Moonlight Taibai Book Friend asked: The dispute between the modern Wenjing and the ancient Wenjing. Why is it involved in the fundamental principle of governing the country according to law and governing the country according to ethics? The reason for this is that some of the great Confucians who studied ancient literature and scriptures added a large amount of Huang Lao's learning to their own academics, which is helpful for governing the country. But the great Confucians, who studied literature and scriptures today, could not do this.

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The controversy between the modern and ancient literary schools, which began since the Western Han Dynasty, never stopped fighting between them throughout the Eastern Han Dynasty.

At the beginning of the Eastern Han Dynasty, in order to win over the ancient literature and classics school, Liu Xiu decided to set up a doctor of "Zuo's Spring and Autumn", but he was fiercely attacked by the doctors of Jinwen, and the ministers also opposed it, and the doctor of "Zuo's Spring and Autumn" was abolished soon after. During the reign of Emperor Ming of the Han Dynasty, the four classics such as "Zuo Chuan", "Gu Liang", "Guwen Shangshu", and "Mao Shi" were allowed to be taught publicly, but no doctors were established. That is to say, although the Eastern Han government made some concessions, it did not recognize the study of ancient scriptures as the right way for the landlord class intellectuals to enter the political arena. Throughout the Eastern Han Dynasty, there was no doctor in ancient literature and classics.

After the Confucian classics were burned by Qin Shi Huang, they were re-transmitted to the Han Dynasty, and were divided into modern and ancient texts due to the different characters used in writing. Relying on the memory of the old Confucian scholars, reciting and passing it out, and recorded in the Han Dynasty's common script, it is called "Jinwenjing"; The ones found in private collections and on the walls of Kongbi and written in the Warring States period are called "ancient scriptures". In the Han Dynasty, the modern Wenjing was established by scholars, and there were five classics and fourteen doctors, while the ancient Wenjing was only circulated among the people. After more than 100 years of teaching and copying many times, by the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the modern and ancient scriptures at that time were not only different in font, but also inconsistent in content, and they had to be sorted out first before they could be annotated.

During the Eastern Han Dynasty, the study of modern scriptures was still the main body of official scholarship, from the Taixue in Luoyang to the official schools set up by prefectures and counties, the teachers were some famous teachers of the modern scriptures, and the disciples they recorded were often thousands. However, judging from the development trend, the present Wenjing is declining day by day due to its own weakness. The biggest weakness of today's literature and scriptures is that one is delusional and the other is cumbersome. Today's scriptures are full of absurd superstitious heresies, which were once favored for a while, but their deceptive nature was gradually exposed, and they were gradually despised.

One of the characteristics of ancient scriptures is that they are "general exegesis", "lifting righteousness", and "not for chapters and sentences". Compared with modern classics, ancient classics is a simple, clear, and sharp-thinking academic. Due to this characteristic, the study of ancient scriptures developed rapidly in the Eastern Han Dynasty, and although it did not establish a school official, it gradually became the mainstream of private learning. In terms of academics, great achievements have been made in the study of ancient scriptures. In the Eastern Han Dynasty, there were many masters of ancient literature and classics, such as Huan Tan, Ban Gu, Wang Chong, Jia Kui, Zhang Heng, Xu Shen, Ma Rong, Zheng Xuan and others. In terms of exegesis and commentary on ancient scriptures, the greatest achievements are Xu Shen, Ma Rong, and Zheng Xuan.

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At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, modern and ancient scriptures were seriously opposed and attacked each other. The long-term confrontation between the modern and ancient schools of scripture in the Han Dynasty caused a situation in which the factions were intricately intertwined, so that they attacked each other and were incompatible. Whether from a political or academic point of view, the unification of the scriptures is an inevitable trend.

Zheng Xuan is a master of ancient literature and classics. Zheng Xuan commented on the ancient scriptures, but he was not conformist, he was able to choose the good and follow, and adopted some of the sayings of modern literature and classics, forming his own school, called "Zheng Xue", which became the mainstream of scriptures after the Wei and Jin dynasties. After the rise of Zheng Xue, the study of modern scriptures has taken a back seat, and the ancient scriptures have the upper hand.

