Imperial Master of the Ming Dynasty

The distinction between reason and desire, that is, the debate on the relationship between ethics and people's desires for material and spiritual life, was one of the core propositions in the debate on ethical thought in the Song and Ming Dynasties.

However, since today's Taixue Meeting is a group debate, there will naturally be opportunities for others to speak. After Jiang Xinghuo offered some suggestions, he was not in a hurry to use "Broken Window" to argue something, let alone ask God to enlighten him first.

Xie Jin pondered for a moment, then took the lead and said: "Loving honor and disgrace, loving benefit and disgrace, this is what gentlemen and villains have in common. If a husband's eyes are fond of sight, his ears are fond of sound, his mouth is fond of taste, his heart is fond of profit, and his body and skin are in good condition, Pleasures and pleasures are all born from human emotions and nature, so these desires cannot be eliminated. People’s desires should be nourished and people’s desires should be nourished.”

Jiang Xinghuo was quite satisfied with the positive performance of the top horse. If he had to do everything by himself, it would indeed be a bit too tiring. It would be better to have someone to help him charge forward.

Xie Jin basically quoted Xunzi's views, which affirmed people's legitimate material desires and believed that material desires are the common requirements of gentlemen and villains.

In fact, the debate between reason and desire originated in the pre-Qin Dynasty and is a classic debate topic within Confucianism. However, the debate was not so fierce in the past, and the diode opposition between heavenly reason and human desire was not completely established.

On the opposition debater's side, Wang Yuli came on stage to replace Yang Jingcheng, who had just been disgraced.

In fact, Yang Jingcheng, who is the weakest and the most junior, had the same realization just now. After all, when Guan Xue passed down to his generation, there was actually only one lintel left. If he was allowed to step in at the critical moment, he would definitely lose his place, so It would be better to take the initiative to undertake the unseemly test work ahead. At least it can leave an impression without offending others. It gives you a sense of participation in such a grand event.

"This statement is absurd."

Wang Yuli also knelt and sat very upright, with the demeanor of an old-guard Taoist priest. He seemed to be rebutting righteously, but soon, it felt like something was wrong.

"The Analects of Confucius - Yao said, "Desire without greed, a gentleman seeks the way but not food." Of course, "loving glory and disgrace, and profit and harm" are the same as those of gentlemen, but what a gentleman seeks cannot be the same as those of villains. Are the villains the same?"

Gao Xuzhi raised his eyebrows and looked at Wang Yuli without missing a beat.

You old boy, we have a traitor!

Yang Jingcheng was also stunned.

It seems that Wang Yuli's answer was correct. Why did the two of them behave like this?

This requires us to talk about the positioning of Jinhua School in the academic spectrum.

The Jinhua School, headed by Wang Yuli, is a high school that has been responsible for organizing the Ehu Meeting. In today's Ming Dynasty's intellectual world, it is a school with both foundation and strength. It has been flourishing for hundreds of years. , accumulated a lot of wealth, but because it took too long to develop, the current Jinhua School is still somewhat inconsistent with the Jinhua School in the Southern Song Dynasty.

During the Southern Song Dynasty, the Jinhua School was a branch of the meritorious school in eastern Zhejiang. It was in the same vein as the Yongkang and Yongjia schools and advocated the meritocracy of "managing the world for practical purposes". However, in all specific academic views, it was different from Both Neo-Confucianism and Psychology have areas of compromise. On the academic spectrum, they are on the right side of practical science.

However, with the changes in the world, the tripartite confrontation between practical learning, psychological learning, and Neo-Confucianism in the Southern Song Dynasty was broken, and showed a trend that will never return. The Yongkang and Yongjia schools fell down one after another, and the Zhejiang East School of Practical Learning advocated practical learning. Only the Jinhua School was left, and Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism completely overwhelmed the Xin Xue and Practical Xue, and became the official designated examination knowledge, that is, the official school.

Therefore, the Jinhua School had to make a U-turn and began to revise its academic views, shifting from the right side of Practical Studies to the left side of Neo-Confucianism.

