Meishan Su family, Su Yun is the most virtuous

Chapter 166: Chongwen Enlightenment! (4.1k ha!)

This place is probably set up for people who come here to look up books.

Of course, those who can come here to stay and read are either officials or prime ministers, and ordinary people are naturally not allowed to enter.

So the environment here is excellent, and after entering, Su Yun indeed felt calmer.

Su Yun sat quietly for a while and then went to the study.

The study is very large, with two large bookcases, on which are neatly arranged books.

Su Yun took a glance.

Well, there are the "Lüshi Chunqiu" from the pre-Qin period, the "Analects" annotated by Ma Rong of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Zheng Xuan's exegesis, Wang Chong's "Lunheng", and Gao You's "Mencius Annotations".

Xu Shen's "Shuowen Jiezi", He Yan's annotations to "The Analects", Xing Bing's commentaries to "The Analects", Cheng Yi and Cheng Hao's "Jingshuo", and Yin Chun's "The Analects of Confucius".

Xie Liangzuo's "On the Analects", Hou Zhongliang's "On the Analects", Yang Shi's "Debate on the Meaning of the Three Classics", You Zuo's "Miscellaneous Explanations of the Analects and Mencius" and "The Meaning of the Doctrine of the Mean".

The words of Zhang Jingfu, the words of Hu Anguo, etc., as well as the original books of the Five Classics are also included.

In addition, there are a variety of other books, which I think were left behind by people who came here to study before, or were brought here by officials of Chongwenyuan at the order of the government.

There is also a cabinet full of paper, another cabinet with rows of brushes of various sizes, another cabinet with ink sticks from various origins, and more than a dozen inkstones.

There is a large vat in the corner, which stores clean water for grinding ink.

Su Yun nodded. The basic information was already available. If there were any books needed, he would write a list and ask Chong Academy to provide them.

There was a knock on the door.

Su Yun was a little surprised. Is there someone else in the yard?

Su Yun didn't want anyone to enter the study, so he walked out the door and saw an old man dressed as a servant.

The old man said, "Mr. Su, I am the head of this courtyard. I do daily cleaning, washing, cooking, and serving tea and water. You can call me whenever you want."

So that's how it is. Su Yun smiled and asked, "What should I call you?"

The old man smiled and said, "Mr. Su, please call me Old Ding. Please don't be polite. You are doing a big thing. Don't waste time on small things. Oh, yes, it was Zhen Zhonggui who arranged for me to come here."

Su Yun nodded in understanding. It seemed that Zhen Shixuan was afraid that someone would cause trouble. This old man might not be that simple.

Su Yun said: "Okay, you should also be careful in this study and don't let anyone in."

Lao Ding nodded and said, "Don't worry, no one will go in."

Su Yun nodded and said, "Three meals a day, just prepare them and leave them at the door. Drinking water and other things should also be placed at the door. As for bathing and other things, if I need to take a bath, I will tell you in advance."

Old Ding nodded and said, "I understand. I will never disturb you, Mr. Su."

Su Yun nodded, turned around and went inside.

Lao Ding tiptoed away and after a while, brought tea and placed it at the door.

Su Yun brought in tea. After drinking a cup of tea, he immediately became energetic. He stood up and lit a few more oil lamps, and the study was as bright as day.

Su Yun took out two chapters, "The Great Learning" and "The Doctrine of the Mean", from "The Book of Rites", one of the "Five Classics", and studied them carefully.

Take notes while reading, and re-divide the chapters and sentences, which will be compiled into "The Great Learning" and "The Doctrine of the Mean";
The Analects of Confucius will collect the annotations of various scholars, carefully select them, and write them into "Collected Annotations of the Analects of Confucius" according to personal opinions.

The Collected Commentaries on Mencius has been completed and only needs slight revisions.

Su Yun used the two methods of "chapter and sentence" and "collected annotations" to organically integrate the "Four Books", connecting the four into a coherent whole, and creating "Collected Annotations on the Chapters and Sentences of the Four Books".

This is a rather clever way, or, in other words, an extremely ingenious way of re-creation, which can integrate the four unrelated books into one book.

In fact, Zhao Xu and Pan Jingxing believed that this task was extremely difficult and almost impossible to accomplish based on their previous experience in editing and annotating books.

After Su Yun adopted the method of integrating chapters and sentences with collected annotations, what was left was actually just the ordinary work of annotation and explanation.

Moreover, the most voluminous collection of annotations on Mencius has actually been completed.

Among the Four Books, the Great Learning has only one volume, the Doctrine of the Mean also has only one volume, while the Analects has more, with as many as ten volumes.

As for the Collected Commentaries on Mencius, there are as many as fourteen volumes!
So, to some extent, his current workload is equivalent to writing a collection of annotations on Mencius.

However, the actual workload is certainly far greater than that of Mencius's Annotations, because in order to make the Four Books well-organized, comprehensive, and coherent, the effort required is enormous.

