At the turn of the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the land of China set off a storm of great social change. In this devastating and overwhelming great change, the old slave-owner class declined and the new landlord class rose; The old slavery and morality were replaced by the new feudal system and ideology; Some farmers have gained more freedom and profound changes have taken place in social relations of production. The class contradiction is sharp and fierce, and the merger war continues year after year. The whole society presents a complicated situation of great turmoil and reorganization. During this period, a new social stratum came into being, that is, scholars. They come from all aspects of society, although their status is low, but many of them are learned and talented people, some are scholars who are familiar with astronomy, calendar and geography, and some are outstanding political and military talents. Its representatives, such as Mencius, Mozi, Zhuangzi, Xunzi, Han Feizi, Shang Yang, Shen Buhai, Xu Xing, Sean, Su Qin and Zhang Yi, are all famous thinkers, politicians, militarists or scientists. As for the general suggestions, I'll talk about people like carving dragons, fencing, crowing, stealing dogs, and many others.
Confucius and Mencius
Confucius was a great scholar in the Spring and Autumn Period (55 BC1~ 479 BC). He started a private school and founded the Confucian school. Mencius was a great scholar in the Warring States Period (the year of birth and death is unknown, 385-304 BC, 372-289 BC). He inherited Confucius' theory and made great contributions to the spread and development of Confucianism. Confucius was born in Qufu, Shandong Province today, and Mencius was born in Zoucheng, which is only a few tens of miles away from Qufu. Both of them are bathed in Qilu culture centered on Mount Tai. In the middle of the 2nd century BC, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty realized that Confucius' theory was beneficial to the centralized and unified social structure, so he adopted Dong Zhongshu's suggestion of "ousting a hundred schools of thought and respecting Confucianism alone". Since then, in the feudal society of more than two thousand years, China has always respected Confucius as a saint and Mencius as a saint. Up to the emperor, down to the common people, and the descendants of Confucius and Mencius, all consciously or unconsciously believe or think that Mencius' academic thoughts are in the same strain or completely consistent with Confucius. In short, it is the so-called home of Confucius and Mencius. In fact, this is a big misunderstanding, or it may be a political conspiracy that lasted for two thousand years. Because, in fact, part of Mencius' academic thought is inherited from Confucius' thought, and the other part is Mencius' own creation, which has greatly surpassed Confucius. The fatal problem of the social structure of "Jun Jun, minister, father and son" advocated by Confucius is that when the king fails to fulfill his responsibilities as king, or when the king acts rashly, people have no legal way to correct the king's mistakes or replace the king. Confucius knew this difficult problem in his heart, but he didn't find it or dared not (unwilling? ) propose a solution. In contrast, Mencius clearly pointed out: "The people are the most important, the country is the second, and the monarch is the light." In the history of China, he was the first person who clearly advocated that the interests of the people were supreme, that the interests of the court should be subordinate to the interests of the people, and that of the king should be subordinate to the interests of the people and the court. In order to restrain the king's behavior, Mencius advocated that the appointment and removal of officials should not be decided by the king alone, nor by a few ministers, but must seek the opinions of the Chinese people; In terms of conviction and sentencing, the king can't have the final say alone, nor can his cronies or ministers have the final say in private. Similarly, people must be consulted. For incompetent kings, Mencius put forward in a fearless spirit: "If you are big, you will remonstrate, and if you don't listen repeatedly, you will be translocated ("Mencius? Zhang Wan "). "In the relationship between monarch and minister, Mencius also insisted on the dignity and equality of personality. He once said to Qi Xuanwang: "You regard me as dirt, and I regard you as Kou Kan ("Mencius? Li Lou "). "In fact, Mencius' above proposition was never put forward by Confucius, which shows that Mencius' academic thoughts and political ideas are very different from Confucius'. Strictly speaking, they are not a