Rich and noble cannot be adulterous, poor and lowly cannot be moved, and mighty cannot be bent, which is called a big husband. - Confucius
During the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, Su Wu sent an envoy to the Xiongnu, and when he left the country, he had a premonition that he might not be able to return to the Han Dynasty. As he expected, he was detained by the Huns, and his friends in the Huns advised him to apostasy and surrender, so that he could avoid the pain of flesh and skin, and enjoy endless glory and wealth.
Rejected by Su Wu, the Xiongnu exiled him to Lake Berga in present-day Russia, where he endured hardships but remained loyal and vowed not to surrender to the Huns.
This sincerity touched the heavens, a carrier pigeon flew to the Han Dynasty, Emperor Wu of Han learned the news that Su Wushang was in the human world, and then forced the Xiongnu to release people, Su Wu was finally able to return to the Han Dynasty after more than ten years.
There are many righteous and awe-inspiring heroes like Su Wu in history, Wen Tianxiang's "Who has not died since ancient times?" Leave Dan in his heart. ", the Tao does not exhaust the loyalty and righteousness of his sacrifice for the country. Even Confucius said that the great husband's integrity was not changed by wealth, poverty, or force.
He wrote this famous saying in the book of rites, but forgot to instruct future generations to study and study well. The Confucian "loyalty, filial piety, benevolence, righteousness, courtesy, wisdom and faith", perhaps several other points have been achieved, but Zhongjun has not been able to do it, and it is really embarrassing for Confucius to have frequent births in the change of dynasties.
Confucius's Confucianism
Beginning with the Western Han Dynasty, at the suggestion of Dong Zhongshu, "deposing a hundred schools and respecting Confucianism alone", Confucianism began to become official orthodoxy. Confucianism has its own reasons for its own solitude in China, standing for two thousand years without falling.
All this is due to the fact that the ideas of Kong Shengren just fit the concept of the unification of the emperors of various dynasties. The Confucian idea of loyalty to the king is like the most shining pearl in the shell, which makes the emperors fall in love with it.
In the Analects alone, there are as many as eighteen zhong. The original meaning is not loyalty to the king, but the standard of the gentleman's own cultivation. "My Three Provinces and My Body: Seeking For Others and Not Being Faithful? Loyalty here represents the gentleman's attitude towards his friends, loyalty and trustworthiness, and cannot live up to the trust of friends in you.
At that time, loyalty had not yet reached the height of loyalty, and later various schools of thought made their own notes on the meaning of loyalty. It was not until the Western Han Dynasty that Confucianism was truly established as an instrument of imperial rule. There are no preconditions or conditions for 100% loyalty to the king, let alone doubt.
Foolish loyalty is a tool of the ruling class, but from another positive point of view, it is the duty of a courtier to be loyal to the king. Especially in the change of dynasties, this loyalty is even more precious.
At first, whether it was loyal friends or loyal jun, his starting point was good, positive and full of positive energy, and when he came to his descendants, he left Zhongjun behind, and what he did was even more reviled by the world.
The face of a courtier in the midst of dynastic change
The descendants of Confucius are innumerable today. After Confucius Confucianism was officially established as orthodox, the status of the Kong clan was gradually elevated, and future generations began to enjoy the benefits brought by their ancestors.
The first time the descendants of the Kong family were canonized was in 195 BC (the 12th year of Han Gaozu), and kong Teng, the eighth emperor, was given the title of "Fengqi Jun", and since then, this title has been changed several times.
In the 2nd year of Song Zhihe (1055), he was renamed YanShenggong, and then changed his name several times, and finally the title of "YanShenggong" was fixed until it was cancelled during the Republic of China.
The descendants of the Confucius family always wanted to lie on the merit book and eat the old books, but they never renewed Confucius's Confucianism in the hope of being able to carry it forward even more, they were not only lazy, but also more provocative, and they were particularly unearned.
