Li Yuan was a disciple of Yan Yuan, and the two of them jointly created the Yan and Li School, which is extremely unique in the history of Chinese scholarship, because this school is both anti-Cheng and Zhu, but also anti-Lu, Wang, Xu Shichang and other compilations of the "Qing Confucianism Case" summarized the school as follows: "Since the Song Dynasty, all of them have ruled the world with the scholarship of Song Confucianism. Although Cheng, Zhu, Lu, and Wang are divided, they are not two. The rise of Xi Zhai directly revealed that his use in the Zhou and Kong Dao bodies was not greatly prepared, and this two-thousand-year academic transition. At that time, the various schools of Sinology also tried to correct song and Confucianism, but they were still confined to chapters and sentences. Yan and Li Zhi's sayings, which are not declared, make them expound their theories and prosper, Li Le bing nong, Gong Yu water and fire, Xu Xian's use, that is, the philosophy of science of Ou Xi, does not come out of its scope, the academic treatment of art, and the consistent effect of The Gong! ”
Xu Shichang attached great importance to the Yan-Li school, which he had published in the works of Yan Yuan and Li Yuan, and believed that the emergence of the Yan-Li school was a major turning point in the history of Confucianism in China for two thousand years. Xu believes that sinologists in the early Qing Dynasty particularly wanted to correct the shortcomings brought to society by Song Ming Theory, but this correction was not complete, and it was only here that Yan Li really opposed the doctrine of Song Confucianism and began to advocate practical learning, which already included industry, agriculture, and science.
Yan Yuan wrote the "Xi Zhai Yu Zhi" in Tianjin Xu's engraving of the Republic of China, a book plate
Yan Yuan wrote the "Xi Zhai Yu Jiao" in Tianjin Xu's engraving of the Republic of China, the beginning of the volume
Among modern scholars, it seems that Liang Qichao paid the earliest attention to the Yan and Li school, and he used a long chapter to describe the school in the "Academic History of China in the Past Three Hundred Years", the first paragraph of the chapter is: "There is a Qing dynasty scholarship, the initial period is the dispute between Cheng Zhu Lu wang, the second period is the dispute between the Han and Song Dynasties, and the end is the dispute between the old and the new." He asked some people to cite all the crushing and clearing of the zhulu, Han, and Song sects, which for the ideological circles of the past two thousand years, as an extremely fierce and sincere revolutionary movement. The banner of its tree is called 'retro', and its spirit is purely 'modern'. Who is it? Yan Xizhai and his protégé Li Shugu. ”
Liang Qichao called the Yan-Li school's ideas a "fierce revolutionary movement." Regarding the purpose of this school, Mr. Zhu Yilu said in the "Commentary on Yan Yuan's Li Yuan": "Yan Yuan's theory emphasizes practicality, with the goal of enriching the country and strengthening the army, and is unique in the history of Chinese thought. Its purpose can be summed up in three words of utilitarianism. To be more specific, it is the study of merit with the retro cloak and the core of 'three things and three things'. This is similar to the social utilitarian theory of ancient Mozi, which is different from the utilitarian doctrine of modern Western times. ”
Mr. Shi Xinxin summed up the Yan-Li school in the "History of Science in the Qing Dynasty" as follows: "The Yan-Li School was formed during the Kangxi Period, a school founded by Yan Yuan and Li Yuan with the purpose of stressing practical studies, and it is also a school that dares to deny Cheng Zhu Lixue and has a strong critical color, which is very praised by modern scholars. ”
Judging from Yan Yuan's personal experience, he did not have such a strong spirit of resistance at first, because he believed in lu and Wang, as well as Cheng and Zhu, and finally because of some touches in his life, he changed his admiration for Song Ru.
