There is an internal relationship between the revival of Confucianism and the revival of China literature.
In fact, the ancient prose movement did not begin with Liu Han, not only did it not begin with Liu Han, but it was said earlier, and it can also be said that it began in the Tang Dynasty. Liu Xie in the Southern Dynasties and Su Chu in the Northern Dynasties all started this trend.
Liu Xie is particularly important because he is a critic. Critics always have a theory, which is the basis of the ancient prose movement. The ancient prose movement was caused to oppose the prose that had nothing to say in the Southern Dynasties, so the theoretical basis of the ancient prose movement also revolved around "Tao". But if we further investigate what "Tao" is, is it really Tao? Everyone's opinions are not very consistent.
Like the ancient prose movement in the Tang Dynasty, the literary revival movement of the seven schools in the Ming Dynasty also has the dual purpose of reviving literature and Confucianism, which is embodied in their opposition to Ye Shifeng and the style of study in the Ming Dynasty, their dissatisfaction with the disadvantages of Neo-Confucianism in the Song and Ming Dynasties and their dissatisfaction with the literary concept of Neo-Confucianism. If some of them have a tendency to "oppose Neo-Confucianism", it is only within the scope of Confucianism that they have made some criticisms and corrections on the premise of respecting the masters of Neo-Confucianism such as Zhou, Cheng, Zhang and Zhu, and there are signs of returning to the original Confucianism of Confucius and Mencius, thus loosening the dominant position of Neo-Confucianism of Cheng and Zhu to a certain extent and bringing a little vitality to the dull ideological circle in the middle of the Ming Dynasty. [Retroism Movement in Ming Dynasty] Antique poetry movement that arose in Hongzhi and Jiajing periods in Ming Dynasty. After the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, under the direct advocacy of the supreme ruler, the "Taige Style" which praised and embellished "Shengping" once ruled the literary world for a long time. With the increasing corruption of state affairs and the sharp class contradictions caused by it, many poetry writers are deeply dissatisfied with this "elegant" style of writing that whitewashes reality. But because they are divorced from reality, they oppose "retro". Hongzhi, years, He Jingming, Bian Gong, Tang Hai, Wang, etc. Known as the "first seven philosophers", he put forward the door number of "literature must be in Qin and Han Dynasties, and poetry must flourish in Tang Dynasty", hoping to find sustenance and be encouraged from the vast prose of Qin and Han Dynasties and the poetry of flourishing Tang Dynasty with passionate syllables. During the reign of Jiajing, Wang Shizhen, Zong Chen, Liang Youyu, Xu Zhonghang and Wu were called "the last seven sons". After that, they publicized each other and pushed the retro movement to a new climax. This movement lasted for a hundred years. Although it has a certain positive significance in cracking down on Taige's style of writing, it still embarked on the road of formalism because of blindly restoring ancient ways and replacing the reasonable inheritance of literary heritage with the imitation of style of writing. It has a very bad influence on creation.
The so-called "retro movement" in modern China
brief introduction
1912 March 10, Yuan Shikai became the interim president of the National Government. Since then, revivalism in the cultural field has risen. 1965438+In July, 2002, the National Temporary Education Conference launched a heated debate on respecting Confucius. At the meeting, Cai Yuanpei proposed that "Confucius should not be worshipped in schools" because it did not conform to the general climate at that time and was not passed. However, due to the efforts of Cai Yuanpei and others, a compromise was finally reached. This plan was not promulgated, but the provision of offering sacrifices to the Confucius was deleted from the school management regulations. In this way, the school can worship Confucius or not. However, on September 19 12 and 13, the Ministry of Education announced that every year 10, 7 is the birthday anniversary of Confucius, and schools all over the country will hold commemorative meetings at that time.
