Ming Dynasty: Domination of the World from the Imperial Examination

Chapter 329 "Mohism"!!!
"Wrong moderation?"

"This is the first time I've heard of this in all my years."

"You said moderation is wrong. So moderation is wrong? Do you really think you are a saint?"

"Since Confucianism proposed the doctrine of the mean, which great scholar has not regarded it as a guiding principle? And what is wrong with the doctrine of the mean? Anything in the world can be solved with the doctrine of the mean. Isn't this a great wisdom?"

"In my opinion, it's not that moderation is wrong, but that you don't understand moderation."

"."

After Xia Zhibai's calm words, he was immediately severely rebuked by a group of scholars headed by Liu Sanwu. Many people even pointed at Xia Zhibai's nose and cursed him, and the words became more and more excessive and radical.

They have been studying literature since childhood, but they still feel that the learning of the sages is so profound that they can hardly understand it in their entire lives.

As a result, Xia Zhibai, who is still young, questioned the "Doctrine of the Mean", the core of the sage's teachings, and even nodded and commented on it. Who gave Xia Zhibai the courage?

Xia Zhibai's face was calm.

He had anticipated the current situation.

These scholars of the Ming Dynasty had already absorbed Confucianism into their minds and regarded it as the only truth, and would not tolerate any questioning or opposition from anyone.

He can understand.

After all, they have been studying Confucianism all their lives. If Confucianism is denied one day, wouldn't it mean that all their life's learning will be in vain, and everything they enjoy now will also be wiped out? For their own sake and to maintain their own honor and status, they have no choice but to stand up and oppose it.

Xia Zhibai quietly accepted the scolding.

Don't rush to refute.

When Liu Sanwu and the others had almost finished scolding him, he slowly spoke: "During the Zhou Dynasty, various schools of thought emerged, and there were many doctrines that were on par with Confucianism. However, the 'moderation' that Confucianism highly advocates today was ignored at that time, and even Confucius himself did not care about it."

"You have read a lot of history books, but have you found any passages in ancient books that refuted the 'golden mean'? Given the degree of opposition between Confucianism and Legalism, Confucianism and Mohism, and Confucianism and Taoism at that time, if the 'golden mean' was really a famous saying, how could it not be attacked by other great sages?"

"That's why there isn't."

"It only shows one thing, that it was not worth discussing at the time, and perhaps it was not an issue of concern at the time."

"Even moderation itself was unfair at the time."

"When I first started learning to write, I was like Laozi, very fond of courtesy, and I also believed that 'benevolence' was the greatest good in the world. But as I got older, I became more and more disgusted with Confucian 'benevolence', and I also agreed more with Laozi's words that saints are not benevolent."

"Because of inhumanity, there is justice!"

"Once you become benevolent and think that certain groups are disadvantaged and need special care, then everything becomes unfair."

"This is not 'benevolence'."

"Benevolence is empty, but people are alive."

"There is a famous Confucian saying: 'To know what you know and to know what you do not know is the true knowledge.'"

"This statement was criticized by the Mohists at the time. The Mohists' criticism was: 'Knowledge is the sufficiency of knowledge; admonition is the lack of explanation.'"

“In addition to the ‘known unknowns’, there are also ‘unknown unknowns’, so people need to keep learning, at least to turn the ‘unknown unknowns’ into ‘known unknowns’, which in itself is a kind of knowledge.”

"And this kind of 'knowledge' is obviously more advanced than the Confucian 'knowledge'."

"But nowadays, the world regards Confucianism's 'knowledge' as the ultimate truth, but ignores the true and deep 'knowledge'."

“Isn’t this a kind of sadness?”

"A regression?"

"I don't object to your belief in 'moderation', but 'moderation' should not be the only way to learn."

"You can be moderate in your writings and writings, but you must seek truth from facts in your research, and you must have the courage and determination to get to the bottom of things. Otherwise, if you discover something new, it will be opposed by other great scholars. For the sake of the so-called 'moderation', you will curry favor with the powerful, rack your brains to curry favor with others, say some specious words, write some specious articles, and hide and bury the real truth." "This is an insult to scholarship."

"The insight of the world is knowledge, and the practice of human feelings is the article."

"It's enough to write about being well-versed in human nature, but being well-versed in worldly affairs cannot be done perfunctorily."

"Especially in research, one should follow the Mohist extremes."

"You can't be moderate, and you're not allowed to be moderate."

"Moderation depends on the situation."

"It's just like what Zhuangzi said, 'If you cut a one-foot stick in half every day, it will never run out of energy.' If you look closely, it seems impeccable. If you cut a one-foot stick in half today and half of the other half tomorrow, theoretically you can keep cutting it forever."

"But the Mohists gave a different answer."

"If it is not cut halfway, it will not move. The key is in the end."

"It is not a half-cut: it is to move forward and take it. If you move forward, the middle is not half, just like the end. If you take it from front to back, it is the end in the middle. You must cut it in half. If you don't cut it in half, you can't cut it."

"That is to say, if you want to 'cut the day in half', you must first find the midpoint. However, the midpoint is a 'point' (the middle), and a point cannot be divided, so it is impossible to divide it into completely equal portions. Therefore, 'cutting it in half' is impossible."

"Confucianism advocates 'just right', the goodness of Confucianism is 'just right', 'too much is as bad as too little', and the principle of being a human being is to 'do the best of human nature'."

"But when doing research and learning, you can't just touch on the subject. You must strive for perfection. Therefore, in mathematics and miscellaneous studies, you should focus on Mohism, supplemented by Taoism, dialectics and other knowledge, to maximize the students' divergent thinking and ideas."

"Instead of knowing when to stop!"

"Whether it's mathematics or miscellaneous studies, the main thing is theoretical research."

"Confucianism is about 'use'."

"As for the application, it is necessary to 'persuade', to be 'moderate', and to pursue 'optimization'. Therefore, the real place for Confucian learning is in practice, not in books. Perhaps from the beginning, the priorities have been reversed."

“Mathematics is a dialectical subject!”

"I have read the textbooks you have compiled, and none of them are in line with the truth. They are mixed with too many personal ideas and have no 'dialectical' thinking at all. Instead, they blindly promote what the predecessors left behind and regard these things as the standard. This is not the original intention of my establishment of mathematics."

"So it should be changed!"

"Mathematics is a subject that cannot tolerate mediocrity."

"I can only ask for 'extreme'!"

Xia Zhibai stood with his hands behind his back and pointed out the biggest problem in the mathematics textbooks. Liu Sanwu and others had enough knowledge, but they were too proficient in the teachings of sages. Even when editing books, it was difficult for them to change their nature. They always used some Confucian viewpoints to blur and complicate some simple definitions.

It makes people confused and unable to understand the meaning.

All I can feel is a 'rancid' philosophizing.

He advocated Mozi's minimalist definition.

Moreover, many things in "Mozi" are of very high theoretical level.

Just the analysis of "infinity" was two thousand years ahead of ancient Greece. Moreover, compared with the ancient Greeks who liked to use geometry to explain various algebraic and physical problems, the definition given by Mozi was very direct and clear. With just a little analysis, he could create the "Theory of Real Numbers" which took later generations thousands of years to construct.

Even in Xia Zhibai's opinion.

Western mathematics has actually gone through a very long circle from ancient Greece to modern times. On the contrary, the direction of Chinese mathematics has always been correct. If we follow the direction of Mozi, it is a straight line leading to modern times.

Xia Zhibai wants to sort out this buried "mathematical road" again.

And carry it forward, so that the "Mohism" that has been delayed for a long time can once again shine brightly on the land of China.

(End of this chapter)