Yan Yuan was born into a poor family, he was adopted as an adopted son by others from an early age, but he still went to private school at the age of 7, when he went to the field to do farm work during the day and liked to read at night. By the age of 21, he had read through the Zizhi Tongjian and later became fascinated by the Book of Soldiers. Obviously, none of these books could make him a living, so he began to read medical books again, and after a little medical treatment, he began to treat people. At the age of 24, he opened a private school at home to earn living expenses.
"Li Shugu Annals" Qing Guangxu Five Years Dingzhou Wang Clan Qiande Hall engraved "Qifu Series" book
When Yan Yuan was 23 years old, he became acquainted with Peng Tong, who had contacts with Sun Qifeng, Diao Bao and other theologians: "Sir asked, it was Xue Wenqing, Wang Wencheng, Cai Wenzhuang's "Instructions" and Lu and Wang's "Essential Languages", repeating Sun and Diao Xingzhi. Mr. Lu and Wang deeply liked him, and copied a volume of "Essential Languages" by hand, and gradually cured people's diseases. (Li Yuanyi and Wang Yuanding", "The Annals of Mr. Yan Xizhai")
This was the beginning of Yan Yuan's contact with Lu and Wang Zhixue, and since then, Yan Yuan has fallen in love with Lu and Wang Xinxue, and he has written "Big Box Song" and "Small Box Song" to praise Lu and Wang Xinxue, because he compared the big box to the universe and the small box to my heart. Then he worked hard to learn the concept of Lu and Wang Xinxue, and was regarded as the "True King of Lu" by the people at that time.
However, two years later, Yan Yuan read the "Complete Book of Sexual Theory", and from then on he turned to worshiping Cheng and Zhu Lixue: "By the age of twenty-six, he had obtained the "Complete Book of Sexual Theory", see the "Quotations of Zhou, Cheng, Zhang, and Zhu", and changed his mind, thinking that he was more pure and practical than Lu and Wang's second son, and was also said to be Kong and Meng Hou. In the midst of retreat and auspiciousness, the "Wen Gong Family Ceremony" will be followed; books such as "Primary School" and "Recent Thoughts" will be enshrined in books such as Confucius Scriptures. A person who may have a suspicious word of the gentleman is angry and discerning, such as a parent. Although Yuan is insensitive, if Yu Cheng and Zhu Zhuzi have a slight gain, they can be pressed from Jiachen to Pengshen's diary. The same is true of Mr. Yuan Pingsheng's obedience to the two factions, and the same is true of Mr. Mu Zeyu of the two factions, who will be called a traitor to his way, dare he? ("Wang Xue Questions the Trek")
Yan Yuan felt that Cheng and Zhu Lixue were more pure and practical than lu and Wang Xinxue's concepts, he believed that Ercheng and Zhu Zi were the orthodox concepts of Kong and Meng that were really spread, and from then on, he took all his behavior and behavior based on the provisions of Cheng Zhu Lixue as the standard, and he even treated the "Records of Recent Thoughts" as what Confucius said, if anyone questioned the concepts of Cheng and Zhu, he felt that he was cursing his parents, so he would fight back.
Yan Yuan has the habit of keeping a diary, and in his diary when he was 30 to 34 years old, all he wrote about was the experience of learning Cheng Zhu Lixue. He read these works continuously every day, and at the same time always reflected his actions with what was said in the works: "Keep a diary every hour: pure is at the time, and pure is ×." (Annals)
It can be seen how much he believes in Cheng Zhu Lixue, and this stage has a total of eight years. Then there was another thing that suddenly disgusted Cheng Zhu Lixue.
