Chapter 111: Run! The Daily Lecture Is a Trap! (Begging for Monthly Tickets!)

"... This is what is meant by the saying: 'A state does not profit by profit, but profits by righteousness.'"

Zhu Youjian finished reciting the final line of the Great Learning and turned his gaze toward Ni Yuanlu.

"Minister Ni, in Our recitation, were there any errors in phrasing or punctuation?"

Ni Yuanlu hurriedly stepped out from the ranks and bowed. "Your Majesty is endowed with heavenly brilliance and a memory that never forgets. The phrasing and punctuation were clear and distinct, without a single error."

Zhu Youjian nodded noncommittally. "A text of a thousand-odd characters is not difficult to memorize. What is difficult is to unravel its true meaning. On this very chapter, We happen to have some points of confusion, and We hope Minister Ni and all you masters will not stint your instruction."

Here it comes!

Ni Yuanlu drew a deep breath. The stone that had been hanging in his heart seemed to grow a few catties heavier.

The Daily Lecture was not the same as the Classics Colloquium.

At the Classics Colloquium, the lecturers could bring their lecture notes; the scroll-unrolling officer turned a page, and the lecturer expounded on that page, and that was all.

To put it plainly, that was an open lecture — rigid, formulaic, without any surprises.

But at the Daily Lecture, no lecture notes could be brought inside. Every question and answer depended entirely on improvisation, which was an immense test of a lecturer's learning and presence of mind.

"Your Majesty, please speak. Your subjects will assuredly tell all they know."

Zhu Youjian began slowly: "The Great Learning opens by saying: The Way of the Great Learning lies in making bright virtue manifest, in drawing close to the people, and in resting in the highest good."

"Yet when We read Master Zhu's Collected Annotations on the Four Books by Chapter and Verse, We saw it stated that what is called 'drawing close to the people' should be interpreted as 'renewing the people.' Why is that?"

Hearing this, Ni Yuanlu relaxed slightly.

This question was one of the core tenets of the Cheng-Zhu School of Principle. Any official who had come up through the proper civil examinations knew it as well as he knew his own face.

Only... since His Majesty had read the Collected Annotations by Chapter and Verse, he would naturally have seen the commentary as well. Why ask a question to which he already knew the answer?

The thought merely flickered through his mind. Ni Yuanlu had no time to ponder it deeply. He cupped his hands and replied, "Your Majesty is sagaciously perceptive. Allow this subject to attempt an explanation of this question for Your Majesty."

He cleared his throat and declared in a resonant voice:

"When Master Cheng and Master Zhu changed 'draw close' to 'renew,' it drew considerable criticism even at the time. In those days, some questioned Master Zhu, saying, 'To lightly alter the canonical text according to one's own opinion is, I fear, contrary to the principle of transmitting what is doubtful.' Yet Master Zhu had his own thoroughly considered rationale."

Ni Yuanlu's tone grew solemn and grave, as if he had returned to the scene of his teacher lecturing in the schoolroom long ago.

"Master Zhu's argument, first of all, rests on 'inferring from the meaning of the text.'"

"The Way of the Great Learning begins with 'making bright virtue manifest.' This is self-cultivation, the inner sageliness."

"After inner sageliness must come outer kingliness — extending oneself to others, causing the people to be renewed, so that all under Heaven may likewise make their bright virtue manifest."

"If it is interpreted as 'drawing close to the people,' then there is a slight gap between it and the meaning of 'making bright virtue manifest.'"

"But if it is interpreted as 'renewing the people' — causing the common people to shed the stains of their old ways and renew their virtue of their own accord — then its meaning flows in one unbroken stream with the preceding phrase 'making bright virtue manifest.' This is a logical necessity in terms of doctrinal coherence."

Zhu Youjian nodded. From this angle, it was not difficult to understand why the Cheng-Zhu School of Principle had gradually become the dominant school.

Once "renewing the people" was introduced, "making bright virtue manifest" shifted from being a matter of personal cultivation alone to becoming the foundation for advancing the cultivation of others — and it resonated perfectly with the subsequent progression in the Great Learning: self-cultivation, regulating the family, ordering the state, and bringing peace to all under Heaven.

In these past few days of study, he had more than once found himself slapping the table in admiration at this flawlessly interlocking theoretical framework.

Ni Yuanlu drew a deep breath and continued.

"Secondly, it rests on 'examining the wording of the text.'"

"Master Zhu held that the entire third chapter of the Great Learning is devoted to explicating the meaning of 'renewing the people.'"

Ni Yuanlu recited the original text of the third chapter word for word:

"'On the bathing-tub of Tang, the following words were engraved: "If you can one day renew yourself, do so from day to day. Yea, let there be daily renewal." In the Announcement to the Prince of Kang, it is said, "Rouse them to become a renewed people." The Book of Odes says, "Though Zhou was an old state, its mandate was renewed." Therefore, the superior man uses every means to the utmost.'"

