svetikya Chapter 27 Bamboo Annals
Chapter 27 Bamboo Annals
It is not difficult to understand why many people in the court opposed giving Fan Daxiang the posthumous title of "Wenzheng".
The reason why Grand Chancellor Fan was demoted was because his new policies failed.
The failure of the new policies was precisely because most people in the court opposed them.
The posthumous title "Wenzheng" was given to Fan Daxianggong, praising his exceptional talent and flawless morality.
What will future generations think?
Since Prime Minister Fan has no problems, does that mean that everyone who opposes the new policies has problems?
Some people even say that it was these people who killed Master Fan.
Wouldn't I be seen as a treacherous villain then?
Those officials who opposed the new policies back then naturally disagreed.
However, this also shows that while the current officials are a bit too lenient, they are not entirely without merit.
If it were a more patron emperor, he wouldn't have bestowed such a high posthumous title upon Fan Da Xiangong.
After all, he was the one who proposed the new policy, and he was also the one who made the final decision to halt it.
Now that he is alive, naturally no one dares to criticize him.
But how will history books evaluate this a hundred years from now?
Giving Fan Da Xiang Gong such a posthumous title is tantamount to admitting that he made a mistake back then.
However, there are too many inside stories involved, and Haining is unwilling to say more.
Wang You naturally couldn't let his older brother continue asking questions.
"Ziqian, you can't leave. How can you expect guests to come and leave without even eating?"
Haining quickly replied, "My father instructed me to treat you well. If you leave and he returns and asks about it, he will blame me."
"Then I'll take my leave."
Seeing that Haining had gone this far, Wang You had no choice but to agree to stay for dinner.
"Don't mention it."
Haining smiled and said, "Come on, I'll take you to see the books in my house."
"Is this convenient?" Wang You was somewhat tempted.
The Wang family had only modest resources; they were just an ordinary wealthy household in the past.
It wasn't until Grand Tutor Wang rose to prominence that the Wang family came to be what it is today.
In terms of background and heritage, they are incomparable to the Hai family.
Not to mention that the Hai family had been officials for generations, the Hanlin Academy served the government.
Access to the palace library was very easy, and among it were many rare and unique books.
Wang You also needs to read more books to maintain his prodigy persona.
However, such family collections of books are extremely precious and are not easily shown to others.
There is an idiom called "family learning and profound origins," which means that the ancients regarded their family's collection of books as a family learning and passed it down to their descendants.
"I wouldn't dare take just anyone, but any scholar who is approved by my father will be allowed to borrow books from the Hai family. They just need to take good care of them and return them on time," Hai Ning said with a smile.
"Hai Xueshi's noble righteousness."
Wang Zhuo and Wang You looked on with admiration upon hearing this.
"My father said that books are inanimate, but people are alive. If the Hai family's sons are ambitious, they will have more convenient access to what they read and learn than those who borrow books. If they are not ambitious, it is also a good thing if others carry on their legacy," Hai Ning said with a smile.
Wang You was even more impressed upon hearing this. The principle was sound, and many people understood it, but how many could actually put it into practice?
Most people are selfish and prefer to hoard their own possessions.
This was also the case in the early days when education was monopolized by prominent families in the north.
"Scholar Hai's actions alone are enough to make him a great Confucian scholar of our time!" Wang You said solemnly.
The so-called "Hundred Schools of Thought Contending" is not actually a clash of ideas among a hundred schools of thought.
Many people criticize the policy of suppressing all other schools of thought and exclusively honoring Confucianism.
Little did they know that apart from Confucianism, the other schools of thought were all academic, more like the sects in martial arts novels.
If you want to learn their knowledge, you must join a sect and prioritize the sect above all else.
The contention of a hundred schools of thought is a struggle for the approval of those in power. Each school wants its own doctrine to rule the world and exclude other schools of thought.
Only Confucianism absorbed the essence of various schools of thought and advocated education for all.
