Chapter 126 Living Saints in the World
The decoration in Luo Palace has not changed for hundreds of years. The scent of agarwood is curling up. Luo Chang is leaning on the couch, holding in his hands various intelligence sent by the dark side of Luo State.
“Squeak.”
Prince Luo Qing pushed the door open and walked in, then knelt quietly in front of Luo Chang, then took out a new bamboo slip from his sleeve and handed it to Luo Chang. Since he was confirmed as the prince five years ago, he took over the responsibility for the dark side of Luo State from Luo Chang.
Luo Chang flipped to one of the messages, paused, and asked, "Did Mozi go to Wu?"
Luo Qing sighed and said, "The State of Wu wanted to attack the State of Chu. Mozi rushed to Gusu City for ten days and ten nights to persuade the Marquis of Wu to give up the idea of attacking Chu. In the end, the State of Wu gave up the plan to attack Chu.
As the Mohist theory became more sophisticated, more and more people joined the Mohist school, and even many Confucian scholars became Mohists, just like Mozi. "
Luo Chang was silent for a moment, then said: "Confucianism is not so easy to be defeated. The geniuses among Confucianism will repair the flaws in the theory. The integration between Confucianism and Mohism is not uncommon in recent years.
Mozi is truly a sage. If the world were like Mozi, the wish of the Su Wang would be fulfilled."
Riding on a large ship against the current of the river, Mozi was heading back to Shangqiu in the State of Song. When he entered the territory of the State of Chu from the State of Wu, it suddenly began to rain heavily. The pouring rain quickly soaked his body. Mozi ran into the city in a somewhat embarrassed manner, the city he had just saved from the attack of the State of Wu.
He still wore a short cloth shirt and straw sandals, and his fame in Luo State did not allow him to seek any material things for himself.
He hid under the eaves, and the rain fell in front of him, forming a curtain of water.
His toes and calves were covered with mud splashed from running, and his straw sandals seemed to be about to fall apart after being soaked in the stagnant water.
His hair was disheveled and messy, some of it resting on his shoulders, some of it blocking his eyes, and strands of it sticking to his head, which was also a mixture of rain and dirt, looking quite funny.
But his eyes are still calm, his expression is still composed, and his will will not waver even if Mount Tai collapses in front of him.
He is a living saint!
Suddenly, there was a sneer, and the door opened. A slightly fat merchant stood behind the threshold. He was wearing fine cloth and gorgeous clothes. He looked at the miserable Mo Di and sneered, "Where did this beggar come from?"
He didn't know that it was this beggar in front of him who had just saved the city from the attack of the Wu army. Otherwise, if the Wu army entered the city, his wealth might have been looted.
Mozi looked at the wealthy businessman quietly, as if he was looking at a blade of grass, then he looked up at the dark clouds and heavy rain in the sky, and felt a chill all over his body, as if the world was in such a mess, with wind and rain leaking everywhere. How much could Mozi's disciples achieve while running around among the various countries?
He recalled the books he had read in the treasury room, and he read about Confucius' past experiences. He still opposed the red tape of Confucianism, but he had more respect for Confucius' character. He believed that if Confucius were alive today and met the disciples of Mohism, he might change many of his ideas.
He remembered what Luo Chang said to him when he left Luo State, "Mozi, are you willing to leave your young son in Luo State? He is Ajiu's playmate, and Ajiu hopes that he can stay."
Ajiu was the niece of Luo Chang and a noble lady of the royal family of Luo State. Mozi knew that this was because Luo Hou believed that he would die on the road of spreading his doctrines, so he hoped to leave a bloodline for him.
In fact, he had narrowly escaped death this time when he came to the State of Wu. He loved all and did not attack others. The weak loved him, but the strong hated him.
But Mozi didn't care. His spiritual realm had reached another level, and there were very few things in this world that could touch his heart.
He thought of the Mohists who went to serve in various countries to improve their knowledge. In particular, the Mohists who were good at mechanical arts were very popular among the various countries and were on par with Gongshu.
There was also a group of Mohists who went to Qi State and worked with the Legalists of Qi State to reform Qi State. These were the seeds of Mohism. Mozi couldn't help but smile.
Is Mohism really doomed to fail?
But the world is in turmoil, and there are more and more Mohist followers. Why is this?
This shows that the existence of Mohism is necessary. People in the world have had enough of the ravages of war and they just want to live a stable life. That is why Mohism was able to create such a huge momentum across the world so quickly.
The rain stopped, and Mozi walked through the puddles dragging his straw sandals, just like in the past. He crossed mountains, rivers and returned to Shangqiu, State of Song.
He didn't know where he would go next time because there were wars everywhere in the world. He didn't know who to save because there was death everywhere in the world.
In the Luo Kingdom Academy, Yang Sheng stayed here, not because of the prosperity and wealth of Luo Kingdom, but because Mozi asked him to stay.
