To be fair, many Greek scholars do want to change the current dilemma in the philosophical world.
The reality is that there are a lot of problems in the homeland of Greek philosophy, and even the dullest scholar will definitely have to face this situation.
Moreover, although it is different from those schools in Seris that are originally based on real politics, Greek philosophy as a whole is relatively "pragmatic". But no matter how detached it is, changes in reality will definitely have an impact on philosophy.
Everyone knows what the current situation has become. In this case, reform measures must be taken. To put it bluntly, it is necessary to clarify what can be changed and what cannot be changed.
This cannot be blamed on others for not studying thoroughly. Because any civilization cannot completely learn from foreign cultures unless it is completely destroyed. Even those white Latin American countries that came later could not completely get rid of the influence of Indian culture, let alone the Greeks who already had a rich cultural heritage.
And what’s interesting is that the direction of interpretation of the Greeks is exactly the same as the thinking of the Seris people in the Ming and Qing Dynasties.
Because of this situation, there are only two directions: one is to say that people are not good, and the other is to say that ideas themselves are not good. Of course, this is a very broad category and can be subdivided into specific categories. For example, under "People are not good", it can be divided into several types.
In Guo Kang's world, in fact, as early as the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, some people discovered that Westerners had gradually surpassed themselves in the fields of mathematics and natural philosophy. The mainstream explanation at that time was that "the ancients were good at it, but modern people are not." They believed that the ancients' theories were very good, but it was a pity that modern scholars were too incompetent and failed to put them into full play.
In this line of thinking, in the early Qing Dynasty, some Confucian scholars proposed the "theory of Zhou people rushing to the west", believing that when the dog army destroyed the Western Zhou Dynasty, some Zhou people were robbed and then fled to the west, which brought civilization there. Therefore, when everyone learns Thai and Western techniques, there is no need to resist. It is all your own stuff anyway, and there is nothing to be ashamed of.
This statement gave everyone a step up and lowered the vigilance of rulers and conservative literati. Mei Wending, a mathematician in the early Qing Dynasty, was familiar with this. Because of his high emotional intelligence, he was very precise in flattering every time, and even got the support of Kangxi himself. In the eyes of later generations, this explanation was certainly outrageous, but it did work at the time.
The Greeks are actually more motivated in this regard.
At that time, Patriarch Zhang advocated "Laozi transforming into barbarians". One of the main reasons for its rapid success was probably because local scholars themselves also supported it.
Many people are unwilling to admit that the entire civilization was inspired by Lao Tzu. But if it is said that philosophers have already communicated with each other as early as the early classical era, then everyone would like it.
So in the end, this matter was about Patriarch Zhang and the Greek scholars each getting what they needed. He was able to promote the long history of mutual learning between the two sides, demonstrate the rationality of Eastern elements in God-worshiping religions, and even provide support for his own scriptures;
And the other party can also argue that Seris's influence is not new only now. Since everyone has communicated with each other back then, it is obviously reasonable whether the knowledge from the Mediterranean world spread to the East or the knowledge from the East spread to the East.
Philosophers back then produced many research results, but now Greek scholars are unknown. Even if we only look at academic contributions, they are not as good as other places. This can only mean that there is something wrong with people now. Under this idea, various attempts to summarize ancient lessons and realize cultural revitalization emerged one after another, and finally formed what it is today.
Guo Kang feels that in this regard, the ideas of different civilizations seem to be similar.
Of course, having said that, it is already rare to find reasons for these violent arguments. In fact, most civilizations do not need to reflect at all, nor do they need to find reasons to explain and improve, because as long as they decline, they will simply disappear...
The next question is to find out what went wrong and how to correct it. This is what scholars have focused on for decades.
The influence of the city-states in Greece is actually limited. It was Alexander the Macedonian who truly spread Greek culture. Today's Greeks often regard Alexander as part of Greek culture, but at least at that time, mainland Greece was often in confrontation with the Macedonians.
Not to mention the Greek mercenaries who fought for Darius III, even their home city-states often resisted the Kingdom of Macedonia with force. Guo Kang's Greek teacher used a metaphor at the time to say that the Macedonians were about the same to the Greeks as the Huns and Mongols were to the Central Plains.
So why can Macedonia become a symbol of Greek culture? In fact, there is no cultural reason, it is simply that people can fight.
In the same way, how is Seris’ culture promoted? Could it be that the emperors kept sending missionaries everywhere to brag about how powerful they were? Apparently not. The influence of the Tang Dynasty was heard all the way to Eastern Rome, and the only reason was that they could fight.
It can be seen that if culture wants to be revived, the first thing to do is to revive force. Instead, the Greeks should learn more from Alexander.
Now, the Purple Horde Khanate was also established by foreigners, but like Alexander, it was also an opportunity for Greek culture, so it must be grasped.
In this way, the question that requires further thinking becomes obvious: How did such a powerful Alexander Empire end?
All scholars are familiar with this: Alexander himself died young, and before the country had stabilized, his mother, sisters and wife began to work tirelessly to undermine the order of the country, finally destroying what little prestige he had left. Clean. Eventually the empire fell apart and the Ajid dynasty soon became extinct.
It is true that the empire itself has a weak foundation and low organizational level, but even so, if it can deteriorate to this point, the rulers themselves cannot shirk their responsibility. What really destroyed Alexander's legacy were the evil ladies in his family.
After some painful reflection, scholars believe that everyone has realized the conclusion:
During the time of Guo Kang's father's generation, several scholars from Constantine University published articles publicly, saying that the Greeks today themselves have become feminine. They have lost their masculinity and have never been able to gain a long-term perspective. Therefore, no matter how hard they try, they are just like a group of women, constantly arguing with other compatriots, internal friction, and finally dying in shame.
This theory later spread widely, bringing a wave of Greeks to join the army. Many urban residents who were somewhat educated but originally had little enthusiasm for joining the army began to actively join the legion in an attempt to prove themselves through military merit. It played a great role in promoting the development of the situation at that time.
Correspondingly, contemporary scholars also firmly believe that lessons must be learned to prevent men from becoming feminized again and women from interfering with the country again. No matter what, we can't make the same mistakes again. This is the duty of patriots today.
(End of chapter)