Although the descendants of the Holy Gate have experienced dynasties and dynasties, although the last dynasty is about to collapse and the emperor of the new dynasty is about to take office, the descendants happily send their own hot faces, sing praises and praises to the new emperor, and do not remember the favor of the previous imperial court to their families.
History has recorded several incidents of defection of the descendants of the Kong family: First, when the Jin soldiers went south, Kong Duanyou's half-brother Kong Duancao took the initiative to surrender to the Jin people.
Second, in 1252, Kong Yuancuo, the Duke of Yansheng, died, and the descendants of the Confucius family competed for the title of "Yanshenggong" and rushed to show overtures to Kublai Khan. Kublai Khan had a smile on his face, but in his heart he looked down on this group of Descendants of the Kong Family.
Third, during the Chongzhen period of the Ming Dynasty, Kong Yinzhi, the Shunzhi Emperor of the Qing Dynasty, had just ascended the throne, and he wrote a congratulatory telegram of "Initial Entry Table Text", doing his best to do the work of patting horses.
Fourth, Chiang Kai-shek took Yan Sheng Gong away, while his Kong family feasted on Japanese soldiers at home and wrote extremely meaty documents, and Chiang Kai-shek was really eager to wipe out the Kong family.
Apostasy in exchange for status
Successive generations of Yan Sheng Gong were very reluctant because they knew that their interests were tightly bound to the imperial court and had to submit to the new dynasty; they were very rational, and if they did not surrender, the privileges of the Kong family, which might last for a thousand years, would be wiped out. Their so-called preservation of lifeline and foundation is actually that they do not want to lose the power and wealth they have in their hands.
The official rank of the Yan Sheng Gong in each dynasty was very high, in the Song Dynasty it was eight pins, in the Yuan Dynasty it was three pins, and by the beginning of the Ming Dynasty it was already one pin. The privileges of the Kong family even override the local government, almost to the point of doing whatever they want.
The internal court of the Kong family is like a small country, divided into functional departments and performing their duties. The status is also three, six, nine, etc., clear and clear, the tenants below have no status to speak of, and the taxes are fiercer than the tiger, and the oppression phenomenon is very serious, making these low-level ordinary people miserable.
However, no one dared to resist, they were the big red people around the emperor, and they were against the Kong clan, that is, against the emperor. Therefore, the Kong clan people walked almost sideways before the Republic of China.
Excellent descendant of Kong
Although Yan Sheng Gong was so unbearable, the historian's record was also biased, he could not overthrow a boat of people with one pole, wronged so many excellent descendants of the Kong family, did not do a single wrong thing, but was carved into the pillar of shame together. They used their own actions to justify the descendants of the Kong family.
Kong Fansen, one of the touching figures in China, was an excellent Communist Party member and a good cadre of Jiao Yulu's style, who was killed in a car accident during the construction of Ali in Tibet, at the age of 50.
The Tibetan people cling to him, bowing to the construction of Tibet, and when he died, he had only 8.6 yuan in his clothes, and there was a note with 12 suggestions for Ali's construction, which was written during his lifetime. Kong Fansen never dared to forget his work.
In addition, there are Professor Kong Qingdong of the Department of Chinese of Peking University, Kong Xiangdong, a world-renowned pianist, Kong Bohua, one of the four famous doctors in Beijing, and Kong Xiangde, an actor, all of whom are leaders in all walks of life.
The thoughts of The Sage of Kong have shone brightly for thousands of years; and the ugly deeds of the Holy Father have been criticized by people for hundreds of years and thousands of years. Regardless of the merits, it has become yellow sand, but from these historical events, we have seen the misinterpretation of power, the misreading of loyalty, the seizure of power, and the pursuit of desire.
Today, to talk about zhongjun may be really pedantic, but the essence of Confucianism should be carried forward. They were protected by their ancestors, but they disgraced their ancestors. They failed to continue the excellent qualities of Kong Shengren, hoping that such a family would not appear again in the future.