hotmtlnovel Chapter 92 Principles of Life and the Philosophy of Mind
Chapter 92 Principles of Life and the Philosophy of Mind
Chapter 92 Principles of Life and the Philosophy of Mind
"yes!"
Haitang responded and looked at the four maids that Mama Xu had brought, saying, "Come with me."
"Madam said that Scholar Zhuang should arrive in the capital soon, and that Second Brother should study hard these days," said Madam Xu.
"I understand. If Madam Xu has nothing else to do, you can head back now," Wang You said, waving his hand.
"This servant takes her leave!" Madam Xu bowed and withdrew.
"I don't need to take the imperial examinations, so why should I study so hard?" Wang You shook his head speechlessly.
Previously, Wang You was unsure whether the government would hold a prodigy examination, so he studied diligently and prepared to participate in the imperial examination.
But ever since passing the prodigy test, he hasn't been as diligent in his studies as before.
It's not that he's been lazy, but rather that his mindset and purpose for reading have changed compared to before.
In the past, he studied more for the purpose of passing the imperial examinations. Now that there is no pressure of the examinations, he studies not only to enrich himself, but also to ponder how to form a thought based on the four sentences of Zhang Zai.
Wang You has been pondering how to change some of the problems existing in the imperial court.
The final conclusion is that to solve the problem, we need to change our mindset.
Those in the court who oppose reform are partly driven by self-interest, but partly simply by a desire to expel corruption.
Sima Guang organized Wang Anshi's reforms. After Wang Anshi's reforms failed, he became a prime minister and seized power, erasing all of Wang Anshi's reform strategies, regardless of their merits.
If you were to ask him if he had any selfish motives, he was honest and upright throughout his life, and even after becoming a high-ranking official, he did not form cliques or engage in any corrupt practices.
In Wang You's view, those who opposed the reform could be divided into three types.
One type is the vested interests who have suffered losses. These people stand up to stop the reform in order to protect their vested interests.
If the court's reforms do not affect their interests, they don't really care whether the reforms are implemented or not.
Wang You had carefully studied the Qingli New Policies. The emperor appointed Fan Da Xiangong and others to lead the reforms, and initially there was not much resistance.
The reason for this is that many people do not know exactly how the reform will be implemented.
Some people even harbored the idea of profiting from the reforms.
However, once the specific details of the Qingli New Policies were formulated, they were met with tremendous opposition.
The second type is like Sima Guang, who had no selfish motives but was simply conservative in his thinking, believing that the ancestral laws should not be changed and resolutely opposed reforms.
The third type is those who saw the drawbacks during the reform process and stood up to stop it.
Su Shi is one such example. When Wang Anshi implemented his reforms, he was an official in a local area. He saw the chaos caused by the reforms and that's why he criticized the new policies.
The first type is certainly despicable, but human nature is selfish; the more one has, the less one wants to lose.
Even if Wang You didn't agree, he could still understand.
The third one is self-explanatory; there are no problems whatsoever.
The second type, however, opposes for the sake of opposing, and these people are actually the most disgusting.
In the eyes of such people, everything they do is for the good of the imperial court, and there is nothing wrong with it.
The former can be lured with benefits, and as long as their core interests are not touched, their opposition will not be too fierce.
Although the Qingli Reforms failed, some of the existing systems were retained.
For example, the hereditary system limited the rank of newly appointed officials and imposed certain restrictions on their promotion.
This also touched upon the interests of those who had already benefited from the system, but it did not encounter much opposition.
Many things are actually a process of mutual compromise.
Faced with resistance, the emperor chose to compromise, and the officials dared not push too hard, thus making concessions on this matter.
Of course, this is also because doing so does not significantly harm the interests of officials.
Although their initial rank and promotion speed are limited, with their help, the promotion speed of the younger generation will not be slow.
While there are impacts, they are within acceptable limits.
Therefore, they naturally wouldn't push the officials too hard over such a trivial matter.
However, after Wang Anshi's reforms failed, both the good and the bad were categorized indiscriminately, without any reservation.
This shows that Sima Guang opposed things simply for the sake of opposing; he was conservative in his thinking and insisted that the ancestral laws should not be changed.
Even if they know it's the right thing to do, they're unwilling to change.
Such people are old-fashioned and conservative, yet they hold firm to their beliefs. For the sake of justice in their hearts, they are not even afraid of death.
Although such people are a minority, they are the most troublesome.
In Wang You's view, only by changing people's mindset can the emergence of such people be prevented.
Of course, Wang You did not intend to create a new doctrine; he did not have the ability to do so, nor could he overthrow Confucianism.
What he wants to do is to form a doctrine based on Confucianism, which is essentially still Confucian thought.
Strictly speaking, it is a deeper understanding and interpretation of Confucianism.
Even so, Wang You didn't have the ability, but what could he do when he had memories of another life?
The Neo-Confucianism and the School of Mind, which have not yet emerged, are excellent choices.
Although he did not have a fully developed and mature Neo-Confucianism and Neo-Confucianism in his memory, Neo-Confucianism and Neo-Confucianism were not created by one person.
Cheng Yi and Zhu Xi created Neo-Confucianism, but they only put forward the core ideas and provided evidence for them.
During their lifetimes, Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism was not valued.
It was only after the Yuan Dynasty designated Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism as the official doctrine that it became the mainstream.
To reiterate, when a doctrine or ideology becomes a tool for those in power to disseminate their ideas, it will inevitably deviate from the original ideology.
Many people despise Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism, believing that it reinforces feudalistic thinking.
I believe that before the Cheng-Zhu school of Neo-Confucianism, the Han people were not so feudal in their thinking.
However, Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism was merely a self-proclaimed and elaborated version of moral and ideological concepts by a select few.
This is similar to a thinker expressing their ideas; some people will agree, some will disagree, and some will agree with some and disagree with others.
Fundamentally, ideas themselves are inclusive; it is through the collision of different ideas that we can continuously improve and progress.
However, those in power use their ideas as the ruling ideology, and scholars, in order to become officials, will naturally try to conform to and study them.
When Cheng Yi and Zhu Xi were alive, Neo-Confucianism was still a niche ideology. It was only after they died that it was adopted by those in power, leading to increasingly rigid thinking. Instead, people started criticizing Cheng Yi and Zhu Xi, which is somewhat unreasonable.
Just like Confucianism, the Confucianism of the Han Dynasty was fundamentally different from that of the pre-Qin period.
Many people criticize Confucianism, but they overlook the fact that it is a distortion of the original intentions of the sages by later generations in order to cater to the needs of those in power.
However, there were too many flaws in Neo-Confucianism, and Wang You had no intention of using it.
However, the philosophy of mind is quite good. It emphasizes that the principles of Heaven reside in one's own mind and that moral practice and inner conscience are unified, which is also in line with the four sentences of Zhang Zai.
Despite the fact that the School of Mind was in a mess after its rise to prominence, the School of Mind itself was not fundamentally flawed.
The philosophy of mind emphasizes practice and advocates the unity of knowledge and action, which Wang You valued highly.