Ming Dynasty and New Rome and Infinite Magic Machine

Chapter 1125 Japanese
"What? I'm Japanese?"

"Yes, I think you are Japanese. I think we have a lot to talk about."

Fu Yuanshan and Shimazu were talking. In fact, Shimazu could speak Chinese, although his accent was strange and his grammar was a bit problematic, but the two sides could generally communicate.

"So that's how it is." After a few words of communication, Fu Yuanshan realized that the two sides were almost connected in their thinking, and he also realized the key to all this:

As a great feudal lord, as the lord of Satsuma, his knowledge of Chinese studies would not be bad, because the "state religion" of the Edo shogunate was Zhu Xi's philosophy, or the study of benevolence - in other words, Confucianism.

The concept of Confucianism is quite vague, and in many cases "Confucianism" cannot be called a religion. However, in Korea, Japan, and Vietnam, Zhu Xi's philosophy is indeed regarded as a religion. Because Confucianism, as a religion, is indeed necessary for its existence here: it can exclude Buddhism and suppress Buddhism.

Buddhism is a very real problem faced by North Korea, Japan and Vietnam. The road is long and difficult, and suffering is inevitable. People always need to solve the problem of suffering spiritually before they can face the world. Therefore, religion also has a necessary place in society. In the eastern part of the world island, Buddhism occupies this ecological niche.

In today's Ming Dynasty, all the sufferings that threaten the continuation of human life are about to be resolved. But in the past, this suffering was unspeakable.

Buddha said that there are sufferings of birth, aging, illness, and death. There are all kinds of sufferings that cannot be obtained. Buddhism relieves suffering and occupies this stable ecological niche. There are countless great figures in history who have abandoned secular life in order to worship Buddhism, and this has been repeatedly banned. Because in the final analysis, Buddhism is just a means to relieve suffering. Banning Buddhism is just a temporary solution. As long as there is suffering in this world, there will be people who want to find a way to relieve suffering.

Buddhism had conflicts with local courts in the eastern part of the world island. This conflict reached its peak in the Song Dynasty and triggered the dispute between Buddhism and Taoism. However, what resolved the dispute between Buddhism and Taoism was not a stronger Buddhism or Taoism, nor a stronger debate, but a new thing that had never existed before, an ancient weapon rooted in the cultural bottom - Confucianism, which was brought out again by Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism.

When Buddhism was studying the solution to suffering, Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism proposed a new viewpoint: Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism does not care whether you are reborn in heaven or fall into hell. Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism does not care about your inner world at all. Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism does not care about suffering itself. Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism only cares about one thing - the expression of suffering.

Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism is not concerned with "the resolution of suffering", but only with suppressing "the expression of suffering". It is concerned with whether "your expression of suffering" has broken through the boundaries of propriety, whether it has affected your responsibilities between heaven and earth, and whether it has violated "heavenly principles".

In other words, within the boundaries of etiquette, you are free to express your suffering. Whether you believe in Buddhism, like to drink wine at Qinhuai River, like little boys in women's clothing, or even like women's clothing yourself, these are all your personal affairs, all trivial. As long as you don't express it, all of this is within the scope of etiquette.

Within this framework, you can continue to be a devout Buddhist and visit Buddhist temples from time to time. But as long as you limit it to personal matters and do not affect others, no one will care.

——This "truth" developed within the empire played an excellent role in suppressing Buddhism and even all religions, especially among the scholar-officials. Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism thus filled the gap of "suffering" in terms of civilization. This patch was quickly updated to the versions of Korea, Japan and Vietnam because of the need to show its existence, and quickly became the official orthodox thought in these countries and was enshrined as the supreme truth of the entire tributary world. Because it really works.

Especially in Japan. In Japan, where temples and shrines are intertwined, these "Buddhists" in Japan really shouted "Those who advance will be reborn in heaven, and those who retreat will go to hell", waving naginata and muskets to pry open the heads of feudal lords. Even Tokugawa Ieyasu himself almost died in the rebellion of Buddhists in the early years of his entrepreneurship.

As the founder of the Edo Shogunate, Tokugawa Ieyasu was resentful about this incident for his entire life. He personally patched the Edo Shogunate with this "Imperial Truth" patch, thereby suppressing the expansion of temples and shrines under the shogunate system. The feudal lords, or "daimyo", still believed in Buddhism, but no one dared to devote everything to Buddhism, and instead spent their resources on personal living expenses.

——Of course, Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism also had new problems after this. But it doesn’t matter, because the source of Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism lies in Confucianism. Zhouli said that “Confucianism wins the people with the way”. The essence of Confucianism is a kind of magician, a magician of ritual. It does not need to go west to obtain scriptures in order to debate the scriptures. Its “right to interpret the scriptures” is in the hands of the court itself. The court will always keep pace with the times and selectively express the part of this set of “imperial truths” that is needed at the moment.

Japan, which implemented the same system, also received the same favor. The spread of this system also made Confucianism and its related Chinese literary thoughts widely respected throughout the tributary world.

The spiritual world of Shimazu in front of me is actually very similar to my own. Although his version has not been updated much:

For example, in the imperial court, the name of Zhu Xi's school and even Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism itself is rarely mentioned, but the "Imperial Truth" still exists. The current Imperial Truth is divided into two parts: Renxue and Neo-Confucianism.

The discipline of Neo-Confucianism is to explore the truth and exhaust one's nature, and finally reach destiny. The discipline of Benevolence is to cultivate oneself, regulate one's family, and bring peace to the world. This ethical order now also guides all aspects of social life. For example, it is generally believed that the highest virtue of a company also has two aspects: engaging in basic scientific research, or promoting the welfare of the people. These correspond to the two virtues of Neo-Confucianism and Benevolence.

If a large company is unable to invest in basic scientific research, it should at least pay attention to social welfare. If it fails to do so, it is a manifestation of lack of morality. What determines a company's social reputation is its R&D investment and welfare investment.

Did Zhu Xi really think that advanced mathematics would become part of "investigating things and seeking knowledge"? Fu Yuanshan himself thinks it is unlikely - from experience, it is more likely that Zhu Xi himself would agree with this. But this is not important at all. What Zhu Xi himself thought is not important at all.

"So, you said you are not Japanese?" Fu Yuanshan shook his head, "I think you can be. Do you think you are?"

(End of this chapter)