From destiny to destiny: The evolution of Wang Anshi’s theory of fate
Modern scholars have made a strong clarification of Wang Anshi’s pioneering role in the rise of the theory of morality and fate in the Song Dynasty, and basically restored its The true nature of the role it played in the development of Song Dynasty learning has been obscured or even covered up for thousands of years due to Neo-Confucianists’ criticism of the new learning. Since Wang Anshi's pioneering role in the study of human nature in Song Dynasty has been recognized and accepted by many scholars, his study of human nature has also become a hot issue in the study of Wang studies. As for "fate" in the theory of moral life and life, its research is either unclear and not carried out in depth; or it is examined from a flat perspective according to the usual ideological research methods, that is, it is a compilation of its discussions on fate. Then make a comprehensive summary. After in-depth reading and research of Wang Anshi's works, the author found that Wang Anshi's theory of fate has obvious differences in the context of the development of his thoughts. If his materials on fate theory are viewed regardless of period and stage of ideological development, without adding If we study them in a differentiated and general way, it will be difficult to handle the differences well, and the development trajectory of his fate theory will not be clearly presented. Because research from the perspective of combining "thinking" and "history" is closer to the reality of Wang Anshi's theory of destiny, and his thoughts are still inspiring to us and are ideological compared with Er Cheng. Therefore, it is necessary and meaningful to conduct an in-depth and comprehensive study of Wang Anshi’s theory of destiny.
This book believes that Wang Anshi's theory of destiny has roughly gone through three stages of development. At first, he mainly explained his views on sex and fate from the perspective of destiny. The second stage is the deepening of the first stage's theory of life and destiny, specifically elaborating on how to achieve the harmony between heaven and man, so as to achieve the state of "understanding destiny" or "right destiny". The third stage is to put forward the view that "it is not destiny" based on the meaning of both destiny and destiny, and advocates the need to achieve self-transcendence of destiny and devote all energy to human affairs.
1. Adhere to the concept of destiny of "cultivating one's body in advance of one's destiny" and oppose the "weird and imaginary" theory of destiny
Wang Anshi said in "Pui Ming Dui": "Yu Dui said "Whether a husband is noble or humble, it is what God does; whether he is worthy or not, I can know what I do; what God does, am I just confused?" "Nobleness and lowliness are what God does, which is destiny. , and we are not confused about our understanding of destiny. Wang Anshi further explained the destiny of heaven in the second half of the article. He said: "Heaven gives birth to human beings, so that the virtuous will govern the unworthy. Therefore, the virtuous should be noble, and the unworthy should be humble. This is the way of heaven." That’s what people do when they choose to do it. If the ways of heaven and man are consistent, the wise will be noble, and the unworthy will be humble; if the ways of nature and man are contrary, the wise will be humble, and the unworthy will be noble..." Destiny is destiny. The essence of the way of heaven is to make the wise noble and the unworthy inferior. This is also the manifestation of reality when the ways of nature and man are consistent; when the ways of nature and man are contrary, the performance is opposite. Therefore, Wang Anshi came to the conclusion that he should strive to make the human way conform to the way of heaven, and should not believe in the theory of "predicting fate" and lead himself astray. He said: "Therefore, a gentleman cultivates his character in order to wait for orders, and abides by the way to obey the times. No one can stop the good or the bad when they come. He does not devote himself to benevolence and righteousness in order to believe in it. Instead, he is disdainful and willing to indulge in absurd and imaginary theories. "Ah!" It can be seen that Wang Anshi only believed in the theory of destiny and advocated "cultivating one's body in anticipation of destiny", but was firmly opposed to the absurd theory of destiny.
The beginning of this miscellaneous article mentioned "Wuli Chushi", which led Mr. Li Zhiliang to believe that this work was written "when the magistrate of Huainan Jiedu signed the book in the eighth year of Qingli ” is a convincing inference. In terms of ideological content, it can also be seen that Wang Anshi was influenced by the trend of the times in his early years and created a quasi-sage work.
