Han officials

Chapter 309: Abundant "Blessings" [4K]

Outside the library, Xi Lu and Sun Yan, dressed in tall hats and wide sleeves, stood in the way.

These two seemingly frail scholars blocked Wei Zhe's path, accomplishing what countless battlefield warriors had failed to do.

Not only that, these two actually complained to Wei Zhe's face:

Why does Lord Wei favor one over the other?

Upon hearing this, Wei Zhe was taken aback at first, and then realized what the two were talking about.

Wei Zhe, who had just been pontificating in the library, suddenly felt somewhat embarrassed.

Although Zhixing Academy was always presided over by the three elders Zheng Xuan, Lu Zhi, and Cai Yong, these three basically did not participate in the mundane affairs of the academy, and only occasionally gave lectures to the students.

In theory, the head of Zhixing Academy was Wei Zhe.

Of course, Wei Zhe certainly wouldn't have time to manage the academy's daily affairs.

Therefore, the daily management of Zhixing Academy was basically handled by the two great Confucian scholars, Xi Lu and Sun Yan.

For this reason, Wei Zhe specially recruited two people to serve as literary advisors and instructors at the academy, instructing them to manage the academy's daily operations.

But here's the problem.

Since Xi Lu and Sun Yan were appointed to manage the academy, they naturally had a certain degree of jurisdiction over the teachers of the classics in the academy.

So the two of them discovered that there was a student in the academy who frequently skipped classes, causing the students to complain.

To be precise, they were students of Xiuwentang.

That's right, it's Wei Zhe again, the one who's always absent!
After all, besides being the headmaster of Zhixing Academy, he was also nominally a teacher of the academy.

He has never missed a single winter training session at the Military Academy over the years, giving earnest instruction and personally teaching military strategy every year.

That is why Xi Lu and Sun Yan are here today.

Sun Yan, whose hair and beard were already white, earnestly advised:

"As fellow disciples, why does Lord Wei value martial arts over literary arts?"

Xi Lu also solemnly said with a serious expression:

"The ways of literature and martial arts are inherently one, both being the learning of a gentleman. Now, Duke Wei favors one over the other, which may mislead future generations!"

Regardless of how Wei Zhe tries to evade responsibility, these two Confucian scholars are determined to get an explanation.

Even if Wei Zhe only knows how to talk about military strategy, he can only teach in Xiuwen Hall today.

Fortunately, Wei Zhe did have some skills, and he immediately smiled helplessly and said:

"Very well, then let's have a chat today. Just don't blame me for misleading you students."

Upon hearing Wei Zhe's words, Xi Lu and Sun Yan smiled, fearing that Wei Zhe was just being perfunctory, and immediately escorted him toward Xiuwen Hall.

Before long, Wei Zhe arrived at a secluded courtyard.

As the number of students at Zhixing Academy increased, classes began to be taught in separate halls starting from Liaodong.

Students were divided into three classes—upper, middle, and lower—based on their academic progress, and were assigned to three different schools: the School of Sincerity, the School of Justice, and the School of Governance.

Among them, the Chengxin She (诚心舍) had the most members, followed by the Zhengyi She (正义舍), and the Zhishi She (治事舍) had the fewest members and the smallest location.

Therefore, Wei Zhe was at Chengxin Academy at this time.

When Wei Zhe sat down at the head of the hall, the room was already packed with students, and the outer corridors and courtyard were also full.

Upon seeing this, Wei Zhe immediately turned slightly to the side and gave a few instructions. A moment later, all the windows and doors of the lecture hall were removed, leaving a hall that was light coming through from all sides.

Once everything was ready, not only the students, but even the renowned scholars and teachers of the academy came upon hearing the news.

Even Lu Zhi, Zheng Xuan, and Cai Yong, who had previously been so badly hurt by Wei Zhe that their Dao hearts were on the verge of collapse, came.

To be precise, it was Cai Yong and Zheng Xuan who dragged Lu Zhi here to prevent him from doing something rash.

Meanwhile, Bu Zhi and Zhou Yu, who had been standing by Wei Zhe's side, couldn't help but feel secretly pleased.

After all, these people could not get guidance from Duke Wei, but they could learn from him at all times.

At the same time, Sun Yan stepped forward and respectfully asked:

"I wonder which scripture Lord Wei intends to expound upon?"

"Let's talk about the Book of Rites today!" Wei Zhe waved his hand.

Upon hearing this, the assembled scholars were not too surprised.

After all, most of them had heard that Wei Zhe was an expert in the Book of Rites, and especially loved the Commentary on the Three Rites.

Because of this, Zheng Xuan couldn't help but nod slightly, his eyes full of satisfaction.

Although Wei Zhe drew on the strengths of various schools of thought, his choice to interpret the Book of Rites at this moment clearly indicated that he agreed with his own interpretation.

