The progress of society is like a train with huge inertia, which is difficult for people to completely control. It will never slow down before it reaches the finish line, and once it is found that it has reached the finish line, it will slow down again. The huge inertia has dragged the train far away from the ideal goal.

there is a famous saying of Taoism in the early Han dynasty: the offensive and defensive skills are different. Just a few words, including the deep price paid with blood and life. The establishment of the Qin Dynasty marks the completion of the social transformation in ancient China, and the diversification of political thoughts that accompanied the social transformation will also come to an end. However, most thinkers and politicians at that time didn't seem to realize this, and they still used the original mode of thinking to discuss politics and evaluate characters. In the confrontation between thought and power, thought appears so fragile, and a small-scale book burning pits Confucianism, and free thought becomes the ghost of arbitrary power. The unification of ideas is an urgent political task, but people have different understandings of what kind of ideas to use to "unify". Politicians in the Qin dynasty used the past experience without thinking: teaching by law and taking officials as teachers.

Logically speaking, power politics seems to be able to maintain and perpetuate one's country, but in fact it is just the opposite. As the pioneer of China's medieval society, the Qin Dynasty died after only 14 years, and became one of the shortest-lived dynasties in the history of China. History and reality have put forward a puzzling but unavoidable problem: Qin wiped out the mighty six countries in Shandong by overwhelming the mountains and smashing the sea. Why did the second country die after reunification? After learning from a painful experience, people gradually realized the answer. As early as when Liu Bang, the ancestor of the Han Dynasty, galloped on the battlefield, Lu Jia, a legacy of the Qin Dynasty, praised Liu Bang for the Confucian Poems and History. Liu Bang dismissed the Confucianism, saying, "I rode with a sword to conquer the world, so there is no need for Poems and History!"! In his words, there is still an echo of the legalist theory of that year: the six countries in Shandong province talked about propriety and righteousness, and the more they fought, the weaker they became, and the more they fought, the stronger they became. Lu Jia's answer is refreshing: riding can conquer the world, but can riding rule the world? Since ancient times, the art of attack and defense is different. If the Qin Dynasty changed its course after unifying China and practiced the art of benevolence, righteousness and morality, would the Qin Dynasty perish? Do you still have Liu Bang's world? Obviously, Liu Bang and Lu Jia have different psychological backgrounds and feelings: Liu Bang was proud of his contribution to the construction of Han Dynasty, and Lu Jia pondered over the death of Qin Dynasty. Liu Jia has been one step ahead of Liu Bang.

However, in essence, political thinking is a political issue, not an ideological issue; It is politics that chooses thought, not thought that chooses politics. After the war at the end of Qin dynasty, the whole society was in ruins, and the people had no cover and no homework, and the world suffered from Qin. At that time, the people urgently needed to recuperate and resume production. As early as when Liu bang entered the customs, he made "three chapters of the law": "If the murderer dies, hurts others and steals, I will remove the Qin law." (Historical Records of the Emperor Gaozu) Although we don't know how harsh Qin law is today, we can know from "learning to remove Qin law" that Liu Bang's practice conformed to the people's hearts and set a precedent for Huang Lao's political operation. Huang Lao's politics was officially released when Cao Can was the prime minister. At the beginning of the Han Dynasty, Cao Can was appointed as the prime minister of Qi State. He invited the Confucian scholars, the elders, to ask him the way to govern the country. The Confucians gave hundreds of comments, but Cao Can did not know what to do. In desperation, he heard that there was a guy in Jiaoxi who could cure the situation, so he paid a lot of money to hire him. Gaigong's strategy is simple: politics is quiet and the people decide. Cao carried out according to the plan, which lasted for nine years, and the kingdom of Qi was rectified. After Xiao He's death, Cao Can succeeded him as the Han Dynasty, and he extended his skills in Qi State to the Han family, which was a great success. At that time, people praised: "Xiao He is the law, and it is like painting one; Cao Can instead, keep and don't lose; It is quiet and the people are better. " (Historical Records Cao Xiangguo's Family)

The ideological basis of Huang Lao's politics is Huang Lao's thought, which rose in the late Warring States period. In the contention of hundred schools of thought, Taoism was the mainstream of political thought at that time, and all factions were influenced by it. The thought of Huang Lao arose in Qi State, and gradually formed a certain relationship between teachers and students. In the Biography of Historical Records of Le Yi, Tai Shigong said:

"Huang Di and Lao Zi of Lechen Public School, whose teachers are called husbands on the river, don't know their origins. On the river, the father-in-law taught An Qisheng, An Qisheng taught Mao Maogong, Mao Maogong taught Le Xiugong, Le Xiugong taught Le Chengong, and Le Chengong taught Gaigong. Gai Gongjiao was a teacher of Cao Xiangguo in Qi Gaomi and Jiaoxi. "