In another miscellaneous essay by Wang Anshi, "The Theory of Life and Destiny", he expressed the same view on the nature of destiny. He said: "But is there nobility or inferiority in destiny? He said: Yes. Therefore, the wise are noble and the unworthy are base. The fate of the noble and the base is correct." The wise are noble and the unworthy are base. This is the prevailing situation of destiny. To achieve Right Livelihood, one must rely on saints. He said: "It takes a saint to understand destiny." This is because the whole society must rely on saints for the righteousness of life. In contrast to the second phase of the theory of life and destiny, it is believed that one can also achieve righteousness through reasoning and exercising power. Ideals complement each other. The realization of Right Livelihood relies on saints to rectify the order of the world. Therefore, Wang Anshi opposed the theories of "luck" and "prophecy" used to predict destiny in the Han and Tang Dynasties. He said: "...this was not the case in the Han and Tang Dynasties. During the period, the art of Yin and Yang was raging, and the confusion of luck and numbers was rising. The theory of prophecy and wei was invaded, and the theory of retribution was erroneous. The so-called destiny is not the life, but the destiny is divided. "Dingye."
From the above analysis of Wang Anshi's two articles, it can be seen that the ideas expressed in them are basically the same. From the practical point of view that Wang Anshi's view of destiny is about change and development, works with the same ideological content should be written in the same or similar period. Therefore, these two works should have been written in the early stages of his academic activities. They all talk about destiny from the perspective of destiny, and they all oppose predicting the so-called destiny in the world.
2. How to achieve the harmony between heaven and man, that is, "right destiny" and "according to destiny". Wang Anshi advocated "achieving the appropriateness of things" and "timely changes"
In the early days, Wang Anshi believed that we must "strive for benevolence and righteousness" and "cultivate ourselves to prepare for destiny" in order to achieve the ideal result of a correct destiny. He also believed that only saints can make destiny popular and establish a reasonable human order.
In the second stage of the theory of life and destiny, Wang Anshi specifically proposed how to make the harmony between heaven and man and obtain the result of "right destiny" or "transformation of destiny". This is a supplement to the theory that only saints can make destiny popular in the world. It explains from the perspective of ordinary people how to make the way of heaven and man coincide. Wang Anshi believes that if we want to rectify the unfair destiny or free ourselves from the predicament of the unfair destiny, we must adopt the method of "distinguishing justice and exercising power".
In "Nine Hexagrams Theory", Wang Anshi explained this point of view very clearly. The specific year of writing of this work cannot be directly verified. However, judging from its ideological content, it is obviously different from the views on fate in the previous period and the third period to be discussed, and it should not be a work from these two periods. These two periods are the Qingli period and the Jiayou and Zhiping years respectively. In between, there are the Huangyou, Zhihe dynasties that lasted seven years (1049-1056), and may even include the early Jiayou period. Judging from the fact that Wang Anshi's work could not have been written before the Qingli period (because Wang Anshi had just begun to study "The Book of Changes" at this time, it is unlikely that he published a systematic monograph on the Book of Changes), this work could only have been written between Huangyou and Zhihe. During the year or after peace. Judging from the fact that "Yi Jie" was completed in the second or third year of Jiayou, Wang Anshi's research on the Zhouyi mainly focused on the Huangyou, Zhihe and early Jiayou years, so it can be inferred that "Nine Trigrams Theory" was also written during this time period.
From the above, we speculated from the writing date of "Yi Jie" that "Nine Trigrams Theory" may have been written from the reign of Huangyou to the early years of Jiayou. We can further determine the writing time of this monograph from the connection between the view of destiny expressed in "Nine Trigrams" and related ideas in "Yi Jie". In fact, Wang Anshi also expounded the same view of destiny in "Yi Jie" as in "Nine Trigrams Theory". When explaining the 93rd hexagram of "Tai", he said: "To be patient with others, to gain trust from heaven, is to be a person who doesn't know destiny. If you don't know destiny, you don't dare to follow your own will. Anyone who strays from the Tao and loses righteousness will do anything." When explaining hexagram 63 of "Gui", it also says: "My destiny is what I receive from heaven." They also explain their theory of life and destiny from the perspective of destiny. Taking destiny as the main focus, and "straightening one's own self and moving one's will" are consistent with the thoughts of "Nine Trigrams Theory", which shows that this miscellaneous treatise was written in the same period as "Yi Jie". In "Yi Jie", Wang Anshi also expressed his views on Xingquan, which is consistent with the "Discrimination of Meanings and Xingquan" (details below) in "Nine Trigrams Theory", and they can also be regarded as thoughts of the same period. product. This kind of identification of meaning and implementation of powers related to destiny is not the first two stages of Wang Anshi's theory of destiny, so it can only be the third stage of his thought.
