Since the Eastern Han Dynasty, due to the vicious expansion of the powerful landlord economy and the development of the rule of famous religions, two major forces, the aristocratic family composed mainly of bureaucrats' relatives and the famous Confucian aristocratic family who started with Confucian classics, have rapidly emerged. Development caused a profound social crisis. Faced with the fact that the Eastern Han Dynasty was on the verge of extinction, the ruling group, especially the scholar-official class, began to conduct a comprehensive review and reflection on the feudal rule since the Han Dynasty. When summarizing this period of history, Zhong Changtong wrote sadly: "Ouch! I don't know how the saints in the next life will save this, what use it will be? I don't know how evil it will be if the sky is short of this number!"
After the chaos of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Cao Cao first raised the banner of "serve the emperor to order the princes". Under this banner, he attracted many celebrities, such as the celebrities Xun Yu and Xun You of Yingchuan, the celebrities Kong Rong and Guan Ning of Beihai, and the celebrities Cui Yan of Jizhou. wait. Cao Cao used these celebrities to unify the north. After the unification of the north, Cao Cao began to carry out political changes in an attempt to stand on his own behalf on behalf of the Han Dynasty. Cao Cao's behavior was first opposed and blocked by the celebrity class. So starting from the 13th year of Jian'an, the massacre of celebrities began with the execution of Kong Rong. At the same time, Cao Cao issued three orders seeking talents. The main significance of the three orders to seek talents is that it was the first time that the ruling class openly raised objections to Confucian loyalty, filial piety and honor. This move by Cao Cao was of great significance. It caused a great fission in the ideological concepts of the Wei and Jin Dynasties. At the same time, the three orders for seeking talents raised the main topics for future metaphysical discussions, namely, the issues of name and reality, talent, name and law.
In the first year of Huangchu (222), Cao Pi officially proclaimed himself emperor. When Emperor Cao Rui of Ming Dynasty began to correct Shuo and change the system, when King Cao Fang of Qi came to power, he began to establish a new sense of governance on the basis of abolishing the old system. When discussing the political achievements of the three generations of Cao Wei's ancestors, "Zi Zhi Tong Jian" once quoted Shen Yue as saying: "Emperor Wu (Cao Cao) established Hongji and brought chaos and danger to Wei Taizu, and Emperor Wen (Cao Pi) succeeded in the revolution. , Emperor Gaozu of the Wei Dynasty received Zen in due time, and the Emperor (Cao Rui of the Ming Dynasty of Wei Dynasty) integrated the great order, established the Qing Dynasty, and established the system of ritual and music as Wei Liezu." The general idea is that Cao Cao was the one who founded the world, and Cao Pi was the one who conquered the world through Zen. , and Cao Rui was the one who corrected the Shuo system and established the Cao family's world. Later metaphysics was formed on the basis of the establishment of the new ruling order.
During the Zhengshi period, marked by the publication of Wang Bi's Notes on Laozi, Notes on Zhouyi, and The Analects of Confucius, metaphysics officially emerged. Wang Bi's metaphysics developed Laozi's natural thoughts and advocated the law of nature, believing that the laws of nature are the masters above nature and society. Everything in the world operates in accordance with the laws of nature. Things that are about to perish should be allowed to perish naturally. Any attempt to stop and save him is futile. Xia Houxuan, a metaphysician of the same period, said: "The heaven and the earth are moved by nature, and the saints are moved by nature. Nature is Tao." This is consistent with what Xia Houdun said in his exhortation to advance: "Since ancient times, those who can eliminate harm to the people and win over the people are democracy. "Ye" are of the same origin. Wang Bi and his metaphysicians used the theory of natural operation and change to shatter the Han Dynasty's divine right to kings theological theory of prophecy. They believed that the rise and fall of countries and the replacement of dynasties followed the trend of natural development, thus finding a theoretical basis for the Cao, Wei, and Han dynasties. At the same time, Wang Bi transformed Confucianism with Laoxue and explained famous religions with nature, and demonstrated the eternity of Cao Wei's regime.