However, what has been said above is not the real difficulty.

The real difficulty lies in the fact that Zhu Xi was able to integrate the Four Books into one when he compiled the collected annotations on the Four Books. Firstly, he adopted the method of chapters and sentences and collected annotations, which was a new innovation.

What truly integrated them was actually the foundation provided by Zhu Xi's Neo-Confucian theory.

Zhu Xi took "reason" as the center and demonstrated the connection between "reason" and the category system in Confucian classics, and used this to define the important categories in this category system, such as heaven, man, nature, Tao, and heart.

Thereby achieving "harmony between man and nature", "harmony between psychology" and "harmony between mind and nature".

Zhu Xi pointed out: "Since ancient times, sages have passed down that there is only one heart, the heart is only one nature, and the nature is only one of benevolence, righteousness, propriety and wisdom."

These three unified theories laid a very important theoretical foundation for Zhu Xi to understand the "Four Books"!

This is theoretical innovation, which can truly achieve a thorough understanding.

But Su Yun had concerns about adopting Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism.

It is not just because of the influence of Su Shi and Su Zhe's Shu School, it has little to do with this.

In addition, Su Yun was not hostile to Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism, as Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism had its own advanced nature.

The rigidity of the Ming and Qing dynasties was due to the rulers and had little to do with the doctrines themselves.

What Su Yun was considering was the adaptability of his doctrine to the current ideological trends in society.

What is the reality today? Hundreds of years have passed since Confucianism was revived by Confucian scholars in the Tang Dynasty. Confucianism, like the Northern Song Dynasty as a country, has gradually fallen into a state of rigidity and a dull academic atmosphere.

Therefore, what is needed now is not the conservatism of Neo-Confucianism, but a more dynamic theory to activate it. The reason why Zhu Xi's Neo-Confucianism was promoted as the official school of thought in the Southern Song Dynasty and dominated the world is that after the Southern Song Dynasty moved to Lin'an, the economy developed rapidly, and everyone from top to bottom was confused by the prosperity in front of them and fell into extravagance and desire.

Zhu Xi's theory of "preserving the principles of heaven and eliminating human desires" is urgently needed for rulers.

Because once everyone from top to bottom, from officials to ordinary people, is obsessed with prosperity, the country will be destroyed not far away.

This is the real reason why Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism became the official school of thought.

The reason why Su Yun did not reject Zhu Xi's Neo-Confucianism was that Zhu Xi's advocacy of "eliminating human desires" did not mean denying all human desires, but rather denying excessive human desires, such as greed.

Zhu Xi believed that "Heavenly Principle" is the ultimate good, and the manifestation of "Heavenly Principle" in human beings is "nature".

In other words, Zhu Xi believed that human nature is the existence of supreme goodness.

People have an evil side, and Zhu Xi attributed the evil side of people to their "emotions." However, Zhu Xi did not deny all human emotions. He believed that only "emotions" that are inconsistent with the supreme "nature" are evil.

Therefore, Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism is not without its progressiveness. Rather, it became rigid because the rulers adopted it as official learning and the only one due to their own needs.

However, Su Yun did not want to use Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism as the theoretical basis for the Four Books because it was not in line with the reality of today's society.

In today's world, Confucianism has become extremely rigid, and the literati of the Northern Song Dynasty have noticed this. Therefore, the Three Masters of the Early Song Dynasty, the Shu School, Luo School, Guan School, etc., which had already taken shape, appeared in order to change this situation and renew Confucianism.

Therefore, if we want the Four Books to become popular as soon as they are published, adopting Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism is not a good idea.

Rather than...

Su Yun chuckled.

The academic atmosphere of the Song Dynasty at this time was somewhat similar to that of the early Ming Dynasty. Both inherited the Confucianism of the previous dynasty and have developed to the present day. However, they have gradually lost their vitality, and many great Confucian scholars are looking for new ways out. So, at this time... Brother Yangming, it's your turn to take action!

If Yangming's philosophy of mind had appeared in this era, it would surely have shocked the entire Song Dynasty!
This has been verified long ago.

As soon as Yangming's philosophy of mind came out in the Ming Dynasty, it caused a sensation.

Students followed suit and the trend became popular.

Although Wang Yangming's teachings were rejected and attacked for a time after his death, the School of Mind still flourished due to the unremitting efforts of scholars.

Among the seven academic cases listed in "Ming Confucian Academic Cases", scholars from central Zhejiang, Jiangyou, Nanzhong, central Chu, the north, Fujian and Guangdong, Taizhou and other places were deeply influenced by it.

Even court ministers such as Xu Jie, Zhang Juzheng, and Zhao Zhenji were his followers.

Yangming's philosophy of mind not only had a profound impact in the country, but also spread abroad.

At the end of the Ming Dynasty, Yangming's philosophy of mind was introduced to Japan, and people like Ito Hirobumi and Togo Heihachiro became loyal followers of Yangming's philosophy of mind.

