Three Kingdoms

Choosing ancient classics or modern classics is actually a question that people in the Han Dynasty need to face when studying.

As far back as ancient times, China was in the midst of changes. The Zhou royal family declined and the princes became powerful. The "Zhou Rites" that maintained the feudal patriarchal hierarchy were greatly damaged. The princes competed for hegemony, which led to the need for a new kind of thinking at the entire political level. To support their own behavior and explain their own morality, intellectuals representing the interests of various classes were extremely active at this time and became an important social force. They stepped onto the historical stage one after another, wrote books and proposed solutions to practical social problems. , forming a prosperous situation in which various schools of thought contended.

Among them, the most influential ones were Confucianism, Legalism, Taoism, and Mohism. They each designed a governance plan for the emerging landlord class to end separatism and achieve unification, which laid the foundation for the choice of social governance ideas after the Qin and Han Dynasties.

It was at this point in time that the authority of the traditional cultural Zhou rites was questioned and criticized. Therefore, appropriate transformation was carried out in order to find a new balance in the new country's changes and what kind of future society should be adopted. Model has become a huge proposition that attracts worldwide attention, triggering a huge collision in the ideological world. This is the contention of a hundred schools of thought.

Confucianism at this time was not actually what Confucius called himself, but what he got from Mohism. Confucius was only one of the disciples at this time, and his status like other disciples had no master-subordinate relationship.

But since the Han Dynasty, the status of Confucianism has gradually improved, gradually surpassing other schools of thought.

There was nothing Fei Qian could do about this.

It was not an emperor who chose Confucianism, but China chose Confucianism. Compared with Huang Lao's rule by inaction, Mohism's all-embracing love and non-aggression, and Legalism's advocating law and clear punishment, none of them can provide a systematic solution to social class... …

Therefore, Fei Qian could only make an attempt based on the foundation of Confucianism, trying to see if he could incorporate some of his own ideas into this yet-to-be-completely formed Confucian sect.

And this attempt started from modern classics and ancient classics.

Fei Qian respectfully poured a cup of hot tea for Cai Yong, then offered it with both hands and said, "Master, what are the differences between modern and ancient texts?"

Cai Yong glanced at Fei Qian, then picked up the tea bowl, took a few sips, put the tea bowl down, and then said slowly: "Jinwen Weiwang."

Fei Qian knew that there were actually many differences between modern and ancient classics, but in addition to the admiration for Confucius and Zhou Gong just now, the more important thing was actually the understanding of the classics.

The so-called standing statues of Confucius and Zhou Gong are actually just external manifestations. As a scholar of the ancient scriptures, Cai Yong may not necessarily worship King Wen of Zhou with three sticks of incense in the morning and evening, but because the modern scriptures will express Confucius’ After being promoted to the holy throne, the people of the ancient scriptures just pulled King Wen of Zhou out to compete with him. So, like later generations, they would do anything if they were slightly disrespectful to Confucius or the statue of Duke Zhou. There was still no such thing in the Han Dynasty.

What Cai Yong said is the biggest fundamental difference between the modern classics and the ancient classics.

In fact, this so-called "Wei Shu" is also complementary to the sanctification of Confucius. Because Confucius is a saint, what he said is definitely not ordinary speech, and naturally there is another mystery in it. In order for future generations to avoid detours, Confucius secretly had a number of "Wei Shu" that explained the classics, so that later generations could understand "Confucius's subtle words." "Micro words" are cryptic words, words that contain great meaning but are difficult to detect.

In the Han Dynasty, the earliest school to appear was not the ancient literature school, but the modern literature school. Due to the Qin Dynasty, many books were lost at that time. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty adopted Dong Zhongshu's suggestion and established the Chang'an Imperial Academy and set up doctors of the Five Classics. Specializes in teaching Confucian classics. At that time, only the version of the scriptures that was later called "the modern version" had not yet been challenged by the ancient scriptures. Dong Zhongshu responded to Emperor Wu's policy questions three times, using the ideas of yin and yang, five elements, and the unity of nature and man to develop Confucianism, transforming Confucianism into a theological theoretical system with a strong mysterious color, which blended elements of Taoism, Legalism, Yin and Yang, etc. , made his family proud.