Yan Yuan died of illness when he was 34 years old, and for the next three days, he did not eat every day, and when he buried his grandmother, he used his head to hit the coffin. After this toss, he tossed himself out of a serious illness. This result began to make him reflect on his own behavior, and wang xue said in the "Wang Xue Questioning Trek": "Since the age of thirty-four, he was killed by his grandmother Xian En, and he obeyed the Wen gong family ritual one by one, which was quite contrary to temperament. Having read Zhou Gong's "Rites", I knew that its deletion was improper. And mourning, examining the "Theory of Nature" is to know that sitting still and reading is not Confucius; the nature of temperament, the nature of non-sexual goodness is also the purpose. Zhu Xuegai had been mixed with the Buddha, not only Lu and Wang. Lu and Wang were also close to each other, not only Zhu Xueye. ”
Yan Yuan felt that the funeral he had given to his adoptive grandmother was entirely in accordance with the procedures on the Wen gong family ceremony, but he felt that it was very unreasonable to follow these procedures. Then, he read Zhou Gong's "Rituals" again, making him feel that the requirements on the "Wengong Family Rituals" did not follow the original stated in Zhou Gong's "Rituals", but were deleted and changed. He continued to explore all the way, and felt that Zhu Zizhi's learning was mixed with Buddhist concepts, and before that, people said that Lu and Wang's concepts were mixed with Buddhist principles, and now it seems that Cheng and Zhu are not pure.
"Yan Li Shi Chengji" Tianjin Xu clan engraving of the Republic of China, book plate
"Yan Li Shi Chengji" Tianjin Xu Clan Engraving of the Republic of China, voluminous
For this major change, of course, there is a record in the "Annals of Mr. Yan Xizhai": "Mr. Ju funeral, a person who obeys Zhu Zi's "Family Ritual", who feels that he has violated his temperament, uses ancient rites, not to write "Farewell to Ju Funeral". He mourns and kills, thinks about learning, because of the six virtues, six elements, and six arts of the Zhou Gong, the four teachings of Confucius, and the right learning. Meditation and reading are immersed in Zen and secular studies by Cheng, Zhu, Lu, and Wang, and are not righteous. Source: Since then, Mr. Ming has resolutely taken the Ming Xing Zhou and Kong Dao as his own responsibility, done his best to get rid of the Song and Ming Confucian habits, and engaged in the study of the great use of the whole, which is not a major concern of the academic luck of the two thousand years! It turned out that Yan Yuan also wrote an article in the mourning stage, and after some discussion, he felt that whether it was Cheng Zhu Lixue or Lu Wangxinxue, these concepts were integrated into the concepts of Zen and folklore, which made Yan Yuan feel that these concepts were not the right way, so his disciple Wang Yuan commented on this: This matter is very important to Yan Yuan's ideological transformation, because from then on, Yan Yuan wants to promote the teachings of Zhou Gong and Confucius, and he wants to get rid of the concept of Song Ming Theory.
Regarding the great significance of Yan Yuan's transformation, Hou Wailu commented in the General History of Chinese Thought: "Wang, Gu, and Huang were heretics of Song Ming Taoism in the spirit of the times, but they all had reservations about science in form. Wang and Gu formally left Cheng and Zhu, and Huang Zongxi formally left Wang Shouren. Yan Yuan, otherwise, for the Daoists since the Song Dynasty, they were overthrown together without a trace of formal reservations. ”
Hou Wailu believes that Wang Fuzhi, Gu Yanwu and Huang Zongxi are all heretics of Song Ming's science from an academic point of view, but these three master-level figures are not thorough in their criticism of Song Ming's science, Wang Fuzhi and Gu Yanwu protect Cheng Zhu Lixue in form, while Huang Zongxi protects Wang Yangming in form, but Yan Yuan is different, he does not protect Song Ming's science, no matter which school, in The words of Hou Wailu, it is "overthrown together". From this, it can be seen that this Yan Yuan was the real ideological liberator of his time.
