frightfiction Chapter 537 Studying things to gain knowledge
Chapter 537 Studying things to gain knowledge
Confucius and Mencius were happy now. Their ultimate purpose of coming to the immortal was naturally to trade. If they could trade more, that would be even better.
“Let me continue talking about you, Saint Wang.
Saint Wang, your name is Wang Shouren, your real name is Wang Yun, your courtesy name is Bo'an, your pseudonym is Yangming, and you are also known as Leshan Jushi.
You are from Yuyao, Zhejiang. Your father, Wang Hua, was the top scholar in the 17th year of Emperor Chenghua’s reign.
He was promoted to the position of Minister of War in Nanjing, so Saint Wang, you have had a good family background and a superior life since childhood.
That is far beyond others.
It is not easy to pass the exam for the top scholar. There have been only about 500 disciples of the emperor in the history of China.
As the top scholar, you can imagine how valuable it is.
It's really strong!" Li Wu couldn't help but give a thumbs up, saying, he is the top scholar.
Can someone who can beat so many people and become the top scorer be just a simple person?
Don’t think that it is easy to become the top scholar. It is extremely difficult. If it were really that easy, why are there only more than 500 top scholars?
During the reign of Emperor Chenghua, Wang Hua, Wang Yangming's father, was stared at with envy and jealousy by a group of ministers.
Everyone praised him for raising a good son, the last saint of their Ming Dynasty.
Who wouldn’t be envious if this were told to others?
Emperor Chenghua also praised Wang Hua, and Wang Hua was very happy, as he felt that he had benefited from his son's kindness.
Very good, very good, he really gave birth to a good son, which made him proud.
The saint, alas, his son, couldn't suppress his smile just thinking about it.
Proud and excited.
“Saint Wang, you started talking at the age of five, wrote poetry at the age of ten, aspired to be a saint at the age of twelve, trained in both civil and military arts at the age of fourteen, and submitted a letter to the court at the age of fifteen, offering advice on how to quell the peasant uprising.
At the age of seventeen, he practiced Zen and attained enlightenment, and visited famous mountains of the three religions. "
The more Li Wu spoke, the more the ancestors in front of the sky curtain couldn't believe it. He was so powerful at such a young age. He deserved to be called a saint. He was indeed extraordinary.
The eyes of Confucius and Mencius looked at Wang Yangming with more kindness. This Saint Wang was truly a good man.
“When you were eighteen years old, Saint Wang, you read through Zhu Xi’s works and became very interested in his theory of “investigating things to acquire knowledge”.
So Saint Wang made up his mind to study the principles of bamboo. He studied the bamboo for seven days and seven nights, but in the end not only did he find nothing, he also fell ill.
From then on, you, Saint Wang, began to have many doubts about the theory of investigating things. "
Wang Yangming nodded and said, "Indeed." He still remembers that at that time he read all of Zhu Xi's works and pondered over what the Confucian scholars of the Song Dynasty said, "Things have inside and outside, fine and coarse, and every blade of grass and every tree has the ultimate truth." In order to practice Zhu Xi's "investigating things and seeking truth", he himself became half-dead.
He remembered it so clearly that even after all these years, he had never forgotten it.
Confucius and Mencius looked confused. Not only them, but many ancestors in front of the sky did not know either. Of course, there were some people who knew.
"May I ask, my little immortal, what is the meaning of "investigating things to gain knowledge"?" Confucius asked.
"This idea of "investigating things to acquire knowledge" comes from the "Great Learning", which states: Those who wished to manifest virtue throughout the world first governed their own country.
If you want to govern your country, you must first govern your family; if you want to govern your family, you must first cultivate yourself...
If you want to be sincere, you must first know it.
Knowledge lies in investigating things.
"Only after understanding things can one know the truth, only after knowing the truth can one have a sincere mind, only after having a sincere mind can one have a righteous heart, only after having a righteous heart can one cultivate oneself, only after cultivating oneself can one have a harmonious family, only after having a harmonious family can one govern the country, only after governing the country can the world be at peace." Wang Yangming said, and Confucius and Mencius nodded, saying that he was not wrong.
Li Wu said, "However, Zhu Xi's own theory of 'investigating things to acquire knowledge' accidentally went astray.
In fact, don't even mention Zhu Xi. He was badly criticized, especially for proposing the Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism. That guy completely degraded women to the ground.
Although the purpose at that time was to maintain social order and stability, in traditional society, people who were already at a disadvantage in the economic and social field, such as women, farmers and lower-class intellectuals, were often subject to more restrictions and constraints.
This was especially true for women. Women’s lives were already difficult in the past, and after the emergence of Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism, women’s lives became even more difficult.
I get angry when Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism is mentioned."
When Li Wu said this, there was anger in his eyes, and he completely didn't treat the woman as a human being.
The situation became increasingly serious and the woman could not even imagine her life.
Zhu Xi in front of the sky curtain turned pale, his legs became weak, and he knelt on the ground. He, he never felt that there was any problem with his Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism!
How could the little immortal say that about him?
Many women were extremely dissatisfied, especially those from the earlier dynasties. They had long known from the barrage that women in the later dynasties had no freedom at all and could not even go out of the house.
Even when going out, I have to cover myself tightly, for fear of being seen by outsiders.
This Zhu Xi is really not a human being. Life is already difficult for women, and now he wants to suppress them. So Zhu Xi was cyber-bullied by the women.
Zhu Xi was so angry that he fainted, and he was twitching and shaking constantly.
Others didn't dare to say anything.
Sky
When Confucius and the other two saw that the immortal was angry, they frowned slightly. Zhu Xi actually made the immortal so disgusted. It seemed that he was not a good person.
"Forget it."
The three of them nodded in unison; they didn't want the immortal to get angry.
“In 1492 AD, Saint Wang, you took the provincial examination for the first time and passed it.
But later on, Saint Wang, you became more and more fond of talking about military affairs, and you were very good at archery.
At the age of 22, Saint Wang, you took the imperial examination, but failed.
The then Chief Minister of the Cabinet, Li Dongyang, said to Saint Wang, although you did not win the top spot this time, you will definitely win next time.
Saint Wang, you picked up the pen and completed it. The elders in the court were amazed at your talent.
However, there are some people who are jealous of you, Saint Wang, and they say that if you become the top scholar in the future, you will definitely be arrogant.
Later, when you were 25 years old, Saint Wang, you took the imperial examination again, but failed again.
Your father was afraid that you would be sad, so he comforted you, Saint Wang, and said that even if you failed this time, you would definitely succeed if you try harder next time.
But you, Saint Wang, laughed and said: You are ashamed of not passing the exam, but I am ashamed of being upset about not passing the exam.
It was not until 1499 that the -year-old Saint Wang took part in the Ministry of Rites examination. Because of his outstanding performance in the examination, he was ranked second among the Nangong people, and was awarded the seventh place in the second class of Jinshi. He was appointed as the head of the Ministry of Justice.
In 1506, the eunuch Liu Jin seized power and arrested more than people including Nanjing Imperial Censor Dai Xian.
Saint Wang, you wrote a petition to plead for his help, and thus offended Liu Jin. You were beaten with forty sticks in the final battle and demoted to Longchang, Guizhou, where you served as the postmaster of Longchang Posthouse.
Saint Wang, your father, Wang Hua, was also driven out of the capital and transferred to Nanjing as the Minister of Personnel.
But the journey to Longchang was not so easy, because you offended the petty-minded Liu Jin, who thought that you would be demoted to Longchang and that would be the end of it. No, Liu Jin sent people to hunt you down. Fortunately, you were smart and faked suicide by jumping into the water to escape. "