However, when academic disputes existed in the Southern Song Dynasty when the three pillars of Practical Learning, Xinxue and Neo-Confucianism stood out, the Jinhua School was often criticized by the Yongkang and Yongjia Schools for being weak because it was not radical enough. However, when Practical Learning completely lost power, the Jinhua School was forced to integrate into Neo-Confucianism, but it was Because the views are close to the inner learning and practical learning, the traditional defenders of Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism denounced him as extreme and impure.

So why are you being rejected?

After the three debates on "Ancient and modern kings dominate righteousness and interests", Wang Yuli also had some reflections. Things are changing. Should the big ship of Jinhua School turn around and return to the past channel? As the practical school of the year One of the three great schools, returning to the banner of practical learning is something worth thinking about.

It was precisely because of this idea of ​​changing the family that Wang Yuli used Confucius's arguments instead of Mencius's. Confucius's views were more moderate and moderate, while Mencius and Xunzi were opposing views on the distinction between reason and desire.

In the view of the defenders of Neo-Confucianism, if a defense is not pure, it means that it is not a defense.

Seeing that Wang Yuli's weak attitude was going to cause harm, Gao Xunzhi immediately took action.

"Heavenly principles and human desires are related to each other. As the saying goes, 'Don't seek benefits if you correct the way, and don't rush to achieve success if you cultivate the principles.' How can we confuse the meaning of the way?"

Although Gao Xunzhi was manipulated by Yao Guangxiao and Jiang Xinghuo, as the saying goes, a person who is upright is not afraid of a shadow. On this principle of defending morality, Gao Xunzhi still has to stand on the opposite side, and he is the kind that will never waver. .

The Jinhua School has great achievements, so it does have to be cautious. Although Gao Xunzhi also opened an academy, it was not the same thing as the Jinhua School.

Gao Xunzhi's point of view is to focus on elucidating the thoughts of Confucius and Mencius, emphasizing the Dao and the principles of heaven, and despising utilitarianism and material desires. He believes that only by despising utilitarianism and material desires can people's hearts be prevented from becoming chaotic.

Here Xie Jin continued to reply: "The ancient sage said, if you have a stable warehouse, you will know the etiquette, if you have enough food and clothing, you will know the honor and disgrace, let people live in abundance, and strive to live in poverty. Is there any truth in the world that only the laws of nature exist and no one wants them?" When hunger and cold come, there are only a few people who can do nothing wrong; but when food and clothing come together, there are only a few who can do nothing good. If there is no window to protect from the wind and rain, Wang Shuming, no matter how firmly he believes in the laws of heaven, will probably freeze to death, right? The laws of nature will eventually come. It cannot replace shelter from wind and rain, but in my opinion, Wang Shuming not only needs windows, but also glass windows! The people of the entire Ming Dynasty need a glass window!"

This is to fully advocate economic development and encourage people's reasonable material desires.

"No, since the paper windows can keep out wind and rain, why do we need a glass window each?"

Gao Xunzhi began to increase in intensity: "If you persist without desire, you will be rewarded but not stolen; if you persist in selfish desires, your skill will become more and more dim. Isn't this the truth? In the past, I advised King Zhou of Shang to give ivory chopsticks?"

Well, Gao Xunzhi was talking about the more famous "Ivory Chopsticks Law" in later generations.

Not long after King Zhou of Yin came to the throne, he ordered someone to cut a pair of ivory chopsticks for him. The wise minister Qi Zi said: "Ivory chopsticks must not be matched with earthenware, but must be matched with rhinoceros horn bowls and white jade cups. Jade cups must not be used to hold wild vegetables and coarse grains, but can only be used with them." The delicacies of the mountains and the sea go hand in hand. After eating the delicacies of the mountains and the sea, I no longer want to wear coarse kudzu jackets and live in thatched huts. Instead, I want to wear beautiful clothes, ride in expensive cars, and live in high-rise buildings. If I can’t satisfy myself at home, I have to go abroad to search for rare treasures. I can’t help but I am worried about you, Your Majesty, as this is bound to consume the country’s power, and I am afraid that the destiny does not lie with Dashang.”

