Looking at Mencius' Curse from the Revolt of the Han Army
Author:qiaolina0618
"The king treats his ministers like grass and mustard, and the ministers treat him like bandits and enemies." - Mencius
This sentence of Mencius once made Mr. Zhu Yuanzhang gasp in anger. He immediately excerpted and deleted all the words in "Mencius" that emphasized that the people are more important than the king, and a harmonious version of "Mencius" - "Mencius' Essays" was launched nationwide.
》.
Isn't Zhu Yuanzhang's approach ridiculous? Mencius's sentence is just describing such an objective law, and whether the law exists and whether it works has nothing to do with whether it is spoken. Even if Mencius never said this sentence at all,
Or maybe people have never heard of this sentence at all. Do they think that "the king treats his ministers like grass and grass, and his ministers treat him like their parents"?
Unfortunately, power is often such a deceptive thing.
————————————————————————
Mo Yan, a member of Zhongshushe, looked at the soldiers in front of the city gate proudly. If these common people who had just put on their war robes for a few days could be considered soldiers, his eyes were full of pride and contempt, as if he was the savior of these people and was seeking for them.
A way to survive.
——————————————————————————
I don’t know if it’s easier for stupid people to gain power, or it’s easier for power to make people stupid. Those who hold great power and are not restricted often see themselves as “saviors” like this Zhongshushe person.
"Red Sun", "helmsman", "loving father", and those people who pay taxes in peacetime and defend the city to the death in wartime are thoughtless "mobs" and "ant people" without feelings, whose faces are unclear.
The "head of Guizhou" and the "grassland people" crawling on the ground. This is actually "the king treats his ministers like grass and mustard", but where is the law described by Mencius?
In many cases, Mencius' curse seems to have failed. No matter how powerful the power is, no matter how many names, places, and numbers have become "taboos" one after another, people have been acting as the "silent majority." People's silence is disguised.
It condoned the unbridled power and deepened the power's dependence and superstition on the "gun barrel". It is said that when Zhang Zhidong was dying in the late Qing Dynasty, he proposed to the regent Zaifeng that he should care for the people. Zaifeng said proudly: "Don't be afraid.
There are soldiers." The implication is that as long as he has the tools of violence, which bold "minister" dares to "serve the emperor as enemies"?
There is a saying from the elders: "It's not that you don't repay, it's that the time has not yet come."
———————————————————————————
The soldier suddenly cried loudly: "I have no family anymore. All my family members are dead. My father and my eldest brother were all killed in the war. My mother was responsible for cooking under the city and was shot to death by a cold arrow."
…
The white-bearded veteran burst into tears and became angrier as he spoke. He suddenly raised his arms and shouted: "It is us who are guarding Yuncheng. If we want to hand it over, it should be us. Kill them all, these unscrupulous dog officials. Don't do anything."
Then ask them to harm others. Kill them all to avenge our relatives!"
The angry roar aroused the anger in the hearts of the soldiers standing silently on both sides like a volcano: "Kill them all! Kill all these dog officers and pay for the lives of our relatives!"
———————————————————————————
If you have read Mr. Wu Si's book and then look back at this plot, you will definitely have new insights. Mr. Wu Si pointed out such a rule in his "Laws" that due to the decentralization of small-scale peasant economy, small profits, etc.
Characteristics, so the people at the bottom of the small peasant society pay the lowest and most affordable price when they are at the mercy of others. In other words, people find that the price paid for resistance is too high, and the profits gained after the resistance is successful are too little. This
This may be a deep-seated reason why China's autocratic regime has been able to maintain for more than two thousand years. - Of course, now we have successfully ended the history of autocracy and entered an era in which the people are the masters of the country. Our "Constitution of the People's Republic of China"
It clearly says: "All power in the People's Republic of China belongs to the people." Students who are unclear can find the constitution and study it themselves.
Having said that, the people of the Han Dynasty still lived in an autocratic era where the small-scale peasant economy was the mainstay. The law discovered by Mr. Wu Si was reflected in the people of the Han Dynasty. It couldn’t be more accurate. The reason why the dead soldiers led by Yang Jiye
The reason why they willingly charge into battle is for their relatives in the city. The reason why the people in the city resolutely defend the city with blood is for their relatives outside the city. It can be said that everyone is doing it for their own families and their own relatives.
While fighting, the reason why they are willing to endure and live under power is to preserve their fragile families. But when they lose their loved ones, people suddenly find that the cost of their resistance has dropped to almost zero.
Apart from life, there is nothing left.
In this case, then resist. Mencius's curse has finally come true, and the "ministers" who have nothing finally "serve the emperor as enemies", as Marx said - the proletarians have only lost their chains.
Finally, let me make two digressions. When I read "Water Margin" now, the person I feel most sympathetic to is Lin Chong. Maybe it's because he is so similar to us. For the sake of his family and relatives, he repeatedly endured and gave in, but his power never stopped.
He still sneered and approached him step by step, causing him to lose everything and making him unable to retreat. In the end, Lin Chong broke out, killed people, and rebelled. People say that this is called being forced to go to the Liangshan Mountain.