The main purpose of Wang Bi's annotation on "Laozi" is to "respect the original and the end of the rest". Wang Bi said, "The book of "Laozi" can almost be summed up in one sentence, ugh! It's just about admiring the original and the end of the rest." Wang Bi believes that the relationship between origin and end is the relationship between nothing and being, that is, the relationship between nature and Mingjiao. When discussing this relationship, Wang Bi pointed out that the intangible and nameless are the origin of all things. Everything in the world is born from the intangible. Yu Wuming. But nothing is not an entity independent of being. Its true meaning can only be grasped through specific images without being stuck on specific images. The methodology used by Wang Bi to demonstrate concretely is to return to simplicity and forget words in pride. Wang Bi took Wu and Being as the center and extended it to various fields. In terms of the way of heaven, it is heaven and man, metaphysics and metaphysics, and Tao and tools. In terms of ethical concepts, it is Tao and morality, nature and emotion, and in terms of epistemology, it is It refers to meaning and speech, stillness and movement, and is expressed in political thought as nature and famous teachings, inaction and action, thus establishing a complete system of speculation.
The bottom line of Wang Bi’s metaphysics lies in politics. One of the fundamental issues that Wang Bi’s metaphysics has to solve politically is the combination of famous religions and nature. This issue was raised by the real politics of Cao Wei at that time. After Cao Pi became emperor, in order to strengthen his ruling strength, he changed Cao Cao's later policy of attacking celebrities and implemented a nine-grade Zhongzheng system. The Nine-Rank Zhongzheng System promoted the use of talents based on their talents and gender. This was actually to take into account the interests of the sergeants and commoners of the ruling group at that time. Scholars refer to famous scholars and aristocrats, while common people are people with military exploits who follow Cao Cao to conquer the world. The balance between scholars and common people is manifested in the electoral system as the compatibility of talent and sex, in ideology as the unity of nature and fame and religion, and in social life as the administration of both culture and quality. Generally speaking, Confucianism focuses on culture, while Taoism emphasizes quality. Sima Yi once asked the metaphysician Xia Houxuan about politics. The above shows that the emergence of metaphysics directly served the politics of Cao Wei, so the metaphysics of this period cannot be said to be the representative theory of the gentry class. Judging from the origins of representatives of metaphysics, they are all members of the Cao Group. He Yan is Cao Cao's adopted son, Wang Bi was Tailang when Cao Shuang was in power, and Xia Houxuan is the backbone of Cao Shuang's group.
From then on, the Sima family gradually took control of the government.
After the Gaoping Ling Incident, the Cao Wei clan suffered a fatal blow, and then the Sima family began to prepare to succeed Wei. The political ideals of the metaphysicians were shattered by Sima's usurpation of power. Their political conceptions violently conflicted and collided with the severe reality. The salvation theory they were pursuing turned into nothing. Therefore, the metaphysics of the late Cao Wei Dynasty Representative figures Ruan Ji and Ji Kang began to move from advocating the unity of Mingjiao and nature to advocating the opposition between nature and Mingjiao, and advocated transcending Mingjiao from nature. The characteristics of metaphysics in this period have two aspects: first, the contempt and criticism of famous religion. In his later works "Dazhuang Lun" and "The Biography of Mr. Master", Ruan Ji violently criticized the hypocrisy and deception of famous religions, profoundly exposing those who "have regular appearances, regular words, and regular actions." "Etiquette scholars believe that these people spend their days "reciting the teachings of the Six Classics and practicing the traces of Confucianism", but in fact they are a group of hypocrites who make noises and behave in a deceitful manner. "There is no monarch Zhang Zhang who has no ministers and everything is in order." Ji Kang's rejection of Confucianism was even more intense. His major works include "Reply to Difficulties on Health Preservation", "On the Sound of No Sorrow and Joy", "Reply to Uncle Zhang Liao on Natural Love of Learning", etc. 2. The awakening of self-awareness. The metaphysicians of this period gradually changed from political frustration to the pursuit of a spiritual realm of freedom in life. The psychological contradictions existing in Ruan Ji and Ji Kang represented the common sense of worry and pursuit of life among intellectuals at that time. Therefore, in their era, human problems, self-awareness, and spiritual realm issues became prominent issues of the times. Although Ruan and Ji were not as good as Wang and He in theory, they created a movement of self-awareness under the historical conditions at that time. They replaced the problems of the universe with human problems, and replaced political philosophy with human philosophy. . For example, Ruan Ji wrote in "Poetry of Ode to Huai": "Those who go are left behind, and those who come are not left behind. I would like to climb Mount Taihua and swim with pine nuts... I would rather fly with the sparrows than fly with the yellow swans. The yellow swans travel all over the world, and they will return home safely on the middle road." "Ji Kang said in "The Poetry of Traveling Immortals": "Piao Piao played in Xuan Pu, and Huang Lao met me on the road, teaching me the way of nature, as bright as a young boy." It is a family class. There are two main reasons for the