Chapter 508: The Controversy between Confucianism and Mohism
"When did Confucianism and Mohism quarrel again?" Zhao Kuo looked at Lin Xiangru and Chulong beside him and said strangely.
"..." The two of them were stunned for a moment, then said in a speechless tone, "Confucianism and Mohism have been fighting for hundreds of years... and they have never stopped. Why did the king say 'again'?"
"..." This time it was Zhao Kuo's turn to be stunned, "Is it the Yang Zhu School that has been competing with the Mohists for hundreds of years?"
"Your Majesty is right. Yang Zhu's school has been arguing with Mohism for a long time, but the real enemy of Mohism has always been Confucianism, not Yang Zhu." Lin Xiangru said.
It turns out that although the Yang Zhu School was at its peak with the Mohists, everyone knew that the Yang Zhu School could not become a phenomenon.
The reason is very simple. Yang Zhu's school of thought emphasizes "for oneself". Everyone is for oneself, so who will serve the public? How can the country function if there is no one for the public?
Under the joint suppression of the rulers of various countries, the Yang Zhu School went into decline not long after its glory.
This is survival of the fittest.
Nowadays, only one line of Yang Zhu School is still being passed down, and Zhao Kuo just wants to keep this line of thought alive. As for carrying it forward, it is impossible.
He can retain China's brilliant ideas, but he cannot poach his own corners.
"What about Mohism and Confucianism?" Zhao Kuo asked.
On the path of Handan College, Lin Xiangru talked about the grievances between Confucianism and Mohism.
It turns out that Mozi was a disciple of Confucianism. When he was young, he studied under Confucian scholars and studied Confucianism, "Poems", "Books", "Spring and Autumn" and other Confucian classics.
However, Mozi was different from most people. Not only did he not agree with Confucianism, but the more he studied, the more he came up with an idea: What the hell did I learn!
When parents die and the son does nothing, he has to observe mourning for three years?
This bullshit etiquette and music system, kings and ministers, fathers and sons, what nonsense, why should I be inferior to others even after I was born?
And playing music, is it something that normal people can afford? With that time, it would be better for you to plow two acres of land and process two documents than to listen to those noisy things.
Confucianism, it’s okay if you don’t learn it!
So Mozi dropped out of school with honor.
If this were an ordinary person, he would just drop out of school. But who is Mozi? Not only do I want to drop out of school, I also want to develop an ideological theory that is more advanced than Confucianism.
Henceforth, Mozi founded the Mohist school and promulgated the four major crimes of Confucianism.
1. Not ghosts. Confucianism does not respect ghosts and gods. If ghosts and gods are unhappy, they will bring disasters to the world.
Second, a rich and long burial. When a person dies, he is buried with countless gold and silver treasures, extravagance and waste, and his home is emptied. How can a living person live? What's more, some people sell their bodies to bury their fathers and their mothers. They have to observe mourning for three years, in vain.
waste time.
Third, destiny. Confucianism believes that life, old age, illness, death, wealth and poverty are all predestined, and denies the meaning of struggle.
Fourth, for fun. It only wastes social wealth, all for the purpose of "decorating rituals and music to seduce people."
Then, the Mohists also put forward ten ideas to deal with the Confucian "benevolence" and "propriety", which are "universal love", "fei Gong", "Heaven's Will", "Ming Gui", "Shang Xian",
Confucius believed that "you will never tire of fine food, and you will never tire of fine meat." Mozi said, "Measure your belly, feed your body, and clothe yourself."
Confucius believed that everyone should strive to become a "gentleman", so Mozi called himself a "bitch."
Confucius believed that, "The king entrusts his ministers with courtesy, and the ministers serve the king with loyalty." "If you do not change your father's ways for three years, you can be called filial."
Or the son should love them unconditionally.
Mozi believed that all people are born equal, there is no distinction between high and low, and everyone should care for each other.
Confucius believed that "respect ghosts and gods and keep away from them." The farther away from ghosts and gods, the better.