Since Zheng Xuan's annotation of the scriptures came into existence, the modern scriptures and ancient scriptures that had previously guarded the door were no longer obeyed by people, and were gradually abandoned and eliminated. As a result, Zheng Zhu's ancient text Fei's "Yi" became popular, and the four "Yi" of Shi, Meng, Liangqiu, and Jing's in today's text were abolished; Zheng Note: The "Ancient Texts and Books" were popular, and the "Shangshu" of the three families of Da Xiahou, Xiao Xiahou and Ouyang were scattered; Zheng Jian's "Mao's Poetry and Ancient Teachings" is popular, and the "poems" of Qi, Lu, and Han are not visible in today's text; Zheng Note: "Three Rites" is popular, but Da, Xiao Dai and Qing's "Rites" are not; Zheng Note: The Analects of the Analects became popular, and the Lu and ancient Analects eventually dispersed. For a while, Zheng Xuan's scriptures overwhelmed the other scriptures. Since the students are all from Zheng's family, scripture has almost become Zheng Xuan's domination of the world, and "Zheng Xue" has almost become synonymous with scripture, which is the so-called "change from scripture to Zheng Jun".

Early Confucianism emphasized benevolence and righteousness, which was more reasonable and humane than the loyalty and filial piety of science. But there is something wrong with the logic of Confucianism. At the White Horse Conference, the controversy over Tang Wu illustrates the internal flaws of Confucianism. Therefore, early Confucianism was actually a modest, vague way of dealing with the world, and there were many places where it was silent, and it was not a strict philosophy. But its theory is not feasible, the emperor just uses it, the outer Confucianism and the inner law, or the outer Confucianism and the inner yellow (old). Wang Mang's defeat marked the bankruptcy of early Confucianism.

China's feudal history from the Warring States Period to the later Qin annexation of the world, Confucianism and Taoism are the idea of ruling the country, although in the later Western Han Dynasty, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty Liu Che led by Dong Zhongshu advocated: "depose a hundred schools, follow Confucianism alone" thought, until the later Republic of China, * Criticism of Lin and Confucius, until now, we have Confucianism, it can be seen that Confucianism has a great influence on China, far-reaching. However, having said that, most of the ancient Chinese feudal dynasties were "Confucianism on the outside and Huang on the inside", that is to say, the "Zodiac" (Huang is the originator of Taoism) to govern the country and the people! It can be seen that the importance of Taoism is definitely not inferior to Confucianism!

At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, representatives of ancient literature and classics, such as Ma Riyan, Cai Yong, Xu Xiang, Xu Shao, Xu Jing, Lu Zhi and others all studied Huang Lao, and they learned from the strengths of the two families, believing that the road to strengthening the country was better than Confucianism outside and Huang inside, rather than respecting Confucianism alone.

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When Liu Bang led the army to invade the Qin State, all the generals went to rob the gold and silver treasures, while Xiao He led people to rob the archives of the Qin Dynasty, so that Xiao He had mastered the population, geography, law and other information of the Qin Dynasty. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Xiao He revised the Qin law according to the law of the Qin State, ruled by Huang Lao's inaction, quietly abiding by the law, prohibiting the law, and conforming to the people's will, and formulated the "Nine Chapters of Law". Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty and Emperor Jing of the Han Dynasty were all examples of governing the country according to the law, and they did not dare to impose the personal will of the monarch on the law.

There is a story that illustrates how the "rule of Wenjing" governed the country according to law. It is recorded in the Book of Han (2): Once, the horse team of Emperor Wen of Han passed through the Zhongwei Bridge, and a person walked out from under the bridge. Shocked the horse ridden by Emperor Wen of Han. So he sent someone to arrest this person and handed it over to Judge Zhang Shizhi for handling. The man explained that he saw the horse team, hid under the bridge, and later thought the horse team was gone, so he came out. When he came out and saw that the horse team was still there, he ran. Zhang Shizhi followed the law and sentenced the person to a fine. Emperor Wen of Han was very angry, this person shocked my horse, and it was considered a gentle horse, so if you change to other horses, won't it hurt me? How do you just fine. Zhang Shizhi said that the law must be observed by the Son of Heaven and all people in the world. That's what the law says, and you have to increase the punishment so that the law can't win the trust of the people. After thinking about it, Emperor Wen of Han said that the judge was right.