"When everyone in the world loves each other and does not attack each other, there will be peace. The people of Luo have experienced eight hundred years of education in the way of kings, and they are naturally suitable for Mohist disciples. You stay in Luo and spread the ideas of Mohism, so that the inheritance of Mohism will not be cut off."
The people of Luo State are different. It is not just the Mohists who think so, the Confucians have the same idea. After 800 years of teaching by the Luo State royal family, there is a fair scale in the hearts of the Luo people.
These Luo people will resist injustice and oppression. They believe in the kingly way because they have lived in such an environment for eight hundred years.
This is why it was difficult to implement Legalism in Luo State, because such unreasonable punishment was not rational for the people of Luo State.
When Yang Sheng heard that Mo Di asked him to stay, he burst into tears and said, "Master, you are the true saint. Since you want to preach, of course you should stay in Luo State. I am willing to go through fire and water for you and travel among the countries of the world."
Mo Di patted Yang Sheng on the shoulder and sighed, "I am a great man, so I must lead by example. If even I can only talk big, will others follow me?
I have been in seclusion in the treasury room and have realized many truths, which have all been recorded in scrolls. If you study them carefully, they will be enough to be passed down in the Mohist school.
After I die, the position of the great master will be taken by you, and then you can leave here.
This is the order of the great master!"
Yang Sheng was a true Mohist. Now that Mozi gave him orders as a great master, he naturally had to obey. After staying in Luo State, Yang Sheng did not stay in the academy to debate with Confucian scholars all the time.
Because after all these years of debate, the two sides were arguing about nothing more than those core points. The Mohist School had Mozi, a contemporary saint, and it developed extremely rapidly among the nations, both in the upper and lower levels, far exceeding the development speed of Confucianism.
Unless Confucianism can produce another saint to inject new vitality into Confucianism, there is no need to continue this debate.
When Mohism was hammering down Confucianism, a strange man appeared among Taoism. Perhaps he cannot be considered a Taoist, because Taoists did not approve of his theory and believed that it deviated from Lao Tzu's purpose.
His name was Yang Zhu. He advocated "valuing life" and "valuing oneself", that is, valuing one's own life and opposing harming oneself because of others. This was completely opposite to the Mohist idea of universal love.
When Yang Zhu appeared in the academy and explained his theory to everyone for the first time, Yang Sheng asked: "If plucking a hair from you could benefit the world, would you do it?"
Yang Zhu heard this and replied: "Pulling out one of my hairs would benefit the world, but I will not do it.
Even if it is beneficial to me to harm the world, I will not do it.
If everyone in the world could achieve the state of not taking a single hair or damaging a single hair, the world would no longer be so chaotic."
Yang Sheng was not angry when he heard this, but said directly: "Now I know why the Taoists do not recognize your identity."
Yang Zhu's thoughts were more radical than those of Mohism. At least there was room for practical application in Mohism, but Yang Zhu's doctrine was completely unorthodox to everyone in the world.
"I once heard that Mozi traveled from Song to Wu, walked for ten days and ten nights, and wore out his straw sandals. He finally persuaded Wu to withdraw its troops. This is what Mohist scholars call non-aggression.
Being willing to endure such great pain for a stranger you have never met, and enjoying it, this may be the Mohist concept of universal love.
On the way to Luoguo, I once faced a fork in the road. There were three main roads at that intersection, and I didn’t know where they led to.
So I chose one of the roads and walked down it. When I saw a hunter, I realized that the other two roads led up the mountain.
The mountain was full of tigers, leopards, jackals and wolves. If I had chosen the other two paths, I might have been dead now.
The choice of path will affect a person's life. If the wrong choice is made, it will cause endless harm.
People have only one life, which is the most precious thing. Universal love means exchanging your own life for the lives of others, which is wrong.
As long as everyone does not harm others, non-aggression will be achieved. As long as everyone does their best, society will be stable and there is no need for universal love. "
The Confucian scholars in the academy understood that although Yang Zhu's doctrine also criticized Confucianism, it was mainly aimed at Mohism, and it was tit-for-tat. "Light on material things and heavy on life" and "Valuing oneself" were directly contrary to Mohist thought.
So they called their friends and came to the academy, wanting to listen to how Yang Zhu refuted the Mohist theory, and perhaps even contribute to the Confucian thought.
By this time, the various schools of thought had basically begun to copy from each other. Apart from the core theories, other examples were copied from each other. One could even see the same fable telling two completely different truths in the end.
Especially the countless vivid examples in the Luo Kingdom over the past 800 years, all of which are examples of plagiarism.
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Yang Zhu and Mo Di are what the world observes.
In a time of chaos and indecision, even if one is careful, one cannot be an official. - "Han Zi"
Mozi, I really like him. If this is an extraordinary world, people like Mozi are probably true sages. I couldn't help but write another chapter about him, which can be regarded as writing out the image of Mozi in my mind. Suddenly I feel that it’s good to be an author.
(End of this chapter)
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