Confucianism and Taoism in the early Han Dynasty

After hundreds of years of war in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, China regained its unification at the turn of Qin and Han Dynasties. The unification of the political territory requires that the ideological world cannot continue to be chaotic. Although the hundreds of schools of thought and school of thought seemed very lively to outsiders, it was very harmful to the long-term stability of the empire. At that time, the ideological beliefs were still luxuries, and the people did not care about it. The people were really jealous of it, and the princes, nobles, scholars and scholars. Qin Shihuang burned books and kidnapped Confucianism and promoted the Legalists. He was annoyed by the ears of these Confucianism, Taoism, Laws and Mohism, and burned all your books, and saw what tricks you still played. Of course, guarding against the people is more important than guarding against Sichuan, and books are still intoxicated. After the Qin II, the newly-emerged Liu Han Dynasty faced the same problem of establishing the foundation of imperial thought.

When the various schools of thought reached the beginning of the Han Dynasty, the power of various schools had declined and changed. Qin used the Legalists to punish and violently politics to the world and ended up being the subject of thousands of men, so the fate of the Legalists ended in the early Han Dynasty. The concepts of "power, magic and methods" could no longer compete for control of the superstructure, so "the bottom was passed down" and hidden in the darkness of official philosophy, forming the "thick black science" of later generations continued to play a role. The central idea of ​​the Yin-Yang and Five Elements was separated by the Confucianism of Taoism and Dong Zhongshu, as an independent school.

The school disappeared. Although the Mohist school had great achievements in its ideological level, there was no more masters after Mozi's inheritance. The school organization did not maintain it, and its theory declined. Most of the other military schools, farmers, clans, and straitors were serious and could not unify their thoughts in the outskirts of the main points, so they were unable to succeed in the early Han Dynasty. After all, the only ones who were qualified to continue the Huashan sword competition were Confucianism, which originated from Zou Lu and carried forward the Huang-Lao theory that was founded in Chu and promoted in Qi.

Taoism was the first to gain the upper hand in the battle between Confucianism and Taoism. The Huang-Lao theory had an advantage in theoretical creation, which was that it invented the concept of "Tao", the origin of all things. "Tao gave birth to one, one gave birth to two, two gave birth to three, and three gave birth to all things." Let's compile it there, and then I can't jump out of my palm. "Clear and quiet, keep the emptiness, and govern inaction" also conforms to the mentality of the nobles in the early Han Dynasty who were eager to be prosperous and wealthy after the military and horses. Therefore, the Huang-Lao theory was once very popular among the palace kings in the early Han Dynasty. Emperor Wen of Han, the mother of Emperor Jing of Han, Empress Dowager Dou, was a typical example of Huang-Lao theory.

We are not very clear about how much an old lady like Empress Dowager Dou likes Huang-Lao’s theory to understand the philosophical meaning of Taoism. I think Empress Dowager Dou is more interested in Huang-Lao’s health preservation techniques and worshiping gods and ghosts (this is also in line with the common symptoms of middle-aged and elderly women. They are often the ones who worship Buddha in the temple most sincerely). No matter how much Empress Dowager Dou knows about Taoism, the authority of her mother to the world is unshakable. During Emperor Jing, there was a famous Confucian scholar named Yuan Gusheng, who was very knowledgeable about the Book of Songs, so he was named a doctor. One day Empress Dowager Dou asked Yuan Gusheng, "What do you think of the book "Laozi"?" Yuan Gusheng had a bit of a corrupt scholar, and did not know how to implicitly, and directly treated Empress Dowager Dou.

He said, "That's just a book written by ordinary people." Empress Dowager Dou was famous for being happy about Huang, and was furious when she heard it, so she gave Yuan Gusheng a noble and strong task to go to the pigpen to see it. He asked Yuan Gusheng to recite "a graceful lady, a gentleman is a good choice" and he was doing it. Isn't it his own life to ask him to stab the pig? Emperor Jing saw it on the side that he couldn't bear to let Yuan Gusheng die tragically under the pig's mouth, so he secretly gave Yuan a sharp blade. So this is the first human-pig battle in official history, and Yuan Gusheng's blow killed the pig. Previously, there was the butcher Ding in the "Zhuangzi" chapter to cut off the cow, and now there is the Confucian Yuan Sheng stabbed the pig. The Confucian and Taoist families can even tie the animal slaughter.

