I stole divine power in Daxia

Chapter 574: The mind is the beginning of things, things are the purpose of the mind

In the Golden Palace, Wang Mingyi turned aside, not daring to accept Zhou Tieyi's full greeting, and then said, "The ancient sages said that one should study things to gain knowledge, which means that every blade of grass and every tree has its own reason. Knowing this clearly is to gain the Tao, and therefore one can rule the world."

Wang Mingyi also began his analysis from the words of Confucian saints, and then he expressed his confusion, "However, the saints did not explain what 'reason' is. I got Zhou Hou's eight characters that day, and also tried to study things and observe the bamboo in the courtyard, hoping to get the truth from it and use it to govern the world."

“But the longer I watched it, the more confused I actually became.”

Wang Mingyi frowned slightly, and his words and expression, combined with his righteous spirit, actually formed a series of phantom bamboo shadows, bringing everyone in the hall into his confused scene.

Because this involved a new change in Confucianism, Zhang Shizhong, the chief priest of the Imperial Academy, did not stay out of it. Instead, he asked in a persuasive manner, "But you can't understand the reason behind it?"

As the chief priest of the Imperial Academy, he was certainly familiar with the "Investigating Things and Extending Knowledge" section of "The Great Learning".

Manage your family, govern the country and bring peace to the world; cultivate yourself and be sincere in studying things.

This almost encompasses all of Confucianism's requirements for personal cultivation.

But after teaching for half his life, he also found the biggest difficulty in the teaching process, which is how to explain "Gewu" to students. This is almost an idealistic statement, similar to the Buddhist enlightenment and the Taoist entry into the Tao. Some students can understand the truth of bamboo and make changes in their own upright spirit after just one look at it, while some students cannot gain any insight even after looking at it for three days and three nights.

"Quite the opposite."

Wang Mingyi smiled self-deprecatingly, "Maybe it's because of luck, I've learned a lot more than others."

As he spoke, the shadows of the bamboos formed by the righteous energy around him began to change.

"I first combined it with Confucian classics to understand why bamboo is used to describe a gentleman."

The ministers were slightly surprised. On the one hand, they lamented that Wang Mingyi was so talented that he could actually "investigate things". On the other hand, they were also curious. Wang Mingyi explained in the first sentence why he used bamboo to symbolize a gentleman. Wasn't this too complacent?

Many Confucian scholars with outstanding talents, through embracing bamboo, only learned the concepts of fortitude and moderation.

But when Wang Mingyi said this, the bamboo forest transformed by his righteous spirit did change. First of all, the originally illusory "Qi" had a lingering feeling, just like the endless growth of bamboo.

Confucian scholars such as Dong Xingshu and Zhang Shizhong reached out and touched the "bamboo" around them, and they couldn't help but nod slightly, confirming that Wang Mingyi had really succeeded in his study of things.

The military strategists present even mobilized their own energy and blood to chop at the bamboo formed by the great righteous energy, but the next moment, the chopped great righteous energy grew as fast as the bamboo.

Because in addition to its universality, Wang Mingyi's righteous spirit has indeed incorporated the changes of bamboo. Compared with other people, his recovery ability has become faster. Being able to achieve this is actually worthy of the teachings of Confucianism.

Dong Xingshu asked, "Why do we use bamboo to describe a gentleman?"

Wang Mingyi smiled confidently and said, "Nothing else, it's just good for teaching the world."

"The difference between a gentleman and an ordinary person is so great that one cannot finish talking about it even if one spends three days and three nights. Scholars have time to finish reading these books, but can a farmer in the field, a cook under the stove, or a child in enlightenment finish reading them? Do they have time to finish reading them?"

"But they must have come into contact with bamboo, and most people in the world love bamboo, or at least don't hate it. So we use bamboo to describe a gentleman, first to make people love it, and then inspire them to want to learn from the gentleman. So using bamboo to describe a gentleman is not because a gentleman is like bamboo, but because people love bamboo, so they love gentlemen."

"That is why we compare the upright posture of bamboo to a gentleman who is not afraid of power, and the many uses of bamboo to a gentleman who benefits the people. This is the wish of Confucianism, to use bamboo to educate the people of the world, so that the people can become gentlemen by learning from bamboo."

"Supreme Goodness!"

"That's a great idea!"

"Wang Sheng is no longer just investigating things, he is actually truly understanding the meaning of education!"

Confucian scholars exclaimed in praise one after another.

The principle of Wang Mingyi's explanation is a further elaboration of "The Great Learning", which solves a principle that "The Great Learning" did not explain clearly, namely, why we should investigate things and why investigating things can cultivate oneself.

Because for most of the enlightened people, it is impossible for them to objectively understand the big truths, so we need to use the things around them to explain and illustrate them so that they will love learning.

Then everyone looked at Zhou Tieyi proudly.

Zhou Tieyi held his chin and thought for a while, then nodded and said, "Not bad."

Seeing Zhou Tieyi's praise, Wang Mingyi continued, "So I have further deepened the truth from 'studying things', that is, if you want to make people study things, you must first make people's hearts move. The moving heart is the beginning of studying things, and the heart is the beginning of things."

