An article in "Beijing Science and Technology News" on November 23, 2005: The Tao of Confucius and Mencius in the eyes of Japanese.

The author is Dong Yiran.

"The Analects" is popular, "Mencius" has been criticized, and they consider themselves to be culturally "China" -

What if Confucius and Mencius come to attack Japan? You may burst out laughing when you hear this "absurd" question. However, in seventeenth-century Japan, it was seriously proposed. In the minds of many people, Japan was once a country immersed in Confucianism. However, you may not have thought that after Confucianism was introduced to Japan, it was no longer the Confucius and Mencius we are familiar with!

One day in the seventeenth century, the Japanese scholar Yamazaki Ansai asked his students an interesting question: "We read the books of Confucius and Mencius every day and learn the ways of Confucius and Mencius. If one day, Confucius, Mencius, as the commander-in-chief and deputy commander-in-chief, invaded Japan, what should we do?" The students were sweating profusely when asked, and none of them could answer. Mr. Yamazaki said: "If unfortunately we encounter such a situation, we must take up arms and fight to the death to arrest Confucius and Mencius to repay the country's favor. This is the way of Confucius and Mencius!"

Confucius and Mencius! Come to attack? It may seem like a false question, but in fact the Japanese assumptions at the time were by no means groundless.

In 1644 AD, Manchu cavalry entered the pass, and the Ming Empire was wiped out. Korea and Japan, formerly vassals of the Ming Dynasty, were very worried. Japan has always worshiped the Ming Zhengshuo and believed that the Manchus were "barbarians". At that time, although Japan was separated from China across the sea, it was still very afraid that the Manchus would take advantage of the unification and use their power to march eastward. When a hypothetical question appears in a real historical scenario, we see the "Tao of Confucius and Mencius" that the Japanese insist on, and also get a glimpse of the conflicts deep in their hearts.

Ito Jinsai: If Confucius was not happy living in China, he would come to Japan

On November 17, 2005, the famous scholar and Professor Huang Junjie from the Department of History of National Taiwan University told reporters This little-known story is told. At the just-concluded sub-forum of the Beijing Forum on "The World Significance of the Compilation of the Confucian Canon", he proposed "carrying out the compilation of the Confucian Canon from the perspective of East Asian Confucianism", which aroused enthusiastic responses from the participating scholars.

In the East Asian Confucian system, Japan is an important part that cannot be ignored. How did the Confucian scholars there interpret the Tao of Confucius and Mencius in their hearts? In fact, when Chinese Confucianism was introduced to Japan, it was given a distinct Japanese label.

In Professor Huang Junjie’s view, the Japanese’s subversive interpretation of the “Nine Barbarians” and “China” in Confucian classics is a typical example of their nationalization. "Nine barbarians" comes from "The Analects of Confucius·Zihan", Zihan wants to live in nine barbarians. Or he said: "How can it be so shabby?" Confucius said: "How can a gentleman live in such a shabby place?" It means that Confucius wanted to live in the land of Jiuyi. A student said that that place was very shabby. Confucius It is said that if a gentleman lives there, there will be nothing shabby.

As for the specific location of the "Nine Barbarians", Chinese scholars have always believed that it is on the Korean Peninsula, namely Chenhan, Mahan, and Benhan. However, Ito Jinsai, a seventeenth-century Japanese scholar, believed that when China was in turmoil and Confucius was unhappy, he would come to Japan. The so-called "Nine Barbarians" refer to Japan. Japan's emperor system, "One line for all generations, Uuchi Hengan", is not like the "Yi Surname Revolution" in China all day long, which is the reason why Confucius wanted to defect to Japan. ”

The Japanese people also have a unique understanding of the “Tao” spoken by Confucius. Confucius has a famous saying: “He who hears the Tao in the morning will die in the past.” The core value of Tao. There are different opinions in the inheritance of Chinese Confucianism. The Japanese scholar Ito Jinsai proposed that Tao is human relations and a kind of "practical learning". In contrast, the Chinese The Neo-Confucianism of the Song and Ming dynasties, centered on Zhu Xi, spoke of "Tao" very loftily and turned it into a metaphysical concept, so "Tao" in the eyes of the Japanese became a weapon for criticizing Song Confucianism.

