The heavens start with Buddhist disciples

Chapter 39 Distinction between Confucianism and Legalism
What Ji Ran reads in Xunzi's room every night is "Spring and Autumn", Gongyang Chunqiu. After all, the author of Gongyang Chunqiu, Gongyang Gao, was from Qi, and his descendants were still teachers in Jixia Academy.

Although Ji Ran was a monk in his previous life, he also studied "The Analects" and "Encouraging Learning" when he was in Blue Star. Regarding the "I have been thinking about it all day long, it is not as good as what I have learned in just a moment; I have been staggering and looking away." Well, it’s not as good as climbing a high place to gain great insight.”

I strongly agree with this point of view.After being unable to advance into Buddhism without water, Ji Ran knew it was time for her to learn.

You need to experience more, learn more, and accumulate more.This way you will learn more in the future.

A hundred schools of thought contend.It is the best learning opportunity.

All scholars will think about the same question from different angles and directions: "How to save the world?"

This also gave Ji Ran a lot of inspiration, and Ji Ran also recalled a poem she had read:

"Zen leads to the formless realm, and the wonderful law is on the lotus platform."

"Compassion lasts forever, and the Tathagata appears on the other side."

The so-called colorless means that in the previous life, he had already understood the first jhāna and had dabbled in it.

The thoughts and opinions of hundreds of schools of thought are all the knowledge of transcending the world, which is extremely helpful to Ji Ran.So in Jixia Academy, Ji Ran plans to study more and communicate more.

Apart from Buddhism, Ji Ran should be most familiar with Confucianism. After all, in this era, reading "The Analects" is already better than many people.

Don’t you see that during the reign of Emperor Jing of the Han Dynasty, Chao Cuo’s half of the "Shangshu" could be ranked as a censor.

Because her mental power is getting stronger day by day, Ji Ran now has a photographic memory and her reading speed is also extremely fast.

When Xunzi saw it, at first he thought it was a child's psyche, which was too embarrassing to use.

One day, Xunzi curiously asked Ji Ran: "When soil accumulates to form a mountain, the wind and rain stir up it; when water accumulates to form a abyss, a dragon arises; when good deeds accumulate, virtue becomes virtuous, and the gods are satisfied with themselves, and the sage heart is prepared. What is the explanation?"

When Ji Ran heard that Xunzi wanted to test himself, he stood up, saluted, and replied: "This is a point of view mentioned by Mr. Xunzi in "Encouragement to Learning"."

"The teacher's original words have an explanation, so if you don't accumulate steps, you can't reach a thousand miles; if you don't accumulate small streams, you can't build a river or a sea. A horse can't reach ten steps with one leap; a horse can ride ten steps, but the merit lies in perseverance. Perseverance, rotten wood, If you don’t give up; if you persevere, you can carve gold and stone.”

"I think what you mean is that persistence is important. Whether a person has the talent to do something can only be known by doing it, and only by persisting in doing it. If you just try it briefly, it may not be fruitful."

"The most common example is drinking. Only you know how much you can drink when you are drunk. When you are not drunk, no one knows."

"So when you are doing something, you will know whether you are capable of doing it and whether you have the ability to learn through imitation. Only by continuous efforts will you know in the end."

"And there are similar sayings in the "Tao Jing": A tree that embraces a tree is born at the end of a hair; a platform with nine floors starts from piles of soil; a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."

"This is my disciple Qianjian."

Hearing this, Xunzi nodded with satisfaction.I found that this person really understood the content of the book, and was not trying to attract his own attention.At this time, Xunzi was also a little moved, whether he should accept this boy as his disciple.

Xunzi, as one of the few academic masters in the world today, has no scholastic views, nor does he have any views other than Confucianism and Mohism.He did not mind his disciples learning other knowledge while studying Confucianism.

Because he knows very well: the more arguments are made, the clearer the truth becomes.Only by understanding more viewpoints and theories can we understand Confucianism more thoroughly and profoundly.

The so-called Confucian scholars are scholars who are needed by others. Xunzi firmly believed in this.

Thinking of this, Xunzi said to Ji Ran: "There are hundreds of schools of thought in the academy. You should see more, listen more, and think more. Don't limit yourself to one family. You will limit your vision and waste a rare opportunity."

Ji Ran stood up and saluted: "Thank you sir for your advice! This junior will definitely live up to your teachings."

Xunzi nodded and said, "It's getting late today. You can go back."

Ji Ran saluted Xunzi again, and then returned to his room to rest.

