It is easy to fight in the country, but it is difficult to defend the country, and this is not unreasonable. Augustus was able to fight, killing Brutus in the Battle of Philippi and leveling Antony at Aktim, but he did not solve Rome's grain problems throughout his life - without importing from Egypt, Rome's native grain reserves were not enough to last for half a year. Cao Cao was able to fight, taking the lead lü bu, suppressing Yuan Shao, and sweeping away Hebei, a total of only fourteen years, but until the death of his grandson Cao Rui, Cao Wei did not completely resolve the fundamental contradiction between the Eastern Han clan and the Cao Wei clan, and let Sima Yi take advantage of this contradiction in 249. When fighting in the country, as long as you can fight, when guarding the country, you must be able to fight and be able to govern. It's not easy.
This is true of countries, and so are companies. The Rothschilds were very good at fighting, and Meyer and his five tigers started in the Napoleonic Wars and spent 36 years, bringing their business across Europe and leading the world in assets. They were also very good at defending, and in the course of 172 years of development, they withstood two economic crises (1857, 1929), two world wars, and even survived the bloody London Streets of New York Wall Street, except for the British royal family, the Rothschild family. But they still haven't survived the 2008 economic crisis. That year, The Rothschild Bank declared bankruptcy.
However, it is not without miracles. The Japanese Kōmei Group Co., Ltd. (which is a joint-stock company), established in 578, has stood for 1441 and has not fallen, equivalent to living from the Sui Dynasty in China to the twenty-first century. At the same time, because the King Kong group has always specialized in one business, it has eaten all over the world with one trick, and now it is not only strong, but also more and more powerful.
The establishment of the Kongo Group Co., Ltd. is the last year of the Southern and Northern Dynasties in Chinese history and the Asuka era in Japanese history. During this period, Japan's imperial power withered, warlords were divided around the country, and there were constant wars. The Japanese Imperial Family carried out a series of reforms to turn the tide. For example, on the military side, the clan military system, which was previously the responsibility of the clan, was replaced by a royal military system under the direct responsibility of the royal family, so that the royal family could directly allocate troops. After the end of the military reform, Prince Shengde marched into the warlords of various places to fight, in order to suppress the middle and upper class opposition forces. At the same time, Prince Shengde also carried out the Religious Reformation, introduced Buddhism from China, and used Buddhism to instill ideology in the middle and lower classes of Japanese civilians to achieve the purpose of maintaining social stability.
King Kong Group Co., Ltd. was established in this historical context. As the Japanese Imperial Family designated Buddhism as the state religion, Buddhist education and Buddhist temple construction began to prevail. Huge grants from the Japanese Imperial Family were used to find the most prominent architects of the time and to discuss the establishment of Japan's first and most representative Buddhist temple. In the end, the top runners-up were the Goguryeo architect Yanagi Shigemitsu and the Japanese "Buddha", the Shitennoji Temple. Shi Zai: "At the behest of Prince Shengdeok, two craftsmen from the other side of the ocean (Goguryeo) came to assist Vajra Chongguang (Ryu Chongguang) in building the monastery, and stayed here after the construction was completed. "Ryu Chongguang lived in the Korean Peninsula in his early years and was discovered by the Goguryeo royal family for his outstanding artistic talent. The Xingde Palace and the Peony Garden in Goguryeo were written by Liu Chongguang. Later, Yanagi Shigemitsu came to Japan to develop, and was selected when Prince Shengde was promoting Buddhist construction.
The main complex of Shitennoji Temple took fifteen years to complete, and subsequent buildings were not completed until the early 8th century AD. Yanagi invented the stupa center of gravity hammer technique, which enabled the pagodas of Shitennoji Tora to withstand the frequent earthquakes in Japan. At the same time, due to the excellent balance between the practicality, sense of history and sense of art at Shitennoji Temple, Prince Shengde praised Yanagi Shigemitsu's contribution and invited him to establish a national Buddhist temple architecture group, from which the Kongo Group Co., Ltd. was born. After the birth of the Kongo Group, Prince Shengde ordered Liu Shigemitsu to write a technical book on the construction of the temple, and the Compilation of Construction Methods of the Kongo Group recorded, "The construction technology of Kongo Chongguang has been continuously passed down from the second generation of craftsmen to the third generation." At the same time, Prince Shengde entrusted a large number of Buddhist temple construction projects to Liu Chongguang at that time, and promised that the state would allocate funds to the association every year, so the Kongo group became the hottest construction company at that time. At the beginning of the Nara period, the Kongo group basically monopolized the construction of major temples in Japan.
Before the Meiji Restoration (1868), The Kongo Group Co., Ltd. continued to develop steadily. During this period, Japan has always believed in Buddhism, and the construction of Buddhist temples has always been one of the needs of Japanese society, and as a monopolist, the Order of the Vajra Group has never stopped. In addition, the state allocates funds on a regular basis every year, so that it has no worries. At the same time, because the Kongo group was an construction company, there was almost no need to participate in the various struggles at that time, so in the course of more than a thousand years of calm and calm, the Kongo group has always stood firm and brought a large number of masterpieces.
