Emperor Wu was different from the previous emperors of the Han Dynasty. He could write poems and understand music. Such an emperor who loved literature and art would naturally gather a large number of literati around him. Among them, Dong Zhongshu, Dongfang Shuo, and Sima Xiangru were the most famous.
"She said she was originally a girl from the capital city, and her family lives under the Tomb of Xia Tou."
These are two poems from Bai Juyi, the great poet of the Tang Dynasty, in "Pipa Xing", which are the beginning of the pipa girl's self-narration of her life experience. The Pipa Girl lives in "Xia Toading". "Xia Toad Mausoleum" is also called "Xia Ma Mausoleum". It is said that it is the tomb of Dong Zhongshu, a great scholar in the Western Han Dynasty.
Dong Zhongshu was full of knowledge, and Emperor Wu regarded him as a scholar of the country. After his death, Emperor Wu was grateful for his virtue and knowledge, and would dismount his horse to pay tribute every time he came to his tomb. This incident spread, and this place was called "Xia Ma Tomb". As time went by, the name was mistakenly called "Xia To Tomb".
The founder of Confucianism is Confucius. After Confucius and before Qin, there were many representatives, the most important of which were Mencius and Xunzi. However, these three are all "outside" scholars - Confucius served as a military officer and was in charge of prisons, but was soon dismissed from office - their Confucianism is only close to a pure academic, and in the era of frequent wars in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, they promoted benevolence and righteousness. They won't have much market. Therefore, the voices of Confucius, Mencius, and Xun only had influence in the circle of scholars.
Not so with Dong Zhongshu. In his life, he experienced three dynasties: Emperor Wen, Emperor Jing, and Emperor Wu. These three dynasties were peaceful and prosperous times, and the previously "obscure" Confucianism came into play at this time.
Dong Zhongshu was a native of Guangchuan (now Jingxian County, Hebei Province) and was a doctor during the reign of Emperor Jing. The doctorate here does not refer to a degree, but to experts and scholars with expertise in a field. During the reign of Qin Shihuang, in order to recruit talented people from all over the world, he appointed doctors. Later, there were more than 70 doctors, who were equivalent to the emperor's think tanks and advisors. During the Han Dynasty, the establishment of doctors began with Emperor Wen.
The theory that Emperor Wen had a good reputation for punishment - the emergence of officials with swords and pens on the stage of history began in the reign of Emperor Wen. As for Emperor Jing, under the influence of his mother, Queen Mother Dou, he advocated Huang Lao's theory. Confucian scholars like Dong Zhongshu naturally had little opportunity to display their talents in the Wen and Jing dynasties. However, he was still young at that time and was not discouraged. Instead, he became more determined to study knowledge.
The allusion of "the eyes cannot peek into the garden" comes from him. It is said that Dong Zhongshu buried his head in scriptures all day long. He did this for three consecutive years without even setting foot in the beautiful back garden of his home, which shows his concentration. While studying academics, Dong Zhongshu also recruited many disciples. If there were too many students to teach, he would let the disciples who had just started teach him. This was an old method used by teachers since the pre-Qin Dynasty, and was not Dong Zhongshu's original idea.
Studying knowledge can be regarded as a personal hobby, and recruiting many disciples reveals Zhongshu's inner unwillingness to be lonely. He wants his knowledge to be passed down from generation to generation.
There is a big question mark in the minds of scholars - what is the use of reading so many books?
I just want to go to the court, give advice and plan, and give it a try. What's more, the splendid court and the majestic court uniforms are a temptation in themselves!
"The spring breeze brings joy to the horse's hoofs, and I can see all the flowers in Chang'an in one day."
Didn't the poor Meng Jiao also become decadent and energetic after being admitted? It can be seen that this is a dream shared by literati throughout the ages. Zhongshu is waiting, waiting for the opportunity.
"The jade is in the box for a good price, and the hairpin is in the dowry waiting to fly"!
The opportunity came quickly. In the first year of Jianyuan (140 BC), Emperor Wu issued an edict, ordering the central and local chief executives at all levels to recommend talents and "recommend virtuous and upright people who can speak out and give advice", and then gather in the capital to communicate face-to-face with the emperor. Suddenly, the elite talents dormant among the people rushed out like carps leaping over the dragon's gate. Among them, Dong Zhongshu, who has already enjoyed great fame, is naturally indispensable.
Dong Zhongshu did not discuss with Emperor Wu face to face. His method was to write countermeasures. Zhongshu is not a physical "instrument" or craftsman, but a metaphysical philosopher. Emperor Wu was a man of great talent and strategy, and what he sought was not the power and tactics of one time or place, but the long-term peace and stability of the country. Therefore, he was very interested in Zhongshu's ideas, so he issued an edict to Zhongshu three times in a row, and Zhongshu also came to the ground one after another. The book has been answered three times. This is the famous "Three Strategies of Heaven and Man" in history.
"Three Strategies of Heaven and Man" is based on Confucianism and uses the framework of Yin and Yang and the five behaviors to establish a New Confucian ideological system with a theological tendency.
