Imperial Master of the Ming Dynasty

The reason why Yasheng is Mencius, not Xunzi.

It was because of Mencius that he enriched and pioneered Confucianism.

Mencius, with his basic concepts of "good nature, royal way, and benevolent government", and his unparalleled "awesome righteousness" not only won dignity for Confucianism when hundreds of schools of thought were rising, but also laid the foundation for the integration of Confucianism after Confucius and the subsequent development of Confucianism. laid the foundation and pointed the direction.

It was precisely because of the revival of Mencius that Confucianism became a prominent school again after Confucius and finally became the sole orthodoxy through Dong Zhongshu's transformation.

Zhu Gaochi continued to introduce to his father.

"On the east side of Yanzi and Zisi from north to south are Min Sun, Ran Yong, Duanmu Ci, Zhong Yuan, Bu Shang and Youruo respectively."

"On the west side of Zengzi and Mencius from north to south are Ran Geng, Zai Yu, Ran Qiu, Yan Yan, Zhuan Sunshi, and Zhu Xi."

Except for Zhu Xi, basically no one else has heard of it, right?

It doesn't matter, there are a total of sixteen people in these four wives and twelve philosophers. Except for Zisi, Mencius and Zhu Xi, the other thirteen are all disciples of Confucius. They are here because of their seniority. It doesn't matter whether they have heard of it or not.

The reason why Zhu Xi was worthy of worshiping in the Confucius Temple was because of Neo-Confucianism.

"etc."

Zhu Di frowned and thought about it again.

Is there something missing?

"Where is Xunzi?" Zhu Di asked in his soul, "Isn't Xunzi a saint? Why is he not worthy of worshiping in the Confucius Temple?"

"Returning to my father, Xunzi is a saint and is called the later saint of Confucianism. Now he is indeed worthy of being worshiped in the Confucius Temple. It's just that he is not among the Four Matches and Twelve Philosophers, but the "sages and sages" worshiped in the East and West verandas. Ru'li (Xunzi's removal from the Confucius Temple was a matter of the Ming Dynasty, but it had not yet happened during the Jiajing period)."

Zhu Gaochi replied hesitantly.

After taking a good look at the elder's appearance, Zhu Di knew that there must be something hidden in it.

As the last great Confucian in the pre-Qin period and the master of Confucian thinking, Xunzi not only failed to win the title of Confucian Lesser Sage like Mencius, but he also had a nondescript "Later Sage" who was even entitled to the title. They are not qualified to be among the "Four Matches and Twelve Philosophers" in the Confucius Temple.

Xunzi, why are you treated like this?

What on earth did he do that made him so unpopular with later generations of Confucians?

"Hmph, what is the argument here? Why are you hesitating and hiding it from me?" Zhu Di shouted softly. He was sure that there must be something wrong here. After all, it is the dream of many great Confucian scholars to be able to worship the "Four Matches and Twelve Philosophers" in the Confucius Temple. As for the position, it would be fine if other people of seniority and insufficient contribution could not get in. With Xunzi's status, how could he not be able to get in?

Not to mention the "Twelve Philosophers", even the "Four Matches" of saints are enough!

Zhu Gaochi didn't dare to say, but Dao Yan had expected that Zhu Di would ask.

In fact, Dao Yan had already thought of this issue when he and Zhang Yuchu discussed filling the hole for Jiang Xinghuo.

Dao Yan smiled lightly, then raised his head and looked at Zhu Di, saying: "There are several reasons for this, but I said it straightforwardly, please forgive me."

"Master Dao Yan, let me tell you, I will never blame you." Zhu Di said generously.

"First, after the rise of Neo-Confucianism, Xunzi was said to have slandered the great sage and sage Confucius."

"Oh?" Zhu Di was confused: "How could Xunzi slander Confucius?"