However, when Wei Zhe spoke, Zheng Xuan's smile gradually disappeared, and his eyes were filled with astonishment.

……

"Rites are the laws of the Three Dynasties!"

"The Great Learning is the way of the Three Dynasties!"

On the high platform, Wei Zhe spoke solemnly.

As soon as these words came out, the whole hall was shocked.

It should be noted that since ancient times, the chapters of "The Great Learning" have been regarded as trivial and insignificant.

If it weren't for the rise of classical studies in the late Former Han Dynasty, which grouped the Zhouguanli, the Liji, and the Yili together as the Three Rites and combined them into the Lijing (Book of Rites), the pre-Qin prose text Daxue (The Great Learning) would not be considered part of the Lijing.

Now that Wei Zhe has singled out the "Great Learning" and placed it above the "Book of Rites," it is naturally difficult for everyone to accept.

However, Wei Zhe is now able to get others to listen to him properly.

Therefore, even though the students and teachers around him were full of questions, they still listened patiently to his explanation.

Then, Wei Zhe, seated at the head of the table, spoke slowly and deliberately:
"The book 'The Great Learning' is the method by which ancient universities taught people."

"Since Heaven bestowed life upon people, it has endowed them all with the nature of benevolence, righteousness, propriety, and wisdom. However, their temperaments and endowments may not be uniform, so not all of them can fully possess the virtues of a sage."

Although the author of the Great Learning was Zengzi, or a member of the Zengzi school of Confucianism, they still agreed with Mencius's view on human nature, believing that human nature is inherently good.

Therefore, the entire Great Learning is based on the idea that "human nature is inherently good".

To be honest, Wei Zhe didn't really care whether people's nature was good or evil.

Wei Zhe believes that neither Mencius's theory of the inherent goodness of human nature nor Xunzi's theory of the inherent evil of human nature is meaningful.

Compared to the view that human nature is inherently good, Wei Zhe believes that human nature "should" be good!
From the rulers' perspective, the theory of inherent goodness is more conducive to social development.

Once people accept the idea that "human nature is inherently good," they will be subtly influenced by it.

Similarly, if the theory of "human nature is evil" prevails, people will be subconsciously influenced to do evil.

These two frameworks can actually be seen from the characteristics of later Western and Chinese civilizations.

After all, in the former society, everyone is a "sinner," while in the latter, people grew up reading the Three Character Classic.

So one took pride in being a bandit, while the other was used to self-reliance and liked to farm wherever he went.

This is how a nation is shaped; it is often hidden within the familiar genes of its civilization. However, Wei Zhe could not explain these principles so directly to everyone; he could only use Confucian theories to illustrate them:

"To select the best methods for teaching and to establish a lasting legacy of education, there is nothing greater than this."

"For a person to have learning is like a tree to have branches and leaves. A tree with branches and leaves is not enough to be considered beautiful, let alone a person?"

"Therefore, one must go to the utmost to understand the subtle and the vast to reach the ultimate before one can speak of learning."

"This is why the Great Learning is the legacy of Confucius!"

"The Way of the Three Dynasties and the methods of the sages are all contained within it!"

After giving a concise overview, Wei Zhe began to interpret the specific content of "The Great Learning".

The same principle applies to classes: teachers always read the text aloud first.

However, later elementary school classrooms did this because they were worried that students wouldn't recognize rare characters.

But two thousand years ago, the significance of such an event was far more complex.

This is because it means dividing the text into chapters and sentences, which represents the interpreter's foundation for explaining the text and classics.

So Wei Zhe recited silently above, while the quick-witted students below rapidly spread out their books to take notes, meticulously recording every pause Wei Zhe made and how long each pause lasted.

After Wei Zhe interprets the entire text, perhaps today's students' records can be titled "Commentary on the Great Learning." Just like the Analects, Confucius did not write it, but his disciples recorded it.

If a Confucian scholar in the future achieves a high level of expertise in the "Commentary on the Great Learning" transmitted by Wei Zhe, then it will become another family of Confucian scholars.

Perhaps such a person will emerge from among the students in the hall right now.

However, no Confucian scholar has yet written a commentary on the Great Learning, so Wei Zhe can be considered to have set a precedent for this.

Compared to the students, the expressions of the Confucian scholars in the front row were much more complex.

Because Wei Zhe's views differed greatly from those in the "Annotations on the Three Rites," they were momentarily at a loss for words.

However, Zheng Xuan calmed down at this moment and listened to Wei Zhe's subsequent explanation with great curiosity.

As for Lu Zhi, who had just looked dejected, he couldn't help but listen intently at this moment.

However, the more he listened, the greater his surprise became, to the point that the discussion in the scripture room earlier seemed insignificant.

After all, Wei Zhe had only discussed the throne in the scripture room, but now he was talking about the path to sainthood!