However, when he became emperor of the Han Dynasty, Liu Xiang was ordered to organize and edit the old books collected from various places. When his son Liu Xin was assisting his father in editing, he found a copy of "The Biography of the Zuo Family in Spring and Autumn Period" copied in ancient Chinese. The explanation in "Spring and Autumn" is more fair and correct. It must be that Zuo met Confucius and thus understood its true meaning.

After Liu Xiang's death, Emperor Ai of the Han Dynasty ordered Liu Xin to take over his father's position. Liu Xin suggested that the imperial court should list "The Biography of the Zuo Family in the Spring and Autumn Period", together with "Yili", "Mao Shi" and "Guwen Shangshu", which are also ancient classics, among the academic officials. .

The text Dong Zhongshu, who was born in the Spring and Autumn Annals, relied on was the "Chun Qiu Gongyang Zhuan", so many people thought that Zuo Zhuan was evil, especially the officials above the court, who criticized him verbally and writing. This incident is now the present text. The first confrontation between Jing and Gu Wen Jing.

Fei Qian said: "Reading is like drinking tea. You should know yourself whether you are warm or cold. If you believe in all the books, there will be no books left." As the so-called later generations have established authority, then the authority collapsed, and after various experiences of building a persona, and then the persona collapsed, Fei Qian understands that as long as many things are written by people, there must be personal emotional factors involved. If you only know how to accept them completely, what is the difference between you and a duck?

"It is better to believe in books than to have no books" was not an original creation of Fei Qian, but was proposed by Mencius as early as the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period.

Cai Yong understood Fei Qian's meaning almost in the blink of an eye. He stroked his beard and said, "Zi Yuan wants to use Meng to attack Confucius? How can this method... be a trustworthy book?"

It is better to believe in all books than to have no books at all, which does not mean not to accept them all, but to accept them selectively. Then the question naturally arises, what is the correct choice, and which book can truly make people believe?

Fei Qian smiled, then stood up and took down a stack of books from the bookshelf on the side, and then placed his hands in front of Cai Yong.

Cai Yong glanced at it doubtfully: "A series of fragments?" Then he saw the words "Cai's Collection of Books" on the title page of the book, raised his eyebrows, and said nothing.

Cai Yong briefly flipped through the books in his hand, and then he looked more and more familiar, and said: "Who wrote this book? The shape of the writing... this..."

Fei Qian smiled again, then took another stack of books, gave them to Cai Yong, and said: "Master, this book can be said to be written by the senior sister, but it was not entirely written by her..." Of course, every word is in accordance with the The fonts copied by Cai Yan were engraved, but because they were slightly deformed when they were turned into fonts, this is why it is said.

"Eh..." Cai Yong took it and took a look. It turned out to be a big pile of the same "Lian Shan Fragments". It was still exactly the same. It seemed that it came out of the same mold. Recently, Cai Yan seemed to be busy writing a book. It was a book to encourage students to learn. I didn’t have much time to copy it over and over, so I was a little confused. After thinking about it for a while, I said, “Zi Yuan... made a new rubbing of this book?”

"Master, this is not rubbing, but movable type printing." Fei Qian stood up, bowed solemnly to Cai Yong, and then said, "In some time, there will be books written by Ouyang and the Great and Little Xiahou. In the summer, Previously, the Six Classics were complete, and within this year, more than a hundred books will be reprinted... By then, in the academy, if there are any doubts, they will be able to corroborate each other. Unexpectedly, there will be no books to check! Over time, fake books will gradually Go, let the true scriptures live on their own! In the long run, Cai's Library will spread the scriptures to the world, return the origins of all disciples, and rebuild them with kindness, and they will be sung through the ages!"

The subtle righteousness of the gods and the personal worship of Confucius are the things of modern classics; while the admiration of ancient rituals and the emphasis on the authority of the text in the scriptures are the requirements of ancient classics... Then, later generations soon Very good, very good, very good. It combines the advantages of modern classics and ancient classics... It not only worships Confucius, recognizes the small words and great ideas, but also emphasizes that the ancestors' methods can be applied to all generations...