Emperor Wen of Han wanted to increase the punishment, but in the end he still had to act in accordance with the law. This is the performance of Wenjing Huang Laozhizhi. The law is obeyed by both the Son of Heaven and the people of the world, and as an emperor, he cannot impose his personal emotions and will on the law. But unfortunately, the good tradition of quiet inaction and rule of law pioneered by Emperor Wen, Xiao He, Cao Shen, etc., was completely destroyed by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty.

In 140 BC, the 16-year-old Emperor Wu of Han came to power and selected talents across the country. Dong Zhongshu, who studied the "Legend of the Spring and Autumn Period of the Ram", wrote a letter asking for respect for Confucianism and the promotion of education, he said: "Those who are not in the science of the six arts and the art of Confucius are all out of their own way, and do not make them go together." That is to say, those who are not in the study of the "six arts" of Confucianism and the thought of Confucius are "absolutely unavailable". This is the source of the so-called "depose a hundred schools of thought and respect Confucianism" in later generations. At that time, the dominant ruling ideology of the Han Dynasty was the Taoist Huang Laoxue, so the so-called "deposing the hundred schools" was actually to end the rule of the Taoist Huang Laoxue.

The 16-year-old Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty praised Dong Zhongshu's strategy. However, because the Empress Dowager Dou (the queen of Emperor Wen of Han and the grandmother of Emperor Wu of Han), who believed in Taoism at that time, was still alive, and the officials who followed the rule of Huang Lao were still the mainstream, Confucianism's power was suppressed. In 135 B.C., Empress Dowager Dou died, and the 21-year-old Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was in power, and he truly implemented the policy of respecting Confucianism, and a large number of Confucian scholars were promoted, which ended the era of "Wenjing Zhizhi" quiet and law-abiding, and "governing the country by virtue" replaced the "rule of law".

"Governing the country by virtue" was expressed by the imperial court as "virtue is the main punishment and auxiliary". "Punishment" (law) has clear provisions and norms, but what is "morality"? It can be seen from the "Spring and Autumn Prison Break" advocated and practiced by Dong Zhongshu. The so-called "Spring and Autumn Prison Break" is based on the historical work "Spring and Autumn" written by Confucius as the basis for adjudicating cases. This is a work of history, how can a history book be the basis for adjudicating a case? According to Dong Zhongshu, because this history book is based on "morality" as the basic principle. However, from a judicial point of view, judging cases based on historical works, the discretionary power of officials can be extremely large, and officials are corrupt and pervert the law, and there are no rules and regulations for state governance. As a result, the emergence of the "petition" system, in which the emperor was asked to decide on major cases.

With a group of literati who were familiar with ancient books to help, it was too easy for the emperor to find any allusion to his liking from the history books! Therefore, the direct result of "deposing a hundred schools of thought and respecting Confucianism alone" is that the emperor is no longer constrained by any law, and the emperor's will becomes a law, called "governing the country by virtue", which is actually the emperor's centralization of power and arbitrariness, which is the extreme rule of man. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty and Dong Zhongshu bypassed the law that the Son of Heaven and the people of the world obeyed by the "rule of Wenjing" through "exclusive respect for Confucianism", and inherited and brought into play the worst tradition of human rule in Chinese history.

Sima Guang compared Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty to Qin Shi Huang. In fact, compared with Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, Qin Shi Huang also had the advantages of paying attention to the legal system and respecting private industry and commerce. Qin Shi Huang also set up monuments for successful private industrialists and merchants, and never casually destroyed private industrials and commerce.

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I copied a little bit here, but it didn't go well, so please understand.