Chapter 254: The people benefit, the Mohists suffer a setback

Universal love is good, but not now.

This is already a heavy criticism.

If the person who said this was not Gu Dan, Qin Lisheng could argue with him about it for ten thousand sentences.

But as someone who had been familiar with Mo Qiu before the founding of the Mohist School, and had even witnessed Mo Qiu's rise step by step to where he is today, Qin Lisheng opened his mouth several times, but not a single sound came out.

"Universal love is of course the highest aspiration, and the Mohists have indeed achieved this, which is amazing!"

Gu Dan gave a thumbs up to express his praise, "But"

Many things are what you really want to say only after the turning point.

"People are close or distant, and even if there are only a small number of people who can love without distinction, it is almost impossible to promote and implement it, and let the people do it spontaneously. The difficulty is no different from creating a world of great harmony."

Gu Dan still said.

The core of universal love is to love without distinction, and to love others is like loving yourself.

The highest level of Mohist fantasy is that everyone loves everyone, and everyone loves others as they love themselves. That is equivalent to countless personalities loving themselves. How can there be any disputes in the world?

You love me, I love you, and we are like a family, regardless of gender, age, region, or country. It seems that we are sharing our own share, but aren't we gaining more? If everyone can do this, it is indeed a true mutual benefit.

But unfortunately, it can't be done.

It's impossible.

The world is unfair, and there are indeed innate differences between people. We must face this fact before we can come up with a solution.

Simply put: if you are from the same village, and your fathers have been neighbors for generations, and in your generation, the river water that the village has been using is about to dry up, but it is also time for irrigation. Others use it to irrigate their own fields, so your family has nothing to use. If you have nothing to use, the harvest will be poor, and a poor harvest will lead to starvation. What should you do at this time? Split it equally?

Someone in both families will starve to death.

Provide all the food to one family and divide it equally? Still the same result.

Someone is always going to starve to death.

If we face this fact, how should we make a choice?

Draw lots, and whoever gets drawn will die immediately? Or do we use some other method to see who will be the unlucky one? Impossible.

Love all, love all.

There must be a premise.

The premise is that one's own interests will not be greatly threatened.

The previous examples only dealt with life and death situations.

There are many situations that are not as serious as life and death, but competition between people exists all the time and everywhere.

If you give in a little today and a little tomorrow, the family will not be able to survive.

It is impossible for everyone to have the enlightenment of Mohists, and not everyone can be Mo Qiu.

Being selfless can be regarded as the highest praise, which is enough to show us something.

However, those who are selfless are usually not close to others. Why is that?

Everyone hates others taking the back door, but also likes to enjoy this convenience themselves.

This is an indisputable fact.

If we want to achieve universal love, the first condition is that material resources are absolutely sufficient, to the point where it makes no difference whether we have them or not, and we never have to face competition.

But if this can be achieved, what is the point of loving all?

Gu Dan said that universal love is good, but not now.

Qin Lisheng understands the truth.

But now is not the time. Where should Mohism go?

The ten principles of Mohism are: universal love, non-aggression, respect for the virtuous, respect for unity, the will of Heaven, understanding of ghosts, frugal burials, frugality, non-fatalism, and non-music.

Among them, Tianzhi and Minggui were briefly used by Mo Qiu as the core concepts of Mohism.

The problem is that when these two things are put together, they are actually saying that the Mohists have mastered some principles of the operation of heaven and earth, and they advise people not to ask for help from immortals, but just do their own things well and don't do bad things, and the supreme ghosts and gods will naturally be able to understand everything.

How can ordinary people have the money to seek the immortals and ask for the way?

It's of no use at all!

Universal love and non-aggression are the core concepts pursued by the Mohist school today.

If universal love is not possible, how can there be wars around non-aggression? It is also useless! The remaining concepts of respecting the virtuous, respecting unity, frugal burials, frugality, non-fatalism, and non-music can only be regarded as a means of dealing with things, and there is no way to regard them as the core logic of the Mohist school.

Today, the core logic of Mohism is all based on the two words "universal love". As long as universal love has not been achieved, Mohism will make unlimited efforts for it.

To say that universal love is not acceptable is to say that Mohism is not acceptable.

If someone else said something like this, it would be a fight to the death.

However, the person who said this was Gu Dan.

Gu Dan, who has a close relationship with Moqiu.

Gu Dan watched the Mohist school advance step by step.