school, nor are Confucius and Mencius. In fact, there are essential differences between Mencius and Confucius, and feudal emperors and their royal scholars know it well. After Zhu Yuanzhang became emperor, he was furious with many viewpoints of Mencius. In a rage, he wanted to move Mencius out of the Confucius Temple, but after calming down, he found that it was really necessary to put Mencius in the Confucius Temple. This is because, as long as the house of Confucius and Mencius is publicized, Mencius will always be demoted to the status of a saint, and whether Mencius' ideological proposition is correct must be based on Confucius' thought; In this way, just saints can be used to suppress inferior saints, and Confucius' thoughts can be used to bury Mencius' thoughts, thus stifling the spread of democratic ideas advocated by Mencius. During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, Mozi advocated that people have the right to participate in state affairs, and Mozi's followers also established strict organizations to practice their ideas. In contrast, Mencius was a theorist, not a politician. He hoped to persuade the king to adopt a management style similar to "constitutional monarchy" in theory. But for feudal autocratic emperors, the most valuable theory is Confucius' idea, because Confucius' idea helps to maintain the established pattern and is most welcomed by emperors who expect to sit firmly in the world forever (no one who fights the world uses Confucius' theory). Therefore, Confucius and his theory were treated with courtesy by feudal emperors of past dynasties, while Mozi's theory was given a cold shoulder and Mencius' theory was "embraced". Unfortunately, the mystery is not clear to ordinary scholars; As for ordinary people, they are kept in the dark, and their sign is to believe in "the way of Confucius and Mencius." In scientific spirit, Zhuangzi is inferior to Keiko.
Zhuangzi and Keiko.
The Debate of the Wise and the Loss of China's Scientific Spirit In the 3rd and 4th century BC, during the Warring States Period in China, there were two famous experts on the academic forum, one was Zhuang Zhou, a painter, and the other was Hui Shi, who was in a position of Liang. Zhuangzi and Keiko had a long high-level debate on knowledge, learning and wisdom. Zhuangzi's thoughts are smart and elegant, while Keiko's thoughts are profound and extraordinary. It's a pity that heaven is unfair. Zhuangzi's works exist in the world, such as Zhuangzi, but Keiko's works written on bamboo slips full of five cars are gone. As a matter of fact, almost all of Keiko's academic views we know today are from the account of Zhuangzi, which are all included in Zhuangzi, especially Chapter 33, The World? Hui Shi ". In the world? In Hui Shi, Zhuang Zhou first admitted that Hui Shi was knowledgeable and wrote as many as five cars; Then a basic negative conclusion is given, that is, Hui Shi's views are chaotic and his words are not satisfactory. Then he quoted some representative academic viewpoints of Hui Shi: 1, "The greatest thing is nothing but a new life; If you want to say small, it is called small. "That is to say, the biggest substance is that there is no other substance outside it, which is equivalent to what we call the universe; The smallest substance is that there is no other substance in it, which is equivalent to what the ancient Greeks called atoms or what we call elementary particles today. 2, "no thickness, no thickness, its Wan Li. "Generally speaking," no thickness "is a plane concept in geometry. However, the author suspects that "if you can't integrate, you will find a thousand miles" is the mistake of "if you can integrate, you will find Wan Li thick", which means that things without thickness can be accumulated into a thousand miles thick, which obviously belongs to the concept of calculus. 3. "The world is humble and the mountains and rivers are flat". That is, there is no absolute height between objects, only relative height. 4. "Japan is angry with China, and things are not dead. "That is, when the sun reaches the meridian, it is also the time to start tilting; The moment an object forms (lives), that is, the moment it begins to disintegrate (die). 5. "Small similarities and differences are called' small differences'; When everything is finished, it is called' great similarity'. "This proposition involves how to determine the similarities and differences between objects. 6. "The South is infinitely poor". This proposition involves how to determine the orientation, that is, after the orientation of "South" reaches a certain position (South Pole), it is no longer South to move on. 7. "Today is better than the past". This proposition involves the question of how to determine the date, which is somewhat similar to the international international date line on earth. 