Confucian classics in Han dynasty

Thirteen Classics, as thirteen classic works of Confucianism, covers the basic contents of Confucianism. There are 0/89 stone tablets of Confucius Temple in Beijing, including Yi, Shu, Stone, Zhou Li, Yi Li, Li Ji, Zuo Zhuan in the Spring and Autumn Period, Biography of a Ram in the Spring and Autumn Period, Biography of the Spring and Autumn Period and The Analects of Confucius. In the history of China, it is a tradition to engrave Confucian classics on stone tablets, which has a history of more than 2,000 years since the Han Dynasty. The scripture of Han Dynasty stone reliefs is a must-read text for court officials in past dynasties, and the music stone reliefs have an incomparable and respected political status. One person is the teacher of all generations, and one word is the rule of the world. From Confucius to Confucianism to the study of Confucian classics, all these have profoundly influenced the fate of China's history, and the study of Confucian classics must start from the Han Dynasty.

In the winter of BC 195, the Confucius Cemetery in Qufu, Shandong Province will welcome a very special guest here. The guest's name is Liu Bang. At this time, Liu Bang had become the founding emperor of the Han Dynasty and was in charge of the supreme power of the Han Dynasty, which made the guards of Confucius' tomb very worried. Long before Liu Bang became emperor, he despised Confucianism represented by Confucius. He thinks Confucianism is stale, scolds Confucian scholars for corruption, and even takes off their hats and uses them as catheters to humiliate Confucian scholars. What attitude will Liu Bang take towards Confucius this time?

In the archives of the Cultural Relics Bureau of Qufu City, Shandong Province, there are 36 copies of Confucius' sacred painted silk in the Ming Dynasty (A.D. 1465- 1505), which show Confucius' life story. A painting depicting Liu Bang's sacrifice to Confucius restored the true picture of history. As can be seen from the picture of Emperor Goslu, when Liu Bang, the ancestor of Emperor Goslu, arrived at the tomb of Confucius, he paid homage to Confucius in the most solemn way and presented a generous gift. This is the first time that the supreme ruler publicly worshipped Confucius in historical records.

The change of Liu Bang's attitude towards Confucianism has much to do with Sun Tong, an uncle of Confucian scholars. Like other Confucian scholars, in the fierce Chu-Han War, when Uncle Sun Tong led 100 disciples to Liu Bang, Liu Bang paid attention to the thieves and heroes who cut flags, but he didn't have much affection for Uncle Sun Tong. In the following three years, Shu was very cautious about Liu Bang and did not recommend a Confucian scholar to Liu Bang. On the contrary, he recommended many martial artists who were good at taking the lead, which puzzled the Confucian scholars who followed him. As we all know, Uncle Sun Tong is waiting for his chance. Liu bang was born a commoner. After he became emperor, many people around him didn't understand etiquette and drank in the court to gain credit. Liu bang was very upset about this, but he was helpless. This is Uncle Sun Tong's best chance. He clearly told Liu Bang that although Confucianism could not conquer the world in the war, it could do its best for the long-term stability of the world. Liu Bang is far from realizing the role of Confucianism, but Uncle Sun Tong's plan to make sacrifices to etiquette and standardize the words and deeds of ministers is tantamount to giving Liu Bang timely help, and he immediately approved Uncle Sun Tong's plan. On the day of the ceremony, the scene was grand and orderly. For the first time, Liu Bang deeply felt the dignity as an emperor and the importance of etiquette and order. From then on, Liu Bang no longer regarded Confucian scholars and Confucianism as decorations, but gradually realized the practical value of Confucianism in political life, and Confucianism therefore occupied a place in the Han court and officially entered the room.