Time flies like water, and in a blink of an eye, it is already the third year since Ji Ran came to Jixia Academy.This year, Ji Ran still practiced Qigong in the morning, went to listen to famous teachers in the afternoon, and still went to Xunzi to study in the evening.

However, what I read was no longer Confucianism, but Legalism. However, at this time, there was no Legalism among hundreds of schools, and it was still a doctrine of Confucianism.

After returning to Korea, Han Feizi, a disciple of Xunzi, compiled and summarized the wisdom of his predecessors and his own thinking based on Korea, and finally formed a feasible strategy for governing the country.

Only then did people call it Legalism.

The biggest feature of Legalism is the politics of the common people. Among the people who have benefited the most from the Legalist theory, the common people are the most common people. Among the hundreds of scholars, Legalism is the only one that considers the common people.

Confucianism was more of a doctrine prepared for scholars.So after nearly a year of studying and sorting out the works of Shen Dao, Shen Buhai, Shang Yang and others.

Ji Ran plans to have a "Confucian-Legal debate" with Xunzi.It's true that Ji Ran's "disease" has been cured. Half a year ago, Gongsun Cunde passed the famous secret book "Famous to the World" to Ji Ran after repeated weighing.

Ji Ran was also asked not to spread the word to others. After getting the secret code, Ji Ran devoted herself to practice. She has gained some results recently, but she only initially strengthened the three orifices of her mouth and nose.

In this way, Ji Ran stopped pretending to stutter and started speaking normally.

On that day, Ji Ran first asked for leave from Gongsun Cunde, and then went directly to Xunzi's residence.

After entering the room, he saluted Xunzi and said, "I have been studying and sorting out the classics related to law for nearly a year. I have learned a lot in the past few days, so I would like to ask my husband for advice."

Xunzi was also interested when he heard it. To be honest, Xunzi also saw the supplement and benefit of law to Confucianism.But Shang Yang's example was not far away, so he did not advocate it vigorously.

Now I am very interested to hear that someone wants to discern the Dharma with me.

After thinking for a while, Ji Ran felt that Confucianism and Legalism, no matter who it was, would eventually need to be used in the court, so why not start with the civil and military style that the king expected.

Ji Ran said: "Sir, how can we make scholars not love money and generals not be afraid of death?"

Xunzi said: "Why do you have such doubts?"

Ji Ran replied: "A monarch must hope that his decrees can be communicated clearly and that everyone is united. Nowadays, there are frequent wars. If scholars are greedy for money, there will be consequences in many places where the decrees cannot be conveyed."

"For example, soldiers' death pay, military pay, and annual taxes. These are all things that make people greedy."

"And war, in the final analysis, requires close combat. A general who is not afraid of death will definitely bring more victories than a general who is afraid of death."

"That's why disciples have such problems."

Xunzi said: "The state you describe is also what Confucianism expects. Scholars work hard for the prosperity of the country and the people, and generals work hard for the sake of the country's justice. And isn't the method you are talking about 'sacrifice your life for righteousness'?"

Xunzi's rhetorical question made Ji Ran smile, which was exactly what he needed.

Ji Ran said: "This is good, but the monarch will be very distressed."

"If a scholar does not love money, the monarch's rewards will not make him excited. If a general is not afraid of death, the monarch's punishment will not scare him. How can a monarch control his subordinates?"

Xunzi raised his eyebrows when he heard this, as if he had underestimated this boy, so he said: "What you said is good, but it is too one-sided. You use rewards and punishments to drive civil and military affairs, which seems to be real control. In the short term, The internal effect is obvious.”

"But Confucianism teaches them with benevolence, righteousness and etiquette. Over time, the scholars will have character and the soldiers will have integrity. At that time, even if there are no rewards and punishments, they can be driven."

"And they use their fingers like an arm, because their benevolence and righteousness are the benevolence and righteousness of the monarch, and their etiquette is the etiquette of the monarch. What goes up and works down is nothing more than this."

"You can't deny the long-term results just because of the short-term results. Or you can't directly deny the long-term results because benevolence, justice and etiquette take too long."

Ji Ran was also thoughtful after listening.

After thinking for a while, Ji Ran said: "Sir, it seems that one thing is missing, which is trust, the prestige of the monarch and the integrity of the scholars. If trust is missing, it seems wrong to only have benevolence, justice and etiquette."

Ji Ran continued: "At the beginning, King You of Zhou was playing tricks on the princes. After being deceived the first time, the princes chose not to come to the rescue for the second time. Judging from the results of the first time, the education of benevolence, justice and etiquette was undoubtedly successful."