During the Meiji Restoration, Japan underwent earth-shaking changes from top to bottom. In the spring of 1868, Emperor Meiji issued an edict to promote religious reform and educational reform throughout the country. After the abolition of Buddhism as the state religion, buddhist monasteries were attacked. That summer, Emperor Meiji abolished Shitennoji's supremacy in Japanese Buddhist circles and downgraded it to an ordinary Buddhist temple. In terms of educational reform, Emperor Meiji abolished Buddhist teaching subjects and introduced Western curricula. The Nihon Shoki records that "Prince Shengde abolished the Buddhist teachings and introduced Dutch, English, and French Chinese, and also introduced mechanical, medical and other subjects. ”
Emperor Meiji completely westernized Japan, almost giving the Kongo group a fatal blow. In 1868, Emperor Meiji terminated all fixed subsidies for the Kongo Group, and at the same time, forcibly abolished the regular maintenance expenses of the Kongo Group in the major monasteries it built. Due to the sudden change, the Kongo group did not have any prior experience in other industries, and in the two years before 1870, the Kongo group struggled and nearly went bankrupt. According to the Nihon Shoki, "In the first year of Meiji (1868), the Emperor issued an order for the separation of the gods and Buddhas, and shitenno-ji lost its temple collar, and the Vajraku group was stopped. At the beginning of 1869, some Japanese Buddhist groups, led by Shitennoji Temple, provided free financial assistance to the Kongo group, and because there were more than 70,000 Buddhist temples in Japan at that time, the Kongo group was able to survive this crisis. Subsequently, the King Kong group stabilized the situation by immediately turning the rudder, withdrawing from the temple construction industry, and entering the ancient building maintenance and protection industry.
The Meiji Restoration Crisis was the largest crisis in the history of the Kongo Group, and although the Kongo Group was affected during World War II and several economic crises of the twentieth century, its foundations never wavered. In the 1960s, the Kōkusa group entered the residential industry and have their works in kobe, Osaka, and Kyoto, Japan. In the 1990s, after the end of Japan's real estate bubble crisis, the Kongo group regained its old belongings and returned to the Buddhist temple construction industry 1400 years ago, and is still the most authoritative temple construction company in Japan.
The reason why Kongo Group Co., Ltd. has been able to stand for thousands of years and become a living fossil company and miracle in human history is mainly due to two reasons: the trend of the times and personal struggle.
Trends of the times
The first factor in the success of King Kong team leaders is that they can choose the right industry at the right time. During the Meiji Restoration, Japan once counted the number and construction of Buddhist temples in history, and within 100 years after the establishment of the Kongo Group (578), they built more than 35 Buddhist temples throughout Japan, which shows how much Prince Shengde of the Asuka era attached great importance to Buddhism and how he greatly funded the construction of monasteries. At the same time, it is conceivable that the rise of the Kongo group should be very rapid in the early stages.
After the rapid rise of the King Kong group, it can always grasp the trend of the times in the long-term historical process. As mentioned earlier, before the Meiji Restoration, Japan was mainly Buddhist, and the Vajra group never entered other industries. Under the sudden blow of the Meiji Restoration, the Kongo group knew that the glory was no longer there, but they did not complain about themselves, but immediately turned the bow of the ship and actively adapted to the new trend of the times. During World War II, due to the large number of air raids in Japan, the civilian real estate industry almost collapsed, and the Kongo group immediately turned the rudder again and entered the military equipment manufacturing industry. Due to the absolute strength of the Kongo group in the field of wood product manufacturing, many wooden military materials of the Japanese army at that time, such as various ammunition boxes and food boxes, were manufactured by the Kongo group.
The trend of the times and personal efforts are indispensable. If you only know your personal efforts and don't know how to adapt to the times, the end is Kodak. On the contrary, if you only know how to adapt to the times and have no personal efforts, it is naturally in vain.
Personal effort
Another reason for the longevity of Kongo Group Co., Ltd. is their outstanding craftsmanship. For more than 1400 years, they have consistently taken root in the field of Buddhist monastery construction, and they can only do it, and they naturally have no reason to fall. After the Nara period, the Kōjō group's skills in the construction of Buddhist monasteries had become in full swing, and while contemporaries were still exploring the layout of the temple, the Vajra group had countless innovations. The aforementioned stupa center of gravity hammer and its improved version are examples.
The stupa center of gravity hammer is the genius invention of Liu Zhongguang: first from the top of the stupa's interior, a huge metal heavy hammer is drawn, directly to the bottom of the stupa, and the middle is connected by a huge log. On the side facades of each floor of the stupa, some logs protrude, connecting with the central log. Finally, each floor of the stupa is not fixed dead, leaving appropriate space for movement. This set of designs freed Japan's ancient architecture from the threat posed by earthquakes for the first time in history. When the earthquake comes, because each floor of the stupa has a suitable space for activity, the stupa center of gravity hammer constantly plays a balancing role within the stupa, and when the stupa tilts to the left, the center of gravity hammer automatically moves to the right, and vice versa.
This year, the Kongo group has gone through 1441 years. As one of the few surviving miracles in the world, the Kongo group has become a spiritual symbol in Japan, protected by the state, so we have reason to believe that they can continue the miracle.