"The First Emperor, since he was an emperor through the ages." The First Emperor was born, and Li Si was born. The world collapses and overturns a world. Whether it is holy or demonic, it should not be taken lightly. ”
For more than two thousand years, Qin Shi Huang has been a tyrant who has been scolded by people, and Li Zhen has called Qin Shi Huang "the first emperor of thousands of years". Li Zhen believed that Qin Shi Huang "mixed one prince", abolished feudalism and established counties, ended the long-term chaotic situation since the Spring and Autumn Warring States, realized the reunification of the country, and was an emperor who made important contributions to Chinese history.
Li Yan not only overturned the case for Qin Shi Huang, but also for Wu Zetian. For Wu Zetian to be called emperor, the traditional concept is that it is "usurpation", which is contrary to the feudal ethical guidelines, and the feudal defenders even scold Wu Zetian as "Muji Sichen". However, Li Zhen shouted that Wu Zetian was "ten times better than Emperor Gaozong and ten thousand times better than Emperor Zhongzong." He believed that Wu Zetian "devoted himself to loving and nurturing talents and thinking of the people" and was a "holy queen" who "made his own decisions and made good judgments", which was something that the vast majority of emperors did not have.
Li Zhen was an Enlightenment thinker of the Ming Dynasty, who was not bound by the traditional concept of Confucianism and had a strong anti-traditional concept. Li Yan presented himself as a "heretic" of Confucianism in the Confucian tradition of Confucius and Mencius, advocating "revolutionizing the old and making the new" and opposing ideological imprisonment. Li Zhen despised traditional authority, dared to criticize authority, and since childhood "stubbornly and difficultly, did not believe in learning, did not believe in Taoism, and did not believe in immortal interpretation." He believes that a person should have his own political opinions and ideas, and should not blindly follow others.
Most of the ancient Chinese history books were "right and wrong in line with the saints", evaluating historical events and historical figures with Confucian moral supremacy. Li Yan believes that this evaluation criterion has caused many grievances: "True heroes and men, paintings are weak; true celebrities, painting laymen; true celebrities are not good at the guests, paintings are praised and crowned, and they are conceited with grandeur." ”
The first characteristic of Li Jie's view of history is the courage to re-evaluate historical figures and the courage to "reverse the right and wrong of thousands of worlds."
Li Jie wrote in his own "Bibliophile Chronicles · The General Treatise on present is straightforward: He opposes the use of Confucius's remarks as a criterion for judging right from wrong. He also asserted that for more than a thousand years after the Han, Tang, and Song dynasties, "Xian took Confucius's right and wrong as right and wrong, so there was no right and wrong ear." He openly proposed that he should re-evaluate historical figures and "reverse the right and wrong of thousands of worlds."
Why re-evaluate historical figures? In a letter to Jiao Weihou, Li Yan said: "Lonely and lonely in the mountains, always take the annals of history to read... As the book says, not only can it be recorded that the latter is a great sage, who has been left behind for thousands of years, and there is no record, but his spiritual ingenuity can also be envied. In fact, the true sages are not exempt from being carefully plucked or praised by floating names, but in fact, they are not. Since ancient times, how many grievances have been made, who has been discerning snow, so reading history is really like a confrontation with millions of people, and now I dare not say that all the legends of this book are appropriate, but it is only a matter of anger for the current people. ” 。
It is precisely with the determination of "making enemies with tens of millions of people" that Li Yan re-evaluates historical figures and "gives gas to the predecessors."
Ji Kang is "not Tang Wu but Thin Zhou Kong", and Ruan Zhi is "informal" and "not ceremonial". Li Yan gave them a high evaluation, believing that "their character is strong," "what they have hoped for in ancient and modern times," and "they can still imagine seeing them in a thousand years."
In the "Collection of Books", Li Zhen re-evaluated from Qin Shi Huang, Emperor Wu of Han, Tang Taizong, Song Dazu, and even ordinary Confucian generals, "as well as usurpers and unruly morality, tricks and satires" and so on. He called Emperor Wu of Han a "hero who succeeds in his creation," Emperor Guangwu of Han guangwu "the revival of the Holy Lord," Tang Taizong as "The Lord of The Ying Dynasty," and Song Taizu as "the Lord of the Holy Lord."
Li Yan enthusiastically praised Qin Shi Huang as "an emperor of thousands of ages", "a hero of the ancestral dragons and thousands of years, earning a world", "the first emperor was born, Li Sixiangzhi, the world collapsed, and a world was overturned". Regarding the progressive proposition put forward by the pre-Qin legalist Li Si that "the five emperors do not return to each other, the three kings do not inherit each other, and each rules according to each other," he praised it and commented: "The three words of each rule are very valuable." He spoke highly of the Tang Dynasty lawyer Liu Zongyuan and his "Treatise on Feudalism" praising Qin Shi Huang and affirming the county system, saying, "Liu Zongyuan's articles, seeing and discussing, do not work with the Tang people. "Feudalism" is outstanding and extraordinary! ”
As for the Confucians who opposed change and advocated retrogression in history, he greatly denounced them, saying that "Confucian subjects" "really cannot rule the country under the heavens." In response to the Sui Dynasty Confucian Wang Tong's preaching that "the world at that time was ruled by the rituals of the Zhou Gong, and the feudal corporal punishment of Ida was the inevitable restoration of future generations", Li Jie ridiculed him as "one step at a time, and Confucius has no law", and so on, the love and hatred are very clear.
