Jinting Han people

Chapter 87 Qingming Literary Gathering (5k)

Over the past year, in order to prevent any problems before they occur, Liu Xian has been closely inquiring about the news of Jingu Garden.

After the robbery, although Shi Chong initially made a big fuss and acted as if he would not give up until the robbers were caught, within a month, Shi Chong gave up the pursuit for some unexplained reason. Since then, Jingu Garden has been closed and there has been no news of its reopening.

Although he didn't quite understand the reason, Liu Xian was still happy to see it happen as long as he was sure that Shi Chong didn't find any evidence.

But Shi Chong couldn't possibly close the garden forever. As Luoyang's largest and most luxurious garden, and a hub for the city's literati, everyone knew that the Golden Valley Garden would eventually reopen. When it would reopen, and for whom, was a topic of conversation among Luoyang residents.

With the arrival of Lu Ji, the literary world in Luoyang was in full swing. Shi Chong finally released the news that he planned to hold a literary gathering in Jingu Garden on the day after Qingming Festival. He would invite all the talented people in the literary world to contribute their ideas and write brilliant works together, which would be regarded as a grand event in the literary world.

The number of people Shi Chong invited to the Jingu Garden Literary Gathering was so large and so grand that it was rare in the world. From nobles to humble people, no matter if they had long-standing achievements in Luoyang or were just a little famous, almost everyone was invited.

Among the famous figures of the older generation in the literary world, there are scholar leaders such as Le Guang, Wang Yan, Zhang Hua, and Wang Ji;

The new generation of literary talent also included Zhang Zai, Pei Wei, Zuo Si, Xiahou Zhan, Lu Zhi, and Zhu Zhen;
Of course, there were also princes from the royal family. Young princes such as Sima Yun, King of Puyang, and old princes such as Sima Tai, King of Longxi, also received invitations.

If you count carefully, there are more than 500 people invited to the poetry gathering in Jingu Garden. Not only Liu Xian, the latest second-rank official, but also Liu Kun, Zu Ti, and even Liu Cong and Liu Yao are on the invitation list. This shows how much importance Shi Chong attached to this literary gathering. Obviously, he took it as an opportunity to re-establish the reputation of Jingu Garden.

However, for the attendees, Shi Chong's ideas were unimportant. The protagonist of this literary gathering was definitely one and only one person, and that was Lu Ji of Wu County. All those who had never seen Lu Ji in person wanted to take this opportunity to get a glimpse of the elegant demeanor of Lu Lang from Jiangzuo.

Shi Chao personally delivered Liu Xian's invitation. After entering the imperial court the previous year, he wasn't assigned to the palace, but rather to the Northern Army outside the city as a military officer. Therefore, their encounters had been rare. But this time, when he arrived, he smiled at Liu Xian and said, "Lu Shiheng is so popular that even my sixth uncle can't sit still. Come and put a stop to his arrogance!"

Liu Xian originally wanted to meet Lu Ji. How could he refuse such a good opportunity?

It's just that the relationship between him and Shi Chao has changed a little. If it were in the past, Liu Xian would definitely have smiled and agreed, "Leave it to me!"

Now he was acting rather uneasy, and said insincerely, "We'll see what happens. Your family has invited so many people this time, maybe it won't be my turn!"

After Shi Chao left, Liu Xian was left holding the letter. He lowered his head and read it for a while, thinking silently: Lu Ji, Lu Ji, please don't let me down...

In a blink of an eye, it was the day of the literary gathering. Liu Xian, wearing a purple Confucian robe embroidered with bamboo patterns, and he and Xi'an and Zhang Gu went to Jingu Garden with ease.

It was indeed a bustling day. Shi Chong had invited hundreds of scholars, and including their attendants and servants, the number of attendants likely exceeded a thousand. When Liu Xian arrived, the entrance to the Jingu Garden was filled with horse-drawn carriages and ox-drawn carts, making the spacious grounds feel cramped. Meanwhile, the streets and pavilions were filled with sightseers and patrolling guards, and tables were set up around the garden, offering fruits, honey, and water for the guests.

The guests said one after another: Such a banquet could probably only be seen in a big city like Luoyang.

However, as a robber, Liu Xian noticed that after more than a year, when he revisited the place, the appearance of Jingu Garden had changed significantly.