Sure enough, at the end of the story, King Zhou paid generous taxes to finance the deer platform, collected dogs and horses, and filled the palace. He used wine as a pond and hanging meat as a forest, so that men and women chased each other among them to drink in the long night. The people were resentful and the princes rebelled, their country was destroyed, and they themselves died in the fire.

As for whether the historical facts are like this, it is difficult to verify even with the unearthed oracle bone inscriptions and the collection of folk dragon bones, but this story is indeed a classic story of materialistic upgrading.

The same is true for modern consumerism. It is definitely wrong for you to say that the story does not make sense. The human heart is like this. If you have good things, you will get better ones. The greed of the world is like this, which is the so-called "getting more than you can get" and "getting a long way". And looking back at Shu", logically speaking, there is no end.

The king's greed is even more terrifying, because he has almost unlimited power and no one can stop him. "Poetry" says, "Shang's lesson is not far away, in the time of Queen Xia", which is what it says .

If you argue according to this logic, you will definitely not win the argument, because this is an old routine of arguing between reason and desire. Using the "Ivory Chopsticks Law" means that you cannot follow the other party's train of thought.

At this time, Zhang Yuchu suddenly said: "Husband, desire, joy, anger, sorrow, and joy are all the owners of human nature. How can joy, anger, sorrow, and joy be gone?"

Zhang Yuchu's response strategy also did not exceed the expectations of the opponent.

Because in the final analysis, the distinction between reason and desire still falls on people, and as long as they are people, they have desires. This is the heel of Zhengfang. You can expect the general public to improve their ideological awareness, but you cannot expect everyone to be like a saint. Even an ascetic type defender cannot do this by giving up most of his desires.

Zhang Yuchu’s point of view is that it is unobjectionable for people to have desires. Just as emotions of joy, anger, sorrow and joy are not evil, desire is also not evil and cannot be eradicated. This is equivalent to saying that you can’t dig out your own eyes just to “see no evil” of.

Seeing the affirmative side avoiding the fight and starting to avoid the topic, the opposition debaters suddenly became more energetic.

Gao Xunzhi took advantage of the victory and pursued: "Preserve the laws of heaven and destroy human desires. Mr. Mingdao (Cheng Hao) said: Although I have learned something, the word "law of heaven" is derived from my own consideration. Father, son, monarch and minister, the law of the world, there is no escape from it. Between heaven and earth.”

In fact, since the Northern Song Dynasty, the relationship between heavenly principles and human desires has become one of the central issues debated by thinkers at that time. The distinction between heavenly principles and human desires in the Song Dynasty originated from Zhang Zai, was established by Er Cheng, and was comprehensively developed by Zhu Xi. On this proposition, Er Cheng Cheng is highly unified. They all regard "reason" or "natural principle" as the highest category of their ideological systems and regard it as the fundamental principle of the universe.

Hu Yan also cheered up and said: "It's not the law of heaven, it's selfish desire! No one's desires are the law of nature. The so-called 'desires, joy, anger, sorrow, and joy are all the owners of human nature' is a big fallacy! A gentleman should be cautious and state his true intention. Get rid of joy, anger, and sorrow and take pleasure in your body. Why can’t people get rid of their desires?”

At this time, Wang Yunsheng also followed up and said: "The principles of heaven are just the general name for benevolence, justice, propriety and wisdom, and benevolence, justice, propriety and wisdom are the elements of heaven's principles. Therefore, the principles of heaven and human desires cannot coexist. If the principles of heaven exist, humans will want to perish. If humans want to win, the principles of heaven will be destroyed. It should be Only by eradicating human desires and restoring heaven's principles can the Taoist heart be revealed."

After saying that, Wang Yunsheng glared at Wang Yuli.

Look, this is called the right-wing aggression of Neo-Confucianism.

What does "Loving honor and disgrace, loving advantage and disfavoring harm are all common to gentlemen and villains"? See what your teacher, Mr. Dao, said? Is this what our Taoist priests can say? The right way is to eliminate human desires and restore the principles of nature.

Obviously, from the perspective of extreme conservatives in Neo-Confucianism, natural principles and human desires are highly antagonistic.

