Note: Honest Man 1976 is me
Prose by Zhuzi
The so-called "Zhuzi" refers to the representatives of various schools of thought during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. According to relevant classics, there are eleven major schools of thought in the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods: Confucianism, represented by Confucius, Meng Ke, and Xun Qing; Mohism, represented by Mo Zhai and Song Xi; Legalism, represented by Shang Yang, Han Fei; Taoists, represented by Lao Dan and Zhuang Zhou; farmers, represented by Xu Xing and Chen Xiang; famous scholars, represented by Gongsun Long; Zajia, represented by Lu Buwei; political strategists, represented by Su Qin and Zhang Yi; in addition , as well as Yin Yang writers and novelists. The representative works of Zhuzi include "The Analects", "Mencius", "Xunzi", "Mozi", "Laozi", "Zhuangzi", "Hanfeizi", etc.
Most of the prose of Zhuzi are philosophical works, so they are also called philosophical prose. It is undoubtedly the task of philosophers to discuss them in detail, but the prose of Zhuzi is also unique in terms of style, language, and structure. It has extremely high literary value and has had a profound impact on later literature. However, the various schools of thought are not literary schools. The differences between the various schools of thought are mainly differences in political views, rather than differences in article styles and genres. It can even be said that the articles of the Buzhou school sometimes have some similarities in genre and style; while the articles of each person in the same school are often completely different. From the perspective of literary development, the prose of various scholars has generally gone through the following stages: the quotation stage, with the representative works being The Analects and Mozi. The latter began to include simple discussions in the quotation style. In the dialogue stage, the representative works are "Mencius" and "Zhuangzi". The former began to transition from quotations to conversational debates; the latter began to transition to monographs with concentrated arguments. In the monograph stage, the representative works are "Xunzi" and "Han Feizi". The length of these articles has generally increased, and the style has also changed from simple supplements to pioneering ones.
The prose of various scholars flourished during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, for political and historical reasons. Since King Ping of Zhou moved eastward, the slave-owning society had begun to shake, and the struggle between the emerging landlord class and the slave-owning class was fierce. Representatives of various classes and strata put forward different views on political issues based on safeguarding the interests of their own class and group. Those in power publicly implemented their own ideas; those without power also lobbied and expressed their political opinions; those with opposing views argued endlessly with each other; at the same time, representatives of various political forces competed to write books and systematically elaborate on their respective political views and positions. As a result, a situation in which a hundred schools of thought contended was formed. In this regard, "Hanshu·Yiwenzhi" has made a clear statement: "There are ten schools of thought, only nine of which can be seen. They all started when the king's way was weak, the princes were in power, and the kings and kings at that time had different likes and dislikes. This is Using the skills of the nine schools, they all work together, each using one end, admiring what he is good at, and using this to unite the princes. Although their words are different, they are like water and fire that destroy and create each other. "The active thoughts of the disciples, It is difficult to express it simply in the form of poetry, so philosophical prose of argumentation and reasoning has been greatly developed.