Compared to sages, emperors, something so commonplace, are naturally not so rare.

……

"Those who govern a state and focus solely on finances are inevitably petty men. If they are virtuous, and petty men are employed to govern the state, disasters will follow. Even if there are virtuous men, there will be nothing they can do!"

"This means that a nation does not consider profit as its primary goal, but rather righteousness!"

After a long silence, Wei Zhe finally finished his interpretation of the last sentence of "The Great Learning".

The entire text of "The Great Learning" is short, consisting of only 1753 characters.

However, an hour had passed since Wei Zhe began his lecture, but the surrounding Confucian scholars seemed unaware of it.

The Confucian scholars who had previously questioned Wei Zhe's words were now also deep in thought.

Even Zheng Xuan, Lu Zhi, and Cai Yong seemed to have gained some insights.

Despite their differing opinions, the three had to admit that Wei Zhe was indeed highly accomplished in his work on "The Great Learning".

To put it bluntly, in times of peace, he could be considered a great Confucian scholar based on this alone.

Thinking about this, Lu Zhi felt a deep sense of emotion.

After all, the more outstanding Wei Zhe was, the more Lu Zhi couldn't help but feel that he was truly blessed.

While these great Confucian scholars were secretly considering their options, the thoughts of the lower-level scholars were much simpler.

Given their limited knowledge, they naturally couldn't judge Wei Zhe's level of expertise. In fact, due to the short time available, they hadn't even fully grasped some of Wei Zhe's interpretations.

When Wei Zhe gestured for everyone to ask questions freely, a tall young man in the front row immediately stood up.

The man bowed politely to Wei Zhe and said:
"Disciple Sima Yi of Hanoi pays respects to Master!"

Upon hearing this, Wei Zhe perked up considerably.

After carefully examining the young man in front of him, he found that he was just a handsome young man, and there was no sign of any "eagle-eyed wolf-like gaze".

Wei Zhe then nodded to him with great interest and asked, "What doubts do you have?"

Upon hearing this, Sima Yi immediately asked respectfully for guidance:
"This disciple is dull-witted and does not understand the meaning of 'A virtuous person can educate the nation without leaving home'?"

Sima Yi was actually asking about the idea in "The Great Learning" that "If you want to govern your country, you must first regulate your family."

To put it bluntly, this means that a virtuous person can spread education throughout the country without leaving their home.

However, there is a problem here: the "gentleman" in classical Chinese is different from the "gentleman" in the context of the Han Dynasty, and even more different from the "gentleman" as used in later generations.

The "gentlemen" in pre-Qin prose were the true ruling class.

In pre-Qin prose, the term "gentleman" could refer to either the son of a ruler or to someone in power.

For example, Lord Chunshen and Lord Mengchang were powerful figures who could influence the politics of a country.

Therefore, when faced with Sima Yi's question, Wei Zhe did not answer immediately, but first used the method of "exegesis" to deduce the meaning of "gentleman" in the sentence.

"In these words, the gentleman means those who govern others."

At this point, Wei Zhe picked up his ear cup, took a sip of the honey water, and then continued:
"Therefore, if those who govern always cherish benevolence, respecting the elderly as they would their own, and caring for the young as they would their own, they will see the common ground in people's hearts and will not allow even one person to be left without benefit. Thus, a wise ruler must take what is common to all and extend it to all things, so that each person can have their own desires fulfilled. Then, the world will be in harmony and peace."

In short, Zengzi meant to regard one's family as a small state and one's state as a large family.

In this way, if the principles of family harmony are applied to governing the country, the entire nation can be educated and civilized.

Even without leaving home, a virtuous person can understand the principles of governing a country by managing their family.

It must be said that Zengzi's ideas were quite advanced for that era.

When those in power set an example, the world will be at peace; this saying remains relevant even in later generations.

The more Wei Zhe read "The Great Learning," the more he discovered that it was a discipline of upward self-discipline.

Throughout the text, Zengzi did not make any demands on the people, but rather taught those in power how to be good rulers.

Whether ruling a country or a family, the constraints are placed on the dominant figures within their respective ecological niches.

Therefore, this chapter of "The Great Learning" is not for the common people, but for scholars who want to become superior people.

To make a somewhat inappropriate analogy, this is actually similar to the oath of joining a "Confucian political party".

It not only includes Confucian methodology, but also clearly puts forward the "Three Cardinal Guides and Eight Items" as a set of phased goals, telling all Confucian scholars how to achieve them step by step.

To be honest, Wei Zhe's initial motivation for studying the scriptures was not entirely pure.

However, as he gained a deeper understanding over the years, he gradually developed different insights.

If we strip away the layers of constraints that later generations imposed on Confucianism, this philosophy is actually quite practical.

Some knowledge will never become outdated with the passage of time!

(End of this chapter)