Originally, in Liu Xian's memory, the outer walled courtyard of Jingu Garden was better than nothing. But now, after passing the ginkgo forest, he saw a wall more than ten feet high standing behind the forest, stretching for several miles, surrounding the entire Jingu Garden.

The originally spacious and elegant pavilions have undergone large-scale renovations and reconstructions, and the layout is completely different. Simply put, it has become more crowded, with almost all the inhabited areas gathered in one place.

Among the servants he met along the way, there were more guards than before. Just by seeing them, Liu Xian estimated that there were about two hundred more people.

Liu Xian thought: It seems that the last robbery really hurt Shi Chong, which made him take action from both inside and outside. On the one hand, he strengthened the defense of Jingu Garden, and on the other hand, he strengthened his control over his subordinates. If he wants to rob Jingu Garden again, without a large army and internal support, it is probably impossible to succeed.

After entering the main courtyard, the banquet began.

As there were too many participants, Shi Chong could only hold the literary meeting in the open air. In an area of 100 feet wide, there were nearly 600 tables set up, and more than 200 maids shuttled back and forth among them, constantly adding water and fruit to the guests. They were graceful and beautiful.

When Liu Xian arrived, he found the banquet even more lively than he had imagined: a few middle-aged scholars were chatting in the center, while dozens of people stood nearby to watch the battle. Others were playing Chupu, some were engaged in private discussions, and some were gathered together to drink and compose poetry. In short, the atmosphere was lively, almost chaotic.

Just as he was confused, Liu Xian's eyes first fell on Zu Ti and Liu Kun.

Zu Ti was sitting leisurely in front of a table. Although there was a lot of noise all around him, he was eating cherries with undivided attention. The pile of cherries he spat out beside him was already as high as a fist.

Liu Kun was dressed elegantly, in a simple yet expensive Confucian robe with a blue, cloud-patterned pattern. He wore a silk scarf on his head and held a folding fan. He looked like a handsome young man, standing out from the crowd and drawing the glances of the maids at Jingu Garden. He chuckled softly, turned around, spotted Liu Xian, and invited them to sit together.

"Why are there only the two of you? Where are Xuanming and Yongming?"

"The two of them, their families were familiar with the Wang family of Taiyuan, and they were dragged by Wang Wuzi (Wang Ji) to make friends with the vassal king."

Liu Xian followed his instructions and saw Liu Cong and Liu Yao at the front row of the banquet. They were talking with Sima Yun, Sima Yi and others next to a middle-aged scholar with a twirling beard. The two sides seemed to be very familiar with each other.

"Why don't you go over there?"

Zu Ti said impatiently: "I am not familiar with Wang Ji."

Liu Kun pointed at the debaters nearby and said to Liu Xian with a smile, "I'm listening to the debate between Wang Yan and Pei Wei!"

When Liu Xian heard this, he looked over and saw a young scholar sitting opposite a middle-aged scholar. Both of them were dressed very elegantly, one holding a dustpan and the other holding a paper fan, but the debate was very intense. The two were gritting their teeth and it looked like they were about to fight.

The young man was Pei Wei, and the middle-aged man was Wang Yan.

An elderly man sitting nearby, sensing the tension, tapped the table with a wooden ruyi and said in a very calm voice, "This is just a gentlemanly argument, a simple debate. Why make it so tense? Yimin, Yifu, why not calm down for a moment before continuing this discussion?"

Liu Xian recognized that this old man was Le Guang, who had helped him.

He had previously visited the Yue Mansion to express his gratitude for the support. To his surprise, the Yue Mansion was a rather ordinary thatched cottage, and Le Guang didn't mention the support much, simply saying, "I only did my duty. If you truly wish to express your gratitude, please do as the article says."

At this time, Le Guang was still dressed very simply, just wearing an indigo linen robe, but his words were very appealing. He asked the two to calm down first, and the two people who had been arguing fiercely immediately calmed down. Both sides drank a sip of water and sat at the table to adjust their mood.

After a while, Le Guang said, "You two have gone a bit too far just now. Why don't we start from the beginning and continue to discuss the relationship between having and not having, which is higher and which is lower."

Pei Wei immediately said, "Of course, having is superior to having nothing. Nowadays, people value having nothing and despise having something. This is really putting the cart before the horse." Wang Yan said, "What do you mean by putting the cart before the horse?"

Pei Wei said: "To unite and combine all origins is the way of the ultimate. To distinguish between races is the quality of the common species. To distinguish between forms is the body of life."

