Introduction: What is the Emperor's Path? Why did Qin Xiaogong abandon the imperial path that Shang Martin had lobbied? Starting from the perspective of different times and denying the status of the monarch, the imperial Taoist doctrine has certain drawbacks
People familiar with the history of the Warring States period are very clear that Shang Martin held three meetings with Qin Xiaogong before the implementation of the change of law in the Qin State, and Shang Martin expounded to Qin Xiaogong three different views on the imperial way, the royal way, and the hegemony, from different directions, using different ways to govern the Qin state; Shang Martingale through the comparative analysis of the different political systems and reform methods of the Central Plains countries, told Qin Xiaogong how to manage the country to make the strength of the princely states grow rapidly, Shang Martin's three lobbies can be said to be painstaking. Qin Xiaogong also showed a completely different attitude towards these three different views.
In this article, we will talk about the imperial tao practiced by the State of Lu in shang martingale' mouth, which is also the viewpoint and theory expounded by Shang martingale when he first lobbied Qin Xiaogong; then what does the emperor's tao really mean? What are its key theories? Why did Qin Xiaogong abandon the Imperial Dao? Today, we will focus on analyzing this problem and see whether the Imperial Dao is suitable for historical development in such an era of great world strife.
The Imperial Dao was not the imperial art of the Zhou Wen And Zhou Wu Dynasties
In fact, when many later people hear the word Emperor Dao, they will think about the art of emperor, that is, the way used by King Wen of Zhou and King Wu of Zhou to govern the world is a practical art of emperor; in fact, emperor Dao does not refer to the art of emperor that people usually think, because when King Wu of Zhou and King Wen of Zhou rule the world, they actually use the etiquette system, which is to use the system of ritual music to regulate people's behavior and reflect the concept of class into people's minds.
At the same time, let people recognize the existence of classes, and at the same time believe in the existence of classes, when the system of dividing the feudal system was born, the subjects of the whole world were divided into three, six, nine, and so on, and the etiquette system followed by each class was different, which was actually the later royal system, not the imperial way we want to talk about today.
The Imperial Dao contains the study of Lao Zhuang and the thought of Lao Tzu
So what is the Imperial Path? In fact, it is the study of Lao Zhuang, mainly the thought of Lao Tzu, advocating a retreat to the primitive clan tribe.
Lao Tzu records that saints often have no heart and take the hearts of the people as their hearts. The good, I am good; the bad, I am good; the virtuous. Believers, I believe; unbelievers, I believe;
In fact, to put it bluntly, it is to rule by doing nothing, to govern the whole world in a way of doing nothing, to let the monarch "think" in the hearts of the people, as the direction of his own heart, to make the world a world with a high degree of freedom, and to govern the whole country in the way that the people expect, or the extent to which they can achieve.
The way the imperial road is administered is similar to the Western city-state system
In fact, this way is manifested in the ancient historical society of our country, that is, the democratic system of the primitive tribal period, and if we have to compare it, we can compare the Western city-state system, to a certain extent, or in the cognition of the people of the world at that time, it is an absolute democratic state. That is to say, the affairs of the tribe or the affairs of the world cannot be decided by one person, whether that person is a saint or a monarch, he cannot decide all things, nor can he control the survival of others, and all major matters need to be jointly decided by the people of the warrior clan, and the subjects of the world can form a combination of absolute ideals.
At the same time, we treat the people equally, whether they are good or bad; whether they believe or not, they adopt the same attitude; and in this way, whether the monarch or the people, they will focus on the survival of the present and not on the conspiracy of interests; after all, if everything is handled in the same way, at that point, the monarch only needs to trust and treat the members of the tribal alliance well.
The idea of inaction in the imperial path
In this way, contention and indisputability are actually the same, just like the above belief and unbelief, good and bad, when contention and non-contention have become an attitude without distinction, profit and disadvantage will no longer be what people are chasing and seeking, people will not think too much, desire will not be excessively expressed, and society will be stabilized.
But this kind of inaction only applies to primitive tribes, which is precisely in line with the idea of Lao Tzu, that is, to return the society of that time to the previous primitive tribal alliance state, just like the primitive city-states in the West mentioned above, small countries and widows are independent and autonomous, and to a certain extent absolute democracy.