In BC 195, when Liu Bang defeated Ying Bu, the last powerful warlord with different surnames, and took his sick body to pay homage to Confucius, he seemed to have vaguely felt that only Confucianism was the most suitable idea to ensure the long-term stability of the Han Dynasty. However, when he realized this, his life was coming to an end. Less than half a year after paying homage to Confucius Temple, Liu Bang died of illness. Confucianism at this time is far from the most respected Confucian classics, and even important classics are not easy to find. In the pre-Qin period, Confucianism was only one of hundred schools of thought, and its position was not prominent. After the Qin Dynasty unified China, it established a national system based on Legalism, excluded hundred schools of thought such as Confucianism, and even burned books to bury Confucianism, folk books and occasional poems, all of which committed the crime of beheading. After Xiang Yu's army entered Xianyang and burned Qin's palace, even the poems, books and quotations hidden by doctors were destroyed in the fire. When the Han Dynasty was first established, everything was in ruins, but the culture was barren.

For many years, the Institute of History of China Academy of Social Sciences has been engaged in an important task, that is, searching for lost ancient books at home and abroad, which is obviously not an easy task. The same was true in the early Han Dynasty. Due to the influence of events such as burning books and burying Confucianism in the Qin Dynasty, it is inevitable to face many difficulties in finding Confucian classics. The Han Dynasty basically inherited the regime and system of the Qin Dynasty. When Liu Bang was alive, he explored the east and sought advice from the west all day long. Even the law prohibiting folk books collection in Qin dynasty has not been abolished. It was not until more than three years after his death that Emperor Hui of Han officially ordered the abolition of carrying calligraphy. Six years later, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty abolished the crime of libel and heresy, and began to greatly tolerate various schools, encourage academic development, and at the same time collect books, opening up the road of presenting books. In addition to the decline of Mohism at the end of Qin Dynasty, Confucianism, Taoism, France and Yin and Yang, which were active on the political and cultural stage in the pre-Qin period, coexisted at the beginning of Han Dynasty, especially Confucianism, which was suppressed by Qin Dynasty, was eager to revive its ambition of helping the poor and governing the country. However, the world is so big that few classics can be found.

This book is the earliest compilation of historical documents in China, which records the history from Yao Shunyu to the Eastern Zhou Dynasty 1500 years, and records the words and deeds and wisdom of the sages in the pre-Qin period. By the Han Dynasty, the old Confucian classics left by Duke Zhou and Confucius had evolved into six classics, namely, Yi, Shu, Shi, Li, Yue and Chunqiu. Yue had completely disappeared in the early Han dynasty, and even Shu was hard to find. In order to preserve Confucian classics, in the fourth year of Xiping in the Eastern Han Dynasty (A.D. 175), the court ordered the official classics to be printed on 48 stone tablets in the form of official scripts as standard textbooks for scholars. This is Xiping Shijing written by Cai Yong, a famous Confucian scholar in the Eastern Han Dynasty. Each stone tablet is ten feet high and four feet wide, standing on the east side of the capital Luoyang Imperial College Lecture Hall. On the day of its completion, it was an unprecedented occasion, and people went to watch and copy it. However, after years of vicissitudes and changes, some of the Xiping Stone Classics seen today are kept in Xi 'an Beilin Museum, and the other part is collected in Shanghai Museum.

Fu Sheng's "The Picture of Giving Classics" is a classic of Du Jin, a painter in the Ming Dynasty. Fu Sheng is an autocratic official of Confucianism in central Shandong. When Qin Shihuang ordered the burning of books, he hid a history book in the wall, which became the only history book in China during the reign of Emperor Wen of Han Dynasty, and Fu Sheng became the only Confucian who could speak history books at that time. The imperial court immediately invited him to Beijing, but Fu Sheng was over ninety years old and could not go to Beijing, so Emperor Wen of Han specially sent Chao Cuo, who was too big, to study in Fu Sheng. After studying Shangshu, Chao Cuo was appointed as a doctor by Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty. At that time, there were more than 70 doctors in the Han Dynasty, including doctors who treated Confucianism and doctors who treated Taoism, Legalism and Yin and Yang. All kinds of theories want to become the mainstream of Han dynasty, and there have been many arguments during this period. Although Confucianism was valued to a certain extent in the early Han Dynasty, under the national conditions of years of war, barren land, economic depression and intensified social contradictions, Taoist inaction thought was obviously more in line with the social situation at that time, thus occupying a dominant position.

