I am not Yuan Shu

Chapter 51: Huge Conscience

Ma Rong endorsed Yuan Shu as a famous scholar in the country, which was of great help to Yuan Shu.

He believes that Yuan Shu's interpretation of "Mencius" is groundbreaking and profound. He discovered many opinions of Mencius that people had not noticed in the past. He felt that he benefited a lot after reading it.

With Ma Rong's approval and endorsement, this book "Mencius Interpretation" soon became a popular book in Maoling County.

Before Yuan Shu made it public, he specially gathered the Thirteen Guardians and Lu Zhi to copy "Mencius Interpretation" three times. The three copies of the original text were posted in three places in the Ma mansion for students to study and copy.

Soon, "Mencius Interpretation" spread among the scholars in Maoling County, and everyone was enthusiastically discussing Yuan Shu's interpretation of "Mencius".

Not to mention that Yuan Shu's book was praised and endorsed by Ma Rong. Even if it wasn't, the fact that Yuan Shu, at the age of twelve, could write a professional article such as an interpretation of an ancient book is enough to shock people.

Although "Mencius" is not a Confucian classic, in the eyes of scholars in the Han Dynasty, it also has a certain status as a book similar to "biography". If one wants to annotate it and write a book about it, it obviously requires a profound foundation.

There is no need to say much about whether Yuan Shu has a solid foundation.

That was the reputation he earned from the "undefeated debate prodigy Yuan". He participated in more than 400 debates without losing a single one. His profound skills and sharp thinking have long been known to the public.

Therefore, when Yuan Shu wrote such a book, it did not cause people to be too shocked or incomprehensible.

But such a professional article, similar to a modern academic paper with great research value, was actually completed by a twelve-year-old boy. If this were said, people who don’t know would definitely be confused and find it unbelievable.

But this kind of thing happened.

Yuan Shu not only openly disclosed all of his interpretations, he also openly copied these articles three times and published them in different places, calling on everyone to read them together. If they felt there was anything wrong, they could go to him for advice.

Or we could have a debate on the spot.

Anyway, Yuan Shu had been silent for several months and hadn't debated with anyone. The bad words that had been accumulating for several months were about to burst his stomach, and he was very unhappy.

Unfortunately, his body has not developed well, and he cannot vent this bad energy through close communication with Xiuxiu, so he can only vent it through debating and passionate interaction with others.

He is now at a point where he is extremely angry and ready to explode at any time.

Come on! You little Confucian scholars, let your father Shu teach you a lesson with his great conscience!
Yuan Shu was not afraid of debating with others at all, because in his opinion, the truth would always become clearer through debate.

And no matter whether this truth is the true truth or not, as long as no one can refute it, it is the truth, whether it is the truth or not.

The good thing about scripture debates during the Eastern Han Dynasty was that there was no unified, universally recognized, absolutely correct answer. Every scripture had a corresponding "tradition" of at least two interpretations, and as long as they were not the only ones, there was room for debate.

It doesn’t matter whether you are right or wrong; what matters is who wins the debate.

It is precisely because this thing has a market that there were so many "sophists" in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, and strange topics such as "a white horse is not a horse" appeared.

What’s more interesting is that Zhao Qi, who wrote "Mencius Chapter and Verses" before Yuan Shu, was only a few years earlier than Yuan Shu and was not widely recognized.

So when Yuan Shu brought out "Mencius Interpretation", quite a number of scholars and students had never included "Mencius" in their must-read book list, and did not even read it as an extracurricular book.

That was to give them an opportunity to debate, but they did not have enough knowledge to debate with Yuan Shu.

Including some members of the Yi Xin Society, they have only been exposed to the "conscience" theory extracted by Yuan Shu from "Mencius", and have not actually read or studied the entire "Mencius".

Therefore, for this group of people, Yuan Shu's "Mencius Interpretation" was the first time they came into contact with "Mencius" and its annotated version.

The first thing people come into contact with is Yuan Shu’s theory. So, how many people can draw inferences from one example and use it as a basis to debate with Yuan Shu?
Use my magic against me?

Who gave you the courage? You also have a lightning-shaped scar on your head?
Yuan Shu’s annotations were their initial impression of "Mencius", and Yuan Shu gave many people their first impression of "Mencius".

This first time has a very strong meaning.
Therefore, only Yuan Shu's alternative interpretation of some of the more famous chapters in "Mencius" caused some controversy and was questioned by some scholars.

For example, the paragraph "It is better to have no books than to believe in all books."

Some people point out that Mencius' original intention should be to emphasize the importance of benevolence and righteousness. The saying "it is better to have no books than to believe in all books" is just a symbolic reference, and it does not really mean that we should doubt the words of sages.

Mencius highly respected Confucius, so how could he doubt what Confucius said?

Besides, how can we easily doubt the words of a saint?

Do you have bad intentions? Fa Zhen, a famous scholar from Youfufeng who had questioned Yuan Shu before, once again raised purely academic doubts.

He wrote an open letter to Yuan Shu, arguing that Yuan Shu's interpretation of the passage "It is better to have no books than to believe in all books" was problematic.

