A Man of Science and Engineering in Troubled Times Wandering in the Late Qing Dynasty

The two gatekeepers at the entrance of the Confucius Temple stared at each other, discussed in low voices, and then hurried in to report.

Fortunately, they didn't know Yan Fu, and they didn't know that Yan Fu also knew English and was really good at translating.

But obviously not all scholars in the country know about him. The popularity of these early advocates of new learning is only limited to those who want to learn new learning, and this proportion is very small.

Not long after, the gatekeeper came back: "Yan Shenggong said you all come in."

Li Yu said to Lu Bicheng, "I told you to go in."

Li Yu raised his leg and stepped in. He had been here a few years ago, but it had already become a 5A-level three-hole scenic spot at that time.

Seeing Li Yu walking so smoothly, Lu Bicheng was surprised and said, "You are so familiar with the inside."

Li Yu laughed and said, "I've never eaten pork, and I haven't seen a pig run away."

After a few doors, the core of the Confucian Temple - Dacheng Hall is in front of you.

The imperial court gave the Confucian temple a detached status, which can also be seen from these architectural etiquettes.

In ancient Chinese architecture, the division of roof forms is very strict. If the special Temple of Heaven with a triple roof is not considered, the highest level of the so-called mortal buildings is called the roof of the double eaves, and the highest level of the three halls of the Forbidden City is the Hall of Supreme Harmony. That's the structure.

Yan Jingyu breathed a sigh of relief: "However, the current situation is that the imperial examination is in jeopardy, but science is still in the dust. You must not be able to escape the position of a scientific saint. If you can become a sub-sage, it seems to be acceptable."

Kong Lingyi said: "Could it be that ignorance is ignorance if you don't understand Western learning, and the most holy truth can only be found in Western learning?"

Li Yu said: "It's not difficult, but I'm afraid that you will not condescend to learn it. After so many years of development, the study of Confucian classics is indeed very deep, but science is very far-reaching in both horizontal breadth and vertical depth. New There’s a lot of stuff coming out.”

Kong Lingyi said: "We are really worried that the large-scale invasion of Western learning will cause the status of Chinese learning to be lost, and the country will not be a country."

Yan Sheng Gong Kong Lingyi looked at Li Yu carefully, and said: "Your Majesty is already an emperor's teacher, why do you wear such strange clothes?"

Li Yu said: "The principle of science is to study nature. If we don't study it, of course others will study it. But science must have no national boundaries, but people have affiliations. I am like this, why don't I look like a Chinese? And Your last sentence seems to be judging people by their appearance, even in the era of Master, it is wrong."

Li Yu said: "Let me emphasize again that Western learning, whether it is science or political law, is not unique to the West. It is the essence contained in nature and social development. It is not changed by human will. Anyone can discover it. It's just us. It’s a lot slower. The truth that the West calls can be understood as what we call Tao, and Tao follows nature, which is not of the West.”

Li Yu said embarrassingly: "I don't want to be a saint, nor am I a saint. Moreover, this term is not suitable. If you can have a deeper understanding of the powerful internal causes of the West, you won't say that."

Kong Lingyi asked: "Master is the most holy teacher, how can we abandon the thousand-year-old tradition?"

On the one hand, Li Yu knew that they couldn't be persuaded, so he could only fool them like coaxing children; on the other hand, what he said was right, we have made similar extreme mistakes since then.

Kong Lingyi knew that Li Yu couldn't speak up, so he suddenly asked directly: "In the opinion of the emperor, which one is better, science or Confucianism?"

In fact, there are many Confucian temples in other regions. For example, the Dacheng Hall in the Beijing Confucian Temple uses the highest-level double-eaved roof.

The statues enshrined in it are not only Confucius, but also Yan Hui, Zeng Shen, Kong Ji, and Meng Ke, who are called "four companions".

If this matter is studied deeply, both sides will be irrelevant. It seems wrong to cut hair, and it seems wrong to not cut hair, so Kong Lingyi had no choice but to skip this topic.

"Sure enough, this is what happens when you study Western learning!"

Yan Jingyu asked again: "But the current situation shows that Western learning is owned by foreigners. Studying Western learning will inevitably make people lose their original nature. Just like your current appearance, you don't look like a Chinese at all."

Li Yu stepped forward to hold the disciple ceremony and said to Yan Shenggong: "Student Li Yu, can you first visit the most holy teacher?"

Kong Lingyi immediately understood Li Yu's meaning: Confucius didn't have braids either.

Li Yu went directly to the Dacheng Hall and bowed three times to the statue of Confucius inside.

Li Yu sighed in his heart, and he didn't expect them to have the spirit and level of scholarship of Confucius. If the situation of a hundred schools of thought contending now, maybe science can really develop.

Li Yu sighed: "There is no such thing as giving up! Why do people think that new learning and old learning must be irreconcilable? You only need to add Western learning to the school. Wouldn't it be beautiful to understand the new learning while keeping the tradition alive?"

