Chapter 343: The Taizhou School

"The land beneath our feet is a very small part of a vast country. Some of you have fathers or elder brothers in the army; they may have been to Liaodong, or to Northern Zhili, but even that is still only a small part. This is a rich and expansive country, nurturing countless common folk just like you. They use the same written script as you, and wear much the same clothes.

Our country holds the drifting white snows beyond the northern frontier, the roaring Long River and Yellow River, the Jiangnan of little bridges and flowing streams, and the boundless, endless maritime frontiers. Our ancestors created a brilliant civilization, and the written script we learn is only a very small part of it — yet it is the foundation upon which we recognize one another. That is why the first class you attend is the literacy class.

These lands were not gained for nothing. Our ancestors fought fiercely to win this land, so that we could put down roots here, sprout and pass down generation after generation, and with our own hands create the most brilliant civilization.

Why must our Dengzhou garrison fight the Tatars? Everyone says we must kill the Tatars, and the reason lies in our lack of civilizational identification with them. Apart from differences in dress and the queue hairstyle, there is also a difference in purpose. We create abundant goods and beautiful art, and through diligent farming and technological progress we bring blessings to life. They, on the other hand, have emerged from the mountain forests, seeking to use their brute force to enslave us. Looking at what the Jianzhou bandits have done in Liaodong, they bring only barbaric slaughter and enslavement. No matter what stage society reaches, a butcher like Nurhaci can never escape moral judgment. This is my standard for understanding good and evil, and it is also why I cannot identify with the Jianzhou bandits.

What they seek to strip away are the rights we possess by birth — these are rights Heaven endows upon man. No one has the right to take them away. This is the meaning of the battle we are now fighting against the Jianzhou bandits at Jinzhou. No matter how savage the Jianzhou bandits are, we must take up arms and fight them. Civilization cannot lack writing and books, nor can it lack spears and muskets. Hence the purpose of our education: civilize their spirit, barbarize their physique. That we can live and study peacefully today in Dengzhou and Laizhou is thanks to those soldiers who fought hard in battle after battle. It is they who have brought us this peace, and our future depends on you to continue the fight."

The students below the platform rose one after another in fervent applause. Besides the thirty-odd students about to enter the Grand Academy, there were over a hundred new students, all teenagers in their teens. Under the long-term influence of military dispatches, storytelling, and instruction officers, these youths were the most passionate group in Dengzhou. Their emotions burned far hotter than those of the garrison households with families and homes; they were highly malleable, and they accepted the concept of the nation with remarkable speed.

Chen Xin, with several military officers, stood in the corridor outside the door, quietly listening to what was happening inside. The students' enthusiasm infected these officers — they were all the best future source of soldiers — and even Chen Xin's face revealed a smile.

After the students quieted down, Liu Minyou's voice continued: "How to resist such a butcher? We need sufficient armed force to protect ourselves, and we need everyone's effort — but that does not mean everyone must join the army. Soldiers need armor, need baggage, need grain, need muskets and cannons; for that there must be craftsmen who manufacture and garrison households who farm. Craftsmen and garrison households need to live, and that in turn requires other goods and materials. Every trade and profession is an indispensable aspect of society. Winning victory cannot be separated from them.

Victory in war always comes from the hard fighting of every ordinary person. Without individual heroes there can be no heroic collective. Everyone in our Dengzhou garrison has contributed to victory — including those garrison households, tailors, merchants, and civil affairs personnel who did not go to the battlefield. Your entry into the Wendeng Grand Academy today is only the beginning of learning. It does not mean you possess an origin that elevates you above others; it only proves that you have higher talent in reading, or that you have put in more effort. In the future you may still join the army, enter the workshops, or even go into trade. Between you and those garrison households there is no class difference, only a division of labor — just as I myself am an individual no different from you.

Therefore I hope that in the Grand Academy you will treat your fellow students with an attitude of equality, and that before your teachers you will likewise be equal individuals. Inside the Grand Academy, there are no words of sages. What the teachers teach may be doubted, and you may verify it for yourselves — including what I have said today. Every person can be a philosopher and reach their own conclusions about this world. The Grand Academy is precisely such a place, one I have looked forward to ever since I arrived at Weihai. Today it is finally completed, and you are its first cohort. There, you will have free board, so that you may concentrate on delving into every discipline without distraction. There, all flowers of your thought will be allowed to bloom freely…"

Outside the door, listening to the speech inside the large classroom, Chen Xin could not help rubbing his nose and murmuring quietly, "Isn't this a bit too far ahead of its time."

"My lord, what did you just say?" Huang Side leaned over.

"Nothing, I was just absorbed in listening. What do you think?"

"This subordinate didn't quite understand — what does it mean that every person can be a philosopher?"

Chen Xin rubbed his nose. "It means every person can become a sage."

