carefully, and whoever doesn’t listen will get lost, because I am the teacher. Confucianism says, the teacher tells you, you must listen to it.” , because the college entrance examination I talked about is very useful, and you will definitely be admitted to a first-class university. One is about Legalism: I am a teacher, so you have to listen to me, and if you don’t listen to me, the second is Confucianism: You have to listen Mine, because I am good for you.

The same is true for the people.Legalism is, you must respect the emperor and listen to the emperor's words. If you don't listen, your feet will be chopped off. People have gone to Vietnam. How can you chop them off?Confucianism says, you have to respect him, he is the Son of Heaven, he acts on behalf of the heavens, if you don't listen to him, you will be punished by the gods, and you will be struck by a thunderbolt, even if you run to the Antarctic.In this way, you have to obey the emperor. If the emperor loses his virtue, the sky will warn: drought, landslide, earthquake.The sky gave a warning, and the emperor knew that he had done something bad, so he fasted and bathed, issued an edict of sin, and scolded himself.The common people think that the emperor is not very good, so you can pray, God, your son is too bad, you should take your son away quickly. The emperor will die in 50 years. Of course, if you can survive for 50 years, your prayer will be answered.Therefore, dismissing a hundred schools of thought and respecting Confucianism alone is very good, which is comparable to burning books and burying Confucianism, but the Confucianism at this time is different from the Confucianism of Confucius. In fact, it has become Confucianism outside the law.When Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty, he was very happy to say that the Han family has a system, and the way of overlord is mixed.Hegemony is legalism, and kingship is Confucianism. This is no longer the kind of thought advocated by Confucius. The court does not care about that, and only emphasizes the need to consolidate the rule and serve the regime.

Different from Dong Zhongshu's thought is Wang Chong, whose thought is reflected in the book "Lunheng".He believes that all things are composed of vitality, and vitality is matter. The theory of material composition is, of course, materialistic.He opposed the interaction between heaven and man, opposed the theory of ghosts, and opposed rich burials. "Heaven has permanence, not for Yao, not for Jie." God's operation has its own laws, winter is winter, summer is summer, and it has nothing to do with Yao Xianjie, not that Yao is in When you are in power, the weather is smooth every day, and when Jie is in power, there are earthquakes every day. It has its own natural laws. Starting from opposing the theory of ghosts, he opposed heavy burials. Nine of the ten tombs in China are empty, and all major archaeological discoveries are salvage excavations.Why ten tombs are empty, because China's tomb robbery industry is thriving, and it can almost be said to be the oldest industry in China.The reason why the industry is so developed is the thick burials. The Chinese regard death as life, and treat the dead as if they were alive. Microwave ovens and water heaters are all put in the tombs. Of course, someone digs them.The Pharaohs of Egypt built such a big pyramid, and of course someone dug it out, maybe hundreds of microwave ovens could be dug out. Nobody digs the tombs of Europeans. The medieval kings of Europe are buried in churches. There is a stone coffin, a suit of clothes, and a sword. Why dig him?It’s even simpler now. I want to know everything with my knees. After digging up, there is a Bible, which is available in every family, and then a suit. Do you dare to wear it? Do you know how he died?So no one is robbing graves there. In contrast to China, the excavation of the Han tomb in Laoshan a few years ago was broadcast live by CCTV, which was a major archaeological discovery.In the end, I blew it. Before I entered the tomb, I saw the queen lying on the ground, which became a fossil, which proved that it had been stolen long ago, and it was not stolen in modern times. I wish I could steal it right after the burial.The special tool for robbery in the emperor's mausoleum is called Luoyang shovel. Because there are many ancient tombs around Luoyang, it is useless not to bury them thickly.The grand funeral is actually for the living to see. See how filial I am and how kind I am to my dad. Can't you treat him better when he is alive?In some places, there is a custom that when an old lady dies, all the daughters have to make quilts for her, and the satin quilts are stuffed into the coffin one by one, and finally the stuffed old lady can't fit in, so why bother.Such a good quilt, did she cover it when she was alive, the cotton wool rotted when she was alive, and then cover her with a brand new quilt after she died, and put it in the ground to let the water soak it and let the soil bury it.So Wang saw the essence of things when he acted, and his materialism thought was very meaningful. At the end of the Western Han Dynasty, Buddhism was introduced into China.The founder of Buddhism is