8. "Serial can be solved". This proposition involves the problem of multidimensional space, and there is a missing link in multidimensional space for the series body in three-dimensional space. 9. "I know the center of the sky, the north of Yan, and the south of Yue. "The so-called Yanbei Yue, that is, the North Pole and South Pole of the earth, refers to the direction of the center in the sky (the center position formed by the rotation of the earth). 10, "Love everything, heaven and earth are one". Humans should be kind to all things in nature, regardless of rank, because they are actually the same substance. Although in Zhuangzi's view, Keiko's ideas and views are untenable; However, Hui Shi's views aroused the interest of many people. So Zhuangzi went on to write: "Hui Shi regards this as a great event, understands the debater from the perspective of the world, and the debater in the world enjoys it. "It means that Hui Shi is self-righteous and spreads his views to people who like to debate all over the world. These debaters also argue with Hui Shi with their own views and enjoy it (a hundred schools of thought contend, which is endless fun). So, what is the academic view of debaters all over the world? Zhuangzi's example is as follows: "An egg is hairy. A chicken has three legs. Win the world. Dogs can be sheep. Horses have eggs. Queena Ding (toad) has a tail. The fire is not hot. This mountain has an exit. Wheels don't grind the ground. I can't see. I can't refer to it and I will never stop. The tortoise is longer than the snake. If the time is not square, the rules can't be round. Don't chisel anything around the handle. The scenery of the birds did not move. Sometimes the disease of samarium can't stop. Dogs are not dogs. Huang Ma Niu Lisheng. The white dog is black. The lonely pony has never had a mother. A hammer of one foot takes half a day, which is inexhaustible. "In addition to sophistry, the above proposition also involves the relationship between symbols and objects referred to by symbols, as well as natural philosophy and biological genetic variation (such as' horses have eggs', which should mean that horses also have genetic structures similar to birds' eggs) and so on. In this regard, Zhuangzi made the following comments or taunts from the perspective of a bystander: "The debater is so corresponding to Hui Shi that his life is endless. Disciples of Huantuan and Gong Sunlong argued, decorating and changing people's hearts. Can win people's mouth, can't convince people's heart, debater's embarrassment. Hui uses his knowledge to argue, which is particularly strange to debaters in the world. "In short, both sides enjoyed the debate, and the absurd theory of the arguer could not defeat Hui Shi (in fact, Keiko's profound proposition can be compared with that of the ancient Greek philosopher). To Zhuangzi's envy, Hui Shi thinks he is the most eloquent person in the world: "Is heaven and earth stronger? "? Shi Cunxiong has no skill. "It means that with Hui Shi by my side, all debaters dare not seek hegemony. On one occasion, Huang Zhang, a Southern University scholar, asked Hui Shi, "Why doesn't the sky fall? Why won't the land sink? How are storms and thunder formed? " For these profound questions, Hui Shi actually "left without saying goodbye, ignored them and talked about everything", without even being modest, and went on explaining them. Unfortunately, Zhuangzi did not record how the wise teacher answered Huang Biao's questions. Instead, he criticized Hui Shi: "You keep saying that there will be more than you, and you will think that you are less, and you will be surprised;" It is uncomfortable to regard the opposition as the truth and want to compete for fame and profit. " It means that Hui Shi never tires of talking about his theory, and the more he talks about it, the more incredible it becomes. In pursuit of fame, he finally got farther and farther away from most people. Finally, Zhuangzi concluded: "If you are weaker than morality and stronger than things, you must draw Australia! From the way of heaven and earth, we can see the power of Hui Shi. Hui Shi is still a mosquito and a thorn. What is this thing? It's ok to accept my husband's money, but the more expensive you are, the more you know! Hui Shi can't be complacent, scattered in all things without taking pains, and died in the name of eloquence. Treasure it! Hui Shi's talent is unshakable, and he pursues nothing. The sound is very poor, and the shape and shadow are also racing, sad! " Hui Shi went astray. Judging from the Avenue of Heaven and Earth, Hui Shi's knowledge is as insignificant