historical materials
1965438+On September 20th, 2002, Yuan Shikai issued an order about ethics in Sorting Out, ordering "respecting ethics" and advocating "ethics". He said: "Filial piety, faithfulness, courtesy, righteousness and shame are the great lessons of human nature in the founding of the People's Republic of China. Although the political system is better, the people and the Yi people have not changed. ""I only hope that the people of the whole country will abide by the etiquette and law, and it will be difficult to help each other in the same boat. ..... The president is suffering from the crisis of the current situation and the abandonment of Yoshioka. Every time he thinks of today's catastrophe, it is not in the national conditions, but in the hearts of the people. There is an opportunity for goodness in people's hearts, that is, the country has a bottom security. " In other words, the old general ethics cannot be changed, because it is a good tool to safeguard people's hearts. At this time, Yuan Shikai's respect for Confucius was still relatively hidden. He did not openly advocate "respecting Confucius and reading classics", but diverted his attention with moral preaching in an attempt to replace a little democracy and freedom that had just been established in the hearts of the people. 19 14 years, in order to cooperate with the restoration of monarchy, Yuan Shikai stepped up his activities of respecting Confucius and created public opinion. On September 25th, Yuan Shikai officially issued a memorial service order, and publicly restored the regulations on memorial service in the previous dynasty. It is clearly stipulated that on the birthday of Confucius, the central and local governments will hold ceremonies to worship Confucius. On September 28th, Yuan Shikai arrived at Confucius Temple at 6: 30 in the morning under the escort of a large group of well-armed attendants, and put on a twelve-chapter dress embroidered with four flowers, with a purple satin skirt and a flat crown. Accompanied by Zhu Qiqian, Zhou Ziqi and the accompanying military attache? Always salute, smell of peas, kneel three times and knock nine times. At the same time, provincial generals and governors also offered sacrifices to Confucius at the Confucian Temple in the provincial capital, which was the first time since the Republic of China. A few days later, he asked the Ministry of Finance to allocate funds to repair the Confucius Temple in Beijing and donated 5,000 yuan to help. Some people even issued a petition asking the Beiyang government to make "Confucianism" the "state religion" and include it in the "Constitution". Kang Youwei, who had written to the political reform seven times, even said in "Please worship Confucius all over the country": "China people don't worship heaven or Confucius, so why leave this knee?" "Taking Confucianism as the State Religion and Matching Heaven" said: "China people don't respect heaven and their ancestors. I want to know why they are arrogant as soon as they leave this knee? " For a time, the whole country respected Confucius' retro style. When Yuan Shikai resumed the system of worshipping Confucius, he also decided to resume worshipping Heaven. 1914 65438+February 23rd, which is the solstice of winter and the day when Yuan Shikai worships heaven. From Xinhuamen to the Temple of Heaven, all roads are paved with loess, the police are out, the whole city is under martial law, and the streets along the way are empty. There are thousands of armed soldiers around the Temple of Heaven, and there are sentries everywhere. At 3 o'clock in the morning, an armored car carried Yuan Shikai out of the presidential palace and went straight to the Temple of Heaven. Outside the south gate, Yuan Shikai got off the bus, changed to a car decorated with wreaths at four corners, arrived at Zhao Hengmen, got off the bus and sat on a bamboo chair until the Temple of Heaven. Arriving at the Temple of Heaven, Yuan Shikai began to walk. At this time, before dawn, bright lights lit up in front of the Temple of Heaven. He put on strange clothes in the dressing room and went to the altar to worship. All the ceremonies were completely imitated by the feudal emperor, but he bowed several times instead of bowing. The prayer board he used to worship heaven was almost the same as that used by the Qing emperor. The only difference is that the word "Chen Zi" was changed to "Yuan Shikai, a national of the Republic of China". The worship ceremony began at 3 am and lasted until 8: 50 am. At this point, Yuan Shikai praised Confucius' retro style for the purpose of "Si Mazhao's heart is well known". He first revealed to his cronies: "If the people in the world must make me emperor, I will do it." As a result, various petition groups have appeared all over the country, from princes, government bureaucrats, provincial generals and governors to drivers and vagrants. Beggars in Beijing and prostitutes in eight hutongs also organized themselves separately, and set up a beggar petition group and a prostitute petition group. Holding various flags, they gathered outside xinhua gate and knelt down to persuade them to enter the table, demanding that Yuan Shikai "conform to public opinion" and become king at an early date. 19 16 On New Year's Day, Yuan Shikai officially proclaimed himself emperor and changed his name to Hong Xian. The emperor of Qing Dynasty paid homage to Confucius devoutly, but what he got was the fate of the last dynasty in China for thousands of years. Yuan Shikai did all the calculations, but Confucius didn't bring him good luck, and he only had a short emperor dream for 83 days.