Why does Yan Yuan have such a strong critical spirit? And look at how he criticizes Cheng Zhu Lixue: "The way of Zhu Zi has been practiced for thousands of years, so that there is no Confucianism in the world, no talent, no timing, and no willingness to work." The people of the Song family and the old turban group of people in the world meditate and read books, thinking that they have gained the unique secrets of the ages; they refer to doing the right things as rude and arrogant, as ordinary officials; and they refer to the economic people as utilitarian and miscellaneous hegemons. In the final analysis, in the past five hundred years, ordinary people have read and lectured on the "Collected Notes", pondered the eight strands, and taken the field of rich and noble Lida, and the people of Gao Kuang have talked quietly and respectfully; they have written books and collected articles, and coveted the rituals of the temple court. ”
Yan Yuan said that Zhu Zi's doctrine had been implemented for nearly a thousand years, and his concept made every Confucian student in the world obey, and these people regarded those who did practical things as rude and vulgar officials, and those who really worked for the welfare of society were also relegated to the way of overlordship without orthodox thought, and the readers of the world were there to study the Notes on the Four Books, pondering how to write the Eight Strands of Literature, and talking there all day.
Yan Yuan also has his own views on the dispute between Cheng and Zhu and Lu and Wang: "The two schools of learning and arguing are useless in arguing until they are not there, and it is useless to argue until they are there. Gai closed his eyes to meditate, read, speak, and write, and saw that everywhere was the same mirror, flowers, water, and moon, and vice versa, all were not Yao, Shun Zhengde, Use, Housheng, Zhou, Kong Liude, Liu Xing, and Liu Yi Path. Although those who are conscientious see that my heart is really enough to unify all things, the Lord, the author, and the reader recognize that my learning is really enough to achieve all reasons, and in the end it is to paint the cake and look at the plum. Paint the cake double Shaw, hope mei double true, no supplement to the body also; the situation will be diet i ya! (Xi Zhai Ji Yu)
In Yan Yuan's eyes, the dispute between Zhu and Lu is completely useless, he thinks that these two factions will actually only sit there and read dead books, so their learning is like a flower in the mirror, the moon in the water, completely useless, and more importantly, Yan Yuan believes that whether it is Cheng, Zhu and Lu, Wang, in fact, these two schools are not the authentic ones handed down by Yao, Shun, and Zhou Gong, even when wang Yangming arrives, he also thinks that the "to conscience" proposed by Wang is also to paint cakes to fill hunger, hope mei to quench thirst, no matter how many images you paint, can not be beneficial to the body.
Yan Yuan's remarks are equivalent to completely binding Cheng Zhu Lixue and Lu Wangxinxue as the orthodox inheritance of Confucius of Zhou Gong, and this denial is really thorough enough. In his eyes, no matter which faction, it is killing people in a different direction: "I have tasted that the Prince of Zong refers to Zhu Zi as a layman, and I do not talk deeply with him, and his intention is to honor the king and slander Zhu, not necessarily worse than also." belch! GuoShi Wangxue and Zhu Xue went alone, and did not kill anyone! Fruit Zhu Xue and go alone wang xue, do not kill people? Today, there is no soldier in the next hundred miles, no sage in a thousand miles, no government affairs in the dynasty, no good customs in the wilderness, and no people who are lost, who is to blame? (Xi Zhai Ji Yu)
Li Yu wrote "Reading History and Seeing" In the fifth year of qing guangxu, The Qiande Hall of the Dingzhou Wang Clan carved the "Qifu Series"
Yan Yuan said that whether it is Zhu Xue or Wang Xue, these two factions attack each other, in fact, no matter which faction gains power, the result is also to kill people. In his eyes, there was no decent bachelor or sage in the world at that time, so he criticized the government at that time for not doing the right thing.