Li Yu didn't belittle Confucian classics, which made them less wary.

The Dacheng Hall of the Confucius Temple in Qufu in front of you also has a double eaves roof, which shows its high level.

Of course, Yan Fu and Lu Bicheng couldn't do without this etiquette of offering sacrifices.

Yan Sheng Gong Kong Lingyi is in this pavilion called Xingtan, he is dressed formally.Although Li Yu is also very formal, but with a suit and cut hair, he looks very eye-catching in the crowd.

Li Yu really wanted to wear traditional clothes at first, but it was too slow to make clothes under Xiaode Zhang's Xiangyi name. Except for the tribute satin, other materials had to be imported from Suzhou, and it has not been finished yet.

However, Li Yu made it clear that Kong Lingyi was most worried about his status after all.

Li Yu sat down and said, "Shenggong Xie Yan."

Li Yu said: "Since you say no, it means that the collapse of rites and music is not entirely a bad thing. New things will be born after the old things die out. Isn't the rites that have lasted for more than 2000 years better than the only ones before the Spring and Autumn Period?" The rituals less than 1000 years old are better? Why must the new ones built after that be inferior? King Zhao Wuling also dressed in strange clothes back then, so how could it be wrong? Maybe everyone will dress in strange clothes like me at that time.”

It's really not good to refuse this kind of thing. After all, they are the ones who pay attention to etiquette, so Yan Shenggong had no choice but to say: "Please."

The second level next to the roof of the double-eave hipped hall is called the roof of the double-eave Xieshan. The Baohe Hall, which ranks second among the three main halls of the Forbidden City, uses this kind of roof.

In fact, Li Yu's original idea was to use the Chinese tunic suit, but found that this thing has not yet been born.

Kong Lingyi asked: "Science is so difficult? Is it so difficult to learn the level of foreigners before they reach adulthood?"

The "sitting" he said is naturally sitting upright, which is the form in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

But a person behind Kong Lingyi said: "This situation and this scene really remind me of what the Master said back then about the collapse of rites and music. In today's world, isn't it an ongoing ritual collapse and music destruction!"

Li Yu said: "Of course it's true, so the Confucian classics can't be lost. But as a scholar, it's not enough. You should still consider the world's major issues. You must know that the world is not only our land, but also many vast worlds. , There are five continents and four oceans. In the words of the Master, three people must have our teacher, and now there are not only three great powers. Only by keeping up with the trend and learning from the world can we do the right thing and benefit the common people.”

"Status?" Li Yu asked back, "I don't know what the status that Duke Yansheng refers to?"

Kong Lingyi hesitated and said: "As a scholar, the study of Confucian classics should be the most important thing. There is no mistake in doing things first and being a man."

Li Yu was so happy that he reduced the opponent's ammunition as much as possible.

Li Yu said: "This statement is wrong. On the way here this time, I also read some ancient books. Many of the views made me feel that the sages had great wisdom, but why do they forget it now? "Tao Te Ching" says If you don’t know, you will go up; if you don’t know, you will get sick. Hu Wei is sick, because he is not sick. A sage is not sick, because he is sick, because he is not sick.”

Li Yu said: "You mean that after the Spring and Autumn Period, rituals have collapsed and music has collapsed, so the history of more than 2000 years has been spent in this situation?"

People from the east and the west seemed to sense from Li Yu's words that Li Yu did not mean to abandon Confucian classics, and even said that the status of Chinese studies would become more and more respected. This sentence was finally right.

Yan Jingyu said: "I heard that the newspaper said that you are a contemporary scientific saint, but you don't know much about classics. I'm afraid it's not in line with what you said that classics should not be lost. It's contradictory."

The two sides are also very tacit, one side does not mention specific science, and the other side does not mention the theory of Confucianism, otherwise it really does not make sense.

"There's also that Li Yu, dressed in nondescript clothes, how can he be polite!"

Yan Hui was a great disciple of Confucius, and his status was like that of St. Peter in Christianity, so Yan Hui was called the resurrection saint.

The three of Li Yu crossed the Dacheng Gate and came to the square in front of the Dacheng Hall.

Li Yu said: "The status of Chinese learning will not be lost, but it will become more and more respected with the development of the times. But the premise is that the country must be strong enough, and a strong foundation, as I think you all know, is to learn Western learning. Japan is not an example."

Yan Fu and Lu Bicheng sat down naturally, but Li Yu felt rather uncomfortable.

It's a pity that these people don't have this kind of spirit anymore. After all, they are those with vested interests, and they have been favored by the court for 2000 years. It is very difficult to break through themselves.

Li Yu said again: "I also heard that Laozi once said that blessings come from misfortunes, and misfortunes depend on blessings. From a dialectical point of view, isn't it true?"

