Chapter 64: 063 Master Zhu

When a schoolchild completes their initial enlightenment and formally begins studying the Four Books and Five Classics, the very first line of canonical meaning they encounter is this: "The Way of the Great Learning lies in illuminating bright virtue, in drawing close to the people, and in resting in the highest good."

It is the wellspring of a scholar's dreams, the beginning of a scholar's learning, the motto by which a scholar conducts himself, and the ultimate pursuit of a scholar's life!

Illuminating bright virtue: When a person is born into the world, they are originally connected to heavenly principle, but they become clouded by turbid qi and thus sink into muddled ignorance. One must cast off the filth and defilement and once again apprehend the supreme principle of heaven and earth.

Drawing close to the people: Zhu Xi held that this meant "renewing the people" — it is the means of casting off filth and defilement, and also the process of apprehending heavenly principle. Wang Yangming held that it meant "drawing close to the people," speaking of governing the realm and pacifying all under heaven through benevolence and love. Yet both of them agreed that "illuminating bright virtue" must be extended to all the people.

Resting in the highest good: bringing oneself, all people, all affairs, and all things to that state of perfection which principle dictates they ought to attain.

Afraid that ordinary scholars might not understand, Zhao Han immediately explained the meaning of his words:

"'Illuminating bright virtue, drawing close to the people, resting in the highest good' — this is the principle by which every person may become a Yao or a Shun. This is what Mencius pursued, what Master Zhu pursued, what Lord Yangming pursued."

"If human dignity were unequal from birth, how could every person become a sage? If every person can become a sage, how can there be any inequality of human dignity?"

"When the Great Learning speaks of illuminating bright virtue and drawing close to the people, it already contains the meaning that human dignity is equal from birth. And resting in the highest good not only pursues equality from birth, but goes further to pursue equality for all people and sagehood for all people!"

"Only when this principle is established — that human dignity is equal from birth — can one illuminate bright virtue, draw close to the people, rest in the highest good, and cultivate oneself, regulate the family, govern the state, and bring peace to all under heaven!"

These words drove a highly conspicuous nail straight into the very foundation of the School of Principle.

Men like Cai Maode and Pang Chunlai had long since understood Zhao Han's meaning.

Now, with this detailed explanation, some of the ordinary scholars grasped it too, and these words set their blood surging with excitement.

The doctrine of status and human dignity — equality for all — could be integrated into the Way of the Great Learning, and it also served as a supplement and perfection of the Way of the Great Learning.

At the same time, Zhao Han was sounding a rallying cry, telling everyone to stop hesitating and swiftly rise to action — to propagate the thought of equality throughout the world, to practice the Way of the Great Learning, to practice the Way of the Sages!

Founding his own school of thought?

He was certainly not yet qualified for that.

He had merely put forward a new line of thinking; it would still take many people working together to perfect the theory.

Zhao Han would set up the framework, the multitude would flesh it out with blood and sinew, and countless sayings of the sages and worthies could be thrown in. Many contradictory passages of Confucian canonical meaning could also be made smooth and coherent by means of the "doctrine of status."

A storm of thought had already swept in.

As if a flash of lightning had streaked across, Cai Maode suddenly closed his eyes, his whole body trembling faintly — his mind had violently leapt elsewhere.

Ever since his youth, he had been studying Wang Yangming's "Discourse on Uprooting the Root and Stopping Up the Source." He had always understood its principle but could never find the method, and even Wang Yangming himself had been unable to find a solution.

Yet Zhao Han's "doctrine of status" provided a theoretically grounded solution to the key content of "Uprooting the Root and Stopping Up the Source"!

It could only be called a stroke of accidental luck.

Zhao Han had never read the "Discourse on Uprooting the Root and Stopping Up the Source," because the Fei clan of Yanshan specialized exclusively in the School of Principle. They did not collect many works by Wang Yangming, though they did possess a complete set of Zhu Xi's works.

Cai Maode's thoughts surged in a thousand directions — he was at once stirred and terrified.

The key problem of "Uprooting the Root and Stopping Up the Source" could be resolved by the "doctrine of status," but only if "equality of human dignity" were extended to the entire realm.

Cai Maode knew how difficult that would be. The School of Mind stresses the unity of knowledge and action. Now he had "known," yet found it nearly impossible to "act." In his whole being, agony and entanglement warred, while at the same time an impulse arose unbidden — to give his life for the Dao.

By the time Cai Maode reopened his eyes, the debate had already devolved into the clamor of a marketplace.

