Laozi, the founder of Chinese Taoism, had a teacher-student relationship with Fan Li, a Yue official.
First of all, in terms of chronology, it is generally accepted that Laozi was about twenty years older than Confucius. Confucius was born in 551 BC and Laozi was born in about 571 BC. Fan Li helped King Gou Jian of Yue, and after ten years of gathering together and ten years of teaching, he finally destroyed the Kingdom of Wu. This happened in 473 BC. This year, I am ninety-eight years old. Fan Li served as King of Yue when he was about thirty years old, and returned to Yue in twenty-three years. Therefore, Fan Li was about fifty-three years old this year, and Fan Li, my eldest son, was about forty-five years old. Therefore, they were all contemporaries in the late Spring and Autumn Period. Lao Tzu lived a long life. The ancients lived to be 120 years old. I should have this life span. Sima Qian said that I lived to be 160 years old. According to my opinion, I should at least live a long life. Fan Li "retired with great success" from the Yue Kingdom. He made three daughters in nineteen years, and finally died in Tao at the age of about seventy-four. It can be said that I was still alive after Fan Li's death.
Secondly, we can understand Fan Li’s thoughts by reading historical materials such as "Historical Records of the Yue Family", "Historical Records of Huozhi", "Guoyu·Yueyu", "Wuyue Spring and Autumn", and "Yue Jueshu". By understanding and comparing, especially the language in the "Four Classics of the Yellow Emperor" unearthed in recent years, we see a living Fan Li. His words and actions all inherited, applied and developed Laozi's thoughts. As Lao Tzu said: "A soldier is an ominous weapon. It is not the weapon of a gentleman. He must use it as a last resort." (Chapter 31) Fan Li just came out and admonished the King of Yue: "I heard that soldiers are murderous weapons, and warriors are unethical. , Those who fight are at the end of the matter. Those who conspire against morality are good at using weapons, and God forbids them, and the perpetrators will be disadvantaged." ("Historical Records of the Yue Family") and so on. Especially Lao Tzu's "Retreat after success is the way of heaven!" (Chapter 9) "Successful things are accomplished but there is no name for them." (Chapter 34) "Sages are for people but there is no existence; success is for nothing but there is no place for them." (Chapter 77) and other discussions, it can be said that Fan Li is the best practitioner of Laozi's thought. Judging from the ideological clues, Fan Li inherited and practiced Laozi's thoughts very perfectly. In ancient times, the spread of ideas took time. For Fan Li, who was at the same time and was only more than 40 years younger than Lao Tzu, it is difficult to explain except that he had personally studied with Lao Tzu.
Third, there are clear records in ancient books. "Wenzi, a disciple of Laozi" is clearly confirmed in Han and pre-Han documents. For example, Wang Chong's "Lunheng·Natural" chapter: "If Confucius is the king and Yan Yuan is the minister, it is not possible to issue a complaint. How much more is Laozi the king and Wenzi the minister? Laozi and Wenzi are like heaven and earth!" However, Fan Li's The teacher happens to be Wenzi again. Xu Guang said in "Anthology of Historical Records": "Ji Ran was Fan Li's teacher, and his name was Yan." Pei Peng's case: "Fan Zi" said: "Ji Ran was a native of Pu Shang, Kuiqiu, with a surname of Xin and a character name of Wen. After the Jin Dynasty was overthrown, the prince traveled south to Yue, where he served as his teacher. "This is a continuous teacher-student relationship: Laozi - Wenzi - Fan Li. However, if we study this history carefully, we can know that they are not first-line single passers. In that era, of course it was impossible to pass a single pass from the first line. It is extremely possible that Wenzi and Fan Li studied under Laozi at the same time: Laozi was 56 years old when he retired and returned to his hometown during the Zhou Dynasty's Princely Rebellion in 516 BC. Fan Li was eleven or twelve years old at this time, and Wenzi was about the same age as Confucius. About 36 years old. Therefore, in terms of age, these three people met in Lao Tzu's hometown after his retirement and became teachers and students. Fan Li was a student of Wenzi, but he was also a direct disciple of Laozi. It's extremely possible. Among the seventy-two disciples of Confucius, there are more than ten whose names can be traced after Confucius is over 40 years old. Among the father and son who studied under Confucius at the same time are Yan Hui and Zeng Shen, father and son. So, it is not surprising that teachers and students Wenzi and Fan Li studied under Laozi at the same time.
Fourth, the hometown of Laozi is in Woyang, Anhui, and the cemetery where Fan Li and Xi Shi are buried together is also in Woyang, Anhui. This is the most important reminder that makes me think of the relationship between Laozi and Fan Li as teacher and student.
There is no doubt that Fan Li was called Tao Zhu Gong in his later years, ran a business in Tao land, died in Tao, and was buried in Tao. However, there are three or four tombs of Tao and Zhugong recorded in history. The most controversial ones are Dingtao, Shandong Province and Taoshan, Feicheng, Shandong Province. Historians call it Dingtao, and today people call it Taoshan. But according to my research, Fanli Tomb in Guoyang, Anhui Province is the real Tao Zhu Cemetery. The Tao that Sima Qian said "occupies the center of the world" should be a place where both water and land can connect the princes and countries. For today's Guoyang, Anhui Province, the east, west, and north in history were all the ancient Central Plains, and the south was the newly growing Wu, Chu, and Yue regions. Its inherent land transportation and beautiful and wide vortex river are all in line with its geographical location "in the middle of the world". Wuishui leads to the Yellow River in the northwest, the Huaihe River in the southeast, and the Yangtze River. Until the Three Kingdoms period, this whirlpool was still the place where Cao Cao trained his navy. Tao Ruo, who lives in Taoshan, Shandong, is really not considered "among the best in the world". But it can only be said to be "in the belly of Qi". When Tao Zhugong left Qi State to go to Tao, he was engaged in "international trade", so of course Tao must not be in Qi State, and Taoshan is really the hinterland of Qi State.