establishment of the status of the aristocratic families in the Western Jin Dynasty. First, the evolution of the nine-rank Zhongzheng system, which developed from combining character and talent to focusing only on character and family background, but not on talent or not looking at talent; It is the provision of two legal systems: the fifth-class title system in the early Western Jin Dynasty and the Yinke system for officials to occupy land. At this point, the family had a legal basis for serving as officials for generations, which was very different from the situation in the Han and Wei dynasties. The aristocratic family manipulated the elections and controlled the government. Therefore, the Western Jin Dynasty was based on a profound social crisis from the beginning. The situation at that time was that "all the people in the world were busy people; there were thousands of officials, and there was no way to give way to talents." After the aristocrats took control of the political power, on the one hand, they needed to strictly maintain their existing status through a hierarchical system; on the other hand, they also demanded unlimited development of their power. In this case, Zhuangzi's nature and freedom became theirs. As a theoretical tool, a trend of thought to transform Confucianism with Zhuangxue was set off in society. Thinkers in the middle of the Western Jin Dynasty, Xun Xu wrote "On Pure Heart", Liu Shi wrote on "Chong Rang Lun", and Penny wrote on "An Shen Lun", all of which gave full play to Zhuangzi's thoughts on sex and freedom to varying degrees. In this wave, Pei Yu stood out and wrote "Chong You Lun". Compared with the theories of Ruan Ji and Ji Kang during the Wei and Jin Dynasties, his theory went to the other extreme. Pei Yu mainly criticized Guiwu based on the famous religion. He believed that those who advocated Guiwu had abandoned the etiquette of good and bad luck, confused the order of seniority and youth, nobles and inferiors, and advocated "respecting the ancestors of Ji and relying on the great righteousness". However, "Chongyou" The theory itself is not rigorous, and there are many points that can be attacked. In terms of its political effectiveness, it is also incompatible with the requirements of the family at that time. Therefore, even Pei Gu himself said: "Advertise his intentions and attack them." Most of the metaphysicians at that time were committed to the integration of Mingjiao and Lao-Zhuang thought. A conversation between Wang Rong and Ruan Zhan during the Yuankang period typically reflects this situation. Wang Rong asked Ruan Zhan: "Sages cherish famous religions, Lao Zhuang understands nature, their purposes are the same but different? Zhan said: 'There will be no difference'?" So Zhan was made a rafter by the Rong, and he was called "three-character rafter" at that time.
Guo Xiang was a master of metaphysics in the Western Jin Dynasty. The core of Guo Xiang's metaphysics is freedom and freedom. Guo Xiang said: "Although small and big are different, if they are placed in a place where they can get their own way, things will be allowed to have their own nature, things will be called their abilities, and their names will be assigned." Guo Xiang believes that everything in the world has its own nature, and its nature is divided. It cannot be changed. Xing is nature, nature, divided into wisdom and foolishness, small and big, noble and base. The noble and the humble, big and small, all have their own places. This is the original harmony of nature. If people cannot keep their lives peacefully, then this harmony will be destroyed. To restore and maintain this harmony, people must be happy and contented within their respective levels. The poor should not envy the rich, and the inferiors should not If the plot is high, then the world will be in great order.
The carefree and free-spirited nature can be deduced into politics as "the inner saint and the outer king". Guo Xiang said: "The husband of the god is what is called a saint today. Although the husband of the saint is above the temple, his heart is no different from "In the mountains and forests" is to bring Taoism back from the mysterious "in the mountains and forests" to real politics, that is, to unify the Taoism and nature on a new basis.
Guo Xiang’s theory is the inheritance and development of Wang Bi’s metaphysical system. Wang Bi’s method of solving the relationship between the two is to “respect the original and rest on the last”. However, there is an unsolvable problem on the issue of non-communication. The difficulty is, this is the motionless nothing, how on earth can give birth to the ever-flowing and myriad forms of being? It put Wang Bi in trouble. This is also an unavoidable problem in Guo Xiang’s metaphysics.
Guo Xiang proposed a new method that was higher than all previous metaphysicians, namely the "independence" theory, which was undoubtedly an effective argumentation method within the historical perspective of metaphysicians at that time. The so-called independence refers to the relationship between each thing for itself and for each other. Guo Xiang believes that on the surface, everything in the world is divided into axes based on self-nature and does not rely on external conditions. The entire world is in a state of pluralism and disorder, but in fact it is not like this. , because in the self-behavior of each specific thing, the mutual interaction naturally occurs. "Notes on the Theory of Things" says: "If the sky is high and the earth is low, if the head is above and the feet are below, how can there be any order? Even if the original is wrong, it must be what it is." It is this kind of relationship. The relationship between and and non-interaction, mutual action and non-interaction, forms the whole world into a universally connected organic unity. Guo Xiang calls this kind of interdependence "Zhuoerduhua".