Huang Lao's theory comes directly from his father-in-law, while his father-in-law and An Qisheng were famous hermits in the late Warring States period, and they were Taoist hermits. In the process of getting involved in politics, one school of Taoism gradually absorbed some ideas from other schools, and the idea of Huang Lao gradually formed. Similarly, in order to solve the ontological problems, Confucianism and Legalists constantly absorbed the natural philosophy of Taoism, instead of taking its inaction. From the principle of mechanics, the interaction of two completely opposite forces will weaken and strengthen each other, resulting in a new balance. This is exactly what Huang Lao thought.

judging from the actual situation of Huang Lao's politics, it is a correction of the extremely violent political line of Qin dynasty, and the technique of Huang Lao itself is a relatively moderate Taoist line. Therefore, Huang Lao's political reflection is promising in political operation, not passive inaction.

a political struggle during the reign of Emperor Jing of Han Dynasty is quite typical. One day, there was another war of words in the court. Huang Sheng, a scholar of Huang Lao, asserted: King Shang Tang and Zhou Wuwang were not appointed kings, and it was treacherous for them to win the world by force. Yuan Gusheng, a Confucian scholar who ruled Qi's "Poetry", immediately refuted it: No, Xia Jie and Shang Zhou were tyrannical and heartless, and the people were rebellious. Shang Tang and Zhou Wu's rebellion was the common aspiration, and the prosperity of Shang and Zhou Dynasties was the choice of public opinion! Huang sheng retorted: although the crown is bad, it must be worn on the head; Although the shoes are new, they should be stepped on, which is called the difference between up and down! Although you have lost your way, you can still be a gentleman; Although Tang Wu was a sage, he did not become a minister. I punish you, and I put shoes on my head. How can this work? The Confucian Yuan Gusheng was cornered and revealed the subtext: According to what Huang Sheng said, the emperor Gao Zu's suppression of Qin Jian and Han Dynasty was the throne of the emperor, didn't it become a rebel and a thief? At this point, there is no room for further discussion. Emperor Jingdi quickly blocked it, and then it was settled. If the argument goes on, Huang Sheng can still ask: how can this Han family maintain long-term stability when it talks about revolution and rebels and thieves pretend to be the people of destiny? This shows that they have not got rid of the idea of revolution and regime change, and it will take time for them to change their understanding.

under the environment of Huang Lao's politics and Huang Lao's theory, Confucianism gradually grew up. As we have mentioned before, when Liu Bang was still fighting fiercely, the Confucian Lu Jia put forward the idea of civil treatment to him. Liu Bang seems to think that what Lu Jia said is not unreasonable, so he asked Lu Jia to sum up historical experience, "Qin lost the world, so I won it." So Lu Jia wrote twelve books and presented them. Gao Zu called them good, and named his book "Xinyu". Lu Jia believes that the object of politics is people, and the governance of people can not be separated from benevolence and morality. People who can practice benevolence and morality are saints, such as Yao, Shun and Yu in history. "Yao takes benevolence and righteousness as its nest ... so it is high and beneficial, and it is dynamic and beneficial." Therefore, they "match heaven and earth with virtue, and their achievements are endless" (Xinyu Fuzheng). On the contrary, "Qin takes punishment as its nest, so there is a danger of overlapping the nest and breaking the egg; With Zhao Gao and Reese as the right, there is a disaster of falling down. ". "The first emperor Qin Shihuang set it as the whole of the car crack to collect the evil spirits, built the Great Wall in Dijon for yue hu, swallowed up a small megatron, and the generals ran rampant to serve foreign countries. Meng Tian seeks chaos from the outside, while Lisi treats the law from the inside. The more annoying things are, the more chaotic the world is, the more aggressive the law is, the more enemies there are. Qin Fei doesn't want to rule, but he who loses is a violent move and uses punishment to be too cruel "("Xinyu Wuwei "). Lu Jia believes that politics is inseparable from law, but law is not omnipotent, it can only be an auxiliary means of moral politics and religion. Lu Jia preached "kingly way", which means "having father and son, the meaning of monarch and minister, the way of husband and wife, and the order of old age" (Xin Yu Dao Ji). As the forerunner of Confucianism in Han Dynasty, Lu Jia also advocated the induction between man and nature. He claimed that "evil politics is born of evil spirit, and evil spirit is born of disasters." Insects and the like, born with qi; The genus of the rainbow bug is seen because of politics. If the governance is lost in the bottom, then the astronomical degree is above; If evil politics flows to the people, insect disasters will be born in the ground "("New Words and Clear Commandments "). The reason why saints are saints is that they "correct their losses because of the changes in the sky, manage their ends and correct their roots" (Xinyu Siwu). Here, we can already see the shadow of Dong Zhongshu's theory since then.

