From Destiny to Destiny: The Evolution of Wang Anshi's Theory of Destiny

From Destiny to Destiny: The Evolution of Wang Anshi's Theory of Destiny

Modern scholars have effectively clarified Wang Anshi's pioneering role in the rise of moral life science in the Song Dynasty, and basically restored his true colors, which were blurred or even covered up for thousands of years because of Neo-Confucianism's criticism of new learning in the Song Dynasty. Because Wang Anshi's pioneering role in nature research in Song Dynasty has been recognized and accepted by many scholars, his life research has also become a hot issue in Wang Xue's research. As far as the "fate" in the study of moral life is concerned, its research is either vague or not carried out in depth; Either study it from a plane angle according to the usual thought research method, or sort out its discussion about life and make a comprehensive summary. Through in-depth reading and research of Wang Anshi's works, the author finds that there are obvious differences between Wang Anshi's life theory and his ideological development. If we treat his materials about life theory regardless of the period and stage of ideological development, and study them indiscriminately, it will be difficult to deal with the differences, and it will be impossible to clearly show the ideological development track of his life theory. Because the study of Wang Anshi's life theory from the perspective of "thinking" and "history" is closer to reality, and his thought is still enlightening and meaningful in the history of thought, it is necessary and meaningful to conduct a thorough and comprehensive study of Wang Anshi's life theory.

This book holds that Wang Anshi's theory of destiny has roughly experienced three stages of development. At first, he mainly expounded his views on sex and fate from the perspective of fate. The second stage is the deepening of the life theory in the first stage, which specifically expounds how to realize the unity of man and nature, so as to achieve the realm of "communication with life" or "righteous life". In the third stage, obedience has both the meaning of destiny and the meaning of destiny, and puts forward the view that "it is not destiny", and advocates realizing the self-transcendence of life and putting all your energy into personnel.

First, adhere to the concept of "cultivate one's morality to achieve destiny" and oppose the theory of "Christmas is empty"

Wang Anshi said in the book "Life is Life": "Tell me: it is God's will to be rich; I did what I had to do. I can know what I have done; What heaven has done, am I alone? " Expensive and cheap are natural, that is, destiny, and our understanding of destiny is not chaotic. In the second half of this article, Wang Anshi further elaborated the theory of destiny. He said: "if people are born in heaven, they are born in people, so that saints can't rule saints, so saints should be expensive, saints should be cheap, and heaven is also;" People who choose to do things are called people. The way of harmony between man and nature, saints are expensive, saints are not cheap; The way between heaven and man goes against each other, so the sage is cheap, and the unpretentious is expensive ... "Destiny is heaven, and its essence is to make the sage expensive and the unpretentious cheap. This is also the performance of reality in the case of harmony between man and nature; The way of heaven and man is the opposite, but its performance is the opposite. Therefore, Wang Anshi came to a conclusion that he should try his best to make people conform to heaven, instead of believing in what he called "pushing life" and letting himself go astray. He said: "Therefore, a gentleman should cultivate himself in order to fulfill his life, keep the Tao as his own responsibility, and avoid depression. I am not good at believing in benevolence and righteousness, but I am not satisfied with the idea of Christmas. I'm drowning! " It can be seen that Wang Anshi only believes in the theory of destiny, advocates "self-cultivation to fulfill destiny" and resolutely opposes the absurd theory of pushing oneself and others.

Chu Shi in Wuli is mentioned at the beginning of this article, from which Mr. Li Zhiliang thinks that this work was written in Li Qing for eight years, which is a convincing inference. In terms of ideological content, we can also see that Wang Anshi was influenced by the trend of the times in his early years and created a quasi-holy work.

