Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

The partial rejection of the ancient text of the Book of Documents plunged the court officials into silence.

Because much of their knowledge is related to the ancient text of the Book of Documents.

The statement in the "Great Yu's Counsel" that "the human heart is perilous, the moral heart is subtle; only by being refined and unified, and holding fast to the mean" can still be confirmed by other ancient books.

The other phrase, "No wise men are left undiscovered in the wilderness, and all nations enjoy peace," cannot be found in any classical texts to corroborate it.

Chen Jiru, who gained important positions through this, couldn't help but feel uneasy. If it weren't for the reputation of being a worthy successor, he wouldn't have risen from a commoner to the National Assembly.

Fortunately, he had previously received guidance from the emperor and, standing on the side of fighting for the rights of the people, spoke out:
"Although the Tai Shi chapter is said to be derived from the ancient text Shangshu, the phrase 'Heaven sees as my people see, Heaven hears as my people hear' was quoted in Mencius."

"I believe this sentence is the true text of the Book of Documents and should be included in the compulsory curriculum."

This means that what Heaven sees comes from what the people see, and what Heaven hears comes from what the people hear.

The will of the people is the will of Heaven, and the emperor must obey the will of the people.

This is the source of Congress's power and the basis for the principle that the people are more important than the ruler.

If this is refuted, then other ancient texts will need to be consulted when arguing about the relationship between the ruler, subjects, and the people.

But what other ancient book can compare to the Book of Documents?

This phrase, in particular, comes from the "Tai Shi" (泰誓), a vow made by King Wu, as the Son of Heaven, to the feudal lords and the people, when he was conquering King Zhou of Shang.

No statement is more apt in its analysis of the relationship between ruler, subject, and people.

Chen Jiru, who stands on the side of the people, naturally hopes that this sentence will become a required reading.

Zhu Youjian's determination to relinquish power to the people was firm, and he hoped to build a stable relationship between the emperor, his subjects, and the people. Having already expressed his approval, he naturally wouldn't go back on his word and ruin his credibility, and upon hearing this, immediately agreed:
“In the ancient text of the Book of Documents, any phrases that are corroborated by other classical texts can be listed after the modern text of the Book of Documents as required reading.”

"And we also included the texts from other classic texts, annotating them with the explanations of the sages."

"I entrust this matter to you gentlemen. You must do your best to restore the true Book of Documents."

"If you have any insights, and they are approved by the annotators such as Mr. Liu and Mr. Qian, you may add your explanations."

"It would be best to synthesize a new chapter and inherit the wisdom of the sages."

This statement brought great comfort to those present.

Because the emperor showed them respect and intended to make their commentaries a required reading.

This was because, with the sages leaving their mark, they finally put aside their resentment that the emperor had partially rejected the ancient texts of the Shangshu.

Chen Jiru, who proposed this idea, has gained the approval of many people.

He himself was deeply moved, realizing why so many people were willing to pledge allegiance to the emperor:

"To sit and discuss principles, and to govern the country using the classics of sages and worthies."

"Your Majesty is a sage ruler!"

Since the beginning of three dynasties, which ruler has shown us such respect?

He was even more grateful for his decision to side with the emperor, knowing that he now had the opportunity to be remembered in history.

The only thing he regrets is not siding with the emperor sooner, which is why he is already seventy-four years old this year and doesn't know how many days he has left.

Therefore, his desire to make a name for himself and his words were even more urgent, and he said in a deep voice:
"Your Majesty governs the country using the classics of sages and virtuous men, which makes us extremely happy."

"However, when governing a country using the classics of sages, it is essential to distinguish which are the true words of the sages and which are forgeries by later generations." "For classics that are questionable, they should be treated as reference texts."

"Your Majesty's handling of the Ancient Text of the Book of Documents is quite reasonable."

First, he supported the emperor's actions, and then continued:
"However, whether other ancient texts are questionable, I believe they should be viewed dialectically."