It is precisely because of this that Yan Yuan almost did not have an eye on the science of science, for example, he believed that Zhou Dunyi had integrated the concepts of Buddha and Lao into Confucianism: "In the Song Dynasty, when the whole world was worried and indifferent to the right direction, and Zhou Zi was prominent, with its transmission to the Zen monk Shouya and the Taoist priest Chen Zhuo, mixed into Confucianism, drawing and writing books, creating a case, Cheng, Zhu, Lu, and Wang all worshiped it." Phase rate meditation epiphany, 'the weather when joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness have not yet developed', 'with no view', the treachery of the two clans in secret, and the actual merits of 'Mingmingde' are complete. ”
Yan Yuan said that Zhou Dunyi's Taijitu was actually derived from a Taoist monk, but Ercheng, Zhu Xi, Lu Jiuyuan, Wang Yangming and others worshipped him as an ancestor. Whether this is the case or not, Yan Yuan does not mind, he only wants to criticize the object of criticism that he thinks should be criticized at will. For example, According to Zhu Xi's emphasis on "Ge Wu Zhi Zhi", Yan Yuan has his own explanation: "According to the 'Grid' of 'Lattice', Wang Menxun 'Zheng', Zhu Menxun 'To', and Han Confucian Training 'Come', it seems that none of them are stable. ...... Yuan means that when the history books 'hand grid beast' of the 'grid' of the 'grid', the 'grid' of the 'hand fight to kill', is the meaning of hand pounding and rubbing, that is, the teaching of the six arts of Confucius Gate, yes also. (Xi Zhai Ji Yu)
Yan Yuan believes that with regard to this "grid" character of lattice, Wang Yangming interpreted this word as "正", Zhu Xi interpreted it as "to", and Han Ru interpreted it as "come", and he felt that these explanations were not correct and should be interpreted as "fighting".
From the above, it can be seen that the orthodoxy of science since Zhou Dunyi has all been denied by Yan Yuan, and his behavior has been called "destruction" by Liang Qichao: "The Yan and Li school, in terms of construction, how good the achievements, there are no criticisms below." As for the destruction, the height of his insight and the greatness of his boldness are, and I dare to say that there is no comparison between ancient times and the present. Because all the scholarship in the two thousand years since the Han Dynasty has been denied by him. He denied that reading was learning, especially that annotating ancient books was learning, and even denied that it was learning published in all kinds of words. He denies that it is learning, and especially that philosophy is learning. He denies that meditation is learning, and especially that Vipassana-style insight is learning. Let's imagine, what is more to the knowledge of two thousand years besides these things? They were all completely denied by him. ”
That being the case, who does Yan Yuan think is a good person in history? His perspective is indeed different from the orthodox view of society, and almost all the figures who have been deprecated in history have been praised by Yan Yuan, for example, he believes that in the Song Dynasty, in addition to the Zhu and Lu factions, there should be a third faction, and the third school he refers to is Chen Liang's "study of merit": "For example, Chen Longchuan talked about 'the general outline of the world, alloy, silver, copper, and iron as one instrument', this sentence is the most refined, the most true, is the great sage, the great hero." Hammer Qiankun is the best means, but will go to talk to the students, Yuxia worm language is cold. (Zhuzi Language Review)
He called Chen Liang a great sage and a great hero. Why praise Chen Liang like this? Because Chen's words came from his letter to Zhu Xi, and Zhu Xi refuted Chen Liang's letter, and Yan Yuan believed that Chen Liang did not need to argue with Zhu Xi. He believes that the dialogue between Chen Liang and Zhu Xi is like "Summer Worm Language Ice", an allusion from "Zhuangzi Qiushui": "The well frog cannot speak to the sea, but to the void; the summer worm cannot speak to the ice person, and the time is also true; the Qushi cannot speak to the Taoist, and is bound to the teaching." ”
Yan Yuan likened Zhu Xi to a bug that could only live for one summer, because if you wanted to talk to this bug about ice and snow, it was impossible for it to understand. Yan Yuan's words scolded Zhu Xi fiercely enough.
