Let’s take a look at what this edict actually says—both literally and subtly.
The ancestors maintained the world and established religion, respecting Confucius; the scholars of the Ming Dynasty were selected to represent the Confucianism of the Song Dynasty. - The emperor mentioned that the ancestors (the previous emperors of the past dynasties) respected the teachings of Confucius when establishing the education system; when selecting officials, they respected the learning of the Song Dynasty
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Recently, instead of slandering Song Confucians, scholars have gradually slandered Confucius, eradicating right and wrong, and discarding the writings. How can they restore loyal, filial, and upright people to the court? - The emperor criticized that some scholars now not only slandered Song Confucians, but even began to slander them.
Confucius, confusing right and wrong, abandoned simple, clear and effective moral norms, and asked how he could cultivate loyal, filial and upright talents to be used by the court in the long run.
It was only because the chief examiner mistakenly took pity on the talents and Qu Mu was curious about the newcomers that this happened. The emperor believed that the examiner (chief examiner) had a preference for talent and was curious about novel ideas, which led to this situation.
The new talents who have not yet matured should only be promoted and promoted. How can they be recruited and admitted to mislead the world! - The emperor pointed out that for new scholars who have not yet matured, they should be given correct guidance and wait for their thoughts to mature, rather than
Be eager to enroll so as not to mislead the world.
The memorials of the ministers (Fang Congzhe and other ministers who responded to Fang Congzhe's memorial) are beneficial to the education of the world.
Clauses were also listed, which must be implemented. - The emperor asked ministers to formulate specific clauses and ensure that these clauses are implemented.
Immortal Buddhism was originally a foreign art and should be practiced alone in the mountains and forests. - The emperor believed that Buddhism and Taoism were different practice methods from Confucianism and should be practiced alone in the mountains and forests and should not be used as a guide for imperial policy.
Those who like Buddhism or Taoism, the emperor allows them to resign from official positions and practice on their own, but does not allow these methods of practice.
Mix it with Confucian scholarship to avoid confusing people's minds.
This is the literal interpretation. It seems that the emperor only opposed the entry of Buddhism and Taoism into the imperial administrative system, and did not mention anything else. But this matter actually caused the emperor to issue an edict to clarify, which already shows the seriousness of the problem - where is the Buddha?
The problem is clearly that there is something wrong within Confucianism, and the Buddha has begun to age.
As a clear worldly thought, how can Confucianism age? There is no doubt that this problem has just been discussed. It is the Buddhism tendency of the mind itself, which in turn led to many court officials and scholars based on the mind.
Lin Xuezi's thoughts seemed to be aging, which eventually affected the entire administrative system of the imperial court.
Therefore, not a single word of the emperor's imperial edict belittles the learning of the mind, but every word directly refers to the learning of the mind; not a single word of the emperor's imperial edict praises practical learning, but every word of it praises practical learning.
This makes many officials of the Xinxue school tremble with fear. However, the problem of Xinxue is indeed getting bigger and bigger, and it has reached the edge of danger. In fact, this is not what the officials of the Boshi school and the traditional Neo-Confucian school point out. They themselves understand it.
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Gao Pragmatic himself actually knew that the Xinxue was bound to decline, but his current problem was that he could not wait for the Xinxue to decay naturally. Instead, he had to consider it from the perspective of the imperial court and speed up its decline.
Why? Just look at the development and decline of psychology studies in history. In the Ming Dynasty, psychology studies transitioned from Jiangmen psychology studies to Yao Jiang psychology studies, and finally were pushed to the extreme by Yangming postgraduate studies. Jiangmen psychology studies had different purposes, which led to Jiangmen psychology studies.
Later studies declined due to the influx of Yao Jiang Xinxue.
Due to the internal divisions of Xinxue, which did not adhere to the teachings of teachers, and became frivolous, and was suppressed by the authorities, criticized by Neo-Confucianism, coupled with factors such as changes in dynasties, Xinxue was eventually replaced by practical learning.
After the mid-Ming Dynasty, Xinxue flourished and became a prominent school competing with Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism. From the perspective of later generations, Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism, as an official school, exerted great constraints on people's personalities and thoughts at that time. And Xinxue, especially Yang,
The emergence of Mingxin Xue changed the social atmosphere.
Under the catalytic effect of the Psychology of Mind, people's minds were liberated, and they gradually moved from being conservative to pursuing individual independence. The development of Yangming's Psychology and its successors brought great vitality to the thinking, academic, literary and social life of the Ming generation.
This is its positive side.
