Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

Upon seeing the Emperor's "Treatise on Yin and Yang," Qu Shisi and the others were all speechless.

Because they don't understand it at all, they naturally have no way to discuss it.

The emperor's article, in particular, seems to employ theories from Taoism and Yin-Yang philosophy, but ultimately rests on the "I Ching"—

This is expounded in the Book of Changes, one of the Four Books and Five Classics and the first of the classics. The Treatise on Yin and Yang can still be considered Confucianism.

In particular, the emperor's discussion of the character "易" (Yi) seemed to be an attempt to advocate for reform and institutional change. Ministers who knew the complexities of the situation dared not discuss it at all.

Do they still remember that those who opposed the restoration of rites and music were basically dismissed by the emperor?

Even true Confucian scholars like Huang Daozhou were left far away.

Attacking this article would likely be seen by the emperor as opposing the restoration of the rites and music.

Those ministers who understood the dangers involved naturally dared not discuss it.

So they wisely skipped the article and continued reading.

The fifth article was much more normal, but it wasn't normal either—

This article was authored by Zhu Youjian and Qian Qianyi.

In other words, this article was co-authored by the emperor and Qian Qianyi; it is more of an imperial edict than a thesis.

The article's title, "Gathering from a Hundred Schools of Thought, Letting a Hundred Flowers Bloom," reveals the emperor's attitude towards the literary world.

The article begins with pre-Qin poetry and prose from various philosophers, then goes on to discuss Qin and Han prose, Han dynasty poetry and fu, folk songs, Six Dynasties parallel prose, tales of the strange and legendary, as well as Tang poetry, Song lyrics, Yuan drama, and Ming dynasty novels and dramas, thus outlining the entire development of ancient literature.

It called on the literati of the Ming Dynasty not to "write only Qin and Han dynasty prose, and write only Tang dynasty poetry," but to learn from these schools of thought, extract their essence, and develop their own schools.

We encourage the flourishing of literature in the Ming Dynasty, hoping it will blossom into something magnificent.

Some of these viewpoints were consistently advocated by Qian Qianyi.

As the leading figure in contemporary literature, Qian Qianyi opposed the antiquarianism of the Former Seven Masters and the Later Seven Masters, advocated "expressing one's aspirations through poetry," and embraced Song poetry.

Zhu Youjian did not object to this, because the revival of poetry in the early Qing Dynasty was the contribution of Qian Qianyi and others.

However, he wasn't particularly fond of Song Dynasty poetry, so he advocated learning from various schools of thought and encouraging a flourishing of diverse literary styles. He encouraged innovation in the literary world, urging the creation of literary forms that met the needs of the times.

To this end, he also included a short poem to encourage Ming Dynasty literati to explore new literary styles.

Qu Shisi and others found this short poem quite interesting:
"It is the beauty of nature, the beauty of nature."

"In a place where no one ever sets foot, a spring flows silently in the empty mountains."

It appears to be a five-character poem, with a touch of Wang Wei's style. However, it breaks through the constraints of metrical rules, resembling vernacular Chinese.

Although Qu Shisi and others were officials, they were also scholars, and they praised this greatly, feeling that it truly opened up a new era for poetry.

"The Seven Masters of the Former and Later Dynasties said they studied Tang poetry, but in the end they didn't learn anything of substance."

"Although the teacher's suggestion to study Song poetry is a way out, Song poetry is ultimately not as good as Tang poetry."

"Your Majesty's new poem, though seemingly simple, is quite interesting. It captures the essence without forgetting the form, surpassing countless other works."

“Our Ming Dynasty should have new poetry, instead of blindly imitating our predecessors.”

Qu Shisi dared to say these words, and Qian Qianyi listened to them as well.

Although he was good at studying Song poetry, he probably didn't think there was anything comparable to the masterpieces of Tang Dynasty poets.

The new style of poetry promoted by the emperor was indeed a way out; at least there was no poetry from the ancients that could be compared to it.

Many poets who study Tang and Song poetry despair because of this. They painstakingly create a poem, only to find that there are always better poems waiting to be written.

Even the most outstanding poem in the Ming Dynasty, "Linjiangxian," dares not claim to be the best in this ci (lyric) form.

Not to mention the similarly evocative "Nian Nu Jiao: Reminiscences of Chibi," which stands in the way of such poems. Therefore, modern poetry is indeed a way out, at least it can break free from the oppression of the ancients.

This is also why Qian Qianyi was willing to co-author this article with the emperor and polish it according to the emperor's wishes.

This article, which appears to be about the history of ancient literature but is actually a guide to literature in the Ming Dynasty, was included in the first issue of "Hanlin" as a representative literary essay.
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With the first five articles of such high quality, Qu Shisi and others have even higher expectations for the following ones.

Then they saw "The Theory of Choice," a paper previously published by Zhang Pu.

After being polished and improved, it was included in the first issue of "Hanlin".

Qu Shisi and others had already discussed this, so they didn't pay too much attention to it.

Then they saw a groundbreaking article, signed by Liu Lishun, who was about to go to Beijing:

"Serving the People: Starting with Liu Zongyuan's 'Officials Serving the People'"

Just reading the title was enough to send chills down their spines.

When they saw the article elaborating on Liu Zongyuan's governing philosophy from his statement "Those who serve the people are servants of the people," and further elaborate on "serving the people and building a service-oriented government," they were so surprised they almost jumped up.

"How could such an article be published in Hanlin Journal?"

"Does His Majesty intend to use such a fallacious argument?"

Qian Qianyi did not quite agree with this, but he could not stop the emperor.

Faced with the disciple's questioning, he could only say:

"That's just one person's opinion!"

"Liu Zongyuan's idea has been proposed for so long, but I haven't seen many people study it."

"Liu Lishun wants to learn, and we can't stop him."

"As long as officials remain 'parent officials,' this idea cannot be implemented."

Qu Shisi and the others then nodded, realizing that this article was not an imperial edict.

If the emperor were to truly promote this ideology, it's estimated that all the officials of the Ming Dynasty would rebel.

It's more like we're making people do forced labor, how can we serve them?

After vehemently criticizing it, Qu Shisi then came across "On the Eleven Taxes," a book co-authored by the Economics Department of the Hanlin Academy.

The discussion ranges from Mencius's views on the tithe to the tithe system of the Three Dynasties, which was considered the best tax system.

Excessive taxes would increase the burden on the people, while excessively low taxes would create powerful clans, which is why powerful clans emerged one after another in the Han Dynasty.

The best solution is to levy a 1/10 tax on all, and then increase taxes on the super-rich to limit the emergence of powerful clans.

This article is clearly written on the emperor's orders, and the Hanlin Academy wrote it according to the requirements.

As propertied individuals, Qu Shisi and others should logically have criticized this. However, having long since followed their teacher Qian Qianyi in becoming property owners, they did not object to it.

They were even pleased to see the court enforce the law more strictly, causing other property owners to fall as well.

The final, ninth article is from the art museum.

This article, co-authored by Liu Zongzhou and his disciple Li Yu, is titled "Music Education and Entertainment".

This was a view previously held by the emperor, who believed that musical works should first entertain the masses before they could be used for educational purposes and to promote moral values.

At the same time, starting with "music comes from within," he discussed "singing to express one's aspirations," believing that satisfying inner needs is also part of education, echoing Qian Qianyi's view of "expressing one's aspirations through poetry."

For this reason, Qu Shisi and others highly praised this article, believing that literature and art should first and foremost come from the heart, and only then should they be used for entertainment and education.

Overall, they had a high opinion of the first issue of *Hanlin*. However, they had some reservations about Liu Lishun's article. (End of Chapter)