If you see the wise, you will not be confused; if you listen to the wise, you will not be confused. From Mou Zi.
Allusion:
Mou Zi was originally a Confucian scholar. He was well-read in classics and biographies, and also read books by immortals. However, he believed that fictions were not credible and often relied on the Five Classics. After the death of Emperor Ling in the 6th year of Zhongping (189) of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the world was in chaos. He and his mother fled to Jiaozhi. At the age of 26, he returned to his hometown of Cangwu (the seat of governance is now Wuzhou City, Guangxi) to marry a wife. Feeling that "the world is noisy and turbulent, it is no time to show one's self", he decided not to be an official, but devoted himself to Buddhism and studied "Laozi". "Many of the worldly disciples are ungodly, thinking that they memorize the Five Classics and turn to different ways." He wrote a reply in "Lihuo Lun" to defend various discussions and problems caused by Buddhism after it was introduced to China.
Mouzi:
Mouzi (170~?), named Rong, courtesy name Zibo. A native of Guangxin, Cangwu County. A Buddhist scholar in the late Eastern Han Dynasty. Cangwu hermit has read many books since childhood and is erudite and talented. He was proficient in hundreds of schools of thought and became the first person to study Buddhism in Guangxi. He strongly advocated Laozi's theory of "removing the sage and discarding the wisdom, cultivating the body and preserving the truth." At the beginning of the Three Kingdoms, he wrote "Lihuo Lun" (37 articles), which was a blend of Confucianism and Taoism. It was China's first Buddhist monograph.
"Mou Zi's Theory of Huo Lun"
The book "Mou Zi's Theory of Huo Lun" has 39 chapters. The first chapter is generally called the preface, and the last chapter is called the postscript·main text* **Chapter 37. The preface introduces Mou Zi's experience and the reasons for writing the book. Many of the historical events described can be corroborated with historical facts. Some of the descriptions can make up for the lack of historical materials. They describe the social unrest at the time, the dynamics of the ideological and academic circles in Jiaozhou, and The reason why the author wrote this book has been found to be consistent with the actual situation after investigation by scholars. The whole book adopts the form of question and answer by setting up a guest. The assumed questioner is a Confucian scholar from the north. He used to be in the capital, went to Dongguan, and traveled around Taixue. He saw the rules of the nobles and listened to the opinions of the Confucian scholars. He had never heard of it. Cultivating Buddhism and Taoism is considered noble, and self-sacrifice is the most important thing. He raised various questions about Buddhism. The respondent was Mou Zi. According to the different questions raised by the other party, he quoted a large number of Confucianism, Taoism and the books of various schools of thought to explain Buddhism. Doctrine and doctrine are developed and elaborated in an attempt to prove that the views of Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism are consistent.
In fact, the book "Mou Zi's Theory of Enlightenment" reflects people's views and understanding of Buddhism at that time from two different angles.