"As we live in this world, the principles and ideas we gather are all based on the things that already exist in this world. What we can do is limited by our bodies and abilities. These are all real, inherent things. The so-called Tao is the sum total of all things that exist in this world. If we ignore existing things and instead blindly fantasize about things that don't exist, believing that the so-called Tao exists in some empty space, isn't that absurd?"

Upon hearing this, Wang Yan immediately retorted, "Pei Yimin's words are not entirely without reason, but, like the Buddha's words, they are somewhat overly superficial."

Pei Wei asked, "What is meant by attachment to appearances?"

Wang Yan laughed and said, "This is a Buddhist saying. He compares humans to lions made of gold. If you only see the lion's appearance but fail to see the gold's inner qualities, you are attached to appearances."

"Just now you said that the Tao is the sum of all things in the world. But did the Tao I'm talking about always exist? Before Cangjie invented characters, there were no characters in the world; before Youchao built houses, people could only live in the wilderness; in the pre-Qin and Han dynasties, most people in the world still used bamboo slips, but now everyone uses paper. This all shows that the Tao is not static, and all things in the world are constantly changing. This is what the sage said in the Laozi: The Tao gave birth to one, one gave birth to two, two gave birth to three, and three gave birth to all things."

"And aren't our attempts to understand and comprehend the Tao inherently invisible and intangible? And it's precisely because the sage's thoughts transcend existing things and approach the Tao that they achieve a transformation of 'existence,' isn't it? Pei Yimin's description of 'existence' above 'non-existence' is a classic example of attachment to form."

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone applauded and cheered, and they all thought that what Wang Yan said was more practical because he quoted from classics.

But Pei Wei was not at all alarmed. He said, "This is nothing but sophistry."

"The ultimate nothingness cannot be born from nothing, so the first thing to come into being is self-generated. The principle of the origin of all things is inherently contained in existing things, not derived from nothing. Cangjie created characters by imitating the shapes of all things; Youchao built houses based on the nests of animals and birds; is the paper we make today made by people based on thoughts? No, it was created by Cai Lun through repeated experiments."

"Everything we can do is limited by the Dao of self-generation, that is, the Dao of 'existence'. We cannot create fire in water, nor can we reverse the sun and moon. Only by correctly understanding these can we know where to strive and avoid wasted effort."

"The Laozi, with over 5,000 words, focuses on the principle of tranquility and self-discipline. This 'root' refers to one's duty, the way of self-existence, not some so-called nothingness. Wang Yifu said, 'Existence arises from non-existence.' True, this line is in the Laozi, but focusing on this single line without delving deeply into the main theme of the entire book is like chasing after the end."

After saying this, Liu Xian couldn't help but applaud in front of everyone and said loudly: "Mr. Pei is right!"

Pei Wei's words moved more than just Liu Xian. Many of the audience who were listening around originally agreed with Wang Yan, but after hearing Pei Wei's rebuttal, they felt that it was very insightful. Even Le Guang, who loved idle talk, couldn't help but nod in admiration.

Everyone seemed to be getting into the groove, citing a wealth of evidence and engaging in sharp exchanges. It wasn't even late spring yet, but the debate was leaving many sweating. The surrounding scholars, hearing the lively debate, flocked to listen. Before they knew it, a hundred or so people had gathered, including Shi Chong. Seeing both sides sweating, he quickly ordered his maids to fan them.

By this time, the debate between Pei Wei and Wang Yan had shifted its topic, branching out from the Laozi to discuss the Zhuangzi and the orthodox teachings. More specifically, it was a discussion of whether there were innate differences between people.

This topic was very sensitive. Not only were the two people in the center debating, but even the people listening around them couldn't help but whisper.

At this time, Pei Wei was the main attacker. He said, "Everything has its own nature, and so do humans."

"The Kunpeng bird cannot compare itself to a sparrow in the sky, nor can the cypress tree compare itself to a morning mushroom in the season of spring and summer. Huizi could not understand Zhuangzi's joy. People cannot be compared to one another. What about the relationship between scholars and farmers? Between men and women?"

"Just as a cicada doesn't know the Spring and Autumn Annals, a scholar cannot explain to the common people the way a gentleman governs a country, and a woman can only know how to support her husband and raise her children. This is the duty that everyone is born with. The saying that the people can be led to follow the rules, but not to understand them, stems from this principle. It's not that we don't want to teach everyone, but there are some principles that others simply cannot understand."