In In Japan, "The Analects" is very popular, but "Mencius" has been criticized

Confucius believed that the ideal ruler embodies "Tao" if he is "benevolent to the people and loves things". However, if there is. What should the ruler do one day when he betrays the "Tao"? When Confucius faced such an ethical dilemma, he chose to escape, but Mencius advocated that the rights of the people should be respected, and the monarch should be overthrown if he violated the "Tao". There are sayings such as "I heard that Zhou was executed, but I have never heard of regicide", "The revolution of Tang and Wu followed heaven and responded to people".

Because of the "King" and "Tao". The relationship between Confucian Analects and Mencius is treated differently in Japan. According to Professor Huang Junjie, The Analects of Confucius is very popular. Ito Jinsai respects The Analects of Confucius as "the most supreme book in the universe". , but "Mencius" was criticized, and some Japanese Confucian scholars even wanted to kick Mencius out of Confucianism simply because he always "incited revolutions among princes" and was contrary to the political culture of the Japanese emperors in the 18th century. The scholar Ogi Sheng Cu Lai at that time re-elucidated it and put forward the view that Confucius' "Tao" is "the Tao of the ancient kings". He believed that "Tao" was founded by monarchs such as Yao, Shun, Yu, Tang, Wen, and Wu, and denied it. It was formed by the natural life of the people and extinguished the potential fire that might harm the emperor's rule. This actually went further and further away from the original intention of "Tao".

Japanese scholars believe that "China" should not be geographically China, but culturally "China"

Since they are also bathed in the enlightenment of Confucianism, in the eyes of Japanese Why is Confucius and Mencius so different from what we understand as Confucius and Mencius?

Professor Huang Junjie believes that this also starts with the formation of the cultural concept of "China". After the Spring and Autumn Period, Chinese culture gradually formed the concepts of Dongyi, Xirong, Nanman, and Beidi. In Confucian classics, the level of civilization around China is often criticized as being very low and full of cultural solipsism and cultural centrism. Once this concept is spread to North Korea and Japan, it will naturally conflict with the local culture.

In the 18th century, Japan's "national subjectivity" emerged. Many Japanese scholars believed that cultural concepts such as "the Middle Way" and "Spring and Autumn Righteousness" no longer existed in China, and Japan had obtained Confucius' " "Middle Way" to realize Confucius' "Spring and Autumn Purpose". So "China" should not be geographically China, but culturally "China", which is Japan. Many Sinocentric views in Confucian classics have also been overturned. For example, in response to the famous "Hua-Yi distinction", Sato Issai, a Yangming scholar in the 19th century, proposed that from a human point of view, there is a center and Yi and Di, but from a heavenly perspective, there is no China. There is no Yi Di. Whoever truly understands the way of Confucius is the center.

Professor Huang Junjie analyzed that Confucian classics include two aspects, one is political identity, and the other is cultural identity. For more than two thousand years, the two have been integrated in China. Therefore, according to Gu Yanwu, a famous scholar during the Ming and Qing Dynasties, changing dynasties would only lead to the subjugation of the country. If foreigners took over the Central Plains, it would mean the subjugation of the world. It is for this reason that after the fall of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Shunshui, a Confucian scholar from Yuyao, Zhejiang Province, thought of going to Japan to "beg for help". In his mind, the fall of the Ming Dynasty was because there was something wrong with a country that believed in Confucian culture, and it was necessary to find a similar civilization like Japan. Help revive the Ming Dynasty.

However, for the Japanese who believe in Confucianism, they regard themselves as Japanese politically, but culturally regard Confucius and Mencius as their spiritual beliefs. , when words like "China" and "Yidi" appear, the Japanese will take the initiative to "decontextualize" them, extract them from the background of Chinese culture, and understand them as abstract ideas rather than concrete entities.

Confucianism has become the common denominator of East Asian civilization

Professor Huang Junjie said that in an era when multiple cultures coexist and China is moving towards a peaceful rise, the center and the periphery are becoming increasingly blurred, and we should be more open-minded. With a broad mind, the compilation of "Ru Zang" and the development of macro-Confucianism in China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam no longer presuppose that China is "China" and other countries are "Barbarians".

"More than 2,000 years ago, Confucius and his disciples were active in China's Shandong Peninsula. Today, Confucianism has become the common denominator of East Asian civilizations. Seek similarities while reserving differences, and the style of "Confucianism" will be even greater. To show its global significance in the new era of globalization in the 21st and 22nd centuries, the "Confucianism Collection" project should expand its horizons and regard Confucianism as the spiritual source of all nations and cultures in East Asia, so that it can truly become an East Asian Ideological assets for dialogue between civilization and Western civilization.

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