"All three of these passages turn on the word 'renew.' If the guiding principle were 'drawing close to the people,' then the later text and the earlier text would be severed from each other. Only when the guiding principle is 'renewing the people' can the classic and its commentary form a single body, with the threads running through without break."

At this point, Ni Yuanlu straightened his back slightly, and his voice grew more sonorous.

"What is more, if we examine the matter from the perspective of textual etymology, the characters 'draw close' and 'renew' were in fact frequently used interchangeably in antiquity."

"For instance, Lu Deming's Explications of the Classics notes that 'to go out to meet anew' was originally written as 'to go out to meet in person.'"

"From this we can see that replacing 'draw close' with 'renew' is not an arbitrary alteration, but rather a restoration of the original meaning of the canonical text!"

Ni Yuanlu delivered his concluding statement:

"Thus, in the view of the Cheng-Zhu school, the Way of the Great Learning is first to make one's own bright virtue manifest, then to renew the virtue of others, and finally, together, to rest in the highest good. This is what is meant by the Three Guiding Principles of the Great Learning!"

When he finished, the logic was so rigorous, the textual evidence so thorough, the citations so apt, and the argument so meticulously built up layer by layer that it could be called irrefutable.

This was the Cheng-Zhu School of Principle — the pinnacle of Confucian thought.

The perfection and impregnability of its system could be glimpsed from this single matter of "the alteration of 'draw close' to 'renew.'"

Zhu Youjian waited until he had finished, then, without passing judgment, simply tossed out a second question.

"What Minister Ni has said is indeed the orthodox interpretation of Master Zhu's learning." Zhu Youjian inclined his head slightly, but his gaze suddenly sharpened. "However, in recent days We have been reading the Record of Instructions for Practice, and We see that Wang Yangming firmly maintained that it should be 'drawing close to the people' and not 'renewing the people.' What does my minister make of that argument?"

This simple question made the atmosphere in the hall tighten abruptly.

Ni Yuanlu felt a chill shoot from the soles of his feet straight to the crown of his head.

Was this question difficult to answer?

Difficult, my foot! He was a man of Shangyu in Zhejiang; the Zhezhong Wang school was right in his native region. How could he possibly not understand Wang's learning?

The real difficulty lay in what it meant for the Emperor to raise this question, on this occasion!

Though Wang's learning had spread widely, for it to be brought up at court — and especially at the Classics Colloquium or the Daily Lecture, where it was even posed alongside the Cheng-Zhu School of Principle as a parallel question — this was a first in the entire history of the Great Ming!

What exactly did this signify?

He glanced instinctively at the Chief Grand Secretary Huang Liji, but saw that the other man still had his eyes on his nose and his nose on his heart, like a clay statue or a wooden carving.

Inside the great hall, the atmosphere grew heavier still.

Zhu Youjian did not press him, but simply sat upright, his gaze calm as he watched him, waiting for his answer.

Ni Yuanlu drew a deep breath and bowed. "In reply to Your Majesty: Master Yangming's argument does indeed differ from Master Zhu's interpretation."

Ni Yuanlu steadied himself, and his voice grew somewhat more composed as he began to systematically lay out the Wang school's viewpoint.

"Master Yangming held that the ancient text of the Great Learning was the old version handed down within the Confucian school, free of omissions or errors, and therefore should naturally be followed in its entirety as it stood. Hence, 'drawing close to the people' ought not to be changed to 'renewing the people.'"

"First, Master Yangming held that the 'rouse them to become a renewed people' in the Announcement to the Prince of Kang referred to causing the remnant people of Yin-Shang to 'renew themselves' so as to become the renewed people of Zhou."

"But when Master Zhu speaks of 'renovating the people,' he means the sovereign uses moral teaching to 'make the people new.' The former is the people acting themselves; the latter is the sovereign causing it. The two cannot be conflated. On this basis, in Master Yangming's view, it amounts to putting Zhang's hat on Li's head."

"Second, Master Yangming holds that reading the full text of the Great Learning, everything from 'ordering the state and pacifying all under Heaven' onward is an exposition of the meaning of the character 'qin.'"

"For example, 'The gentleman honors the worthy and is qin to his kin,' 'as if protecting a newborn infant,' 'what the people love, love it; what the people hate, hate it' — these all convey the meaning of being qin to the people, of loving the people. They do not expound upon the character 'xin.'"

"Therefore, Master Yangming concludes that 'qin the people' is what Mencius meant by 'be qin to your kin and thereby humane to the people.' To be qin to them is to be humane to them."