as mosquitoes and flies. What's the use of this knowledge? It can be said that it is a family statement. If we respect Hui Shi's theory, the road will decline. Hui Shi himself did not get theoretical peace. He was tired of explaining everything, but he just lost his reputation for eloquence. What a pity! A talent like Hui Shi got nothing, but lost his way. He chased his own voice and his own shadow, and there could be no result. I feel sad when I think about my old friend's life! Zhuangzi can comment on Keiko after him, and we can also comment on Zhuangzi's comments on Keiko after Zhuangzi. The author thinks that Zhuangzi and Keiko represent two attitudes towards nature in ancient China. Zhuangzi tends to observe nature as a whole, and his theory is "Tao", which cannot or does not need to be verified by logical reasoning and experiments. Essentially, it is a kind of brain thinking's perception of natural laws. In contrast, Hui Shi tends to think and reason strictly about natural things. He put forward new concepts and propositions, trying to make a logical explanation or description of natural laws, so his theory belongs to natural science and natural philosophy. From this perspective, the loss of Hui Shi's works is a great loss of ancient science in China. It can even be said that the reason why natural science and its scientific thoughts have not been developed and carried forward in China is inseparable from the loss of a group of scientific philosophers represented by Hui Shi (scientific theory is to understand the nature according to the form of nature, and science and technology is to use the nature to change its form). At that time, Zhuangzi and Keiko were strolling on the barrage of Haohe River (now north of Fengyang County, Anhui Province). Zhuangzi looked at the jumping fish in the Haohe River and said with emotion, "How happy the fish are." Keiko immediately pointed out, "If you are not a fish, how do you know whether a fish is happy or not?" Zhuangzi asked, "According to your logic, if you are not me, how do you know that I don't know whether the fish is happy or not?" Keiko retorted: "I'm not you, I don't know how you feel;" You are not a fish, of course you don't know how fish feel. Is there anything to argue about? " Zhuangzi said, "Please follow its source. Confucius said, "You know a lot about fish." He asked me because he knew what I knew. I know it very well. " At this point in the debate, Zhuangzi stole a concept. He turned the problem of how information is transmitted between people and fish into the problem of where people get information about fish. Poor, sad husband! In this way, an important scientific proposition of symbolic information transmission has been dissolved. In social practice, Laozi is inferior to Mozi.
Laozi and Mozi
During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, a hundred schools of thought contended in China, leaving us many cultural heritages. For this reason, the author has written the novel The Hidden Trace of Laozi (China Foreign Language Translation and Publishing Company), and also discussed the ideological course of Laozi and Confucius in the book Exploring the Footprints of Saints (China International Broadcasting Press), and described Mencius' thoughts in the book The Millennium Dream of Governing the Country. In addition, the author wrote a short article "Confucius and Mencius" in advance, arguing that Confucius is not as good as Mencius in the concept of democracy; He also wrote the essay "Zhuangzi and Keiko", arguing that Zhuangzi is not as good as Keiko in scientific spirit. Of course, there are also many comparative studies among pre-Qin philosophers. What this article is interested in is that in social practice, Laozi is not as good as Mozi. As we all know, if Confucius is the founder of the shadow government, then Mozi is the founder of political parties in the history of China, and Laozi is the originator of independent thinkers in China. According to the author's research, Laozi was born in about 592 BC, and has been working in Zhou Royal Library and Archives for a long time. From 520 BC to 5 16 BC, during the indoor chaos of the king of Zhou, Lao Tzu lost his job and had to live in seclusion for a long time (at the turn of autumn and winter in 5 16 BC, the prince who occupied the king's city appeared before the spring tide and went to Chu with Zhou's scriptures and ritual vessels. Since then, these priceless Zhou classics have mysteriously disappeared forever. In the book "The Hidden Trace of Laozi", the author deliberately describes the story of Laozi persuading Wang Zichao to hide Zhou's classics in the mountains. It is precisely because Laozi experienced the civil strife of the Zhou