Crowned the New Han Dynasty

Chapter 388
Guo Xiang is over 60 years old. Judging from the health and medical standards of this era, he is close to the limit of lifespan and far beyond the average age.

His skin was already loose, his hair was almost gray, his eyelids were drooped, and his back was stooped. However, he was sitting on the table while kneeling on the table, holding his back as straight as possible. There was a slight hint of fatigue in his expression, but he seemed to be in good spirits.

Of course, the average age of this era was lowered a lot by the common people. It is not surprising that these scholars with status had different births and their ages were much higher than the average.

"I've met Master Guo, I've kept you waiting for a long time."

Looking at the man in front of him, Chen Zhi saluted calmly, and the latter nodded in return. Then he turned his head and ordered the two servants in green clothes beside him to take out the pieces of paper filled with words and put them in front of him. on the table.

Guo Xiang was highly respected by scholars of the New Han Dynasty, but Chen Zhi had a very complicated heart when he first met him, because in his first life, he had seen discussions about Guo Xiang.

That article, while affirming Guo Xiang's academic achievements, also put forward the idea that Guo Xiang took Xiang Xiu's annotation of "Zhuangzi" as his own.

Xiang Xiu was one of the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove. People at that time said that he had a clear understanding and far-sightedness. He was rarely known by Shan Tao. He was elegant and good at the learning of Lao and Zhuang. He was also a great sage, but he has passed away. He wrote annotations for "Zhuangzi" during his lifetime. But it was not completed, Guo Xiang continued it, and later thought it was plagiarism.

This period of history is quite similar in the timeline of the New Han Dynasty, but the common saying here is that Guo Xiang’s studies were broadly based on Xiang Xiu’s work, and Guo Xiang’s Zhuangzi Zhuangzi actually carried Xiang Xiu’s teachings. The crystallization of knowledge between Xiu Xiu and Guo Xiang.

Chen Zhi had his own thoughts on this view. Taking advantage of his position, he found the notes made by the two people. After comparing them, he found that there were actually differences between Guo Xiang's notes and Xiang Xiu's notes, but most of them were The text is different but the purport is not inconsistent, or some sentences are simply the same as the text. Of course, there are also many that have the same meaning but are slightly omitted, or have the same meaning but are slightly supplemented.

Chen Zhi also has his own judgment on this, because Guo Xiangzhi's annotation is very similar to the "Chinese translation" of later generations, that is, expressing the original sentence in different sentences, which is a common plagiarism technique. I still remember that in later generations, there were often people who became more famous than the original owner after being translated into Chinese. Taking advantage of their large number of fans, they would go back and beat them up, which can be described as shameless.

However, Guo Xiang is different, because he does have his own knowledge and theory. This was deeply experienced by Chen Zhi in several conversations with Guo Xiang——

This was not the first time for Guo Xiang to come here. Every time he came here, he would look up some classics through Chen Zhi, and he would often discuss his ideas and initiatives with Chen Zhi.

Because of this, Chen Zhi knew that this person had real talent and knowledge, and he also wanted to leave something behind.

"Shouyi, come and read this sentence."

Chen Zhi was just thinking when his thoughts were interrupted by the words of the old man opposite him. He looked up and saw Guo Xiang waving to him and pointing to a sentence on the paper in front of him.

Chen Zhi passed by and looked down, and saw the sentence that read: "Human righteousness is human nature; human nature has changed, and it is different from ancient times to modern times. Therefore, if you travel to the past, you will be in the dark; if you are stagnant and tied to one place, you will be in trouble." See. If you see, you will live a false life, and if you live a false life, you will have many responsibilities."

After tasting it for a moment, Chen Zhi nodded and said: "Guo Gongguo is still changing. This statement has a profound meaning of internal and external interdependence."

Guo Xiang couldn't help but nodded and smiled: "Sure enough, it's Shouyi. You can see the difference. Several of my disciples were also confused when they first saw it. They asked if this statement was wrong. Because it was suspected of being out of order, I said , if you just stick to the unchanging rules, how can you make the famous teachings and the principles of nature converge? I came here today just to perfect this sentence. I need a few Lao and Zhuang classics. Can Shou Yi recommend it? "

Chen Zhi had a lot to recommend, because he knew very well that what the master in front of him wanted was not just the words of Lao Zhuang, but more precisely, he wanted books that could support his arguments, whether they were from Lao Zhuang or his disciples. Speech, several schools of Taoism, or the Confucian classics of He Yan and Wang Bi are all acceptable.

Chen Zhi knew very well the direction in which the academic thoughts of the master in front of him were changing -

He was trying to merge Confucianism and Taoism.

As soon as he thought of this, Chen Zhi reported out several book titles. After briefly introducing the content, Guo Xiang nodded with satisfaction and said: "These are just what we need. It will be much more convenient for you to be here with Shouyi in charge."

Chen Zhi ordered the recipient to fetch the three books and four volumes of slips mentioned, while he sat down and chatted with the old man in front of him.

Chen Zhi and Guo Xiang did have some intersection in the past. To be precise, they had intersection with Guo Xiang's nephew, that is, Chen Hua's teacher, Guangling Guo Zhan.

