What
The moral code under the rule of law
you... .
This sentence immediately made many people present want to swear.
I have never seen such a shameless person.
Fu Bi was also amused by Zhang Fei's intelligence.
Can we still play like this
The question he raised earlier was also what everyone present was looking forward to.
Anyone with a little knowledge knows that there is a fundamental contradiction between the concept of the rule of law and the ethical code.
The Three Bonds is a strict hierarchical system.
The law of the legal system emphasizes personal interests, and both ends of the law must tend towards equality.
Therefore, the law of a wife suing her husband is bound to be problematic under the law of the land.
This has nothing to do with right or wrong, and it is not about reason, but about hierarchy, which is a set rule.
The key is that this serves the imperial power.
Dong Zhongshu created this system just to help Emperor Wu of Han achieve centralized rule.
Before the class, Fu Bi and Wang Anshi were very curious about how Zhang Fei would explain this problem.
If he doesn't explain well, he might really go in again.
But they never expected that Zhang Fei would interpret the contradiction as the contradiction between the law of the legal system and the law of the Legalists, and then throw out the ethical principles under the law of the legal system.
This is really amazing.
You really know how to have fun!
Yan Fu saw through Zhang Fei's trick at a glance. He thought that Zhang Fei was just trying to take the opportunity to change the ethics of the social order. He immediately retorted, "What ethics of the social order of the law? The ethics of the social order is Confucianism. What does it have to do with the laws of the social order? This is absurd. Stop spreading rumors and misleading people."
Many scholars and officials also criticized Zhang Fei's statement.
What are the ethical principles and morals of the Legalist law and the ethical principles and morals of the legal system
We, the Confucianists, have lost face and have been manipulated by you.
Who are you messing with in this lake
Fu Bi and Wang Anshi listened to their rebuttal with doubts on their faces. Although your trick is clever, people are not stupid and it is impossible for them to accept the ethical principles that you have reformed.
There's no way to reason about this kind of thing.
The only thing you can do is to directly deny the moral code.
Zhang Fei did not argue with them. After they finished their rant, he slowly said to the students: "Although many people object, I believe that everyone present should also acknowledge a fact, which is the problem we mentioned in the first class.
During the Qin Dynasty, the Legalists completely expelled Confucianism and only respected the law. Only one great Confucian scholar, Xunzi, came to Qin to preach the doctrine, but he also failed. However, even when Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty respected Confucianism, the Legalist thought still survived in the laws of various dynasties. The laws left by the Qin Dynasty can be found in the "Tang Law Commentary" and our "Song Criminal Code".
I remember someone said at that time that Confucianism was open to all and absorbed the advantages of Legalism. I agree with this very much. But no matter what, whether it is "Tang Law Commentary" or our "Song Criminal Code", they all reflect the combination of Confucianism and Legalism.
Does anyone have any objection to this?"
The students all shook their heads to indicate that they had no objection.
Confucianism has always acknowledged this.
Zhang Fei asked again: "Do you know how the two are combined?"
"Great virtue, small punishment."
"Virtue comes first, punishment comes later."
"Noble virtue and lowly punishment."
... ...
The students answered one after another.
"Very good answer, to sum it up...!"
Zhang Fei wrote the four characters "Virtue is the main and punishment is the auxiliary" on the wooden board and asked, "Virtue is the main and punishment is the auxiliary. Is this correct?"
The students nodded.
Zhang Fei returned to the podium and said, "Cai Bian, can you tell me what these four words mean?"
Cai Bian stood up flattered, and after a moment's effort to organize his words, he said, "During the Qin Dynasty, the principle of 'all matters are decided by law' was followed, and the country was governed by harsh laws and punishments, which led to widespread complaints from the people, and the people suffered from poverty, and the Qin Dynasty perished in the second generation.
Since the beginning of the Later Han Dynasty, people have followed the teachings of Huang-Lao and advocated the idea that "the way to govern is to be pure and the people will settle themselves", which led to the rule of Emperor Wen and Emperor Jing.
During the reign of Emperor Wu of Han, Dong Zhongshu proposed the idea of "obeying the will of Heaven and following ancient practices, promoting education, suppressing the powerful, valuing virtue and despising punishment, officials not competing with the people for profit, nurturing scholars and running schools". Since then, teachers have been writing about virtue as the main principle and punishment as the auxiliary.
The intention is to educate the people with moral governance and make them abide by etiquette, so as to "act without being ordered, stop without being forbidden, follow the will of the superiors, and do not need to be ordered, as if it were natural."
Use punishment to punish the few stubborn people. This is virtue as the main principle and punishment as the auxiliary principle.
“It’s very detailed, very good.”
Zhang Fei nodded and asked, "Do you think this makes sense?"
Everyone nodded.
“I think that makes sense.”
Zhang Fei said: "But the truth lies in virtue, not punishment. Educating the people with virtue can indeed reduce illegal behavior. Facts have proved this point. People who have received a good education generally do not break the law easily because they have a sense of right and wrong.
This is the biggest difference between Confucianism and Legalism, but there is one thing that puzzles me. If we follow Confucianism, we must promote education and make everyone read books. Only then can we reach the highest level of virtue as the main and punishment as the auxiliary. But I don’t know why Confucianists have never popularized education throughout the country and let everyone read books. "
Ye Zuqia said: "If everyone wants to study, how many colleges will be established? How can the country afford so much money?"
Zhang Fei laughed and said, "Talking about money is vulgar. We Confucians talk about righteousness first, and then money."
Wang Anshi laughed out loud when he heard this, he was truly worthy of being one of our own.
"But that's not what we're going to talk about today."
Zhang Fei returned to the board and circled the words "德主" (meaning ruler of virtue). "This is the key point. It is irreplaceable. If the rule of virtue is gone, it will become the Legalism. Facts have proved that the Legalism is not feasible.
