It lasts for thousands of years

Wu Shaofei Text/Photo

On the occasion of the approaching "Reading Week for All" in our city, the "Endless Life - Confucian Culture Book Exhibition" jointly organized by Quzhou Daily Newspaper Media Group, Kecheng District Library and Qingjian Society was exhibited in Kecheng District Library on November 3. The exhibition is divided into "Books Related to Mr. Kong Xiangkai", "Writings of the Three Elders", "Various Analects", "Three Phases of Confucianism" and so on.

One of the purposes of this book fair is to commemorate Mr. Kong Xiangkai, the "last worship official". At the same time, the exhibition was held in Quzhou, the "Southeast Queli", in order to pay tribute to Confucius, the first confucius in the "Axial Age" to think systematically about human existence.

Books concerning Mr. Kong Xiangkai

Mr. Kong Xiangkai's "Cultural Talk" was published by East China Normal University Press in May 2015. The "Cultural Talk" on display this time also has a Japanese translation and a Korean translation. The Japanese translation of the book, titled "A Long Talks on Chinese Culture", translated by Shunichiro Aoki, was printed by Japan Corporation Atsutokusha in August 2018. The preface was written by teacher Ye Bi of Quzhou College, and the epilogue was written by teacher Ma Andong of Zhejiang University. The Korean version of "Cultural Talk" was translated by Yan Guide. In the preface to the publication of the book, there is a passage from Mr. Kong Xiangkai' words: "Professor Yan Guide of Chungnam University is very enthusiastic about translating my "Cultural Talk" into Korean, and it is now being officially published. The book "Cultural Talk" was a lecture note that I had been lecturing at Quzhou College for five years, and then due to the requirements of the local newspaper, I organized the manuscript into a text and published it. The content of the book is my own views and experiences on these art disciplines, whether it is self-approved by non-readers, coupled with the cultural differences between China and South Korea, please Korean readers Zhu Junyazheng! To be honest, I never expected this book to go abroad, and thank You Yan Guide once again for your efforts! ”

The works of Mr. Kong Xiangkai and their related works are also "Rong", "Changsun Kong Xiangkai", "Kong Xiangkai Manuscripts", "Confucian Studies" and so on.

"Kong Nanzong Kaoli" and "Three Elders" writings

In modern times, the first work in the study of the history of "Nankong" should be Mr. Xu Yingpu, a native of Pingshan. The exhibition of "Kong's Southern Sect Examination Strategy" is prefaced by Xu Yingpu, Yu Shaosong and Jiang Qingyun. In 1944, Kong Xiangkai, the 75th grandson of Confucius, attacked the "Dacheng Most Holy Ancestor Nanzong Fengguan". Two years later, Kong Xiangkai's father, Mr. Kong Fanying, asked the villager Xu Yingpu to write the "Examination Strategy of the Southern Emperor of Kong". "The canonical relics and relics of the past eight hundred years have been refined with macros and cut appropriately. The Nanzong Jishu su lacked a special book, and obtaining this one is enough to know its outline. After Kong Fanying consulted the "Examination Strategy of The Southern Sect of Kong", he ordered Kong Xiangkai to write the four characters of "Gongshen Number Classic" on the title page.

However, qudi has been plagued by many soldiers since ancient times, especially in 1942 and 1944, and almost all the documents of the Confucius Family Temple and the Southern Zong Confucius House were lost. Therefore, Xu Yingpu's "Examination of Kong's Southern Sect" is only 30,000 words, which is difficult to reflect the whole picture of Kong's Southern Sect. In the spring of 1993, Kong Xiangkai, the "last worship official", returned to Sanqu to take charge of the Nanzong Family Temple of Kong. He paid special attention to the collation of literature and founded the Confucius Academic Research Society. As a result, from the 1990s to the present, there have been "three elders" who study the history of "Nankong" - Xu Shouchang, Zhuang Yuejiang, and Cui Mingxian. The books on display partially reflect the research results of the "Three Elders", such as "Historical Materials of Kong Nanzong", "Records of Kong Nanzong Family Temple", "Chronicle of Kong Nanzong", "Chronicle of Kong Nanzong" and so on.

In the long river of history, the historical materials of Kong Nanzong are very absurd and lost. Xu Yingpu once pointed out: "The descendants of the Most Holy Ones have been around for more than 2,000 years, the genealogy is sparse, the literature is not signed, and the complexity of the tribes cannot be understood. And it is the Scholars of the Three Qu like Xu Shouchang, Zhuang Yuejiang, and Cui Mingxian who have been burning anointing for years and decades, neglecting obscenity, climbing the line, and distinguishing between falsehoods and seeking truth, so that the historical matters of "Nankong" can be prepared and ploughed.