According to what Hu Yan quoted from "Zhuzi Yulei", it is believed that the human heart pursues the desires of the ears and eyes, and excessive harm will be extremely harmful, while the Taoist heart pursues heavenly principles or principles, and is therefore subtle. People can only overcome these desires. Only selfish desires can turn people's hearts from danger to peace, and the Taoist heart can emerge from concealment.

Kong Xilu looked at Jiang Xinghuo and saw that the situation was a bit one-sided, but he couldn't say too harsh words, so he just said lightly.

"When a person is born, his first priority is to keep alive; his first priority is to be comfortable with his feelings. If he loses his karma due to being close to his heart, he will become addicted to the excitement, and if he forgets his roots when he is tired, then the true principles of nature will be reduced."

This means understanding that satisfying people's material desires is a prerequisite for preserving life, but it also opposes people indulging in selfish desires, thereby detracting from the laws of heaven.

Well, how can I put it this way? Among a group of extremely conservative defenders of Neo-Confucianism, this kind of attitude is already considered a very peaceful attitude. It was only because of Jiang Xinghuo's face that he didn't act harshly.

The big move sent by the opponents today is still the same one left by Zhu Xi. In his early years, Zhu Xi had studied under Hu Zhongyuan and Liu Yanchong. Both of them were fond of Buddhism. Zhu Xi also practiced Buddhism and Taoism. It was not until the year he was 30 that he officially paid homage to Cheng Yi. Li Tong, a disciple of the third generation, was his teacher. Although Zhu Xi's academic thoughts are complex, they can be boiled down to the three pillars of "maintaining respect in order to establish one's foundation, exhausting principles so that one can understand them, and practicing them in order to practice them." And "mainly respecting" In fact, Jiang Xinghuo had roughly dismantled the three-pointed issue of "principle" and "practice" when he gave a lecture at the end of Jiangnan flood control. The things in it are closely related to the distinction between reason and desire. It can even be said that Zhu Xi's theory mainly revolves around the relationship between "reason and desire".

Yang Shiqi saw that the situation was very good at this time. Although he was wary of Jiang Xinghuo and Yao Guangxiao who had never spoken, he also knew that this was a good opportunity to speak, so he said.

"As Zhu Zi said, when there are natural principles, there will be human desires, just like when the natural principles have a place to settle down, then some people will want to emerge. There is me in you, and you in me. There are many natural principles, and human desires are also natural principles. Although what comes out of it is human desire, and human desire has its own natural principles, this relationship is also one that waxes and wanes and the other grows. If one wins, the other will retreat, and if the other wins, the other will retreat. There is absolutely no reason to be neutral and not advance or retreat, and ordinary people will not advance. Just retreat."

Then, Yang Shiqi gave another example: "For example, in the dispute between Chu and Han, Liu Bang and Xiang Yu were locked between Xingyang and Chenggao. If the other took a step forward, the other would take a step back; if the other took a step forward, the other would take a step back. At this time, it is necessary to set up camp. Slowly suffer, and if you can get away even a little bit, then the suffering will go away. Don't give up. You will eventually win. Wang Shuming, why do you need glass windows? Even if you are suffering, can you really not get sick? "

Obviously Yang Shiqi’s views are right-center-right.

At this time, Yao Guangxiao suddenly opened his mouth and laughed loudly: "There are two kinds of doors according to the one mind. What are the two? One is the door of the true heart, and the other is the door of birth and destruction of the mind. These two kinds of doors each control all dharmas!"

The debaters of the Taixue Association were stunned for a moment. Then Cao Duan thought of something, and then Yang Jingcheng of Guanxue became weird. This weirdness, like a silent wave, began to spread throughout the venue. Everything became extremely silent.

"Why did you stop talking after reciting a Buddhist scripture?"

This confused the international students next to me who were listening happily.

No one knows why the defenders of the Neo-Confucian camp who were chasing after them just now were suddenly frightened to a stop as if Godzilla appeared in front of them, let alone why there was a collective silence over a mere passage of Buddhist scriptures. Effect.

Not to mention new international students like Hu Hancang and Lu Gong who didn't understand, even Li Jie and He Duanzhi didn't understand.

In the end, the little fat man who brought them here explained it, and then they understood.