As for Wang Anshi, who was scolded in history, Yan Yuan was even more admired, and he said in the "Commentary on Zhu Zi's Language": "With true loyalty, true righteousness, great merit, great work, honesty, and hard work, the prime minister was corrupted and chaotic in his administration, so that the great merits were not accomplished; the future generations were discredited by the contradictory scholars, so that the injustice was not snowed; the misfortune of the public, the misfortune of the Song Dynasty! The luck of heaven and earth is unfortunate, and the misfortune of the people of the hundred generations is also unfortunate. Yu has "Song Xiang Discernment" and "Song History Commentary", and strives to turn this big case for Qiankun. ”
Yan Yuan used a lot of beautiful words here to praise Wang Anshi, and he believed that a prime minister like Wang Anshi would definitely succeed if he had not been disturbed by Confucianism. However, the Confucians of later generations constantly scolded Wang Anshi, which made Yan Yuan feel very upset, so he wrote a related article to overturn the case.
Li Yu wrote the "Shugu Yujiao" engraving of the Xu clan in Tianjin, Republic of China, and the book plate
Li Yu wrote the "Shugu Yujiao" engraving of the Xu clan in Tianjin, Republic of China, at the beginning of the volume
At that time, Yang Shi had said that he was dissatisfied with Wang Anshi, and because of this, Yang Shi also became the target of Yan Yuan's attack: "With useless pedantry, Yang Shi's crimes are in heaven, and Zhu Zi calls him 'good at attacking the Wang clan'." In my life, I did not think about practicing the holy way, did not go through the world to help the people, only attacked people with my tongue, and the sinners of Confucius Gate also. (Zhuzi Language Review)
Yan Yuan said that Yang Shi's sin was greater than the sky, and Zhu Zi actually praised Yang Shi's behavior in attacking Wang Anshi, believing that people like Zhu Xi did not do something beneficial to the common people, and also praised others for attacking others with words, so such a person was degraded by Yan Yuan as a "Confucius sinner".
Yan Yuan's remarks sounded shocking enough that his friend Wang Faqian quarreled with him: "My friend Faqian Wang Clan defended Song Ru for me, Ming Yao, Kong Laodao, and angrily shouted: 'Brother True King An Shiye.'" "Yes." Jing Gong (荆公), Zhao Jia She ji sheng min an shi; servant, Kong Men Dao Pulse Sect of An Shi Ye. ’”
When Wang Faqian was in a hurry, he scolded Yan Yuan for being the current Wang Anshi, and Yan Yuan was not angry at all after hearing this, he said: You are right, because Wang Anshi was the master of the people in the Song Dynasty, and I Yan Yuan was Wang Anshi who passed on the true pulse of Confucius.
Why did Yan Yuan praise Wang Anshi so much? Because he believes that Wang Anshi is a person who does practical things and does not say empty words, because Yan Yuan opposes reading and academic research, he only emphasizes doing practical things, he said in the "Zhuzi Language Class Commentary": "For more than a thousand years, he led the world into the pile of old paper, exhausted his physical and mental strength, and became a weak person, a sick person, and a useless person. ”
He believes that for thousands of years, many Confucians have wasted their energy in ancient books and become useless people, and these people have drunk Zhu Xi's ecstasy soup, and he even said that he has also fallen into Zhu Xi's deception: "Servants also swallow arsenic people!" Exhausted by the exhaustion of his mind and strength, he was deeply affected by it, so that he could not enter the way of Yao, Shun, Zhou, and Kong at the age of more than sixty years. But when Yu Tuci heard the sound of the township school group reading, he sighed: 'It is a pity that many strengths are not good'; but when he saw people writing into words, he sighed: 'It is a pity that many thoughts are in and out of the house;but when he saw the crowd of people entering and leaving the house, he sighed: 'It is a pity that many talents are'. Therefore, twenty years ago, when he saw a wise and ambitious person, he advised him to read more; in recent years, when he saw a talented person, he abstained from reading more, especially when he admonished people to look at the Song People's "Quotations", "Sexual Theory", etc., saying: "When it is like an obscene voice, the evil color is far away." 'Looking at this scroll is the origin of knowing that Zhu Zi is a thief. belch! Look at the Thousand Saints and the Hundred Kings, are you a reader? Although three generations later, the rectifier is not a reader? I'm waking up! ”
Yan Yuan, who called himself the person who ate arsenic, said that he was deeply affected by it, and did not really wake up until he was 60 years old, so every time he heard the sound of reading in school, he would sigh that these people had wasted their efforts; when he saw others writing, he would also sigh in vain. He was especially opposed to people reading books such as "Zhu Zi Language Class" and "The Complete Book of Sexual Theory", and he believed that everyone who read these books was fooled by Zhu Xi, so Yan Yuan sighed: If you look at the ancient sage emperors, which one is a reader? People who love to read in the world, wake up well.