The famous rule of Wenjing in history may have appeared under the policy of Taoist inaction. From Liu Bang to Emperor Han Jing, the rulers of the Han Dynasty advocated the idea of sharing interest with the people, and implemented the county system and feudal system in political policy, giving vassal States great autonomy; Economically, encourage frivolous farming; In social policy, we should persist in using morality to control the armed forces and transform the people with morality; In terms of foreign policy, the whole society has been working quietly in the Chu-Han War for more than 60 years, gradually achieving the goal of enriching the country and strengthening the people. According to historical records, by the end of Emperor Han Jing, the granary of the country was full, and new millet was piled up outside the granary under the pressure of old millet. Many copper coins in the vault have not been used for many years, so that the rope for wearing money is rotten and the scattered money is countless. With such fruitful results, the position of Taoist thought in the whole country is more prominent.

However, there are profound social contradictions hidden behind Wen Jing's prosperous times, especially the corruption of the world, which makes people of insight very worried. Jia Yi wrote in "Public Security Policy",' Qin wants to unify the whole country, implement Shang Yang's political reform, and abandon ceremony and benevolence. Although Qin made great achievements, he advocated utilitarianism. Although it is now the Han Dynasty, the customs left by the Qin Dynasty have not changed, and the world pursues luxury and competes with others. The court did not customize this, which led people to abandon etiquette and shame, which became more and more serious day by day, and people did things for the benefit. "In view of this phenomenon, Jia Yi hopes that Emperor Wen of Han will attach importance to the education of propriety and righteousness. However, Emperor Wen of Han only partially adopted his opinion, and still practiced the policy of Taoist inaction as a whole. The talented Jia Yi was strongly resisted by the prime minister, Qiu and other powerful ministers, and was quickly pushed out of the place and died young.

Taoist thought was also respected by various governors, and Liu An, the king of Huainan, was one of them. Huai Nan Zi, compiled by him, contains many schools, but Taoism is the main one. He hoped that the Han dynasty would always adopt the policy of doing nothing to rule, so that the vassal States would have greater freedom. This political pattern not only deprived the government of a large number of taxpayers, but also seriously eroded the national finance, making the vassal States gradually strong and independent, and also making the centralized unified empire face the threat of being split at all times. Chao Cuo went to Fu Sheng to study the Book of History when he was in Emperor Han Jing, and became an ancient scholar. He was keenly aware of the threat of vassal States to the central government, and clearly put forward the proposal of cutting the vassal, which was supported by Emperor Han Jing. Unexpectedly, this led to the chaos of the seven countries with Chu. Although the chaos of the Seven Kingdoms was quickly quelled, the contradiction between the Han Dynasty and the vassal states remained acute. The positive and promising thought of great unity advocated by Confucianism also met with fierce confrontation with the conservative thought of Taoism.

Yuangu Village, Tianzhuang Town, Huantai County, Shandong Province, is the hometown of Yuan Gu Sheng, a Confucian in the Han Dynasty. Later generations built a statue to commemorate his restoration of Wuxian Temple. During the reign of Emperor Jing of Han Dynasty, Yuan Gusheng was appointed as a doctor because he learned the Book of Songs. His Confucianism was incompatible with the conservative Taoist thought at that time. The most typical example is that he and Taoist Huang Sheng had a debate in front of Emperor Jing. They all take Shang Tang and Zhou Wuwang as examples to illustrate their political views. On the surface, the theme of this debate is the historical past of the previous generation, but in fact their attitude is aimed at the real politics at that time.

