Editor's note: In order to promote scientific atheism, from September 10, we will serialize Li Shen's monograph "History of Atheism in China". Li Shen, born in April 1946, is a native of Mengjin County, Henan. He graduated from the Department of Atomic Physics of the Harbin Military Engineering College in 1969; in 1986, he graduated from the Department of World Religion Studies of the Graduate School of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences with a doctorate degree in philosophy; in 2000, he became a researcher, doctoral supervisor, and director of the Confucian Research Office of the Institute of World Religions of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. In 2002, he became a professor at the Department of Philosophy of Shanghai Normal University. He is currently an advisor to the Chinese Atheist Society, an advisor to the International Confucian Federation, and a vice president of the China Anti-Cult Association.
Third, Tang Taizong and other Tang Dynasty monarchs opposed Xiangrui
During the Southern and Northern Dynasties, Xiangrui Daxing, Sui Wen Emperor Yang Jian relied on conspiracy to become emperor, and Xiangrui was needed even more. Among them, the biggest auspicious rui are "River Map" and "Luo Shu". The Confucian Wang Shao forged many artifacts with auspicious characters written from the Yellow River, posing as "River Map", which was approved by Emperor Wen of Sui.
In the early years of the Tang Dynasty, the courtiers inherited the inertia of the Sui Dynasty and were still keen on the Xiangrui Incident. In the early years of Zhenguan, there were once white magpies nesting in the trees in front of the main hall of the imperial palace, and they were connected together, and the joy was like a waist drum. The courtiers congratulated Li Shimin. Li Shimin said, I often joke that Emperor Sui likes Xiangrui. The real auspicious rui is to get the sage, this bird's nest has nothing to congratulate. The order was given to dismantle the nest and let the birds nest in the wild.
In the second year of Zhenguan, when Emperor Taizong of Tang saw that his courtiers were constantly reporting Xiangrui, he said to the courtiers that if the family had enough food and clothing, even if there was no Xiangrui, it would not prevent me from becoming a monarch like Yao Shun; if the people complained, no matter how much Xiangrui there was, it would not prevent the monarch from being a monarch like Xiangrui. During the Northern Wei Dynasty, there were enough wood to be used as firewood, and there were enough white pheasants to be eaten as rice, can it be regarded as the peace of the world! The next day, Li Shimin issued an edict, requiring that only xiangrui be reported to the big one in the future. Xiao Xiangrui's relevant departments know it.
The emperor's attitude affected the courtiers' belief in Xiangrui. In the early years of the Tang Dynasty, confucian courtiers wrote the Book of Sui, criticizing the Sui Emperor Yang Jian for "yahao Fu Rui, hidden in the avenue". During the reign of Emperor Wen of Sui, because the ruler used by the Sui Dynasty was longer than before, the length of the sun shadow was measured, and the number was less than before. Yuan Chong took advantage of this incident and wrote that the shadow of the sun became shorter, indicating that the time of the day became longer. This is god's auspicious destiny to increase labor time and wealth. According to Yuan Chong's letter, the Sui Dynasty really increased the working hours of its service members. There was another Confucian, Wang Shao, who reported many texts similar to the previous "River Map" and "Book of Luo", praising the merits of the Sui Emperor and thus gaining the favor of the Sui Wen Emperor Yang Jian. The author of the Book of Sui puts the biography of the two of them at the end, and criticizes Wang Shao for "good and strange theory, ShangWei Lane talk", "management of Fu Rui, miscellaneous with demon"; criticism of Yuan Chong for "changing the astrological astrology, falsely increasing the scenery." Thick slander, chaos often insult the public. "Think of them as traitors.
In the middle and late Tang Dynasty, several emperors also inherited Tang Taizong Li Shimin's attitude toward Xiangrui and maintained a sober attitude towards the Xiangrui incident.
At the beginning of Tang Xuanzong's reign, he maintained a certain interest in Xiangrui. In the thirteenth year of the new century, the position had been consolidated, and in September, he said to his courtiers: "The Spring and Autumn Is not written in Xiangrui, but there is a year in the record." 敕, from present-day Prefecture, there is no need to play Xiangrui. (Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 212) Tang Xuanzong's attitude toward Xiangrui was more thorough than that of Tang Taizong. Tang Taizong only asked not to report the small Xiangrui, and Tang Xuanzong demanded that all the Xiangrui should not be reported. This incident shows that on the issue of correctly treating Xiangrui, the tang dynasty's monarchs have taken another step forward.
