Song Xiaozong: Rule the world with Confucianism, rule the mind with Buddha, and cultivate the body with the Tao
Emperor Xiaozong of Song was the second emperor of the Southern Song Dynasty. He once wrote "The Debate on the Original Tao", proposing the theory of the division of labor of the three religions of "ruling the mind with the Buddha, cultivating the body with the Tao, and ruling the world with Confucianism", and summarizing the characteristics and functions of the three religions in the most concise language. Among the emperors of the Song Dynasty, Song Xiaozong was closer to the Buddha. It is said that in the first draft of the Original Taoist Debate, Buddhism was ranked first, Taoism was second, and Confucianism was third, and Confucianism was ranked first under the objections of the ministers.
I. Responses to the Confucian Buddhas in the Tang and Song Dynasties
The Original Tao is also called the Three Teachings. Song Xiaozong wrote this article in a targeted manner, a general response to the Confucian scholars of the Tang and Song dynasties who opened up Buddhism.
Han Yu wrote "The Original Tao" at that time, starting from "benevolent morality", to dispel the buddha's old and orthodox Confucianism, believing that the confucian advocacy of ritual, pleasure, punishment, politics, and the principle ethics of kings and subjects, etc., are indisputable as the core values of the state in any era, and can neither be nor should they be replaced by any other doctrine.
In the early years of the Northern Song Dynasty, Liu Kai was the first to introduce Han Yu, followed by Mu Xiu's commitment to the promotion of the Korean language. Before and after the Song Renzong Celebration Calendar, Sun Fu, Shi Jie, Ouyang Xiu, and others vigorously elevated Han Yu, forming a strong trend of respect for Han in the middle of the Northern Song Dynasty. For example, Sun Fu listed Mencius, Xunzi, Yang Xiong, Wang Tong, and Han Yu as the figures of the Five Great Avenues since Confucius. Sun Fu's disciple Shi Jie called Mencius, Yang Xiong, Wang Tong, and Han Yue the "Four Sages", and even pushed the Original Tao above the seven chapters of Mencius, and Han Yue was even higher than Mencius. In addition, a generation of literary heroes Ouyang Xiu also greatly promoted Han Yu's "ancient text", which played a role in promoting the formation of Han's ideological trend in the early Song Dynasty. In the New Book of Tang, majored by Ouyang Xiu and Song Qi, Han Yuchuan's evaluation was very high, saying that "since he has not healed, his words and deeds are great, and scholars look up to it like Taishan Beidou"
However, Han Yu's shortcomings were not unnoticed in the Song Dynasty. Within Confucianism, there were many scholars who were dissatisfied with him. Su Xun, Su Shi, Zeng Gong, Wang Anshi, Sima Guang, Cheng Yi, and later Zhu Xi all criticized Han Yu. The Confucian scholars of the Song Dynasty paid more attention to the "inner criticism" of the Buddha, and this is exactly what Ouyang Xiu meant when he said, "Cultivating the original to win." The so-called "revision" is the theoretical construction of Confucianism itself, that is, by reconstructing the Confucian system of Ontology, Realm theory, Mental Nature, and Methodology, transcending the Buddha and winning it, rather than simply criticizing the opponent. In this regard, theoreticians such as Ercheng and Zhu Xi have made the greatest contributions. However, it must be pointed out that even if Confucian scholars have criticized Han Yue, they are only perfecting Confucianism itself, not sympathizing with The Buddha and changing the cultural basis of Confucianism.
The real systematic criticism of Han Yu is still from The scholars of Buddhism, among which the representative figures are Qi Song and Zhang Shangying, both of whom are in the Song Dynasty. Another is Liu Mi of the Yuan Dynasty, whose "Three Religions on Peace of Mind" also has remarks specifically for Han. Among them, Qi Song is the most typical, his "Non-Han" chapter, sprinkled with more than 30,000 words, almost article by article, can be described as a big liquidation of Han Yu from head to toe. Today, It seems that Qi Song's "Non-Han" is the most comprehensive criticism of Han Yu's "Original Tao", and the theoretical level is far above Han Yu, which makes other Confucian scholars also look at it.
In the Song Dynasty, although the three religions of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism were all supported by the state, not one of them could be "exclusive". It is precisely because no one can be exclusive, so that each family has the opportunity to express their opinions, so the three religions of the Song Dynasty have everyone, and the competition is fierce. The theorists of the Song Dynasty constantly expelled the Buddha, openly denouncing the Buddha, especially Buddhism, as a "heretic", believing that Buddhism and Taoism could not govern the world and that there was no need to exist at all. This kind of radical rhetoric is actually contrary to the cultural policies of the Song Dynasty. If you don't see this, you can't understand why Song Xiaozong personally wrote the "Original Dao Debate" as an emperor.
The main point of the second "Original Road Debate"
The text of the Original Road Debate is not long, less than 500 words. In general, Song Xiaozong spoke from the height of a Confucian "sage". "Saints" can have Confucian saints, Taoist saints, Buddhist saints, the so-called "three religions are holy", not only Confucianism. Song Xiaozong presupposed a cosmic "Tao" and believed that from the perspective of the Cosmic Avenue, there was no need to "three religions are in harmony" like Han Yu. Why? He said four things:
First, on the whole, the three religions of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism are all manifestations of the ultimate cosmic "Tao," and the three religions are the same as reason and goodness, and they cannot be either one or the other, but must also be one or the other. The true "saint" is "calm in the middle way", impartial, not biased towards the doctrine of any one.
Second, on the surface, Buddhism has a conflict with Confucian ethics, but this is only a formal difference, fundamentally speaking, the "five precepts" of Buddhism are connected with the "five constants" of Confucianism. This is like the change of the four seasons of the year, in different seasons there are different climatic manifestations, and different climates are needed for living things.
Third, On the surface, Taoists do not emphasize benevolence, righteousness, and liturgy, but on the other hand, Taoists emphasize "kindness", "frugality", and "dare not be the first in the world", which is called the "Three Treasures" of Taoism. In fact, isn't Confucius's "benevolence", "thriftiness", and "gentleness and humility" similar to the Taoist "Three Jewels"?
Fourth, in terms of division, the three religions of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism are like "ploughing and cultivating, and weaving by machine", each with its own strengths and strengths: Buddhism governs the heart, Taoist health, and Confucianism governs the country. Only an eclectic "saint" can achieve the unity of the three families and take what they need.
Song Xiaozong is considered to be the most effective emperor of the Southern Song Dynasty, reigning for 27 years, working hard to govern, achieving commendable political achievements, and being praised by historians. As an emperor, Song Xiaozong affirmed the cultural functions and values of the three religions of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism, refuted the deliberate criticism of Buddhism and Taoism by Confucian scholars since Han Yu, and actually denied the so-called "Taoist unification" theory of Confucianism, which played a major role in promoting the process of "three religions in one" in history. And because the "Original Tao Debate" adopts an impartial middle way position, it sees both the strengths of the three families and the complementarity of the three families, so its conclusions are objective and fair. The division of labor theory of the three religions put forward in the "Original Taoist Debate" of "ruling the world with Confucianism, ruling the heart with Buddhism, and cultivating oneself with the Tao" actually represents the mainstream cultural policy of the Tang and Song dynasties and even the Ming and Qing dynasties.