Empress Dowager Dou's intervention in the dispute between Confucianism and Taoism continued until the reign of Emperor Wu of Han, and the struggle during this period had become more and more bloody.

Confucianism entered the Han palace later than Taoism. Although the Confucius and Mencius theory was widely circulated during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, there were almost no real acceptance by the vassal states for governing the country (records of the Grand Historian, only Wei Wenhou used a Confucian theory). When the Qi State built the Jixia Academy, Mencius and Xunzi often went to have a free meal due to their neighbors, but the mainstream trend of the Jixia Academy was Taoism, military and legalists, and Confucianism, which were spread through the names of Huangdi, Jiang Taigong, and Guanzi, where they could only play the edge. Xunzi was the last great Confucian Confucian in the Warring States Period, but his

Two famous students, Li Si and Han Feizi, later fell into the arms of the Legalists. When Qin Shihuang was traveling east, Confucian scholars from Lu were flattered by Ying Zheng, and as a result, Qin Shihuang's great cause of burning books and burying Confucians. Confucianism formed a gang with the Qin Dynasty. When Chen Sheng and Wu Guang revolt, Kong Jia, a descendant of Confucius, actually sent the ritual vessels that the Kong family had kept for many years to help the illiterate peasant uprising army to the illiterate peasant uprising army. As a result, Chen Sheng was defeated and Kong Jia died inexplicably in the army. At this point, although Confucianism has worked hard, it has never made any decent name.

After the establishment of the Han Dynasty, the Qin Dynasty was jumped over and traced the Zhou Dynasty as orthodox, which required the creation of the ritual of the emperor. Liu Bang and a group of reckless men from mud-legged backgrounds did not understand the rituals at all. So in the early Han Dynasty, the great Confucian Shu Sun Tong formulated the ritual system for the Han Dynasty and was named Taichang by Liu Bang. In this way, some Confucian scholars began to enter the Han court to serve as officials. When Empress Lu was in power, she valued some brave generals when conquering the world. Confucian scholars stood aside. Emperor Wen of Han liked the study of punishment and reputation, and did not like Confucian scholars very much. By the time of Emperor Jing, the emperor and the queen mother were both obsessed with Huang Lao. Confucianism was even more at a disadvantage in the struggle with Taoism. By the time of Emperor Wu of Han, Confucianism finally had a chance to breathe.

Confucianism has a tradition of being a private school teacher, so before becoming an official to assist in government administration, some of the famous Confucian scholars were often related to teaching. During the reign of Empress Lu, a man from Lu was called Shen Peigong. Because he understood the Book of Songs, King Liu Ying of Chu invited him to be a teacher for his son Liu Wu. Because of his strict teaching, Liu Wu not only did not remember Shen Peigong's goodness, but also hated him (reading is always boring, especially for the children of Wanzhe). Later, Liu Wu succeeded as Queen of Chu and did not.

He gave Shen Peigong less shoes, and Shen Peigong ran back to Chang'an in anger. Shen Peigong had a student named Wang Zang, who was more lucky. The student he had was Liu Che, the son of Emperor Jing of Han, who later became Emperor Wu of Han. Emperor Wu of Han was finally a good material for studying poetry and books. After he ascended the throne, he promoted Wang Zang to be the ruling of the doctor and appointed Confucian scholar Zhao Wan as the censor. Even the Duke of Shen Peigong who was driven back by his own students was appointed as the official of the Taizhong Doctor.

As soon as the Confucian scholars had the opportunity, they thought about how to move Taoism from the superstructure. Wang Zang and Zhao Wan planned to build a Confucian Mingtang in the palace to specifically promote the study of Confucius and Mencius. This was learned by Empress Dowager Dou. Empress Dowager Dou was very angry. She could not let Confucianism restore under her eyes, so she skipped Emperor Wu of Han and ordered Wang Zang and Zhao Wan to be sent to the prison for examination. Later, Wang and Zhao had to commit suicide. However, after these people were troubled, the Confucian theory finally had some listeners in the palace, and Emperor Wu of Han also became popular.

