The Sage of Confucianism and Taoism

Chapter 3061 Large scale

Fang Yun continued: "Among the alien races I have heard of, there is a group called Greece that is the most peculiar. This group also appeared in "Politics". Their group did not have a holy throne or a holy ancestor at the beginning, but , they also created many saint ancestors, many saints and the previous one in the form of stories like the previous group. The difference between individual groups is that the saints of this group are exactly the same as themselves, either greedy for money, lustful, jealous, vicious, vain, or proud. Of course, in addition to these evil deeds, they also believe that saints have virtues. Whether it’s an ancestor or a saint, they are just powerful people, not perfect beings.”

"This great Greek ethnic group can ridicule or even vilify the saint ancestors in their hearts, that is, 'disrespecting' those saint ancestors. Therefore, a powerful force was born in their ethnic group, that is, there is no restraint. ! They can fail, but nothing can imprison the soul who pursues freedom!"

"Indeed, this concept will make their society relatively chaotic and difficult to stabilize, and they will eventually be defeated by foreigners. However, it is precisely because of the existence of this concept that they can have one thing in common with our Chinese civilization, that is, even if they are defeated, It can also influence and even assimilate the victors, which is one of the signs that a civilization can be called great.”

"Actually, this Greek group that despises the gods has undergone changes in its bloodline, but their spirit has not been erased and has been passed on. They did not completely surrender to the false ancestors, and did not allow themselves to become slaves of the saints, humble and Not despicable. Under the influence of this spirit, even if their descendants are conquered, they can break through the blockade of powerful ethnic groups and make future generations of powerful civilizations willing to be their successors. This is something I admire."

"They have their light, we have our greatness, and no one can cover up the brilliance of the other. But if we want to be greater, we must recognize the brilliance of others and humbly learn everything that can make us greater! Even if it is Learn how to avoid their failures.”

Yan Shenggong said: "Then I understand. Other ethnic groups always regard the imaginary saint ancestors as powerful, great, and worthy of respect. However, although our human race also fantasizes about some divine ancestors, starting from Confucianism, What we really inherit and promote is to learn from the sages, learn from our predecessors, learn from those real successes, and learn from those that are truly correct.”

Fang Yun nodded and said: "Good. Therefore, Confucianism since Confucius has paved a road of enlightenment for mankind that will never be easy, allowing us humans to understand that learning, change and progress are better than anything else. However, the road of enlightenment, The teachings of Confucius have been misread by crooked scholars!”

"Why?" Yan Shenggong asked.

Fang Yun said: "Confucius once said that when you see a virtuous person, you should think about yourself, and when you see a virtuous person, you should introspect yourself. Almost all Confucian disciples are spinning around in the four words of 'seeing a virtuous person and think about them', like crickets in a cage. Likewise, you will never be able to get out of this circle in your life! Everyone has forgotten that another sentence is more important: reflect on yourself when you see something unkind!”

"Please give me some advice, Mr. Fang." Yan Shenggong's eyes brightened slightly, and he was vaguely aware of it, but he still straightened his body and lowered his head slightly, as if he was a young boy.

Fang Yun said: "Before being canonized, I, like everyone else, believed that the 'virtuous' in this sentence refers to virtuous people, while the 'unvirtuous' refers to other unworthy villains. The meaning of this sentence is When you see a worthy person, learn from him, and when you see an unworthy person, you should also reflect on whether you have made the other person's mistakes. There is no controversy about this statement. After all, in the Analects, the previous paragraph of this sentence is "A gentleman is a metaphor for righteousness, and a villain is a metaphor for benefit." The two are related, and "virtuous" corresponds to a gentleman, and "unvirtuous" corresponds to a villain. After being canonized, I realized that the scale with which we viewed The Analects was too small.”

"Measurement?" Yan Shenggong keenly discovered the key to the problem.

Fang Yun smiled and said: "Yes, it is the scale. If we use the smallest scale to measure, the context of this sentence is just a few people we see in front of us, some are talented and some are villains. But if we use a larger scale, To measure, for example, to extend the scale of time and space, we will look for two different people who have never met in history. For example, I am not a virtuous person with Kong Sheng. Even so, the difference is not big. "

Duke Yan Sheng nodded slightly.

Fang Yun continued: "Then, we are expanding the scale of measuring this sentence and expanding the number! We want to include the virtuous and unvirtuous people from all ethnic groups in the Holy Yuan world throughout the ages! What will we find? ? In fact, we cannot accurately label everyone, so what should we do? What we want to learn is not a certain wise man, but the common talents of everyone. We are not looking for a villain to reflect on. Everyone should reflect on their mistakes.”

"This is called..." Yan Shenggong felt that he understood something, but he couldn't say it.

"Extracting common and essential things from phenomena is also called abstraction." Fang Yun said.

"It's wonderful!" Duke Yansheng praised with his palms.

Fang Yun continued: "When we ignore Confucius as an individual, and when we gather together sages from that era or even from neighboring eras for analysis, we will find that most of the sages are studying, or learning from books. Study on the Internet, or learn from personal experience, and those talented people continue to improve with learning, so we can conclude that Confucius’ teaching method and learning method are not easy to change through the ages, but are the upright and upright foundation for all generations. "

Duke Yansheng nodded heavily.

Fang Yun added: "But if we compare Confucius and Meng Sheng with those wise kings and ministers who are truly successful in governing the country, and measure them together, what do we find? Those famous ministers who govern the country do not follow the rules. Confucius and Meng Sheng used benevolence, ritual, and music to govern the country, and they all achieved great success. So, how can I believe that Confucius’ philosophy of governing the country is correct?”

Yan Sheng said fairly: "Sir, you have overlooked that Confucius also used your abstraction to abstract ritual music and benevolent government from the Zhou Dynasty."

Yan Shenggong's eyes were as clear and cunning as a child.

Fang Yun laughed and said: "Because what he drew may not be the essence, and he only used a few dynasties such as the Zhou Dynasty as a sample. This scale is too small. Duke Yan, if we now summarize the reasons for the Zhou Dynasty's victory, we analyze Can the system of the Zhou Dynasty still be measured by the methods left by Confucius, from the perspective of Confucius, according to the context of Confucius, and according to the standards of the Spring and Autumn Period? "

Yanshenggong was silent for a long time and said slowly: "Before your "Political Science" appeared, I would really follow the methods of my ancestors completely. But now, I can't do it. Especially after listening to you, I can't go back at all. ”