I have to say that Li Zexuan is really ambitious. He wants to directly recruit all the capable people from the Mo family under his command~!
Of course, it’s no wonder that he was the best teacher. Mo Huai’s abilities, especially his accomplishments in astronomy, physics, and optics, made him the perfect teacher for Li Zexuan, who had just built Yanhuang Academy! With Mo Huai joining, his future workload at Yanhuang Academy will be greatly reduced~!
After Li Zexuan finished speaking, Mo Zhong and Mo Yun's eyes flashed, and a trace of hope appeared on their faces. They were said to be core disciples of the Mo family, but the work they did was no different from that of farmers. They also had to do farm work. Otherwise what would they eat? What to drink? Only during slack periods will he return to the Mohist family and accept training or other arrangements from the organization.
They are all capable, but because of their status as Mo Huai, they have to stay in a desolate place and do hard work. Originally, it would be okay to continue like this, but they came here with Mo Huai for an appointment and saw what happened in Chang'an City. After the prosperity, their hearts were shaken~!
The suffering of Mohists is something that disciples of other schools cannot understand, and now Li Zexuan's words make them unable to help but start to have wild thoughts. Why can't they rely on their own abilities to let their families live a good life~?
However, although they think so in their hearts, they will not say it out easily. Their long career as Mohists and organizational discipline have been deeply engraved in their hearts~!
Mo Huai frowned. He straightened up, stared at Li Zexuan and said seriously:
"I appreciate Mr. Li's kindness~! But as a Mohist, you must wear brown fur as your clothes and trample as your clothing, work day and night, and suffer yourself to the extreme~! What's the point of blindly coveting the pleasures of the world? Are you qualified to be a Mohist~? When I agreed to teach you at Yanhuang Academy, I have violated the laws of our Mohist family. From now on, I am no longer qualified to lead the world’s Mohists and carry forward Mohism~! Therefore, I must resign from this position of giant~! As for other Mohists, I advise you, Sir, not to waste your efforts~!"
After Mo Huai said this, the faces of the two young men, Mo Zhong and Mo Yun, instantly showed seven points of shame and three points of regret. They lowered their heads and said nothing.
Li Gangda frowned and said: "Brother Mo, you are confused~! The Mohist family has gone from hundreds of thousands of people in the heyday of the pre-Qin Dynasty to less than a hundred disciples now. You haven't thought about the reason~? Do you think the decline of the Mohist family is just Is it caused by the suppression by the emperors of various dynasties~?"
Mo Huai said with some annoyance: "Isn't it~? If Emperor Wu hadn't dismissed hundreds of schools of thought and only respected Confucianism, how could our Mo family be in this situation~?"
Hearing this, Li Gang said sadly: "It's ridiculous~! I didn't expect that Brother Mo, you still haven't seen the real reason for the decline of the Mohist family~! Forget it, I'm here to wake you up~! The authorities are confused, but the bystanders know clearly. Although I learned It's Confucianism, but today, I won't help Confucians, nor will I help you with Mohism, so I will analyze it with you as an outsider~!
You say that the decline of Confucianism is due to the suppression of emperors of various dynasties, but since Emperor Wu deposed hundreds of schools of thought and only respected Confucianism, why did the Mohist school, which was the most prominent school in the world along with Confucianism, decline rapidly, while Taoism and Legalism were able to survive Confucianism has survived to this day in the cracks~? Have you ever thought about the root cause of this~? "
Li Gang's words directly revealed the root cause of the decline of the Mo family. Mo Huai couldn't help but suffocated and turned pale. Li Zexuan listened carefully at the side. Li Gang obviously knew more about these old things than he did. This opportunity to learn is also good.
Li Gang didn't wait for Mo Huai's answer, and continued: "In my opinion, the reason why the Moh family is in this situation is because your Moh family has too strict requirements for its disciples~! Why can the sage Kong "Never tire of food, eat well?" "Don't get tired of details", but you Mohists can only "wear brown fur as your clothes, use tramping as your uniform, work day and night, and take self-suffering as the ultimate extreme"?
Maybe this is because you have your faith, but who says that people with faith can't rely on their own hands to live a good life with plenty of food and clothing~? Could it be that living in dire straits every day can make you Mohists stand out from the rest of the world~? "
I have to say that Li Gang's words hit the point right to the point, and Li Zexuan couldn't help but clap his hands when he heard it~! What you say makes so much sense~!
Among the hundreds of scholars in the pre-Qin period, the four schools of Confucianism, Mohism, Taoism, and Legalism had the greatest influence. But since the unification of the Qin and Han dynasties, their fates have begun to diverge: Confucianism has become the orthodoxy and mainstream of Chinese culture; Legalism has dominated the temple politics of the autocratic court for two thousand years because of its special nature; Taoism has attracted many believers and occupied a large number of Civil society has become the spiritual home of secluded people and hermits.
Only Mohism, after a moment of glory, both as a doctrine and as an organization, disappeared into thin air and was lost in the long river of history.
Why did the Mohist family end so tragically? Is it because Mohist thought is not brilliant enough? Definitely not. The Mohist ideological system is full of great humanitarianism and scientific spirit. Even from the perspective of modern people in the 21st century, it is still so shining.
In addition to the external reasons of "deposing hundreds of schools of thought and respecting Confucianism alone", there are also internal reasons for the demise of Mohism: if a person wants to become a loyal believer of Mohism, he must have a strong spirit of sacrifice and dedication, and he must have fraternity for everyone. Heart, not personal feelings.
Therefore, "Zhuangzi: The World" criticizes the Mohists: "He is diligent in life, weak in death, and his way is great; it makes people worry and sad, and his actions are difficult. I am afraid that he cannot follow the way of a saint and rebel against the world. With such a heart, the world is unbearable. Although Mozi can do whatever he wants alone, what can he do to the world? If he is separated from the world, his death will be far away!"
In comparison, being a Taoist disciple is much happier. The goal of Taoist practice is to become an immortal, which is a beautiful wish that can attract a large number of believers. Moreover, for Taoism, especially Zhengdao, which has a long history, there are not many rules on abstinence. Fangzhongshu is even a secret technique of the immortal family.
As a transcendent religion, although Buddhism requires abstinence, the monks can enjoy spiritual satisfaction while abstaining from sex, thus viewing all suffering as a raft leading to happiness. Precisely because of this "chicken soup for the soul", devout Buddhist disciples can ignore physical hardships and pursue metaphysical Zen joy.
However, the Mohist ideas of universal love, non-aggression, respecting the virtuous, advocating unity, not fate, not happiness, frugal use, frugal burial...these ideas are not enough to become the basis of the soul beliefs of Mohist disciples. And if it is not based on firm faith, the hard and ascetic life will not attract new blood to join the Mohist family, and the number of Mohists in the world will only become smaller and smaller~!
This is the internal reason for the decline of the Mohist family~!
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