During the Zhenguan period, Wei Zheng wrote more than 200 sermons, and "Ten Thoughts on Admonishing Taizong" is his representative work. In this article, he made a very incisive discussion based on the important idea of ??"those who think about the security of the country must accumulate virtue and justice" under the historical conditions of that time. It still shines with the light of the philosopher's wisdom today. . This article is rich in philosophy, the words are spoken from the heart, the momentum is strong, and the argument is directionless. It is an exquisite and magnificent article.
As for this memorial, there are many inventors. This article intends to elaborate on some views on its main purpose.
The opening sentence of the article naturally leads to "Those who think about the security of the country must accumulate their virtues and virtues." It is the key point of the article and closely linked to the word "thinking", showing the outline of the whole article. "Thinking" and "the security of the country" are the goals, while "accumulating virtues and meanings" are means and ways. "Guanwen Guanzhi" says that "the whole article only emphasizes the word "thinking", but it must be seen from the virtues and meanings." In order to highlight its meaning, the text is structured according to the word "Zhi". The so-called positive and negative arguments are made back and forth between "root", "flow" and "virtue"; and in the concession of wording, It takes the purpose to another level, connects Taizong's position as a human king and the practical level of the sacred mission he shoulders, and talks about "thinking about the security of the country" from the perspective of importance, thinking about dangers, abstaining from extravagance and being frugal, making the argument profound Realistic pertinence.
Then, the writing style of "Renjun" continues to wander, starting from the rise and fall of history, citing the past and discussing the present, summarizing the "Thousands of Heads of State" "Those who are good at the beginning will achieve success, and those who conquer the end will build the foundation" The experience and lessons of the success and failure of "the widowed", and when further analyzing the specific reasons, he pointed out incisively that "when you are worried, you must be wholeheartedly waiting for the next; once you have achieved your ambition, you will indulge yourself and be proud of things." At the same time, he repeatedly revealed the political relationship between the two. The completely different consequences caused by the above: either "Wu and Yue are one body", or "flesh and blood are the road". However, summary and analysis are not the purpose. The author wants to sound the alarm for Taizong: "It is not the great resentment, but the people who can be feared. It is advisable to be cautious when carrying a boat and overturning it." This argument also gives the argument of this article a sense of history and three-dimensionality, and the sharpness of his words is evident here.
The first two paragraphs focus on reasoning, and they sincerely address the question of "why" "those who think about the security of their country must accumulate virtue and justice." The following "Ten Thoughts" can be said to be a specific interpretation of the methodology of "Those who think about the security of the country must accumulate virtue and justice", which has profound philosophical theoretical thoughts. The "Ten Thoughts" are also more practical because of their "cutting and profoundness" (comments in "Gu Wen Guan Zhi"). At this point, the simplified structure of the text can be expressed as follows: "Those who think about the security of the country? 1. "Why"? ①Importance: The king has great power and position, so he must be prepared for danger in times of peace, abstain from extravagance and be frugal, and he will accumulate virtue and justice" ②Necessity : Historical lessons, people must be wary of the terrible consequences of arrogance 2. "What to do -? "Ten Thoughts" ① (First and Second Thoughts) Quit luxury
(Five Precepts) ② (Third and Fourth Precepts) Thoughts) abstain from pride ③ (fifth and sixth thoughts) abstain from indulgence in lust
④ (seventh and eighth thoughts) abstain from belittling others
⑤ (ninth and tenth thoughts) abstain from rewards and punishments Injustice
(The "Five Precepts" are based on Yu Guorui's "An Analysis of Ten Thoughts on Admonishing Taizong")
But for the theme of the article, there are also "Be prepared for danger in times of peace" or "Be prepared for danger in times of peace, abstain from extravagance and use frugality" "This theory is exemplified by Yu Guorui's "Analysis of Admonishing Taizong's Ten Thoughts and Essays" ("Appreciation of Famous Works of Classical Literature (Continued Edition)", Shanghai Education Press, 1985), and Yu Shi's "Analysis of Admonishing Taizong's Ten Thoughts and Essays" ("Appreciation of Classical Literature's Ten Essays"). "Commentary on Guanzhi Appreciation", Anhui Literature and Art Publishing House, May 1997) and others hold this view.
