The Warring States period was a golden period of ideological change. With the collapse of the Zhou royal family, the rise of vassal states and their conquests against each other, the people suffered from wars and devastation. But at this time, there is also the fact that the system that restricts thought and its coercive institutions are increasingly dissipating, and eventually an academic atmosphere is formed where a hundred flowers bloom and a hundred schools of thought contend. Various ideological trends such as philosophy, literature, military science, and political science have achieved unprecedented development.
Moreover, the most progressive part of the new trend of thought has been given the opportunity to be put into practice and gain the power to promote social development. In the early and middle Warring States Period, there were Wu Qi, Shang Yang, Su Qin, Sun Bin, Zhang Yi and others, and in the later period there were Fan Ju, Li Si, Han Feizi, Li Mu, Bai Qi and others. Their life opportunities and achievements can illustrate this point.
As early as 100 years ago, King Tian Bijiang of Qi built a huge academic area near Jimen, Linzi, the capital of Qi (now east of Zibo, Shandong), called "Jixia Academy" to attract all kinds of scholars. Talents, especially those in the fields of statecraft and military diplomacy are the most popular. In this Jixia academic district, there are wide streets and buildings connected for miles. Regardless of whether they have official positions or not, as long as they are members of the "Jixia Academy", Qi State will issue special salaries to them. Therefore, Qi State was known as the country with the highest cultural level and the most talented people at that time.
While academics gained an environment for free research, they also gradually gained respect from society. Each school of thought developed by leaps and bounds, and produced various specialized works that specifically introduced and explained the views of the school.
After decades of development, there has been a new trend in the academic world - reunification. At this time, there were two trends of thought that attracted much attention, one was Confucianism and the other was Legalism. The views of the two schools of thought were so different that Qin Shihuang later turned it into a battle between the two factions. After the establishment of the Qin Dynasty, the Legalist school took great credit and caused the Confucian school, which held different views, to suffer disaster. But in the late Warring States period, those Confucian giants still preached benevolent policies without any regrets.
The most influential representative among them is Xunzi, the last Confucian master during the Warring States Period.
"Historical Records: Biography of Mencius and Xunqing" has a detailed record of Xunzi's life. The book says that Xunzi (about 313 BC - 230 BC) was named Kuang, with the courtesy name Qing. After the "Historical Records" was written, because the name of Liu Xun, Emperor Xuan of the Western Han Dynasty, was to be avoided, it happened that the two characters "Xun" and "Sun" had the same ancient pronunciation, so he was also called Sun Qing. According to research, Xunzi should be a native of the Zhao state in the Central Plains. Some people say that he was a native of the Zhao Guoyi family (today's Anze, Shanxi) at the end of the Zhou Dynasty and the Warring States Period. Xunzi was a famous writer, thinker, politician and one of the representatives of Confucianism at that time. At that time, people respectfully called him "Xunqing". But what is unexpected is that although Xunzi was a representative figure of the Confucian school, the most accomplished disciples he taught became representatives of the Legalist school. They were Han Feizi and Li Si.
In addition, Zhang Cang, a politician and scientist in the early Han Dynasty, was also a disciple of Xunzi. Xunzi's collection of works is "Xunzi", and Yang Liang of the Tang Dynasty made annotations for it. This was relatively rare in ancient China, because scholars and politicians at that time held prejudices against Xunzi. Until the rise of textual criticism in the Qing Dynasty, Xunzi's works The annotations and revisions have been increased. There are gradually more scholars studying Xunzi in modern times, including Wang Xianqian of the Qing Dynasty, Liang Qixiong of the Republic of China, and Tan Sitong, a scholar of the late Qing Dynasty. Tan Sitong commented on Xunzi's scholarship in his "Renxue": (China) Two Thousands of years of learning, Xun's learning, are all based on the wishes of the country.
In his later years, due to the disillusionment of his political ideals, Xunzi turned to other research directions, and his representative work was "Encouraging Learning".
Xunzi's academics can be said to have learned from the strengths of others. Although his Confucianism was not adopted by the Qin State, his disciple Li Si "learned the art of the emperor from Xun Qing". Xunzi's "art of the emperor" was perfectly practiced in the Qin State through Li Si. Su Shi of the Northern Song Dynasty said in "Xun Qing Lun": "Xun Qing understood the royal way and described rituals and music, while Li Si disturbed the world with his learning." It can be seen that after deposing hundreds of schools of thought and only respecting Confucianism, Li Si, the master of Xunzi's imperial skills, What he did was not recognized by future generations.