The third person who forbade Xiangrui was Tang Xianzong. At the beginning of Tang Xianzong's reign, he worked hard to govern and was considered to be the lord of zhongxing. Less than a month after he ascended the throne, two turtles were sacrificed. So Emperor Xianzong of Tang issued an edict:
He is widowed and inherits the karma. Eternal thought, the treasure of the sage. To the point of jiahe shenzhi, strange birds and beasts, and the virtual beauty of gaiwanghua. Therefore, Guangwu is shaped by the edict, and "Spring and Autumn" is not written in Xiangrui. Sincerely, thinking of the predecessors. Since now on, all auspicious, but the order quasi-declaration has a division, and must not be heard. Its strange animals should also be stopped. (Old Book of Tang, Chronicle of Emperor Xianzong)
Unfortunately, Tang Xianzong later believed in Buddhism and wanted to welcome the bones of the Buddha from Fengxiang Famen Temple to the palace to offer offerings. He also believed in immortality, took Dan medicine, and had a violent temper, which finally led to the disaster of killing. However, his attitude towards Xiangrui is commendable.
The fourth person who forbade Xiangrui was Tang Wenzong. In the second year of blooming, in Henan and Shaanxi, wild silkworms grew on mulberry trees and formed cocoons for ninety miles, and the people packed up the cocoons and drew silk to weave silk. The group thought it was Xiangrui. So Emperor Wenzong issued an edict:
He takes Cihui Gongjian as the rest of the march, and Renhe Nianfeng as the upper Rui. As for Jia Yinglian's auspiciousness, the difference between birds and beasts, out of the county, to sacrifice que ting. Let the United States push the work, not to give it. Nian Yan played Chen in the Qing Temple, and Yuan Zheng was listed on the Tai Temple, discussing the ancient and modern, and there is no clear evidence. Congratulations to the spirit of holiness, do not hear of it. The dao should have a third-class auspicious rui, and it must not be more heard, nor should it be declared. Its Lasheng Taimiao Temple and the Taiqing Palace, and the Yuan Dynasty were accepted by the Dynasty, playing xiangrui yi note, and stopping. (Tang HuiJiao, vol. 29)
The attitude of these emperors toward Xiangrui profoundly affected the ideological circles of the Tang Dynasty.
The Tang Dynasty's favorite xiangrui was Wu Zetian. Wu Zetian became emperor with a martial surname and a female body, and especially needed to rely on the Mandate of Heaven event to prove his legitimacy as an emperor and prove that he was appreciated by heaven. Therefore, during the reign of Wu Zetian, the Xiangrui incident was particularly rich, and the stories against Xiangrui were equally colorful.
The most important Xiangrui incident during Wu Zetian's reign was that his nephew Wu Chengsi had him chisel out eight characters on a white stone, "Our Lady of The People, Yongchang Emperor", saying that it came out of the Luo River. Wu Zetian named the text on this stone "Treasure Map", and later renamed it "Heavenly Divine Map", which means that this is a heavenly book such as the "River Map", and it is God who appointed this "Virgin" to be the emperor and rule over the people ("Linren"). For this treasure map, Wu Zetian held a grand ceremony on the bank of the Luo River, and envoys from all over the world came to participate. The following year, Wu Zetian officially became emperor.
After Wu Zetian became emperor, the Xiangrui incident was reported one after another. One day, a man offered a stone. The ruling minister asked him why he was XiangRui, and the stone donor said that the stone had a red heart. Prime Minister Li Zhaode said angrily, Are all other stones going to rebel?! It made a lot of laughter. Hu Qing, a native of Xiangzhou, wrote five words "Ten Thousand Years of Heavenly Son" under the belly of the turtle with red paint and dedicated it to the imperial court. Li Zhaode scraped off the handwriting with a knife and demanded that Hu Qing's crime of deception be punished. Wu Zetian said that Hu did not have malicious intent and released Hu. One year in September, the pear blossoms bloomed again. Wu Zetian showed the prime ministers that everyone thought it was Xiangrui. But Du Jingjian said that in the season when the grass and trees are yellow, the pear blossoms are partially open, which is yin and yang from time to time, and we should all be blamed. Wu Zetian therefore praised Du as the true prime minister. It snowed in March of the first year of Chang'an, and the chancellor Su Wei thought it was Xiangrui and led hundreds of officials to congratulate Wu Zetian. King Yushi asked for gifts not to participate in the pilgrimage, but instead told Wu Zetian that it was now the season of Yang Qi and the glory of grass and trees, and that snowfall could only be a disaster, and that all the pilgrims were courtiers. Wu Zetian adopted Wang Qiuli's advice and stopped the pilgrimage. At that time, some people also offered a three-legged cow, and the prime minister wanted to pay tribute, and Wang Qiuli threatened to say that all abnormal things were evil, which was an improper choice of the three dukes. When Wu Zetian heard this, he was devastated.