As a famous Confucian scholar, Mencius would not have openly doubted Confucian classics. All he did was merely a reference.

"Mencius' words may be meant as a reference. The book is only the Book of Documents, and there are no other books. Mr. Yuan's use of the Book of Documents to refer to all books is quite exaggerated and may not convince the public."

Fazhen's views were sharp and his words were polite. It was obvious that he regarded Yuan Shu as a scholar like himself and was engaging in purely academic exchanges.

Yuan Shu admired the demeanor of this famous scholar very much.

However, Yuan Shu resolutely refuted his views.

My theory can never be refuted by you!
Otherwise, how can I push forward the next plan?

So Yuan Shu immediately quoted his own views to refute Fazhen's views.

Because this is what Mencius said clearly. If you completely believe in the Book of Documents, it is better not to have read it. You say that this is just talking about the Book of Documents?

Was it just used as an example to warn King Hui of Liang?
I'm sorry, I think Mencius's meaning is so straightforward. It not only refers to the Book of Documents, but it must also represent other books. You said he was referring to it, and I said he was also referring to it. Why do you say my reference is wrong?
Mencius said that he only believed 20 to 30 percent of the Book of Documents, which is already a very serious statement. It almost means that there is not much truth in the Book of Documents.

This is the case in the Book of Documents. How many doubts did Mencius have about the chapters on benevolence, righteousness, and non-benevolence in other classics?
Therefore, Yuan Shu believes that Mencius felt that there were some classics including the Book of Documents that were not worthy of being adopted, and the literal meaning is the practical meaning.

But Yuan Shu also gave his own explanation later.

He believes that this situation may not be a subjective mistake made by Confucius himself, but more likely a mistake made due to the long time and lack of historical materials.

After all, King Wu's conquest of King Zhou happened thousands of years ago, and it was also several hundred years away from Confucius' time. It is very likely that Confucius did not understand the real situation at the time. So is it impossible that he made these mistakes under the influence of objective factors?

"Saints are also human beings, and saints can make mistakes, not to mention mistakes made due to incomplete historical records. After the Qin fire, the classics were lost and it was difficult to distinguish the true from the false, so there was a dispute over the ancient and modern texts. Isn't it normal for such things to happen over the past thousand years?

This is both a challenge and an opportunity for our generation of scholars. We should have the courage to discover the mistakes of our predecessors, correct them, and carry forward their teachings on the basis of their foundation, rather than being complacent and treating their words as treasures without exploring further.

It is precisely because of this attitude towards academic research that Mencius boldly raised doubts about the Book of Documents. His attitude of questioning is correct and is what we should learn and inherit. We should have the courage to discover mistakes, explore them, discover the truth, and restore the original appearance. This is academic research. "

Yuan Shu also publicly replied to Fa Zhen in a more moderate tone and debated with Fa Zhen on this issue, which attracted the attention of quite a lot of people.

One is a rising prodigy endorsed by Ma Rong, and the other is a long-established celebrity in Kansai. The debate between the two parties undoubtedly attracted people's attention and became a major traffic hotspot.

At the same time, there were some scholars and students in Maoling County who wanted to take advantage of the popularity to make a name for themselves, and they also raised questions about Yuan Shu's annotation method.

Yuan Shu was neither polite nor holding back towards them.

He used his sharp views and strong attitude to defeat thirteen scholars' doubts about him in a row, winning thirteen consecutive victories, so that apart from Fa Zhen, no other scholar dared to rashly question Yuan Shu.

Yuan Shu's bravery and fighting skills won him a large number of supporters.

Although the debate with Fazhen had not yet reached a clear conclusion, in just six or seven days, more than 500 people applied to join the Yi Xin Society, hoping to follow Yuan Shu in exploring real knowledge rather than simply pursuing Yuan Shu's status and the power of the Yuan family.

The debate between Fa Zhen and Yuan Shu brought a huge amount of traffic to Yuan Shu and also raised Yuan Shu's reputation to a new level.

As time went by, the academic circles of the entire Sanfu gradually began to study "Mencius" and read Yuan Shu's "Mencius Interpretation".

In fact, ever since Yuan Shu became famous and started lecturing on the doctrine of conscience, more and more scholars from the Sanfu region came to Maoling County to listen to his lectures or to exchange ideas and debate with each other.

From the end of the eighth year of Yan Xi to the second half of the ninth year of Yan Xi, Maoling County had become the cultural center of the Sanfu area.

Following this trend, the doctrine of "attaining conscience" proposed by Yuan Shu was also inadvertently spread along with the dissemination of "Mencius Interpretation", which was obviously faster than his own lectures.

The little prodigy of the Yuan family made his career bigger and bigger, attracting more people's attention and interest.

As a result, even scholars and students from Hongnong County began to head towards Maoling County with great interest, hoping to catch a glimpse of the child prodigy Yuan Shu and find out whether Yuan Shu was really as awesome as the rumors said.

Anyway, no matter what others think, this is what Yang Biao thinks.

(End of this chapter)