Huang Side's eyes shifted. He was not entirely sure what Chen Xin really thought, and for a moment he had no direction to follow. But after considering for a moment he still said: "This subordinate feels that Mr. Liu's earlier part about killing Tatars was very well spoken. As for the latter part, this subordinate has slight reservations. According to what Mr. Liu said, everyone is an equal individual — then in the future, soldiers in the army would not obey their officers; they could doubt an officer's orders. For instance, if an order came down and most of the men would likely die, could those soldiers then use equality as a reason to refuse to carry it out…"

Chen Xin smiled. "He was talking about inside the Grand Academy."

"Hmm, well, my lord, students who come out of the Grand Academy may also become soldiers, craftsmen, or enter the civil affairs department. This subordinate believes that within the academy, my lord's instruction should be the guiding principle — only thus can ten thousand hearts unite as one. How can each person be allowed to come up with their own set of ideas? If that were the case, everyone would rather stay home farming or doing business; why would they go through the hardship of fighting Tatars?"

Chen Xin looked at the ground and pondered for a moment, then smiled at Huang Side. "You've thought it through very thoroughly. That is why instruction officers in the schools are indispensable."

Huang Side said with delighted surprise: "My lord means that instruction officers can be assigned to the Grand Academy? But Mr. Liu has always resisted it; this subordinate has never been able to arrange entry."

Chen Xin shook his head. "The Grand Academy is excepted."

Huang Side was taken aback. Chen Xin smiled. "I need these seeds of thought. Let them be free. No department whatsoever is permitted to establish an organ inside the Grand Academy."

Huang Side did not understand Chen Xin's meaning in the slightest. He said worriedly: "This… my lord, among the teachers Mr. Liu has engaged, there are craftsmen, shipwrights, even the Taizhou School, and even several Franks rescued from Dengzhou have been hired as instructors. If we exercise no oversight at all, this subordinate fears they will not be loyal to our Dengzhou garrison, and one cannot say what sort of students they will produce."

Chen Xin was somewhat helpless. Back then, in order to compete with Liu Minyou for funding, he had traded away the placement of instruction officers in the Grand Academy as a bargaining condition. Now he was still somewhat worried. After thinking, he said quietly to Huang Side: "What I just said — that no department may establish an organ inside the Grand Academy — that was something I promised Mr. Liu. But you can think of other methods."

"Other methods?" Huang Side felt like scratching his head.

"Since Mr. Liu can recruit those teachers in, the Instruction Department has so many glib talkers — can it really not find a few who can apply to be teachers? Select some people; I can also hire professors."

"This… my lord means that instruction officers should also go in and give lectures? Compete with those heterodox schools?"

Chen Xin said as a matter of course: "Of course. Instruction officers can also form new ideas. Our army has a renowned and illustrious reputation; naturally we can distill many principles from it. Besides, as for those inside the Grand Academy whose thinking is extreme, we can simply not recruit them into the army in the future. Send them to places that are not so critical, or simply release them out into the world. There will always be local officials elsewhere to deal with them."

Huang Side pondered for a moment, then nodded. "Mr. Liu still has a long discourse to deliver; let's not watch any longer. We'll go inspect the reserve troops. Let me remind everyone here: what was discussed at the meeting just now concerned only the standing combat troops. The reserve troop system must still rely on the community model of the garrison forts; only then will they have combat strength when urgently mobilized."

Chen Xin had just turned around when he saw Chen Tingdong striding over in a rush, wind at his heels, blocked by two guards beneath the winding corridor. His face was full of fury, and he was about to vent his anger on the guards.

This down-and-out Provincial Graduate still had the same slovenly appearance. Since returning from Jiangnan last time, Chen Tingdong had been doing supervisory work in civil affairs, along with some clerical writing, and often published little verse snippets in the military dispatches. But Chen Xin truly had not seen him for a long time, and now felt quite warmly toward him.

Chen Xin laughed heartily and went over to greet him, asking Chen Tingdong: "Where is Graduate Chen headed in such a hurry?"

The two guards let Chen Tingdong through. Without even performing a salute, he said urgently: "My lord, Mr. Liu has always been a man of clear discernment, and this one has always admired him. But this time, the Grand Academy does not establish the study of the sages, and instead introduces things like mathematics, mechanics, iron-smelting, and even some unheard-of subjects like chemistry and physics — all manner of tool-making studies. This is a great error. In the vocational schools there was already some putting the cart before the horse, but since vocational schools were mostly training craftsmen to enter the workshops, this one thought it harmless. However, the Grand Academy is the elite of Dengzhou and Laizhou; among the multitude of students, only a few hundred are chosen. They are meant to go out and civilize the ten thousand common people — how can they be made to specialize solely in those things? Has my lord not heard that the junzi is not a mere vessel? This one has come today precisely to have it out plainly with Mr. Liu."