In Confucianism, he began to compete with Empress Dowager Dou secretly. Empress Dowager Dou was the grandmother of Emperor Wu of Han, and no matter how long she lived, she could not waste the young and promising Emperor Wu of Han. As soon as she died, Emperor Wu of Han announced the abolition of Huang Lao and the theory of the hundred schools of thought. At the same time, Gongsun Hong, a Confucian scholar who was familiar with the Spring and Autumn Annals, was promoted from a commoner to a three-monarch, and was given the Queen of Pingjin Hou. The demonstration effect of buying lottery tickets and winning the grand prize was endless. For a time, students in the world tended to Confucianism like wind and swaying the grass. If there were any good things from the top, the lower ones would follow it. This is what later generations said, "Abolishing all schools of thought and respecting Confucianism alone."

1st floor, [Wind's Ambition] published on 2007-2-2212:10:12 | Delete posts | Add essence

The one who really led Confucianism to win a beautiful turnaround battle was Dong Zhongshu. Some books often say that Emperor Wu of Han adopted Dong Zhongshu's strategy to "destroy all schools of thought", as if Dong Zhongshu was a close minister of Emperor Wu of Han, which could control the political situation. This is wrong. In fact, like the great Confucians of the pre-Qin period, Dong Zhongshu was not valued by the king during his lifetime, and he did not have the title of national teacher. His fame and status in Confucianism mainly came from later generations. In the context of the unified state, Confucian scholars represented by Dong Zhongshu walked ahead of Taoism, took the lead in completing the integration of the ideas of the pre-Qin philosophers, and successfully completed the transformation from folk thoughts to national ideology. It can be said that since Dong Zhongshu, Confucianism and Taoism had already decided on the victory or defeat in the competition for secular royal power. Later, the stories for more than two thousand years were just some episodes that occurred on the premise of prior knowledge of advantages and disadvantages.

2nd Floor, [Wind's Ambition] published on 2007-2-2212:10:52 | Delete posts | Add essence

Dong Zhongshu was from Jingxian County, Hebei Province. He was born in the reign of Emperor Hui of Han (the second emperor after Liu Bang of the Han Dynasty). He learned the "Five Classics" of Confucianism ("Book", "Poetry", "Rites", "Yi", "Spring and Autumn") when he was young, and he was particularly good at "The Book of Songs and Autumn" Gongyang Zhuan". Confucius wrote "Spring and Autumn" as a subtle meaning. He only wrote a dozen words in every year, and even one or two words. For the content that is inconvenient to record behind the text, he taught it through oral disciples. In this way, there were different versions of "Spring and Autumn" passed down from word to word, which was compared.

The names include "Gongyang Zhuan", "Guliang Zhuan" and "Zuo Zhuan". During the reign of Emperor Wu of Han, the Zuo Zhuan was still little known, and the more popular ones were the "Gongyang" and "Guliang". Dong Zhongshu was the most famous scholar in Zhao Di's teaching of "Gongyang". Another person who taught "Gongyang Zhuan" in Qilu was Hu Wusheng. When Sima Qian commented on the eight important Confucian scholars in the early Han Dynasty in "Records of the Grand Historian", Dong, the name of Hu, was listed. In addition, there were Yuan Gusheng, who was thorned by the pig, Shen Peigong, who was driven away by his students, and Fu Sheng, who was famous for his recent article "Shangshu".

3rd Floor, [Wind's Ambition] published on 2007-2-2212:11:30 | Delete the post | Add the essence

Dong Zhongshu talked about "The Ram" very coolly. He put a curtain in front of himself and sat behind the scenes. Only students with excellent qualifications and good academic performance are qualified to enter the house and receive his personal teachings. Other disciples may have listened to the lessons for several years and were not even able to see what the teacher looked like. Among these students, Dong Zhongshu included Sima Qian, who later wrote "Records of the Grand Historian". Sima Qian's father, Sima Qian, spoke about Huang Lao's skills. Sima Qian was somewhat influenced by his father, but he showed his appearance when he wrote "Records of the Grand Historian".