According to "Historical Records", before entering the Qin State, Xunzi had been traveling around, preaching, teaching and solving doubts. When he was 50 years old, he studied in Qi. However, there was about 50 years between King Qi Min's later years and Chun Shen's death. If "Historical Records" is to be believed, Xunzi should have been around 100 years old, which is different from the facts. Ying Shao changed the year 50 to the year 15 in his book "Customs". According to current historical and archaeological materials, it is still impossible to prove Xunzi's exact age. However, according to various researches, the period from 286 BC (the year when Qi destroyed Song Dynasty) to 238 BC was the period of Xunzi's activities, which should be true.
By the time of King Zhaoxiang of Qin, Xunzi was "the most teacher" and "the third wine sacrifice". Later he came to Chu State. Lord Chun Shen appointed him as the Lanling Order because of his talent. It's a pity that once Lord Chun Shen died, the Chu State no longer reused him. This also reflected the decline of the Chu State to a certain extent. Xunzi had nothing to do in Chu State, so he could only return to his residence in Lanling and make a living by teaching.
This year was 263 BC. King Qin Zhaoxiang and Xunzi were both over sixty years old. The two of them, one a political figure and the other an academic figure, came together so calmly and sat down in the bustling and hierarchical court hall during the early morning dynasty. Sitting on the floor, facing each other or facing each other, it is impossible to verify, but what is certain is that at that moment, neither of them lamented the shortness of life, lamented the blessings and hardships of life, or questioned the meaning of the Warring States Period. Just calm, as calm as water.
They had never met before, but when they met, they seemed to have known each other for a long time, so they looked at each other and smiled. Without asking, Xunzi could tell that King Zhaoxiang at this time had sharp eyes and had the ambition to dominate the world. King Zhaoxiang could also see that Xunzi's vision at this time was as deep as the deep ocean, and the white waves rising in it were the compassion bathed in the sun.
At this time, Xunzi spoke. His tone was very plain, his words were very plain, and what he said seemed not to be a big deal, but everything directly hit the key point of the King of Qin and the State of Qin: "Is Confucianism really important to the Qin State?" Isn’t there any benefit?” Since Shang Yang’s reform, the Qin State has implemented a rule of law system internally and a policy of kingship and hegemony externally. This is the foundation of Qin’s founding. Facts have proved that this is also the key to Qin’s ultimate ability to unify the world. location. Since the time of Shang Yang, Qin has always adhered to this guiding ideology, and King Qin Zhaoxiang was no exception. In his view, if Qin implemented Confucianism, it would only bring endless disasters and ultimate destruction.
King Qin Zhaoxiang directly informed Xunzi of his thoughts, because in his opinion, his status was now as unbreakable as an iron barrel, and Xunzi was just an old man with the same personal identity as himself, but he had a restless heart. In order to put an end to his delusions, King Qin did not hesitate or conceal anything when he talked about his thoughts.
Therefore, Xunzi argued unceremoniously: "I heard that as long as the ancient kings were sages, they would uphold etiquette and implement benevolent government. And those who believe in Confucianism are imitating the sages of ancient times. Through this In this way, the monarch can ideologically influence the soldiers and civilians of the country and make them obey his will. As long as the monarch properly uses these people, these people will work tirelessly and do their best to be loyal to the country and serve the monarch; even if the monarch will If they are abandoned, they will not rise up and cause trouble. Instead, they will think carefully about their shortcomings and become ordinary people. Therefore, no matter what, these people are obedient people, and the monarch does not need to control or worry about them. These Even if people are poor, cold and hungry, they will not steal or kidnap because they have been taught etiquette; even if they have no place to stand, they will understand the truth and uphold the country's justice. In this way, how can the country not be strong?"
In order to completely impress King Qin Zhaoxiang, Xunzi did not hesitate to use his own Confucius, the founder of Confucianism, as an example.
"At that time, there was a profiteer named Shen Youshi in the State of Lu. He was an out-and-out profiteer. In order to make more money at the lowest cost, he even fed the sheep with water in the morning, and then Take it to the market and sell it."
"For this reason, many people have made trouble for him, but every time he was put off by him for various reasons. Many people were dissatisfied with this. It was not until the appearance of one person that the situation changed."
"That person was Confucius. At that time, Confucius was about to serve as the Minister of Justice of the State of Lu. This may not be surprising in the political arena of the State of Lu, but it caused an uproar among the people. Because at that time, Confucius was already very prestigious among the people. . His thoughts on ritual rule and benevolent government are longed for by the majority of the people; his social form that follows Zhou Rites is also expected by the majority of the people. Therefore, after the profiteer Shen Youshi heard the news that Confucius was about to take office, there was no With the restrictions of the law, he will no longer do things to deceive the people."
