How is the chaos of history enlightened?

The history of China, from silence to words, from non-written records to written records, from inaction to promising governance, from the initial democratic federal government to the later centralized autocracy, from silent sages to chattering sages, is like a process of gradual enlightenment. Once chaos is enlightened, it is obviously impossible to return to the original chaotic state. However, if one dimension can be transformed, chaos will reappear in a new time and space. History is sometimes as wonderful as modern physics, and Minkowski's four-dimensional space-time coordinates are also applicable to the space-time transformation of history.

The transformation of historical space-time dimension from the turn of Shang and Zhou dynasties to the turn of the century can be said to have been discovered unintentionally. The author described the whole process in detail in the preface to the long historical novel "Last Autumn" written two years ago.

My doubts about the history described by historians and literati at the turn of Shang and Zhou Dynasties began with reading Shangshu. When I read that Zhou Wuwang defeated Zhou Wang, asked Ji Zi for advice on how to govern the country, and then Ji Zi told Hongfan Jiuyu in Zhou Wuwang, I found that there were many tricks in it. For example, when Zhou Wuwang released Ji Zi, why did Ji Zi teach Zhou Wuwang like a teacher instead of being grateful? Even a slap in the face? Why on earth did Ji Zi say those words to Zhou Wuwang? Later, I further contacted Boyi Shu Qi's dissuasion of Zhou Wuwang after the establishment of the Zhou Dynasty and their resolute disapproval. Even Ji Zi in the Romance of Gods disapproved of the Zhou Dynasty, which made me suddenly realize. This period of history is far more complicated than later generations said, and it is far more wonderful than that described in the Romance of the Gods. Take the list of gods written in the Romance of Gods as an example, it is also meaningful to remove its ghost mask. Because on God's list, there are not only soldiers who stand on the winner's side, but also losers, including Zhou Wang. This shows that the so-called list of gods is actually a monument to the dead. The significance of this monument is that all the dead on both sides of the war are engraved on it.

The doubts arising from reading Shangshu finally focus on rethinking the image of Zhou Wang. I think that a man who is hopelessly obsessed with women should have a very soft heart; Just like Fucha in my first historical novel "Wu Yue Chun Qiu", it has the nature of affection. Men fall in love, usually because of temperament, not what they think. Ideas will artificially divide people into the same kind and different kinds, but the publicity of temperament, especially the birth of love, will only make people's hearts softer, without increasing hostility to people, and will not give birth to the sinister murderous look written in the Romance of Gods.

To this end, I carefully read the relevant records in Shangshu. As a result, I found that Ji Fa's second speech about condemning Zhou Wang was quite different. In contrast, the "Thai oath" mentioned earlier is far more severe than the "pastoral oath" mentioned later. I have carefully compared these two speeches, and I feel that the pastoral oath is more credible than the Thai oath. Although the Thai oath was not invented by others, I suspect that some paragraphs in it were added by later generations according to the principle of success or failure (note). For example, burning loyalty and hooking up with pregnant women; If you are involved in the DPRK, you will cut the heart of a saint. Because at that time, people didn't have the concept of loyalty, goodness and sages, but Confucius said it, especially after Confucius became a Confucian. Syntactically, sentences such as touching the shins of the DPRK and cutting the hearts of saints are also like the brushwork of prose in Han and Tang dynasties, which is inconsistent with the wording and sentence-making of the ancient prose in Shangshu. In fact, history is easily rewritten, and later scholars are mostly accomplices of winners. As long as you slip a few words into the ancient literature, you can feel the guilt of the loser. Of course, rewriting is always difficult to be complete. The rewriter changed the "Thai oath" but forgot to change the "pastoral oath" at the same time, which made future generations suspicious. Why did Zhou Wuwang forget the enemy's most serious crimes, especially those that can inspire soldiers' fighting spirit? And get rid of these charges, then Zhou Wang's fault is only those listed in the "pastoral oath". Compared with the "Thai oath" made by King Wu first, the tone of his "pastoral oath" made in wartime was strangely relaxed and the crimes listed were much lighter. Among them, the most serious first charge is nothing more than "Wang Shouzhi of Shang Dynasty used women's words", that is, Zhou Wang trusted women excessively. In order to emphasize the seriousness of this crime, Ji Fa, the King of Wu, said through the mouth of the ancients: "It's a good idea to set an example. In the morning of the rooster, the home is the only cable ",that is to say, the hen can't crow instead of the rooster, otherwise the home will be chaotic." It can be seen that Zhou Wang's primary crime is to listen to women, in other words, to participate in politics like women. The first charge is like this, and other charges can be imagined. It is nothing more than "abandoning the shackles and worshiping, but answering; Faint abandon parents and brother, not di ",that is, do not worship ancestors, do not treat family well." As for the latter, it is really difficult to establish that "there are just many crimes in all directions, whether it is advocating or long-term, whether it is believing or manufacturing, whether it is thinking of doctors and celebrities." Because Jichang and Ji Fa's father and son used their own people, and they were promoted from the lower level. For example, Jiang Shang, the number one strategist, was a man of humble origin.