However, they have completely tended toward Confucianism. The reason may be that Confucianism attaches more importance to the dissemination of knowledge than other theories. For example, the book "Spring and Autumn" mentioned above is a chronicle of the Lu Kingdom. During the Spring and Autumn Period, there were similar national histories in various countries, but no one taught them. After Qin Shihuang burned the books, they were all lost. Only the history of Lu, by Confucianism, was preserved by generations of people (there was also a national history discovered when it was dug to the tomb, which was the "Spring and Autumn Period" of Wei Kingdom, also known as "Zhu Secretary's Year").

4th floor, [The Ambition of the Wind] published on 2007-2-2212:12:24 | Delete the post | Add the essence

In 141 BC, Emperor Wu of Han ascended the throne and soon selected wise men from all over the country to serve. Dong Zhongshu also followed this group of people to the capital to work as a doctor (an official position such as consultant). However, Dong Zhongshu was not very prominent at this time. The most important Confucian scholars was Gongsun Hong, who could cater to the emperor and speak politely (later he became the first Confucian prime minister in history). In 135 BC, Empress Dowager Dou returned to the west, and the next year Emperor Wu of Han summoned Confucian scholars to hold an important meeting. At this Confucian "Zunyi Conference" Dong Zhongshu made a thorough correction of Confucius and Mencius' thoughts. The transformation made us look dizzy now, as if we were a different generation.

5th Floor, [Wind's Ambition] published on 2007-2-2212:12:54 | Delete the post | Add the essence

Before Dong Zhongshu, Confucianism was a set of philosophy on earth. Confucius was concerned about etiquette and filial piety, how the emperor respected etiquette, how the people valued filial piety; Mencius was concerned about benevolence, how the monarch performed benevolence, how the people kept their trust and righteousness; Xunzi was concerned about nature being evil, so learning and transformation of cultivation were the most important. Taoism was completely different from Confucianism. Taoism had a set of cosmology, "the net of heaven is wide and wide, and it was not lost." Humanity respected the way of heaven, and everything was natural. By the beginning of the Han Dynasty, Confucian philosophy on earth could not beat Taoist cosmology. You were a small matter, and I was the great way. Dong Zhongshu understood the self-proclaimed emperor of the Han Dynasty. They were concerned about the legitimacy of their own authority, so they bravely added the concept of "heaven" to Confucianism.

6th Floor, [Wind's Ambition] published on 2007-2-2212:13:35 | Delete the post | Add the essence

Mencius and Xunzi had a long-standing debate, whether nature is good or nature is evil. Dong Zhongshu said, don’t argue, there is a distinction between yin and yang in heaven, and there is also good and evil in human nature. Just like the grass in the field, if you plant well, it is rice. If you don’t plant well, it is no different from grass. Therefore, the people should educate them. It is better to retreat and weave a net than to envy fish in the abyss. The monarch should actively educate the people with "benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom and trustworthiness" instead of "quiet and nothingness" like Taoism and let it go (it is finally a bit of a Confucian shadow, otherwise it would not be an exaggeration to Dong Zhongshu be a theologian).

7th Floor, [Wind's Ambition] published on 2007-2-2212:14:05 | Delete the post | Add the essence

There are still many contents about Dong Zhongshu's conversation with Emperor Wu of Han. Later, when Ban Gu wrote the "Book of Han", he had a detailed record of this. Later generations had a high evaluation of Dong's countermeasures. Wang Chong said in "Lunheng" that "King Wen's writing is in Confucius, and Confucius' writing is in Zhongshu" (Dong Zhongshu and Confucius have been ranked alongside him). Liu Xiang said, "Dong Zhongshu has the talent of Wang Zuo, even though Yi Lu cannot be added, Guan Yan cannot reach it" (Yi Lu refers to Yi Yin and Lu Wang who assisted Shang Tang and Zhouwu). Putting aside these praises, Dong Zhongshu actually solved the major issue of how Confucianism transformed into imperial philosophy. The Han Dynasty was established based on troubled times, and after the founding of the country, there were many other things.