We can also judge the writing date of "Nine Trigrams Theory" from another article by Wang Anshi, "Junzi Zhai Ji". The ideological content of this article (detailed later) is generally consistent with the "Nine Hexagrams Theory". Judging from the periodic characteristics of Wang Anshi's ideological development, it should also be written in the same period. Some scholars believe that this article was written in the early years of Huangyou, when Wang Anshi was waiting to take up his new post in the capital. This era is consistent with the writing time of the "Nine Trigrams Theory" we speculated above, which further supports the "Nine Trigrams Theory" It was written in the early years of Huangyou, Zhihe or Jiayou.
During this period, Wang Anshi closely followed his earlier views on the destiny of heaven, and further proposed in detail that as long as he "distinguishes righteousness and implements power", he can "determine destiny" and achieve the harmony between heaven and man, and there will be no Trapped by fate. He said: "If your knowledge is so advanced and your virtue is so complete, then it is appropriate for you to understand it. However, if you are still confused, you are the so-called trapped in fate? If you are trapped in fate, you will move and get sick. There are many changes in things, and it is particularly difficult for me to deal with them. However, it is more important to make changes at the right time than to achieve the best results. When it comes to destiny, as long as you can achieve "the right thing" and "make timely changes", you can be freed from the predicament. This destiny should also be based on the destiny, because when you are in trouble, it is the human way that has not yet reached the harmony with the way of heaven. It is a time when you are not in the right destiny, so it is difficult to get rid of the difficulties. When the "appropriate things" and "timely changes" are achieved, the way of heaven and man is consistent, and you can be freed from the predicament, which is right livelihood. But no matter how hard people try, unfortunate accidents will always happen to them, which is unpredictable. The arrival of this fate may have nothing to do with a person's own behavior, but this is what the world calls fate. Obviously, Wang Anshi did not talk about destiny here from the perspective of fate, but from the perspective of destiny. In "Junzi Zhai Ji", Wang Anshi also expressed similar thoughts. He said: "Benevolence alone is not enough to be a gentleman, and wisdom alone is not enough to be a gentleman. Benevolence is enough to fulfill one's nature, wisdom is enough to understand reason, and it can understand fate. In ancient times, The reason why a person is a gentleman is also mentioned. It also mentions the "understanding of destiny" on the basis of exhaustive rationality. This is the same as what "Nine Trigrams Theory" says about getting rid of unhealthy destiny on the basis of exhaustive rationality. Dilemma means close.
From the above analysis, it can be seen that Wang Anshi's thoughts on how to deal with difficulties and how to "understand fate" follow the earlier period when he only talked about destiny. In the early stage, Wang Anshi opposed talking about absurd destiny predictions, advocating "strive for benevolence and righteousness" and strive to achieve the harmony between human nature and heaven. At this stage, Wang Anshi further developed the theory of destiny and elaborated on how to achieve the harmony between heaven and man. This is the identification of righteousness and the implementation of power, which is the deepening and concreteness of the early theory of destiny. And this method of solving the problem of harmony between heaven and man has been linked to Wang Anshi's main ambition in his life - to reform and strengthen himself.
3. The high and low, the misfortunes and the sages are not worthy of each other. "It is not destiny." Therefore, those who know destiny can "know destiny and not worry", "just do their best in human affairs"
Wang Anshi Jiayou's early period In the previous theory of life and destiny, life was mainly understood from the perspective of destiny, with a value orientation, rather than from the mysterious force that we call fate in daily life. After this, fate theory has the dual meaning of destiny and destiny. In terms of not shying away from talking about the so-called destiny in the secular world, Wang Anshi's theory of life in the third period is completely different from Jiayou's earlier view of avoiding talking about destiny.
Wang Anshi believes that not only life is determined by external factors, but also life is determined by oneself. Wang Anshi said in "Confronting Difficulties": "From this point of view, the reason why sages are sages is that although gentlemen do not take orders, Mencius insists on orders; the reason why unworthy people are unworthy is that it is different from this." Mencius believed that the reason why a sage is a sage and the reason why an unworthy person is unworthy are determined by the self, and therefore are related to sex. However, Wang Anshi deliberately misinterpreted Mencius' meaning and believed that sex is also fate. Obviously, this is using Mencius' words to express his own views. From this, Wang Anshi naturally put forward the view that there is no way forward and "it is destiny". He said: "The reason why sages are respected is their destiny; the reason why unworthy people are punished is their destiny. ... The sage does not mention his destiny, but only teaches people to fulfill their duties. Wow, it's not just the noble and the lowly that bring disaster and blessing! For mortals, If the sages are unfaithful, it must be destiny!"