Gautama Siddhartha, the prince of Kapilavatthu in ancient India, the prince of the Sakyamuni tribe, and a man who is too thin to do anything.He witnessed the suffering of all beings. At the age of 29, he gave up everything and became a monk. After six years of penance, he attained the Supreme Bodhi at the age of 35.Then he taught the Dharma in the human world for 45 years, and passed away at the age of 80. Buddhism was introduced to China in 2 BC, but I don't know why it didn't spread.In the 10th year of Emperor Yongping of the Eastern Han Dynasty (AD 67), he sent several people to seek Buddhism.Traveling to today's Kashmir, I met two eminent monks, She Moteng and Zhu Falan, so I invited these two eminent monks to come east with a white horse carrying forty-two chapters, and established a White Horse Temple in Luoyang. Buddhism began to spread in China. pass.Today in India, no one believes in Buddhism. Brahmanism was revived in the seventh century, and Muslims invaded in the twelfth century. Today, all Indians except Hindus are Muslims, and Buddhists are basically extinct. Buddhism is divided into three parts: The Southern Tradition, the Northern Tradition, and the Tibetan Tradition.Southern Buddhism is Theravada Buddhism in Southeast Asian countries; Northern Buddhism is Buddhism in China, Korea, Japan, and Vietnam; Tibetan Buddhism is Lamaism in Tibet, Bhutan, and Nepal.Today, China has actually become the center of Buddhism in the world, because the ashrams of the four major Bodhisattvas are all in China, Mount Wutai, Mount Jiuhua, Mount Putuo and Mount Emei.After Sakyamuni Buddha passed away, his body was cremated and 84,000 relics were burned. It is said that there are still 13 relics left in the world today.There are only two Buddha tooth relics in the world, one in Sri Lanka and one in Lingguang Temple in Badachu, Xishan.There is only one Buddha finger relic in the world, which was placed in the underground palace of Famen Temple in Shaanxi, and it was not discovered until more than a thousand years later.No matter where the Buddha finger relics are enshrined, they are always empty.Someone asked the master, saying that Sakyamuni has been dead for more than two thousand years, what magic power does he have, can he suppress Sun Wukong?The master pointed out that more than 200,000 people knelt on the side of the road, holding incense and burning incense as offerings to the Buddha. This is the magic power of Sakyamuni.He has been dead for more than two thousand years, and so many people worship him, so try someone else.Therefore, among the 100 celebrities who have influenced the world, the first is Muhammad, the second is Jesus Christ, the third is Sakyamuni, and the fourth is Einstein.The top ones are all the leaders, and quite a lot of people are affected. Muhammad is ranked first because as many as 55 countries adopt Islam as the state religion. Sima Qian, a historian of the Western Han Dynasty, wrote the first biographical general history in ancient China, "Historical Records", which records the historical events from Emperor Xuanyuan to Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty for two to three thousand years. "Historical Records" mainly focuses on biographies of characters, and the writing is very beautiful. Among them, the biographies of assassins have the style of classic martial arts novels.In addition to the history books, there are chronicles, which are written year by year; Sima Qian's writing is very accurate. What Liu Bang and Xiang Yu did, what Liu Bang thought, and what Xiang Yu said, Sima Qian was not there.But this fiction must conform to the identity of the character, it cannot be made up, and it cannot be said that Liu Bang can carry the tripod and Xiang Yu is afraid of mice.It must be in line with the identity of the characters. For example, when Qin Shihuang went on a tour of the world, the guard of honor was very spectacular. Liu Bang and Xiang Yu were among the "welcome, welcome, warmly welcome" crowd.But after seeing Qin Shihuang's guard of honor, the two said different things.Xiang Yu is the grandson of Xiang Yan, a famous general of the Chu State.Disdain, no big deal, I overthrow you, I will replace you.Liu Bang is the head of the pavilion and the security director of the neighborhood committee. He said "a man should be like this", and expressed his envy. You see, people have not worked in vain in their lives. When will I be able to do this.Perfectly fit the identities of the two.On the other hand, some of the current historical dramas are simply unwatchable, they are just made-up fictions that do not conform to the identities of the characters. Ban Gu of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the elder brother of the strongman Ban Chao, wrote the first biographical and dynastic history "Han Shu", which talked about the history of the Western Han Dynasty from Liu Bang's founding of the Han Dynasty to Wang Mang's usurping of the Han Dynasty.However, the "Historical Records" of the Western Han Dynasty was written from Emperor Xuanyuan to Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty in this dynasty. It can be seen that Sima Qian was very fierce, and he dared to say that the boss was wrong.