Due to the repeated rebellions of the princes, it is urgent to establish the authority of the emperor and promote the idea of ​​unification. The idea of ​​unity between man and nature in the Confucian Confucianism of the Dong family was a good choice. The people's customs at the intersection of Qin and Han dynasties were foolish and brave, which was not in line with the long-term interests of the monarch. The "inaction" of Taoism could not solve this problem. The Dong family's Confucianism proposed to educate the people, and civilized governance and rituals and letters gave an effective way. Therefore, after the transformation of Confucianism by Dong Zhongshu, Confucianism unexpectedly became extremely practical. On the contrary, Taoism lacked innovation and was self-confidence, and was defeated by Confucianism (Taoism only released the new banner figure Ge Hong, which was a new banner figure, was not revealed until the Eastern Jin Dynasty).

8th floor, [Wind's Ambition] published on 2007-2-2212:14:41 | Delete the post | Add the essence

Although Dong Zhongshu's suggestions were very good, he was not valued by Emperor Wu of Han. Shortly after this meeting, Emperor Wu of Han sent Dong Zhongshu to the remote Jiangdu Kingdom (the vassal state of the same surname) to be the prime minister. Dong Zhongshu should have been a little depressed. He continued to talk about his theory of the induction of heaven and man in Jiangdu, and wrote an article on "The Theory of Disasters and Disorders". After his father Yan, who was good at small reports, he reported this matter to Emperor Wu of Han. Emperor Wu of Han asked the great scholars around him to comment on this article. Dong Zhongshu's student Lu Bushu didn't know that this was a book written by his teacher, so he said that the text of this book was eccentric and not a good theory (Khan, how did Dong teach students

), so Emperor Wu of Han issued an edict to discuss the crime and almost killed Dong Zhongshu. Dong Zhongshu was frightened by this, so he no longer dared to speak nonsense. Later, he wrote a Jiaoxi prime minister for a while and then resigned from his official position and went home. Dong Zhongshu wrote a lot of books, and wrote a book called "Spring and Autumn Festival", which was the master of his heavenly and man's resonance. This book has a high status in the Chinese academic circle and is an important textbook for studying the history of thought in the early Han Dynasty. Zou Yan's theory of the five virtues of the beginning and beginning was later popular by Dong Zhongshu's interpretation. Dong Zhongshu also had a unique skill in asking for rain, which is a Confucian mastery. There are records in "Records of the Grand Historian". I believe that Dong's asking for rain was quite effective.

9th floor, [The Wind's Ambition] published on 2007-2-2212:15:17 | Delete the post | Add the essence

In the same era as Dong Zhongshu, a masterpiece of Taoism was also released. This is the "Huainanzi" compiled by the disciples of King Liu An of Huainan. Liu An was the grandson of Liu Bang. After Liu Bang quelled the rebellion of Yingbu, he appointed Liu An's father Liu Chang as the King of Huainan in Longxing, the Han Dynasty. However, Liu Chang was a reckless man. During the reign of Emperor Wen of Han, he used Zhizi to kill the Marquis of Piyang to kill Zhui, which scared Emperor Wen of Han. (No wonder Emperor Wu of Han wanted to use Confucianism to conduct civil governance later.

In the early Han Dynasty, all the royal families of Liu surnamed were like green-skinned scoundrels on the streets. Later, Emperor Wen of Han wanted to move to Liu Chang's country, and Liu Chang committed suicide because he couldn't help it. Liu An succeeded as the queen of Huainan, Shang Wen, and raised a group of scholars from Chu to carry forward the Huang-Lao theory of his predecessors and fellow villager Laozi Zhuangzi. There were thousands of guests at the time, and finally, the group of diners also produced a collection of Taoist and immortal arts, named "Huainanzi".

10th floor, [Wind's Ambition] published on 2007-2-2212:15:43 | Delete posts | Add essence

The central idea of ​​"Huainanzi" is to use the Eight Trigrams of Yi to deduce Taoist thoughts, as well as hundreds of schools of thought. Hu Shi's evaluation of "Huainanzi" is "the great achievement of Taoism's collection of ancient thoughts, and the great achievement of Taoism in "Huainanzi"". The large number of descriptions of gods and immortals in the book set the tone for later Taoist scriptures. Since "Huainanzi", Taoist classics have gradually deviated from the "original Tao" thought of Laozi and Zhuang, and have transitioned to theism. A few days later it was Qingming Festival, and the origin of Qingming was quoted from "Huainanzi". Liu An later dedicated this book to Emperor Wu of Han, but unfortunately Emperor Wu of Han was attracted by the unified Confucianism at this time, so he did not think about these strange tales. Because Liu An accepted a disciple, he seemed to have the same intention. Later, Emperor Wu of Han found a flaw to force Liu An to commit suicide, and the book "Huainanzi" was also banned.

