Therefore, we can reform. Heaven is what we get, reform is what we cause, and Heaven is what we cultivate.

Yang Xiong

brief introduction

Yang Xiong (53 ~ 18 BC), Zi Ziyun, was born in Chengdu (now Pixian County, Chengdu, Sichuan) and was a famous philosopher in the Western Han Dynasty.

Character annotation

Yang Xiong likes studying and reading since he was a child. He is not good at talking because of stuttering, and he often meditates silently, and the problems he thinks are often profound. He loves ci and fu, worships it, and imitates it from content to form. He also loves reading Qu Yuan's works. Every time I read Li Sao, I always burst into tears when I think of the patriotic feat of the poet who threw himself into the river. Once he wrote an article "Anti-Li Sao" and threw it into the Minjiang River to mourn Qu Yuan. During this period, he also wrote poems such as Guang Sao, Pan Prison Sorrow, Jun, Yu Wa Fu, Shu Du Fu, etc., and his talents began to show.

In his thirties, Yang Xiong left his hometown for Chang 'an, the capital, and was appointed assistant minister of Huangmen. He deeply studied a hundred schools of thought, praised Confucius, and copied the Analects of Confucius into French Proverbs, which were widely circulated. In addition, Yang Xiong is good at astronomy, mathematics and history. His book "Eight Difficulties Covering the Sky" made an important contribution to China astronomy and played a positive role in the spread of Huntian theory.

Main idea

Yang Xiong regards "Xuan" as the highest category of his philosophical system, and thinks that "Xuan" is the origin of heaven and earth, and everything is the result of the interaction between heaven and earth.

Yang Xiong believes that "Xuan" is both yin and yang, and everything in the world is the unity of opposites, and opposites are transformed and transmitted to each other. That "wealth leads to decline, poverty leads to self-improvement;" There is reality and emptiness, and the flow is impermanent. " It is also believed that the change of things is manifested in the alternation of changes, "so follow it, by the way, follow the spirit;" Change it and make it timely. Therefore, because carding can leather, heaven is obtained; The skin can be made, and heaven is the training. " "Cause" refers to the inheritance relationship of things, and "revolution" refers to the innovation and change of things. He believes that there is innovation in the process of inheritance, and the process of innovation cannot be separated from inheritance.

Yang Xiong emphasized the importance of knowledge, affirmed people's cognitive ability, and pointed out that "the heavens and the earth are big, the gods are unpredictable, the trend of people's hearts remains to be measured, and the situation is not good." He believes that the heart can know everything, so the heart is "God". Yang Xiong put forward the theory of self-cultivation and advocated strengthening moral cultivation.

Yang Xiong put forward the theory of human nature that "human nature is also mixed with good and evil". What he calls "sex" includes five aspects: "seeing, listening, speaking, watching and thinking", and for everyone, there are two aspects: "right" and "evil", both good and evil. Human nature is a mixture of good and evil, and whether good or evil depends on "learning" and "cultivation". Therefore, the theory of moral cultivation is put forward, that is, "those who cultivate their goodness are good, those who cultivate their evil are evil", "learning is right, or else they are evil". He said that "scholars cultivate nature" and advocated that people should learn as early as possible, starting from their childhood. Because I don't get bad habits at this time, it's easy to learn. Once you get into a bad habit, it is difficult to get results by studying hard and seeking to correct it.