There is a saying here. As mentioned before, Zhu Xi studied Buddhism in his early years, and many of the things in his three-blade ax were sewn together. In order to solve the existing bugs in the system, he had to find patches from outside the system.

Zhu Xi's theory of heaven and human desire is actually another way of saying what Zhang Zai of the Northern Song Dynasty called "the nature of heaven and earth" and "the nature of temperament." However, Zhang Zai did not say that the nature of temperament is derived from the nature of heaven and earth. , only mentioned that the nature of heaven and earth is the metaphysical ontology, while the nature of temperament is the metaphysical expression.

In fact, Zhang Zai's theory of human nature originated from the Buddhist theory of Buddha nature. His theory of pure and perfect "nature of heaven and earth" has been reflected in the past Confucian system, whether it was the pre-Qin Confucianism in the era of Confucius, Mencius and Xunshi, the Classics of the Han Dynasty, or the The metaphysics of the Wei and Jin Dynasties have no basis, but are copies of the "true Buddha-nature" of Buddhism.

Because of this, the erudite Cao Duan was the first to react, and Yang Jingcheng, the successor of Guan Xue, naturally knew how the theory of Zhang Zai, the founder of his school, came from, and then came other great Confucian scholars.

If we just learn from each other, it doesn't really matter. After all, the three religions of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism have developed for thousands of years, and there is a lot to learn from each other.

But the problem is that, as mentioned before, Zhu Xi studied Buddhism in his early years. The system built by Zhu Xi takes the principles of heaven as the "noumenon" of the human heart, and this principle of heaven is also pure and flawless, but this cannot be found in the traditional Confucian system. to any basis.

Where does this come from?

This is the meaning of this Buddhist scripture recited by Yao Guangxiao.

"Mahayana Belief Theory" has the theory of "one mind and two gates". It is believed that the "heart" has both the "true gate" and the "birth and death gate". The truth is like water, and birth and death are like waves. Water is the body of waves, and waves are In other words, the "True Such Gate" is similar to the concepts of "unsullied consciousness" and "Nirvana Mind" (basically the same concept as Zhang Zai's nature of heaven and earth), that is, the "Tathagata Store"; and the "Generation and Death Gate" "Close to the "Aliya Consciousness" (similar to Zhang Zai's temperament) that is the basis of dyeing and purification, these two doors include all things and phenomena in the world and embody the essence of consciousness-only consciousness of all dharmas.

"The true nature of the heart" includes two aspects: one is "empty as it is", that is, "separated from form" and "no thought", which is a pure existence without any impurities; the other is "empty as it is", that is, eternal and unchanging Stillness exists. Since the "mind is really like the door" is an absolutely pure and immovable entity, it is difficult to explain the complex relationships between defilement, movement and stillness, one mind and the secular world. "The Theory of Awakening of Faith" uses "the door of mind's birth and death" to explain these relationships, that is, "the door of mind's birth and death" is used to explain these relationships. As for birth and death, according to Tathagatagarbha, there is a mind of birth and death. The so-called "non-birth and non-destruction" and "birth and death" are neither the same nor different, and are called Ariya consciousness."

Therefore, "Ariya consciousness" is the "mind of birth and death", which exists based on the "non-birth and non-destruction" of the heart. It is the product of "non-birth and non-destruction" combined with "the birth and death of the heart".

The "mind-nature that does not arise or die" in the state of the mind of the arising and passing away of Ariya consciousness is called "awareness"; the "mind of the arising and passing away" in the state of the mind of the arising and passing away of the Ariya consciousness is called "unawareness".

In addition to the dual nature of "the true nature of the heart", "real emptiness" (pure and untainted existence), and "truth not empty" (eternal and still existence), "awareness" also has the "cause smoke mirror" and "condition smoke". "Mirror" has two special functions.

"Yin smoked mirror" means that "awareness" is like a mirror, and all things and phenomena in the world appear in it, because "awareness" can always stay in "one mind", and all things and phenomena in the world have "one mind" as their nature. Although awareness is "not "moving", but possessing all "no leaks", it becomes the basis for sentient beings to become Buddhas. The reason why sentient beings hate life and death and seek nirvana is that "awakening" plays an internal role in suffocating the sentient beings themselves.

