Fang Xiaoru was the most respected Confucian scholar in the early Ming Dynasty. He was appointed as Sun Yun, the teacher of Zhu Yuanzhang, the Ming Emperor, and was called "Professor Hanzhong". Due to the early death of the Crown Prince, Ming Taizu was succeeded by his grandson, the short-lived Jianwen Emperor (Ming Huidi), and Fang Xiaoru naturally became one of the senior ministers of Gu Ming, although he was not old (died at the age of 45). In four years, Zhu Yuanzhang's younger brother Yan was "nowhere to be found" in order to become the ancestor of the Ming Dynasty, that is, the famous emperor Yongle who went to Beijing to build his capital. At that time, some ministers voted for the new emperor, while others swore to defend the old emperor. Of course, the latter were all killed or committed suicide. There are a long list of famous ministers with surnames in the history of the Ming Dynasty, and there are countless "genocide". Prior to this, the heaviest criminal law was the extermination of Jiuzu. The special feature of Fang Xiaoru's "fame in history" lies in his "extermination of ten clans", which are unrelated students. With regard to the origin of the "Ten Clans", a widely circulated story is that after Judy succeeded in seizing the throne, she called Fang Xiaoru and asked him to draft an imperial edict for Deng Ji. However, the building refused, she threw her pen on the ground, cried and cursed, and then forced him to write, so she wrote the word "Yan thief usurped the throne". Judy was furious and said to him, "Do you care about Jiuzu alone?" Fang said, "What can the Ten Families do for me?" Therefore, many of his proteges have also been "laid off". But the official history generally does not use this statement, but says that Fang said that he would rather die than write. Judy said: How can you suddenly die (meaning it's too cheap for you) and destroy ten families? Then, the "extermination of ten tribes" was an invention of the emperor, not a word from Fang Xiaoru that made his students suffer. No matter what you say, in short, the "expansion" of collective punishment for students began at that time. Of course, future generations of students can also be spared if they draw a clear line in time and expose and criticize their teachers. According to historical records, in Fang's case alone, 87 people died because of collective punishment. I still remember the impassioned expression of the teacher when he spoke this passage in class, which made us all sincerely admire Fang Xiaoru's righteous words. This is also a part of traditional honesty education.

Fang Xiaoru died in 1402, which is the beginning of15th century. At that time, the sunrise of the Renaissance rose over Europe, driving away the darkness of the Middle Ages, and Europe was entering a vibrant modern history. Thought, humanities, science and art shine brilliantly, and talented people come forth in large numbers. Science and democracy promoted human civilization and ruled it for 500 years. At the beginning of the century, 140 1 year, German Nicolas de Coussa was born. He was a bishop, a scientist and a philosopher by profession, and a pioneer of ptolemaic system who challenged tradition and broke the geocentric theory. About one hundred years later, the Heliocentrism of Polish Copernicus appeared (1543). Bruno was born in Italy after the death of Copernicus (1548). Bruno's life was bumpy and rich. He has been good at independent thinking since he was a child. He is a typical versatile Renaissance man, a poet, philosopher, mathematician and astronomer. He is brilliant and writes a lot. His view of the universe comes down in one continuous line with Coussa and Copernicus, develops Copernicus' theory and puts forward the infinity theory of the universe. His philosophical thoughts had an important influence on Spinoza in the17th century, so he was regarded as a pioneer of modern philosophy. At that time, his world outlook was neither suitable for the old Catholicism nor for Protestantism, which adhered to Aristotle's dogma. He has traveled in northern Italy, Switzerland, France, Britain and Germany for ten years, giving lectures everywhere, arguing with people everywhere, and looking for opportunities to publish his own works. In the end, it was difficult to find a place to live anywhere, and finally he was tortured to death.