Supporters and opponents were shouting at each other, while Zhao Han himself had been left stranded at the center of the debate ground.

"Ahem!"

Cai Maode, as the presiding arbiter of the debate, shouted loudly: "Silence! Silence!"

It had no effect whatsoever; the uproar continued.

Fei Yuanlu had no choice but to walk the length of the venue, using his authority as head of the academy to forcibly rebuke them into quiet.

Once no one was speaking anymore, Cai Maode finally opened his mouth: "Debating doctrine is not street-brawling. Do not lose all decorum. Whoever still has questions, come forward one by one, slowly."

The moment Cai Maode finished speaking, the whole venue erupted into quarreling again.

"Let me speak. I accept the doctrine of status. So long as I hold to rectitude and uphold righteousness, so long as I diligently cultivate virtue, though I may not stand shoulder to shoulder with the sages, I am still among the most honored and noble men under heaven!"

"Nonsense! The noble are noble, the base are base. How can this one be noble and that one base, and that one be base and this one noble? If everyone thought this way, the constant bonds of human relations would surely fall into chaos. This is wicked talk that brings disorder to the age!"

"When status does not match human dignity — when beasts and birds sit high in the temples and petty men wreak havoc in the localities — that is the cause of a disordered age. Human dignity must be matched to its proper status; this is the sage's principle of 'employing the worthy.'"

"You say your own human dignity is noble — but are you truly noble? I fear you are nothing but a hypocrite!"

"Wretch! How dare you wantonly slander me!"

"..."

This time the quarreling grew even fiercer, and even descended into personal attacks.

If no one stopped it, it would likely escalate into physical attacks.

"Stop quarreling, stop quarreling," Fei Yuanlu went around the entire venue again to pacify them. "Gentlemen, if you wish to speak, please first raise your hand."

Swish, swish, swish — a great thicket of hands shot up.

Fei Yuanlu began calling on the teachers: "Teacher Chen, you speak first."

Chen Lide could not sit still at all; he strode directly into the center of the field and demanded of Zhao Han: "The sovereign is the guiding rope for the minister, the father for the son, the husband for the wife — where is the equality in that? You are overturning the constant bonds!"

Zhao Han smiled faintly: "'Guiding rope' means cord, means law, means regulation. It refers simply to a person's status. What does that have to do with human dignity? Does it obstruct the equality of human dignity?"

Chen Lide could hold back no longer: "If the sovereign is without virtue, can a minister then rise in rebellion?"

Zhao Han put away his smile, his expression turning solemn. He raised his clasped hands toward the north: "If the sovereign is without virtue, the minister must all the more diligently cultivate virtue and assist the sovereign to be wise, benevolent, and loving. This is precisely the principle of 'making one's sovereign a Yao or a Shun.'"

Chen Lide could find no rebuttal to this. Sweat instantly beaded on his forehead in his desperation. Beating his chest and stamping his feet, he cried: "Master Zhu says, between man and woman there is the order of noble and base, between husband and wife there is the principle of leading and following. Since the husband leads and the wife follows, this means the man is noble and the woman base, the husband noble and the wife base. Even if the husband is without virtue, the wife can only follow!"

At these words, the whole venue erupted in an uproar.

Another teacher shouted: "You old scoundrel, you truly deserve to die! How dare you twist Master Zhu's words!"

Chen Lide shot back: "This is Master Zhu's original meaning — where have I twisted it?"

Once everyone had made enough noise and Fei Yuanlu had suppressed the din of the debate ground, Zhao Han smiled faintly and said: "Teacher Chen, those words were not spoken by Master Zhu. They are the words of Master Cheng — Cheng Yi — which Master Zhu included in his writings."

Spoken by Cheng Yi?

Chen Lide felt rather embarrassed; he had thought they were spoken by Zhu Xi. But rather than lose face, he hardened his stance and insisted: "Since Master Zhu included Master Cheng's words, that means Master Zhu agreed with this principle!"

Zhao Han burst out laughing: "Teacher Chen, I am a man of shallow learning and do not understand a great deal of Confucian canonical meaning. But when it comes to Master Zhu, I have done some study. The library of Pearl-In-Stream Academy holds all of Master Zhu's works, including his correspondence with friends and students. Over these past three years, I have read through all of Master Zhu's works. May I ask, Teacher Chen, how much of Master Zhu's works have you read?"

Chen Lide was at once seized by a terrible foreboding. Of Zhu Xi's writings, he had only seriously read the Collected Commentaries on the Four Books — because that was the content of the imperial examinations.