It ended the conquest of the four nations and resolved the chaos in the world.

In front of him, the Mohists had no reason to say that he was wrong.

The idea of ​​universal love is beautiful, but how difficult is it? Rather than expecting the Mohists to create a world where everyone loves everyone, it would be safer to expect Gu Dan to directly ascend to the highest level and bring peace and prosperity to the world.

Of course, saying that universal love is not acceptable does not mean that Mohism is useless.

On the contrary, the emergence of Mohism brought hope in despair to the people of Dayue, who were once mired in the quagmire, and really improved the customs among the people to a great extent.

Because of the existence of Mohism, people's standards for morality and ethics have been raised a lot. As a result, a group of heroes who "promote the benefits of the world and eliminate the harm of the world" have emerged. They regard the Ten Virtues of Mohism as their guiding principles and benefit all the people.

However, just when the people were benefiting, the Mohists finally began to face their own setbacks, unsolvable setbacks.

"You must know more about Lin Fan's death than I do. What did Lin Fan do wrong? He has made contributions to the people and the country, and he is worthy of the name of Mohist. We can certainly say that his wife did not know what was good for her, and brought disaster upon herself out of greed, but why did this happen?"

Gu Dan sighed and said, "The Mohists are too harsh! Not to others, but to themselves. They are too harsh!"

That’s right, in addition to universal love, there is another issue that is the key factor leading to Lin Fan’s death.

Mohism is too harsh!

How strict is it?

The imperial teacher of the Xia Dynasty, the great master of Mohism, wore a short brown robe and straw sandals—they made their own. He believed in "a day without pretense is a day without food"! This is the great master of Mohism!

In theory, his status in the Xia Dynasty was second only to that of the Xia Emperor! If he was like this, what kind of life did the Mohists lead? The Mohists were hardworking, strict with themselves, and regarded the maintenance of justice and morality as their unshirkable responsibility.

So much so that everyone praised the Mohists, saying that they "wore fur and brown clothes as clothes, walked on tiptoe as clothes, worked day and night, and suffered to the utmost", which means they lived a simple and hard life.

The Mohists can "walk into fire and step on blades, and never turn back", which means they will never turn back until death.

More than 20 years ago, Mohism was like this, and more than 20 years later, Mohism is still like this!

Gu Dan looked at Qin Lisheng with complicated eyes.

Qin Lisheng did not do not well enough, nor was he unqualified. On the contrary, he did too well and was too qualified. Even if he was qualified enough, it would be impossible for him to make more breakthroughs even if he came to Moqiu.

In order to maintain the Mohist school, Qin Lisheng spent countless efforts to prevent it from deteriorating.

The number of Mohists could never increase, not because no one wanted to join, but because Qin Lisheng’s requirements were extremely high.

This almost unlimited demand for personal qualities is the fundamental reason why the Mohist school can maintain its reputation today and become more and more popular, rather than relying on Mo Qiu's reputation.

If the Mohists really did something wrong, Gu Dan would have stood up and spoken out long ago.

But no.

The Mohist school led by Qin Lisheng made no mistakes.

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So he didn't speak.

I can only watch silently as the Mohist School continues to move forward as usual.

It was not until the news of Lin Fan's death and the changes in Xuanhu Jishi himself that Gu Dan was the first to mention this matter.

If the Mohist School refuses to change, there will be many more 'Lin Fan' in the future.

Unless all Mohists do not marry or have children, it is impossible to eliminate it.

With so many sugar-coated bullets coming one after another, how could an ordinary person withstand it?

The Mohists’ demands cannot also be placed on their families.

Therefore, Gu Dan said that the problem did not lie with Qin Lisheng, but that the hidden danger had been buried as early as when Mo Qiu founded the Mohist School.

"When the Mohist School was first established, people in Dayue were living in poverty and the country was about to fall apart. In order to promote the people's morale and show his determination, Mo Qiu wore the cheapest short brown and the most ordinary straw sandals to express his determination. From the beginning to the end, he never asked all Mohists to do so.

It is only because Brother Mo actually did this that other Mohists followed suit, and now it has become a tradition and even a symbol of Mohists.

But at that time, the four kingdoms were conquering, and Otsuki was in a mess. Even eating was a problem. It didn’t matter if the conditions were a little difficult, because having a bite to eat was a rare thing. "

Gu Dan sighed and said, "But the present is different from the past, and the Xia Dynasty is no longer a great dynasty. The common people have become wealthy, but the Mohists are still so strict with themselves. As the state religion of the Xia Dynasty, Mohism will force many people to be simple."

