In August of the sixth year of the Wei and Huang Dynasties, Cao Pi established the Imperial Academy, formulated the method of the Five Classics Lesson Examination, and appointed Dr. Gu Liang of the Spring and Autumn Period.
At the ceremony, Cao Pi personally presented congratulatory gifts for the reopening of Taixue.
Now that after the ninth-level Zhongzheng system, poor families, powerful families, and small aristocratic families all have ways to become officials, and Cao Wei's support will naturally increase.
Cao Pi reopened the Imperial Academy to stabilize this relationship.
What are the admission requirements for Taixue?
Official's son.
There is even a school rule in the Imperial Academy of Cao Wei, which stipulates that the students admitted are only allowed to be arranged according to their age, and not according to the official positions of their fathers and brothers.
It seems like a good school rule, but it also reflects that only the children of officials whose father and brother are officials can study in Taixue.
After that, these people continued to serve as officials and inherited the positions of their father and elder brothers. For example, Zhong Hui, the son of Zhong Yao, and Cheng Xiao, the grandson of Cheng Yu, etc.
So in the final analysis, Cao Pi's original intention of establishing Taixue was to continue to expand his relationship with small and medium-sized aristocratic families, as well as powerful and humble families, in exchange for their support.
For this reason, even after the establishment of Taixue, it encountered opposition from big families.
Many aristocratic families are unwilling to take out their family classics and put them into the Imperial College. In addition, the Imperial College students are all children of powerful people. Many of them come here to avoid military service and do not have a high will to study.
Therefore, the Imperial College during the Cao Wei period was not very satisfactory, and it did not achieve Cao Pi's intention of winning over small and medium-sized families and helping him expand his talent pool.
But these were all things later. At least now, Cao Pi was still very high-spirited and wanted to run the Imperial Academy and strengthen his rule in Cao Wei.
The opening ceremony of Taixue began with a sacrifice. The audience was bustling with hundreds of Taixue students. Under the leadership of the sacrificial ceremony officer, they performed various sacrificial activities and prayed to the sages and sages.
Cao Pi had already offered incense before, and now he was sitting on it, looking at the sacrificial ceremony below with a smile, and said cheerfully to the doctor of Taixue next to him: "There are so many talents in our great Wei Dynasty, and all the sons of the princes have entered the Taixue. Why?
You can't achieve great things if you suffer from it."
Le Xiang was not so optimistic. He just raised his hand and said: "Your Majesty, although all the sons of the princes have entered the Imperial Academy, it is said that they are all the ones who are not good at academics. There are very few really capable children."
"oh?"
Cao Pi frowned and said, "Why is this?"
Le Xiang explained: "Because there are fewer Taixue classics and collections of books nowadays, and all major families have family traditions, they pay more attention to family learning than Taixue."
"well."
After hearing this, Cao Pi sighed, hammered the table hard and said: "Think about how Taixue prospered in the past? Emperor Ling collected books from all over the world and placed them in Hongdu Hall, Lantai, Piyong, Dongguan, etc.
Shishi, Xuanming, Taixue and other places, especially Taixue, ordered Lu Zhi, Ma Rixi, Cai Yong, Yang Biao, Han Shuo and others to collate Confucian classics, publish the text of the classics, and inscribe the Taixue stone scriptures.
.It’s a pity that Thief Dong made a big fire and burned it down.”
This is a very sad place.
During the period of Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty, Confucianism flourished. Because scriptures from all over the world were widely collected in Taixue, Taixue was a place that Confucian scholars in the world yearned for at that time. Many people studied in Taixue. Later, when the Taixue Stone Classics were carved, the gate of Taixue
There were more than a thousand carriages a day, filling the streets and causing a sensation all over the country. It was a prosperous period.
As a result, Dong Zhuo burned most of the books in Luoyang in a fire. Even though Cai Yong rescued them, he only took away a small part. Later, Cao Cao asked Cai Wenji to memorize many lost classics for this reason.
Now Cao Pi established the Imperial College, but the collection of books there is far less brilliant than it was at the beginning.
As a famous writer in the late Han Dynasty and early Wei Dynasty, Cao Pi was well-versed in classics and biographies and was familiar with the theories of various schools of thought. Naturally, he felt a pity for these burned scriptures and hated Dong Zhuo's evil deeds.
But there is no point in hating it. It is indeed a fact that Taixue is short of books now.
Le Xiang suggested: "Your Majesty still needs to recruit more great Confucian scholars who deal with ancient and modern classics and literature. Although the great Confucians deal with classics and form their own schools, the original texts of the books and they also inherit the theories of each school, so they combine the strengths of hundreds of schools of thought.
, perhaps it can restore the original prosperity of Taixue."
"Um."
Cao Pi nodded, this matter should indeed be taken seriously.
Seeing that he was very talkative, Le Xiang said, "Besides, there is another matter. I hope your majesty will be careful."
Cao Pi asked: "What's the matter?"