"But the second inaction confirmed the importance of rewards and punishments. If you don't come, there will be great punishment, so who will risk the punishment and not come? Therefore, education also has limitations, and it should be managed through rewards and punishments. .”

Xunzi was really surprised this time, because the little guy in front of him actually thought of Cheng, and the example was also very good.

Xunzi said: "So the sage said that the so-called gentleman must be loyal in his words but not resentful in his heart; be benevolent and righteous in his body but not in appearance; his thoughts are clear but his words are not specific; he is devoted to his faith and constantly strives for self-improvement. If he is ready, he can be surpassed. He who is ultimately unreachable is a gentleman.”

"So in the story of King Zhou You, King Zhou You didn't keep his word, so he later fled eastward. If he had kept his word, the princes would still come to rescue him, so why punish him to intimidate the princes?"

Ji Ran added: "As a prince, you must be loyal to the monarch. Isn't that a right thing to do? If the princes do not help protect the monarch and guard one side, why would the monarch still confer the title of prince?"

"And shouldn't righteousness come before faith here, and princes should put righteousness first? Regardless of benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, trust, or the king of heaven and earth, righteousness and king come before faith and oneself. So education cannot solve the problem."

Ji Ran also played a trick.Although Confucius often emphasized the importance of faith, Confucius' faith was more of a requirement for a gentleman.After all, there are too few gentlemen in the world. For the common people or the vast majority of scholars, gentlemen do not exist.

This is also the reason why Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism became so popular later in the Northern Song Dynasty.Zhu Xi said in "Analects of Confucius": "The most sincere and uninterrupted thing is the essence of Tao."

Therefore, in the Northern Song Dynasty, sincerity was defined as the first priority, and the rest of benevolence, justice, etiquette, and wisdom were considered to be second.Ji Ran is also standing on the shoulders of giants to ask the giants' opinions.

Xunzi was also very troubled because he was aware of this problem himself and had been thinking about how to define and solve this problem over the years.

He was also surprised when this kid brought it up today.

However, he still said: "The behavior of heaven is constant. It does not exist for Yao, nor does it perish for Jie. If it is governed, it will be good, if it is chaos, it will be bad. And the behavior of King You of Zhou is to respond to chaos, and what you said Dishonesty is a type of chaos, not all of it.”

"Punishment seems to be able to avoid the consequences of chaos to a certain extent, but if the punishment is not strict, no one will be afraid. If the punishment is strict, will it turn the other side? So the most important thing for a monarch to do is to comply with the laws of nature and use them to control the destiny. "

After hearing this, Ji Ran bowed and said, "Thank you sir for your advice. I have benefited a lot from Qian today!"

In fact, Ji Ran himself knew that Confucianism and Legalism were the more appropriate strategies for governing the country. This debate with Xunzi on Confucianism and Legalism was just to verify his understanding of the law.

After all, the Legalists at this time were not mature, and Ji Ran did not want to plagiarize Han Feizi's conclusions and argue with Xunzi.

If the rule of law is purely based on law, things like what happened in the last years of the Qin Dynasty and the last years of the Ming Dynasty will happen. As the saying goes: people's hearts are scattered and it is difficult to lead the team.

The law is strict, but some people still have to talk about shortcomings of human nature.

Ji Ran sighed in her heart: "The pre-Qin era was really a good time, but it was also a bad time. Maybe Buddhism is more suitable for today's era. After all, compassion to save the world is the original intention of Mahayana Buddhism, which is different from the ruthless Legalism and the cold Taoism. , compared with the proud Confucianism, it seems that universal salvation is more suitable for this era."

This is also the first time Ji Ran has raised the idea of ​​establishing Buddhism in this world.

On this day, Ji Ran practiced boxing with Li Tong in the courtyard, in order to find a reasonable reason for her strong body.

Finally, after a year of observation, Ji Ran determined that Li Tong was not from Queen Mother Jun.So, I also practiced boxing with Li Tong every morning.

Naturally, boxing was taught by Li Tong, and Ji Ran learned it after defeating "Nine Bulls and Two Tigers".

Ji Ran said: "Let me tell you, Li Tong, your boxing and spear skills are very good. Is it inherited from your family?"

Li Tong nodded and said, "That's right, but my father is best at swordsmanship. He said that he would teach me how to practice swordsmanship when I return from the academy."