The second characteristic, Li Yan put forward the social and historical concept of "one rule and one chaos like a cycle".
Zhu Xi said, "Madame is only this person, the Tao is only this Tao, is there a difference between three generations, Han, and Tang?" However, the confucian learning is not passed on, and the hearts of Yao, Shun, Yu, Tang, Wen, and Wu are not known to the world, so the king of the Han and Tang Dynasties cannot be without a time of secret union, but his whole body is only in terms of desire for profit, so the three generations of Yao and Shun, the three generations of Shun, the three generations of Han and Tang, and the Han and Tang dynasties cannot be united in the end. ("Zhu Wen Gongji • Reply to Chen Tongfu Shu") means that Xia Shang's three generations of Tianli were popular, which was a royal politics. Three generations later, because the emperor's heart was "inevitable of selfishness", as a result, all phenomena became "dark".
In contrast, Li Zhen put forward the social and historical concept of "one rule and one chaos like a cycle". He also believes: "In life, there are only two qualities." The birth of the two stems from the control of chaos. He also made a harsh criticism of the Confucian advocacy of "changing quality with loyalty" and "seeking literature by quality", believing that it was "not rooted in much".
The third characteristic, Li Yan, is a typical skeptic in ancient Chinese history.
Li Zhen wrote in the "General Present Theory of the Chronicles of the Bibliography": "The right and wrong of man are initially uncertain. There is no conclusive conclusion about the non-human being. The inconclusive theory is that this is not the same as breeding and not harming each other, and the inconclusive theory is that this is not the other and is parallel and not contradictory. Li Zhen believes that everyone has different standards of right and wrong. And non-standards change over time and are not static. "Yesterday is what is and today is not, and today is not the day after tomorrow." But since the Han and Tang Dynasties, people have "taken Confucius's right and wrong as right and wrong, so there is no right and wrong ear." The purpose of Li Zhen's compilation of the "Collection" was to "reverse the right and wrong of thousands of worlds." "It is not enough to take Confucius's right and wrong as evidence."
There are many criticisms in Li Zhen's "Collection", which shows his spirit of criticism and skepticism.
The "Collection of Books and The Biography of Wang Tong" records that Wang Tong "wanted to rule the world at that time with the rituals of the Duke of Zhou, and to take the feudal corporal punishment of Ida as the inevitable restoration of future generations" Li Yan commented: "Step by step, Confucius has no law." ”
The "Zangshu Xiaoxuan Emperor Century" says: "Ban Biao praised: Emperor Cheng is good at repairing the appearance of the instrument, ascending the car upright, not looking inward, not rushing to speak, not personally pointing. The face is silent, and the dignity is like a god. It can be described as the face of Mu Mu Tianzi. Li Pi: "Draw a Mr. Taoist." ”
The "Collection of Books: Wang Mang Century" says: "Mang is lonely and poor, because of the thriftiness of the festival, he is diligent and erudite, and he is obeyed like a Confucian." Diplomatic handsome, internal affairs fathers. The song is polite. Li Pi: "Draw a Mr. Taoist." ”
Li Zhen satirized Confucianism: "Although the name is learning, but the actual does not know learning, often the toddler is lost, and the traces cannot be created." The pawn was laughed at by the courtiers. However, in fact, it is impossible to rule the country under the heavens. He also said, "The name of Confucianism, seeking cure and rebelling against chaos, and the true talents of the world, the great sages and saints, have all been empty rooms for life." Then confucians cannot rule the world and the country, and believe in it. ”
The fourth characteristic, Li Yan opposes historical conservatism and advocates the concept of historical development that "moves with the world".
"The dispute between right and wrong is also, such as the age of the line, the change of day and night, not the same." Yesterday is not also today, but can we determine the business law of this bank? Li Zhen put forward the proposition that "as the world passes, its Daobier" proposition. It is believed that the Spring and Autumn Period for the Three Dynasties and the Spring and Autumn Period of the Warring States Dynasty are all normal historical development phenomena.
Ji Xiaolan, editor-in-chief of the Siku Quanshu, did not accept any of Li Yan's works, but only kept his eyes, and bitterly criticized li Zhen's "Collection of Books", commenting on Li Zhen's "Collection of Books", writing: "The "Collection of Books" written by Li Zhen is the unscrupulous of villains." Li Yan's heretical ideas have always been intolerable at that time.
bibliography:
"The Book Collection" by Li Zhen
"Fifteen Years of Wanli" by Huang Renyu
"Commentary on Li Zhen" by Zhang Jianye