Daming: I asked you to hang yourself, but I didn’t ask you to rebuild the Ming Dynasty

Let’s talk about copies.

After the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the copy of "Yongle Dadian" was forgotten for a long time.

It was not until 1772, when Qianlong was about to compile the "Sikuquanshu", that he discovered that the "Yongle Dadian" had lost 2422 volumes and nearly [-] volumes, leaving only about [-] volumes in total.

Interestingly, the Encyclopedia Britannica, which was born in 1768, calls "Yongle Dadian" this way -

In the "Encyclopedia" entry of Encyclopedia Britannica, China's Ming Dynasty "Yongle Dadian" is called: "the largest encyclopedia in the history of the world."

Reasoning timeline:

During the hundred years of the early Qing Dynasty, "Yongle Dadian" was always forgotten by people. Let alone Westerners, during these more than a hundred years, almost no one even the Qing official knew about "Yongle Dadian" .

It was not until the early years of Qianlong's reign when Quan Zuwang became a scholar in the Hanlin Academy and Li Fu, who was demoted to Prince Zhan Shi and served as vice president of the Sanli Hall, was sorting out the Ming Dynasty books in the palace that he discovered the "Yongle Dadian".

The two secretly copied it, alarming the officialdom, and this brought the "Yongle Dadian" to the official attention of the Qing court.

(It also became an important basis for Qianlong to compile the "Sikuquanshu". Later, this most precious treasure in human history suffered a catastrophe deliberately destroyed by the Qing court.

Except for Confucian books such as Jing, Shi, Zi, and Ji, all other categories were abandoned! )

……

Then the question comes: In 1772, "Yongle Dadian" reappeared in the world. I would like to ask: How did the "Encyclopedia Britannica", which was first drafted in 1768, know about this Ming royal work?

This thing was forgotten in the early Qing Dynasty!

Could it be that - this was told to the West during the Ming Dynasty?

Don't forget, "Yongle Dadian" was compiled under Zhu Di's order!

This is a royal book!

According to the regulations - not to mention Westerners, even courtiers, even cabinet ministers, cannot contact without an imperial decree!

This is a treasure that only the second assistant of the Wenyuan Pavilion of the Ming Dynasty can have access to!

You should know that the assistant ministers of the Ming Dynasty were named after the imperial palaces and pavilions, and the first assistant ministers named Zhongji, Jianji, Wenhua, Wuying and other palaces to name the great scholars.

The secondary auxiliaries are named after Dongge, Wenyuan Pavilion and other pavilions.

(During the wars in the late Ming Dynasty, in order to facilitate civil servants to control the army, specially appointed officials were given cabinet titles first and then took charge of the government.

This also created the phenomenon of a large number of cabinet members.

It should be noted that these expatriate officials are all given additional titles, and the naming rules are relatively arbitrary. Usually, whichever palace title is still vacant will be sealed.

The naming of cabinet ministers who preside over court affairs is much more rigorous.

The first assistant must be the palace, and the second assistants and group assistants must be the pavilion. )

During the Ming Dynasty, as a royal classic, "Yongle Dadian" was naturally not something that only cats and dogs could read.

During the Ming Dynasty, according to regulations, in addition to the emperor's decree, the only official personnel who had access to the "Yongle Dadian" were the secondary assistants who were named "Wenyuange" bachelors!

Other secondary assistants are not good enough!

Only the second assistant with this name can contact the Yongle Grand Ceremony without an edict.

Before the Qianlong reign of the Qing Dynasty, "Yongle Dadian" was almost forgotten!

So, in this context - how do Westerners know the contents of "Yongle Dadian"?

Could it be possible to pinch and calculate?

Let’s give a vivid metaphor:

This is like the "Short-selling Stock Plan of Brother Ma" that Brother Ma put in the safe and only the full-time secretary can access it. Suddenly, Brother Ma said: "Brother Ma, your plan is good. I read it. Very powerful”…

When Brother Ma heard this, he was like, oh, shit—there’s a spy!

This is our history...

Let me tell you the truth - if you don't have a firm stance on studying history, if you don't love this nation... it's normal to do something, accept something, and advocate something.

……

Today, there are only 224 Jiajing copies of "Yongle Dadian" in China, 62 of which are in the National Palace Museum in Taipei.

And the whole book of "Yongle Dadian"!

As a historical author who has written nearly [-] million words, I feel like smashing my computer!

Scary isn't it?

……

can only say--

Matteo Ricci truly studied Chinese classical culture and at the same time understood the psychology of the gentry.

The social background at that time - imperial power and gentry power were at the juncture of a life-and-death struggle.

The people in Kochi were worried about the future, and Xu Guangqi and others, who were worried about their future gains and losses, were anxious about the opportunity when they encountered the "reward" given by the West to the "Shangzhu Kingdom"...

If now, in the era of information transparency, Matteo Ricci's "rewards" might... not be able to fool the elites.

However, times are different!

We cannot mock ants for not knowing how to walk in a straight line with the gaze of standing on the shoulders of giants!

I had to make a reasonable assumption - maybe they would do something?

……

Speaking of giants, I remembered one thing:

Newton said that I discovered gravity by standing on the shoulders of giants. Napoleon said that the East is a sleeping lion, don't disturb him, let him sleep forever...

And what was the situation in the Qing Dynasty at that time - all foreigners, both internal and external, who dared to call themselves soldiers, had their territories ceded and paid compensation!

If you lose the battle, you will cede the land as compensation; if you win the battle, you will cede the land as compensation; if the ship is strong and the cannons are powerful, you will cede the land as compensation; if you don’t even have a boat, you will squeeze two people together with others, and they will also cede the land and pay compensation!

In the palace, foreigners make love to the imperial concubines, and on the Yangtze River, warships abuse our people.

There are foreign masters all over the world, and there are no ordinary people on the ground.

All that the Qing Dynasty left behind was a map of the current situation!

Although the territory of the Manchu Qing Dynasty was large, our dynasty fought hard to regain it from foreign humiliation.

I would like to ask, in the face of the reality that a dozen people can cede territory, pay indemnity and demand peace, what kind of understanding do they base on this to say these words? `

Oh - he is a great person. His vision is far beyond that of the world for a hundred years. He can look forward 3000 years and look back 800 years.

Pull the chicken's eggs!

Napoleon was so awesome, why was he imprisoned?

My mentor said this to me:

Life is a circle, inside the circle is known and outside the circle is unknown.

Your learning is increasing the circumference of the circle. After you work hard for a while, you will find that you are more confused.

Don't be afraid, lower your head and look at your belly, you will find that there are countless circles in your belly.

Today, I use this sentence to encourage everyone. Although the more we learn, the more confused we will be because we realize things that ordinary people cannot access.

However, our minds already include all the knowledge of countless unlearned people!

Today, I will use these words of my mentor to explain Newton and Napoleon.

When we are the circle in someone’s belly, standing in a humble corner and looking up at them, we will sigh:

God, his predictions were so accurate!

Oh, the dog seller, he is so awesome...