(In the book review area, some readers quoted scriptures and said that Haoran's righteousness is such and such, and it should be such and such to be considered authentic... But in fact, there has never been any conclusion about this concept. Maybe you think you understand, maybe he thinks he understands,
But to be honest, I really don’t understand, so if I understand, I can practice. If I don’t understand, I can only write novels and fantasize about it, that’s all!)
The next day, Chen Jianchen got up early as usual, feeling energetic and not tired at all. After washing up, he went to the college cafeteria to have breakfast, and then went to class.
The content of today's lecture is Chapter 8 of "The Book of Virtue", which talks about how to be a person of high moral character and become a gentleman. There is a saying: "A gentleman is modest and polite, does not violate the rules, and does not fight with others.
Don’t fight against the world and obey destiny..."
Chen Jianchen was dumbfounded. It was undeniable that these words were all great truths, but the greater the truth, the more empty it was. In fact, there was not much merit. If one behaves according to these great principles, then people will
People become pedantic and old-fashioned, and do not know how to adapt. To put it bluntly, they are just an old antique who follows the script; and if they say one thing and do another, they will become hypocritical and cunning.
Therefore, it is necessary to adapt to the actual situation and keep pace with the times.
For example, it is said in the "Book of Rites" that "a gentleman's etiquette must be consistent and his clothes must be correct." This means that a gentleman's etiquette must comply with the teachings of the sages and sages, and his clothing and hats must be meticulous and upright.
This is a beautiful thing to say, but if you continue to pay attention to these red tapes in times of crisis, you will be destroying yourself.
Is this what a gentleman does if he loses his life over the question of whether his hat is right or not?
The gentleman mentioned in "Sanli Zhenzhang" is not like this, but "investigate things to gain knowledge" and "the code of his original mind"; the so-called "the code of his original mind" means that the fundamental principles cannot be shaken, and there is no room for compromise. Once compromised,
, once you give in, you lose your position and have no basis to speak of.
It's like the reading culture of the Tiantong Dynasty. Everyone said, "If you don't talk about strange things, your power will mess with the gods," but every festival, everyone would go to worship ghosts and gods, burn incense and paper, and pray for wealth and luck.
This is a situation of inconsistency, that is, the belief is not firm enough and pure enough. In this case, even if you read thousands of books, how can you be able to write with spirit?
In the way of Confucianism, you should have no ghosts and gods in your heart, and you should not believe in, worship, or be afraid. Only then can you achieve the right path and cultivate the awe-inspiring righteousness. The awe-inspiring righteousness is the magical power of Confucianism and is the place where you can protect your body and establish your life. The so-called cultivation of the mind and nature, the so-called
Reading a lot of books is a process that goes through for this magical power, just like a Buddhist monk who rings the bell and chants sutras every day in order to achieve enlightenment.
But in this process, if the understanding is improper, people will often go astray. If they cultivate their mind and character, they will become a nerd, and if they read a lot of books, they will be filled with dogmatism, or other messy things.
In this way, how can we know that "knowledge of worldly affairs is knowledge, and knowledge of human relations is knowledge"?
Therefore, although there are many scholars in the Tiantong Dynasty, there are only very few people who can truly condense righteousness.
In this regard, Chen Jianchen undoubtedly took a huge shortcut. He had an evil-preventing pen and a sharp pen. When he saw the true chapter, he directly opened the Niwan Palace and obtained the true biography.
But even so, he needs to stick to his true principles in order to make progress and breakthroughs. So when the people from Jingyang Village came to ask questions arrogantly for the first time, how could Chen Jianchen bow his head and plead guilty?
This recognition is tantamount to overthrowing all his beliefs derived from the "Sanli Zhenzhang".
Ghosts and gods have Tao, and Confucianism also has Tao. In terms of belief, there is a fundamental opposition between the two.
There is nothing wrong with scholars destroying temples and smashing statues, but it is absurd for scholars to go to large temples to pray to gods and worship Buddha. What's more, if the ghost comes uninvited and breaks into his dream, it is a kind of intrusion, and at least he will be frightened.
, or worse, his soul was damaged. In such a situation, it would be ridiculous for Chen Jianchen to be polite to the earthly gods. I don’t know what to say. If it were another ordinary scholar, he would probably have to kneel down and beg for mercy and let the other party deal with him.
Then, in order to protect his own face, the Yin Division did not hesitate to send another bull-headed horse face. At this point, there was nothing to say.
The twists and turns of right and wrong are a confusing matter. No matter how you calculate it, you can't figure it out clearly. What the public says is right, and what the mother-in-law says is right. Different identities and positions have different opinions. In the end, it still depends on who is stronger. The so-called
When a scholar encounters a soldier, he cannot explain clearly. No matter how good your tongue is, you can name a flower, and someone will chop you down with one knife. No matter how you think you are upright and selfless, they can still kill you with one knife.
You cut it.
Good people often do not get good rewards. The root cause is not kindness, but the lack of means to protect oneself and life!
Chen Jianchen is a person who has been there, so he understands this truth very well. Since there is no room for reconciliation in conflicts, there is no need to reconcile at all, just stick to your own principles. If the underworld comes again to cause trouble and provocation, he will not shrink back and retreat.
With this in mind, Chen Jianchen was disgusted from the bottom of his heart to all the lectures given by his teachers in class. The other students would often state a small point and then quote the scriptures in long, non-stop speeches, which were worse than an old woman's foot bindings.
It smells bad even if it grows longer. From this, Chen Jianchen remembered an allusion: When a doctor bought a donkey, there were three pieces of paper in the book, but there was no word donkey on it.
Probably so.
It seems that the way to pass the imperial examination by studying eight-legged essay is no longer possible.
——The Tiantong Dynasty formulated a rigid eight-legged essay format to restrain scholars all over the world. The original purpose was to rigidify their thoughts and stabilize their thoughts, so that they could serve the dynasty peacefully.
Chen Jianchen had already understood this clearly, so how could he still fall into this trap? Moreover, reading these so-called sages' books would not be beneficial but harmful to the cultivation of righteousness. On the contrary, it would affect the independence of one's original thoughts.
Chen Jianchen is no longer Wu Xia's Ameng, and he is no longer as worried about the issue of not being able to take the imperial examination. In front of him, the world is far wider than imagined, and there are many more ways. When the opportunity is ripe, he
He will also state the main themes and meanings in "Sanli Zhenzhang" one by one, write them into articles, and spread them all over the world.
This is called "making a statement"!
Of course, it is impossible at this stage. He does not have the weight and foundation yet. If he speaks rashly, he will soon be criticized by people and words, or even be accused of "heresy" by the court and directly executed.
However, as long as Chen Jianchen himself has thoroughly understood and mastered the "Sanli Zhenzhang", that opportunity will definitely appear.
…
Sitting in the lifeless classroom, Chen Jianchen's thoughts suddenly became clear, and he suddenly felt a shaking in the Niwan Palace. There was a ray of light in the originally gray world, and a large piece of text suddenly flew out of it.
, hanging in the void, is the full text of "Sanli Zhenzhang", with big words, flying dragons and phoenixes, and extremely elegant.
Righteous!
In a moment of thought, Chen Jianchen finally felt the existence of righteousness. It had appeared on his body. Although the feeling was very weak, it was only the smallest trace, but it was already a very big breakthrough.