Of course, before his death, Zhou Wuwang and Ji Fa would never have thought of this. Later scholars would kiss his ass like that. In his previous speech "Thai Oath", Zhou Wang's crimes were far more serious than those listed in his "Pastoral Oath", so as to portray his enemies as murderous demon kings according to Confucian laws. In this regard, don't say that Ji Fa knows whether he agrees or not; Even the list of gods listed in the Romance of Gods has never been removed from the list as da ji did, regarding Zhou Wang as a monster.

I don't know the origin of the list of gods, but judging from the fact that both sides who died together are on the list, people at that time were not as black and white as they were later. Zhou Wuwang and Zhou Wang were divided into black and white, which was the work of later historians and literati. But even such a distinction does not completely cover up the truth of history. Because according to the black-and-white method, after Zhou Wuwang released Kiko from prison, Ji Zi should be grateful, while Zhou Wuwang was willing to pretend to be a liberator. Why did Zhou Wuwang, in turn, respectfully ask Kiko for advice while Ji Zi could ask him for help? In front of Ji Zi, Zhou Wuwang seemed unreasonable and weak, as if he had done something wrong, hoping to get Ji Zi's understanding. On the other hand, Ji Zi told Zhou Wuwang a story about Nine Domains of Hong Fan, which was not so much to enlighten him as to teach him a lesson about people who advocated the establishment of a new dynasty through violence. Compared with Zhou Wuwang's guilty conscience, Boyi and Shu Qi seem to be justified. As soon as the new dynasty was established, they left. Uncle Boyi was so dismissive of his new master and the Zhou Dynasty that not only did he dare to criticize him, but even Confucius, who flattered later, and even their father and son, Duke Zhou, dared not criticize him.

Just after writing the above passage, I read the fourth volume of Wang Guowei's Collected Works. I always wanted to read it, but I couldn't see it. It contains the academic master's very important historical masterpiece "Yin Zhou Lun". I almost couldn't wait to open it and found the relevant discussion.

In the season of husband and business, the season has just been abolished, and morality has fallen to the extreme. The sin of Shang Shu in the Zhou Dynasty is stated in the pastoral oath: "Today, Shang Shu is accepted by the king, and it is spoken by women. Faint abandon Jue Sifu answer; Forgotten and abandoned, Wang's parents and brother are not good. But many sins in four directions, whether worship or long, believing or making, are considered as medical names; Give the people tyranny and rape them in Shangyi. " In his toast, he said, "If you succeed to the throne as king in the future, you will lose your virginity and show others regardless of nature." In Many Aspects, he said, "It's only because of Bi Er, but because of many aspects. It is a great greed for heaven's life, leaving only leftovers. " He said in the wine: "In the future, the heir of the king will be paralyzed and his life will be ignored by the people." It's just hard to protect yourself from resentment. It is sad that people lose their virginity and dignity. I am afraid of wine, but I am not afraid of death. Gu Shang Yi, the more Yin Guo perishes, there is no death. Fu Wei Dexin, who heard about it in the sky, was born of people's grievances. Ordinary people drink from themselves and smell the fishy smell in the world, so the sky is defeated by Yin, and it is easy to love Yin. Heaven does not abuse, people are fast. " According to the first three articles, one person loses his virtue; From the latter point of view, it was the ministers and people of Yin who gradually fell into the custom of national subjugation for a long time. This is not an enemy slander, Yin people have repeatedly said. "Seven Miles of Xibe" said: "Only Wang Yin plays by himself." Cabbage said, "I used to indulge in wine, and I defeated my virtue with chaos. Yin Gong is not small, and he is a good grass and a traitor. Qing Shi's family is not too much. Anyone who commits koo is addicted to wine in the ascendant and gets nothing. The king is in power and is against him. " He also said, "The poison of heaven has brought disaster and famine to Yanzhou. Indulging in wine and wine is in the ascendant, but it is fearless and prosperous. Today's Yin people sacrifice to steal gods, so that they can eat without disaster. "

-Collected Works of Wang Guowei, Volume IV, Pages 55-56, China Literature and History Publishing House.

