A place frequently mentioned in the "Great Qin Fu" called "Jixia School Palace" is a striking institution. Many historical celebrities gathered here, such as Li Si, Han Fei, Chun Yuyue and Mao Jiao, and the important Great Ru Xunzi even held the position of "sacrificial wine" here, equivalent to the dean.
So, what kind of place is it, and what is the purpose and function of the existence of the "Minora School Palace"?
The "Jixia School Palace" is a school-like institution established in Linzi during the Warring States period by Qi Huan Gongtianwu, the monarch of the Qi State Tian clan.
Although it is called "school palace", it is not actually the main goal of teaching and educating people. It is said that it got its name from a place called "Millet" near the city gate where it is located.
Although the "Jixia School Palace" was officially established by the Qi state, in fact, the official did not have much say in the management, but was organized and managed by some prestigious scholars.
The famous Great Ru Xunzi served three consecutive terms as "sacrificial wine" and served here for decades. He was the last great scholar trained by the "Jixia Academy Palace", and Li Si, Han Fei and others had all studied under Xunzi, which shows the influence of the Academy.
The "Jixia School Palace" has existed for about 150 years and has cultivated outstanding talents such as Xunzi, Li Si, and Han Fei. It is said that Shang Martingale also studied here, and Shin Buh, who participated in the Korean law reform, was also a student of the "Kinoshita Gakunomiya". In addition, Zou Yan, Lu Zhonglian, Shenzi and others also walked out from here.
Some of these people developed in the Qi state, such as Mencius and Xunzi; But there are also many talents who left the Qi state, such as Li Si, Zou Yan, Han Fei, Shang Martin, Shen Buhuan and so on.
This is actually a rather paradoxical situation, because the palace established by the State of Qi is not subject to official control, and the scholars are of high status and free to come and go, and some even oppose the State of Qi.
So the question is, why does the Qi State invest a lot of manpower and financial resources to cultivate talents that may be used by other countries?
Since the Guan Zhong era, Qi Guo advocated the national policy of attaching equal importance to agriculture and commerce, and was the only country among the countries that attached great importance to commerce at that time. In agrarian societies, however, too much emphasis on commerce can undoubtedly shake the foundations of the nation. Especially when profit thinking prevails, society is impetuous and culture becomes weak.
Therefore, the Qi state urgently needed to continuously import culture to offset the profit-seeking atmosphere of merchants and keep the Confucian ideology of etiquette, righteousness and shame.
"Huaxia" has always been a cultural concept, and barbarian tribes can accept the Central Plains civilization to become one of the Chinese, such as Taibo Benwu; And the Chinese tribes, due to cultural decay, may also degenerate into barbarians, such as the Xiongnu.
Due to their sense of cultural superiority, the countries of the Central Plains looked down on places such as "Rong Qin" and "Jing Chu". Therefore, the State of Qi paid special attention to the edifying role of civilization, hoping to dilute its essence of building a state with merchants and merchants by shaping the image of a cultural power.
As for whether talent will flow to other countries, this is essentially a matter of competition. As long as Qi Guo can treat it sincerely, there is naturally nothing to worry about.
Jixia Academy Palace is an institution that the Qi state attaches great importance to, and it provides a platform for students to freely discuss imperial politics. This kind of measure shows Qi Guo's emphasis on talents and sincerity in guiding public opinion.
Compared to other princely states, the Qi State showed an extraordinary courage. In other countries, officials tend to focus only on their positions and political intrigues, but the Qi state allows students to speak freely regardless of status. Even, if they can win prestige and make constructive suggestions, they can also get official positions and good fortune.
It can be seen that the Qi State implemented such a system not to attract talents, but to control public opinion. Through the preferential treatment and free and open environment given to the students, countless scholars have poured into it, forming a situation of "good and many help". With only a little guidance, Qi Guo can naturally have a large number of famous people to speak for it, so that the opponent is in the vortex of public opinion.
In addition to the "trade war", the public opinion war is also another important means for the Qi state. The most famous example of this is the legitimacy of the Tian clan's usurpation of the Jiang clan Qi state.
The "Tian Clan Dai Qi" and the "Three Families Divided into Jin" became the dividing points between the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, and they all belonged to acts that killed the prince with subordinates and must have reasonable reasons. Therefore, the rulers of Tian Qi declared that it was the general trend for "Tian Qi" to replace "Jiang Qi" by examining that their ancestors were related to the Yellow Emperor and that the ancestors of the Jiang clan were related to the Yan Emperor.