Bruno studied in Naples in his early years and became a monk in Dominican Church, studying theology. Soon, he was suspected of heresy and fled Naples to escape the trial of the local church. He first went to Rome, was framed for murder, faced with excommunication, and then fled to Switzerland. There, he gave up Dominica and converted to Protestant Calvinism, but to his disappointment, Calvinism also rejected heresy. He was arrested for ideological crimes, excommunicated and released to France. Although conservatism was the mainstream in Europe at that time, it was not monolithic, and the academic atmosphere was still relatively strong, leaving some room. Henry III's court is dominated by enlightened Catholics. Bruno was granted asylum and was appointed as a royal lecturer. He was able to temporarily live in Paris and publish his works. In the meantime, he was a guest of the French ambassador to Britain and Queen Elizabeth's court, but his theory was not accepted by the authoritative oxford school, so he returned to Paris. But at this time, the political atmosphere in Paris is not what it used to be. Henry III abolished the law of tolerating Protestantism, but Bruno did not sharpen his edge, more openly debated with powerful people and publicly criticized Aristotle's theory. Finally, there was no room in Paris, so he went to Germany, wandered among universities, continued to give lectures and published works, not only promoting his world outlook, but also advocating peaceful and free debate among various sects, with both churches and academic authorities as the objects of debate. As a result, he was expelled from the Protestant Lutheran Church, and Germany could not stay any longer. At this time, a Venetian nobleman "hoped" that he would return to Italy to be his personal tutor. Venice was still relatively open at that time. Bruno learned that the position of the head of the Department of Mathematics at the University of Padua there was just vacant, so 159 1 bundled it back to Venice and went straight to the University of Padua. But he didn't get a teaching position (Galileo was appointed a year later), so he lived in a noble house and became his private teacher. Contrary to the students in Fang Xiaoru, Bruno was betrayed by his students. Soon, the students became dissatisfied with the teacher and reported him to the Inquisition for spreading heresy. Bruno was accepted by the Vatican in Venice on 1592. His defense has always been that his theory only involves philosophy and has nothing to do with theology and doctrine (like Galileo, he advocates that the Bible should only follow its moral preaching part, not its world view). In Venice, he may still be forgiven, but unfortunately, he was noticed by the much harsher Vatican and extradited to Rome. He was tried in a Roman prison for seven years, and all kinds of defenses were invalid. The only way out for the Vatican is to openly and unconditionally deny its own theory, which he resolutely refused. Finally, he was sentenced to the stake, and his tongue was clamped before the execution, which shows how scary his remarks are. When reading the verdict to him, Bruno famously said, "Maybe you are more afraid when you judge me than when I receive the verdict." But Bruno was killed by only one person, and no one else was implicated (there seems to be no criminal law of "genocide" in Europe).

During the 200 years from Fang Xiaoru to Bruno's martyrdom, Europe completed the Italian Renaissance, Martin Luther's religious revolution basically ended theocracy, and the nation-state was formed, clearing the way for rationalism and enlightenment in the17th century and industrial revolution in the18th century. In the field of astrophysics, the cosmological revolution initiated by Gorbi Ding was basically completed from Galileo to Kepler, and was finally summarized by Newton in the middle of17th century. His discovery of gravity solved Heliocentrism's last question and opened a new era of modern physics. Bruno is a martyr in this continuous scientific revolution. In fact, the inquisition at this time is already a spent force. Since then, science has been criticized and suppressed by the conservative forces of the church and society from time to time, but neither the church nor the monarch has the right to decide the life and death of thoughts and beliefs. Although Bruno's personal ending was tragic, in fact, he still had considerable room for activities before his death, and he had the opportunity to spread his theory and publish his works everywhere. At that time, Europe was not a unified situation of "the world is one, is it the land of kings?"