From what Wang Guowei quoted, people can see that, firstly, Wang Guowei drew four proofs from four different historical documents when listing the reasons for the rise and fall of Shang and Zhou Dynasties; Moreover, these four lists are completely consistent and can testify to each other. At that time, people and future generations believed that Zhou Wang's fault mainly lay in "only using women's words" and so on, and no one mentioned that "Thai oath" was to dig a saint's heart and cut a pregnant woman's belly.

Secondly, Wang Guowei only quoted the "Grazing Oath" in Shangshu, not the "Thai Oath" or the "Thai Oath" again. Not to mention whether Wang Guowei also doubts the reliability of the Thai oath, but at least he agrees with the reliability of the pastoral oath. Moreover, it is the Pastoral Oath that is completely consistent with other historical materials, not the Thai Oath. Assuming that he quoted the Thai oath, it was quite different from the other three historical materials. In other words, Zhou Wang's sin is not just the so-called "only the king's prostitution is self-destruction."

Third, these four kinds of historical materials are consistent with the other two kinds of historical materials, that is, they are completely consistent with the situation admitted by the Yin people at that time. One is what Zoe, the minister of Zhou Wang, said in Xibo Zari: "Yuan Gui, a German, never dared to know his fate. My late king didn't compare himself with my descendants, but he committed suicide in her erotic drama. Wei, a good brother, said in Cabbage: "I used to indulge in wine, and I beat my virtue with chaos. "Yin Gong is not small, good grass steals rape, and Qing Shi's is not too much. Anyone who commits koo is addicted to wine in the ascendant and gets nothing. The king is in power and is against him. " In "Cabbage", the ministers and teachers of Shang Dynasty were only worried about indulging in wine from top to bottom: "The poison of heaven has brought disaster to Yanzhou, and indulging in wine is in the ascendant and daunting, but it is too long and too old. Today's Yin people sacrifice to steal gods, so that they can eat without disaster. "

Fourthly, these six historical materials prove from different angles that Zhou Wang's sin is nothing more than debauchery. There are both the summaries of later generations and the comments of others. There was condemnation from Zhou Wuwang, the enemy, and criticism from Wei Zi and other ministers of Shang Dynasty. None of them mentioned Zhou Wang's murder crime, nor did they have such concepts as "sage" or "loyalty".

Fifth, Wang Guowei's own comments on this are even more meaningful. After quoting the first four historical materials, he pointed out that "from the first three articles, one person lost his virtue;" From the latter, it means that Yin and his people have gradually fallen into the custom of national subjugation for a long time. " In other words, the subjugation of the Shang Dynasty was not only due to Zhou Wang's fault, but all the subjects of the Shang Dynasty "gradually fell into the custom of subjugation for a long time". This involves a key topic that deserves historians to rethink the changes of Shang and Zhou Dynasties. Did Zhou Wuwang destroy the Shang Dynasty, or just Zhou Wang and its Shang Dynasty, or destroyed the whole political system and lifestyle of the Shang Dynasty from the king to his subjects?

In this regard, Wang Guowei made his answer, which I think may be the place with the most ideological and cultural value in the system theory of Yin and Zhou Dynasties. Below, I quote some concluding remarks to share with readers.

First, "the political and cultural changes in China did not take place during the Yin and Zhou Dynasties." This is the first sentence of this article. With this sentence, it shows the greatness of Wang Guowei. Because almost all historians regard the unification of Qin Shihuang as the most important turning point in the history of China, only Wang Guowei has a unique eye and found that the change of Shang and Zhou Dynasties is the key.

