What do you think of Xu Heng's view that he does not eat the pear of no master? I came up with this topic when I was talking about a passage from Engels's philosophical masterpiece Ludwig Feuerbach and the End of German Classical Philosophy. This passage from Engels said:
By the end of the 1930s, divisions within his (Hegel's) school were becoming more and more apparent. The left, the so-called young Hegelians, in the struggle against the pious Orthodox and the feudal reactionaries, little by little, abandoned the philosophical detachment towards the pressing questions of the present, and by virtue of this attitude their doctrine had previously been tolerated and even protected by the state; by 1840, when the piety of the Orthodoxy and the reactionary reaction of the feudal despotism ascended to the throne with Friedrich Wilhelm IV, it was inevitable that people would openly take sides with this or that faction.
Here is a passage from Engels's introduction to the political relations between the Young Hegelians and Prussia at that time. That is to say, for a period of time, the young Hegelians talked about philosophy without touching reality, but when the new king ascended the throne, he could not pass the test in confusion, and he had to take a stand. That is to say, the situation in which philosophy seems to be divorced from reality is over. Philosophy is ultimately divided into parties, on this side, or on that side. And philosophy seems to be surreal, but the social conditions for forcing a stand are not yet complete, and philosophers can also be a "bat" in both ends of the birds and beasts, as if no one can sin, this state is not permanent, the time has come, philosophy must come out to take sides.
Of course, philosophy takes sides, which means that philosophy must study reality, and philosophy must participate in the struggle of reality.
From this I thought of Xu Heng's allusion that he did not eat the ownerless pear. The original text in the Biography of Xu Heng of the Yuan Dynasty is:
Taste the summer through the river, thirsty, the Tao has pears, the crowd strives to eat, heng alone sit under the tree. Or ask, "You can't take it unless you have it." People say, "The world is in turmoil, and there is no master." "Pears have no master, my heart is masterless?"
Xu Heng's core idea here is actually to say that it is not his own thing and cannot be wanted. At a glance, Xu Heng seems to have a point, but if you analyze it carefully, you will find that his views are untenable. First of all, everyone has said that this pear tree is because of the chaotic world, that is, the last year of the Jin Dynasty and the period of the Jinyuan War, this pear tree has no owner, and the owner may have died a long time ago, because of the war, there is no one for thousands of miles, this is the norm. Since there is no owner, of course, everyone can eat. It is also a natural resource that all people can enjoy. Therefore, the people who eat the pears of this tree are not stealing other people's things, not usurping other people's things, and not encroaching on other people's property rights.
Everyone should note that Xu Heng did not refute this point, did not deny this point, but his train of thought was to say, "Pear has no master, my heart has no master?" That is to say, my heart has the Lord. Or rather my heart thinks He has the Lord.
In fact, it is not difficult to refute Xu Heng's words, just ask him, since the pear has no owner, where does the Lord in your heart come from? That's the key.
And Xu Heng's answer actually has only two answers, first, the master of my heart is of course me. Second, my heart is to think that pears have a master. There can only be these two answers.
In the first answer, we can say that since the pear has no owner, then the master of your heart is you, and there is no contradiction between this and us eating this ownerless pear, because this pear tree is not yours. If we eat your pear, naturally we are infringing on your property rights, and this pear tree is not yours, so if your heart thinks that you are the master, then it does not matter at all. You are not the master of this tree, so how can you control the fruit of the ownerless tree? Isn't this also a form of greed? You are in effect in control of the ownership of the fruit of the ownerless. It doesn't seem to be greedy, but in fact it is greed.
As for the second answer, it is completely contradictory and messed up. Since pears are ownerless, how can you insist that there is a Lord? If there is the Lord, please find it out for me.
I don't think Xu Heng can find it. Therefore, Xu Heng's prohibition of others from eating the pears of this ownerless pear tree is unreasonable and an act of arbitrariness. But that's not important yet.
What's important?
There is also a very important record in the Biography of Xu Heng:
Emperor Jiu wanted to open a taixue, and he would weigh the demands of Yili, but from his request. For eight years, he thought that he was a scholar of Jixian University and a guozi sacrificed wine, and he personally chose the Mongolian disciple to teach it. Heng Wensheng said happily, "This is also my business." The Son of The Nation, if he is placed in the good category for several years, will be used for the nation. "When the chosen disciples are naïve, they are treated like adults, they love them like sons, they go in and out, they have little time in class, or they study books and count.
I added the underline. Note the contents of the underline. Kublai Khan, the ancestor of the Yuan Dynasty, wanted to open a Taixue, but Xu Heng opposed it. Why oppose it? The opening of Taixue by the state means that the educational power of the Confucian generation has been controlled by the state, so Xu Heng, a guy who advocates private schooling, must be resolutely opposed. We see that next, Yuan Shizu asked him to teach mongolian nobles as a tutor, and he was very happy, which meant that the educational power of Mengyuan was still in the hands of the intellectuals of the landlord class. Naturally he was pleased.