By the time of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, under the guidance of the thought of governing by doing nothing, there were many crises in imperial power politics, and the accumulated social contradictions were in an explosive trend, which made the Han Dynasty have to reflect on the previous concept of governing the country and take corresponding positive measures to deal with the crisis. In terms of ruling ideology, it is an inevitable choice for the rulers of the Han Dynasty to gradually get rid of the theory of Huang Lao and turn to positive and promising Confucianism. In BC 140, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty adopted the memorial of Wei Wan, the prime minister. Anyone who had studied the theories of Shen Buhai, Shang Yang, Han Fei, Su Qin and Zhang Yi was not allowed to choose officials, which meant that the thoughts of legalists and strategists were abandoned. In BC 136, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty ordered the appointment of doctors in the Five Classics of Poetry, Calligraphy, Ceremony, Book of Changes and Spring and Autumn, and all the classics were more complete in the government. A year later, Dou Taihou died, and Liang Wudi was able to reuse Confucian scholars with great fanfare. However, in the face of all kinds of drawbacks and ideological confusion that already exist in society, etiquette and fragmentary thoughts alone can no longer solve the problem. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty urgently needs a complete and systematic theory of governing the country and calming the world. He needs to closely link this with his own administration and formulate a comprehensive national policy at one time. Who in the world can provide such a systematic concept?

There is a thousand-year tradition in Dadong Guzhuang Village, Jingxian County, Hebei Province. Whenever children reach school age, they will come to the one-inch-long ancestral temple in Dong Zi to worship. In this way, people pray that their children and grandchildren can read poetry like their ancestor Dong Zi and make contributions to society. Dong Zi is Dong Zhongshu, a great scholar in the Western Han Dynasty. From ancient times to the present, there are many disputes about where Dong Zi's family is, but people's respect for Dong Zi has not changed for thousands of years. Dong Zhongshu studied hard behind closed doors, and his study was next to the colorful garden. However, because of his hard work, he didn't peek at the garden for three years. Dong Zhongshu, based on Yang Gong Chunqiu, combined with the religious view of heaven and the theory of Yin and Yang and Five Elements since the Zhou Dynasty, absorbed the thoughts of Legalists, Taoists and Yin and Yang, and established a new ideological system. Dong Zhongshu was the founder of Confucian Classics in Han Dynasty. Confucianism became the official ruling philosophy in Han Dynasty, the dominant thought in China ancient society for more than 2,000 years, and the content and direction for major research institutions and scholars to explore Confucianism today.

In BC 134, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, who was in full power, couldn't wait to write an essay on seeking Tao. Dong Zhongshu responded immediately and took good countermeasures. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty asked three questions, asking about the fundamental truth of consolidating the rule, the politics and skills of governing the country, and the relationship between man and nature. Dong Zhongshu answered three chapters in succession, pointing to the core problems of society at that time and putting forward the fundamental solutions. This is the famous "Three Strategies and Three Answers" in the history of China, which is called "Three Strategies for Heaven and Man" or "Good Strategies" and will completely change the fate of Confucianism.

In "Three Strategies for Heaven and Man", the most important suggestion put forward by Dong Zhongshu is,' Those who master the skills of Confucius are all out of their Tao, so they don't advance. Six arts are six talents that a scholar must possess, and he emphasizes that Confucius and Confucianism should be used to unify the thoughts of the world. After hearing this, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty dismissed all the doctors who could not cure the Five Classics of Confucianism, and recruited hundreds of Confucian scholars with excellent literary talent. This is the expulsion of Confucian school which has a far-reaching influence on China's ancient cultural thought.

Dong Zhongshu also put forward for the first time the idea of establishing imperial college to govern the country by teaching, that is, to train talents who receive Confucian classics education through the way of running schools by the state, so that the political theory advocated by Confucian classics can be better practiced. Imperial academy is an ancient university in China. Imperial academy's name began in the Western Zhou Dynasty and really flourished as an official school in the Han Dynasty. It is precisely because of this that schools adapted to different ages have developed rapidly all over the country. The voice of reading classics has been handed down from various schools and has been heard for two thousand years since ancient times. The Five Classics of Yi, Shi, Shu, Li and Chunqiu were identified as official schools in the Han Dynasty, and the theory of the Five Classics became the most orthodox Confucianism and political ruling theory in the Han Dynasty. By the end of the Western Han Dynasty, the number of scholars studying the Five Classics had gradually increased to fourteen, so they were also called the Fourteen Doctors of the Five Classics.

