After several substantial changes in the Zhou, Qin and early Han dynasties, the concept of sage became an important part of the political thought of the Han Dynasty by the time of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, especially Dong Zhongshu's interpretation of the Ram in the Spring and Autumn Period, which closely combined "Fengtian Fagu" with becoming a sage, so that this idealized political picture had the possibility of realization, and the monarch in actual politics could become the appearance of a sage in the Confucian ideal.
In Dong Zhongshu's thought, a saint is equal to the previous king, and the current monarch is also a saint, and if he deviates from the way of the saint, he will be punished by heaven to correct it, or set up a "new king" to replace it. Dong Zhongshu summarized the "way of the Spring and Autumn Period" as "the law of the heavens and the law of the ancients", and then derived the sanctification criterion of "the sage is the law of the heavens, and the sages are the saints", from this point of view, the purpose of the compilation of the "Spring and Autumn Period" is to provide the future king with a reference in thought and behavior, so that it can be close to the sage.
"Fengtian" and "Fagu", on the surface, are the two channels of sanctification, but their essence still points to "Fengtian", because what "Fagu" imitates is still "the legacy of the previous kings", and the "legacy of the previous kings" also originates from "Fengtian".
Ramology and early Han politics
At the beginning of the Han Dynasty, Huang Lao thought was the dominant thought, and the policy of recuperation and recuperation was pursued, coupled with the poor overall cultural environment, the development of Confucianism was slow, and the social status of Confucianism was relatively low. "When filial piety and Empress Lu were all ministers of military merit. Xiaowen was quite requisitioned, but Emperor Xiaowen was a good sentence. As for filial piety, he is not a Confucian, and the Empress Dowager Dou is good at Huang Lao's skills, so the doctors have officials to be asked, and there is no one who enters. ”
Although Huang Lao's thought effectively promoted the social and economic recovery, the potential threat to the central power of foreign relatives and princes still existed, and the invasion of the Xiongnu on the northern frontier was not eradicated.
The former is a very in-depth discussion of the penmanship of the Spring and Autumn Period, which is the inheritance of Confucius's thought by the disciples of Confucius, and was re-elaborated by the scholars of the Warring States Period, and was written on bamboo silk in the time of Emperor Jing, and the latter pointed out the "penmanship" of Confucius in the Spring and Autumn Period from a theoretical point of view, so that the ram theory reached theoretical maturity.
In addition, the idea of "The Legend of the Ram" highlights that in the era of the Warring States Period, scholars hoped to realize the ideal political pattern of great unification with the "righteousness of King Wen", while Dong Zhongshu's theoretical elaboration was carried out in the context of the formation of a unified regime.
The formation of ramology
"The Legend of the Ram" was written before the bamboo silk was transmitted by dictation, "The "Spring and Autumn Period" derogatory to the adults of the world, the monarchs and ministers, there are authoritarian forces, and the facts are all in the form of the biography, and they are hidden in the book and not announced, so it is difficult to avoid time. And the last days of oral preaching is popular, so there are "Ram", "Liang", "Zou", "Clip" of the legend", "the mouth of the seventy sons of the mouth of the mouth of the finger, for the sake of ridicule, praise and damage of the text can not be seen in the book", the most fundamental reason can be regarded as "to avoid the time and difficulty".
For this reason, for the source of the "Spring and Autumn Ram Biography", the history of scripture has not formed a consistent view, Weishu believes that the source of Zixia, "Confucius is in Shu, virtue has nothing to do, merit is nothing, the ambition is in the "Spring and Autumn", the line is in the "Book of Filial Piety", the "Spring and Autumn" belongs to business, and the "Book of Filial Piety" belongs to the ginseng", He Xiu Jieyun "Confucius is holy, the view is infinite, and there is no way to know Qin, and he will burn the book, so the "Spring and Autumn" is dictated to Zixia."
Dong Zhongshu thought that the source of the Confucian disciples was "Zigong, Minzi, and Gongshengzi, and said that it was a national asset." In order to cut and kill the king and destroy the country, he can't protect the society, so he is not clear about the Tao, and he is not seen in the "Spring and Autumn Period", in addition to mentioning Zixia, Shizi, Zichi, Zengzi and others.
Here, Weishu and Dong Zhongshu point the author of "The Legend of the Ram" to the disciples of Confucius. But Jiang Qing denied this statement, "Theoretically, the "Legend of the Ram" must have been written by Confucius. Confucius wrote his own "Biography" to explain the "Spring and Autumn" scriptures, and "The Legend of the Ram" should be the autobiography of Confucius", and further listed the reasons, in short, one is that the "Spring and Autumn" is profound, which is really beyond the knowledge of ordinary people, the second is that the formal question and answer is similar to the original class notes, and the third is that the "Spring and Autumn Period" is strange and varied, and no one can know except Confucius himself.