But this is not the point I want to say, I want to say Xu Heng's evaluation of Mongolian children: "Dapu is not scattered, audio-visual is single-minded." What does that mean? Dapu is the most simple, not scattered, that is to say, the most simple things have not split apart, this most simple is the universe, is the world, is the chaos that Zhuangzi said. What does it mean not to have a split? It is to make a difference, a complete thing is divided, and there is a difference between each other. This is the meaning of Dapu Weishuang. We should note that private property rights are conditional on the fact that all people are opposed to each other and distinguished from each other, that is, mine is mine, yours is yours, and you and I are different, not together. In this way, private property can exist. If there is no difference, you and I are the same thing, mine is yours, yours is mine, then this is the great simplicity is not dispersed, naturally so that there is no private object relationship.
That is to say, Xu Heng's remark that "Dapu has not dispersed" is actually saying that the children of mongolian nobles, even the Mongols who entered the Central Plains at that time, have basically not established the concept of private property, and do not know that they are not accustomed to private property, but are still immersed in the primitive communist ownership relationship of the steppe. Such a primitive communist relationship naturally does not distinguish between you and mine. This actually raises the question of ownership.
What does it mean to teach Mongolian children to understand the etiquette of kings and subjects? The fundamental difference in the courtesy of kings and subjects is the requirement of the emergence of classes, which directly negates the primitive communist social customs without hierarchies. Therefore, educating the courtiers and teaching them to learn etiquette are all for them to learn the concept of private property! The role of the ceremony is to indicate the difference! It is the declaration of private property! That's why Mongolian children are taught etiquette.
It can be seen that the relationship between the monarch and the subject, and the etiquette, are all medicines for the symptoms of "Dapu has not been dispersed". Xu Heng is really the right medicine.
If we look at the aforementioned non-eating and masterless pear, we will understand that this is his criticism of the primitive communist system of the northern steppe nations at the time of the Jinyuan dynasty on behalf of the private ownership of the landlord class, and of course it is to take sides, that is, to show that Xu Heng is on the side of the private ownership of the landlord class of the Han nationality, not on the side of the primitive communism of the steppe people!
It is precisely because Xu Heng has this declaration of class taking sides, so:
Jia Yin, the ancestor of the ancestors of the king Qin Zhong, thought of the Qin people, and summoned Heng to study for Jing Zhao. The Qin people were newly out of the army, they wanted to learn without a teacher, and everyone was happy to come to learn. Counties and counties have built schools, and the people have become greater. The ancestors of the southern expedition are still nostalgic, and the scholars cannot stay and return from lintong.
When Kublai Khan was in Shaanxi, he could only let Xu Heng take care of the school education here, and the people here, the traditional farming areas, were of course an important area of the landlord class, and they did not believe in any public ownership, they all supported the private ownership of the landlord class, and naturally liked Xu Heng very much. Because Xu Heng is the representative of their interests.
It is precisely because Xu Heng won the support of han landlords that he actually had a lot of power in the dynasty in the early years of the Yuan Dynasty:
In the first year of the Central Unification, Shizu, the emperor, took the throne and was summoned to the Capital Division. Before long, Heng Xie returned from illness. In the second year of the Yuan Dynasty, the emperor made An Tong the right minister, and wanted to balance and assist him, so he was summoned back to the Capital Division and ordered the deliberation of Zhongshu Province.
Ahma is the political affairs of Zhongshu Pingzhang, the six affairs of The Province of Shangshu, because of his unauthorized power, the power is tilted toward the opposition, and for a time the minister Doa Ah Zhi, whenever he discusses with him, he will say a lot of right. In addition to Zuo Cheng, Heng repeatedly resigned.
At this time, Zhongshu Province is actually the former Xiang xiangfu, that is, the minister, who can participate in the aircraft maintenance. The fact that he could compete with the powerful courtiers showed how powerful this representative of the private property of the Han landlord was.
Reading through the "Biography of Xu Heng", we publicize his failure to eat the ownerless pear as a typical example of incorruptibility and non-greed, which is really absurd! The focus of this propaganda is entirely the product of the soul-calling and flattery of private property in china's historical circles! Naturally, it will take the meaning out of context, violate the basic requirements of historiography, and make people unable to see Xu Heng's true intentions, let alone analyze Xu Heng's logical errors!
Is Xu Heng really clean? "The Biography of Xu Heng" itself introduces:
Turning to Lu Liuwei, people see that he has virtue, and slightly follow it. After living for three years, smelling chaos and settling, but still cherishing. Whoever mourns and marries a marriage will be levied in order to encourage his townspeople and scholars to be immersed. The family is poor and ploughed, the millet is cooked, the millet is not cooked, the chaff is nucleated, the place is calm, and the sound of chanting smells like a golden stone. Wealth is surplus, that is, the poor who divide the peoples and the lives of the people.
Here it is clear that he has "more than enough money"!
In addition, "Whoever mourns and marries will be levied in the ceremony, so as to encourage his townspeople and scholars to be immersed." "This, of course, means that many people learn etiquette from him. Don't those disciples pay tuition? Private schools are very expensive! How hypocritical it is for a rich man not to let people eat pears without a Lord, and to show that he is very incorruptible!
Not to mention that Xu Heng had long forgotten the Confucian idea of universal unity! And the world of Datong, in fact, is another version of Dapu has not dispersed! His criticism of the Mongol children is really a violation of the basic spirit of Confucianism!
Such a greedy and selfish scholar and courtier, of course, must always think that everything under the heavens has a master, that is, everything is private, and there is no common thing. It is really in response to Zhuangzi's saying that the vulgar Confucianism is inauspicable, and it is bound to teach! It is just that this religion is the religion of private property and the religion of the landlord class!
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