Gong Sunhong, a Confucian scholar who was contemporary with Dong Zhongshu, was also highly valued by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. Although GongSunHong was an intellectual at the bottom of society, he was promoted to be the first teacher appointed as prime minister in China history. Gong's talent is known for being pragmatic. His political thought has an obvious tendency of integration of Confucianism and law, and he thinks that law is not far from righteousness and ceremony is not far from righteousness. It put Dong Zhongshu's suggestion into practice, suggested to Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty to establish a school system, took Confucian classics as a unified teaching material for education in imperial academy, set up Confucian classics examinations, provided official talents for departments at all levels, and linked Confucian classics with Li Lu studies, which laid a solid foundation for the development of Confucian classics.

The inheritance of Confucian classics in Han dynasty is very particular, and the inheritance of sects is strict and orderly. In the early years of the Western Han Dynasty, the masters who studied the Five Classics were Shen Peigong, Yuan Gusheng and Han Ying. Fu Sheng who has studied books; Gao is a person, and the inheritor is Li; Tian He, who is easy to learn; Hu Wusheng, Dong Zhongshu, Shen Peigong and others. Dong Zhongshu, on the other hand, is a master of ram studies in Spring and Autumn Annals. There is no doubt that he is the most influential master of Confucian classics, teaching the Spring and Autumn Annals of Ram. The Confucian Classics Normal University in the Han Dynasty devoted its life to one, the so-called poor classics. This persistent spirit and simple attitude are also the reasons why later generations call Chinese studies simple. Most of the Confucian classics teachers in the Western Han Dynasty were civil servants. By the Eastern Han Dynasty, the Confucian classics teachers' college students had become aristocratic families after several generations, and Confucian classics were monopolized by these aristocratic families. These families not only hold power politically and become economic giants, but also have the right to speak in ruling ideology and social morality. Confucius, the founder of Confucianism, has the status of a saint and a king and is regarded as a god in the sky. Sacrificing Confucius has also become an important activity. Confucian classics also became the divination of Confucianism. As a theological prophecy, divination and divination are not much different in essence. With the improvement of the status of Confucian classics in Han Dynasty, Shu Wei attached to Confucian classics was born, and the interpretation of Confucian classics by divination opened the door to the mystery and vulgarization of Confucian classics.

However, the most important feature of Confucian classics in Han Dynasty is its practicality. They widely integrated and absorbed the strengths of various schools, enriched Confucian classics and devoted themselves to the governance of the dynasty. Especially after Emperor Wudi ousted a hundred schools of thought and respected Confucianism alone, experts used their expertise in Confucian classics to get more incisive play. Scholars transformed pre-Qin Confucianism with the theory of Yin-Yang and Five Elements, and established the theory of Yin-Yang disaster and difference, so as to limit imperial power and standardize emperor's behavior. They think that the emperor's behavior conforms to heaven, and auspicious signs will appear in heaven to praise it. If it doesn't conform to Heaven, Heaven will tell us the disaster and difference, and give a warning. There were frequent disasters in the later years of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, and a reply from Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, The Imperial edict of Reclamation, contained a lot of self-reflection, which was also the first well-preserved letter of criticism from the emperor in the history of China.

Tian Zi, as the proper name of the emperor, was created by the literati of this era. In fact, the theory of unification in the Spring and Autumn Period is a creation of scholars in the Han Dynasty. It is a concept put forward by scholars in the Confucian classic Spring and Autumn Annals, which means to attach importance to and respect. Unity means that all the princes in the world are bound to Tian Zi. As the biography of Han Wang Ji said,' Spring and Autumn are so unified, Liuhe shares the same wind, and Kyushu is also * * *'. "This kind of political ethics with orthodoxy as the core has strengthened the authority of centralization, which has had a great and far-reaching impact on China and East Asian society for more than two thousand years.