In another essay by Wang Anshi, On Life, he expressed the same view on the nature of fate. He said, "Is there any dignity in life? Say: yes. Therefore, sages are expensive, and those who are not sages are mean, and their lives are right. " It is a popular situation that people with virtue are expensive and those without virtue are mean. To achieve an upright life, we must rely on saints. He said, "This man who knows life is not a saint." This is because the life of the whole society must rely on saints, which supplements the ideal of the second stage of life theory, that is, the self can also achieve a correct life through arguing and exercising power. The realization of just destiny depends on the saints to rectify human order. Therefore, Wang Anshi opposed the theory of predicting fate by "fortune" and "divination" in the Han and Tang Dynasties. He said, "... Han and Tang Dynasties are not. During this period, yin and yang were flourishing, luck was chaotic, invasion was predicted, and retribution was wrong. The so-called fate is not life, and life is also fixed. "

From the above analysis of Wang Anshi's two articles, we can see that their ideas are basically the same. Judging from the changing development of Wang Anshi's outlook on fate, works with the same ideological content should be works of the same period or similar period. So these two works should be written in the early stage of their academic activities. They all talk about life from the perspective of fate, and they are all opposed to predicting the so-called fate of the secular.

Secondly, how to realize the harmony between man and nature, that is, "let nature take its course" and "let life take its course", Wang Anshi advocated "reaching its goal" and "changing with time"

In the early stage, Wang Anshi thought that to achieve an ideal result of just destiny, we must "put benevolence and righteousness first" and "cultivate one's morality and keep one's family in order to fulfill destiny". Only saints can make destiny prevail, thus establishing a reasonable human order. In the second stage of the theory of life, Wang Anshi specifically put forward how to make people live in harmony with nature and get the result of "just life" or "passing life". This is a supplement to the theory that "only saints can make the destiny prevail in the world", and it is to explain how to make the way of heaven and man fit together from the perspective of ordinary people. Wang Anshi believes that if the unjust fate is to be corrected or freed from the unjust fate dilemma, it is necessary to adopt the method of "discriminating righteousness and exercising power".

Wang Anshi expounded this view very clearly in "On Nine Ideas". It is impossible to directly verify the specific writing age of this work. But judging from its ideological content, it is obviously different from the previous issue and the third issue to be discussed, and it should not be the works of these two periods. These two periods were the Qing Dynasty and the years of Jiayou and Zhiping respectively, with seven years in between (1049- 1056), namely, the imperial system, the ruling system and the two dynasties, and may even include the early years of Jiayou. Judging from the fact that Wang Anshi's works could not have been written before Li Qing (because Wang Anshi began to study the Book of Changes at this time, it is unlikely to publish a systematic monograph on the Book of Changes), this work can only be written after Emperor Yangdi, the reign of Emperor Yangdi or the reign of Emperor Zhiping. Judging from the fact that Yi Jie was written in Jiayou two or three years ago, Wang Anshi's research on Zhouyi mainly focused on Huang You, He Zhi and the early years of Jiayou, so it can be inferred that Jiugua Lun was also written in this period.

To sum up, we can infer from the completion time of Yi Jie that the completion time of Jiugua Lun may be between Emperor Yangdi and the early years of Jiayou. We will further determine the writing time of this monograph from the relationship between the concept of destiny expressed in Nine Gua Lun and Yi Jie's related thoughts. In fact, in Yi Jie, Wang Anshi also expounded the same outlook on fate as the Nine Gua Lun. He explained "Jiu San Yao" in "Tai", saying: "If you pity his blessings, you will win the trust of heaven by thinking, and you don't know your destiny." If you don't know your life, you can't go straight to your ambition. Deviation from the Tao and loss of righteousness are all wrong. "When he explained the six or three ideas in Gong Jing, he also said," I am obedient to heaven, man of destiny. "They all expound their life theories from the perspective of fate. This is consistent with the thought of Nine Gua Lun, which shows that this article and Yi Jie are contemporaries. In Yi Jie, Wang Anshi also expressed his views on the exercise of power, which is consistent with the "exercising power by distinguishing righteousness" in Jiugua Lun (detailed below) and can also be regarded as the product of the same period. This right to distinguish between righteousness and destiny is not Wang Anshi's thought in the first two stages, so it can only be his thought in the third stage.

