But he could hold it back, but Yan Xiong couldn't. He put down Kuai Zi, pointed at Kong Chuan and said: "I don't know what is rude about Zhou etiquette. I only know that in our ordinary civilian homes, the whole family sits together to eat.
Only you so-called aristocrats engage in such vain things. We commoners don’t have much food at home, and if we continued to divide it according to what you said, everyone would have starved to death."
Zhao Kuo nodded when he heard the words. Yan Xiong's words were rough but not rough. This is why Confucius said, "Courtesy cannot be extended to common people."
It’s not that Confucius looked down on common people, but that ‘rituals’ are not suitable for common people. When a person doesn’t even have enough to eat, you talk to him about etiquette? Isn’t that nonsense?
If you follow Zhou etiquette, they are indeed violating etiquette now.
But...haven't the old Zhao family done many things that were against etiquette?
Didn’t you see that even Yu Xin didn’t speak?
"Rites are first of all meant to serve people, not to restrain human nature. Besides, Zhou Rites are already backward and should have been reformed long ago." Xunzi said nonchalantly.
In his view, any idea of "restraining oneself and restoring etiquette" is nonsense. Different systems in different eras must be based on reality.
"Heretics have always maintained that human nature is inherently evil. Why do they say today that etiquette should not restrain human nature? Shouldn't evil human nature be restrained?" Kong Chuan seized on Xunzi's loophole and immediately counterattacked.
Zhao Kuo complained secretly on the side. He never expected that these two guys would quarrel even during a meal.
He just thinks that eating this way is more atmospheric, and besides, everyone is acquaintances, so there is no need to be so particular.
He swore that if he knew that the two of them would quarrel, he would hold a banquet according to Zhou etiquette honestly and never go beyond it.
"I heard that during the Yao and Shun period, productivity was insufficient and the food grown was not enough to sustain the survival of the entire tribe. People often formed teams to hunt in the mountains. After obtaining the prey, they gathered around and ate it. Could it be that Mr. Kong Chuan thought that Yao and Shun were not lawful?" Xunzi laughed.
He said.
What he is talking about is the "Dharma of the First King" proposed by Confucius and Mencius.
Confucius believed: "The way of the ancient kings is the most beautiful."
Mencius believed: "Practice the way of the previous kings", "obey the laws of the previous kings", and the way of kings and ministers, "both of which are based on the laws of Yao and Shun."
But in Xunzi's view, these are extremely ridiculous. The ancient etiquette system has gone through a long time and has long been lost in the dust of history.
Confucius once said, "I can describe the rites of the Xia Dynasty, but I am not able to extol them; I can describe the rites of the Yin Dynasty, but I am not able to extol them in the Song Dynasty. That is why there are insufficient documents."
Even the information on the rituals of Xia and Yin is incomplete, but it is said that we should "respect the laws of the ancestors" and "follow Yao and Shun". Isn't it ridiculous?
It's simply "calling the king to deceive the fool."
Xunzi is now using the teachings of Confucius and Mencius to counter Kong Chuan, just as Gongsun Long used Confucius' words to counter Kong Chuan.
"..." Kong Chuan was immediately speechless.
He can refute Xunzi and say that Xunzi is wrong, but he cannot say that what Confucius and Mencius said is wrong, because what he learned is the way of Confucius and Mencius.
"Haha!" Xunzi sneered twice. Even his ancestors did not dare to object. How can he surpass his ancestors?
If it cannot surpass its ancestors, how can such a school and such a family make progress?
If it cannot make progress, no matter how prosperous the family is, it will only become a shame for Confucius and bring shame to Confucius.
"Mr. Kong Chuan, does he know why Confucius admired Zhou rites so much?" Xunzi continued.
"The ancestors once said, 'What I said about the Xia rites is not enough. I learned the Yin rites, which are preserved in the Song Dynasty. I learned the Zhou rites and use them now, and I followed the Zhou.' He also said, 'The Zhou supervised the second generation.
"Yu Yu is very literary, I follow the Zhou Dynasty." Therefore, our ancestors respected the Zhou rites."
Kong Chuan leaned over and said, not because he respected Xunzi, but because he respected Confucius.