"This is what nature has given us. Everyone has his or her share. There is no escaping it, and no adding to it."

Liu Xian frowned at this. He had admired Pei Wei's earlier argument about the rich and the poor, but he was deeply displeased by his subsequent statement that everyone had their own destiny, that the disparity was so great that they couldn't be compared, and that everyone should stick to their own duties. According to this theory, was a person's fate predetermined from the outset, impossible to change?
He really couldn't see what was the difference between himself and Xiaomei, He Cheng and others, and what qualifications did Shi Chong and others have to be so rich.

However, most of the people present were scholars, and they could not help but appreciate Pei Wei's remarks. After all, this argument was actually arguing that scholars were born noble and should rule over ordinary people and the lowly.

However, Wang Yan, who loved to talk, did not like this talk either. He frowned and said, "Human desires are like birds having wings. This is the law of nature."

"The idea of contentment and being content with one's duty is the teaching of the sages and the way of the noble. People often spend years diligently studying and yet struggle to even grasp even a glimpse of the key principles."

"Xunzi said that all human beings have something in common: when hungry, they want to eat; when cold, they want to be warm; when tired, they want to rest; they like profit and hate harm. Their eyes distinguish between white and black, beauty and ugliness; their ears distinguish between clear and turbid sounds; their mouths distinguish between sour, salty, sweet and bitter; their noses distinguish between fragrant and fishy smells; their bones, bodies and skin distinguish between cold and heat, illness and nourishment. This is the same for both Yu the Great and Zhou the Great."

"Similarly, people's love of profit and the hustle and bustle of society are all due to this. The exiles say that everyone has their own duty according to their nature. I will not discuss other natures for now, but for people, I am afraid they will never truly be content with their duty, right?"

"It's like Chen Sheng and Wu Guang once said, 'What kind of descendants are kings, princes, generals, and ministers?' Then Guanzhong was in turmoil, and the situation got out of control, ultimately leading to the downfall of the tyrannical Qin Dynasty. But they didn't know what their responsibilities were."

This passage directly points to the crux of Pei Wei's remarks, which holds that the differences between people are not so great that they deserve to have their own place.

Pei Wei was quite at ease, and had obviously been thinking about this topic for a long time. He said:

“This is where the world’s folly lies.”

"The tyrannical Qin, restless in its position, vainly attempted to seize the throne of the divine instrument and proclaimed itself emperor. This was the first step to lose its position. Chen She, in his white-clothed uprising, later overstepped his authority and proclaimed himself king. This was the second step to lose his position. Therefore, both were destroyed."

"And Emperor Gaozu of Han obeyed the will of heaven, attacked the unjust, punished the tyrannical Qin, and avenged the Righteous Emperor. He also offered sacrifices to the kings in the suburbs and conferred titles and rewards on the nobles in the back, ensuring that everyone was in their proper place and fulfilled their proper role. This is how the four hundred years of the Han Dynasty came about."

"The Han Dynasty fell because Emperors Huan and Ling were restless, demoting their party members and promoting eunuchs. This caused a reversal of fortune and put the country in jeopardy, leading to the Yellow Turban Rebellion and Dong Zhuo's chaotic rule."

"From this, we can see that if everyone keeps his place, the world will be at peace; if everyone leaves his place, the world will be in chaos. To seek the greater by the smaller is to never achieve reason. If everyone keeps his place, both the greater and the smaller will be fulfilled. Therefore, our duty as scholars should be to keep the lower in the lower place and the higher in the higher place, so that the clear will be clear and the turbid will be turbid."

"As subjects, our greatest duty is to make the world understand this truth. Only in this way can we maintain our country, ensure the eternal glory of the sacred artifact, and maintain peace in the world."

After saying this, everyone was shocked and couldn't refute it.

Liu Xian was also astonished. Pei Wei's argument integrated the teachings of Laozi and Zhuangzi into the principles of statecraft. While its content was absurd and even arguably completely deviated from the Confucian spirit, it met the practical needs of the Western Jin Dynasty. By combining orthodox teachings with nature, he could be said to have created a new doctrine. This required a genius, truly a brilliant second-class official!
At this moment, he heard a chuckle in the silence, and Liu Xian subconsciously looked towards the source of the sound.

This was the first meeting between Liu Xian and Lu Ji.

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(End of this chapter)