The "New Language" is a political essay work of Lu Jia in the Western Han Dynasty, advocating "benevolence and righteousness, the law before the holy", the combination of etiquette and law, and at the same time emphasizing that the master of man must do nothing. The origin of this work was written to Liu Bang, the ancestor of Han Gao, and the fresh and special is that the first reader Liu Bang read it very much. Compared with the articles of Jia Yi, Jia Shan, Chao Que and others of the same era, the style of "New Language" has a more calm atmosphere, highlighting the independent personality rarely seen in ancient political essays. What is even more interesting is that the advent of this book is inseparable from Liu Bang's stimulation and Lu Jia's persistence.
Lu Jia, a native of the Chu state of the early Han Dynasty. He followed Liu Bang in his early years, and because he could speak eloquently, he was used by Liu Bang as a diplomat, which was also the cleverness of Liu Bang's employment. The literati Lu Jia, therefore, were often sent out to lobby and give full play to their advantages. For example, on two missions to South Vietnam, Lu Jia finally persuaded Zhao Tuo to submit to the Han Dynasty, making great contributions to stabilizing the situation in the early Han Dynasty. Lu Jia belonged to the typical Wen Anbang and was also a thinker who advocated Confucianism in the Han Dynasty. The willfulness of the literati, especially the personality of the people, their small mouths naturally like to rattle and preach their own ideas. Lu Jia was no exception, and when he saw Liu Bang, he seized the opportunity to talk about the Book of Poetry and the Book of Shang.
Once, Lu Jia preached to Liu Bang the Book of Poetry and the Book of Shang, and Liu Bang, who hated Confucianism, became impatient and angrily rebuked Jia Lu: "Lao Tzu is building the world at once, where can you use the Book of Poetry and the Book of Shang!" Lu Jia did not show weakness either, and loudly retorted: "You are winning the world right away, can you govern the world right away?" Moreover, the Tang King of the Shang Dynasty and the Wu King of the Zhou Dynasty both rebelled against the upper echelons to take the world, and followed the trend and guarded the world with gentleness. The combination of culture and martial arts is the method of long-term peace and stability. At that time, Wu Wang Fuchai, Zhi Boyao, and Qin Shi Huang were also destroyed because of their exhaustion of military force. If after the Qin State annexed the world, promoted benevolence and righteousness, and followed the example of the first saints, how could His Majesty have the whole world today! Liu Bang was speechless, self-aware of his mistakes, and his face was ashamed, but he still stiffened his neck and said, "This! Please write for me the truth that the Qin kingdom lost the world, and I got the success or failure of the world and the ancient country. ”
After this struggle, perhaps stimulated, Lu Jia came to the inspiration to quietly create the "New Language", he wanted to conquer Liu Bang and complete his own concept of educating the emperor to govern the country. The "New Language" roughly expounds the signs of the survival of the country, the style of writing is longitudinal, the side is quoted, the logic is rigorous, the structure is rigorous, the language is popular, and the exposition is concise. Twelve articles in the book. Every time Lu Jia finished one, he played one for Liu Bang to see. Liu Bang is also worthy of being called the emperor of the "High Emperor", and the place where he is superior is that he is open-minded, and every time he reads the new work that Lu Jia just completed, he praises it from the heart and calls his book "New Language". At the same time, Liu Bang also let the ministers circulate it to promote Lu Jia's theory.
That's how the book "New Language" came out. The first reader of this book is Liu Bang, and the articles that can be appreciated by the emperor must have their own practicality, not the bullshit of the horse, which is good and does not work. The success of the New Language also occupies an important position in the history of Confucianism. Lu Jia's success is due to the independence of his personality. Lu Jia was an early follower of Liu Bang, and he was determined, but he was not moved by fame and fortune, insisted on doing things according to the principle of doing things and not doing things against people, and was not humble or profane, which was rare among the literati in the ancient officialdom. Although Lu Jia and Liu Bang were old acquaintances and old comrades-in-arms, they were always neither close nor far away, maintaining the independence of their personalities. What is desirelessness? Not bending the waist for three or five buckets of rice should be the highlight of Lu Jia's "New Language". (Text/Cai Si) (The picture comes from the Internet, if there is infringement, please inform and delete)