Why do you say that the location of Fan Li's tomb in Guoyang, Anhui Province is from Tao at that time?
The locals have passed down from generation to generation that Fan Li's tomb is the joint burial tomb of Fan Li and Xi Shi. The mounds were built artificially, covering a wide area and the mounds are very high. Today, the local place is called Fanli Village, a tributary of the Guohe River is called Xihe, which runs along the tomb, and the market town is called Xiyangji. In ancient times, it was called Xitao. It means that Xi Shi and Tao Zhugong were buried together here.
There are also various records in the historical materials of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, and the "Chinese Scenic Spots Dictionary" also confirmed that it is Fanli Tomb.
But what convinced me were two books: "Warring States Policy" and "Warring States Politicians' Letters to Family".
In the middle and late Warring States Period, there was a famous figure in the Qin State. He was the prime minister during the period of King Qin Zhaoxiang and Wei Ran who was granted the title of Ranghou. After he was granted the title of Ranghou by the Qin State in 291 BC, he was also granted the title of Tao. . By 265 BC, Marquis Rang was granted a fief after leaving the customs and died in Tao. This Tao, in the historical records of Sima Qian, uses the same word "Tao" as the place name for the Tao of Tao Zhugong and the Tao of Qin Ranghou, which should refer to the same place. Moreover, Wei Ran was not far from the time of Tao Zhugong and Fan Li. Sima Qian never omitted the word "ding" when writing "Dingtao" in "Historical Records". Therefore, it is incorrect for historians to regard "Ding Tao" as "Tao". "Warring States Policy" mentions a place named "Yin" in many places. This "Yin" during the Warring States Period was later called "Dingtao". This "Yin" was turbulent between Qi, Wei and Zhao, and was never used in the late Warring States Period. Qin State had it. Therefore, Dingtao was called "Yin" instead of "Tao" during the Warring States Period.
In the "Warring States Strategist's Letters" (unearthed in 1973), there is a "Seeing Tian Bing Yu Liang Nan Zhang" which clearly states that the Qin State could not cross the Liang State's defense line during its eastward invasion, and Yin (Dingtao) ) but behind the defensive line. This chapter talks about the defense line of Liang before Qin unified China, which was shortly before the death of Wei (Liang). Therefore, in the end of Wei Ran's life, he was not granted a title to Dingtao, Shandong. "Historical Records" says that he sent his usual gatherings to "Tao". If it was Dingtao, it would be impossible. Qin's power could not reach Dingtao at that time, let alone Taoshan, the hinterland of Qi.
So, how can we confirm that "Tao" is Xiyang Market Town in Woyang, Anhui Province?
In "Warring States Policy·Qin San", there is a passage that Qin's "Ke Qing Zao" said to Zhou Hou. Ke Qingzao said to Wei Ran, the Marquis of Zhen, that the Qin State granted you the land of "Tao", and you must attack the State of Qi, so that "Tao" can exist; if you fail to attack Qi, the land of "Tao" cannot exist. The State of Yan once attacked more than seventy cities of Qi. You can use the State of Yan to attack Qi. You can send people to tell the Prime Minister of the State of Yan to attack Qi. If you can destroy the State of Qi, you can "confer the king to Henan and reach the end of the road." China, with Tao as its neighbor in the south, will never have troubles." This passage points out the geographical location of Tao. The Prime Minister of Yan was granted the title of Henan, and Tao was his neighbor in the south. The south of Henan must be the land of Huaibei. In the south of Henan, "Tao is adjacent to the south". This place is within the historical and geographical scope of where Fan Li's tomb is today. Therefore, I believe that this "Tao" is the Xiyang Ji in Woyang County, Anhui Province today. Therefore, it is also determined that Fan Li's tomb in today's Woyang County is the real Fan Li's tomb.
"Yue Jueshu" said that Fan Li was "old in the West" when describing Fan Li's ending, which is also evidence.
In my book "Laozi and Fan Li", there is a detailed textual research on "Tao".
Here is the introduction.
We have determined that Laozi’s hometown is in Woyang, and the joint tomb of Fan Li and Xi Shi is also in Woyang. So, isn’t it logical that Laozi and Fan Li, who were contemporaries, got along in the same place? Isn’t the teacher-student relationship between Lao Tzu and Fan Li very clear? Judging from the time comparison, after Laozi retired, Wenzi and Fan Li studied in Laozi's hometown for about 20 years. After Fan Li completed his studies, he went to Yue to serve as prime minister; after the destruction of Wu more than 20 years ago, Fan Li first went to Qi, and the two Three years later, he went to Tao and met Laozi again. This Ikao date is in 471 BC when I was one hundred years old. I believe these three generations have been together for more than ten years.
Laozi’s hometown is in Guoyang. I believe that it was after Fan Li and Xi Shi sank in Guoshui that I went west to visit the capital of Zhou. At that time, in 453 BC, Laozi was 119 years old, Fan Li was 74 years old, and Xi Shi was 49 years old.
(See "Chronology of Laozi and Fan Li" for details)