"Ji Heng, you are talking nonsense."
"What you listed above are all reforms." Hu Hai chuckled.
Ji Heng nodded, shook his head, and said, "What I mentioned before are indeed reforms."
"But they are not Legalists."
"Not a Legalist?" Hu Hai was stunned and looked at Ji Heng suspiciously, a little confused.
Ji Heng sat up straight and said, "Do you think there are Legalists in the world?"
"Of course there is." Hu Hai said without thinking: "Aren't the people you listed earlier Li Kui, Wu Qi, Shen Buhe and others all Legalists?"
"Who defined it?" Ji Heng asked again.
"Ah?" Hu Hai scratched his head, somewhat confused about the situation.
He looked Ji Heng up and down and asked in surprise: "Are you drunk and confused? Isn't this something everyone knows?"
Ji Heng smiled and said: "There is no Legalist in the world."
"Some are just law-changers!"
"Legalism, which is passed down from mouth to mouth in the world, is just what Confucian scholars keep telling each other."
"because......"
"Legalism is Confucianism!"
"Legalism is a part of Confucianism."
"It's just that the concepts of this group of 'Confucian scholars' have been squeezed out by mainstream Confucian scholars, so they have been divided, but they remain true to their origins. These people are considered Confucian scholars according to their origins."
"At least they were deeply influenced by Confucianism."
After hearing Ji Heng's words, Fusu's expression changed slightly.
He suddenly remembered Zhang Cang's words. Confucians are very good at making noise and causing trouble.
During the Warring States Period, Confucianism only respected the "first teacher Confucius". Mencius was slightly better. As for Xunzi, he was directly kicked out and was included in Legalism by Confucian scholars.
Judging from this situation, what Ji Heng said was not false.
Xunzi once offered wine to Jixia Academy and was the leader of the world's literati at that time. He was not respected by Confucian scholars, let alone other "confucian scholars" who were "deviant from the classics"?
Ji Heng continued: "Li Kui was a student of Zixia, Wu Qi was a student of Zengzi, and Fan Li, Tian Zifang, Duan Qianmu and others were all students of Zixia. In terms of origin, they are all Confucian scholars. One lineage.”
"It's just that compared to the pedantic and conservative Confucianism, Li Kui, Wu Qi and others put more emphasis on strength and utilitarianism, and even some are eager for quick success."
"Legalism is just a branch of Confucianism."
"At least that was the case until Shang Yang."
"The so-called Confucianism is just some unworkable empty talk made by Confucius, the Confucian master, who was obsessed with pursuing old dreams in troubled times."
"It is only through the development of Confucian scholars in the past dynasties that Confucianism has gradually formed the core values of benevolence, forgiveness, sincerity, and filial piety, emphasizing the moral cultivation of a gentleman, emphasizing the complementarity of benevolence and propriety, paying attention to the five moral ethics and family ethics, advocating education and benevolent government, and criticizing tyranny. A huge doctrine that strives to reestablish the order of ritual and music.”
"Just like a leaf has two sides: positive and negative."
"The same is true for Confucianism."
"After these years of development, Confucianism, which is respected by mainstream Confucian scholars, and Legalism, which was rejected by Confucian scholars, actually form exactly the opposite."
"Mainstream Confucianism is too big and inappropriate. It acts subjectively and idealistically. It relies on benevolence, righteousness and morality to educate the world."
"Legalism is relatively pragmatic. It explains those empty actions in clear words, and finally summarizes them into laws and regulations to educate the world."
“Confucianism advocates privilege.”
"The deviant Legalists talk about equality."
“Confucianism advocates that human nature is inherently good.”
"Legalists firmly believe that human nature is inherently evil."
"But the two sides of the leaf, which appear to be completely opposite, actually come from the same petiole."
"In the end, different paths lead to the same destination."
"Confucianism values ignorance of the people, and so does Legalism."
"Confucianism emphasizes agriculture, and Legalism even more so."
"Confucianism talks about patriarchal human relations and family ethics, and Legalism talks about the same thing except when Shang Yang was in power."
"Confucianism talks about caste privileges, and Legalism talks about it as well."
"Confucianism advocates filial piety, and so does Legalism."
"Confucianism and Legalism are the same in many aspects."
"This is actually quite normal."
"Since Confucius, Confucianism has been spreading private knowledge all over the world. There are too many scholars influenced by Confucianism. Even if they want to abandon it, they will inevitably be disturbed in the end. Even if Shang Yang, who is well versed in human nature, is like this, how will other people in the world be affected? ?”
"The real distinction between Confucianism and Legalism started with Shang Yang."
"Shang Yang only counts half of it."
Ji Heng took a sip of wine and took a deep breath.
Continued:
"Shang Yang is a native of Wei."
"When Shang Yang entered the Qin Dynasty, he brought the "Book of Laws" written by Li Kui with him. The private study of the Wei Dynasty's political reform was prevalent. Shang Yang would inevitably be influenced by Confucianism. This can be seen from the first meeting between Shang Yang and Xiao Gong. What Shang Yang first talked about was The Confucian ‘king way’.”
"But the royal way did not please Duke Xiao. In the end, Shang Yang finally expressed his 'overbearing' for the first time when he was recently given up."
"Shang Yang's reforms were different from those of Li Kui, Wu Qi and others. His focus was no longer on Confucianism, but on human nature."
"Therefore, Shang Yang's laws are very anti-human."
"The patriarchal family, which has always been respected in the world, was completely abandoned by Shang Yang. A family can only have five people at most. After the children get married, they must separate the family. There is no respect for human ethics or human feelings, and the laws and orders are strictly followed."
"Opposing rituals, proposing a 'theory of human nature that loves benefits and evils', and a materialist view of history that does not follow the past but does not follow the present."
"There are likes and dislikes in life, so the people can be cured!"
"Starting from Shang Yang, Confucianism and Legalism officially separated."
"But it was only during the period when Shang Yang was in power."
"After Shang Yang was killed, the laws and regulations of the Qin Dynasty were modified to a certain extent, Confucian filial piety returned, and punishments without levels became levels, and the patriarchal system made a comeback."
"But Shang Yang's political legacy is still very rich."
"He established fairness and justice for Legalism!"
"In addition to Shang Yang, another 'Confucian scholar' who is different from Confucianism is Han Feizi."
"His "Han Feizi" only talks about two words."
"rule!!!"
"Since then, Legalist thinking has changed from the initial reward and punishment to clear rewards and punishments, fairness and justice."
“Everything must be done in an orderly manner!”
"Everything in this world must be done according to the system."
"It's just that Shang Yang, Han Feizi and others' ideas were too ruthless, so they were criticized verbally and writtenly by the world. The Qin Dynasty is indeed based on law, but in fact it is significantly different from Shang Yang's legal system at that time."
"Today's Qin Dynasty is dominated by Yang Fa and Yin Confucianism."
"Use Legalism as a tool of governance to control the people, and use Confucian loyalty, filial piety, etiquette, righteousness and trust to tame the people."
"This system is indeed the most suitable at present."
"But I'm actually not optimistic about it."
"Because the current Legalism has returned to its original state. Shang Yang finally took out Legalism and formed another system. However, over the years, Legalism has gradually embarked on the old path and returned to the original leaf. Now It is true that Legalism has gained power and its leaves are facing up, but who knows that in the future, Confucianism will not be facing up?"
"At that time, where will the world go?"
Ji Heng shook his head.
He stopped, drank wine, and ate.
The house was quiet.
It was as if the audience was shocked.