"Coincidentally, there was a man named Gongshen in the Lu State at that time. He allowed his wife to become promiscuous. After hearing the news that Confucius was about to take office, he immediately divorced his wife. Similarly, there were many people in the society at that time. Ruffians like the Shen Kui family fled across the border to other countries as soon as they heard the news of Confucius's arrival. Confucius, a scholar, was able to do things that even kings could not do. This shows the power of Confucianism. Cultivating oneself and harmonizing one's family Ruling the country and bringing peace to the world is just a matter of waving the hand."
In fact, King Qin Zhaoxiang was not interested in the rule of etiquette. He was interested in how the rule of etiquette could make the people comply with his rule and maintain social stability. So, he continued to ask Xunzi, since Confucius became an official and the use of Confucianism can lead to such a healthy development of society, what kind of effects will be achieved if the monarch uses Confucianism?
Explain the king's way and describe the rituals and music
In the more than 4,000 years of Chinese history since the establishment of the Xia Dynasty, there have been three great revolutions that have brought about earth-shaking changes in China's political and social structure. They are the establishment of the Qin Dynasty in 221 BC, the Revolution of 1911 in 1911 and the founding of New China in 1949. These three major changes have put Chinese history on a different path and brought about earth-shaking changes. However, Qin Shihuang's unification of China was not as it appeared. It was just a process from division to peace. Its deep-seated significance is that it ended the feudal system of feudal lords and created the Qin Empire that implemented a centralized system.
The root of all this lies in the establishment of the rule of law, because it can comprehensively consolidate monarchy and centralized rule.
The Warring States Period was a special era, full of comprehensive destruction and creation, sinking and glory, pain and joy, death and rebirth. Here, you can often see ideas and swords competing, eloquence and genius competing for favor, personality and desire, passion and ideals, all are infinitely amplified here.
The strong did not believe that the world could be unified by relying on etiquette, and those kings and countries that believed in it were all destroyed one after another.
And once you break away from that era, you can find that the rule of etiquette and the rule of law have actually been fighting each other in the history of Chinese political thought. On the other hand, China's political and ideological circles have always praised the rule of etiquette and attacked the rule of law, and Confucianism has become the vanguard.
Of course, all of this has its internal roots, just as Qian Mu said in "Xiansi Lu on the Lake": "The rituals appear to be hierarchical, but in fact they are equal. The law appears to be equal, but in fact they are. Hierarchical. Rituals lead people to freedom, while laws restrict people's behavior. Rituals are social, while laws are political. Rituals are pushed to the government by society, and Laws are spread down from the government to society. The importance of law is to protect people's rights. The importance of etiquette is to guide people's emotions. Rights are material, while emotions are spiritual. Rights are confrontational, while emotions are communicative, so etiquette is often soft, while laws are often hard.”
From this point of view, in a country that advocates the rule of law, the lower class people are more likely to rebel under the suppression of power, which will cause huge changes in the country; while the rule of etiquette teaches people to be content with the status quo and constantly improve, which is exactly the background of China's agricultural society. It requires social stability and at the same time safeguards the long-term interests of the rulers. The people would rather give soft courtesy than rigidly follow the law. From this point of view, the representative figures of Confucianism at that time had a kind of thinking that was detached from the world, and After the Western Han Dynasty, this kind of thinking was turned into a realistic and feasible ruling strategy.
Xunzi in the late Warring States Period was a master with this transcendent vision. Unfortunately, his otherworldly thoughts were out of date at the time. But he never gave up and continued to lobby tirelessly. Xunzi did not know that what he brought to those countries was not peace and prosperity, but complete destruction in the blending of iron and fire. Every fact proves this.
So when King Qin Zhaoxiang questioned Confucianism on the basis of "What will happen to the country if the monarch is a Confucian figure?", Xunzi could only sigh helplessly.
Confucianism was originally founded to make rulers be kind and implement benevolent governance towards the people. Unexpectedly, in the late Warring States period, the situation changed, and Xunzi could only transform Confucianism into a power technique to maintain the king's rule. In view of the situation at that time, empty talk about the implementation of ritual rule and benevolent governance is tantamount to wishful thinking. So when King Zhaoxiang of Qin raised a question, Xunzi replied: "The minister is a Confucian and can only influence one state or county. But if a Confucian becomes a monarch, his influence will spread throughout the country and even the entire world. Confucianism Be firm-willed, strict with yourself, and strict with your subordinates. In the court, you can rely on yourself to set an example and let your subordinates act according to their own behavior. In this way, the etiquette will be in order; in the government, because of the monarch's uprightness, the laws and regulations The system will be fair and impartial, then the whole country will benefit, and the country will be stable; among the people, virtues such as honesty, benevolence, loyalty, and benefiting others will become commonplace. From then on, everyone in the world will follow etiquette, and the country will be stable. It can run well without the rule of law. The monarch will also have a good reputation spread all over the world because of the peace and tranquility of the people, the sound etiquette, and the health of the country. They all surrendered to him."