We can also judge the writing age of Jiu Gua Lun from Wang Anshi's another novel "Strange Tales from a Gentleman's Studio". The ideological content of this article (described in detail later) is generally consistent with "On Nine Yao", and it should also be written in the same period from the stage characteristics of Wang Anshi's ideological development. Some scholars believe that this article was written when Wang Anshi was waiting to take up his new job in Beijing in the early years of the Emperor, which is consistent with the time when the Nine Diagrams Theory was published, which further proves that the Nine Diagrams Theory was written in the early years of Emperor or Jiayou.

During this period, Wang Anshi closely followed the predecessors' view of destiny, and further proposed that as long as "benevolence and righteousness are clearly distinguished and power is exercised", "as for destiny" can be achieved, and the harmony between man and nature can be achieved, so that he will not be trapped by destiny. He said: "You should learn from your husband and be prepared morally, so you should be able to understand. However, if you are still trapped, do you want to ask the so-called trapped person? If you are trapped in life, you will see illness when you are moving, and then things will change. The reason why I am in it is particularly difficult, but it is particularly expensive to change things in time. Therefore, distinguish between benevolence and righteousness, exercise power, and then you can use poverty. " When you are "trapped in life", as long as you can do "appropriate things" and "timely changes", you can get out of trouble. This life should also aim at destiny, because when we are in trouble, it is human nature that has not been in harmony with heaven and is in an unnatural life, so it is difficult to solve the problem. When it comes to "reaching the right path" and "changing with time", the harmony between man and nature can be freed from the predicament, which is the right life. But no matter how hard people try, there will always be unfortunate accidents arrival on them, which is unpredictable. This kind of fate may have nothing to do with people's own behavior, which is the so-called fate in the secular world. Obviously, Wang Anshi is not talking about fate here, but talking about life from the perspective of fate. Wang Anshi also expressed similar thoughts in "Strange Tales from a Gentleman's Studio". He said: "Benevolence is not enough to be a gentleman, wisdom is not enough to be a gentleman, benevolence is enough to make the best use of it, and wisdom is enough to be poor, all for life." This ancient man is also a gentleman. " It is also mentioned that "life is at stake" on the basis of rational exhaustion, which is close to the meaning of getting rid of the predicament brought about by unhealthy life on the basis of rational exhaustion in Jiugua Lun.

From the above analysis, we can see that Wang Anshi's thoughts on how to deal with difficulties and how to "connect with fate" are closely following the previous period when he only talked about fate. In the early stage, Wang Anshi opposed talking about absurdity and advocated "emphasizing benevolence and righteousness" in an effort to achieve the unity of heaven and man. At this stage, Wang Anshi further developed the theory of destiny and expounded how to realize the harmony between man and nature, which was the deepening and concretization of the theory of destiny of the previous generation. Moreover, this solution to the harmony between man and nature has always been linked with Wang Anshi's main ambition in his life-reform and self-improvement.

Third, the fortune of nobles and the corruption of sages are "not just a life", so know life can "know life is not worried" and "all in personnel"

Wang Anshi's life theory before the early Jiayou period, his life is mainly from the perspective of fate, with a value orientation, rather than from what we call a mysterious force, that is, fate. After that, the theory of destiny has a double meaning of destiny and destiny. As far as fate is concerned, Wang Anshi's theory of life in the third period is completely different from his view of avoiding talking about fate before Jia You's previous period.