Dao Yan said slowly: "This happened because Xunzi recorded such a story in "Xu Zui Pian", saying that in the Spring and Autumn Period, there was a senior official named Mao in the State of Lu. He was a good official. He was eloquent and very capable. He was also very popular. He lectured in the state of Lu together with Confucius, and ended up snatching away all Confucius' students. Later, Confucius became a military commander and killed Shaozhengmao under the Dongguan of Liangguan only seven days after taking office, and Three Days of Violence Regarding whether Confucius killed Shao Zhengmao is true or false, there have been divergent opinions and endless debates for thousands of years. However, regardless of whether this matter is true or false, just relying on Xunzi to write it down, in the eyes of later generations of Confucian scholars, is deceiving the teacher. An act that destroys our ancestors and is extremely treasonous and unethical.”

"Indeed."

Zhu Gaochi also smiled bitterly and said: "If this matter is true, then there is no doubt that it will be stained on the saint statue of the great sage and sage; if this matter is false, then Xunzi is blatantly No matter what you do to slander the great sage and the sage, it is wrong."

Zhu Di also nodded after hearing this.

Perhaps, this is just a fable by Xunzi, using the method of entrusting the saints to establish words, and it may have been nothing in the past.

However, with the rise of Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism, the social atmosphere became more and more serious, and the trend of "Principle is greater than Heaven" began to appear. Xunzi's slander of the great sages and sages was naturally a heinous crime. This alone was enough to make Xunzi could not turn over.

"Secondly, His Majesty said before that Xunzi had three somewhat famous students."

Dao Yan smiled: "Zhang Cang is a famous prime minister of the Western Han Dynasty. The so-called Han Dynasty has not yet clearly defined the arts and sciences, so Cang made order and order for his own plan. However, this person was first-class in his work, but he did not leave many writings, so His historical status is very high, but there is not much to discuss in terms of thinking. The reason why Xunzi’s status is so embarrassing is mainly because he was dragged down by the two remaining students.”

"Han Fei, Li Si."

"These two are the most well-known Legalist figures, and the opposition between Confucianism and Legalism has always been very serious. Confucianism looks down on Legalism, and Legalism also looks down on Confucianism. Han Fei once said bluntly, 'Confucianism corrupts law with literature. , chivalrous people use force to break the ban. In "Five Worms", Han Fei even ranked Confucianists as first-class worms. Li Si not only criticized Legalism like Han Fei, Li Si not only became the prime minister of Qin, but also helped Qin Shihuang. After unifying the six countries, he actually implemented the ban on Confucianism. It was at his suggestion that Qin Shihuang decided to burn books and entrap Confucianism."

Well, with words and actions, Confucianism was almost cut off in the Qin Dynasty.

It would be strange if Confucians did not hate Han Fei and Li Si.

As the teacher of Han Fei and Li Si, can Xunzi still get any praise from Confucianists?

With two good students, Han Fei and Li Si, doesn't Xunzi, the teacher, bear the responsibility? What's more, Xunzi's thinking also reflects Legalist thinking everywhere.

Zhu Di lamented for a moment: "No wonder. No wonder Xunzi couldn't even get in with his four companions and twelve philosophers, but he is actually here."

"It's more than that."

Dao Yan nodded slightly and continued.

"Thirdly, Confucianism also has its schools. Confucianism praises the inner sage and the outer king, so it is divided into internal and external. Mencius, who represents the Confucianism of mind, pays more attention to the inner sage level, while Xunzi pays more attention to the outer king, even more than that. .”

Probably knowing that Zhu Di didn't understand these subtle differences within Confucianism, Daoyan explained to Zhu Di.

"Mencius believes that people are originally good by nature, so they only need to follow the step-by-step sequence of cultivating one's morality, regulating one's family, governing the country, and bringing peace to the world. Xunzi believes that people's original nature is evil, so just talking about etiquette is not enough. Laws must be used to control evil. Use both etiquette and law."

"One of the very important thoughts of Mencius is the theory of good nature, which is the so-called 'in the beginning of man, his nature is good'. But Xunzi is exactly the opposite. Xunzi's theory of evil nature is that 'in the beginning of man, his nature is evil' , although in Xunzi’s thinking he mentioned the idea of ​​‘transforming nature into falsehood’ and believed that as long as people undergo acquired education, they will always return to a state of etiquette, music and kindness, this is directly in opposition to Mencius.”