Mozi not only believed in ghosts and gods, but also believed that if a person did good things, ghosts and gods would reward him, and if a person did bad things, ghosts and gods would punish him, so as to encourage people to do good and restrain the evil in people's hearts.
Confucius believed that everything was destined by heaven. But Mozi, who believed in ghosts and gods, did not believe in fate. He believed that my fate is determined by me and not by heaven.
Confucianism attaches great importance to sacrifice. Mozi said that Confucianism "holds the belief that there are no ghosts and learns sacrificial rituals, which is like learning guest rituals without guests, and it is like having no fish and learning the rituals of fish." This is simply a fallacy, and it is the most ridiculous thing in the world.
Confucianism attaches great importance to ritual and music, but Mozi proposed "non-music."
"In the past, when Duke Kang of Qi was prosperous, everyone could not wear short brown clothes, and could not eat chaff. The food and drink were not beautiful, and the color of the face was not enough to be seen. The clothes were not beautiful, and the body was calm and ugly, which was not enough to see. Therefore, food must be eaten.
Meat and clothing must be embroidered."
The only thing Mohism and Confucianism have in common is that they value the virtuous.
However, this is also the common point of all doctrines, including countries. After all, as long as they are normal people, they will not push talented people away, but will try their best to attract them.
Once the Ten Treatises of Mohism were published, it dealt a heavy blow to Confucianism and spread widely in various countries.
Later, Mencius and other Confucian sages began to fight back against Mohism, believing that Mohism's "universal love" was "fatherless."
The Mohists believe that in Confucianism, "there are skills in caring for relatives and respecting the virtuous." Parents, wives, and eldest sons all mourn for three years, while uncles, brothers, concubines, and other concubines mourn for five months. It is hypocritical. If you are true and kind, why don't you do the same?
The hatred between the two factions is simply higher than the sky and deeper than the sea.
Even after the death of Mozi, the Mohist family split, and the struggle between the two factions did not stop.
Zixia, a disciple of Confucius, arrived in Wei and founded the Xihe School. His disciple Li Kui initiated reforms in Wei.
As we all know, Legalism can be used as bones, but not as flesh. If we all use Legalism, it would be too harsh, and other schools must be used as assistants.
Li Kui's reform was based on Legalism as its bones and Confucianism as its flesh. He selected talents and promoted talents, created a century-old hegemony for the Wei State, and locked the Qin State in the pass, unable to get out.
Shen Buhai's reform was based on Legalism as its bones and Huang-Lao theory as its flesh, which Shen Buhai called "shu".
To put it simply, the king says nothing and does nothing. He pretends to be mysterious all day long so that no one can guess what he is thinking. Everything is left to the ministers.
In the early Han Dynasty, the Han Dynasty relied on the "inaction" of Huang-Lao School to quickly restore its national power.
After the Wei State weakened, the Mohist Xiang Li clan entered the Qin State.
Although Shang Yang's reform was an upgraded version of Li Kui's reform, it did not use Legalism as the bones and Confucianism as the flesh, but was a reform completed with Legalism as the bones and Mohism as the flesh.
Qin Fa was compiled based on Mo Fa.
Not only that, Shang Yang was also the first ruthless person in Chinese history to order the "burning of books".
Since then, Qin has become a forbidden land for Confucianism. Except for Xunzi, no Confucian disciple has entered Qin. Until Qin Shi Huang unified the country, Confucianism had no choice but to lick its face and surrender to Qin.
Sitting on the chariot of Qin, Mohism launched a crazy counterattack against Confucianism.
Until now, the struggle between the two factions has not stopped.
The struggle between the two factions caused reflection within Confucianism: there seems to be something wrong with Confucian thought.
So... Xunzi's group appeared.
After hundreds of schools of thought were deposed in history and only Confucianism was respected, Confucianism was completely victorious and launched a comprehensive counterattack against Mohism, and Mohism disappeared forever into the dust.
"Although the Confucians cursed Qin Shihuang and Shang Yang burned books, I'm afraid no one burned as many books as the Confucians!" Zhao Kuo sighed in his heart.