Wang Anshi believes that not only life is determined by external factors, but also sex determined by oneself is life. Wang Anshi said in "On Difficulties": "From this point of view, sages are sages because although gentlemen do not work for their lives, Mencius only lives for them; Why is it so different from this? " Mencius believes that the reason why sages are sages and corrupt is all their own decisions, so they are all related to sex, and Wang Anshi deliberately misinterprets Mencius' meaning here and thinks that sex is also life. Obviously, this is to express his views through Mencius' words. Therefore, Wang Anshi naturally put forward the view that there is no life. He said, "It is the destiny of a sage to advance with respect." The reason why corrupt officials are punished is life. ..... It's just that saints don't promise their lives and teach people to do their best. Alas, what a blessing! Mortal sages don't deserve it, nor is it fate! "

The same view was also revealed in the book Answering Historical Irony written during Jiayou's reign. He said: "Destiny is not only noble and humble, but also life and death. Everything is ruined, everything is doomed. ..... and the first step is to teach others, Taoism others get without asking, asking others and teaching others will lose the Tao. Who preaches with Tao? Take the first step and have a try. " In Wang Anshi's view, everything is life, and the prosperity of Tao is also determined by life, so don't try your best to preach or even take the initiative to be a teacher. This not only fails to preach, but also makes the Tao mourn.

Wang Anshi believes that everything is life. Knowing this is know life and know life, we can know that the result of fate is mainly caused by external factors, which is beyond our control, so don't forget the result caused by it. No matter how worried and worried we are about this, it will not help, but will have a worse negative impact. Therefore, the most appropriate way is to downplay the concern about fate and put all your energy into personnel.

Wang Anshi said in the Book with Wang Fengyuan written in the fourth year of Jiayou: "The body still belongs to life, and the world is ruled. Can it not belong to life? " ..... I am a lonely saint, and I have never had any troubles ... Although I don't forget the world, I can't live together. Can I be worried? ..... But Confucius will take the place of those who take care of the world. ..... Confucius was right when he said that those who don't worry about know life must reach out to Wang Zhidao first if they want people to know that they have the life to control the chaos and can't get in. "Here, although Wang Anshi did not say inaction, he thought that" the body still belongs to life, and the rule of the world cannot return to life ",which basically implied this meaning. Wang Anshi believes that everything is fate, and even know life and know life are not worried. This is the creed that Confucius practiced with practical actions. Wang Anshi also linked knowing life without worry with the origin of luggage. It is for the life of the country's chaos, and for himself, it is for the life of parts. You have to do this when you travel. When it's time to hide, you have to hide This is also a life, and individuals should not be forced. These thoughts of Wang Anshi were well reflected in his resignation several times later.

In Answering Wang Shen's Fu Yi, written in the fifth year of Jia You, Wang Anshi said: "I can't tolerate my body, and I have the life of disturbing my home and country, but I feel sad. This is so-called ignorance of life. ..... people, to be feasible in the world and then do it. He doesn't want to be feasible in the world. If you are poor and can't do it, do you feel sad? How can a person who thinks I am poor, has no pleasure in my heart and doesn't know my life be like this? " Wang Anshi disagreed with Wang Shenfu's view that poverty is happiness and success is happiness, and opposed linking poverty with happiness. Wang Anshi believes that this is an inappropriate psychological performance caused by ignorance of life. Knowing that life has no worries, everything is life, so whether we are poor or not should not be the reason for our happiness.

Although Wang Anshi's thought of inaction seems decadent, the purpose of his understanding is to eliminate any negative influence brought by all external factors. Because sometimes what we decide can't be realized as we wish, which will inevitably make us depressed. Therefore, he suggested that sex is also a life, and we don't care whether the result is good or not, so that our mood will not be frustrated in vain, and we can better devote all our energy to personnel, that is, we will not be tired of things and go into battle lightly. This is a way to get rid of the lost emotions affected by fate. It can be seen that Wang Anshi's thought is not decadent, but has a positive and enterprising spirit; It is a misunderstanding to regard Wang Anshi's view of fate as negative.