Of course, Chen Lide was stronger than the average scholar — he had also skimmed through the *Classified Conversations of Master Zhu*.

As for Zhu Xi's other works, only someone with truly idle balls would bother reading them.

"Don't drag in so much else. Master Zhu adopted Master Cheng's words and endorsed the doctrine of the wife following the husband," Chen Lide said with a cold laugh. "When you speak of equality between men and women, when you speak of equality between husband and wife, you defy both Master Zhu and Master Cheng!"

Zhao Han shook his head. "Master Zhu adopted a great many of Master Cheng's words, including that line: 'Starving to death is a small matter, but losing one's chastity is a great matter.'"

That line was also said by Cheng Yi?

Chen Lide inwardly breathed a sigh of relief — he had thought it was Zhu Xi who said it, and had nearly shouted it out along with him just now.

Zhao Han looked around at the crowd. "'Starving to death is an extremely small matter; losing one's chastity is an extremely great matter.' How many women has this one line ruined? If Master Zhu knew this beneath the springs, I fear he would bitterly curse his disciples and their disciples, every one of them men who forget their ancestors and betray their origins!"

"Is there something wrong with preserving chastity?" Chen Lide immediately grew excited, believing he had seized upon a slip in Zhao Han's words.

Zhao Han drew several sheets of paper from his bosom — all excerpts from Zhu Xi's recorded sayings he had copied out, specially prepared for today's debate.

Opening his Zhu Xi quotations, Zhao Han began to rehabilitate Zhu Xi's name: "In *Reflections on Things at Hand*, Master Zhu recorded how Master Cheng's father had his sororal niece remarry twice. Master Zhu's students were puzzled — why, when Master Cheng said 'starving to death is a small matter, losing one's chastity is a great matter,' did Master Cheng's father allow his niece to lose her chastity and remarry twice? Mr. Chen, do you know how Master Zhu answered?"

Chen Lide was already on the verge of madness, as if his entire worldview were being overturned.

The father of Cheng Yi, who had uttered "starving to death is a small matter, losing one's chastity is a great matter," had himself violated it — and violated it twice!

Zhao Han continued: "Master Zhu answered: 'Such is the grand principle, but there are also things men cannot fully carry out!'"

Zhu Xi's meaning was clear: preserving chastity is a Confucian constant principle and should indeed be observed. However, not every person can achieve it — one cannot impose the demands made of a sage upon ordinary mortals.

Chen Lide immediately seized on the key point: "'Things men cannot carry out' — that is because rites and music have collapsed, and ordinary people cannot observe the constant principles. Master Zhu was grieved and distressed by this!"

"Is that truly so?"

Zhao Han lowered his head to search his Zhu Xi quotations and said: "Then let us look at other words spoken by Master Zhu. Master Zhu said: 'The great substance of ritual is indeed weightier than food and sex, yet among affairs there are distinctions of magnitude and urgency, and there may also be cases where it is lighter than food and sex. Only one who is clear in principle and refined in righteousness can weigh these without error.'"

(Zhu Xi said: Ritual law is indeed important, but the affairs of the world have distinctions of importance and urgency. Only one who truly understands the principles of the classics and righteousness can weigh the gains and losses therein.)

Zhao Han continued: "That line may still be somewhat ambiguous. Let us look at the next one: 'For the classics merely preserve the great model, the correct principles, that is all. For the subtle and winding places are surely not things the classics can exhaust... Expedient weighing is precisely the essential subtlety of the classics.'"

(Zhu Xi said: The Confucian classics provide only the guiding spirit, only the correct principles. The fine details are difficult to exhaust in words. Assessing the times and circumstances, responding to change, not rigidly applying the classics by rote but flexibly employing them — that is truly grasping the essence of the classics.)

Chen Lide still refused to concede: "This passage is Master Zhu debating the classics, not Master Zhu endorsing widows remarrying."

"Fine, then let us speak more directly," Zhao Han continued recounting the Zhu Xi quotations. "When the younger sister of Chen Shizhong refused to remarry, Master Zhu thus exhorted her: 'Starving to death is an extremely small matter, losing one's chastity is an extremely great matter — from the perspective of common custom, this is truly pedantic and out of touch!'"

An uproar!

The whole assembly erupted!

Countless teachers and students rose to their feet in shock. They had toiled in study by the cold window, revering the Cheng-Zhu School of Principle as supreme.

Never had they known that Zhu Xi had actually urged a widow to remarry, had actually called "starving to death is a small matter, losing one's chastity is a great matter" pedantic talk.

So this is who you really were, Zhu Xi!

(End of chapter)