royal family that his thoughts have undergone profound changes. At the same time, because he participated in the secret collection of Zhou's classics, he had to live in seclusion. In fact, I have the conditions to read almost all the documents (including the classics handed down from Xia and Shang Dynasties) written by China, and I also have the conditions to read the report articles sent by various countries to the Zhou royal family, so his thoughts are very active. However, his position and experience forced him not to reveal his identity and to carry out social practice, which is why we can't find out the identity of Laozi from the Tao Te Ching. Laozi's view of natural philosophy is "out of nothing", and its origin may come from the astronomical background of Laozi's family, so Laozi can think deeply about everything in the universe. Laozi's social philosophy advocates "humanity". Because nature is a process of existence without purpose, the concretization of human nature can only be "inaction" and "no desire" The ideal social structure advocated by Laozi is "a small country with few people", which is a theoretical reconstruction of primitive clan society. Lao Tzu thought deeply about how to maintain the stability of this social structure here. He is keenly aware that the increase of population, the people's desire to improve their living standards, the progress of science and technology and the wide spread of information dissemination are the four major factors that destroy this ideal society. Perhaps, Lao Tzu knew in his heart that human nature can't exist without desire, so he didn't practice his ideas (practice is not for nothing), but he left a book of 5,000 words so far, and he was alone, floating in the world. In contrast, Mozi (Zhai, a native of Shandong, was born in poverty and lived in the late Spring and Autumn Period and the early Warring States Period) was an active thinker and politician. Little is known about Mozi's life. It is estimated that he comes from a craftsman's family, because his wooden bird can fly in the sky for three days and three nights. But he is qualified to read a lot of books, because it is said that when he goes out, the car is always full of bundles of bamboo slips (refuge). Guan Zhong pointed to the bar on the bus. Perhaps it is because Mozi has the conditions to read a lot of books that he stands out from the ordinary craftsman career and becomes a political representative of the interests of craftsmen (including the broad social underclass). Mozi's thought can be traced back to Dayu (the originator of an engineer who can bear hardships and stand hard work). His main ideas or political propositions are Shang Xian, Shang Tong, universal love, non-aggression, frugality, burial, ambition, being a ghost, being unhappy, being doomed and being non-Confucian. It is impossible to discuss Mozi's thought in detail in this paper. It is worth mentioning that Mozi strongly advocated the reform of social management structure, and clearly pointed out that officials at all levels should be elected and recommended by the people. When the country encounters famine, it should first cut the salaries of officials. For example, "Shang" said that "officials are impermanent and expensive, and the people have no final base. You can mention it if you can, and reduce your salary by one-fifth if you are incompetent. "Drought will damage two fifths; If you are fierce, you will lose three fifths; Feed, loss of four fifths; If you are hungry, you will have no money and only eat. " People should also lower their living standards accordingly. The difference between Mozi and other pre-Qin thinkers is that Mozi organized an academic group with hundreds of members and strong organizational discipline. These disciples can not only lobby princes and ministers, but also hold various official positions. More importantly, their beliefs are very firm. In order to save people's livelihood in the world, they can "go through fire and water without hesitation". Because Mozi held such a team, he stopped the war between princes many times and practiced his "non-attack" thought. It is thought-provoking that Mozi, as a representative of the lower class, was soon regarded as a heresy and disappeared after his political views became popular in the society at that time. For more than 2,000 years, only a few scholars have studied Mozi, and it seems that the peasant insurgents of past dynasties did not know Mozi's thoughts at all. Until today, Mozi is still rarely visited. In contrast, Laozi's Tao Te Ching has a long history. Perhaps this is also an important factor that China's party politics lags behind the West, because the people of China have been unable to choose Mozi.