"It is also as Confucius said: 'Cultivate oneself to bring peace to the hundred surnames.' 'Cultivate oneself' is 'manifesting bright virtue'; 'bring peace to the hundred surnames' is 'qin the people.' To say 'qin the people' already encompasses the meaning of both nurturing and teaching. To say 'xin the people' skews it."

Zhu Youjian listened and gave no indication of his view.

Frankly speaking, Wang Yangming's argument, judged purely on phrasing, was far less logically rigorous than Zhu Xi's.

But if he knew it was hard to argue, why argue it at all?

Qin the people, xin the people — one character's difference, two schools of thought.

What were they really debating?

Zhu Youjian naturally had his own view on this, but he still wanted to see what late Ming scholarly circles thought.

At this point, he straightforwardly cast his third dagger.

"Then what does Minister Ni think — why do their views differ?"

He paused, as if fearing Ni Yuanlu might misunderstand, and added a deliberate clarification.

"What We ask is the root cause of their differing views, not who is right and who is wrong."

When these words were spoken, the crowd did not register it at first.

After chewing it over carefully, suddenly the whole hall was stunned.

Even Huang Liji could not help lifting his eyelids, eyeing the young emperor on the throne with shock and uncertainty.

What a question — not asking right or wrong, only the root cause!

This had transcended the surface of the classics and pointed straight to the great Dao.

How could a seventeen-year-old succeeding Son of Heaven ask such a question?!

What on earth had he been reading in the Prince Xin Residence!

Ni Yuanlu's mind completely crashed. He opened his mouth, hemmed and hawed for a long while, and could not utter a single word.

Worry over the coming scholarly strife, speculation about the emperor's intent, fear of an unknowable future… countless thoughts tangled together, robbing him entirely of the power of speech.

Zhu Youjian waited a moment. Seeing that he could not answer, he did not grow angry, but merely swept his gaze over the rest of the assembly.

"My various ministers, is there anyone who can resolve this perplexity for Us?"

No one answered.

This was no longer a question of daring to answer, but of being able to answer.

Ni Yuanlu, stung by that light glance from the emperor, felt a scholar's hot blood surge straight to his crown.

He absolutely could not become the second 'Three-Don't-Know Grand Secretary'!

"Your Majesty!" He jerked his head up, no longer caring for anything else. "This subject's learning is shallow, but I beg to attempt an answer for Your Majesty!"

Zhu Youjian turned his head back, a faint smile appearing on his face. "Good. Please, my minister, speak."

Ni Yuanlu's mind raced to organize his words. All his years of learning seemed, in this moment, to fuse into a coherent whole.

He began slowly, buying himself time to think.

"Replying to Your Majesty: to resolve this perplexity, one must trace it to its source…"

"The Cheng-Zhu masters changed 'qin the people' to 'xin the people.' Their meaning is that after the gentleman manifests bright virtue, he should extend himself to others, cleansing the common people of their old, ingrained filth and causing them to renew themselves daily. This is the meaning of 'acting as one who renews the people.'"

"This is the work of transformative teaching. It proceeds from top to bottom, using one man's virtue to renew all the people under Heaven. Its emphasis is on investigating things and extending knowledge, seeking outward, using principle as the plumb line to regulate the myriad people."

"Thus, to say 'xin' conveys the meaning of teaching the people."

At this point, he paused briefly, observing the emperor's expression. Seeing nothing unusual, he continued:

"Master Yangming, on the other hand, vigorously advocated restoring the ancient text's 'qin the people.'"

"He held that the character 'qin' already contains the meaning of 'xin.' To be qin to them is to love them; to love them is to teach them."

"When the common people feel the sovereign's qin, they will naturally discard evil and follow good, renewing themselves day by day. If one only speaks of 'xin,' then between sovereign and people it is as if a layer is interposed, and that sense of a single body's benevolence is lost."

"Master Yangming's learning emphasizes the extension of innate knowledge, seeking inward. The gentleman and the people are fundamentally one body. Loving the people as one's own children is the spontaneous expression of innate knowledge's nature, not something deliberately contrived."

"Thus, to say 'qin' conveys the meaning of nurturing the people."

He grew more and more fluent as he spoke. His earlier tension and fear had entirely transformed into the ease and confidence of expounding learning.

"Therefore, regarding Your Majesty's question of why their views differ — this subject holds that it is not a dispute over words, but a divergence in their fundamental paths."

"The Cheng-Zhu school emphasizes the external, using principle as the plumb line; thus they say 'xin,' which carries the sense of compass and square, of regulation. Yangming emphasizes the internal, taking the mind as the root; thus he says 'qin,' which carries the feeling of blood vessels connected as one."

"Their original hearts were both for the state and for the people, both seeking to reach the state of 'resting in the highest good.' It is as the Doctrine of the Mean says: the myriad things are nurtured together without harming one another, and the ways run parallel without conflicting. This is what is meant."