After entering the Qing Dynasty, Lin Zexu, Wei Yuan, Zeng Guofan, Kang Youwei, Liang Qichao, Sun Yat-sen, Zhang Taiyan, Hu Shizhi and others all drew ideas of human liberation and self-respect and fearlessness from it and established immortal careers.

The reason why Yangming's Philosophy of Mind has achieved such great success in history and has so many followers is mainly because its theory is simple, direct and clear.

Wang Yangming's philosophy of mind is simple and easy to understand. Ordinary people can understand it as soon as they hear it. It is a powerful weapon for communication!
Su Yun is a pragmatist. He neither believes in Neo-Confucianism nor follows the School of Mind. He believes in Maoism. Well, the teacher's thoughts are the culmination of everything from ancient times to the present, from the East to the West, and they are the greatest!
So, if rational thinking is suitable, he will use rational thinking; if psychological thinking is suitable...well, the most suitable one now is psychological thinking.

Neo-Confucianism had already been established by Zhou Dunyi, Zhang Zai, and the two Cheng brothers. Even if he came up with some kind of culmination of Neo-Confucianism, it probably wouldn't have caused much of a stir.

Moreover, Su Yun had some suspicion that the person spreading the rumor might be a disciple of Neo-Confucianism.

Su Yun wrote "Collected Commentaries on Mencius" not based on Zhu Xi's Neo-Confucianism theory, but based on dialectical materialism.

The foundation of Neo-Confucianism lies in moral theology, which is the legitimacy basis of theocracy and royal power, and Su Yun's dialectical materialism obviously undermined their foundation.

Although Su Yun deliberately concealed this aspect of his explanation in his collection of annotations on Mencius, in the eyes of the masters of classics, it is as conspicuous as a louse on a bald man's head.

Therefore, the people who were most afraid of "Collected Commentaries on Mencius" might not be Wang Gui and He Zhengchen, but the two Chengs and their disciples.

Su Yun shook his head. The cruelty of academic disputes may be even worse than that of party disputes.

He didn't want to have a conflict with the Cheng brothers. He had already been trying to avoid the issue, meaning he didn't want to have a conflict. But now the other party was clearly coming towards him.

If so, let's fight!
The development of science has not yet reached its peak. I wonder if you can withstand the peak of psychology.

Besides, I won’t bully you. I will just add some materialistic dialectical ideas into it to make up for the slight shortcomings of Yangming’s philosophy of mind, hehe.

Some people say that Xinxue is idealism, which is contrary to your dialectical materialism. How can you add it into it? Isn't it a contradiction?
Su Yun actually already had some ideas.

The core ideas of Yangming's philosophy of mind are "the mind is the reason", "the unity of knowledge and action", and "the pursuit of conscience".

Su Yun intends to combine the idea that the mind is reason with the subjective initiative of consciousness in dialectical materialism.

The unity of knowledge and action is based on the principle that practice is the only criterion for testing truth and the basis for understanding and changing the world.

As for the conscience, it refers to human moral conscience. Wang Yangming believed that human moral conscience is innate and a manifestation of human nature.

This coincides with the viewpoint of dialectical materialism, both of which emphasize human subjective initiative.

In dialectical materialism, man is the subject of social history, and man’s practical activities are the driving force for historical development.

In Yangming's philosophy of mind, "reaching the conscience" also emphasizes the decisive role of people's moral conscience in their behavior.

And so on.

In this way, the essence of the School of Mind is preserved, but its personal subjective assumptions and limitations are compensated for, which is enough to make the School of Mind a doctrine in which it is difficult to find flaws!
Having deduced this, Su Yun was somewhat glad that "Collected Commentaries on Mencius" was not written according to Zhu Xi's Neo-Confucian theory.

If that were the case, then changing to dialectical materialism now, such a drastic change that contradicts the theory, might be considered academic misconduct, right?
However, in that case, it might not be attacked by science, and might even be absorbed into science and become the mainstay of science.

But Su Yun did not regret it, because the Shu School of Su Shi and Su Zhe was in fierce conflict with the Luo School at that time. As a descendant of the Meishan Su family, how could Su Yun stand against Su Shi and Su Zhe?

Su Yun shook his head and smiled. He was a Shu person, so his doctrine naturally belonged to the Shu Party. It seemed that the dispute between Shu and Luo Shuo in this life would be three times more intense than the previous one!
Once you have your thoughts straightened out, the rest will be easy.

When you start writing a book, you just have to do it. Just write a few tens of thousands of words and throw it to the editor... Well, this is not like writing an online article.

While busy, Su Yun suddenly thought:
Wang Yangming laid the foundation of Yangming Philosophy of Mind in Longchang, and is therefore known as the one who attained enlightenment in Longchang.

And if I write down the materialist dialectical psychology in Chongwen Academy today, will I be praised as... well, Chongwen Enlightenment?
Ha! Interesting!
(End of this chapter)