Looking back at China, for more than 200 years, no matter the mode of production, superstructure or people's ideas, there has been no essential change. In the Ming dynasty, in the infighting and struggle, in the dictatorship of eunuchs, powerful ministers and bad emperors, in the frequent border troubles and shrinking ruling areas, a group of people who dared to say and do fell to the ground and went into decline. 1600 is twenty-eight years of Wanli. At that time, the situation was that the royal family and the government conquered at different levels, internal rebellion rose, and the external frontier was in a hurry. The major events of this year are as follows: first, several armies were launched to suppress the rebellion of ethnic minorities in southwest China; First, the court favored the imperial concubine's authoritarian power and threatened the status of the prince. Another "loyal minister" cared about the emperor's family affairs, wrote a letter to defend the prince, angered the emperor, and was "imprisoned", "beaten" and "dismissed". This man's name is Wang, and his official position is set for this matter. If there is no such thing, I basically don't know. By 1644, Emperor Chongzhen hanged himself, and the Qing Dynasty entered the customs. Scholars either martyred their old owners or voted for new owners, adding another round of moral crisis. The Qing dynasty replaced the Ming dynasty, but it was another dynasty change. Although it is another nation, it still continues the same absolute monarchy, repeats the same history and relies on the same orthodoxy. After the "wise Lord" came the "bad king", and the imperial dynasty declined from prosperity to decline. Scholars' pursuit and values remain unchanged, and ministers' "loyalty" or "treachery" depends on which emperor or potential heir to the throne. It's just that this is the last dynasty, but the historical track will be disrupted by Europeans in the future, and since then, "great changes have never happened in three thousand years."

Coincidentally, Europe in the first year of Shunzhi in the Qing Dynasty (1644) coincided with the success of the parliamentary revolution in Cromwell, England. Five years later, Charles I was guillotined. This incident is very different from Wen Jian's "whereabouts unknown" and the death of Chongzhen, because it led to the end of the monarchy. Although there were still twists and turns later, and it was controversial to Cromwell and his historians, the revolution he initiated was the first sound of the "glorious revolution" 20 years later, which eventually led to the establishment of British constitutional democracy and had a far-reaching impact on American independence, the French Revolution and even the political changes in the whole European continent in the18th century. And European civilization and gunboats expanded all the way from now on, until the gate of China was blasted.

As far as abstract personal morality is concerned, Fang Xiaoru and Bruno are both steely men who would rather die than surrender and defend their own "death". However, the "Tao" and "reason" they defended respectively are quite different. For Copernicus, Bruno and Galileo, the earth revolves around the sun, which is a fact that they have discovered and firmly believed. Neither the king nor the Pope can change it unless a better scientist overturns this conclusion with convincing arguments. This is science. People related to this may have different behaviors in the face of pressure. For example, Copernicus was under foreseeable pressure, and he didn't publish his findings until shortly before his death. Gary insisted on a little, compromised, and said something "against his will" under the arrogance of the church; On the other hand, Bruno was indomitable and died bravely. But in any case, they express their opinions publicly, show their scientific findings and publish them in books. Their historical contributions are linked with advanced scientific ideas, and they themselves are one of the bright stars in the long history of human progress. What is Fang Xiaoru defending? Is there any irrefutable truth that Zhu Yuanzhang's grandson or brother is the emperor? What's the difference between a country and a people? What's more, this is not even a regime change, and the Ming Dynasty is still Zhujiajian. Judy said frankly, "this is our family's business", which means your family name is out of control. But at least in the more than two thousand years since Qin unified China, generations of China literati worried about the emperor's "family affairs", exhausted their intelligence, gave their ideals and loyalty, and how many people shed their blood for it. Has this effort pushed history forward?

My nostalgia for the past can be traced back to 300-200 BC. At that time, Archimedes, the father of Greek geometry, was immersed in studying and inventing one geometric law after another. A well-known story is that the king told him to distinguish the authenticity of the gold crown made by craftsmen. When he stumbled upon the principle of buoyancy in the bath, he was ecstatic and shouted "Eureka!" Travel through time and space and become immortal nature. Whether this legend is true or not, Archimedes' contribution to mathematics and mechanics and his personal fascination with it are all facts. What were the intellectual elites in China doing and caring about at that time? It was at the end of the Warring States Period, when the popular new learning was "Vertical and Horizontal Studies", and the representatives were Su Qin and Zhang Yi. They and their contemporaries traveled between the seven countries, selling their strategies to the throne with golden words and jade words, leaving behind an immortal book, The Warring States Policy, which is full of tricks, tricks, deception, sowing dissension and unscrupulous means to achieve their goals. Its deep calculation and complex thinking make modern people far behind. Nowadays, "Game Theory" has been introduced into China as an exotic product, which is talked about by young students studying international relations. In fact, it is difficult for modern game experts to ponder each other's reaction step by step and decide their own countermeasures like chess, like strategists in the Warring States period. In fact, the number of ways of thinking is the same as that of reasoning, but the results are different if they are used differently. During the Warring States period, the world was undecided, and the thought was not settled in one statue. People like Su Zhang don't have to be loyal to the monarch like the literati after the Han Dynasty, so there is no honesty. However, the Chinese civilization at that time was quite mature, and the strategists' strategies and Confucian loyalty, filial piety and benevolence were also part of the spiritual civilization left to future generations.