after Lu Jia is Jia Yi. In the famous On the Qin Dynasty, Jia Yi further summed up the lessons of Qin's death. He made a profound reflection on the history of Qin Dynasty, and pointed out that the unification of China by Qin Dynasty was a turning point in history. The primary task of politics before reunification was "attack", while the primary task after reunification was "defense". During the Warring States period, countries struggled to fight each other, and the strong survived and the weak perished. After reunification, people are eager for stability and need to recuperate. Qin blindly adopted the radical line of Legalism and did not know that "the offensive and defensive forces are different", which inevitably led to rapid destruction. He said, "As the saying goes,' If you don't forget the past, you will learn from the future.' It is based on the gentleman as the country, observing the ancient times, examining the present world, participating in personnel, examining the rise and fall, judging the appropriateness of power, going in an orderly way, changing according to the time, so the country is safe for a long time. "This is for the rule of the han dynasty. Jia Yi also sharply criticized Huang Lao's politics during the reign of Emperor Wen. He pointed out that with the political stability and development of the Western Han Dynasty, new problems also appeared. The vassals are big, the land is merged, and the level is not strict. In this situation, people talk about "inaction" and sit back and watch the society fall into a new crisis. He shouted loudly: "The husband sleeps on the fire with his accumulated salary. If the fire doesn't burn, it's called safety, and he who steals it is also safe. Why is the current situation different? " ("New Book, Counting Ning") This is not alarmist, but prescient. In view of this, Jia Yi put forward a series of political measures to correct the name, strictly grade, respect the son of heaven and do righteousness.

after more than 7 years of recuperation and economic construction in the early western Han dynasty, the country's economic strength has been restored and has become stronger than ever before. Politically, after the turmoil in the seven countries of Wu and Chu was put down, the strength of the princes was further weakened and the feudal country was consolidated. However, ideologically, at that time, it was "different teachers, different people, different schools of thought, different meanings" (biography of Han Dong Zhongshu), which was bound to affect the long-term political stability. It is against this background that Liu Che, the young and ambitious Emperor of the Han Dynasty, issued a "policy question" to the "virtuous literature". Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty asked: During the legendary period of five emperors and three kings, the world was peaceful and the people were happy. However, after the death of the holy king, the road declined and the world was in decline. In the past 5 years, although there are countless people with lofty ideals who want to learn from Wang Zhidao and save the world from danger and chaos, they can't get it in the end. Is there any way out for this society? What should we do? Wan Duan's emotion turned into the following question:

"Three generations have been ordered, but where is their security?" What is the cause of the change of disasters? The feeling of life, whether it is death or longevity, or benevolence or contempt, is familiar with its name, but it is not unreasonable. Iraq wants to be romantic and make it happen, but the punishment is light and the rape is changed. The people are happy and the political affairs are publicized. Why do you repair it, and the cream is exposed? Hundreds of Golden, Derun Four Seas, Zezhen vegetation, three lights, cold and summer, and the spirit of ghosts and gods, Deze is full, and it is beyond the party, extending to the group? " (biography of dong Zhongshu in Han dynasty)

there are many questions, but emperor Wu of Han dynasty did not let the Confucian scholars talk about the matter, but wanted to find a fundamental answer, and it should be concise, that is, the so-called "the main road is the most important." In the five years of Yuanguang (the first 13 years), these doubts were briefly made into five questions:

"Where does the Tao between heaven and man begin?"

"what is the effect of good or bad luck?"

"What's the reason for Yu Tang's drought?"

"Which of the four is appropriate, benevolence, courtesy and wisdom?"

"It's a unified industry, things and ghosts change, and the symbol of destiny. What if it is abolished?" (The Biography of Hanshu Gongsun Hong)

At this point, the theme of Emperor Wu's policy has become clear to the world: What dominates national politics? What is the relationship between this supreme master and the rise and fall of politics? This is a proposition, and the requirement for response is clear: to demonstrate the existence of this supreme will, but never to deny it. At that time, there were "hundreds" of virtuous writers who went to take countermeasures, and Dong Zhongshu and Gong Sunhong were just two of them.

ideological unity is a political requirement and a political choice. It was not Li Si who caused "taking the law as the teaching and taking the officials as the teachers", nor Dong Zhongshu who caused "ousting a hundred schools of thought and respecting Confucianism alone". On the contrary, it was the specific political culture that created Lisi and Dong Zhongshu, and it was Qin Shihuang and Han Wudi who used Lisi and Dong Zhongshu. The prosperity of Confucianism is the need of society, which reflects a cultural tendency and political tendency. The fundamental problem it wants to solve is: where is the political rationality? What is the basis for the existence of the country?