Jiang Qing believed that Confucius's statement of "The Legend of the Ram" could hardly stand up to scrutiny, and if it was really written by Confucius, he would not have named it after it, and the three reasons mentioned were also speculative, and it was precisely because of the profundity of the "Spring and Autumn" that there was the later "Biography" and the interpretation of the righteousness of the "Spring and Autumn", and the writing style of one question and one answer was not only found in "The Legend of the Ram".
During the Warring States Period, the princes had already participated in the interpretation and dissemination of the "Spring and Autumn Period", "and the disciples such as Xun Qing, Mencius, Gongsun Gu, and Han Fei, each often compiled the text of the "Spring and Autumn Period" to write books, which was invincible."
"The Legend of the Ram" and "Spring and Autumn Dew" should be the earliest two works of ramology, and a review of the two books shows that the scripture teachers mentioned in "Spring and Autumn Dew" have not been seen in "The Legend of the Ram", and vice versa, there is almost no overlap between the two books.
Although the description of the pedigree of the ram is relatively clear, "Zixia is passed on to the ram Gao, Gao Chuan is with his son, Ping Chuan is with his son, Di Chuan is with his son Dare, dare to pass on his son Shou, to the time of Emperor Jing of the Han Dynasty, Shou is his disciple Qi Ren Hu Wusheng is written in bamboo silk."
However, this statement has been questioned by scholars, Xu Fuguan bluntly said that it was forged out of thin air, "just because of the mutual competition between "Ram" and "Zuo Chuan" in the early Eastern Han Dynasty, the "Ram" family in order to improve their status, privately created, in order to see that it is directly from the lineage of Confucius", Huang Kaiguo explained that "the name of "Ram Biography" began with Ram Shou and Hu Wusheng wrote it on bamboo silk, Ram Shou and Hu Wusheng had a teacher-student relationship, Hu Wusheng respected his teacher, and the famous "Ram Biography", and further believed that "Ram Biography" It is not the family tradition of the Ram clan, but the biography of the Warring States "Spring and Autumn".
In the Qi land of the Warring States Period, whether it was the oral transmission of the doctrine of the "Spring and Autumn" or the inheritance of the text, the "Spring and Autumn" Qi study should have a more recognized version, and this version has been passed down from generation to generation and has been constantly repaired", this explanation also confirms the interpretation of the meaning of the "Spring and Autumn" by Xun Qing, Mencius, Gongsun Gu, Han Fei and others.
The statement that "The Legend of the Ram" is regarded as the biography of Qi in the "Spring and Autumn Period" of the Warring States is in line with the academic character of Qi and is also consistent with the internal rationale of the Ram Studies. "Linzi is also a metropolis between Haidai. Its customs are wide and wide, and full of wisdom, easy to discuss", "the land of Qi country, the east of the sea and the north barrier river, the land is narrow and the fields are few, and the people are more wise and skillful", "The beginning of the Taigong rule Qi, cultivation, respect for wisdom and wisdom, reward meritorious, so far its soil is good at scriptures, meritorious fame, soothing and broad and wise".
Chen Ligui believes that the regional environment factors of Qi determine the two major characteristics of Qi Studies, namely "deep thinking, resourcefulness" and "absurd reverie", where "resourcefulness" and "absurdity" can be regarded as a breakthrough in pre-Qin orthodoxy or primitive Confucianism.
One of the distinctive features of the ram is that it opposes the absoluteness, eternity and sacredness of the monarchy. Shi very clearly placed the king under the heavens, distinguished between the heavens and the king, and advocated the doctrine of the three worlds and the idea of Datong, which also completely denied the eternity of the monarchy.
Compared with the Confucianism of the Simeng School, the Ram Studies pays more attention to realpolitik, and the core concept and purpose of the Ram Studies are not to become virtuous, but to point to the reform and legislation in the political field.
Ramology in the early Han Dynasty
Liu Bang did not agree with the existence value of Confucianism in the early days of power, "Pei Gong is not good at Confucianism, and all the guests are crowned with Confucianism, Pei Gong dissolves his crown and drowns in it", and he is also gloating about the Confucian scriptures for the rest of his life, "I suffered from the troubled times, when Qin burned his studies, I was happy, and it was useless to say that reading was useless", and it was not until my uncle and grandson Tong formulated the court rituals that he realized the importance of Confucianism.
Although the politics of the early Han Dynasty were mostly influenced by Huang Laozhi's learning, and he was still quiet and inactive, the power of Gongyang Xue was also gradually increasing, and the accusations of the two Confucian scholars in Ludi against Shusun Tong and the attitudes of Yuan Gusheng and Huang Sheng towards the Tangwu Revolution all reflected this trend.