It can only be said that later scholars, in order to please those in power, catered to the rulers' preferences when interpreting Confucian classics.
As a result, Confucianism became increasingly rigid and conservative.
In Wang You's view, those so-called great Confucian scholars were merely exceptionally talented; even if they were virtuous, they could not be considered true great Confucian scholars.
Because they still cherish their own knowledge, apart from those who become their students, even if others receive guidance, it is only a few simple words of advice.
Many great Confucian scholars could not do what the Hai family did: share books with outsiders.
"Ziqian, you flatter me. Let's go, I'll take you to the Hai family's library." Hai Ning said with a smile.
Hai Ning led the two to the Hai family's library. Upon entering the library, Wang Zhuo and Wang You were shocked.
Inside the vast library, there were dozens of bookshelves filled with books.
"Take a look, you two. If you like any of them, you can borrow a few. You can borrow more when you return them." Haining was somewhat pleased with the two's shocked expressions.
If we're talking about book collections in the entire Bianjing (Kaifeng), aside from the palace, the Hai family should be number one.
Wang Zhuo and Wang You didn't stand on ceremony, thanking them profusely before heading off to find the book.
Faced with dozens of shelves of books, I suddenly felt at a loss as to where to begin.
Fortunately, each bookshelf was labeled, and there was a general description of the books placed on the shelves.
Wang You looked around and finally came to a bookshelf filled with miscellaneous notes.
Compared to other bookshelves, this bookshelf has fewer books, and they are only labeled as miscellaneous notes without any further description.
Wang You casually picked up a book and started flipping through it. It turned out to be a record of secrets from the early Tang Dynasty court.
This is more like an unofficial history, recording anecdotes about some famous figures before and after the founding of the Tang Dynasty.
Many of them are similar to the stories in "Romance of the Sui and Tang Dynasties" and "Tales of the Tang Dynasty".
In fact, many ancient novels and stories were fabricated based on unofficial histories.
Wang You wasn't surprised by this. He flipped through the book for a while and found that it contained nothing of great importance, with no surprising secrets. So he put it down and switched to another book.
When he opened it, Wang You was stunned.
Because this is actually the Bamboo Annals.
The "history" in "classics, history, philosophy, and literature" refers to historical books, and when it comes to these books, one cannot avoid mentioning "Records of the Grand Historian".
Few people know that many of the records in the Records of the Grand Historian are not true.
It was because of the emergence of the Bamboo Annals.
The Bamboo Annals appeared during the reign of Emperor Wu of Jin and was stolen by tomb robbers from an ancient tomb from the Warring States period.
The book recounts the history of the State of Jin during the Xia, Shang, Western Zhou, Spring and Autumn periods, and the State of Wei during the Warring States period.
However, after its publication, the book was banned.
Because the records in the book, such as "Tai Jia killed Yi Yin, and Wen Ding killed Ji Li", contain great differences from the abdication system and the Records of the Grand Historian.
The descriptions of the Five Emperors and the succession of the Xia, Shang, and Zhou dynasties completely overturn the Confucian ideal of the "abdication system".
I never expected the Hai family to collect such forbidden books.
"You can read this book here; you can't take it out."
Haining noticed the book in Wang You's hand and quickly reminded him.
This book was not a banned book by the imperial court, otherwise the Hai family would not have kept it in their library.
Some conservative Confucian scholars considered it a forbidden book, but the Hai family was not afraid, though they did not want to cause trouble.
"Don't worry, Bo Xian, I understand." Wang You nodded.
The Hai family had a vast collection of books, including many handwritten copies of interpretations of the Four Books and Five Classics by famous figures throughout history.
Wang Zhuo and Wang You each found something useful, each selecting four or five books.
Haining suggested that the two borrow more money, but they were too embarrassed to do so.
I had lunch at Hai's house before saying goodbye and leaving.
Hai Wenqing did not return when they left.