The Sage of Confucianism and Taoism

Approaching the Temple of Duke Huan of Lu, everyone got off the carriage and walked on a street shaded by green trees. This place is called Lu Temple Street by the locals in Qufu, and the ancestral temples of many kings of the Lu Kingdom are located here.

Due to the age, this area has been closed off, and no one is allowed to enter without a warrant from the Kong family.

In the early Spring and Autumn Period, the state of Lu was a powerful state. Duke Huan of Lu attacked other countries many times, and then gradually weakened. When the Lu Huan Gong Temple was built, Confucius had not yet become a saint, but because Confucius once led his disciples to visit the Lu Huan Gong Temple, this temple is of great significance.

Not long after, everyone came to the temple of Duke Huan of Lu. This ancestral temple dedicated to Duke Huan of Lu was extremely small, with a radius of less than thirty feet. It was no better than a military camp. The building of the ancestral temple is dilapidated and low, made of rough stones. If it were not for the protection of the Kong family, the Lu Huan Gong Temple would have collapsed long ago.

However, everyone is familiar with history and does not feel disappointed, because the human race in the Spring and Autumn Period was not as good as it is now in all aspects. The residence or ancestral temple of the king at that time was not as good as that of some famous families today.

Fang Yun glanced at the Kong family members who were following him, and found that their expressions were a bit complicated, and he understood in his heart.

After the death of Duke Huan of Lu, the eldest son became the king of the country, Duke Zhuang of Lu, while the other three sons were named ministers by their elder brothers, known as Sanhuan in history, which laid hidden dangers for the future decline of the Lu State.

At that time, Confucius became the chief minister of the Lu State and was regarded as the leader of the ministers. However, because Lu Dinggong ignored the government affairs, the Ji family, one of the three emperors, treated Confucius lightly during the sacrifice, but Lu Dinggong ignored him. Disappointed, Lu Dinggong resigned from his position as chief minister, not caring about his power at all.

After Confucius was canonized, he did not care about what happened back then, but Confucius's descendants were dissatisfied with the king of Lu. Later, when Confucius went into seclusion, Lu was destroyed, and the Confucius family did not lend a helping hand. They just moved Qufu and other surrounding areas It was designated as the land of the Kong family.

Everyone entered the inconspicuous Luhuan Gong Temple one after another. No one dared to make a loud noise, everyone was respectful.

Under the leadership of the temple guardian, everyone entered the main hall of Luhuangong Temple. There was an artifact on the right side of the main hall.

"That's the singing instrument." The temple guard led people over.

Fang Yun has seen in books that the singing instrument is also called the Qi instrument, and the sound of Qi is the same as "qi", which means oblique.

Fang Yun looked carefully and saw that it was a piece of copper, like a copper bottle fixed on a shelf. It was empty inside and tilted upward at an angle of almost 45 degrees, motionless.

The temple keeper walked over carrying a bucket of water and said, "If this singing instrument is empty, it will tilt." As he said this, the temple keeper stretched out his hand to fiddle with the singing instrument and straightened it. As soon as his hand left it, the singing instrument immediately returned. to a tilted position.

"If you pour in an appropriate amount of water, the singing instrument can stand upright." The temple guardian said, slowly pouring water into it. As the water gradually increased, the singing instrument finally stood upright. At this time, half of the water inside had been filled. The temple guardian Stop.

"If you continue to fill up the water, the singing instrument will tilt to the other side." As he said that, the temple guard poured all the water into the singing instrument.

As soon as the singing instrument was full, it immediately tilted to the other side, all the water inside was poured out, and finally returned to this side, tilting as usual.

"This is what Confucius said: If it is empty, it will be upright, if it is medium, it will be upright, and if it is full, it will fall over. When there is no water, it will be tilted. With an appropriate amount of water, it can be straightened. Once it is filled with water, it will overturn."