In the fifth year of the Han Dynasty, after Liu Bang abolished the harsh etiquette of the Qin Dynasty, there was a chaotic situation of disrespect, and Shusun Tong timely proposed to make a joint court ceremony with Lu Di Confucian to show the dignity of imperial power, and obtained Liu Bang's permission.
Shusun Tong encountered criticism from two Confucian scholars in the process of recruiting in Ludi, "The public affairs and the ten masters are all in front of each other to get their relatives and nobles", "The origin of etiquette and music, the accumulation of virtue for a hundred years can be prosperous", "The public office is not in line with the ancients, I can't do it".
Confucianism's criticism mainly focused on two aspects: first, he doubted and denied Shusun Tong's personal qualities, believing that he had gained political power by flattering him and lost the character of a Confucian; second, "rituals and music" was out of date, and according to the old tradition, rituals and music were formulated after the "hundred years of accumulation of virtue", not at the beginning of the establishment of the regime and before the people were raised.
Shusun Tong didn't think so, thinking that these two Confucian scholars were "contemptuous Confucians" who "didn't know the changes of time", and finally agreed on etiquette with the rest of the students. Obviously, these two Confucian scholars took personal virtue and care for ordinary people as the starting point to look at the incident of making rituals and making music, and strive to "conform to the ancients".
The rest of the sentient beings, represented by Shusun Tong, were more inclined to the setting of the system and the maintenance of imperial power, participated in politics with a more active attitude, and paid attention to "time changes".
Another typical incident is the disagreement between Yuan Gusheng and Huang Sheng on how to view the Tangwu Revolution. Huang Sheng believes that "Tang Wu is not ordered, but killed", because "although the present and the emperor are unjust, the king is also, although Tang and Wu are saints, and the subordinates are also." If the husband has misbehaved, his subordinates cannot speak up to respect the Son of Heaven, but punish him for his mistakes, and practice the south on behalf of him, what is it to kill instead of killing?"
He denied the rationality of the Tang and Wu revolutions, and made it clear that "there was a distinction between the upper and lower", and the duty of the courtiers was to Kuang Zheng and assist the Son of Heaven. Yuan Gusheng's view is just the opposite, "The heart of the world belongs to Tang Wu, Tang Wu and the heart of the world are punished, and the people of Tang Wu do not return to Tang Wu for the sake of it, and Tang Wu has no choice but to stand up, why is he not under the order?"
Although Huang Sheng and Yuan Gusheng both commented on the historical event of the Tangwu Revolution from the perspective of maintaining the rule of the Han Dynasty, Huang Sheng focused on the relatively conservative maintenance of the existing order, while Yuan Gusheng demonstrated the legitimacy of the Western Han regime from the perspective of the people's desire and the Mandate of Heaven, which was completely consistent with the idea of ramology, and introduced the idea of ramology into Emperor Jingdi's thinking in the most direct way of debate.
In the above two examples, the "combination of the ancient" and "change", the maintenance of the existing order and the establishment of a new system, one is biased towards traditional Confucianism, the other is biased towards the ram of the study, on the surface, the ram has the meaning of "deviating" from the theme of the "Spring and Autumn", because "the "Spring and Autumn Period" is also good at retro, ridicule and change, and want its law to be the first king", advocating retro, opposing change, and imitating the former kings is the attitude of "Spring and Autumn" towards world affairs.
After the theory of ramology matures, this seemingly contradictory and contradictory exposition that "deviates" from the main theme of the Spring and Autumn Period will have a reasonable explanation. In the eyes of ram scholars, "the new king must change the system" is not "changing his way" and "changing his reason", but "Shun Tianzhi" to "manifest itself", that is, to obey the will of heaven to identify himself as being ordered by heaven.
Of course, the spread of the idea of ram science in the early Han Dynasty was not all smooth sailing, and it also encountered great resistance, and the Empress Dowager Dou, who liked Huang Lao, "made Gu into the circle of thorns" because Yuan Gusheng regarded "Lao Tzu" as a "family speech", and opposed Emperor Wu's appointment of Wei Qihou Dou Ying, Hou Tian Wei of Wu'an, and Confucian Zhao Juan and Wang Zang, who liked Confucianism, all of which delayed the advancement of Ram Studies to a certain extent.
After the death of Empress Dowager Dou in the sixth year of the Jianyuan Dynasty (135 BC), Emperor Wu accepted Dong Zhongshu's countermeasures and placed the doctor of the Five Classics, which promoted the development of Gongyang Studies, making it gradually the ruling ideology of the Han Dynasty. Because his writings and thoughts had a significant impact on the politics of the Han Dynasty, he was praised by Sima Qian and Ban Gu as "only Dong Zhong Shuming in the Spring and Autumn Period" and "for the Confucian sect".