The different fates of the two books "Huainanzi" and "Spring and Autumn Fanlu" are vivid annotations of the victory or defeat of the Confucian and Taoist struggles in that era.

11th Floor, [Wind's Ambition] posted on 2007-2-2212:16:47 | Delete posts | Add essence

There are many more in the future, but they have nothing to do with this book, so I won’t post it.

12th Floor, [Ming Xuehua] posted on 2007-2-2217:40:29 | Delete posts | Add essence

Hey, don’t post it anymore? It’s amazing, why don’t post it anymore?

13th Floor, [Wind's Ambition] posted on 2007-2-2219:34:00 | Delete the post | Add the essence

Because it has nothing to do with Liu Che anymore

14th Floor, [Wind's Ambition] posted on 2007-2-2312:35:34 | Delete the post | Add the essence

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15th Floor, [Wind's Ambition] published on 2007-2-2319:29:38 | Delete the post | Add the essence

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16th Floor, [Wind's Ambition] published on 2007-2-2419:58:45 | Delete the post | Add the essence

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17th Floor, [Sun'er queithl] posted on 2007-2-2420:07:16 | Delete posts | Add essence

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18th Floor, [sisuo] posted on 2007-2-2721:17:06 | Delete post

The key to the struggle of the Western Han Dynasty was the struggle between Confucianism and Legalism. If Qin Emperor, Han and Han Xuan represented the Legalist political and civil servant school, and Han Cheng and Wang Mang represented the victory and complete failure of Confucian fundamentalism, the two schools began to merge in the Eastern Han Dynasty.

The key issue of Taoism is that the art of ruling and people is not as good as that of legalists, and the governance and entertainment are not as good as Confucianism. The prosperity of Taoism in the early Han Dynasty is actually nothing more than rest and recuperation.

19th Floor, [Ghost Fire] posted on 2007-3-211:24:10 | Delete posts | Add essence

Top down

20th Floor, [Zizai] posted on 2007-3-822:43:24 | Delete posts | Add essence

Mr. Huang does not seem to be a simple Taoist maker, but should be a school that integrates Taoism and law, and it is still different from a simple Taoism.

21st Floor, [Zizai] posted on 2007-3-822:46:21|Delete posts|Add to add essence

In addition, I never understand very well what is the logical necessity of a unified country and the ideological needs of a unified country? I can't see any need. After thousands of years, it seems to have become axiom, but let's look at other powerful countries in the world when their thoughts and academics will truly respect what. In my opinion, it is the tragedy of the millennium caused by this so-called unified thinking.

22nd Floor, [Zizai] posted on 2007-3-822:48:29 | Delete posts | Add essence

Confucianism is not that bad, but I just don't like it, just like the Japanese are not all bad guys, but the fact that they invade China makes me hate this country extremely. Similarly, I hate Confucianism very much. The so-called neo-Confucianism now is a representative of hypocrisy. In my opinion, it should be completely defeated and preserved as a cultural heritage.

23rd Floor, [nosoar] posted on 2007-3-1415:10:36 | Delete posts | Add essence

Oppose, Lao Dong's thoughts were still very advanced in the society at that time!! The ultimate perversion of Confucianism was just a coincidence!! He was directly related to the almost extinction of Chinese civilization!!

24th Floor, [sisuo] posted on 2007-3-1523:54:26 | Delete posts | Add essence

A great empire must have ideology. But who told you that ideology equals no other thoughts? Confucianism equals a single thought???

Which of the other powerful countries in the world is not as powerful as their thoughts and academics?

Is the Roman Empire Christianity accommodated dissidents?

25th Floor, [父父父时] posted on 2007-3-1618:02:10 | Delete posts | Add essence

Just pass by and take a look
Chapter completed!