Chapter 348: Is a disrespectful Confucian still a Confucian?
[What is punctuation? Is it this ability that makes Confucianism stand out among all other schools of thought? ]
Fu Sheng looked from right to left with doubt - all books before the Qin Dynasty were written vertically from right to left in rows.
1. Comma (,): A symbol for pause in the middle of a sentence.
2. Semicolon (;): A symbol that separates parallel clauses in a sentence.
3. Commas (,): A symbol for pausing a word or phrase in the middle of a sentence.
4. Period (.): The symbol that completes a sentence.
5. Question mark (?): A symbol used at the end of a question sentence to express a questioning tone.
6. Exclamation mark (!): A symbol used at the end of an imperative or exclamatory sentence with a strong tone.
7. Quotation marks (""): A symbol used to quote words, classics, and the words of saints.
…
There are fourteen punctuation marks in total, with names, drawings, and explanations, making them clear at a glance.
The great scholar was a little indifferent at first, but when he read the third one, he nodded slightly and felt that it was interesting. When he read the seventh one, he suddenly shuddered and his eyes lit up!
He carefully refolded the paper and called out loudly for his officials.
A clerk in official uniform came in, did not call him "Master", bowed deeply and said:
"teacher."
Xiaoli was a student of Confucianism, and Fusheng was first his teacher and then the county magistrate. Calling him teacher instead of adult was a sign of closeness and inheritance.
"Quickly call all the disciples! Quickly call all the disciples!"
Fu Sheng looked excited and called out twice, leaving no time for the clerk to respond.
The last time the petty official saw Fu Sheng have such strong emotional fluctuations was when the Xianyang Confucian Academy broke up with Chunyu Yue - he was angry then, but now he was happy.
"only!"
He was so moved by the emotion that he responded loudly and clearly, and left quickly with a smile on his face.
[It must be a good thing for our Confucianism that the teacher is so happy that he urgently summons fellow students here! ]
Within an hour, all the Confucian scholars in Nanyang were summoned back to the county magistrate's office for Fusheng.
After entering the mansion, no one left.
The moon was high in the sky and the county magistrate's mansion was brightly lit.
The young and great scholars were extremely excited, with a look of madness on their faces, and they wrote furiously on the white paper.
The young disciple was slightly less crazy than the older scholar, but he was also sharp-eyed and quick-witted. He ground ink for his teacher and corrected typos in copied articles, and he enjoyed getting his body covered in ink.
In the classics of the Qin Dynasty, all the characters are connected together, with no punctuation marks to separate them, making it extremely difficult to learn.
People who read books often stop reading as they go along until they can fully understand the article, so the ancients attached great importance to the training of sentence reading.
"The Book of Rites: The Record of Learning" says: "After one year, one should look beyond the classics and distinguish one's intentions."
Zheng Xuan's note: To leave the classics means to break off the sentences.
Being able to break a book into sentences and read it smoothly and fluently is the basis for being able to recite classics and understand what the book says.
Punctuation is the first and most important step in ancient enlightenment education.
The meanings of many classics are completely different due to different punctuation.
An article without a single punctuation mark throughout the article makes learning extremely complicated.
The First Emperor had to wait until late at night to review memorials, one of the reasons being the punctuation.
The emergence of punctuation marks will further reduce the difficulty of education. Whoever uses punctuation marks first will be able to seize the initiative.
"No matter where the scholars of later generations come from, they should all remember the contribution of Confucianism in creating the world!"
A white-haired scholar stood up and shouted excitedly.
Beside him, his young disciple, who had just learned simplified Chinese characters, held up his copy of The Analects with punctuation marks, and read it fluently, dividing the sentences according to the punctuation marks .
"The Master said: 'Is it not a joy to learn and to practise what one has learned? When friends come from afar...'"
The other one was a five-foot-tall, thin man with sharp eyes and eyebrows, a great scholar with a sword at his waist. His voice was sonorous and his eyes were tearful.
"The predecessors are closer to us..."
The next day.
Nanyang was the first to update a batch of Confucian classics, and Nanyang's Daqin School was the first to use books with punctuation marks. The Confucian tiger, which already focused on education, was equipped with the wings of punctuation marks, and the learning progress of the people of Nanyang advanced by leaps and bounds.
Three days later.
A memorial recording the changes in Nanyang and the Confucian management of the city was presented to Ying Chengjiao.
Ying Chengjiao first inspected the memorial from Nanyang, then tapped his forehead with his fingers, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.
"Fusheng, Fusheng, should I say that you have high moral standards, or that you are too cunning..."
Qiang curiously took the Nanyang memorial from Ying Chengjiao and looked at it carefully.
These days, he has been following Ying Chengjiao to see how Ying Chengjiao handles various matters.
Qiang cherishes it very much, knowing that this is the Lord's intention to cultivate him.
As soon as he read it, Qiang discovered the difference - the characters in the memorial were not connected from beginning to end, but were separated by some symbols he had never seen before.