The same view is also revealed in the "Historical Satire" written in the Jiayou period. He said: "The destiny is not only about life and death, but also about life and death. It's all about destiny. ...If you step down and teach others, if you don't ask for the way and teach others, you will lose the way by asking for the way. Who can take it as the way? "In Wang Anshi's view, everything is fate, and the failure of the Tao is also determined by fate, so don't spend all your efforts to preach, or even take the initiative to teach others. Not only does this fail to preach, but it itself brings ruin to the Word.
Wang Anshi believes that everything is fate. To realize this is to know fate. Once you know fate, you can know that the results of fate are mainly caused by external factors. We cannot control these external forces, so we should not deal with them. Don’t dwell on the consequences. No matter how much we worry and worry about this, not only will it not help, but it will also produce even worse negative effects. Therefore, the most appropriate thing to do is to downplay the focus on fate and devote all your energy to personnel matters.
In "Yu Wang Feng Yuan Shu 1" written in the fourth year of Jiayou's reign, Wang Anshi said: "The body still belongs to fate, and the governance of the world, how can it not belong to fate?... I alone regard the saint as a saint. There is no worry in my heart...Although I don't forget the world, my destiny is not necessarily consistent. How can I be worried about it? For those who know their destiny and don’t worry about it, if they want people to know that there is a destiny to control chaos and not to be stubborn, then the way of the ancestors will be extended.” Although Wang Anshi did not say anything about destiny here, he believed that “the body still belongs to destiny, and the world is governed.” , it may not belong to Minghu", which basically implies this meaning. Wang Anshi believes that everything is destiny, that is, knowing destiny. Knowing destiny and not worrying about it is also the creed that Confucius fulfilled with practical actions. Here, Wang Anshi also connected knowing one’s destiny without worrying about one’s fate with the origin of practice and hiding. The destiny of governing chaos is for the country. For oneself, it is the destiny of walking and hiding. When one should act, one should act, and when one should hide, one should hide. This is also destiny, so don’t force yourself. These thoughts of Wang Anshi were well reflected in his subsequent resignation from the imperial court several times.
In "Reply to Wang Shenfu Yi" written in the fifth year of Jiayou's reign, Wang Anshi said: "My body is not tolerated and I am uneasy with the country. It is also a fate. To think that I am a relative is to say that I don't know. It's destiny. ... The people of Heaven are those who can achieve something in the world and then do it. If they don't achieve it and do it in the world, how can they think that I am poor? But if there is no joy in my heart and I don’t know my fate, how can I be like this?" Wang Anshi disagreed with Wang Shenfu’s view that poverty leads to happiness and wealth leads to happiness, and he opposed the association of poverty and happiness. Wang Anshi believed that this was an inappropriate psychological manifestation caused by ignorance of fate. If we know our destiny and don’t worry about it, everything is destiny, so whether we are poor or not should not be the reason for our happiness.
Although Wang Anshi's indomitable thought may seem decadent, the purpose of his understanding is to eliminate any negative influence brought to us by all external factors. Because sometimes things determined by ourselves cannot be realized as we wish, which will inevitably make us feel discouraged. Therefore, he proposed that sex is also life. If we don’t worry about the outcome, good or bad, our mood will not be frustrated in vain, and we can devote all our energy to better engaging in human affairs, that is, not being burdened by things. Travel light. This is a way to deal with the frustration of being affected by fate. It can be seen that Wang Anshi's thought is not decadent, but has a positive and enterprising spirit; to regard it as negative is actually a misunderstanding of Wang Anshi's outlook on destiny.
If we consider Wang Anshi’s previous method of “distinguishing righteousness and exercising power” to get out of trouble, we can see that his theory of destiny is not an escape from destiny or destiny, but a way to face destiny directly. At the same time, we must transcend fate and not let it become a burden on our hearts. Therefore, Wang Anshi’s theory of destiny must be understood in the context of the development of his theory of destiny. We cannot take it out of context and miss the forest for the trees. We should also see that its foothold in human affairs has set a positive and enterprising tone for this view of destiny. .