Guo Xiang extended this theory to social politics, so the hierarchical distinction between superior and inferior, superior and inferior, monarch and minister, noble and inferior is also a kind of independence. As far as each individual is concerned, although it is pluralistic and They are opposites, but they all form a closed and harmonious small system. Based on the synergy between them, the whole society forms a harmonious large system.
Guo Xiang’s theory concentratedly reflects the political aspirations of the aristocratic class. Guo Xiang’s thought is not a simple return to Taoism, nor is it a variant of Confucianism. It is a new theory put forward under the new situation. Hierarchical theory of domination. In the late Western Jin Dynasty, freewheeling and carefree became the main theme of society. During the reign of King Sima Lun of Zhao, metaphysicians included Wang Rong as Situ and Wang Yan as Shangshu Ling. Most of the famous metaphysical figures at that time, such as Wang Cheng, Ruan Xian, Ruan Zhan, Bi Zhuo, etc., were reused. After Sima Yue came to power, almost all metaphysicians were employed. As soon as Sima Yue paid homage to the Taifu, he appointed Wang Jun as the hussar general, Yu Zhi as the military counselor and wine minister, Hu Mu's assistant as the middle man, and Ruan Xiu as the conductor. Joining the army, Guo Xiang is the chief registrant.
What Guo Xiang’s metaphysics constructed was a new feudal governance pattern. This model was actually the later clan politics of the Eastern Jin Dynasty. Metaphysicians, who were mainly members of the aristocratic family, had become the biggest centrifugal force in the Western Jin Dynasty in the late Western Jin Dynasty. They tried to establish a new political institution at the cost of ruining the Western Jin Dynasty. In the first year of Yongjia (307), the Western Jin Dynasty was about to collapse. At this time, Wang Yan (a great family member and metaphysician), who was a Taiwei, made his younger brother Wang Cheng the governor of Jingzhou, and his younger brother Wang Dun was the governor of Qingzhou. He asked his two younger brothers: "Jingzhou has the strength of Jianghan and Qingzhou has the danger of carrying the sea. The two of you are outside and I am in it, so we think there are three caves." In the first year of Jianxing (313), Emperor Huai was killed in Pingyang, and Emperor Min lived in Chang'an. The imperial edict sent an army of 700,000 from Sima Rui, Sima Bao, and Liu Kun to attack Liu Cong. However, because Sima Rui, who was under the control of the clan, refused to send troops, the last large-scale military counterattack organized by the Western Jin Dynasty failed. The Western Jin Dynasty perished, but the families of the Western Jin Dynasty did not "bring them down together" with the Western Jin Dynasty. On the contrary, the aristocratic family finally established the Eastern Jin dynasty in the south of the Yangtze River through Sima Rui's facade. The "Four Friends" headed by metaphysician Wang Cheng, the "Four Lords of Zhongxing" headed by Yang Man, and the "Eight Metaphysics" headed by Xi Jian "Bo" have become the backbone of the clan's political power.
The so-called clan politics means that several large family groups take turns to govern. In essence, clan politics is imperial politics, but it is not completely equivalent to imperial politics. It is a new form of government under the feudal regime. In this political system, the emperor is just a puppet controlled by the family group.
After the establishment of clan politics in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, new contradictions arose, and power struggles and frictions within the clans emerged, which also caused a serious weakening of central power. Therefore, some people in the ruling group attempted to restore Confucianism. Status seeks a way out. After the early and middle Eastern Jin Dynasty, there was always a struggle between metaphysics and Confucianism within the clan. In the early Eastern Jin Dynasty, Wang Dao and others were one of the groups that advocated Confucianism, and Yin Hao was the group that advocated metaphysics. By the time of Emperor Mu, two major schools of metaphysics, headed by Sima Yu and Yin Hao, kings of Kuaiji, and Confucianism, headed by Huan Wen, were formed. In the end, Huan Wen's Confucian school won the victory, and metaphysics began to withdraw from the political stage and gradually transformed into the science of health preservation. Its representatives were Ge Hong and Zhang Zhan. In the late Eastern Jin Dynasty, the trend of taking medicine, traveling in seclusion, and guiding people became popular.
After the Eastern Jin Dynasty, metaphysics basically declined and came to an end.