"Are you really interested, brother?" Song Yuanxing asked with a smile.
Zhu Youxiao nodded and smiled gently, "Of course I'm very interested. Seeing you like this, I want to learn. If it's suitable, then I will follow you to learn Guanxue."
"If you're not afraid of ruining your future, then no problem. I'll talk to you."
"Guanxue was first founded by the great Confucian scholars Shen Yan and Hou Ke during the Qingli period of the Northern Song Dynasty, and formally established by the great Confucian scholar Zhang Zai. Because its actual founder, Mr. Zhang Zai, was from Guanzhong, it was called 'Guanxue'; and because Mr. Zhang Zai was known as 'Mr. Hengqu', it was also called 'Hengqu's School'."
"'Guanxue' takes the Book of Changes as its core, the Doctrine of the Mean as its essence, the Book of Rites as its application, and Confucius and Mencius as its principles. Zhang Zai once said: 'Establish a mind for Heaven and Earth, establish a destiny for the people, carry on the lost teachings of the past sages, and bring peace to the world for all eternity.' This is the philosophy Zhang Zai has always upheld, and we are all his followers."
After hearing this, Zhu Youxiao's face changed.
It turns out that the Zhang Zai of Guanxue is this Zhang Zai. I really don’t understand his Guanxue, but Zhu Youxiao has heard these words. They are really famous.
No one in later generations does not know this sentence. It is like a declaration.
In the following time, Song Yingxing explained to Zhu Youxiao in great detail what Guanxue was.
After listening to Song Yingxing's story, Zhu Youxiao roughly understood what was going on.
This so-called Guanxue is actually a kind of simple materialism, but it is far less thorough than Xunzi's.
To put it bluntly, Guanxue is still a school of Neo-Confucianism, but it is not popular in many places. It advocates the theory of Qi as the basis of life. Its ideas of "harmony between man and nature" and "all people are brothers and all things are friends" not only emphasize human subjective initiative, but also reflect the principle of equality of all people as fellow human beings.
It also advocated the restoration of the well-field system, believing that the well-field system could make the people's wealth evenly distributed and have enough food and clothing; it advocated caring for all people and things in the world, not being greedy, and not allowing monopolization.
In Zhu Youxiao's view, the only desirable thing about these things is their simple materialistic values; everything else is completely undesirable.
However, there was something that shocked Zhu Youxiao, that is, Guanxue proposed a theory that Zhu Youxiao had not expected: the earth is the center of the universe and rotates on its own. The seven stars composed of the sun, the moon and the other five constellations rotate to the left at the same time as the earth, but because of the different rotation speeds, they form left-hand or right-hand rotations when viewed from the ground.
This is actually a kind of geocentric theory, which is definitely a very remarkable achievement in this era.
However, Guanxue is not effective. Its policies and ideas cannot save the Ming Dynasty.
Zhu Youxiao looked at Song Yingxing and asked with a smile, "Why do I think Xunzi's theory is better? Xunzi begins by saying: 'I will not live for the sake of Yao, nor perish for the sake of Jie.'"
"On the question of human nature, Xunzi advocated the theory of human nature being evil, believing that goodness is the result of education. Regarding the Way of Heaven, he proposed the idea that man can conquer nature by "controlling Heaven's will and using it." He attached great importance to rituals and promoted the Confucian idea of the kingly way, believing that 'water can carry a boat, but it can also overturn it.' He once said: 'Heaven and man are separate, and we control Heaven's will and use it.'"
After taking a look at Zhu Youxiao, Song Yingxing's eyes widened.
He didn't expect that this good brother he knew would be so bold to say that he admired Xunzi's teachings.
You have to know that at this time, Xunzi was almost becoming a heretic.
Everyone admires Confucius and Mencius, believes that human nature is inherently good, admires Neo-Confucianism, admires Zhu Xi, admires the two Chengs, and even admires Wang Yangming. No one will admire Xunzi because Xunzi's teachings have no market.
Since the laws of nature are constant, and they do not exist for the sake of Yao or perish for the sake of Jie, what is Dong Zhongshu's theory of the correspondence between heaven and man?
Natural disasters are warning signs of an emperor's failings in morality. If heaven and man are separate, and if we control and use heaven's will, then what is the emperor? How do officials restrain the emperor?
If human nature is evil, then what should be used to limit this evil?
Use education and law. In Xunzi's view, rituals and laws are important.
In Xunzi's view, human nature is to pursue profit and desire, while the role of etiquette is to limit people's unlimited pursuit of profit and desire. There is bound to be conflict between the two.
In order to ensure the normal operation of public order, the observance of rituals inevitably requires a kind of compulsion. Thus, rituals become laws.
Therefore, Xunzi often mentioned the "key points of rites and laws" and "the major divisions of rites and laws", and used rites and laws together.
This goes against the principle of "no punishment for officials, no courtesy for common people".
Although no one would shout out "No punishment for officials, no courtesy for common people", everyone wants special treatment, everyone wants to be different, and everyone wants not to be punished when they commit a crime, especially officials.
Under such circumstances, no one would like the Legalists, and this is the most important thing.
The emperor should have insisted on supporting the Legalists, but he did not.
After Confucianism gained strength, it completely dominated the mainstream, putting Legalist thought into a cage. Laws needed to be maintained by the power of the emperor. Once the emperor lost power or his power was weakened, the laws of the empire would disappear.
At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, the laws were so strict and their enforcement was so effective that they are incomparable to today.
In recent years, the consequences of crimes committed by civil officials have become increasingly lighter, so naturally more people will take this path.
On the basis of such selfishness, Xunzi's ideas are naturally inappropriate.
So they began to suppress Xunzi's ideas, denounced him as a heretic, and even expelled him from the Confucius Temple. This is what they did.
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