In this way, Wang Anshi will not succumb to the mercy of fate and do what he should do with a completely liberated state of mind, because since the outcome of fate is not determined by ourselves, we should act rationally Make a decision, stop thinking about it, and achieve transcendence of fate. This prevents some people from giving up on themselves because they think they can't do anything they decide for themselves.
If we connect Wang Anshi's transcendence of fate with the theory of "three no fears", we can have a more comprehensive and objective understanding of this statement. Wang Anshi's "Three Not to Fear" actually means to transcend them and not to be burdened by them, but it does not mean that they are not to be feared. From the perspective of facing them directly, they are formidable and we must attach great importance to them; but from the perspective of transcending them, they no longer exist in our hearts because we have to devote ourselves to human affairs, so they cannot be feared.
In his high-spirited early years, Wang Anshi put forward the theory of destiny to make the ways of heaven and man coincide. Therefore, people should be committed to benevolence and righteousness, and should not go astray and believe in any theory of destiny. Later, he further deepened and developed the theory of destiny, and put forward the method of "achieving the right situation" and "timely changes", that is, distinguishing righteousness and exercising power, so as to achieve "according to destiny", that is, The state of "right livelihood" actually puts forward the principles and methods of how the way of humanity and the way of heaven can be combined. As some of his relatives and friends passed away unfortunately in their prime, Wang Anshi began to face the very mysterious and strange problem of fate. He did not simply avoid fate as he did in the early stage, but believed that fate is beyond our control and cannot be controlled. It's up to us. Therefore, instead of worrying about it, it is better to ignore it in the past, so that we can not be affected by the consequences of fate and can engage in what we are supposed to do with full energy. In short, during this period, Wang Anshi, on the basis of inheriting the early destiny theory, also recognized the so-called fate factors in the secular world. At the same time, he believed that he should achieve psychological transcendence of fate and not be burdened by it.
If Wang Anshi’s early view of destiny was created under the trend of the times of pseudo-saints, with an idealistic color, then his later recognition and transcendence of real destiny has a more realistic color. Make it stand out. Therefore, generally speaking, Wang Anshi's theory of destiny has the characteristics of combining idealism and realism, which is somewhat similar to the characteristics of his reform thought that combines idealism and reality. This shows that an outstanding thinker and political reformer's thoughts are not just based on reality, but are focused on reality and higher than reality. The loftiness of his thoughts and spirit is also a profound reflection of his great personality.
In short, Wang Anshi’s third stage of destiny theory recognized destiny, and at the same time inherited the spiritual essence of the first two stages of destiny theory. The first stage of destiny theory believes that in order to make the whole society harmonious between heaven and man, it is necessary to rely on saints to rectify the order of the world. Although ordinary individuals are unable to do this, judging from their personal proposition of "cultivating themselves to prepare for destiny" , also advocates that individuals should strive to practice the way of heaven and try their best to achieve the harmony between heaven and man. Wang Anshi thought that under such circumstances we could obtain Right Livelihood. In the second stage of destiny theory, Wang Anshi further embodied this idea of ??"cultivating one's self to prepare for destiny", which is to discern righteousness and exercise power, get rid of the shackles of unhealthy destiny, and obtain righteous destiny. The latter stage not only inherits the destiny theory of the first two stages, but also no longer avoids the so-called destiny in the world. It is believed that when we fulfill the destiny and strive to engage in human affairs, because we want to transcend destiny, including destiny and fate, we can Put down the psychological baggage and go into battle lightly, and devote all your energy to personnel affairs. Engaging in personnel affairs inherently includes the early efforts to cultivate one's morality and discern righteousness and exercise rights. The third stage of destiny theory is based on the recognition of destiny, and from the perspective of transcending destiny, it clears away psychological obstacles for the better implementation of specific measures to fulfill destiny, such as striving to cultivate one's morality, discerning righteousness and exercising rights, etc. It is a comparison of the first two stages. The enrichment and development of destiny theory. Therefore, from an overall perspective, Wang Anshi's destiny theory is constantly developing and improving. The spiritual essence of the three stages of destiny theory is the same, all for the purpose of better fulfilling the destiny and engaging in human affairs.