Dao Yan was silent for a few moments and then said: "The foundation of Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism is the theory of Mencius."

In fact, the previous correspondence between Dao Yan and Jiang Xinghuo, "Metaphysical Critique of the 'Transcendental Theory of Human Nature'", conducted an in-depth discussion of this issue.

At this point, Zhu Di completely understood.

The reason why Xunzi is so unpopular is because Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism was inherited from Simi and Mencius, and Xunzi, who was quite deviant among Confucianists, held views that were opposed to Mencius. In other words, Xunzi’s views were different from those of Mencius. Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism, which now dominates Confucianism, is opposed to it.

——Cheng Zhu Neo-Confucianism!

Zhu Di's deep pupils shone with light, as if he had understood the mystery of all this.

Heliocentric theory, universal gravitation, theory of sage kings, and Xunzi's theory. These can effectively attack the ideological foundation of the gentry class, and then use another kind of Confucian thinking to strengthen imperial power and complete Zhu Di's own centralization of power.

In other words, the things mentioned by Jiang Xinghuo only need to match the explanation given by Dao Yan.

Not only will it not pose a threat to Zhu Di's imperial power by breaking the theory of heaven-human induction, but it will further strengthen Zhu Di's imperial power!

This strengthening is reflected in two aspects.

The first aspect is the theory of the Holy King, which directly elevates Zhu Di's status from the son of Heavenly Dao to the level of the Human Emperor, which is equal to Heavenly Dao, and even the incarnation of Heavenly Dao in the human world.

Imperial power began to become infinite.

The second aspect is that the heliocentric theory and universal gravitation can completely smash an important part of Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism from the empirical level, that is, the concept of interaction between heaven and man.

In addition, if Zhu Di chooses to promote Xunzi's theory, he will also attack Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism from within Confucianism. Attacking Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism is equivalent to attacking the right to speak of the gentry class.

As long as he can seize some of the right to speak, Zhu Di will not be scolded as a "country thief", "Yan rebel" and "rebel" every day.

On the contrary, Zhu Di will become a holy king who allows the people to "work for him in harmony with him in order to serve him" and "take pleasure in dying for him"!

What is the status of the Holy King?

As high as heaven! As close as parents! Fear him like a god!

After thinking clearly, Zhu Di pondered for a moment, and then said: "In this case, I think the Ming Dynasty should restore Xunzi's status and put Xunzi, the saint, in the position he deserves."

Hearing this, Zhu Gaochi lowered his head slightly: "What do you mean, father?"

"Let Xunzi once again become the Five Sages of Confucianism, worthy of worshiping in the Confucian Temple."

With just one word, Zhu Di decided what was destined to cause an uproar.

However, any objections are destined to be invalid in front of Zhu Di.

After all, deciding who deserves to worship in the Confucius Temple was actually the power of kings throughout the ages.

"At the same time, with the restoration of Xunzi's status, Xunzi's teachings must also be included in the content of the imperial examinations!"

Zhu Gaochi was startled and whispered: "Father, some of Xunzi's theories conflict with the current Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism."

Zhu Di glanced at Daer.

Zhu Gaochi fell silent for a moment.

After deciding this important matter, Zhu Di felt a lot more relaxed.

But after Zhu Di drank a glass of wine, he looked at Dao Yan with a smile.

"Master Dao Yan, if what I expected is correct, the master proposed to use the theory of the Confucian sage Xunzi to make up for the rupture of the Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucian view of the induction of heaven and man, and even came up with the theory of the sage king. I am afraid it is not just to make up for me. ?Honestly speaking, how much thought do you put into trying to smooth things over for Jiang Xinghuo?"

As soon as Zhu Di said these words, the atmosphere in the room suddenly became silent.

Zhang Yuchu looked at the emperor and Dao Yan with a glass of wine in his hand. It didn't matter if he drank or not.