If we really reach that level, we can say that the world has returned to its previous chaotic state, people have the same attitude towards all things, and the people of the world will no longer fight over the problems of trust, good and evil, or interests.
The essence of the Imperial Tao is the pursuit of absolute fairness
In fact, this kind of imperial tao is a very unrealistic way of thinking in the eyes of modern people, but we cannot say that this theory is completely absurd, it actually has its own reason, after all, everyone thinks about what people live in this world, what is the pursuit?
In fact, in the final analysis, the pursuit of an absolute fairness, the reason why the world will produce many conflicts of interest, just like in the Warring States period, why will there be wars between countries? Why is there competition between ministers and ministers? It is because what they have acquired, or their development, is very uneven, and in order to achieve this balance, in order to make the interests equally divided, people begin to gradually become confused, and in the course of such struggles some people take detours and begin to resort to unscrupulous means.
In addition, we can also understand it as a metaphysical attitude towards life of human beings, and perhaps one day in the future, human beings can really reach that height in their minds, and at that time, there will indeed be no more great strife in this society, and it has really reached the state that Lao Tzu hoped for, and people can really have the same attitude towards good and bad, believe or unbelief.
In fact, not only Lao Tzu's Taoists pay attention to this way, but the Buddhists also pay attention to repaying grievances with virtue, if we think carefully, there is a similarity between repaying grievances with virtue and the realm that Lao Tzu said, if everyone can repay grievances with virtue instead of repaying with blindness, can the world be much more peaceful? This question naturally requires practical consideration from the depths of our hearts.
Why did Qin Xiaogong abandon the Imperial Dao?
The Emperor Dao is not useless, the realm and planning it has planned are very beautiful, if once such a scenario is realized, this society will really be exempt from war, disasters, and will reach a very stable state, so why does Qin Xiaogong deny it again for such a discourse? Even when Shang Martin used this method to persuade Qin Xiaogong, Qin Xiaogong couldn't even listen to it, and after Shang Martin left, he also loudly reprimanded the Jingjian who recommended Shang Martingale to him.
1.
The Warring States Period was not suitable for imperial rule
The biggest reason for this is the problem of the times, the kind of old Zhuang learning that Lao Tzu admired, that kind of metaphysical realm and way of thinking, is not something that can be achieved overnight, it requires people to temper and think for a long time to reach a philosophical realm, but the era in which Shang Martin and Qin Xiaogong lived was an era of great strife under the heavens, and in that era, the word state has been formed.
We all know that the development of China's ancient history is from tribal alliances to countries to society; from the state to the tribal alliance, such a way of thinking, in a sense, is actually a retrogressive type, the development of history must be forward, it is impossible to develop backwards; at the same time, in the Warring States era, all the princely states are actively working hard to change the law, are constantly improving their own living environment, in order to a kind of competition for interests, if at this time the Qin state suddenly gave up that kind of struggle, Then it can only become the fish on the knife.
The Imperial Dao is only suitable for primitive societies or future societies
In that era, if any country fell a little behind in the struggle, it was likely to face an existential crisis, let alone what would happen to those countries that gave up fighting.
This statement of Lao Tzu only applies to two stages, one is the stage when human beings have not yet truly civilized, that is, the primitive tribal stage we mentioned above, and the other is the stage of highly developed future in the conjecture of the existents, and perhaps in the future thousands of years, tens of thousands of years later, the human mind will rise to a philosophical point that we modern people cannot understand, and people will also be able to reach the state that Lao Tzu said, and society will become that kind of environment.
Therefore, the problem of the times is a key factor preventing Qin Xiaogong from choosing the imperial path; after all, Qin Xiaogong is looking for Shang Martingale to seek benefits for the Qin State, and in such a situation, you tell him to let him regard contention and non-contention as a kind of thing, presumably Qin Xiaogong can only smile.
2.
There are drawbacks to the Imperial Dao Doctrine
The second reason is some of the shortcomings of the doctrine of the Emperor Dao itself; in fact, such views and expositions in the Warring States period were actually a relatively idealized theory, or even a more extreme theory, because man is a very complex creature, and the society composed of human beings must be chaotic and complex, and the good and the bad, the belief and the unbelief, the benefit and the disadvantage, the dispute and the indisputable, can never be the same attitude, and it is impossible to be a thing of equal development.
