An Analysis of the Thematic Thoughts in Lu Tzu-chien's Tung-Lai Po-Yi

• Main Authors: HO, WEN-KER, 何文可
• Other Authors: TSENG, CHIN-CHENG
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2017
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/gg3db5

碩士 === 南華大學 === 文學系 === 105 === 　　Chun Chiu (The Annals of Spring and Autumn) was compiled by Confucius according to the history of the State of Lu; it was the first annals in the history of China. Zuo Zhuan was a commentary on Chun Chiu by Zuo Chiu-ming whereas Tung-Lai Po-Yi was written by Lu Tzu-chien to help scholars prepare for the civil service examinations of ancient China. Fairly comprehensive in content, the book treats of the cultivation of the mind, the characteristics of rational study, how to behave and answer questions, political conducts, military tactics and strategy, and so on. Moreover, it might sometimes sound plain and tasteless in content but profound in significance and reasoning; it might sometimes try entertaining by surprise, thereby it actually intends to look backward, making you feel as if intoxicated; sometimes its inner depth of reasoning might be in agreement with the reader, who would echo or respond by pounding the table to show his or her admiration. Indeed, to extract its real taste, it behooves the reader to peruse the book closely; a long time later when you re-read the book, you would wonder at the profundity and extensiveness of Lu’s rational learning. The more you dwell on it, the more you would feel how infinitesimal and ignorant you are, just like a grain in a boundless sea. 　　Historically speaking, the Sung Dynasty was relatively weak, with a strong Liao State in the north and West Hsia State in the west. Hence, the Sung State has to resort to Liao State and West Hsia State for mutual help financially. When Northern Sung was first established, it did not stand on firm ground; every time it engaged itself in Northward Expedition, it all ended up with defeat. As the State was at wit’s end in its confrontation with its stronger neighboring states, part of its intellectuals began to think about the ways of strengthening the State. The state power remained weak because its military force was weak. Why was the military force weak then? The reason consisted in its lack of vitality in politics. Why was its politics lacking in vitality? The reason lay in its woefully inadequate pool of talents. Why was its pool of talents woefully inadequate then? The reason was that the educational system and the society were not in good condition. Why were the education and the society not in good condition? This could be attributed to the unhealthy condition of learning. In the wake of sustained and repeated reflections and debate, the Sung intellectuals came up with a conclusion. For a state to be strong, it was imperative that the state revive and promote its system of learning. As Dr. Sun Yat-Sen pointed out, “What is called ‘a country’ is nothing but the accumulation of human beings; what is called ‘a human being’ is nothing but the apparatus of the heart. The psychological phenomena of a host of people constitute the affairs of a state; therefore, the prosperity or corruption of a country’s politics depends upon the elation or deterioration of the human heart.” If everyone would turn out to be a talent in every walk of life and in service of the country, it goes without saying that the country would be strong. 　　With this conclusion in mind, the Sung intellectuals began to search for good models for emulation. However, in the neighboring areas they could not find any highly-developed excellent cultural heritage for emulation. Take for examples, Japan’s Movement to Emulate Tang Dynasty and the modern Meiji Restoration. Therefore, they could only resort to the Chinese historical tradition. During the close of Tang Dynasty and the Later Five Dynasties, nothing affected people’s life more than Buddhism; however, the basic tenet of Buddhism was to leave the mundane world and to seek the future space in the future world. As Buddhism offered no solutions for the mortal life in this world, it was logically out of the question to deduce a set of philosophy for this world from a religion that makes a point of leaving the mundane world. During the Epoch of Spring and Autumn and the Warring States when scholarship was in bloom, a hundred schools of thought competed for attention. Among the so-called “ten schools and nine branches,” the horizontal and vertical school of thought, the nominalist school of thought, the militarist school of thought, and the agriculturist school of thought all focus on technology and have nothing to do with politics; the School of Ying-yang and the Mohist School of Thought declined in the Epoch of the Warring States and later became irrevocably lost; though it was in fashion during the Period of Chin, the Legalist School of Thought later got into trouble by its own schemes, with virtually no subsequent advocates; Taoist School of thought helped the populace recuperate during the enlightened reign of Emperors Wen and Jin of the Han Dynasty, the pure theoretical talks advocated by the Seven Wise Men of the Bamboo Grove throughout the Dynasty of Wei and Jin, of the North and South had led to the invasion of China by the five nomadic tribes from the north. Hence Taoism was not a means to strengthen a country; as the School of Minor-talks were nothing but groundless tales, and did not have a systematic theory, it received but little recognition, no to speak of serving as a means to strengthen a country; what marked the Syncretist School of Thought was its adoption of the theories of various schools of thought by keeping the good and getting rid of the bad, but it did not differ much in essence from the rest. Only the Confucianist School of Thought had long been advocated by the government since Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty honored Confucianism specifically. Accordingly, the Sung intellectuals could only re-explore and re-interpret the classical doctrines of Confucianism, thereby affecting the basis of the rational school of thought in the Sung Dynasty. Consequently, I would like to argue that the rational school of thought originated from Confucianism.