Kang Youwei said, "If China can be unified, why should it be ruled for two thousand years?" Sincerely ruled by half of the Analects.".
In recent years, with the rising fever of "Guoxue", Neo-Confucians have talked about it, and "half of the Analects rule the world" often appears in various articles and works to prove that Confucianism created myths.
In the "Quotations of Le'an" compiled by Gong Yu, a disciple of Li Heng in the Southern Song Dynasty, in 1178 AD, the appendix of the book mentions that Mr. Li said to his disciples: "Emperor Taizong wants to meet Zhao Pu, or the day of the saying: Pudong is a scholar, and he can only read the Analects, and Emperor Taizong doubts it, so as to tell the emperor. Pu Yue: The subject does not know the book, but he can read the Analects, and Zuo Taizu has set the world, and only half of it is used, and there is still half of it, which can assist His Majesty. Emperor Taizong was relieved and died.
Lin Fu's "Treatise on the Origins of Ancient and Modern Origins" in the first volume of volume VIII "Confucian Officials" recorded: "Zhao Pu, a generation of xunchen, the eastern expedition to the west, all as desired, seeking what he learned, there is no remaining karma outside the Analects." Under this passage is annotated: "Zhao Puyue: Twenty analects, I set the world with half of Taizu."
In the Song Dynasty Luo Dajing's "Crane Forest Yulu", it is recorded that Zhao Pu, the prime minister of the early Song Dynasty, read only the Analects. Emperor Taizong zhao kuangyi therefore asked him. He said: "The subject knows in his life, and he sincerely does not have this, he used to rule the world with his half-assistant Taizu (Zhao Kuangyin), and now he wants to bring peace to his half-auxiliary majesty." ”
Gao Wenxiu, a famous opera writer of the Yuan Dynasty, wrote in the third compromise of the miscellaneous opera song text of his book "Good Wine Meets the Emperor": "Every major decision, the Qiwen Guanshu, is also the "Analects", at this time, it is said that the small officials rule the world with half of the "Analects". From then on, "half of the Analects ruled the world" became popular all over the world and was relished by Confucians.
The Biography of Zhao Pu of Song Shi says that he "learned less about officials, was less academic, and was a minister, and Taizu often advised him to read." In his later years, he did not release the scrolls, and every time he returned to his private end, he opened the house to take the book and read it every day. And the next day, he came to power and was executed like a stream. If the family members look at it, then the twenty chapters of the Analects are also".
At the time of Zhao Pu's death, Emperor Taizong of Song wrote a Shinto monument to him, saying that he was "handsome in nature and difficult to learn at an early age; and at the end of his life, he loved to read" Zhao Pu was not originally a person who liked to read, and he relied on political wisdom to run the world, which had little to do with the Analects.
Luo Dajing made it clear in the "Crane Forest Yulu": Du Shaoling (Du Fu) Shiyun "children's learning is only "Analects", and the eldest children end with Shang Jia", and Gai uses "Analects" as a children's book. People speak of the People of Shandong, and the readers only read the Analects, and Gai Yi Shaoling said also.
In the Tang and Song dynasties, the Analects were only children's books, and Zhao Puguan was the prime minister of the dynasty, afraid that others would laugh at himself, and could only secretly read the Analects.
At the beginning of the Analects, it did not have the status of a scripture, and the Han Dynasty Confucians used the "Poems", "Shang Shu", "Yi", "Zhou Li", and "Spring and Autumn" as the "Five Classics". It was Zhu Xi, the great Confucian of the Southern Song Dynasty, who compiled and annotated a book of "University", "Zhongyong", "Analects", and "Mencius", that is, "Notes on the Collection of Chapters and Sentences of the Four Books", and the four books and the Five Classics had equal status. Zhu Xi raised the grade of the Analects of children's books, which later became a required reading for the imperial examination.
"Half of the Analects rule the world" is the truth for those who worship Confucius and Confucianism. Kang Youwei is a typical example, "China has been enshrined as the state religion for thousands of years, and Confucius is also." The way of Confucius, the way of the heavens and the earth, the gods, the cultivation of all things, the four links and six openings, the way is everywhere. Therefore, in the Middle Ages, the reform of legislation, and the master of the religion, his deeds were passed on, established by the scholars, recited by the people, thought that the rate was caused, the imperial court obeyed, thought that the constitution, the provincial punishment, the thin taxation, the abolition of feudalism, the boycott of the world, the people of the country were free from slavery and could be eunuchs, the nobles and the lowly were equal to the same crimes and the law was equal, assembly, speech, and publication were free, and those who interpreted and spoke the Tao were all free to believe in religion. Wherever the French Revolution strives for greatness, China has used the scriptures of Confucius to say that it has been won for two thousand years. Schools are all over the capital, indoctrinated into women and children, people know the style of filial piety and faithfulness, and the family knows the etiquette, righteousness, and shame. Therefore, there is no defender, the law is fictitious and not arrested, but the Tao is moral and the same is polite, and China can be unified, so why should it be ruled for two thousand years? Sincerely, half of the Analects are also governed. (Kang Youwei's Preface to the Church of Kong)
Zhu Xi believed that the Taoist system of Confucianism had long been interrupted, "since Mencius did not have it, and the world no longer knows that there is such a learning", although there was no lack of well-off in the 1500 years from the Han and Tang Dynasties to the Southern Song Dynasty, "and the tao taught by the three kings of Yao Shun, Zhou Gong and Confucius, did not have a day to go between heaven and earth" ("Zhu Wen Gong anthology: Reply to Chen Tongfu")
Li Qian said in the "Hidden Book": "Confucius's words are all over the world, and Confucius's way has not been done!" ...... Teach what you say, don't teach your way! Therefore, those who have spoken are rich, and those who have spoken are hungry and miserable! ”
In the eyes of Zhu Xi and Li Xiao, the way of Confucius had never been practiced at all, let alone half of the Analects to rule the world.
Confucians liked to elevate Confucius's Analects to frightening heights, but in fact The influence of Confucianism did not reach that point. Xu Fuguan said in "The Influence of Confucianism on History after Dong Zhongshu", "However, if one thinks that since Dong Sheng's introduction of Kong's confucianism, Chinese politics has always been deduced and practiced according to Confucianism, so the development of Confucianism in the political system can be seen in the politics after the Han Dynasty; or it is thought that the politics of the second millennium should be borne by Confucianism; this is the conclusion that it is the end of the year and does not see the salary of public opinion." ”
Half of the Analects rule the world, and confucianism is just a myth.