I have lived forever since the end of Qin Dynasty

Chapter 70 The Rise and Fall of the Mo School

Mencius once commented on the theory at that time, saying: "The words of Yang Zhu and Mo Di permeate the world. If the words of the world do not belong to Yang, they belong to Mo."

This proves that in the era of Mencius, the most popular schools in the world were the schools of Yang Zhu and Mohism.

When Zhuangzi and Xunzi commented on the theory of Tianxia, ​​Yangzhu theory disappeared, but Mohist theory remained firm.

But in the Qin and Han Dynasties, the situation of the Mohist school took a turn for the worse, declined rapidly, and finally ceased to exist, becoming a disappearing wave in the long river of history.

Therefore, for Guo Li's proposal to follow him, Chen Luo showed hesitation and did not immediately agree.

No matter how many benefits there are in nodding and agreeing, he knows in his heart that if he is bound to the Mo family, he will undoubtedly be boarding a seemingly luxurious cruise ship, but in fact there are icebergs in front of him.

There are many reasons for the sinking of the Mohist ship, but there are three main reasons.

First of all, Confucianism tried its best to exclude and suppress.

We must know that the emergence of the "Ten Theories" was put forward by Mozi in order to refute Confucianism, which was in direct opposition to Confucius' Confucianism, and they later became the theoretical basis of Mohism.

On the other hand, Confucianism also regards Mohism as its great enemy.

Mencius, the sub-sage, reprimanded "the Mo family loves both, it is no father. Without a father and no king, it is a beast", which is rare and directly exploded with foul language.

Even Guo Li, who seemed to be indifferent to anything in the outside world, had anger in his eyes when he heard that he was mistaken for a Confucian student.

It can be seen that there is basically no room for mediation between the two schools of thought.

It's just that in the Warring States period, these two schools were "excellent learning", and there was no situation where the east wind overwhelmed the west wind.

However, in the Qin and Han Dynasties, the situation was completely different.

In the Qin Dynasty, the Legalists were the only ones, and both families were suppressed. A large number of ancient books were burned, and many lost.

When Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty "respected only Confucianism", Confucianism was completely buried in the loess for Mohism, which was already struggling.

Confucianism has been able to flourish for 2000 years in history, which naturally has its advantages.

At least it proves that most of the time it satisfies the needs of the ruler and the productivity that adapts to the times.

Comparing with Confucianism, we can see the second reason for the decline of Mohism, which is that the ideological program is unrealistic and does not conform to the interests of the rulers.

The core idea of ​​Mohism is "Ten Theories".

Among them, Unanimous Love and Non-Gong, Chen Luo couldn't see any possibility of realizing it before time travel. He even dared to say that as long as human beings exist and selfish desires exist in people's hearts, Unanimous Love and Non-Gong will always be ideals.

As for Shangxian and Shangtong, it is also an extremely idealistic idea, which may be realized in some periods, but in the 2000 years of feudal society, it can only be reached in rare cases.

Not to mention the frugal use, festival burial, and non-joy in the "Ten Theories", which meet the demands of the common people, but the rulers in the feudal period would never be willing to live a poor life.

Therefore, if such exclusions are made, among the "Ten Theories" of the Mohist school, there are only three left: Minggui, Tianzhi, and Feiming.

In fact, if the Mohists were willing to seek new ideas and changes, like Dong Zhongshu did another interpretation of the Confucian classics, the ruler might not give up the Mohism so thoroughly.

But this is the third point of the decline of the Mohist school. From the ordinary disciples of the Mohist school to the leaders of the Mohist schools, they are all "brainless".

For example, Meng Sheng, the third generation giant of the Mohist family, was entrusted by Lord Yangcheng to defend the city.As a result, Mr. Yangcheng himself ran away, but he still chose to continue to stick to the lonely city.

When his disciples came to persuade him to leave, Meng Sheng replied: "If I don't die here, then from today on, people who want to visit a strict teacher don't need to come to Mohist disciples, people who want to have good friends don't have to make Mohist disciples, and a monarch who wants to get good officials doesn't need to seek Mohist disciples.

Therefore, I die here today to practice the morality of the Mohist school and to carry on the cause of the Mohist school! "

After making a solemn oath, more than 180 Mohist disciples followed him to die. Even the three disciples who were messengers refused the order of the next Mohist giant to let them stay, and insisted on going back to die.

In Chen Luo's view, this is the most fatal flaw of the Mohism.

You must know that the group of Mohist disciples who are willing to die are definitely the core members who understand the Mohist scriptures.

Even though he respected Meng Sheng for guarding the city for righteousness, Chen Luo couldn't understand why he brought this group of Mohist disciples to stay behind.

This is clearly a devastating blow to the career of the Mo family!
Assuming that 72 sages under Confucius died at the same time, and no one sorted out the "Analects of Confucius", no one taught his disciples and carried forward the theory, then whether Confucianism can exist is still a question.

But this assumption has come true in Mohism.

What's more, Meng Sheng's behavior is not an exception.

It is also the belly of the Mohist giant. His son committed murder. Even King Qin Huiwen at that time had pardoned his son's crimes, but he insisted on implementing the Mohism's decree of "the murderer dies, and the wounder is punished" and killed his son.

Generations of leaders are so paranoid, Mohist disciples naturally follow suit.

In the troubled times of the Spring and Autumn and the Warring States, the Mohists were still able to promote their theories based on the common people, but after entering the unified dynasty, some of the Mohist thoughts were extreme and different, and they were unwilling to change, so they would naturally be regarded as thorns in the eyes of the rulers.

Therefore, for various reasons, the Mohism eventually died out.

If you weigh the pros and cons, it's definitely not a good thing to mix yourself with Mohist disciples, and there will be many problems if you agree with Guo Li and other Mohist disciples to follow.

But even though Mohism has various shortcomings, no one can deny that it shines like gold in the long river of Chinese history, and Chen Luo can't just sit back and watch its demise.

Looking at Guo Li's expectant expression, Chen Luo sighed lightly and said, "Brother Guo can trust me so much, I am very grateful, but I think I can't meet the standard of the "righteous" people of your sect, so why insist on following me?"

Guo Li shook his head: "Mr. Chen is in a high position, but he wears brown clothes to go to the market, sees the worries of the people and angrily kills the despicable ones, even though he hears my praises, his face is not arrogant.

May I ask that you are not a person of "great righteousness", where in the world can you find someone who is like you? "

When Chen Luo heard this, his expression was a little helpless.

Sure enough, the disciples of the Mohist school are all stubborn, and they will never choose to give up after deciding on one thing.

Glancing at Chen Luo, Xiang Yu couldn't help but said in a low voice: "Jiang Ning, you see that he is so sincere, why don't you just follow, after all, the Mohist's tricks are extraordinary."

After pondering for a moment, Chen Luo said: "If brother Guo insists on following me, can you answer a few questions for me and answer my doubts."

Seeing that his tone was relaxed, Guo Li nodded lightly and said, "Yes, Mr. Chen, please speak."

"May I ask brother Guo, which aspect is he mainly practicing in the Mohist school?" Chen Luo narrowed his eyes and asked a question.

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(End of this chapter)