But at the same time, Xinxue also gave rise to a trend of escaping Zen and chatting in society, making people vain and lacking in pragmatism. This became an important target for the survivors in the late Ming Dynasty when they reflected on the reasons for the fall of the Ming Dynasty. Xinxue in the Ming Dynasty was particularly special.
It was because the views and thoughts of the scholars of the Wang family were not unified, and they asked each other questions. When various crises broke out in the late Ming Dynasty, the decline of Yao Jiang Xinxue was inevitable. The reasons can be divided into two major aspects: internal causes and external causes.
From an internal perspective, there are several major problems with Xinxue:
The first is internal division. After Yangming's death, it was roughly divided into seven factions. Their ideological themes were not unified, and they often criticized each other. Before they were impacted by external forces, they split internally.
Since the seven sects divided by Huang Zongxi are based on regions, different figures in the seven sects have different opinions. For example, Wang Ji and Qian Dehong of the Zhejiang Middle School School have four versions of Wang Yangming's "Four Sentences" and four
No big differences.
The two argued endlessly about this during Yangming's lifetime, and Wang Ji and Wang Gen's ideas tended to be Zen-oriented, so naturally they were criticized by people like Zou Shouyi who adhered to Wang Xue.
The second is that it violates the theory of teachers. Except for the "Zhujing School" represented by Zou Shouyi, which adheres more closely to Yangming's tenets, other schools of thought almost all have their own interpretations of Wang Yangming's concepts such as "Zhi Liangzhi" and "Studying Things", so there is
Understand the differences between the "nihilistic school", the "daily-use school", the "quiet school" and the "main-action school".
Among them, those who have undergone particularly excessive transformation are undoubtedly the "Nihility School" and the "Daily Use School" with the greatest influence. Huang Zongxi specifically criticized these two schools: "Mr. Yangming's school has become popular all over the world in Taizhou and Longxi.
Because of Taizhou and Longxi, his legacy was gradually lost. Taizhou and Longxi were always dissatisfied with his teacher's teachings, so the teacher who returned after discovering Qu Tan's secrets quickly became a Zen master in Yangming."
This chapter is not over, please click on the next page to continue reading! It can be said that Yangming's theory can be popular all over the world, and the ideas of the "Nihility School" and "Daily Use School" have played a great role. However, due to their excessive transformation, they have become Zen.
It also resulted in the true nature of the study of mind being obscured.
Speaking of which, Wang Yangming himself specifically criticized some old Buddhist teachings for being too false. I wonder if he would be angry if later generations of disciples interpreted their original teachings indiscriminately?
The third is that it is empty. In the original history, the society of the late Ming Dynasty was surrounded by crises, economic recession, frequent wars, and the building was about to collapse. What the society called for were practical figures who could reform bad government, kill the enemy, and rectify the society.
Most of the studies among the royal family have turned into empty preaching.
This point is also very touching, because Wang Yangming had already had a premonition of this when he was still alive. He said: "A certain theory of conscience is derived from hundreds of deaths and thousands of difficulties. It is not easy to see this. This is a scholar.
After all, it is a pity that this theory has been buried for a long time. Scholars suffer from the obstacles of hearing and seeing, and have no place to start, so they have no choice but to explain it all to others. But I am afraid that scholars will find it easy, just play with one situation, and live up to their understanding."
What a pity, sir, that his words came true.
Unfortunately, Wang Xue's fate was revealed by his words. After his death, Wang Xue gradually became emptied of ideas. He no longer worked on his practice, but only "imagined" it. He also forgot about Shi Shi's feat of quelling the rebellion in Si.
Gu Yanwu strongly criticized Wang Xue's emptiness and sparseness: "One person can change the world, and this trend has lasted for more than a hundred years. It has existed since ancient times. Wang Yifu's clear talk and Wang Jiefu's new theory are of today's
, then Wang Bo’an’s conscience is like this.”
He compared Wang Yangming to Wang Dao of Jin and Wang Anshi of Song, and believed that the demise of the Ming Dynasty was fundamentally caused by the "new theory" initiated by Wang Yangming.
Of course, it would be simplistic and arbitrary to attribute the country's downfall to someone who lived more than a hundred years ago, but it also illustrates from the side that the shortcomings of Yangming's philosophy are far-reaching.
Yangming’s Psychology is essentially a practical philosophy of “unity of knowledge and action”, as Mou Zhongjian said: “Yangming’s Psychology is not a study philosophy, it is not simply a product of logical deduction, but also a deep understanding of his personal painful experience of social life.