If we contact Wang Anshi with the method of "distinguishing between benevolence and righteousness and exercising power" in the previous stage to get rid of the predicament, we can see that his life theory is not an escape from fate or destiny, but directly faces life and transcends it at the same time to prevent it from becoming a burden in our hearts. Therefore, Wang Anshi's theory of life must be understood in the development of his theory of life. We can't take it out of context, we can't see the forest for the trees. More importantly, we should see that it sets a positive tone for this outlook on life.

In this way, Wang Anshi will not succumb to fate and do what he does with a free mind, because since the fate is not up to us, we should make a rational decision, stop recalling it and realize the transcendence of life. This prevents some people from giving up because they think they can't do what they have decided.

If we link Wang Anshi's transcendence of fate with the theory of "three fears", we can have a more comprehensive and objective understanding of this statement. Wang Anshi's "three fears" actually means to surpass them and not be tired by them, not to say that they are really awesome. As far as facing them directly, they are awesome, and we must attach great importance to them; As far as surpassing them is concerned, they don't exist in our hearts, because we want to do our best in personnel, so they are not terrible.

Wang Anshi put forward the theory of destiny in his early years, which made the way of heaven and man fit. Therefore, people should learn from righteousness, don't go astray, and believe in the theory of fate. Later, he further deepened and developed the theory of destiny, and put forward the method of "getting down to business" and "changing with time", that is, distinguishing between righteousness and reason and exercising power to get rid of the predicament, so as to reach the realm of "connecting with destiny", that is, "righteous destiny", which is actually the principle and method of how human nature combines with heaven. Due to the unfortunate death of relatives and friends in his prime, Wang Anshi began to have to face up to the very mysterious and strange fate. He didn't take a simple escape from fate as in the previous paragraph, but thought that fate was beyond our control and care. So, don't take it to heart, but it's better to ignore the past, so that we can do our own thing wholeheartedly and not be affected by fate. In a word, on the basis of inheriting the predecessors' theory of destiny, Wang Anshi also realized the so-called fate factor in the secular world, and at the same time thought that he should transcend fate psychologically and not be burdened by fate.

If Wang Anshi's early outlook on fate is an idealistic work created under the trend of quasi-saints, then his recognition and transcendence of realistic destiny will be more prominent. Therefore, on the whole, Wang Anshi's theory of life has the characteristics of combining idealism with realism, which is somewhat similar to his thought of political reform. This shows that an outstanding thinker and political reformer does not just stick to reality, but focuses on reality and is higher than reality. The loftiness of his thought and spirit is also the profound embodiment of his heroic personality.

In short, Wang Anshi's theory of destiny in the third stage recognizes destiny, and at the same time inherits the spiritual essence of the theory of destiny in the first two stages. In the first stage, the theory of life holds that in order to make the whole society conform to the principle of heaven and man, we must rely on saints to rectify human order. Although ordinary individuals can't do this, they also advocate that individuals should try their best to practice natural principles and try their best to achieve the unity of heaven and man. Wang Anshi believes that under such circumstances, we can get a correct life. In the second stage of the theory of life, Wang Anshi further embodied this kind of "self-cultivation for life", that is, distinguishing between benevolence and righteousness, exercising power, getting rid of the shackles of unhealthy life and getting a positive life. The latter stage not only inherits the fatalism theory of the first two stages, but also does not avoid the so-called fatalism in the secular world. I believe that when we are trying to fulfill our destiny and engage in personnel, we can put down our psychological burden and go into battle lightly because we have to go beyond our destiny and devote all our energy to personnel, and engaging in personnel also inherently includes the content of our previous efforts to cultivate our morality and exercise our understanding. On the basis of understanding the destiny, the theory of destiny in the third stage removes psychological obstacles for better implementing specific measures to fulfill the destiny, such as self-cultivation, discrimination of righteousness and exercise of power, which is the enrichment and development of the theory of destiny in the first two stages. Therefore, on the whole, Wang Anshi's life theory is constantly developing and perfecting, and the spiritual essence of the three-stage theory of life is in the same strain, all of which are for better fulfilling destiny and engaging in personnel.