As his voice fell, Ni Yuanlu straightened his robes and made a deep bow, prostrating himself on the ground.

"This subject's foolish view."

Within Wenhua Hall, there was dead silence.

Zhu Youjian clapped his hands and praised from the heart: "Bravo!"

Ni Yuanlu felt a surge of joy in his heart and was just about to offer a few modest words.

Zhu Youjian's ultimate question arrived right on schedule.

"Minister Ni's exposition was most brilliant. However, We have one further question."

"The way of learning values knowing that something is so, but values even more knowing why it is so."

Zhu Youjian's smile carried a hint of something that made Ni Yuanlu's heart turn cold.

"Then why do the two schools have this fundamental difference? Why did Master Zhu seek it in 'principle,' and why did Master Yangming seek it in the 'mind'?"

Ni Yuanlu's satisfaction came to an abrupt halt.

He raised his head blankly, looking at the smiling emperor on the throne.

Why?

Master Zhu is principle, Master Wang is mind... ever since I began my schooling, it has been so — as immutable as heaven and earth.

This... how could there possibly be any "why" about this?

Watching his bewildered expression, Zhu Youjian smiled and rose to his feet.

"This question, perhaps, can be broadened a little further."

He swept his gaze across the assembled Grand Secretaries and Daily Lecture officials, his voice soft yet reaching every ear with perfect clarity.

"Why did Confucius establish the doctrine of 'benevolence'? In the Han, why did the Old Text school supplant the New Text school?"

He looked at Ni Yuanlu, who now stood dumbstruck as a wooden chicken, and smiled:

"No hurry, Minister Ni."

"This question does not require your answer right now."

He surveyed the hall, his gaze deep and far-reaching, and spoke with weighty meaning:

"Tomorrow's Daily Lecture is suspended. In three days, the Daily Lecture shall resume. I hope that by then, my ministers will be able to resolve the perplexity I have posed today."

With that, he inclined his hands slightly toward the assembled ministers and said, "I invite the masters to take the soup and rice."

This was the customary closing phrase of the Daily Lecture and the Classics Colloquium — much like serving tea to see a guest out.

Every Grand Secretary and Daily Lecture official in the hall, whatever tempestuous waves might be surging in their hearts, could only fall to their knees in unison and perform the grand obeisance.

"Your subjects thank Your Majesty for his gracious bounty."

Inside the Grand Secretariat duty room.

Huang Liji, Li Guopu, and Shi Fenglai cradled cups of hot tea. None spoke first.

In the oppressive silence hung a shock that would not dissipate.

After a long while, it was Huang Liji who broke the stillness with a deep sigh: "Today, we forgot to have His Majesty practice his calligraphy."

Shi Fenglai answered with a bitter smile: "Brother Shisi, His Majesty, I fear, no longer needs us to teach him calligraphy."

He paused, then lowered his voice further: "And this Daily Lecture — I fear it was merely a pretext His Majesty required. Otherwise, I suspect even the Daily Lecture itself would be unnecessary."

Indeed — an emperor who could ask "Why did Confucius establish the doctrine of benevolence?" had a mind that had long since soared beyond the confines of the classics.

Though these men had spent many years in study, they had also spent many years in governance — how could they fail to grasp the significance behind such a question?

Huang Liji had not anticipated the scene that unfolded today.

When he had requested the Daily Lecture several days ago, it had really been nothing more than the customary procedure following a new emperor's accession. Who could have imagined it would produce a question so earth-shattering?

He brooded for a moment, then could not hold back the thought in his heart: "Could it be... that in this world, there truly is such a thing as heaven-bestowed wisdom?"

Silence fell once more within the duty room.

After a moment, Huang Liji turned to Li Guopu, who had remained silent the entire time: "Guopu, why have you not spoken a single word?"

Li Guopu seemed to startle from deep contemplation. He set down his teacup, his expression grave: "His Majesty is... about to inaugurate a new school of learning!"

— You've been brooding all this time just to come up with that? As if no one else could see it!

Shi Fenglai pressed him: "A new school? In your view — Cheng-Zhu? Lu-Wang? Or a synthesis of both?"

Li Guopu shook his head, his face full of bitterness: "I do not know. All I know is that disputes over classical interpretation have never been mere quarrels of words — they are struggles over the very foundation of the state. His Majesty's question today is earth-shattering. Which of the three of us is a great Confucian master of the classics? How could we possibly offer anything new?"

He gazed out the window and murmured, "I truly do not know what the Daily Lecture officials will be able to say, three days from now."

Hearing this, all three fell silent.

His words had been oblique.

In three days, it would not be the Daily Lecture officials doing the talking —

It was plainly this new sovereign, brimming with eagerness, who was preparing to say something of real substance.