The Ming Dynasty started with saving the eldest grandson

Chapter 76 Changes with Times
"Of course the truth matters."

Fang Xiaoru blurted out, then reacted and said in shock:

"Have you read the history books of Chu State?"

Chen Jingke nodded: "I'm lucky enough to have seen it."

Fang Xiaoru asked: "Where is the book? Can you take me to see it?"

Chen Jingke shook his head: "I promised others not to disclose this matter to the outside world."

Fang Xiaoru immediately understood what he meant. The bamboo chronicle was dug out by tomb robbers, so this history book of the Chu Kingdom was probably the same.

And it is very likely that the tombs of the Chu royal family were excavated.

This is a capital crime, and it is normal not to reveal your identity.

But without being able to see the real thing, how could he believe what Chen Jingke said was true?

Chen Jingke naturally knew what he was thinking, and felt helpless.

The history book of the Chu State he was talking about was the "Tsinghua Bamboo Slips", which appeared 2000 years after the previous life. Where could he find it for Fang Xiaoru?

This set of bamboo slips first appeared at an auction house in Xiangjiang in 2006.

After the president of Shuimu University learned about it, he organized a dinner party and invited several people to discuss the bamboo slip.

Finally, an alumnus of Shuimu University bought it and donated it to the school.

Therefore, this set of bamboo slips was named "Tsinghua Slips".

According to the text content, it can be seen that this is a history book of the Chu State and should have been unearthed from an ancient tomb of the Chu State.

But no one knows which tomb it is.

There is a saying that goes well, evidence alone does not stand up.

If there was only one history book called "Tsinghua Slips", everyone would doubt its authenticity.

In fact, "Bamboo Chronicles" has also been questioned for this reason.

The two books now corroborate each other, confirming their authenticity.

It also clears the grievances of the Bamboo Chronicles.

In his previous life, Chen Jingke once thought that these two names referred to the same book.

Later, after searching online, I found out that these are two different history books.

He also found that many people used these two books to criticize Sima Qian's "Historical Records".

To say that he tampered with history and deceived future generations is an extremely corrupt character.

Chen Jingke felt that this was really an injustice to Sima Qian.

In order to unify people's hearts, the First Emperor confiscated the history books of the world and burned a large part of them.

Then Xiang Yu started a fire and burned all the books in the Qin Palace.

So far, pre-Qin history, especially ancient history, has completely become a mystery.

Sima Qian traveled all over the country, searched for various materials, and compiled the "Historical Records".

Due to the lack of sufficient written information, many are transmitted by word of mouth, and distortion is normal.

Everyone has their own preferences.

If Sima Qian organized it according to his own ideas, it would be further away from the original historical appearance.

But at the very least, he recorded all the people and events very clearly.

The imperial genealogy table in historical records is also basically consistent with historical facts.

His "Historical Records" let future generations know that a certain person appeared and something happened at a certain time period.

This will not leave our ancient history blank.

Just imagine, if there are no history books unearthed from ancient tombs, where would we get information about ancient historical materials?
Therefore, we cannot be too demanding on Sima Qian. He has already done everything he can do.

Chen Jingke knew that he could not convince Fang Xiaoru with empty words.

Therefore, I never thought of convincing him.

He said so much, but he actually had another purpose.

"You admire Zhou Li, but is Zhou Li really that good?"

Fang Xiaoru asked, "Isn't it bad?"

Chen Jingke shook his head and said, "I'm afraid the beautiful thing is not the real Zhou Li, but the Zhou Li in your imagination." Fang Xiaoru was stunned for a moment and fell into deep thought.

In the past, he would have retorted angrily.

But Zhu Xiongying's words had already shaken his heart.

Therefore, when he heard Chen Jingke's words at this time, he was not angry, but thoughtful.

Chen Jingke paused for a moment, and then said: "Your talent is extremely high, and it is hard to overstate how talented you are as a scholar."

Fang Xiaoru didn't dare to ask for this title, so he wanted to get rid of it in a humble way.

Chen Jingke waved his hand to stop him and continued: "You must have understood what Confucianism did in the pre-Qin period."

"I also studied the interpretation of the Four Books and Five Classics by Confucian disciples during the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty."

"You should also be aware of the situation of Confucianism in the Sui, Tang, Song and Yuan Dynasties."

"Do you know the differences between Confucianism in these periods? And why are these differences caused?"

Fang Xiaoru wanted to say that it was because the ancients did not have a deep understanding of Confucianism, and Cheng Zhu was the true successor of Confucianism.

But he really couldn't say such disparaging words about his predecessors and sages.

And he was really curious in his heart, why is there such a difference?
So he said: "I would like to hear the details."

When Chen Jingke saw him taking the bait, a smile flashed in his eyes:
"In the pre-Qin period, hundreds of schools of thought contended, and Confucianism was only one of the hundreds. The primary goal of all countries was to strengthen the country."

"In order to spread knowledge and compete with hundreds of schools of thought, Confucian teachings also put practicality first."

"They are also very open-minded and absorb the strengths of hundreds of schools of thought to improve themselves."

Fang Xiaoru nodded slightly, his heart filled with admiration for the sages.

It was because of their openness to all rivers that Confucianism became so powerful.

"During the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the world was unified, and the court needed to re-establish a new moral and ethical system."

"The sages began to reinterpret the scriptures around the needs of the court."

Fang Xiaoru wanted to retort, but he opened his mouth again and again, but in the end no sound came out.

Because he knew that what Chen Jingke said was right.

"In the Southern and Northern Dynasties and the Sui Dynasty, most monarchs believed in Buddhism, and Buddhism flourished..."

"Li Tang, because the royal family recognized Lao Tzu as their ancestor, respected Taoism."

"Taoism is the first prominent school, Buddhism is the second, and Confucianism ranks third."

"The two sages Liu Zongyuan and Han Yu absorbed the strengths of Buddhism and Taoism and integrated them into Confucianism..."

"Confucianism was dominant in the Song Dynasty, and the meaning of 'I am the only one' is evident in the scriptures."

"And because of the strong national power of the Han Dynasty, Sui and Tang Dynasties, the Celestial Kingdom was in awe of the barbarians."

"So at this time, the Confucian scriptures not only had the means of enlightenment, but also had the intention of swallowing up the world."

"The Song Dynasty valued culture over military affairs and repeatedly failed in its foreign campaigns, so it could only settle down in a corner."

"Later, he lived in the south of the Yangtze River and was laughed at by the world."

"People who lived in that era either drifted with the crowd, died in depression, or went wild and pretended to turn a blind eye."

"There are still some people who can only choose to find self-reconciliation in the books of sages."

"Affected by this external environment, Confucianism has only left questions and enlightenments."

"In short, in a word, changes in the meaning of Confucian scriptures depend entirely on the external environment and have nothing to do with anything else."

Fang Xiaoru was stunned. It was the first time he heard such a theory.

I wanted to refute, but I didn't know how to speak.

Directly reprimand Chen Jingke with righteousness?

But righteousness can only force people and cannot refute this theory.

The point is, the more he thought about it, the more he felt that this theory seemed to make some sense.

Looking at his expression, Chen Jingke smiled.

This is the role of words. It is not easy to use against a gentleman like Fang Xiaoru.

(End of this chapter)