"Awakening mirror" means that "awareness" plays an external role in liberating sentient beings. Therefore, "awareness" is "quiet", contained in all things in the world silently and motionlessly, and is owned by all living beings; at the same time, it It is also "moving", capable of escaping from life and death, transforming from common defilements to purity, and saving all sentient beings.

Okay, now that the explanation is here, I believe people who don’t understand Buddhism are basically confused.

But it doesn’t matter, there is the content of the Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucian translation.

——This is the classic saying in "Zhu Zi Yu Lei" that "the imaginary perception of the heart is just one thing." If someone thinks that the human heart is different, it may be due to the selfishness of form and energy, or it may be due to the righteousness of life. , and the reason why it is perceived is different. It may be dangerous and uneasy, or it may be subtle and difficult to hear.”

Not only is this thing exactly the same as "The Theory of Awakening Faith in the Mahayana", it can also be said that it is exactly the same. It is a translation of Buddhist terms into Confucian terms.

Zhu Xi believes that all human beings are born with "Qi" as their body and "Li" as their nature. Moral consciousness originates from Li as the ontology. Sensual and emotional desires are rooted in the Qi that constitutes the flesh and blood body. Moral consciousness always exists deep in the soul. This is because it is "weak"; not all emotions and desires are evil, but if they are not controlled, they become unwholesome, so they are "dangerous".

Zhu Xi felt that this was the meaning of "the human heart is dangerous and the Taoist heart is weak" in "Shangshu" (according to legend it is a forgery). In fact, in order to cover up the Buddhist roots of his thoughts, Zhu Xi described the opposition between heavenly principles and human desires as " The opposition between "human heart" and "Tao heart" found a source for itself.

Objectively speaking, it's nonsense. It's like shooting an arrow first and then drawing a target. Drawing conclusions first and then looking for the source. But this is how Zhu Xi figured it out. "The heart of the Tao must always be the master of the body, and every time the human heart does not obey orders, there will be danger." Those who are at ease, those who are small are affected, and the difference between movement and stillness is the difference between oneself and oneself."

So did Zhu Xi innovate?

Yes, I really didn’t copy it completely, I also added some of my own personal stuff into it.

Zhu Xi also believed that "Tao Xin" is the "heart of justice" that embodies "Heavenly Principles". Therefore, "the perception of kings, ministers, fathers and sons is Tao Xin." Well, everything must return to ethics and morality, that is, the Three Cardinal Guidelines and the Five Constant Rules, rather than like As in Buddhism, "form is the mind, and the mind is the form."

This clarifies that the Taoist mind is the essence of ethical principles, and is also distinguished from the Buddhist super-moral "True Suchness" ontology. It also fixes the weakness of simply viewing human emotions and desires as "causes and conditions that obstruct the Tao." After thus drawing a clear line with the Buddhist Zen practice, Zhu Xi advocated "investigating things" in terms of moral cultivation to eliminate the selfishness of human desires. The next step is the old routine of "respect" and "sincerity".

Seeing that everyone was silent, Yao Guangxiao continued: "Teaching people to sit quietly for half a day and study for half a day is no different from being a monk for half a day and a great Confucianist for half a day. In this way, Confucianism is mixed with Buddhism, and Buddhism is adopted into Confucianism. Zhu Zi's theory of natural principles and human desires is basically If it is not what Confucianism says, but it is created out of thin air, how can it make people suffer in the wind and snow? Sincerity and respect for things in the world are important, but being able to distinguish the true from the false is equally significant."

So aggressive!

What the old monk is saying is that you just screamed so fiercely, but this theory that pits natural principles and human desires against each other is not Confucian in origin. It is used to deceive the people, so why do you believe it?

And he squeezed Cheng Zhu Neo-Confucianism without leaving any trace.

After saying that, Yao Guangxiao breathed a sigh of relief, which he had been holding back for many years.

When Buddhism was gradually declining in the early Ming Dynasty, the old monk, as the Dinghai Shenzhen of Buddhism, truly took on the responsibility of protecting Buddhism and compiled the "Remaining Records of the Way" which was anti-Buddhist. This book was given to The main content of the book Zhu Di read was about Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism's plagiarism and misinterpretation of Buddhist scriptures.