Since Yan Yuan is so opposed to reading, what does he think should be done? Liang Qichao said in the article "Yan Li School and Modern Educational Thought": "Since Dewey came to China to give lectures, it cannot but be said that pragmatism has become a fashionable doctrine in our educational circles. But three hundred years ago in our country, a Mr. Yan Xizhai and his protégé, Mr. Li Shugu, created a school,"which we collectively call the 'Yan-Li School', which has many similarities with what deweys advocated, and in some places seems to be more thorough than deweys. ”
Here, Liang Qichao compares the Yan-Li School to Dewey, and he summarizes the concept of the Yan-Li School more clearly and clearly in "The Academic History of China in the Past Three Hundred Years": "In short, the study style of Xi Zhai is only to teach people to do more things, speak less, do more practical things, and talk less about principles. ”
In fact, the concept of the Yan-Li school is a kind of utilitarianism, which opposes research theory, as long as it can bring about practical and effective results in life, so Liang Qichao also said: "Yan Li can also be said to be utilitarian. And Yan Yuan did not hide this, he said in the first volume of the "Four Books of Correctness and Error": "Righteousness is for the benefit, and the sages are just and righteous." Yao and Shun 'use', and the Shang Shu ming and 'Zhengde' and 'Housheng' are three things. Li Zhen, the use of safety, the use of criminals, there is no disadvantage. The sum of the good, the sum of righteousness. The words of "Yi" are more "profitable". Mencius refuted the word 'profit', and the evil man gathered the ears of the gatherers. In fact, the benefit of righteousness is also the value of a gentleman. Hou Ru Naiyun 'just befriends and does not seek his own benefit', too much! The Song people were pleased with it, and wrote about its empty and useless learning. Correct his biases and change his clouds: 'Justify his friendship for his own benefit, and know his way and count his merits.' ’”
Here, Yan Yuan believes that righteousness is profit, and he makes a series of quotations in historical texts, he emphasizes that it is the gentleman who benefits from righteousness, and the Song Dynasty Taoists only like to talk about empty and useless truths, and he believes that he has the responsibility to change this concept, so he changed the famous saying that Confucianism most adheres to, "Justify its friendship without seeking benefits, and know that its way does not care about its merits" into two words, and use it in reverse.
Of course, some people question yan yuan's public tampering, and the "Record of Mr. Yan Xizhai's Words and Deeds" records such a passage:
Hao Gonghan asked: "Dong Zi's two sentences of 'Zhengyi Ming Dao' seem to be the purpose of 'seeking the way and not seeking food', Sir does not take it, why not?" "Whoever cultivates in the world, but does not seek a harvest?" There are lotus nets with hooks, and the fish are not counted? ...... These two 'no's' words of 'no conspiracy and no counting' are the root of old nothingness and emptiness... To cover 'righteousness' is to seek profit, and to be 'enlightened' is to calculate merit, which is to desire speed and to encourage; to seek merit without seeking profit at all is emptiness and ignorance, and it is corrupt. ”
For such a question, Yan Yuan replied very calmly, he said: Isn't the purpose of the people of the world to cultivate the fields and cultivate the land for the purpose of harvesting? Isn't going fishing also to get fish? Therefore, the traditional words of "no conspiracy" and "no calculation" are both Taoist and Buddhist thoughts. Therefore, he stressed that if you make profits, you should count your merits, and anyone who opposes this is a useless Confucian.