Everyone nodded at the same time, but Zhou Tieyi did not nod this time. If Wang Mingyi had his own suggestion, he would only understand that the mind is the beginning of things. Even if he evolved the theory that there is nothing outside the mind, it would still be the wrong way.

Seeing that Zhou Tieyi did not nod, even if everyone nodded, Wang Mingyi did not continue to speak, but smiled and said, "Does Lord Zhou think that I will use the Buddhist theory of emptiness as the skin, the Confucianism of replacing the heart of heaven with one's own heart as the bones, and the personal moral cultivation method of emphasizing the nothingness of the mind?"

After being asked this question by Wang Mingyi, Zhou Tieyi's expression became more solemn.

The saint who also studied "investigating things to acquire knowledge and integrating knowledge with action" in his previous life ultimately failed to escape the limitations of his time. He eventually based his doctrine on personal moral cultivation, hoping to realize the concept of universal peace through personal moral cultivation.

This seems to be a beautiful expectation, but in reality we can know that even if that person is a saint, he has not taught any saintly disciples, nor has he changed the course of social development. He cannot effectively guide the development of society and can only be limited to guiding personal moral cultivation.

This is the biggest drawback of that doctrine.

If Wang Mingyi can break the Confucian doctrine of "replacing the will of Heaven with one's own heart" today, then he can truly be regarded as the founder of a new Confucianism!
Seeing Zhou Tieyi's expression becoming serious, Wang Mingyi's smile became brighter, "The mind is the beginning of things, but things are the use of the mind."

Wang Mingyi put forward the second level of his point of view.

While many Confucian scholars were still pondering the reason for saying this, Zhou Tieyi already knew the meaning.

Translated into plain language, consciousness is the beginning of understanding matter. Matter is consciously utilized, thus giving rise to the human practical cognitive process.

Zhou Tieyi spoke again, "Okay."

Seeing that Zhou Tieyi already understood what he meant, but the ministers including top Confucian practitioners such as Dong Xingshu were still thinking about it, Wang Mingyi once again realized why Zhou Tieyi was so much faster than everyone else in the world.

Of course, he didn't just want Zhou Tieyi to know. He brought it up today to let the concept of New Confucianism be known to the world, so he continued to explain.

"Everyone, do people love bamboo or gold?"

Wang Mingyi's question made the ministers raise their heads in thought. They wanted to open their mouths, but they hesitated.

Because if we admit that people love gold more than bamboo, then wouldn’t that be agreeing with Zhou Tieyi’s theory of human desire?

But not admitting this seems like lying with open eyes.

It was Dong Xingshu who first understood that Wang Mingyi's statement was to explain a point that Confucianism has never explained clearly, that is, why morality is above interests!

He had already made up his mind, so he didn't mind using his old face as a stepping stone for Wang Mingyi at this time, so he said, "Of course there are many people who love gold."

Wang Mingyi continued, "For ordinary people, bamboo can be woven into baskets, made into benches, used for cooling off, and bamboo shoots can be eaten, but gold is bulky and heavy. Why do people still love gold more than bamboo?"

Wang Mingyi asked himself and answered, "Nothing else, because gold can buy bamboo, it can buy everything bamboo can do, and it can also do everything bamboo cannot do, so people love gold."

After Wang Mingyi said this, the ministers naturally understood the reason.

Everyone showed a look of sudden enlightenment, "So this is the purpose of things serving the mind."

Wang Mingyi nodded and said, "That's right. Because things can be used consciously by people, they can affect people's lives. People love gold not because they are mean people, but because gold can make them live a better life. So from the heart, there is nothing wrong."

But after this discussion, Wang Mingyi was still not satisfied. The majestic and righteous bamboo forest swayed, turning the heat into a deep and profound artistic conception, making a rustling and refreshing sound. In the forest, there was actually the clear recitation of "The Great Learning". But after "The Great Learning", there was "The Classic of Agriculture".

Wang Mingyi continued, "I just combined the Confucian classics to talk about the truth I have realized, and then I combined the classics of other schools to analyze bamboo."

After hearing Wang Mingyi's words, everyone looked at each other in a daze.

Before, they thought that no matter how brilliant Wang Mingyi's policy proposal was, it was nothing compared to Zhou Tieyi's "theory of contradictions".

But now it seems to me that even though this policy paper is not as good as Zhou Tieyi's "Theory of Contradiction", it is at least as bright as the moon, able to run parallel to the bright sun in the sky, far surpassing himself and others.

However, Wang Mingyi said that he read "truth" from other classics, which seems to indicate that Wang Mingyi is not limited to Confucianism, at least not limited to the current Confucianism!
This inevitably makes people think that the newspaper run by Wang Mingyi and Zhang San was called "New Learning". Now it seems that it is probably not New Learning, but New Confucianism!

Wang Mingyi ignored the expressions of others and continued, "I combined the agricultural books to understand the principles of bamboo growth. I know how to plant more bamboos on one acre of land and how to use these bamboos to weave tools."

The shadows of the surrounding bamboos became more solid as Wang Mingyi grew stronger. They were no longer illusory and rootless. Instead, they seemed to be rooted in the Golden Throne Hall, making it difficult to tell what was real and what was fake.

(End of this chapter)