The controversy over the Xiangrui issue at the court of Wu Zetian also reflects the rational attitude of Tang Dynasty Confucians towards Xiangrui, which was already very common. It was during this period that the Confucian Liu Zhiji's "Shi Stone", whose "Book Of Facts" summarized the historical phenomenon of Xiangrui, said that Xiangrui was a major event of destiny related to the control of chaos, which was rarely seen in ancient times, but this was not the case in modern times:
This is not the case in the near past. The emergence of Fan Xiangrui is not a matter of chaos. The Lord is deceived, and the subordinates deceive each other. Therefore, there are few virtues and many auspiciousnesses, and the government is inferior and the rui is more prosperous. It is because Huan Ling is more prosperous than Wenjing, and Liu Shi should be more than Cao Ma. And the historians signed up their fallacies and recorded their evil words. True or false, right and wrong are indistinguishable.
That is to say, in Liu Zhiji's view, Xiangrui exists, and it is a Destiny event. However, in modern times, Xiangrui is the product of deception. Liu Zhiji is not fundamentally opposed to Xiangrui, but his exposure of the Xiangrui incident since "recent antiquity" is correct.
During the Tang Dynasty, the so-called auspicious rui such as Xuan Fox, White Rat, and White Rabbit was constantly discovered. At that time, there was a jiedu envoy Zhu Zhu who said that his general Zhao Guijia, cats and mice with milk, were not harmful, and were put into cages and offered to the imperial court. Everyone thinks it's Xiangrui. Only Cui Youfu objected. He believes that this is stratagem. There should be mourning, not celebration. The eunuch questioned, and Yufu said that the nature of the cat is to eat mice, and the nature of the mouse is to come out at night to steal food and eat. Now the cat has lost its nature but does not eat the mouse, just as the law enforcement officials do not punish the bad guys, and the soldiers guarding the border do not kill the enemy. Now it is time to strictly order the departments concerned to examine whether officials have committed corruption and perverted the law, and urge the border guards to strengthen their vigilance. Make the cat build a feat, and the mouse will no longer be harmed. That's the right thing to do. Cui Youfu's opinion was deeply endorsed by Emperor Tang of Tang.
During the Tang Dynasty, the chancellor Li Deyu wrote the "Theory of Xiangrui", saying that during the Zhenyuan dynasty, the hermit Wang Yu was keen on immortality. There were several branches of sesame grass in front of the stove, and he thought that he wanted to become a fairy. However, more than a month later, Wang Yu died. There is also a Qi Mou, who has more than a hundred zhicao plants in his other business, which he thinks is Xiangrui. A few months later, he also died. There is also Yuyao Taishou Lu Cong, and there is a zhicao on the beam, which is considered to be Xiangrui. It was in the same year that Lou was killed by the rebel generals. So Li Deyu concluded that some beautiful things, such as beautiful women, may be a scourge of the country. As for Xiangrui, it may also be the future Xiangrui, the current scourge. Therefore, when encountering Xiangrui, we should first be vigilant against fear, take more measures to eliminate disasters, and not be blindly optimistic.
Li Deyu does not deny Xiangrui, but he does not trust Xiangrui. This attitude is the premise for breaking superstition.
In the late Tang Dynasty, Liu Zongyuan wrote "Zhen Fu" to discuss the xiangrui issue. He believes that the so-called ordaination charm of the three generations of the ancient period is also nothing. In the Han Dynasty, Dong Zhongshu, Liu Xiang, and others said that Xiangrui's words were "like the history of adulterous witches and witches", which is not credible. In the future, they will talk a lot about Xiangrui, and they are all "adulterous and dimwitted people." He believes that only virtue is the true "ordained charm": "Only the talisman of ordination is the one to lay the foundation for eternity." In "The Cave of Lingling County", he described the story of the wasted and re-mining of the Lingling County stalactite mine. The original Taishou abused the miners, so the miners said that the stalactites were gone. The mine was abandoned. The new Taishou was more benevolent, and the stalactite mine was restored. So Liu Zongyuan concluded that in the eyes of a gentleman, the politics of Qingming is the real auspicious rui.
Judging from the overall situation of the Tang Dynasty, the atmosphere of seeking help from Xiangrui is much thinner than that of the previous generation. This side is because the Tang Dynasty is a world won by its own strength, and there is little need to use Xiangrui. Another reason is also in view of the uselessness of the previous generation of Xiangrui, and those who repay Xiangrui often make false and hidden treachery. Of course, the Concept of Xiangrui is weak, and most of them do not believe in Xiangrui at all like Liu Zongyuan; but the thinness of Xiangrui's concept and their exposure and criticism of the specific Xiangrui incident undoubtedly provide a certain degree of support for the atheist concept.