Later, the temple keeper slowly recited the passage "Confucius viewed the temple of Duke Huan of Lu". His voice echoed in the room, seeming to drive the singing instrument, forming a strange rhythm that made everyone unconsciously Listen respectfully to the end.

Everyone nodded and thanked the temple guardian for teaching the golden mean on behalf of Confucius.

Fang Yun feels that after watching the singing instrument, his understanding of the Golden Mean and some related aspects has improved. Although the improvement is not particularly obvious, it is also a benefit.

Soon, Fang Yun realized that this singing instrument might contain the power of Confucius. Even after many years, it was like Confucius personally instructing students. Listening to the saint's words was like a spring breeze, and they naturally learned more.

The temple keeper said: "You all know that literati have a 'motto', and this singing instrument is the instrument for the motto. The origin of the word motto is from this singing instrument."

Everyone nodded, they still knew about this kind of thing.

"According to the custom, anyone who comes to worship Lu Huan Gong Temple for the first time must leave a motto to prove his sincerity. Listening to the sound of the singing instrument is like listening to the words of Confucius. The pen and ink table has been arranged. You can write now."

"Yes." Everyone saluted the temple guardian.

Everyone left the room one after another and came to the courtyard of Luhuangong Temple. The Kong family had set up three tables here, with pens, inks, paper and inkstones available.

Everyone looked at Fang Yun.

"You guys go ahead and let me think for a moment."

After Fang Yun finished speaking, he lowered his head and thought. The mottos at this time were different from those of later generations. The mottos of later generations were basically one sentence, simple and powerful. Today's mottos are actually still among the "inscriptions" and belong to articles. No matter how small they are, they are still about a hundred words, such as "The Humble House" "Inscription".

However, "The Inscription on the Humble House" is a clear intention, and the function of the motto is to warn oneself.

"Since Fang Yun can write the "Inscription on the Humble Room", he must also be able to write a good motto. I have been here before, so I won't write it anymore. You have to write it quickly, don't wait until Fang Yun finishes it and has no chance to write it!" Zong Wude still can't forget his tragic experience of being oppressed by Fang Yun's literary name.

Xun Ye immediately said: "This is a great thing to say! Fang Yun's motto will definitely surpass us, and may be able to top the motto of Lu Huan Gong Temple in the past."

Everyone present looked at Xun Ye. Xun Ye's words seemed to be praising Fang Yun, but they were obviously intended to praise Fang Yun. Fang Yun could do it by overpowering everyone present, but to be the best in history, Who knows how many people Fang Yun will offend.

Kong Delun's face was gloomy, and he said slowly: "Xun Ye, this is the place where my Kong family is, and it is also the place where Confucius once visited. If you dare to be presumptuous again, I will kill you here on the spot to correct me." A gift from the Kong family!”

Everyone secretly envied that only the Kong family had such confidence.

"Oh, you misunderstood again, okay, I'll shut up." Xun Ye shook his head and sighed.

Most of the children of the All Saints Family have been here before, so the most outstanding ones did not write mottos. Except for Fang Yun, a total of twelve people wrote mottos here.

When the last person finished writing, everyone looked at Fang Yun.

Seeing everyone looking at him, Fang Yun nodded slightly, then walked behind a table, picked up a pen, and did not write immediately, but glanced at Xun Ye.

Xun Ye smiled and showed no hostility at all.

Fang Yun glanced at the people in the Holy Ruins and said slowly: "I have a lot of emotions during this trip to the Holy Ruins. I thought that no matter inside or outside the Holy Ruins, scholars are the same and should not be shaken by external things, but I didn't expect I overestimated some people and almost died in the Holy Ruins. Today I wrote a motto with the title of "Sincerity, Loyalty and Forgiveness" to warn myself."

After Fang Yun finished speaking, he picked up his pen and wrote slowly.

"When you go out, you're like a guest, and when you're doing something, you're like a sacrifice. If you keep it like this, how dare you get lost?"