Ji Ran watched Li Tong practice boxing for a while, and then said: "Your father should be a famous general, otherwise he would not have such good skills. This boxing method is as calm as a mountain, using defense instead of attack, and he will be invincible on the battlefield. , and then look for opportunities to strike hard."

Li Tong was also surprised and said, "I didn't expect you to be able to see so many things from your boxing skills. If my father knew about it, he might even teach you two moves."

Ji Ran added: "Every time you mention your father, there is light in your eyes. You admire him very much. Please tell me which famous general your father is."

Li Tong first scratched his head in embarrassment, and then said: "Is it so obvious? My father is just a partial general now, but I believe he will be famous all over the world in the future. His name is Li Mu!"

Ji Ran was stunned when he heard this, and then looked at Li Tong quietly.

Li Tong thought that Ji Ran didn't believe it, so he said a little angrily: "Don't believe it, my father is like a god with soldiers. The barbarians in the north who he fought several times in the past are frightened by this news."

Ji Ran said to Li Tong in a firm tone: "I believe it! Not only do I believe that your father will be famous all over the world, I also believe that your father will be remembered forever. He will leave a lasting mark on this land of China!"

"Good brother! Just to tell you this, I will also pass on my Li family gun to you!" Li Tong looked at Ji Ran excitedly and said.

The two of them were playing table tennis in the yard, but the other person in the yard never participated.

Ji Ran never cared about him, so Ji Ran still doesn't know who he is.

However, Li Tong still took the initiative and said to Ji Ran: "Do you know? The one in the north of our courtyard is the Lord Chang'an who came to Qi State as a hostage a few years ago. My father asked me to come to Qi State to study, and he also secretly protected him to see if I could do anything with him in the future. It means making friends."

Seeing that Ji Ran didn't react, Li Tong thought Ji Ran was surprised by the identity of Lord Chang'an.It turned out that Ji Ran was just standing quietly at the gun pile.He ignored Li Tong's words at all.

Of course, Ji Ran didn't care much about a Chang'an Lord of the Zhao Kingdom.In terms of identity and status, he has not yet become a hostage.

In the winter when Tian Qian was eight years old, a message was sent to Jixia Academy.Queen Ying gave birth to a baby girl, named Lan, which means Yuan Zhili Lan.

Because it was Wang Jian of Qi's first child, Wang Jian of Qi was very happy. He granted amnesty to the world, and even Ji Ran received ten gold coins as a reward.

Unfortunately, Ji Ran was also told that he was not allowed to return to the palace in the near future, so he did not have the little princess's full moon banquet.

During the New Year, Ji Ran went to the palace to see the little princess. After all, it was New Year's Eve.If Ji Ran does not return to the palace on New Year's Eve, Queen Mother Jun will be ridiculed by the world's scholars.

So Ji Ran was very happy looking at the little dumpling in her arms on New Year's Eve.

At first, Queen Mother Jun did not allow Ji Ran to hold her, but this little dumpling was also strange.After seeing Ji Ran, she cried and made trouble and asked Ji Ran to hold her. No matter how much Queen Mother Jun coaxed her, she couldn't do it.

In the end, Ji Ran had no choice but to pick up Xiaotuanzi.Then Xiaotuanzi smiled sweetly. After eating and drinking, Xiaotuanzi fell asleep in Ji Ran's arms.

Ji Ran could more or less guess some of the reasons. After all, she had studied Buddhism for decades and practiced Buddhist magic.There will be an aura of peace and tranquility unconsciously on your body.

Adults can't feel it, but maybe experts can, like Xunzi.Children are the purest and have the most sensitive feelings.So Xiaotuanzi likes to stay in Ji Ran's arms.

Wang Houying said to Ji Ran: "This little baby is so clingy to you, you might as well move back here so that you can help me take care of her."

Hearing this, Queen Mother Jun was very unhappy and said: "Qian, he is your brother after all, so it is not appropriate to live in Denghua Palace. But Qian, you should come back often to see your niece. She is your blessing to stick to you."

When Ji Ran heard this, she was afraid of waking up the little princess, so she did not get up. Instead, she nodded to the Queen Mother Jun and said, "I will obey the teachings of my mother!"

In this way, the spring of Ji Ran's fourth year of studying in Jixia Academy quietly arrived.

Ji Ran also goes back to the palace for a meal at the end of every month, and returns to the academy in the evening.

"Sure enough, the palace is not in harmony with me. As long as I enter this prince, nothing good will happen. The rumors will never stop." Ji Ran sighed while walking in the palace on this day.

(End of this chapter)