The Tian clan was a member of the Chen state, and their surname was "妫", which was the surname of Emperor Shun, and Shun was the eighth grandson of the Yellow Emperor. Because of this, the dominant idea in the "Jixia School Palace" has always been Taoist doctrine, and even the last master, Xunzi, has not changed, which involves the fundamental problem of the Qi state.
However, since there is already an official ideology, why is there still a "hundred schools of thought"?
The objective role of the "Jixia School Palace" reflects the essence of "a hundred schools of thought". Tian Qi identified his ancestors as the Yellow Emperor, so he revered the learning of Huang Lao, so Taoism occupied a dominant position in the "Jixia School Palace".
However, this "dominance" is not directly used to govern the country as in the early Han Dynasty, but is an ideological identity. This also shows that the so-called "hundred schools of thought" is not in essence a confrontation between schools, but a fusion of ideas.
During the Spring and Autumn Warring States period, the rise of various doctrines had a common goal, that is, to find ways to stabilize the world. Whether it is the main schools such as Taoism, Fa, Confucianism, and Mo, or the tributaries of the peasants, soldiers, famous families, and yin-yang families, their ultimate goals are the same.
This means that although there are antagonisms and debates among the schools of Zhuzi, which often contradict each other, the arguments between them are limited to the trade-offs of methods and do not deal with the right and wrong of the goal. Therefore, these debates are essentially complementary in approach.
This can be demonstrated by concrete examples. The reason why the Qin State is strong is inseparable from the change of the law of Shang Martingale, and the foundation for the unification of the six countries is based on the Qin Law. However, Shang Martingale was only one school of Legalism, and other schools were also active at the time.
The Legalists of that era were mainly divided into three schools, namely "Law", "Technique" and "Potential", Shang Martingale represented "rule of law", while Shen Buxian of the same period represented "Shuzhi". Unlike many novels and TV series, during the Warring States period, South Korea was not weak, and no country dared to invade its territory during the Shin Bu Harm Reform Period. It's just that later Korean rulers were mediocre, and "shuji" relied more on hyunjun, which made this genre decline.
He was also a member of the Kinoshita Palace, and he advocated that the monarch should "grasp the law and deal with the situation", and eventually reach the level of "ruling without doing anything". This reflects the influence of Huang Laozhi's learning.
And Han Fei became the master of the Legalist because he fused the three schools of thought of "magic potential". This is precisely the proof that "a hundred schools of thought" actually integrates ideas.
In addition to the integration of the same school, there is also the exchange of different schools, and the main representative is Xunzi.
Although Xunzi was regarded as the master of Confucianism, his teachings were not highly regarded among later generations of Confucianists, and he was even expelled from the Confucian Taoist system. This is because his doctrine was mixed with ideas from many other schools.
In fact, Xunzi inherited the Taoist ideas of the Jixia Academy Palace and identified with Huang Lao's thought. However, he also inherited the legal teachings of the Guan Zhong school in the Jixia School and attached importance to the edifying role of law. Because of this, the two students trained by Xunzi, Li Si and Han Fei, have become representatives of the Legalists.
The complexity of Xunzi's doctrine made it impossible for later generations of scholars to regard it as a fellow scholar. The great Ru Chengyi called him "highly learned" and considered him "not a sage". Su Shi, who has a Taoist tendency, also said that he "likes to put forward different opinions without regard for others, and dares to make high opinions."
It can be seen that what the Minora Academy Palace provides is not a battlefield where the sons argue with each other, but an alliance that complements each other's strengths and exchanges and integration.
The results of this exchange are also evident in history.
The most far-reaching influence was the Han Dynasty's "exclusive respect" for Confucianism. In fact, the "Confucianism" revered is no longer the Confucianism of Kong Mengxun and others, but a new idea that adapts to the development of the times after the integration of the various schools.
At the same time, with the excavation of the Qin Jian in the land of sleeping tigers, the appearance of Qin Law from the late Warring States period to the early Qin Dynasty gradually appeared. These Qin laws no longer focus only on articles coldly as in the Shang Martingale era, but pay more attention to the edifying function of Confucianism and other doctrines.