The product of Wang Xue. Wang Xue is a philosophy of life and practice, which is very necessary to accurately grasp the inner spirit of Wang Xue."
Now you should know that "from the masses, to the masses" is such a great conclusion and guiding light, right?
Returning to the study of mind, from the perspective of external factors, the study of mind also faces several major problems:
The first is official suppression. As an emerging theory, Yao Jiang Xin Xue challenged the official Zhu Xue and was a potential threat to the stability of the imperial court, so it was naturally suppressed.
Earlier, Emperor Jiajing had denounced Yangming's theory as "a book that betrays the classics and apostasy" and specifically issued an edict to "from now on teach people to recruit scholars according to the words of Cheng and Zhu" to consolidate the status of orthodox official learning.
The "inner sage" theory promoted by Yangming's Xinxue "Zhiliangzhi" liberated individuals from the shackles of etiquette and made people pay more attention to individual experience. Therefore, it was retaliated by the opposition forces in the court and was dubbed
"Heresy", "rebellion", "heresy", "heresy" and other titles.
Although Wang Xue was recognized by the upper echelons of the imperial court in the first year of Longqing, as mentioned earlier in this book, there were a large number of Xin Xue disciples in the cabinet from Xu Jie down, who not only controlled the government, but at least strongly influenced it. However,
At that time, many disciples of Xinxue were still retaliated and suppressed by their political opponents, which resulted in a large number of Wangxuexue who were officials being demoted or imprisoned.
For example, Qian Dehong of the Zhejiang Middle School was impeached and imprisoned. From the time he was released from prison until his death, he never held an official position for thirty years. Wang Ji was denounced as a "pseudo-scholar", which led him to voluntarily resign.
He lived in seclusion for forty years; Peng Jishan resigned from office and returned home after being demoted twice; Luo Nian'an was demoted to the people for his direct advice, etc. Under such suppression, Wang Xue's influence gradually weakened.
[Note: The suppression here was mainly done by the court headed by Zhang Juzheng. Gao Gong did less because he had been in power for a short time. However, from the perspective of the court, it is understandable for Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng to do so.
.]
The second is the criticism of Neo-Confucianists. Gu Xiancheng criticized Wang Yangming's "no good and no evil", which regarded good as evil and evil as good. "In our Confucianism, it is a sinister way to corrupt practical teaching." It was a corruption of the ethical and legal system; he also denied it.
The universal meaning of "heart is reason" is believed to be that only saints can achieve "heart is reason". Ordinary people will use it "for their own purposes, relying on their cleverness, insulting the sages and footnotes in the Six Classics, without any fear."
As the successor of Ouyang De, Gu Xiancheng criticized Wang Yangming as the leader of the Donglin Party, which could be said to have a serious impact on Xinxue. Gao Panlong, another leader of the Donglin Party, criticized Wang Xue in unison with Gu Xiancheng, believing that "there is no good in it"
He also criticized Wang Yangming's "Longchang Enlightenment" to destroy famous teachings, which was "the way of great chaos" and criticized Wang Yangming's "Longchang Enlightenment", which understood the purpose of the Buddha and the Elder, not the purpose of Confucianism, which fundamentally negated Wang Xue.
Gu and Gao's criticism of Wang Yangming became the initiator of criticism, liquidation and attack on Wang Yangming by beginners in the late Ming and Qing Dynasties. Later, a number of successors such as Zhang Yangyuan, Lu Jiashu, Zhang Wucheng, Huang Zongxi, Lu Huanting, Gu Yanwu, Zhang Boxing and Wang Fuzhi criticized Wang Yangming.
Wang Xue conducted varying degrees of criticism and reflection.
In the early Qing Dynasty, Yan Yuan even put forward the astonishing assertion of "killing the world with academics" to criticize Wang Xue.
The third is the rise of the trend of practical learning. If the rise of Yangming's theory of mind is to cure the shortcomings of Cheng and Zhu's Neo-Confucianism, which is fragmented and lifeless, then the rise of "practical learning" is to cure the shortcomings of Yangming's theory of mind, which is empty and nihilistic.
Facing the politics of the late Ming Dynasty with internal and external troubles, the crisis of "subjugating the world" forced a group of scholars to call for practical application of the world. Not to mention those above the court, the representative figures among the scholars were Huang Zongxi, Gu Yanwu, Fang
With wisdom, Wang Fu and others.
They emphasized "applying what they have learned", opposed empty talk about one's character of mind, criticized the spirit of "turning aside books without looking at things, and talking without roots", and advocated a "pragmatic" style. Although it was a revision of Wang Xue, it also accelerated it in disguise.