"In this case, why did Confucius put forward "benevolence" on the basis of Zhou rites?" Xunzi put a vegetable leaf into his mouth, swallowed it, and then said.
"Benevolence is the foundation of propriety. Our ancestors once said, "Benevolence without benevolence, what is etiquette? Benevolence without benevolence, what is joy?" "Restraining oneself and returning propriety is benevolence. If one day restrains oneself and returns propriety, the world will return to benevolence."
"Kong Chuan raised his head and said.
"Wrong." Xunzi said loudly, "Because compared to Xia Li and Yin Li, Zhou Li is the most complete, most advanced, and most suitable for this era. Because it is suitable for 'today's use,' Confucius chose Zhou Li."
"But! The advancement of Zhou Li was eight hundred years ago, not the advancement now! No system can be advanced three hundred years, five hundred years... or even eight hundred years later."
"In the process of admiring the Zhou rites, Confucius discovered the shortcomings of the Zhou rites. In order to be more in line with the times, he made changes and proposed 'benevolence'. Later, Mencius proposed 'righteousness'. But...society is constantly changing.
, Confucius’ etiquette is backward today.”
"You guys keep saying that you are learning the Tao of Confucius and Mencius, but you don't even know why the Tao of Confucius and Mencius is like this. You can only see the surface, study hard, and study hard. But you can't see the continuous progress of Confucianism."
"It's fine if you don't make progress yourself, but you still have to block the progress of others and prevent others from opening up new paths. What's the difference between you and those who blocked Confucius and Mencius back then? Are these the so-called Confucian disciples? Are these the so-called descendants of Confucius?
If Confucius knew that his descendants were like you, he would blush with shame."
Xunzi's words were loud and clear, like morning bells and evening drums ringing in the hall, making his ears rumble and his eyesight turn black.
Lost again!
He has never won against Xunzi!
"Mr. Kong Chuan, does he know why Zhou Rites stipulates that 'the emperor eats too much food, cattle, sheep and hogs are all available, the princes eat cattle, the ministers eat sheep, the officials eat hogs, the scholars eat fish and grilled fish, and the common people eat vegetables'?" Xunzi said.
"Please give me some advice from Xunzi." Kong Chuan had no intention of continuing to argue with Xunzi.
"Because the Zhou Dynasty had just been established, the world was in chaos, the social system was in urgent need of stability, and the people were in urgent need of recuperation. In order to reduce the burden on the people, prevent the aristocracy from overly grinding the people, and allow the people to survive. Therefore, Duke Zhou stipulated that each class eat different foods.
"
"At the same time, it was also stipulated that 'the princes should not kill cattle without reason, the officials should not kill sheep without reason, the scholars should not kill dogs and hogs without reason, and the common people should not eat treasures without reason'. The common people got the opportunity to recuperate and recuperate, and the nobles also got their own benefits, so the Zhou rites could be fully
Implement it.”
"But now the Zhou ritual system has long since collapsed, and rituals and music no longer exist. It is completely unrealistic to emphasize Zhou ritual again." Xunzi said loudly.
Not to mention anything else, just continuing to regulate the eating methods and banquets of each class will be resisted by all classes.
The Zhou Dynasty is almost gone, who will maintain the Zhou rites?
Rely on those who rebelled against the Zhou Dynasty?
Stop joking, okay.
Yan Xiong was listening in a daze for a while. He still hasn't figured it out yet. He just ate a piece of meat, so why did it belong to Confucius, Duke of Zhou, Xia Li, and Yao and Shun?
Are you so particular about eating a piece of meat?
"These scholars are really troublesome. They torture their own people all the time." Yan Xiong shook his head and continued to eat, completely ignoring the argument between Xunzi and Kong Chuan.
Kong Chuan lowered his head and remained silent. Kong Bin seemed to have not seen his clan brother being bullied by Xunzi, and he and Yan Xiong were snatching meat together.
It's not that he doesn't want to help Kong pierce it, but that he understands that even if he goes up, he will be buying one and getting one free.
It's better to wait until everyone is here, and then kill Xunzi's arrogance.
"What do you think, Your Majesty?" Lin Xiangru suddenly asked.