In addition, there are Kunning Palace, Huangji Hall, etc., as well as Tiankuang Hall in Taishan Dai Temple. There are only a dozen halls in the country with this top-level specification.

Confucius looks really good~~~ so you can't judge people by their appearance.

Yan Jingyu said: "The situation envisaged by Yan Shenggong is exactly the situation that will come soon. Once the imperial examinations are suspended in the future, and the world does not know the five classics and six arts, how can we talk about the prosperity of the country?"

Li Yu originally wanted Yan Fu to sit at the top, but today it was obvious that he was coming for him, so he stopped being modest.

Yan Jingyu said, "Of course not."

Li Yu shook his head: "I didn't say that, I just thought of such a warning motto from the sages. After all, saints will first admit their ignorance. Even the most respected sages in the West have said similar things, such as Socrates said, "The only thing I know is that I don't know anything. Even if a sage is like this, but now if he just holds back and doesn't understand Western learning, so he has to be beaten, wouldn't that be a kind of ignorance?"

"What's the reason? It's obviously a fallacy!"

Li Yu said: "Yan Shenggong should not prevent everyone from learning Western learning by thinking of things as bad and imagining such a bad situation."

Li Yu smiled slightly, but did not answer directly, but glanced sideways at Dacheng Hall.

Li Yu quoted the words of Confucius himself, and the effect was very good.

After the three worshiped, they came to the Xinglin, and Yan Shenggong said, "Please sit down."

But the following people already feel very uncomfortable:
"A woman paying homage to her master is not insulting the most holy teacher!"

Kong Lingyi saw that Yan Jingyu couldn't answer, so he said: "If the imperial court attaches importance to Western learning, the status of Confucian classics will inevitably be reduced. There are too many variables. How can you ensure that studying science will attract people and have a bright future?"

After all, the backbone of culture cannot be lost.This backbone is composite, and traditional culture is absolutely indispensable in it.

Yan Jingyu was a little stunned: "This..."

Li Yu replied calmly: "There is a comparison in everything. If I didn't know Confucian classics, I wouldn't be able to say a few words about the contents of the "Tao Te Ching". Is this what you call not learning the classics? Human energy is limited, if you can learn science to the level of the West before you reach adulthood, you can say such words to me."

Yan Fu also said: "Shucai is talking about this principle. He is not engaging in the struggle between new learning and old learning, but he wants everyone to pay attention to Western learning while studying Confucian classics. Only in this way can they be useful to the country."

The people on both sides of the east and west began to whisper again:
"What he said seemed to make sense."

This is picking on Li Yu's words, but Yan Jingyu and Kong Lingyi combined are no match for Gu Hongming, regardless of knowledge or debating ability, so Li Yu is really not afraid.

Kong Lingyi said: "The intention of the imperial court must be to abolish the imperial examinations. I am afraid that the people of the country will neither study nor understand Confucian classics in the future. This will be a sign of decline."

Of course, Kong Lingyi and the others were more worried about themselves. If they really had the ability and talent, they wouldn't need to rely on the name of Yan Shenggong.

Li Yu said: "It's not fancy clothes, clothes are just things outside of me. I don't just wear foreign clothes, I also wear traditional clothes most of the time."

Kong Lingyi introduced to Li Yu: "This is the enshrined official of Fusheng Yanzi, the 76th generation grandson of Yan Jingyu."

In addition to the roof, the pillars used in the Confucian Temple in Qufu are seven solid and two empty, and the sides are three solid and two empty, which is second only to the ninth five.

This sentence means that a person who knows his ignorance is a truly wise person, and a person who does not know his ignorance but is full of self-confidence is actually arrogant and stupid.It is only when you realize your stupidity that you begin to become wise.The reason why the saints can escape from the state of ignorance is because they first admit that they are ignorant.

Of course Yan Shenggong and the others understood the meaning of this sentence, but they were a little angry: "The emperor means that we are arrogant and stupid?"

Yan Shenggong was slightly taken aback when he heard Li Yu's statement. He had already thought up a lot of words to target Li Yu, the most important of which was to insult the sages. He didn't expect that Li Yu's first sentence would be to pay respects to Confucius.

In front of Dacheng Hall, there are east and west verandahs, which are already full of people. In front of Dacheng Hall is the altar of apricots, which is the place where Confucius gave lectures in ancient times.But now it has been built into a pavilion.

But it seems that the old saying still can't correct their thinking.

Kong Lingyi pointed to his hair again: "What's the explanation?"

Li Yu said calmly: "There is no distinction between high and low."

He will not fall into this simple language trap, this question is too low.If someone like Gu Hongming asks a question here, it's really hard to deal with it by taking advantage of the favorable location.

But I was really afraid that something would come, so a disciple said outside the Dacheng Hall: "Yan Shenggong, a gentleman who is known as a man from the east, west, north and south, is asking to see you."

I lost it!

Li Yu almost fell over.