Various Analects

The Analects are second only to the Bible in print, and it is the Yuandian of Confucianism. The Japanese scholar Ito Hitozai (1627-1705) published the first page of his Analects of ancient righteousness with the words "The highest to the extreme, the first in the universe" on the first page. In addition to various editions of the Analects, the exhibition also includes a series of annotated editions of the Analects.

The 1958 edition of the Analects on display is an annotated version of Yang Bojun's classics. Yang Ben is known for his accurate annotations and plain translations. Li Zehou's "Analects and Modern Translations" is not his strength, but should be read by philosophers. Similarly, Qian Mu's "New Interpretation of the Analects" is purely based on righteousness, with fewer evidence and more discussion. Scholar Yu Yingshi believes that Yang Bojun's annotations are basically correct, li Zehou's reading is a thinker's reading method, and if Qian Mu's annotated version is added, the understanding of the Analects will not be bad.

Among the exhibits, the "Analects of the Analects and Present Interpretations" written by Mao Zishui of Quzhou is particularly worthy of recommendation. As early as 1918, He was one of the initiators of the "New Wave Society", and Mao Zishui, who advocated Western studies, democracy and science, was also the first person to put forward the concept of "National History". For the explanation of a sentence in the Analects, Mao Zishui did not know how much literature to consult. From this, we can also understand the reason why Mao Zishui was called the "Southeast Library" by Hu Shi.

Also on display are Zhao Jibin's "New Exploration of the Analects", Xu Zhigang's "Analects of The Translation", Liu Ying's "The Story of the Analects", Huang Shisan's "The Case of the Analects", and Uno Tetsujin's "Analects Reader". Li Zero's "Lost Dogs— I Read the Analects" is very interesting. For example, "parents are only worried about their illness", is it Ma Rong and Zhu Xi who said that the father is worried about his children's illness, or is his children worried about their parents' illness? Li Zero agreed with the latter and did not approve of the former, for the reason that there were only two words "too circumvented."

Confucianism PHASE III

According to Mou Zongsan's research, Confucianism is divided into three phases. Kong and Meng are the first phase. After Meng Ke's death, it was not allowed to be passed on until Song Ming Li carried forward the theory of mental nature and became the second period of Confucianism. Since the death of Liu Zongzhou at the end of the Ming Dynasty, there were three hundred years of the Qing Dynasty and lost its legacy, and it was dark, until Xiong Shili came out and spread to Mou Zongsan, Tang Junyi and others, and then it was glorious again, which was the third period of Confucianism.

The Confucian Culture Book Exhibition shows the state of Confucianism in the three periods to varying degrees.

The first period of Confucianism arose in what Jaspers called the "Axial Age." Schwartz once pointed out that the concept of "Tao" was the fundamental theme of the pre-Qin sons, confucius among the sons was after all the earliest and most important thinker, and other thinkers basically revolved around Confucius thought, so it is natural to say that Confucius thought is the representative of Chinese thought in the Axial Era.

The Neo-Confucians of the Song Dynasty faced the challenge of the Ershi (Tao, Buddha) and pioneered the science of science, resulting in the second golden age of Chinese philosophy after the pre-Qin. Song Ming Confucianism developed the "nature theory", not the Buddhist "emptiness", nor the Taoist "metaphysics". The central figure in the construction of this "Taoist system" is Zhu Xi, who "respects the Lord to establish his foundation, and poor reason to advance his knowledge."

The third stage of development of Confucianism was modern Neo-Confucianism. Modern Neo-Confucianism believes that the highest ideal of Chinese culture is Confucian humanism, which is the unity of moral reason and religious spirit, and the "study of the mind" in it is the essence of Chinese culture. The writings of modern Neo-Confucianism are partially presented in this book fair.

On the one hand, we must not beat Confucianism to death as a "feudal heritage"; on the other hand, we must not assume that our Confucianism is superior to other cultures, or that our universal values are "ancient". Entering the younger generation, they are thinking more about whether Confucianism can be Westernized? Can Confucianism be a resource for modernization? What kind of transformation has modernization caused to Confucianism? In any case, Confucianism entered the world and still relied on multicultural "dialogue".

Finally, it is worth noting that from the perspective of traditional China, the value of Confucianism has been passed from one generation to another, and the most important role is that of an illiterate mother. Regardless of whether Confucianism's fate today is "wandering the soul" or not, as long as it is practiced in the "daily use of humanity", Confucianism is still what Fingrew said, "the world is sacred".

【Source: Quzhou Daily】

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