He was greatly surprised and after reading three or four sentences, he found that these symbols served as sentence punctuation and he no longer needed to punctuate the text manually.
【The new Confucian classics in Nanyang Daqin Academy use punctuation marks to punctuate sentences. County Magistrate Fu said that these classics were sent to Nanyang by Chang'an Jun from Xianyang, and the punctuation marks were also created by Chang'an Jun.】
[When the people of Nanyang heard that the Lord of Chang'an was personally sending them off, their desire to learn aroused. They told this letter to their relatives and friends, and people from nearby cities also came to Nanyang to learn.]
[It is expected that in the next five days, the number of people in Nanyang will increase by at least 10%. ]
He read these five short sentences three times, taking the same amount of time as it usually takes to read a memorial once.
He closed the memorial and praised:
"Your Majesty is truly a saint."
Ying Chengjiao smiled and pointed at Qiang twice.
“You can say flattering words, but I’m tired of hearing it all the time, the same thing.
"What do you know from this memorial?"
Qiang smiled embarrassedly.
"I didn't see anything at first, but when I think of what Your Majesty just said about Fu Sheng, I do get something."
Ying Chengjiao picked up the memorials that recorded the changes in the management of the city by other Confucianists and flipped through them to browse the latest situation of the city.
"Well, this flattery is very smooth, and the young man is teachable. Tell me, what did you get?"
"May I ask your Majesty, originally you wanted to give the credit for punctuation marks to Confucianism."
"How did you know that?"
"If Your Majesty wanted to take credit for this, he could have used books with punctuation marks in the Great Qin Academy long ago. Why would he need Nanyang's group?"
Ying Chengjiao put down one memorial and picked up another one - there were many Confucianists and they managed more cities.
"You have made great progress. You are much better than a reckless man. Please continue."
Qiang was very happy to receive the verbal praise from Ying Chengjiao, but he had some complaints about the reference candidate, Brutal Man - the Dark Guard's assassination teacher was Jing Ke, and Qiang knew Jing Ke's temperament very well.
"Fu Sheng did not plagiarize this achievement and say that it was due to his high moral character. I do not believe it.
"None of these scholars can refuse to leave their names in history, just like a military commander cannot refuse the merit of opening up new territories.
"Qiang believes that he is relying on the power of the monarch.
"When this was widely publicized, the people of Han heard it and all thought that the king was leaning towards Confucianism.
"Your Majesty has such a great reputation in Han. When people heard that your Majesty gave books to Confucian scholars, they all turned to Confucianism.
"Fu Sheng used his small name to seek great benefits for Confucianism."
After expressing all his thoughts, Qiangxin waited anxiously for his master to give his evaluation.
Seeing Ying Chengjiao nodded, he felt happy.
Ying Chengjiao put down the memorial, he already knew what had happened.
The memorial indicated that except for Nanyang, which abolished the three-year mourning law , most cities governed by Confucianists did not abolish it.
Fu Sheng, the Confucian leader, was able to hold the reins in Xianyang, but when he arrived in Han, his voice became noticeably weaker.
Those great scholars who had followed his lead and served as county magistrates in other cities not only ignored Fu Sheng's request to reduce the ancient rituals, but also cursed him, saying that Fu Sheng had forgotten his roots.
Not only these great Confucian scholars, but most Confucian scholars were very dissatisfied with Fusheng, but they did not dare to speak out due to their own status - if Confucianism has changed like this, is it still Confucianism?
Fusheng can only be in charge of Nanyang.
These great scholars who served as county magistrates in other cities did not listen to the idea of reducing etiquette, but they were adept at using punctuation marks.
Only one day after punctuation marks were used in Nanyang, their Daqin Academy also used punctuation marks, and they began to promote the beauty of Chang'an Jun and Confucianism.
In order to prove that Chang'an Jun had a very good relationship with Confucianism, they described in detail the fact that Chang'an Jun went to court for the first time in ten years just to annotate the "Analects of Confucius".
The people of Han suddenly realized that Chang'an Jun, who led them from death to life, was a Confucian!
For a time, Confucianism prevailed.
"That's right. The way of thinking is very important. Start from things and explore their essence. Don't look at what a person says, look at what a person does, and look at the impact after the event."
Qiang lowered his head slightly and said sincerely:
"Thank you for your guidance, sir."
"Even if Fu Sheng's moral standards are not as high as I thought, they are definitely higher than you think. You can trust them.
"He used his own reputation to promote Confucianism. This is using private interests to serve the public. As long as such a person does not go astray, he will not go wrong."
Forcefully approaching:
"Your Majesty gave the credit for punctuation to Confucianism for the development of Han. Your Majesty's morality is much higher than Fu Sheng's."
Ying Chengjiao laughed out loud.
"Well, this flattery is more advanced. If you practice it a little more, you can compete with Zhou Qingchen."
"This is not flattery." Qiang said with a serious face: "This is what Qiang said from the bottom of his heart."
Ying Chengjiao's laughter stopped for a moment, and then he laughed even louder.