Secondly, "since the Five Emperors, the capitals of political cultural relics have all been in the East, but Zhou rose to the West." Don't underestimate this regional difference, regional cultural difference, but it is quite meaningful. At that time, the difference between orientals and westerners may be as distinct as the difference between Shanghainese and Beijingers in the world today.

Third, "if you want to observe Zhou's rule of the world, you must follow its own rules." The system of Zhou people is different from that of businessmen: one day, the system of establishing a son and a government was established. Patriarchal system and funeral system are born of existence, feudal disciple system is born of existence, and gentleman's subordinate system is born of existence. Second, the temple number system. Third, the unmarried surname system. The reason why Zhou disciplined the world is that it is superior to morality, and it is a moral group that integrates emperors, princes, nobles, scholars and ordinary people. The original intention of Duke Zhou's production is really here. " This can be said to be an outline of the Textual Research on the Yin and Zhou Dynasties System, and it is also a key exposition of why Wang Guowei decided that the historical and cultural changes of China did not play a role in the changes of Shang and Zhou Dynasties. Please continue to read his further elaboration of this exposition, and you will understand its groundbreaking place.

Fourth, "Since the Yin Dynasty, the division between emperors and princes has not been determined. Therefore, when he was alive, Yin Wanghai was always in power. When the soup was finally put, it was already king. At the end of Shang Dynasty, Zhou was also the king. Cover the princes as emperors, and the later princes as leaders. There is no distinction between princes and ministers. The same is true at the beginning of the week. In "Pastoral Oath" and "Dabao", all the kings said' Jun is a friend', but the distinction between monarch and minister has not been fully determined. " In other words, the centralization in the history of China was not laid by Qin Shihuang's unified war, but by Zhou Wuwang's destruction of commerce. If there is a possibility that China's political system will return to abdication before the week, then this possibility will not exist after the week. Because there is no alliance between the princes, it has completely become a relationship between the monarch and the minister. Wang Guowei's opinion is higher than that of the majestic Kunlun Mountain.

Fifth, "Zhou's ritual is a virtue, but respect, affection, virtue, men and women are different." This is called' people's benefit'. If it is not this, it is called' non-easy'. " Non-barbarian "people, courtesy, punishment is also added." The punishment of Yin people is only "arrogant and treacherous", while the punishment of Zhou people is combined with "unfilial and unfriendly". "As can be seen from this exposition of Wang Guowei, before the week, criminal law had nothing to do with morality. After the week, morality and criminal law complemented each other and depended on each other. The so-called kingcraft hegemony in later generations is equally important, that is, it began in Zhou Dynasty. Moreover, "this system is also the general trend, but the Duke of Zhou decided this. "

Sixth, from the above discussion, it is clear at a glance what Confucius wants to do and what he longs for. Confucius was not worried that the whole society and history could not return to the state before the week, that is, the relationship between the emperor and the vassal was loose, the emperor was not appointed in advance but was elected later, people's moral concepts were relatively open, and it was easy for people to fall in love, drink and sing, and so on. Confucius was worried that the whole society and history would return to the state before the Zhou Dynasty, so that the efforts of the Duke of Zhou and all the historical significance of the Zhou Dynasty would be wasted!

I think this is the deepest cultural significance and the greatest academic value of the Yin and Zhou system theory. Although Wang Guowei's conclusion is exactly the same as that of Confucius, "it is the rise and fall of Yin and Zhou Dynasties, and it is the rise and fall of virtue and non-virtue"; However, just from another angle, things are just the opposite. Every week, people's freedom is decreasing, in exchange for the establishment and improvement of the system; The degree of local autonomy has weakened, in exchange for the establishment and strengthening of centralization; Because the king is completely handed down from generation to generation, the subordinate position of the son to the father is certain; Accordingly, due to the differences between men and women, women's subordinate position to men is clear. If this can be regarded as a kind of progress at that time, then after such a historical cycle of thousands of years, the significance of such progress has just reached its opposite today.

Wang Guowei's On the System of Yin and Zhou Dynasties seems to inadvertently reveal a key historical secret, from which people can not only understand the profound significance of the changes of Shang and Zhou Dynasties to the history of China, but also solve the mystery about Kongjiadian that was not really solved during the May 4th Movement. Because the core of Confucius' problem lies not in retro, but in not retro, and in flaunting and defending the system of Zhou Dynasty and the ethics formulated by Zhou Gong. At the same time, Confucius revised the Book of History, using his view of history to trim a period of ancient history that is not beyond doubt.