After hearing what Xunzi said, King Qin Zhaoxiang admired his eloquence very much and was also very interested in the political blueprint he described. Unfortunately, King Qin Zhaoxiang had strong political ambitions, and it was difficult for him to guarantee that he would be able to follow the etiquette.
Throughout the Warring States Period, when various countries were killing decisively and shedding blood, a person who purely reasoned would naturally not get too much recognition, and would only end up with his body and head missing. At that time, the world could not be unified by relying on unrealistic etiquette. Only the blending of iron and blood, the attack of strategy and tactics, and the contest of wisdom and strength could truly realize this ideal.
Only after the world has been established, will the rulers use Confucianism to educate the people, so that they can be content with the status quo, follow the etiquette, and not commit rebellion. However, it is definitely not suitable for educating those who want to become the center of power, especially during the Warring States Period. .
Therefore, Xunzi's remarks can only be used as a heartfelt conversation between two old men, but they cannot be regarded as the foundation of Qin's governance. Xunzi could only rely on his ideal of governing the country to educate those who were willing to be educated. No king would truly become his student.
Since ancient times, when people discussed Confucianism, they often replaced it with the teachings of Confucius and Mencius. However, many people did not know that Xunzi's achievements were not inferior to those of Confucius and Mencius.
Many people analyze that Xunzi's theory has gone beyond the scope of Confucianism originally preached by Confucius and Mencius, because Xunzi created an ideological system that is different from Confucianism. "Zuo Zhuan: The Twenty-fifth Year of Zhao Gong" records that Uncle Zheng, a doctor, said: "People live by the ritual system. No matter whether people are straight or crooked, they must correct their character and identify their direction according to the rituals. Only by practicing the rituals can one be called an adult, otherwise he can only be a walking corpse." It was based on this point of view that Xunzi created his theory of etiquette and justice.
Xunzi knew how to make detours and compromises. In order to get his theory recognized in the society at that time, he founded the theory of absolutism based on the theory that man is superior to the world and all things, hoping that the rulers would accept his ideas. However, Xunzi is aloof and arrogant. His theory denies fate, disrespects heaven and earth, ghosts and gods, is lawless to the ancestors, despises benevolence and righteousness, and believes that human nature is evil. At that time, this was not applicable to the ruling class. What the ruling class needed was to use fate, heaven and earth, ghosts and gods, etc. Or decorate their own tools. What they emphasize is the interplay of kingliness and domineering, rather than direct harsh punishment. Therefore, the status of Confucius and Mencius was higher than that of Xunzi, and Xunzi did not even have a place in the Confucius Temple in later generations.
Xunzi left Qin with full of regrets. No one knows where he went. The only thing that is certain is that he did not return to his own country - Zhao State. Because long before Qin, Zhao had completely disappointed him. Zhao She, Lian Po and others are still not reused, which shows that King Zhao Xiaocheng is ignorant and incompetent. In his eyes, Zhao Guo is already as old as himself.
When Xunzi looked back on his life, he should have regrets, because he did not make his motherland strong enough to withstand the iron hoof of the powerful Qin; he should also be happy, because at least he had made many achievements that would last forever.
According to textual research, Xunzi is a well-deserved master of Confucian classics. With him, the Confucian scholars in Qin and Han Dynasties were able to extol the "Poetry", "Li", "Yi", and "Spring and Autumn". Just as Hu Yuanyi said in "Farewell Biography of Xunqing": "Xunqing (Xunzi) was good at "Poetry", "Li", "Yi" and "Spring and Autumn". "Mao Shi". Therefore, the Han Dynasty's governance of "Yi", "Shi", and "Spring and Autumn" all originated from Xun Qing." Wang Zhong also discussed in "Xun Qingzi Tonglun": "Gai Shizizi After his disciples died, the Confucian scholars in the Han Dynasty did not rise, and the Warring States Period broke out into chaos in the Qin Dynasty. The person who continues to spread the Six Arts is Xun Qing."
From this point it can be seen that Xunzi’s achievements in the transmission of scriptures far exceeded those of Confucius and Mencius.