After Dong Zhongshu put forward the policy of governing the country with benevolence, propriety and righteousness as the mainstay, supplemented by punishment, scholars in the Han Dynasty created another important theory-the three cardinal principles and the five permanent members. The so-called "three steels" means that the monarch is the minister, the father is the son, and the husband is the wife. The so-called "five permanent members" are benevolence, righteousness, courtesy, wisdom and faith. Although the three cardinal guides and the five permanent members are often used together, they came from Zhu in the Song Dynasty, but the discussion of these concepts in Chinese and Confucianism has been very clear. The three cardinal guides and the five permanents are social ethics centered on normative order, which has deeply influenced the cultural psychology of China people for more than two thousand years.

Stretching for more than 2,000 years, the Three Cardinal Principles and the Five Permanent Principles have internalized China people's thoughts and behavior norms. Confucian scholars are gentle, courteous and frugal, and become a model of practicing the Three Cardinal Principles and the Five Permanent Principles, which is not only reflected in their moral behavior, but also in people's life orientation. Obviously, Confucianism is frugal, and the Confucian clothes that best represent their identity are almost not made of silk and satin. Hemp and cotton can show their modesty and generosity and indifference to fame and fortune. Confucian demeanor has always been the most respected personality tendency of ancient literati in China.

Although the study of Confucian classics flourished after Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, it was not smooth sailing. Confucian classics in Han dynasty can be divided into Confucian classics and classical Chinese classics. Modern Confucian classics generally refer to Confucian classics written in official script in Han Dynasty, which is classified as official system. However, since the end of the Western Han Dynasty, the study of Confucian classics has been challenged by the study of ancient Chinese classics, which refers to those Confucian classics that are not established in the central official school, hidden in the royal secret room or spread among the people, and suppress the worship of Confucius by respecting the Duke of Zhou. The rise of China's ancient classics stopped the trend of China's modern classics sanctifying Confucian classics to some extent. By the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Confucian classics and ancient prose in modern literature were in a state of juxtaposition. At the same time, people of insight began to stop arguing, but to govern the Confucian classics of modern literature and ancient prose and seek development through integration. At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, a master of Confucian classics appeared, and he was Zheng Xuan. He tried to integrate modern Confucian classics with ancient Confucian classics, and Confucian classics entered a small unified era. Obviously, although the study of Confucian classics was born out of Confucianism, the multiplicity of its cultural origins seems to coincide with the truth that "the world is consistent and everything is connected, and all roads lead to the same goal" in the Book of Changes. Confucian classics have changed the concept of Tao from Taoism, and Tao has been socialized and applied, making inaction all-encompassing and sharing interests with the people positive and enterprising. Confucian classics borrowed the state theory of Legalists, which made up for their own lack of understanding of sovereign authority and state system. Confucian classics draw lessons from Mohism's theories of heaven, providence, well-off society and great harmony to defend the rationality of imperial power and establish an ideal society. Some theories of Confucian classics still have the influence of reading.

Sima Tan, the father of Sima Qian, a great historian in Han Dynasty, was also a historian. He once criticized Confucianism for being broad-minded and lacking in details. Perhaps Sima Tan was wrong, and the shortcomings he pointed out were precisely its advantages. Confucian blog can let him absorb the strengths of various schools as widely as a sponge, without lack of emphasis, so that Confucianism will not stick to the old ways and stick to its shortcomings, but can keep pace with the times and carry forward. Because of this, the influence of China's ancient social classics for more than two thousand years is incomparable with other theories. Although the Confucian classics, which have achieved exclusive status, tend to be sanctified and vulgarized, and have the same moral compulsion, their strong practical concern and self-criticism spirit highlight the essence of their academic schools and play a positive role in the development of China society. Today, we worship Confucius in the Confucius Temple. Our feelings are different from those of other religious places. The clay sculpture of Confucian scholars in the main hall of Confucius Temple is very kind and familiar, just like a family having a cultural dialogue with him. In any case, this teacher, like other sages, is still nourishing our culture, enlightening our wisdom and standardizing our behavior.