But before, you were alone. You were the prime minister in black, and you couldn't speak out in front of so many people.

But now it's different. With the strong support of Jiang Xinghuo's many new ideas, the old monk finally has the confidence to refute Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism head-on without any scruples.

There is a plot here, that is, Cheng Cheng wanted to replace Zhou Dunyi's "Jing Jing" with "Zhu Jing", and Zhu Xi also wanted to use "Study of Things" as a method of practice. Neo-Confucianism also talks about iterative contributions, and each generation of masters must He left some of his own innovations, but whether it is "investigating things" or "mainly worshiping", the shadow of Buddhism can be seen everywhere. Zhu Xi criticized Buddhist zazen while advocating meditation. The so-called "sitting quietly can understand the truth." , it is not enough to just sit quietly. If you can understand the truth clearly, it is natural to be quiet. Nowadays, people are seeking meditation to save trouble, but not , as long as there is nothing in the mind, the truth will begin to emerge. Once the truth comes out, the mind will become clearer and calmer." This is Zhu Xi's meditation method.

In other words, sitting quietly with Zhu Xi is the method, and the purpose is to understand the truth, that is, the three cardinal principles and the five constant principles.

However, the form of meditation in Neo-Confucianism is exactly the same as that in Buddhism. Therefore, whether meditation is for the purpose of becoming a monk, or whether it is to be sincere and upright, to respect oneself, and to pursue oneself, only the person concerned knows best.

In any case, the Confucian style of Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism has become more and more obvious from "mainly tranquility" to "mainly respect" and then to "investigation of things". However, no matter how obvious it is, it is still impossible to escape the stereotypes of Buddhist meditation.

Seeing that the situation was reversed by Yao Guangxiao's words, and the offensive and defensive momentum of both sides were different, at this time, he knew that if he continued to struggle with the root cause of "people's hearts and minds", he would definitely be dragged into an unbearable situation, so Yang Shiqi also took the risk.

"Creating things out of thin air may not be able to withstand the wind and snow. Human beings are born in moral customs. As Mr. Yichuan (Cheng Yi) said - death from starvation is a small matter, but indiscretion is a huge matter!"

"Starving to death is a small matter, but losing integrity is a big matter." The lethality of these eight words needs no introduction.

This kind of speech belongs to the extreme right among the extreme right of Neo-Confucianism. Most defenders of morality cannot say this kind of thing. Those who can say this kind of thing are undoubtedly extremely pious defenders of morality.

"good!"

At this time, Jiang Xinghuo suddenly hit the knot with his hands, and his voice became louder and louder, attracting the attention of the whole audience.

"What a saying: 'Starving to death is a small matter, but being disobedient is a big deal'!"

Jiang Xinghuo looked at Yang Shiqi, and Yang Shiqi also looked at Jiang Xinghuo without flinching.

"Now that we have talked about this today, I would like to ask, is Wang Shuming really willing to freeze to death rather than repair this window? If so, for the so-called 'chapter', the so-called morality, the so-called three cardinal principles and five constant principles, do you really want to Force people to death?”

"It's a small thing to starve to death, but it's a big thing to lose one's integrity!"

Yang Shiqi still said the same thing, insisting that Qingshan would not relax.

This is the foundation of Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism's extreme view of rationality and desire, and it is the bottom line from which there is no retreat. This is the saying of everyone who comes today. The Three Cardinal Guidelines and the Five Constant Virtues are overwhelming.

Jiang Xinghuo nodded, what he wants is your words, you are a tough talker, right?

Jiang Xinghuo asked:

"Can Gang Chang Jie be justified?"

"nature."

"Can men and women eat and drink in the air?"

"nature."

"Are Li and Qi two entities?"

Yang Shiqi hesitated.

"Qi" is an ancient Chinese philosopher's concept of the materiality of the world. This is difficult for foreigners to understand, but Chinese people understand it as soon as they hear "Qi". "Zhuangzi Zhibeiyou" has "Human life, Qi gathers, and when it gathers, it leads to life, and when it disperses, it leads to death. If death and life are disciples, why bother me! Therefore, all things are one." This is the earliest "Essential Theory of Qi".