Han Fei
Han Fei was born in Zhou Nanwang in 35 years and died in 14 years of Qin Dynasty (about 2865438 BC+0- 233 BC). Han Fei was the son of Han Gongzi (the monarch), the Han nationality, and was born at the end of the Warring States Period (now Xinzheng, Henan). He was a famous philosopher, thinker, political commentator and essayist in ancient China, a master of legalist thoughts, and was later called "Zi Han" or "Han Feizi", and a representative of China's famous legalist thoughts in ancient times. Han Feizi stutters (stutters), is not good at talking and is good at writing. Han Fei and Li Si are both students of Xunzi. He is knowledgeable, versatile, brilliant and quick-thinking. Li Si thinks himself inferior. He wrote a powerful article, which was great at that time. Few people who have read his articles do not admire his talent.
Laozi
Laozi was a great philosopher and thinker in ancient China, the founder of the Taoist school, and was later named an old gentleman on the throne by Emperor Wu of the Tang Dynasty, a world cultural celebrity and one of the world's 100 historical celebrities. He has the classic Tao Te Ching (also known as Laozi), the essence of which is a simple dialectical method and advocates inaction. His theory has a far-reaching impact on the development of China's philosophy. In Taoism, Laozi is regarded as the ancestor of Taoism.
Shang Yang
(about 395-338), Han nationality, Weiguo (now Huangliangzhuang Town, Anyang City, Henan Province). Politicians and thinkers in the Warring States period, and representatives of pre-Qin legalists. Ji surname, Wei. Also known as Wei Yang and Gong Sunyang (Wei Yang's "Wei" is the surname of the country, Shang Yang's "Shang" is the surname of the residence or the official, "the son of the vassal is called Gongsun, and the son of Gongsun takes the word Wang Fu as his surname". Wei Yang's ancestor was Wei Guojun, so he was also called Gongsun Yang. At his request, he entered the state of Qin to persuade political reform. After Xiao Gong's death, he was slandered by Qin nobles, suspected by Qin Huiwen, and his car cracked and died. He was in power for more than 20 years in the State of Qin, which was called "Shang Yang Reform" in history, which made the State of Qin superior to the six countries in Shandong for a long time, but finally died of his own law.
granddaughter
China, a famous strategist in ancient times, once led Wu Jun to defeat the Chu army, occupied Ying City, the capital of Chu, and almost destroyed Chu. His masterpiece, The Art of War, contains thirteen articles, which are highly praised by later military strategists. It is known as the "sacred book of military science" and ranks first among the seven military classics. It has been translated into English, French, German and Japanese, becoming the most famous model of military science in the world.
Mozi
From about 468 BC to 376 BC, his name was Di, a native of Shandong. Mozi was a famous thinker, educator, scientist, strategist, social activist and founder of Mohism during the Warring States Period. Mohism was founded and Mozi was handed down from generation to generation.
Zhuangzi
He was a great thinker, philosopher and writer in the pre-Qin period of China. During the Warring States Period, Song Guomeng (now Mengcheng County, Anhui Province) was the main founder of Taoism. Together with Laozi, the ancestor of Taoism, it is called "Laozi", and its philosophical ideology is respected as "Laozi's philosophy" by the ideological and academic circles. Zhuangzi, as a representative fable, was named the South China Classic by Emperor Tang Ming, and he himself was also named the South China Real Person, which was interpreted by revered people in various versions, such as Wandering Away and The Theory of Everything. Zhuangzi advocated "harmony between man and nature" and "governing by doing nothing". For details, please see this entry and the book Zhuangzi.
Confucius
Kong Qiu (September 28th, 55 BC 1 year ~ April 479 BC1year), whose name was Zhong Ni. The second child, Han nationality, was from Lu in the Spring and Autumn Period. Confucius was a great thinker and educator in ancient China, the founder of Confucianism and one of the most famous cultural celebrities in the world. China's first chronological history book Spring and Autumn Annals was compiled. According to relevant records, Confucius was born in Changping Township, Joy, Lu State (now Luyuan Village, Nanxin Town, Qufu City, Shandong Province). Confucius died at the age of 73 and was buried in Surabaya, north of Qufu, where Kong Lin is now located. Confucius' thoughts on words and deeds are mainly contained in the prose collections "The Analects of Confucius" and "Historical Records of Confucius' Family" preserved in the pre-Qin and Qin and Han Dynasties.