As soon as the first four sentences came out, everyone hurriedly walked behind Fang Yun and watched carefully. These sentences meant that you should be like a respectful guest when you go out, and you should be as serious as a sacrifice when doing things. How can you treat everything with such an attitude? Errors and omissions?

Everyone knew that Fang Yun compared going out to the Holy Market. Not only should they not be indulgent, but they should be treated with caution.

Later, Fang Yun wrote: "Don't do to others what you don't want others to do to you."

These are the words of Confucius in The Analects of Confucius. They often appear in aphorisms and are most suitable for excerpts into mottos.

Up to this point, the contents are all based on Zhu Xi's "Jingshu Zhaiming", but the subsequent contents are not applicable, so Fang Yun wrote the rest according to his own feelings and understandings.

Fang uses the encounters in the holy ruins as evidence, and supplements them with the words and deeds of ancient saints, to explain that if scholars want to achieve a higher ideological realm and obtain a higher literary status, they must be consistent and not harm others for no reason.

At the end of writing, Fang Yun suddenly changed his writing style, and the last few lines of words jumped out of the paper like a sharp sword, piercing everyone.

"Only respect and forgive, and treat others with respect and respect. If you cannot respect and forgive, treat them with hostility. Repay kindness with kindness, and repay hatred with straightness!"

The last eight characters also quote the words of Confucius.

Everyone was stunned. What Fang Yun wrote in the front and middle was very moderate, but the last four sentences actually expressed his true feelings. If it doesn't work for him to treat others with sincerity, respect, loyalty and forgiveness, and what he gets in return is harm from others, then he will definitely treat them as enemies. , use their own means to take revenge.

Fang Yun wrote "Jingshu" with such murderous intent that everyone was shocked. However, those who visited the Holy Ruins and saw Fang Yun being poisoned with their own eyes sighed softly. Fang Yun did have a reason to write this way.

Suddenly, the singing instrument played loudly, washing everyone's literary courage.

Everyone was extremely happy, but after the joy, they were confused and didn't understand why Fang Yun caused the singing instrument to sing.

"In history, singing instruments have only sounded a dozen times, and each time the person who triggered it has achieved great achievements. Which sentence in this article can trigger singing instruments to sing forever?"

The temple guard said slowly: "My intention! I didn't expect that this man who said 'nature is inherently good' could best understand Xun Sheng's intention."

Xun Ye was stunned for a moment, then a look of surprise appeared on his face.

The temple guard slowly said: "It is recorded in "Xunzi" that after Confucius and his disciples watched the singing instruments, Zilu asked: 'Is it possible for people to maintain fullness?' Confucius replied: 'If you have great achievements in the world, you must be humble. . If you want to be brave, you must be cautious. The world must be frugal. This way you can maintain fullness. "Fang Yun's motto is "Respect and Forgiveness", so what if you do enough to respect and forgive? This is the understanding of maintaining your own respect and forgiveness! The meaning of Confucius and Xunsheng!"

Everyone was familiar with "Xunzi" and suddenly realized it.

Yan Yukong said: "Fang Yun's understanding of the classics of the saints is no less than that of a country's Jinshi. Fang Yun's previous article on forgiveness corresponds to 'Confucius viewed the temple of Duke Huan of Lu', which talks about respect and forgiveness and moderation, but the following "Repay with hostility" and "Repay with directness" correspond to the following text of "Confucius viewed the temple of Duke Huan of Lu", Confucius killed Shaozhengmao! "

Li Fanming couldn't help but utter the sentence behind the story of "Confucius visited the temple of Duke Huan of Lu" in "Xunzi": "Confucius served as the prime minister of Lu, and he killed Shaozhengmao in the seventh day!"

Click...

The sound of bile cracking.

Everyone followed the sound and saw Xun Ye holding his head in his hands, his face twisted, and he gritted his teeth to prevent himself from making any sound.

Fang uses the meaning of "Xunzi" to break up Xunzi's descendants!

Happy National Day!