Chapter 525: Subverting Classical Studies

Liu Zheng watched Qingyang Shuo's marvelous expression and couldn't help but laugh out loud: "Sir, what do you think?"

"This, this, this..."

The shock in Qingyang Shuo's heart at this moment was absolutely beyond measure.

That's right!

He had always firmly believed that his young master was a great talent, absolutely possessing grand strategies! Just looking at Yintan City and the Industrial Corridor plan he had brought about, one could see how vast the vision of the twenty-two-year-old Liu Zheng truly was.

He also knew that Liu Zheng was overflowing with talent, rare in the world.

But...

He truly, truly had never imagined that a person could have the ability to establish their own school of thought at the age of twenty-two!

That's right.

The scrolls he held in his trembling hands at this moment were enough to be called the foundation of a new school!

This was a school of thought!

A true school of thought. He had also heard that Liu Zheng had launched a New Literature movement at Wangbei Academy. However, compared to this Heart Learning that had suddenly emerged before his eyes, that was simply child's play.

Heart Learning!

A brand new Confucianism!

A great school of thought that integrated the Great Dao of Confucianism with the freedom, democracy, and equality that the young master advocated!

Qingyang Shuo was speechless at this moment.

Liu Zheng laughed out loud: "Sir, shall we compile it together?"

Qingyang Shuo couldn't help but laugh at himself: "Young Master, I, I, I..."

He, Qingyang Shuo, could be considered a genius and a great talent in his life, but he had never dared to think about reforming the Confucian Great Dao. First, it was a matter of concepts; Classical Studies in ancient times simply meant studying according to the classics, and the classics were the legitimacy—who dared to tamper with them privately? Second, it was a matter of one's own vision. Third, it was a matter of history.

The historical issue was easy to understand.

The changes in Confucian thought throughout the ages were all to better serve the imperial family. Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism was exactly like this. Zhu Xi of the Longyan Dynasty, like the Zhu Xi of later generations, was called the "Great Synthesizer." Why was that said?

Confucianism revered the classics, but compared to the Western Bible, Confucian classics lacked records from creation to human civilization, and lacked things like divine oracles or divine revelations. The sacredness was insufficient.

Therefore.

To fill this gap, Confucianism needed to prove that their current Way of Confucius and Mencius was the only correct one from ancient times to the present, and that it was absolutely correct and unchangeable from the creation of the world to eternity. Specifically, this meant proving that the Way of Confucius and Mencius was combined with the laws of nature. On this point, Confucianism introduced the worldviews of Taoism and the School of Yin-Yang; they used Yin-Yang and the Five Elements to explain existing natural characteristics, and used the Dao giving birth to the One and chaos to explain the creation of the world. Thus, a creation theory and cosmology serving the doctrines of Confucius and Mencius were gradually formed.

Zhu Xi was the leader among them.

Most individual theories were not created by Zhu Xi; his work was to blend these theories together.

He developed the Way of Confucius and Mencius, along with the theories of the Cheng Brothers, into his own system.

Therefore, Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism not only filled the gaps in Confucian creation theory and cosmology, but also further elevated the status of sages and classics.

The sage was the perfect embodiment of morality, and the sage's classics were the most perfect manifestation of morality.

In the history of the Longyan Dynasty, there had been the Cheng Brothers and Zhu Xi.

Therefore.

Why was the Emperor of the Longyan Dynasty called "Emperor" (Emperor), rather than Your Majesty or something else?

This was one of the reasons.

The sage was already a perfect entity, so the Emperor was the ruler above the sage.

This was Heaven-Given Imperial Power.

The comprehensiveness and sacredness of Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism were beyond doubt. Especially in terms of creation theory and cosmology, they were very perfect. This was simply too important for rulers.

Thus, Lu Xiangshan and Wang Yangming of later generations were actually inferior to Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism in terms of cosmology. Many of Wang Yangming's disciples often delved into Buddhism, because regarding Wang Yangming's theory that the heart has no external objects, what was expounded in Buddhism was far more profound than Wang Yangming.

This was the biggest problem Liu Zheng was currently facing.

Wanting to challenge the traditional Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism was not something that could be solved by just bringing out a Heart Learning.

He had to perfect it.

Fortunately, the development of the current Longyan Dynasty actually had soil relatively suitable for Heart Learning.

But...

Creation theory, cosmology!

His creation theory was naturally animal evolution, but if you said that at this time, it would be a wonder if you weren't drowned in a pig cage... As for cosmology, he understood it well, but the people of this Longyan Dynasty were still within the framework of a round heaven and square earth; what could you say?

Liu Zheng had been pondering for three days.

Admittedly, Wang Yangming's Heart Learning was advanced, broad, and profound. But it was ultimately idealism.

Liu Zheng, a materialist from later generations, really wanted to integrate what he had learned with Heart Learning, but he found it very difficult.

He told his confusion to Qingyang Shuo.

Qingyang Shuo also fell into deep thought.

Challenging the classics!

This matter sounded truly somewhat stimulating!

Even Qingyang Shuo felt a bit like he was sitting on pins and needles at this moment.

But he was soon attracted by the manuscripts Liu Zheng had provided, one by one.

"The heart is the principle; are there any things or principles outside the heart in the world?"

"The Qi mechanism of heaven and earth never stops for a single breath. Yet there is a ruler, so it is neither early nor late, neither hurried nor slow; although it changes in a thousand ways, the ruler remains constant..."

"Only by removing human desires and preserving the Heavenly Principle can one achieve the work. When still, think of removing human desires and preserving the Heavenly Principle; when moving, think of removing human desires and preserving the Heavenly Principle, regardless of whether it is tranquil or not."

Every sentence brought incomparable shock to Qingyang Shuo.

However, he was someone who understood Liu Zheng; he knew that this young man with grand strategies would not easily bow to Confucianism. He chuckled: "The young master has always advocated the theory of the Investigation of Things, so why teach people to remove human desires?"

Liu Zheng laughed at himself: "This is exactly where Zheng is troubled!"

On one hand, he highly admired Heart Learning, this was beyond doubt. But on the other hand, he still believed that Heart Learning had some slight flaws.

Wang Yangming advocated for the absence of good and evil, the removal of desires, and the preservation of the Heavenly Principle. He advocated for a pure heart; for every fraction of human desire reduced, one gains a fraction of lightness.

Logically, there is naturally no problem with this.

But in terms of principle, Liu Zheng does not agree.

He has always believed that desire is the instinct of any animal, and desire is the driving force that promotes social development.

How can one reconcile them?

Qingyang Shuo pondered for a moment, the light of wisdom flashing in his eyes, and laughed aloud: "Since it is Confucian rationalism, then what does the young master think of acknowledging desire as principle?"

"What?"

Liu Zheng was shaken to his core upon hearing this.

Immediately following, he was overjoyed.

Acknowledge desire as principle! To view human physiological needs and material desires as a part of the "Heavenly Principle."

Isn't this the ideological concept of Wang Gen of the Taizhou School?

Got it!

【Author's Note】

For these few chapters, I spent several days just researching materials and bought several books. I know someone will definitely curse me, saying I am padding the word count, but this is something I must write. It is also something Liangzhou society must experience. Developing a territory cannot be done just by constantly leading people to get rich; I feel that ideological things are equally important. These things were all distilled by me bit by bit, rather than copied and pasted, so please, everyone, be merciful with your words.