In other words, even the most extreme defenders admit that humans are made of Qi.

Well, as a digression, those who have an impression of the Taiping Street debate should still remember the words used by Zong Chaoyi and others in the Imperial College to ridicule Jiang Xinghuo.

"A gentleman is born with yang righteousness, and a villain is born with yin and evil. A gentleman's deeds are always better than his words, and a villain's words are always better than his deeds. Therefore, when the world is governed, there will be many honest people, and when the world is in chaos, there will be many people who are decorated. Many countries will prosper, and many will lose. Even if you die, the master of the country doesn’t know what kind of anger he is born with?”

These words come from Shao Yong, one of the five sons of the Northern Song Dynasty. Shao Yong studied Yili, Confucianism and Taoism. He devoted his life to unifying heaven and man, thus trying to combine Confucianism's humanism and Taoism's way of heaven. Taken together, it is also one of the root theories that explains the regulation of Qi in Neo-Confucianism.

Whether we regard the gentleman as a person born with righteous yang energy, or the villain as a person born with yin evil energy, there is a fundamental argument here, which is the "Qi Fundamental Theory" just mentioned, that is to say It is believed that the human body and the entire material world are composed of "qi".

In fact, it was not just the Five Scholars of the Northern Song Dynasty who began to study the "Ontology of Qi". Since the Han Dynasty, the ontology of Qi has become the basic paradigm for ancient Chinese philosophers to understand and explain the world and human beings. Until Zhou Dunyi's "Tai Chi Illustrations" and Shao Yong's "Yu Qiao Qiao Dui" thoroughly carries it forward.

So why did Yang Shiqi hesitate on this issue?

The answer is simple.

Zhu Xi himself was not sure.

Zhu Xi's view on regulating qi is quite complex. At different stages of life, there is a saying that "there is no need to prioritize regulating qi", there is also a saying that "regulating qi comes first", there is a saying that " regulating qi is definitely two things (duality of regulating qi)", there is also a saying that " regulating qi is definitely two things (dualism of regulating qi)", there is also a saying that " regulating qi does not need to be prioritized". There is a saying that regulating qi is inseparable and unmixed.”

What later generations adopted was basically Cheng Yi’s view of regulating qi, which is the dichotomy between macro and micro.

What is the macro-micro dichotomy? What this means is that from a macro perspective, Li is a metaphysical thing and Qi is a metaphysical thing. The two are strictly distinguished and cannot be confused; but if we put the perspective from a micro individual perspective, as far as a specific entity is concerned, the Li Qi that constitutes this entity "Buju" means that principle and qi are two things, and "buza" means that principle and qi coexist here.

Well, this thing is a bit similar to Schrödinger's cat, and a bit similar to quantum mechanics.

Specifically, whether it should be strictly differentiated or "non-separated and non-mixed", not only Zhu Xi did not dare to define it, but even if you asked Cheng Yi, he himself was also vague.

For the "Basic Theory of Qi" in traditional Chinese philosophy, Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism's macroscopic and microscopic dichotomy of Li and Qi is actually progressive. The dichotomy of Li and Qi, as well as the metaphysical substantialization and transcendentalization of "Li", It is the contribution of Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism to philosophy.

But the flaw is that Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism's "Li-Qi dualism" does not define the boundary in between!

Cheng Yi and Zhu Xi could not distinguish each other, so they left a hole for future generations.

Although Yang Shiqi can shout that "starving to death is a small matter, losing integrity is a big deal!", but from the perspective of the philosophical structure of Neo-Confucianism, this "starving to death" and "losing integrity" are actually the "dualism of Li and Qi".

So if we break it down in detail, can we use the pitfalls left by Cheng and Zhu to defeat this far-right slogan of Neo-Confucianism?

Once it is broken down from the theoretical derivation, this iconic slogan will no longer work, which means that the "Li-Qi dualism" of Neo-Confucianism has been subverted.

This effect is the same as cutting down the enemy's flag on the battlefield.

Jiang Xinghuo looked at Yang Shiqi and said confidently:

"In that case, let's discuss whether it is worse to starve to death or to lose one's moral integrity."