In "Three Strategies of Heaven and Man", Dong Zhongshu quoted and developed the "Spring and Autumn" and linked the disasters and changes in nature with human society. He believed that if the ruler is righteous and the country is governed well, then auspiciousness will come from heaven; conversely, If people indulge in pleasure and do not care about the lives of the people, then natural disasters such as earthquakes and mudslides will occur. At this time, God has not given up on his son, the "Emperor", so these natural disasters can only be regarded as a warning. However, if the emperor still does not repent, then the disasters will become more and more severe until the country is destroyed and the family is destroyed. The ancestral temple was destroyed.
It can be seen that Zhongshu's Confucianism is not only different from Confucius, but also greatly different from the relatively recent Mencius. His knowledge seems to have been integrated into the theory of Zou Yan, the yin and yang master of Jixia Academy, about the beginning and end of the five virtues and the induction of yin and yang. Of course, the main body of Dong Zhongshu's knowledge is Confucianism. He proposed the "sympathy between heaven and man" to exaggerate disasters and changes, mainly to restrain the supreme emperor. After the death of the second generation of the Qin Dynasty, people with lofty ideals in the early Han Dynasty had already seen that it was too much. Because of the dangers of centralization, the feudal system abolished by Qin Shihuang began to be resurrected under the great ancestor Liu Bang.
So, how to do it in the right way - this is the focus of Dong Zhongshu - of course to promote Confucianism, not only to promote it, but also to establish Confucianism as a deity. In Dong Zhongshu's eyes, all other miscellaneous theories are nonsense and deceptive, so he must "dismiss them all."
But he seems to have forgotten that his Confucianism is not "pure" Confucianism.
Is there such a thing as "pure" in this world?
Anything so-called “pure” must be traced back to its “ancestor.” Just like a purebred dog or horse, people can trace its ancestors back for many generations, and its genealogy is more complete than most people’s.
Of course, one can assume that Confucius' knowledge is true Confucianism, but where did Confucius' knowledge come from? It is said that he also sought advice from Lao Tzu. Can it be said that the real Confucianism is Taoism? The person Confucius respected the most in his life was the Duke of Zhou, and he always took the promotion and revival of Zhou rites as his own mission. Can it be said that the first Confucian was not Confucius but the Duke of Zhou? If this is the case, why is Confucianism called Confucianism instead of Zhoumen or Danmen (the Duke of Zhou was named Dan)?
Not only that, if you carefully examine the Analects of Confucius, you will find that Confucius did not have no concept of rule of law, but he valued rule of virtue and rule of etiquette more... With all these factors in mind, can it be said that all true Legalists are Confucians? In fact, both Confucianism and Dharma have their own ancient origins - this question cannot be explained clearly, because the time has been so long and the materials have been lost - but it has been passed down to later generations, and each person's focus is on The difference is that Confucius valued virtue and etiquette, while people like Han Fei and Li Si valued severe punishments and laws.
Of course, the establishment of a theory cannot be fabricated out of thin air. It must be formed on the basis of summarizing the experience of previous generations. Therefore, we must "do not choose the trickle in the river" to "go as deep as possible", and we must not "choose the good and be stubborn" , because too often, due to the short life of human beings and the narrow vision, they are unable and incapable of judging what "good" is. So people nowadays attach great importance to diversity, whether it is species diversity or cultural diversity, because protecting diversity leaves a broader space for choice for our descendants.
Dong Zhongshu's proposal showed his ambition to "dominate the academic world". Therefore, his "domestication of Confucianism" was not so much out of the public intention to stabilize the world, but rather out of the selfish intention of self-promotion, although this selfish intention may be Even Zhongshu himself didn't notice it.
So, how should we respect Confucianism specifically? Dong Zhongshu proposed the "Three Cardinal Guidelines and Five Constant Rules" that have bound the Chinese people for more than two thousand years - the king is the guideline for the ministers, the father is the guideline for the son, and the husband is the guideline for the wife. In terms of ideological methods, Dong Zhongshu’s Three Cardinal Guidelines and Five Constant Principles are exactly the same as those of Confucius and Mencius.
Mencius advocated the kingly way, the so-called "inner sage and outer king". He took Confucius's "ritual rule" idea to the extreme. He packed everyone into a small grid and could not go beyond their duties. No more disputes.
The same goes for Dong Zhongshu. As long as the monarch, ministers, father, son, and husband and wife adhere to their ways, will the great rule of the world be far away?
No matter what Dong Zhongshu's teachings were, Emperor Wu was impressed by him, because his courage to "dominate the academic world" was consistent with his dream of "great unification." Because there is an aesthetic concept deeply rooted in the minds of ordinary people - neatness. Emperor Wu could not tolerate the Han Dynasty at the helm of the Han Dynasty being the same as before. The vassal states were in charge of their own affairs and the whole country was growing like weeds. He wanted to do this for this The state establishes rules.
Soon, Zhongshu's theory was highly regarded by Emperor Wu. However, Emperor Wu knew that he was just a scholar trapped in his study, so he did not entrust him with a big responsibility, but sent him to be the prime minister of Liu Fei, King Yi of Jiangdu. Liu Fei had always been unruly, but perhaps he was intimidated by Dong Zhongshu's famous name. After Dong Zhongshu arrived, he was even more respectful to him. However, Dong Zhongshu's moral knowledge could not infect him, and he still behaved wildly all day long. Dong Zhongshu knew that he was bound to get into trouble if he continued like this, so he resigned and went home soon, and has been concentrating on writing ever since. During this period, Emperor Wu often sent people to ask him for advice on important court affairs.
