By the end of the Western Han Dynasty, someone discovered ancient books written in seal script before the Qin Dynasty. The difference between ancient books and "modern books" made people even more questionable. Subsequently, a large number of ancient books appeared (most of which were later proven to be forgeries), so the study of ancient Chinese classics

The rise. Its main idea is: to trace the origin and seek the original meaning of the classics, regardless of the changes of the times.

Modern Classics was the official textbook in schools until the Eastern Han Dynasty, while Ancient Classics was spread among the people.

Wang Mang's restructuring at the end of the Western Han Dynasty caused a huge challenge to Confucianism. Wang Mang was the "new sage" unanimously recognized by Confucian scholars at that time. He peacefully replaced the Western Han Dynasty according to the Confucian "Heavenly Way". Then, he followed Confucian ideals.

Carrying out major social changes, the result was an "unprecedented" failure. This failure can be said to be a "complete defeat" of Confucianism, which will be unforgettable.

Since Wang Mang, Confucian scholars have stopped talking about "the way of heaven" and reform. Jinwen Jingxue no longer talks about reform. It is just a stepping stone for officialdom and has lost its vitality. And the "scholar nobles" have also lost their ability to transform the real world.

The grand ambitions and goals of life have become blurred. The ancient scriptures of "not fighting against the world" have become more popular.

Liu Xiu, who founded the Eastern Han Dynasty, was a student who graduated from a Confucian school. After he came to power, he further strengthened the status of Confucianism. In 56 AD, he "announced the prophecy to the world" and made the prophecy theory official. Prophecy [] is

The cryptic words that foretell good or bad luck, that is, prophecies, have developed into the modern era and are called fortune-telling. Wei is the Book of Wei, which, along with the Book of Classics, is a type of book that deifies Confucius. To put it bluntly, the Book of Weft is the "Bible" in which Confucius created the world.

In 79 AD, the Eastern Han Dynasty held a national symposium on Confucian classics, known as the Baihuguan Conference. The meeting unified ideas and integrated Chenwei with the original Jinwen Confucian classics, which became the school's statutory textbook. At the same time, a national sacrificial system based on Confucianism was also established.

Such as enshrining Zen, Mingtang, offering sacrifices to heaven in the suburbs, etc. It can be seen that at this time, the religious atmosphere of Confucianism was very strong, and it had become "Confucianism" and was the state religion of the Eastern Han Dynasty.

To compare with the West, Confucianism is equivalent to "Christianity", Confucian schools are equivalent to "monasteries", and scholars are "monks". Government officials in the Eastern Han Dynasty were all "monks", which shows that the Eastern Han Dynasty was a ****

The country is a Confucian dictatorship! Among them, the gentry are equivalent to "cardinals" and are the core dignitaries in the Confucian dictatorship.

Just like the "Middle Ages" in the West, under the political system, "grasp with both hands, use both hands hard", "unquestionable" ideologically, and "unrivaled" in terms of force. Therefore, this system is like

A big iron plate is hard to shake. It took the West a full 1,000 years to get out of the Middle Ages. What will happen to China?

I suddenly understood that this huge "catastrophe" that had tortured China for 400 years was the Chinese people's difficult struggle to break the Confucian dictatorship and get out of the "Middle Ages".

Eunuchs "interfering in politics" can be said to be the most direct resistance!

Eunuchs are mostly civilians (except for a small number of criminals who were sentenced to castration), rather than Confucian "monks". Eunuchs are not servants who only "lowly" take care of their masters, but are responsible for palace affairs and even the internal dynasty of the army.

Officials. Their actual ability to govern is not necessarily worse than "monks" who only focus on morality. For example, Cai Lun, a paper maker, was the eunuch responsible for supplying items to the palace.

At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty (178), with the support of eunuchs, Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty established the Hongdu School. This school did not study Confucian classics, but focused on literary arts such as Ci, Fu, calligraphy, and painting. Students graduated

Later, he could also become an official. The establishment of non-"Confucian" schools can be said to have fundamentally shaken the foundation of the "dictatorship" of Confucianism. This is why the "Party members" hate eunuchs so much and insist on exterminating them.

By the way, Hongdu School, which focused on literature and art, unexpectedly inspired the literary talent of the Chinese people. This allowed literature and art to flourish after the Wei and Jin Dynasties, far exceeding that of the Han Dynasty.

At this time, Buddhism had been introduced to China for hundreds of years since the early Eastern Han Dynasty, but it had always been unaccustomed to the local environment. China's native Taoism was greatly influenced by this foreign religion and developed into Taoism. In 184, the Yellow Turbans swept the country

The uprising was a religious revolution of Taoism against the Confucian dictatorship!

Some people say, no, the Yellow Turban Uprising was a peasant uprising under the cloak of religion! You must know that the original plan of the Yellow Turban Uprising was to "collude" with the eunuchs and start an uprising in Luoyang, the capital. It can be seen that its membership was by no means as simple as farmers.

Moreover, "at the age of Jiazi, the world will be prosperous." The political goal of the Yellow Turban Army is to seize the world, not just to "attack the local tyrants and divide the land."

In the history of mankind, the emergence of a religion requires a "big" chance! If you look at the world for thousands of years, there have been only a handful of influential religions. The Yellow Turban Uprising was the first time Taoism "appeared on the stage"

", there is no doubt that its religious significance is far greater than the peasant uprising.

During the Three Kingdoms period, Zhang Lu's "Five Pecks of Rice" in Hanzhong was a real practice of using Taoism to rule the world. This is why after the Battle of Chibi, before Guanzhong was pacified, Cao Cao hurriedly wanted to cross Guanzhong and attack Zhang Lu's army.

The reason behind it.

The Yellow Turban Army was pacified and Zhang Lu was eliminated, but Taoism was not extinct and was still spread among the people. By the Southern and Northern Dynasties, Taoism carried out religious reforms and gave up its political pursuit of conquering the world. It merged with Confucianism and became a major influence in China.

religion.

In 189 AD, Dong Zhuo came to Beijing and deposed the emperor. The various states and counties raised troops to oppose it. From then on, the heroes were divided and the world was in chaos. The main reason was that the legitimacy of the newly established Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty was questionable and he was not recognized by everyone. But it also shows that

, for "heroes" such as Yuan Shao and Cao Cao, they have dared to challenge the etiquette of "monarch and ministers". The "unquestionable" status of Confucianism has begun to shake.

Cao Cao's father was the adopted son of the great eunuch Cao Teng, so he was born as a eunuch. Cao Cao's thoughts were biased toward Legalism. After unifying the north, he repeatedly proposed "meritism" in an attempt to break the monopoly of Confucian "monks".

Zhuge Liang was also a typical Legalist thinker, so he could only live in seclusion in Longzhong and was not recognized by the Confucian "monks". If Liu Bei hadn't visited the thatched cottage three times, he might never have been able to get ahead.

Although Cao Cao and Zhuge Liang are the big bosses of one party and they all highly praise Legalism, it is still to no avail and cannot shake the foundation of the "dictatorship" of Confucianism. Because all schools only study Confucianism, there is no mechanism in the world to "mass produce" Legalist talents!

All kinds of direct resistance to the Confucian dictatorship have all failed. But the ideological resistance has not stopped. Metaphysics was popular in the Wei and Jin Dynasties. The main theme of metaphysics is "mysterious and mysterious, the door to all mysteries". "Xuan" means deep, which means: constantly
Chapter completed!