Le Xiang said: "Nowadays, many Confucian scholars in the north regard "Shen Shi Jing", "Zhu Zi Yan" and even the newly published "The Theory of Human Beings" as their classics, and they study them day and night. Especially in "The Theory of Human Beings", the weird remarks in it are borrowed from Confucianism.
His clothes distort the meaning of the saint, and if this continues, it may be detrimental to Your Majesty."
"Well"
Upon hearing this, Cao Pi frowned.
Shen Chen is now a well-known Confucian scholar in China. The emergence of "Shen Shi Jing" and "Zhu Zi Yan" established his status as a great Confucian.
These two books are actually books that explore the spiritual and cultural core of Confucianism. They are close to Wang Yangming's philosophy and are interpretations of Confucian culture. Therefore, they have a higher status in the current Confucian circle and are regarded as classics by the world.
In his early years, Cao Cao also felt that this book was good and that it did not harm his rule, so he not only read it, but also asked Cao Pi and Cao Zhi to study it to strengthen their political abilities and master new ideas.
As a result, Shen Chen became more and more influential in the north, and was regarded by many Confucian scholars as the greatest Confucian of the contemporary era, and was already developing towards the fourth sage of Confucianism.
There was no literary prison in the Han Dynasty, and the spread of culture was limited by bamboo slips. For example, Cao Pi's Imperial College never got off the ground, because major aristocratic families regarded their family's ancestral classics as treasures and were unwilling to share them. This resulted in
cultural barriers.
Therefore, there are very few people like Shen Chen who generously spread Confucianism, distribute it everywhere, and sell various classics published in books.
This caused conflicts and divisions in the Cao Wei Group.
Militarily, they regarded Shen Chen as their formidable enemy and attacked him repeatedly.
But in terms of culture, they regard Shen Chen's books as orthodox. Even if they don't say it, they can even rule the rulers of Cao Wei, let alone the wealthy families and powerful families below.
Therefore, facing Shen Chen, the attitude of the Cao Wei Group was still very complicated, and the different treatment of military culture gave rise to a feeling of insanity.
But after "On Humanity" came out, things were different.
"On Humanity" greatly shaken the rule of Cao Wei and made the people at the bottom more impetuous. Many people even dragged their families and families away from the Northern Dynasty and ran to the south.
A series of situations caught Cao Pi off guard and had to find a way to fight.
But with Shen Chen's current influence on Confucianism, it is almost impossible to erase Shen's influence.
Because today's great Confucians can only pay attention to ancient classics, that is, explain Confucian culture.
As for Shen Chen, he directly wrote several classics himself. He is one of the creators of Confucian culture, on the same level as Confucius, Mencius, and Xunzi.
So if you want to fight or eliminate it, unless another saint comes out, but that is completely unrealistic.
Therefore, Cao Pi could only choose to lie down and let it happen.
Now Le Xiang brought it up, which reminded him of this terrible thing again. He raised his forehead and said, "Of course I know about this matter. However, that fellow Shen Chen is a great Confucian of the time. Confucian scholars now study Shen School, and that's Ma." Even those who imitate Zheng Xue are cured, and it is not easy to compete with him."
Le Xiang thought for a while and said: "I think that your Majesty can imitate Emperor Wu. Use them if they are useful, and discard them if they are useless. The pragmatism, ideological teachings, and the integration of knowledge and action advocated by "Zhuzi Yan" and "Shen Shi Jing" are all good , can be retained. "The Treatise on Humanity" is not good for Your Majesty, so it is better to prohibit its dissemination, copying, and discussion in the north."
"prohibit?"
Cao Pi held his chin with his left hand and gently tapped the table in front of him with his right hand, lost in thought.
Since the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, knowledge has been extremely valuable. Except for historical records that Qin Shihuang burned some books, there has never been an official ban on a certain book.
Later generations marketed the "Book of Lords of Shang" by a preacher as the first banned book in our country, which was banned during the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. However, in fact, "Book of Lords of Shang" was not only very popular in the Han Dynasty, but was also the main scripture that the royal family of the Han Dynasty had to study. one.
For example, before Chao Cuo studied "Shang Shu" in Fu Sheng, he studied "Shen Zi" and "Shang Jun Shu" from a teacher named Zhang Hui. Wei Wan, the prime minister during the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, wrote a letter saying that people should study Shen and Shang. The words of Han Fei, Su Qin, and Zhang Yi will harm the country, so please ask Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty to remove them.
Even before Liu Bei died, he told Adou to read the "Book of Han" and "Book of Rites" and read the "Six Tao" and "Book of Shang Jun" in his spare time. The "Book of Shang Jun" was listed as a banned book because it was only Confucianism that candidates who wanted to be scholars must learn. Therefore, there were many people who studied Confucianism and relatively few people who studied law at that time.
Even when Qin Shihuang burned books, it did not mean that these books were completely destroyed, but the books that were not in the museum collection and were scattered among the people were destroyed. Basically, the destroyed books were backed up in Qin Shihuang's museum. It was Xiang Yu who really burned the books, and he burned Xianyang, resulting in the loss of many classics.