Guo Zhan was ruined by the article "The Master's Theory", so he went into seclusion. There has been no news for more than a year. He is Guo Xiang's nephew, and he also inherited part of the doctrine. He can be said to be his disciple, but he has misinterpreted it. They are on a different path and have obvious hostility towards Chen Zhi.

Guo Xiang obviously knew about this. He had talked about it in a previous conversation, but the old man didn't care much. He had no intention of pursuing Guo Xiang's twisted knowledge, as if he was talking about it. Same thing for everyone else.

At that time, Guo Xiang's words still left a deep impression on Chen Zhi - this master of metaphysics who has received mixed reputations in later generations said at the time: "The outside and the inside are intertwined, so how can we know that his way is not the right way? Maybe his way is not the right way." Roads are born in line with the current situation and can be passed on to future generations. I don’t need to be angry about it. It’s just one more road. My road will not work in the future. Maybe his road can continue. If he goes astray, that’s okay. It serves as a lesson for future generations.”

This sentence made Chen Zhi come out of his evaluation based on later generations. Recalling what Guo Xiang said, he noticed that the path advocated by this master of metaphysics was actually different from what Lao Zhuang said.

Zhuangzi said, "What is heaven and what is man?" He believed that "an ox and a horse with four legs are called heaven; a horse that falls on its head and pierces an ox's nose is called man." He said, "There is no way to destroy heaven with man, and there is no way to destroy life." What he means is, Cows and horses are natural in themselves, and taming them is done by humans, and they are no longer natural. Their essence is to regard the relationship between heaven and humans as antagonistic.

This is the belief that all human actions towards nature are for the purpose of satisfying desires and thoughts, even at the expense of destroying heaven and destiny. This is also a view inherited by many previous masters. For example, He Yan, Wang Bi, etc. mentioned by Chen Zhi also have similar expressions.

In contrast, Guo Xiang is different. He looks at the problem from a human perspective and believes that man's changes to nature can be carried out on the premise of obeying nature. His various words are an attempt to explain that "man-made" can be consistent with nature.

He said: "Knowing that everything that heaven and man do is natural; then you can put your body inside and dwell on things outside, and be the same as all mysteries, and let it happen without fail." This view of the combination of famous names and teachings, In fact, it changed Lao and Zhuang's inaction stance and turned it into a positive one.

In fact, during Chen Zhi's tenure in the Secretariat Province, due to his position, he came into contact with many scholars. They came from all over and arrived in Luoyang to study because it has rich heritage, collections of books, masters, and There are many conditions, and it also brings many opinions from all over the world.

Chen Zhi discovered that the views of these people were more or less affected by Guo Xiang's views.

"Obviously, according to the inertia of history, Guo Xiang's view will have an impact on the academic and cultural trends and inheritance of the entire world as it develops."

Looking at the old man in front of him with declining vitality, Chen Zhi suddenly had the illusion at this moment that he was watching the shaping process of history.

This feeling gradually emerged after he came to the Secretariat Department, becoming stronger and clearer.

Different from shaping the historical map with a golden sword and an iron horse, reading past books and documents, and listening to many masters talk about their ideas and thoughts gave Chen Zhi another feeling of shaping history, as if he was guiding the future.

Simply learning a few terms from later generations' books is completely different from the current feeling of personally participating in it and watching a certain idea take root and sprout.

In particular, many masters would discuss and inquire with Chen Zhi in the process of shaping their thoughts.

Of course, Chen Zhi also knew very well that although the masters knew his name, they did not focus on his reputation, but on his ability to organize books. The reason why they discussed doctrines and ideas with him was not because they wanted to learn from Chen Zhi. What kind of inspiration did they get here, but they wanted to influence Chen Zhi, let Chen Zhi accept their ideas, and then use Chen Zhi to influence more people.

This is what Guo Xiang planned before him. While searching for books, he would often come up with some things to discuss, express his opinions, and then explain them according to his own theory to make Chen Zhi understand.

Chen Zhiduo responded with a friendly smile to this approach, but he would not blindly follow it, because he came from a later generation and could see a thread, so he would not fall into it.

Soon, the required books were brought in, and Guo Xiang immediately devoted himself to reading them, stopped talking, and immersed himself in the books and slips.

Chen Zhi got out and recalled the conversation between the two just now, feeling a little emotional.

"Several masters before and after wanted me to accept their teachings, maybe with the idea of ​​accepting a disciple. My reputation may not be important to them, but it is better than nothing. The key is that I still have some ability to organize and summarize, plus The connections behind him make him an ideal disciple candidate for them, but unfortunately, I have no intention of doing this, and I don’t have the time to focus on it.”

Shaking his head, Chen Zhi gave some instructions, glanced at the time, and told Guo Xiang's entourage that he should leave first without disturbing Guo Xiang.

The Secretary Department has its own operating system, and there is no need for him, the Secretary Supervisor, to stay here all the time.

For Chen Zhi, today is also a normal day.

However, when he arrived at his home, he found something unusual.

"The old man is here." Chen Jue stood guard at the door and came up to report Chen Zhi as soon as he saw him.

(End of this chapter)