The decline of Wang Xue.
This chapter is not over, please click on the next page to continue reading! The fourth is the change of dynasty. The Qing Dynasty believed that the feudal ethics system represented by the Tianli constructed by Cheng and Zhu Neo-Confucianism was better able to maintain its own rule, so it vigorously promoted and commended it like the Ming court.
Cheng Zhu Neo-Confucianism.
For example, Emperor Kangxi praised Zhu Zi without hesitation: "Zhu Zi, a Confucian of the Song Dynasty, commented on the classics and explained the principles. All the books he wrote and compiled were clear and accurate, and were of great importance and integrity. After five hundred years, no scholar dared to criticize them.
.I think that after Confucius and Mencius, there were those who were good at writing, and Zhu Xi’s contribution was the most profound.”
The "Essence of Xingli" compiled under his personal guidance and the reprinted "Complete Collection of Xingli" became "tools to suppress people's thoughts."
In fact, if you only do these, it is understandable, but the problem is that the Tatars did more than that. These ruling classes who "use small tribes to dominate large tribes" also set up a literary inquisition, eliminated individuality, wiped out the soil for psychological survival, and made the Chinese
The earth has since become lifeless at the ideological level.
On the contrary, Yangming's philosophy of mind was brought to Japan by Zen Master Anguigo, where it was fully disseminated and developed and became the ideological foundation of the Meiji Restoration.
Why do we have to talk so much about the topic of mind learning? Because without saying this, we cannot explain Gao’s pragmatic stance:
Xinxue cannot enter the imperial system, but Xinxue must be allowed to spread among the people.
Entering the court and affecting the administration will cause great chaos in the operation of the court. Once all or most of the officials start to become old and start talking about their minds, then who will do anything? If the court is in a state of chaos and does not do anything, the world will not be in chaos.
Damn it!
However, it is very necessary for the spread of mind science among the people, because the people cannot be a pool of stagnant water. They must adhere to the social mechanism of "asking the canal how clear it is, so that the living water comes from the source", so that people can use their imagination, enrich their spiritual world, and ultimately liberate their minds.
More private innovative talents will emerge.
Some people may say, no, don’t most of today’s innovations appear under the Jinghua system, the vanguard of the practical school? Why should we encourage the spread of Xinxue among the people instead?
This topic is a bit too extreme - yin and yang are indispensable.
Jinghua, the vanguard of the pragmatic school, has indeed made many inventions and creations, but the premise is that Gao pragmatism is providing direction, but Gao pragmatism will die one day. It is hard to say whether Jinghua can continue to play such a role after his death.
After all, Gao Wuchen is now very wary of Jinghua's monopoly model, believing that it cannot be sustained and cannot be allowed to last. Sooner or later, he must break up Jinghua himself, otherwise it will cause future troubles.
Since the Jinghua system is considered by Gao Pragmatic to be too monopolistic, not conducive to competition, and even detrimental to ideological emancipation, then the issue of ideological emancipation and personality liberation can only be done by Xinxue with a liberal tendency.
All in all, Gao Pragmatic believes that the ideal state of Chinese civilization should be: Xinxue is responsible for hypotheses, and practical learning is responsible for verification; Xinxue is responsible for prospecting, and practical learning is responsible for implementation.
In short, Gao Pragmatic has no expectations, let alone "killing Xinxue". He only hopes that Xinxue will not interfere with administration, because governing the country must always be down-to-earth and truly do things.
Today's outbreak of the Confucius Temple's edict was supposed to be postponed a little later in Gao Yingshi's reservation plan, after the Zen ceremony, but the emperor did not know why it was brought forward, so Gao Yingshi was a little surprised.
But fortunately, the problem is not big. The edict announced at the Zen Conferment Ceremony said that this matter was announced to the world, while the edict announced at the Confucius Temple was announced to the scholars. It can only be said that Gao Pragmatic believed that this was a major event that concerned all the people of the world, while the emperor still
It is more traditional and believes that this is only a major event for scholars.
There was some impact, but it was within the controllable range. Because of this, Gao Pragmatic did not persuade and stop him, and let the emperor take advantage of the situation. That was all.
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PS: Black Monkey has cleared the level. You don’t have to play so hard in the second game. The next chapter will start with the ceremony of the Zen ceremony. Speaking of which, it is difficult to find detailed information on the ceremony of Zen. I may not write it in such a detailed and reasonable way.
I'd like to apologize in advance and hope you can forgive me.