China people have been thinking about why and when China fell behind. Many people are unwilling to admit the fact that China traditional culture lacks scientific spirit. They always cite four great inventions, as well as the creation of many exquisite technologies in ancient times. Zu Chongzhi invented pi one thousand years earlier than westerners. In fact, it has long been pointed out that technology is not equal to science, because without theory, it is impossible to extrapolate and popularize it. Technology is just a means. The invention of printing and paper is really great, but more importantly, what ideas are spread by books printed with it. What is the "ambition" of "the three armed forces can win the handsome, but the ordinary man can't win the ambition"? Ancient European philosophers are obsessed with exploring the mysteries of nature and the universe, and they are willing to devote themselves to true knowledge that has nothing to do with human interests. What China people lack is this kind of "stupidity" that transcends the objective existence of "putting things into practice". China is precocious in political culture and dealing with interpersonal relationships. However, just because of precocity, political culture itself is tired of tradition. When modern westerners won the freedom of thought and speech, established a democratic system to guarantee this freedom, and no longer had to be convicted of heresy, thus further releasing unlimited inventions, China, on the one hand, used eight-part essay to make all the literati in the world fall into poverty, on the other hand, invented the literary inquisition to tighten the network and imprison their thoughts. The difference in results can be imagined. Of course, when it comes to politics and political struggles, both within a country and between countries, there are many "strategies" of intrigue and various "counselors", both at home and abroad. The difference is that there are only a few scholars and officials in western history, while a large number of independent intellectuals are detached from politics. The only way out for China to be a scholar is to be an official, who can only contribute his wisdom to politics, which is equivalent to the imperial court.

It is often emphasized in the article that China's shipbuilding industry was more advanced than that of Europe when Zheng He went to the West, indicating that China could have started industrialization and modernization from then on. Some people even think that if Zheng He had gone further and reached America, the yellow race would be there today and the whole history would have to be rewritten. No matter how absurd this assumption is, there is a basic question: what is the purpose of Zheng He's voyage to the West? It was Emperor Yongle who took away his nephew's throne and sent him to the sea. Soon after he acceded to the throne, he hurriedly sent people to the sea, and there was no need to send personal eunuchs. This was by no means an ambition to expand overseas. Its original purpose was to find the "unknown" emperor Wen Jian. Because there are many legends about Wen Jian's whereabouts, living abroad is one of them. As long as the old emperor still appears, Yongle's throne will be threatened, which is the top priority for him to sleep, so he wants to "go to the Western Ocean seven times". Secondly, of course, there is also the idea of promoting China as a big country to "foreign" islanders. Therefore, no matter how advanced the ship is, Zheng He's own talent is great, which is completely different from the driving force for promoting the navigation industry because of the commercial demand when the European economy develops to a certain extent. Besides, I have never verified how Zheng He's ship is better than the most advanced ship in Europe at the same time. However, there is a difference between the national strength of the whole country and the skillful craftsman building a ship for the royal family and developing a shipbuilding "industry" that can represent social productive forces.

The difference between Bruno and Fang Xiaoru lies in the soil they are rooted in. No one can deny that Chinese civilization has a long history and the wisdom of our Chinese nation is highly developed. It's just that the brains of generations of high IQ elites determine different historical trajectories. -(from the Scholars)