"You are really strong. Your ability of flattery is even better than Zhou Qingchen's."
Strong no longer speak.
[Sir, this is truly the truth...]
"Okay, stop teasing me."
Ying Chengjiao took a piece of white paper, and Qiang immediately picked up the brush, dipped it in ink, and handed it to his master.
Ying Chengjiao wrote carefully on the paper, stroke by stroke, and wrote a total of ten pages.
Qiang just stood aside and waited patiently, like a little book boy.
He watched his master hesitate as he put pen to paper, watched his master frown in deep thought, and watched the few strands of white hair on his master's head.
"Your Majesty?"
"Um?"
Ying Chengjiao looked up in confusion.
Qiang said respectfully:
"Your Majesty has been sitting at the desk for two hours. Take a rest for a while."
"cut."
Ying Chengjiao rolled his eyes, pointed the tip of his brush at Qiang, and warned:
"Too much flattery is as bad as too little, don't you know? If you keep interrupting my thoughts, I will fire you as county governor."
"I don't dare."
He lowered his head and acted afraid.
【It is better to stay in Chang'an for a long time than to be the governor of Xinzheng County. 】
Rather than being the governor of Xinzheng County and managing the land of Han, he would rather be a book boy in front of his master.
A long time.
"Okay, take it, take it."
Qiang respectfully collected the papers on the table and bound them into a book after he left.
Ying Chengjiao covered his mouth with his hand and yawned. Then he stood up and stretched hard, his joints crackling, and walked towards the county magistrate's mansion.
“My momentum is not so easy to borrow, and it is not so easy to be a benchmark.
“He can’t manage Confucianism, so I’ll manage it for him.
"If any city does not change within three days, the county magistrate will be sent down and expelled from Han. Anyone who resists will be executed immediately."
Qiang bent down and said respectfully:
"only."
Ying Chengjiao paused, raised his eyebrows and half turned his head.
"Um?"
He stood up straight and said with a smile:
"promise."
…
The government decree was passed from Xinzheng to a number of cities managed by Confucianists, headed by Nanyang.
Confucianism was the first doctrine artificially intervened by Ying Chengjiao after the various schools of thought entered the land of Han.
The decree clearly stated that all laws such as the three-year mourning period must be abolished.
Three days after the decree arrived, five counties remained unchanged.
The governor of Xinzheng County, Qiang, issued an order to the county magistrates of these five counties to expel Han from the land.
One of them turned pale, resigned from his post and left in anger.
The four men refused to accept it, relying on their good management of the county town, and told the people that Chang'an Jun lived in Xianyang, and the governor of Xinzheng County was just under the command of Chang'an Jun, and his orders were not equal to those of Chang'an Jun.
He called on the people to reject the leadership of Xinzheng and said that they were only willing to obey the rule of Chang'an Jun.
Wu Qiu, a great scholar from Jin County, was sitting in the county magistrate's mansion drinking tea, and said to Fu Sheng, who had come from Nanyang to give advice:
"That bastard is now in prison in Xianyang, how can he have the energy to care about the affairs of Han. You have betrayed Confucius and refused to return to the rites. Are you still my Confucian disciple?"
Fu Sheng angrily knocked over the teapot filled with tea in front of him.
"Who do you think is talking to me about punctuation? It's Chang'an Jun himself!"
In order to preserve the seeds of Confucianism and to leave this great scholar for Confucianism, Fusheng told the truth.
"Even so, so what? He was imprisoned in Xianyang Prison for your majesty, how dare he appear in broad daylight?"
Wu Qiu said indifferently.
Since Prime Minister Jiang Shang and State Commandant Lian Po both said that they were retainers of Lord Chang'an's mansion, the nobles knew that they were fooled by the two brothers, Emperor Qin Shi Huang and Lord Chang'an.
Many people speculated that Chang'an Jun was not imprisoned in Xianyang Prison.
"If that bastard shows up, someone in Xianyang will take action. If that bastard doesn't show up, no one can shake the Confucian school in Jin County!"
"You will die! Confucianism will die too!"
Fu Sheng glared at him.
"The lesson of Chunyu Yueqian is right before our eyes. Meng Xibai was expelled from Xianyang overnight.
"Your Majesty, Lord Chang'an, are not merciful people. You can die, but don't harm Confucianism!"
The great scholar Wu Qiu's face suddenly turned cold. He waved his sleeves and expelled Fu Sheng from Jin County.
Looking at the broken porcelain pieces on the ground, he sneered:
“Is a disrespectful Confucian still a Confucian?
"Someone come!"
The Confucian clerk entered.
"teacher."
Wu Qiu glanced at the ground, and the clerk immediately bent down, cleaned up the porcelain pieces on the ground, and served a pot of tea to the teacher.
Fusheng looked back sadly at the gate of Jin County, as if he saw Wu Qiu's body hanging upside down on the city wall.
Without time to feel sad, he immediately rushed to the other three cities and explained the pros and cons, but to no avail.