Take Yu Wen as an example, this article is related to Wei Zheng's. Origin and ideological ambitions start from his "people-oriented" thinking; and combined with the characteristics of the early Tang Dynasty, from Taizong's "forgetting the origin" (forgetting to put the people first) and "forgetting the danger" (forgetting the Sui Dynasty) that he gradually revealed in the middle and late Zhenguan period. Starting from the reality of "the lessons of rise and fall" and interpreting the main purpose of the article based on the second paragraph of the article, it is easy to lead to the doctrine of "being prepared for danger in times of peace" as the whole text. The meaning is different, but there are many possibilities for interpretation. Of course, it is restricted by the specific context, and the accurate interpretation is often unique.
Let’s take a look at a similar passage in Volume 2 “Political System” of Zhenguan Zhengyao (Shanghai Ancient Books Publishing House, July 1999):
In the sixth year of Zhenguan, Taizong said to his courtiers: “Look at the emperors of ancient and modern times. , rise and fall, just like the dynasty and its twilight, all to cover their ears and eyes, not knowing the gains and losses of current affairs, those who are loyal and upright will not speak, and those who are evil and flattering will advance day by day, and they will not see it, so I am in the ninth level and cannot see the world. Therefore, the ministers and ministers of the Ministry of Public Security think that my ears and eyes are not in trouble. If the world is peaceful, they will not care about the emperor. If someone abandons them without using them, they are truly to be feared." Wei Zheng said to him, "Since ancient times, the rulers who have lost their country have always forgotten about danger and chaos, so they cannot last long. When you are in a deep state, you are naturally wise. I heard the old saying goes: "The king is a boat, and the water can also overturn the boat." Your Majesty thinks it is awesome.
This passage can also be interpreted far-fetchedly as "being prepared for danger in times of peace"; in fact, it talks about the issue of "preventing obstruction", but Wei Zheng extended the topic and created a problem in understanding. A little trouble.
We can also know from the following analysis that the saying "be prepared for danger in times of peace" is not very reliable.
1. The structure of this article is also quite unique. It is written in three paragraphs. (The ancient text was not originally divided into paragraphs, but for the convenience of explanation, the paragraph form is allowed.) Each paragraph is written in Rongqing. Yu Li's statement was written as a loyal admonishment, warning and suggestion to Taizong. "Be prepared for danger in times of peace" is exactly at the position of the first paragraph, so "be prepared for danger in times of peace" is not the essence of the second paragraph. This paragraph is written to talk about the issue of "accumulating virtue and righteousness" to save "decline of virtue" and "dedicate oneself". "Sincerity" means "accumulating virtue and justice", while "proud of things" is obviously the opposite; but "being prepared for danger in times of peace" is not the focus of this paragraph, although it is semantically related to it.
2. To meet the needs of the characteristics of parallel prose, "be prepared for danger in times of peace" and "abstain from extravagance and be frugal" are both the objects of "not thinking" and cannot be separated in reading aloud and thinking. When we summarize the thoughts in writing, we cannot take them out of context and just pick up "be prepared for danger in times of peace" and ignore "abstain from extravagance and be frugal". Yu Wen seems to have a lot of trouble when dealing with this issue: "'Abstain from extravagance and use frugality' is one of the main contents of 'Ten Thoughts'. But if the author summarizes it with 'Abstain from extravagance and use frugality' in the first paragraph "Ten Thoughts" shows how to be "prepared for danger in times of peace", which is to overgeneralize and is illogical. Wei Zheng's memorials have always been known for their sharpness. How could there be such a loophole? Question. "Gu Wen Guan Zhi" and various current Tang text selections mostly use a "truncated" version of "Shi Si Shu". This article also uses this as a basis for analysis. The original text contained in "The Biography of Wei Zheng" and "Complete Tang Dynasty", after "Abstain from extravagance and use frugality", there are two sentences: "If virtue is not as strong as it is, love is beyond its desire"; in the second paragraph, after "Inheriting the fate of heaven and scenery", it is original. There are two sentences: "Everyone writes with worries, and his virtues will decline when his achievements are successful." Combined with the "must accumulate virtues" proposed in the first paragraph and the "Hongzi Nine Virtues" in the third paragraph, it can be seen that Wei Zheng always believed in " "Accumulating Virtue" summarizes how to be prepared for danger in times of peace. It can be seen that the author's thinking is rigorous, but the editor made inappropriate deletions. However, "abstaining from extravagance and being frugal" is an important part of "Accumulating Virtue" after all, so we are analyzing it. I would like to quote this original text together with "Be prepared for danger in times of peace" to explain the main purpose of the article. To be more precise, the main purpose of this memorial should be to clarify the principles of being prepared for danger in times of peace and refraining from extravagance." ("Appreciation of Famous Classical Literature" (continued). Editor)》Page 61)
3. From the following text