Without waiting for Chen Xin to speak, Chen Tingdong caught his breath and continued: "Just now at the doorway I heard that the Grand Academy even has Frank instructors. When barbarians enter the Middle Kingdom, they should be made Chinese — how can we instead let them come to civilize our Chinese students? Who knows what they will teach these students? If this can be tolerated, what cannot be tolerated…"

Seeing him so angry his face was completely red, Chen Xin worried he would go make trouble in the classroom. He quickly pulled Chen Tingdong back a few steps and said quietly: "Mr. Chen, please do not be angry. The several Frank instructors are teaching tool-making studies such as iron-making and cannon-making, not the speculative philosophy of the red-haired barbarians."

Huang Side suddenly added: "That's right, Mr. Chen. The Grand Academy does have the study of the sages as well. I heard that Mr. Liu has engaged several great masters of the Taizhou School…"

Chen Tingdong let out a great cry, abruptly flung off Chen Xin's hand, and grabbed Huang Side by the collar. "What does the Taizhou School count as the study of the sages? If you don't understand, then don't spout nonsense! The Taizhou School is a pack of absurdities, deluding and stirring up the people — it does nothing but disgrace the four words 'study of the sages.'"

Huang Side, caught off guard, was nearly lifted up by this tall Provincial Graduate. His eyes bulged with fright, and some of the surrounding guards even put their hands on their sword hilts. Chen Xin hurried over to pull them apart.

Huang Side, his shock slightly abated, said to Chen Tingdong: "Just now Mr. Liu was saying that every person can be a sage, and every person can reach their own conclusions about the world. Is that not the same as the Taizhou School's 'The daily use of the common people is the Dao; the streets are full of sages, and the Dao of the sages is no different from the daily use of the common people'? Perhaps Mr. Liu believes in this Taizhou School."

"Hold your tongue," Chen Xin said to Huang Side in a low, sharp voice. Seeing that Huang Side was eager for chaos and intent on goading Chen Tingdong into making a scene in the classroom, Chen Xin felt considerable displeasure. "If there are matters to discuss, return to Dengzhou and resolve them in a meeting. Say no more."

Once Chen Xin spoke, Huang Side immediately fell silent and sullenly withdrew to one side. Chen Tingdong, hearing the words "Taizhou School," grew even angrier. This school of thought originated from the Yangming School of Mind, advocating that the daily affairs of the common people are the Dao, that ordinary people and sages are equal, and even putting forward views such as "Princes and nobles are not superior, commoners are not inferior" — calling it treasonous would not be excessive. Its founder, Wang Gen, also liked to expound in plain, direct language that many could understand. This kind of enlightenment-oriented commoner thought spread widely in the late Ming, had enormous influence, and posed a great impact on traditional Confucian views.

By the late Ming era, the imperial court's control over the lower strata of society was gradually slipping away. Coupled with the high development of commercial society, the values of traditional Confucianism had already been shaken. All manner of strange theories and heterodox views emerged endlessly, and the intellectual despotism of Neo-Confucianism was collapsing. The commoner thought of the Taizhou School adapted to this tide and naturally incurred the hatred of orthodox Neo-Confucianism.

The radical elements within the Taizhou School displayed a strong spirit of resistance and rebellion. Not only did they attack court politics, they also wrote books and established theories that heavily satirized Neo-Confucianism and Confucianism. The foremost representatives among them were He Xinyin and Li Zhi. Both were classically trained scholars who had come up through the imperial examination system. Once they adopted the views of the Taizhou School and turned them against Neo-Confucianism, they were extremely destructive to the intellectual despotism of Neo-Confucianism.

And yet the Great Ming court did not crack down on it severely. Although they dealt with the most "rebellious" figures like He Xinyin and Li Zhi, the Taizhou School was still able to spread — which also shows that the intellectual climate of the late Ming was, on the whole, very relaxed.

Chen Tingdong happened to be a believer in Neo-Confucianism. He struggled desperately to rush into the classroom. The several officers behind him, having understood Chen Xin's intent, blocked Chen Tingdong and would not let him pass. Although Chen Tingdong was tall and powerfully built, he was no match for professional roughnecks, and could only roar furiously beneath the winding corridor.

A few heads poked out of the classroom windows ahead to look around. Seeing that this was turning into a scene, Chen Xin's eyes shifted and he said to Chen Tingdong: "Mr. Chen, how about this — I will take it upon myself to secure you a teaching position. You can likewise open classes and give lectures at the Grand Academy. I believe that with you there, Mr. Chen, you can certainly have it out with those schools of thought."

Chen Tingdong immediately stopped his motion to charge over, turned his head, and asked, "My lord, do you mean it?"

"Naturally. In fact, Mr. Liu has the same idea — to provide a venue where every school of thought can debate clearly. I support you, Mr. Chen."

"Very well! Watch me deal with them. I shall return to Dengzhou at once, pack my things, and go to the Wendeng Grand Academy." Chen Tingdong laughed heartily, turned, and left.

Chen Xin hurriedly called after him: "Mr. Chen, only a battle of words — don't let it become a battle of fists."

Chen Tingdong walked like the wind; it was unclear whether he heard or not. (To be continued.)

PS: Requesting monthly tickets.