What about the 'Xingfu'? Is it irreplaceable?"
Everyone shook their heads.
"Can't I?"
Zhang Fei asked.
Cai Jing immediately reacted and said, "It can be replaced by the law of the rule of law."
Zhang Fei asked: "Is it possible?"
Everyone nodded again.
Zhang Fei asked: "Why?"
Ye Zuqia replied: "Because the law of the legal system also includes punishment."
Zhang Fei asked again: "Can the law of the rule of law replace the ruler of virtue?"
"cannot."
"Why?"
"repeated."
"good."
Zhang Fei said: "We have mentioned this in the previous classes. It is impossible to have the law of the legal system in the law of the Legalists. The two must be in a replacement relationship and cannot coexist. However, they can exist in the law of Confucianism."
Then he wrote "Virtue is the main and law is the auxiliary" under "Virtue is the main and punishment is the auxiliary". "Now let's see whether the Three Bonds and Five Constant Virtues belong to virtue, punishment, or law?"
"Virtue."
“Does it have anything to do with the laws of the Legalists and the laws of the legal system?”
“… … !”
Everyone seemed a little hesitant.
Zhang Fei smiled and said, "Isn't this easy to answer? Is there any idea of the Three Principles of Ethics in the Legalist Law?"
"No."
"What about the law of the rule of law?"
"Uh... neither."
"Yes! Is there any need to think about this?"
Zhang Fei shook his head and said, "The idea of the Three Bonds and Five Constant Virtues only belongs to Confucianism. The Legalist law and the legal system do not have this idea. Can everyone understand this?"
Everyone nodded.
"No objection?"
Everyone shook their heads again.
There is certainly no objection to this. To be honest, the Legalist thought is completely opposed to the Three Bonds and Five Constant Virtues.
There is no law of rule of law either.
This is originally Confucian and evolved from the ritual system.
Zhang Fei immediately used a charcoal pencil to draw a diagonal line on the circle of "德主" and wrote the words "岗常". "岗常 is completely about virtue."
He pointed to "Virtue as the main and punishment as the auxiliary" and "Virtue as the main and law as the auxiliary" and said, "What hasn't changed in these two words?"
"Master of virtue."
The students said in unison.
Zhang Fei smiled and nodded, "Yes, the master of virtue has not changed. Since the principles and norms completely belong to the master of virtue, have the principles and norms changed?"
The students seemed to have their Ren and Du meridians opened up, and they excitedly shook their heads and said, "No."
Zhang Fei smiled and said, "Does this answer everyone's questions? No matter whether I use the law of the rule of law or the law of the Legalists, the ethics of the principles and constants have not changed. It's just that the way to defend this idea has changed. It doesn't mean that if the Legalists disappear, the ethics of the principles and constants of Confucianism will also disappear. Then, wouldn't the Three Bonds and Five Constant Virtues be the Legalist thought? Can everyone understand?"
The students nodded frequently.
This is obvious at a glance, and combined with the inference just made, it couldn't be clearer.
Yan Fu and others who had just stood up were all stunned at this moment. What just happened? How did it come to this
Empress Dowager Cao nodded with a hint of pride: "I understand everything, too. Hey, this wooden board is really magical. I understand it just by looking at it. I don't even have to think about it. It's just that the writing is really too ugly."
Speaking of this, she shook her head regretfully.
Zhao Xu just smiled and said nothing. Now no one cared how ugly Zhang Fei's handwriting was.
"I see."
Fu Bi smiled and nodded, praising him: "His teaching method is worthy of learning from the Imperial College."
Wen Yanbo also nodded and said, "Indeed, it is simple and thorough, and clear at a glance."
Wang Anshi was also thinking that he should invite the teachers from the School of Mathematics to attend the class next time. This way of education is amazing.
Originally they all thought that this was a very complicated issue and it sounded confusing.
As a result, the explanation is clear and straightforward with just a few strokes.
It makes them feel like they have missed something. It's not that easy.
What does the moral code belong to
Confucianism is virtue.
Morality remains unchanged, punishments are changed, and of course, the moral principles remain unchanged.
If you want to question him, you have to prove that the moral code is related to the Legalists and that the punishment cannot be changed.
But it is well known that the two are hostile in thought.
In fact, Zhang Fei used mathematical formulas to explain this problem.
"Okay! Now that we have explained this issue clearly, let's discuss the difference between "virtue is the main principle and punishment is the auxiliary principle" and "virtue is the main principle and law is the auxiliary principle". Virtue is the unchanging one, so the difference lies in the law of the Legalists and the law of the legal system. However, we have already discussed the theory of the two laws. Now we are going to discuss how to defend the rule of virtue."
When Empress Dowager Cao heard this, she hurriedly asked Zhao Xu, "My Lord, what is the difference between the laws of the Legalists and the laws of the legal system?"
She is also fascinated now, but she didn’t come to the last class, which is a serious absence!
Zhao Xu was stunned for a moment, and a lot of words suddenly popped up in his mind, but he didn't know where to start, so he said: "Madam, this is a long story."
Queen Mother Cao nodded, "Then let's listen to what he has to say first."
The expression on Sima Guang's face gradually relaxed.
He had always been entangled in the contradiction between ritual governance and legal governance, but now that he heard that both were about defending moral governance, there was no contradiction anymore.
He was no longer conflicted.
However, other old scholars and censors such as Jiang Zhiqi always felt that something was wrong, but when they looked at the wooden board, it seemed to make sense and they could not find any fault with it.
Moreover, we are all trying to defend the rule of virtue, which is equivalent to defending Confucianism. If we say that it is wrong, isn't that opposing Confucian orthodoxy
But it just feels weird.