Therefore, at least in the historical data, it is clearly recorded that the book that was actually banned was "Jian Deng Xin Hua" which was completely banned starting from the 7th year of Zhengtong in the Ming Dynasty when Zhu Qizhen, the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty. Before the Ming and Qing Dynasties, there were no banned books. statement.
This means that if Cao Pi lists Shen Chen's "On Humanity" as a banned book, it will be the first banned book in history.
"Um."
After a while, Cao Pi nodded slowly and said: "The public statement in the article is reasonable. Such theories about having no father and no king should really be banned. After I returned, I issued an edict not to allow "The Theory of Human Beings" to be collected by major aristocratic families. , it is said that the Imperial Academy cannot teach the meaning of this book. Anyone who has this book will be burned. If it is kept privately, it will be punished as a conspiracy."
"Your Majesty is wise, but after all, "The Theory of Humanity" has a very wide impact, and many Confucian scholars have studied it. If the guilt set is too great, it may cause a large number of Confucian scholars to be frightened. It would be even worse if they have some connection with the Southern Dynasty. , I still hope that your Majesty will act with caution."
Le Xiang bowed his hands in salute. "On Human" has indeed had a huge impact on traditional Confucian scholars like them. Although Shen Chen's "On Human" is already close to Confucianism, it completely refutes the Three Cardinal Principles and Five Constant Rules proposed by Dong Zhongshu, and Advocating equality of personality, the emperor's crime is the same as that of the common people, which is obviously contrary to the Confucian idea of distinct classes and loyalty to the emperor, where the emperor humiliates and his ministers die.
Therefore, for traditional Confucian scholars, "The Theory of Human Beings" is not liked by them. On the contrary, those young Confucian scholars are more molding and more receptive to new things. Once they regard books like "The Theory of Human Beings" as their quintessence , which might be detrimental to the rule of the imperial court, so Le Xiang hoped that Cao Pi would ban it.
However, it is not easy to completely ban a book with a wide audience, because the previous books were all bamboo slips, which are not easy to preserve and are rare in the world. Therefore, even if there are books that are not conducive to the rule, they can be spread within a small range, and the rulers of the imperial court do not need to prohibit.
But now, as Shen Chen perfected papermaking and invented printing, more than 20 years later, the printing capacity and paper quantity in the south have become completely popular.
The situation in the north is not much different. At least a large number of aristocratic families already have books made of paper in their hands. Books like "On Humanity" have been dumped to the north by printing plants all the time.
Therefore, this task is still very arduous for Cao Pi. Even if he is not careful, the Confucian scholars may resist and shake his rule.
Therefore, Le Xiang hoped that Cao Pi would be careful and not make things too big at the beginning.
Cao Pi felt that what Le Xiang said made sense. After thinking about it, he asked, "In that case, what should I do according to the public opinion?"
Le Xiang then said: "If your Majesty wants to ban "The Theory of Human Beings", you should not use force but use skill. For example, when the imperial court recruits scholars, those who are in charge of "The Theory of Human Beings" will not be admitted. Even if they were in charge of "The Theory of Human Beings" before, they will not be admitted. The best strategy should be to change the book to treat it, and at the same time summon the great Confucians to compile a book to refute the "On Human Being", and then destroy its foundation step by step."
"oh?"
Cao Pi was a great writer himself, so he immediately thought this was a good idea.
The person who was in charge of the "Lun" in the past could not be an official, so for the sake of official career, the Confucian scholars had no choice but to actively choose to give up studying this classic.
It is obviously much better to summon great Confucian scholars to refute the views in "On Human Being" and bring back the thoughts of Confucian scholars who were influenced by "On Human Being" than to directly forcibly block them.
Because when it comes to banning books, the more you ban them, the more curious people will be. On the contrary, it is better to deal with it in a targeted manner than to ban it directly.
Thinking of this, Cao Pi nodded and said: "Well, what Wen Zaigong said is reasonable, but banning is still necessary, but not punishing the crime. Ban his books first, and then destroy his words. If we do this in parallel, this disaster should be solved. Already."
"This is exactly what your Majesty should do."
Happy and respectful.
In this way, "On Man" became the first officially banned book in history.
The sacrifices below are still going on.
Cao Pi listened to the great scholar Le Xiang's suggestion and planned to go back to deal with the issue of Taixue's small collection of books and the ban on "The Theory of Human Beings".
But before the Taixue sacrifice ceremony was over, Xu Chu had already hurried over.
"What?"
When he heard what Xu Chu reported in his ear, Cao Pi was shocked and asked, "Is the news confirmed?"
Xu Chu nodded: "Not only Nanyang, but also Jianye, Hanzhong and other places are transporting grain, grass, supplies, and ordnance. Shangshu Youpushe said that Liu Bei may attack by the end of this year or early next year."
Knowing that it was Sima Yi's judgment, Cao Pi couldn't sit still and immediately said: "Go back to the palace!"
At that moment, he did not even attend the rest of the opening ceremony of the Imperial College, and left in a hurry, causing the Taixue students below to talk a lot, suspecting that something big had happened in the court.