Of course, even if Confucius doesn't make any changes, the historical value of Shangshu itself is quite limited. Because almost all the articles in it were official documents at that time, all the official statements were recorded, and they were all one-sided. Taking the Shang and Zhou Dynasties as an example, the accusations of Qi and Wei who later took refuge in the Western Zhou Dynasty were recorded, but there were no comments from the main parties and da ji, and there was no opinion of the general public at that time, let alone how Ji Zi, Shang Rong and Bigan persuaded the alleged persecution by Zhou Wang. If this is a historical trial, these three characters are the most crucial witnesses. However, the differences between these three characters and Zhou Wang in Shangshu are completely missing. In other words, in the historical court revised by Confucius, people only saw and heard the prosecution's complaint, without the defense's defense and the testimony of the main witness. Perhaps it is because of this deficiency that the descriptions of these main witnesses in Historical Records and its many annotations are ridiculous to the point of strangeness, adding fuel to the story that Ji Zi was imprisoned as a slave, Shang Rong resigned, and finally Xiqiao "Julian Waghann" entered the city. As for Beagan, even the heart was dug out, and then those who dug out Beagan's heart turned the blame on Zhou Wang. In order to highlight how tyrannical Zhou Wang was and how kind Queen Xibo was, people further added the story of how Zhou Wang used branded torture to create unjust cases and how Xibo persuaded Zhou Wang to give up this cruel means. On the other hand, people put forward two well-known pictures of Zhou Wang's debauchery: Lutai and Jiuchi. Coupled with the gruesome "magic basin" provided by the later Romance of the Gods, with the brutality that only the Ming people living under the terror of the East Factory and the West Factory can think of, it completed the final stroke of shaping the image of Zhou Wang's dissolute tyranny. If anyone doubts this, an idiom that helps others do bad things will not scare anyone. For thousands of years, people have never thought about such a simple fact. All these gloomy details and pictures are unheard of in the original history books, and Confucius has not revised them. If Confucius' revision is only a matter of concept; Then the subsequent tampering and retouching are based on the darkness of the people. It can be seen that all kinds of means to create unjust, false and wrong cases during the Cultural Revolution actually began to appear as early as when people forged history books and beautified history. Not to mention the absurdity in the Romance of the Gods and the dark psychology behind those absurdities, even the upright Sima Qian is inevitably suspected of conformity. Although Sima Qian himself may not have the intention of tampering, he at least believed the details fabricated by others. It can be seen that although the spirit of writing a book in anger is commendable, it is also easy to believe and go too far. (Note)

In a sense, for example, the formation of China's history that people talk about is a bit like enclosure movement. First of all, Confucius rode his trained horse named Shangshu and ran around the open space. Then later generations made all kinds of details on this designated site, and finally finalized it through historical records. In other words, the history books themselves are biased, and Confucius' artificial revision is even worse. Later, Sima Qian wrote Historical Records, which was based entirely on misinformation and fixed all kinds of biases in Historical Records in a serious historical biography. Therefore, the history of China is mainly handled by Confucius and Sima Qian. First, Confucius set the tone from the standpoint of Duke Zhou, and then Sima Qian turned the so-called history into reality with his infectious style and novelist's narrative style. Finally, scholars and pedants of past dynasties, many of whom are corrupt scholars, have made numerous specious textual researches, thus affirming that this is history again and again, which is true; Really, I'm not kidding, that's all. For thousands of years, people have repeatedly talked about it, and no one doubts who is happy. If three people make a tiger, what have thousands of people said over and over again? This reminds me of a sentence that Hu Shi once said to the effect that history is a little girl that people can dress up at will. In fact, in my opinion, history is more like a rag doll that can do anything. The little girl is alive, no matter how she dresses up, she is still a little girl. The doll is just a toy, and there is no harm in doing anything. By the way, when Hu Shi compared history to a little girl, he just made a mistake that China men usually make. He didn't regard women and children as individuals enjoying various rights and could dispose of them at will. Visible, China men's collective unconscious trauma has gone deep into what extent, even Hu Shi failed to avoid custom.

(Quoted from the preface to the historical novel Shang, Zhou and Chunqiu)