“Especially the Book of Poetry, which has many scholars throughout the world, and also has commentaries by Zhu Xi.”

"The modern text versions of the classics, such as the Lu Shi, Qi Shi, and Han Shi, have all been lost. I believe we should continue to use the Mao Shi."

This proposal was supported by many of the ministers.

Because so many people study the Book of Poetry, at least 30% of scholars choose the Book of Poetry when selecting from the Five Classics.

If it were completely overthrown, it would cause a great upheaval throughout the world.

Zhu Youjian did not place much importance on the Book of Poetry, nor had he heard of any controversy surrounding it in later generations, so he expressed his approval and then said to Sun Qifeng:

"Mr. Sun has already selected famous pieces from the classical Chinese prose and poetry he selected in the Education Daily."

"The three hundred poems in the Book of Songs are all from the pre-Qin period."

"But there are also many good poems after the Qin Dynasty, which are equally worth learning."

"I believe that we should select famous poems, lyrics and songs as elective classics."

This proposal increased the difficulty of studying the Book of Songs, causing the court officials to frown.

In particular, the reason why the Book of Songs is considered a classic is because it emphasizes the meaning of the classics rather than the literary style of the poems.

They also did not believe that other poems, lyrics, and songs, though profound in meaning, were worthy of being regarded as classics.

However, Zhu Youjian insisted that the poems of each dynasty also reflected the features of that era and had their own significance.

Ultimately, it was decided that Qian Qianyi and Sun Qifeng would oversee the compilation of "Three Hundred Ancient Poems" and "Three Hundred Lyrics and Songs" as elective classics.

During the Ming Dynasty, the study of the Book of Songs began to shift from focusing solely on the three hundred poems to learning ancient and modern poetry and lyrics. Later, poetry and lyrics examinations were added to the Book of Songs to select talented individuals skilled in poetry and lyrics.

Overall, however, the examination of the Book of Poetry still maintained its original format. The annotations, since the Book of Documents was written by Zhu Xi, were also largely unchanged, with only simple punctuation and corrections of some errors.

The Book of Songs is followed by the Book of Changes, which is also studied by many people, so it is not appropriate to make major changes to it.

In particular, the commentaries on the Book of Changes are Cheng Yi's Commentary on the Book of Changes, compiled by Yang Shi, and Zhu Xi's Original Meaning of the Book of Changes, which are among the foundational studies of Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism.

Those who adhered to Neo-Confucianism did not support major changes. In particular, the Donglin Academy, which inherited from Yang Shi and claimed to be the orthodox school of Neo-Confucianism, was the most opposed by the Donglin Party members.

However, Liu Zongzhou and Qian Qianyi strongly supported the re-annotation of the Book of Changes because they both knew that:
The Book of Changes (I Ching) is the foremost of all classics and the most important text among the Five Classics. To understand Neo-Confucianism, one must begin with the Book of Changes.

In particular, Liu Zongzhou came from a family with a strong scholarly tradition; his maternal grandfather, Zhang Ying, was an expert in the I Ching, and Liu himself had a deep understanding of the I Ching. No matter how much he loved Neo-Confucianism or how close he was to the Donglin Party, he would not compromise on the I Ching, but rather intended to incorporate his own ideas into his commentaries on the I Ching.

Zhu Youjian also had ideas about the Book of Changes. He wanted Zhang Pu to incorporate mathematics into it and guide scholars who studied the Book of Changes to learn mathematics.

Therefore, he strongly supported the re-annotation of the Book of Changes and gave his full support to Liu Zongzhou.

With his unwavering support, Liu Zongzhou gained the lead in collating and annotating the Book of Changes. Based on the commentaries of Cheng Yi and Zhu Xi on the Book of Changes, he re-collated and compiled it.

The methods for punctuation and annotation of the four classics—Poetry, History, Rites, and Changes—were successively established.

The only remaining text was the *Spring and Autumn Annals*, which, like the *Book of Rites*, was a classic rarely studied in the Ming Dynasty. (End of Chapter)