Even in the animal world, there is no absolute competition or indisputability, even in the world of plants, there will be a competitive pursuit for nutrients, let alone human beings with wisdom and thinking. Therefore, this is actually a relatively extreme idea, and in the eyes of Qin Xiaogong at the moment, the Emperor Dao is completely unreliable.
That is to say, in the way of thinking of the parties concerned, this view itself is flawed, it cannot make people completely happy, and only Lao Tzu's great realm beyond the world can accept a doctrine and way; for ordinary people, such a way is difficult to promote, And Qin Xiaogong, as the king of a country, naturally cannot let his subjects passively accept what they do not understand, nor can he implement a policy in that era that even he himself cannot see a way out.
3. The Emperor denies the status of the monarch
The third reason is the emperor's denial of the status of the monarch; in fact, the reason why Lao Tzu wanted the society at that time to return to the form of the primitive tribe was because the Western Zhou Dynasty at that time was actually a society with a very strict class hierarchy, and the oppression of ordinary people in that environment was very serious, and the Daoist in which Lao Tzu was located promoted was a realm of simplicity, large and inaction, and such an environment was the most suitable for the era of "no dispute".
The society to which Lao Tzu's doctrine adapts is the primitive tribal form we mentioned earlier, because only primitive tribes can get rid of the conflict of interests as much as possible, and only then can they have the conditions to achieve the kind of situation that Lao Tzu said, believing and unbelief, being good at being good and bad are treated with the same attitude.
Many people say that Lao Tzu's view is a view that makes history backwards, which is very one-sided, because it is not Lao Tzu's desire to return to the primitive tribal alliance that has led to his view of inaction, but that in order to achieve the rule of inaction, it is necessary to retreat to the form of primitive tribes.
In order to truly practice the imperial way, it is necessary to return the Qin state to the primitive tribal society
Many people in the understanding of the above, first of all, there is a reversal of cause and effect, and it is not possible to understand the Taoist point of view very well, it is difficult to understand why Qin Xiaogong is very disgusted with the emperor's way, if he wants to promote the imperial way in the qin state, then first of all, it is necessary to let the qin state retreat from a country to the original tribal alliance, then he has become a decoration, he does not have the real power to govern the country, nor can he absolutely control the country. All he usually has to do is to treat all the events that happen in the country with the same attitude.
To put it simply and crudely, if the imperial way is practiced, the monarch of Qin Xiaogong will have no value of existence; therefore, for Qin Xiaogong, the practice of letting him give up his own value and give up his own position of power will certainly arouse his disgust and is doomed to not be appreciated by him.
Review
The author thinks
The reason why Qin Xiaogong abandoned the doctrine of the emperor's tao was inevitably related to the background of the times at that time and some of the drawbacks of this doctrine itself, historical development has its own laws, which era is suitable for which doctrine is very clear and inevitable, if you do not follow the development of the historical trend, if you do not really work for the development of this trend, then you can only be like Yan Wangduo for thousands of years.
At that time, the King of Yan wanted to implement the Zen concession system in the Warring States Period, which led to the great chaos of the Yan Kingdom, and eventually did not even have the opportunity to obtain a title, becoming a lost king in the history of the Yan Kingdom.
In the course of historical development, we cannot only see the beauty of this doctrine, we cannot only look forward to the blueprint of national development planning, but also earnestly consider the impact of this mode of behavior on the national interests, after all, human beings have developed to this point today, it is impossible to return to the form of primitive tribes, and at the same time, it is also out of reach and unrealistic to let human thinking rise to the philosophical realm of Lao Tzu.
Therefore, instead of considering an unrealistic development situation, we should live well in the present, but rather choose a development policy that can really create practical benefits for the current motherland. This may seem like a simple question, but to answer this question, we can only find the answer from the process of historical development.
References: Warring States Policy, Theory of Passing the Qin, History of History, Book of Shang Jun, Zuo Chuan, Zizhi Tongjian, Lao Tzu, etc