For example, Wang Mang did not repair the old palace, and just left it there when the palace collapsed.

This was certainly due to consideration for the people's strength and wealth, but it is absolutely impossible to say that this had no influence from Mohism.

The great Mohist masters were so frugal. How could you, as an emperor, not have enough palaces, six courtyards and seventy-two concubines? You have to renovate your house if it is a little shabby. What kind of virtue do you have? Then the question arises again: the Xia emperor, the imperial teacher and even the great Mohist masters were so frugal. How dare the officials enjoy their lives?

Gu Dan had once seen the Xia Dynasty holding court meetings.

Let’s put it this way, except for Wang Mang, none of the civil and military officials had a new piece of clothing.

Many people even had several patches on their official uniforms - they looked extremely shabby.

But was the Xia Dynasty really that poor? Could those civil and military officials really not afford good clothes?

no.

They just don't dare.

It was clear that the people had prospered. Even Gu Dan, an ordinary farmer in Yuzhou, could eat fruits introduced from other countries.

But during the court meetings of the Xia Dynasty, that group of people seemed to have just been dug out from the previous era, each one more embarrassed than the other. If he didn't do this, he would not be able to show that he was a good official.

This is undoubtedly a very morbid thing, but no one dares to mention it.

When Wang Mang came to power, he borrowed too much light from the Mohists, so it was impossible for him to point out the hidden dangers of the Mohists. He even had to obey them to demonstrate his own benevolence.

"I hope you will reconsider these two questions. Times are changing, and the Mohist School should also change accordingly and not stick to the old ways. Even Brother Mo himself has transformed the Mohist School's concepts and turned them into the Ten Principles of Mohism. Why can't the Mohist School change under your leadership?"

Finally, Gu Dan said this.

The Mohists were not the enemies of the Xia Dynasty, and he did not intend to put any pressure on the Mohists.

On the contrary, he hoped that the Mohists would no longer be so hard-working and no longer be so demanding of themselves.

As a leader of the Mohist school, Qin Lisheng was quite capable. As long as he could see past this, he could lead the Mohist school to complete the transformation and be more suitable for the Xia Dynasty.

Because of the existence of Mo Qiu, the Mohist school has been burdened with too many moral and ethical burdens, which have now weighed heavily on the Mohist school, the Mohists, and even the Xia Dynasty.

It is certainly a good thing to advocate virtue, but is it still a good thing to advocate it for the sake of advocating it?

Hypocritically wearing patched clothes and secretly enjoying the wealth and luxury that one dare not show in front of others is too morbid and will not suppress the greed in one's heart.

Sometimes, moral standards cannot be set too high. If they are too high, they will lose the flesh and blood of humanity.

Having said so much, Gu Dan actually hopes that the Mohists can have some selfishness, some personal enjoyment, and not be so selfless anymore.

This is not only a burden to the Xia Dynasty, but also to the Mohists.

Lin Fan didn't have to commit suicide.

His wife, Qin Lisheng, could also be saved - even if she committed a serious crime, she could be exiled thousands of miles away instead of being executed so decisively.

Sometimes, being too strict and unkind may seem hypocritical.

One can't help but wonder, are they pursuing morality, or are they becoming morality itself? When the sun that nourishes all things gets too close to the human world, the sun that once shone brightly and brought life to all things will turn into a barren land with blazing flames.

Faced with Gu Dan's earnest advice, Qin Lisheng remained silent for a long time.

In other words, he hardly spoke anymore.

Only after Gu Dan finished speaking did Qin Lisheng look into Gu Dan's eyes and say, "You are right."

"Um?"

Gu Dan was slightly surprised.

Qin Lisheng has never been an easy person to talk to.

Didn't you think it would be so easy to convince him?

"but"

Who would have thought that Qin Lisheng would change the subject and say, "I refuse."

"As you said, the Mohist school has very high requirements for its followers, but this requirement has never been imposed on others. You said that universal love is not needed now, but when will this universal love be needed?"

Qin Lisheng said firmly: "The Mohist School has done nothing wrong, and the internal problems will be solved by themselves. Why should we change because of the opinions of others?

Is it possible that doing too well is also a fault? "

(End of this chapter)