Tang Dynasty: Beyond Time and Space, My Best Friend, Princess Jinyang!

"Just give a brief explanation."

Xiao Ran thought about it. He didn't know about this thing, but it was introduced in the textbook.

"This appeared in the Song Dynasty."

"Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism takes "reason" as its core concept and believes that "reason" is the origin and master of all things in the universe."

"It emphasizes the understanding and realization of "reason" through the method of investigating things to gain knowledge. In terms of moral cultivation, it advocates "preserving heavenly principles and eliminating human desires" to achieve human moral perfection. In social governance, it emphasizes the use of Confucian ethical and moral norms to maintain social order. It has had a profound impact on the politics, culture and thought of the late feudal society of China."

"It's almost like setting rules for people. This rule is deeply rooted in people's hearts and has influenced thousands of years."

Xiao Ran said this and Li Shimin, Empress Zhangsun and others almost knew it.

"This kind of rule should be conducive to maintaining rule! Otherwise, it would not have been passed down."

Li Shimin also guessed it.

"Of course, the Three Bonds and Five Constant Virtues are to maintain social stability. They are not armed suppression, but ideological confinement."

"This has advantages, but the disadvantages are not small." Li Shimin thought.

"Well, no dynasty after the Tang Dynasty can be so confident, open and inclusive, and these also have an impact."

"I don't know about Neo-Confucianism, but the School of Mind looks good and interesting."

"Are you interested in letting others know?"

Li Shimin shook his head, "Let it go! I don't like Neo-Confucianism very much, maybe because the Song Dynasty later made me not like it."

"This is in line with the needs of the development of the times. I won't force it, let it go!"

"I remember that there was a long period of time between the Song Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty. Why did Neo-Confucianism appear when there was Neo-Confucianism?"

"This...maybe because...I don't know."

"Xiao Ran, do you think the School of Mind may develop in the Tang Dynasty?" Li Shimin asked Xiao Ran.

"This kind of thought is actually more threatening than riots in many cases, so I have to be on guard." Li Shimin felt that both Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism and the School of Mind were more dangerous.

"Don't worry, uncle, it won't develop in the Tang Dynasty." Xiao Ran also had his own opinion.

"Tell me about it."

"Although Confucianism is still one of the official orthodox thoughts in the Tang Dynasty, in the field of thought and culture, the development of Buddhism and Taoism is more prosperous and has a greater influence, right?"

Li Shimin nodded, and Li Shimin also believed it.

"Confucianism in the Tang Dynasty focused more on the annotation and compilation of classics and the maintenance of ritual systems. The focus of scholars' research was not on the in-depth exploration of philosophical issues such as mind and nature."

"The development of mind studies needs to be based on the excavation and in-depth thinking of the theory of mind and nature in Confucian classics. I think the development environment of Confucianism in the Tang Dynasty does not have such conditions."

"The thought of mind studies can be traced back to Mencius in the pre-Qin period, but from Mencius to the Tang Dynasty, it experienced the Qin and Han Dynasties, Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, etc. During this period, the development of thought and culture was more diverse and complex, and the inheritance of mind studies was broken."

"Although Mencius's discussion of the mind had a certain influence, it did not form a continuous and systematic development context before the Tang Dynasty, and it was difficult to suddenly rise and develop into an independent school of thought in the Tang Dynasty."

Li Shimin nodded and felt that it made sense.

This made me feel relieved. If a small number of people like it, they like it.

Li Shimin did not like Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism, but he could not deny that the "rules" of Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism were conducive to governance.

Judging from Li Shimin's governing philosophy and personality traits, he attached importance to civil and military affairs, recruited talents, and adopted an open-minded policy.

Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism emphasized "preserving the principles of heaven and eliminating human desires", focusing on the absoluteness of moral norms and order, which was different from the more open and enterprising atmosphere of Li Shimin's time.

Li Shimin paid more attention to practical political governance and national construction, and would not have a special interest in Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism, an ideological system that highly emphasized moral norms and the cultivation of the mind.

What Li Shimin was worried about was being used by people with ulterior motives to affect the rule of the Tang Dynasty.

"Okay, go on!"

"The Tang Dynasty was an open, inclusive and diverse era, and the mainstream value orientation of society focused more on external achievements, accomplishments and material enjoyment."

"People pursued entering officialdom through the imperial examinations to realize their political ambitions, or to gain wealth and status through business, military service and other means."

"In contrast, the spiritual pursuits of inner cultivation and self-awareness emphasized by the School of Mind are not in line with the mainstream value orientation of the Tang Dynasty society, and it is difficult to be widely recognized and spread."

"Let alone Neo-Confucianism, the School of Mind is actually difficult to promote."

"The Neo-Confucianism of the Song Dynasty and the Mind Learning of the Ming Dynasty were mostly not suitable for the Tang Dynasty!"

"The academic exchanges in the Tang Dynasty were relatively active, mainly between Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism, as well as cultural exchanges between different regions."

"This kind of exchange is more about the mutual reference and integration of religious doctrines and philosophical thoughts."

"And the development of Mind Learning requires a relatively independent academic exchange environment. In the academic exchange atmosphere of the Tang Dynasty, Mind Learning is difficult to get enough attention and development space."

Li Shimin smiled, "I like the confident, open and inclusive Tang Dynasty. I don't know much about later generations. I don't like these things in later generations, especially the Song Dynasty. I don't like it at all, and the Qing Dynasty is even worse."

"In fact, the Song Dynasty and the Tang Dynasty are still a bit similar."

Li Shimin looked disgusted, "How are they the same? The Song Dynasty has not yet completed the unification, how can it be compared with the Tang Dynasty?"

"In terms of culture, the Song Dynasty is also very powerful. Tang poetry and Song lyrics are unique! ”

“That’s right. I’ve seen it written for five thousand years. There’s nothing else besides this, right?”

“The Tang and Song dynasties have one thing in common.” Xiao Ran held up a finger.

“What can they have in common?”

“Neither the Tang nor the Song built the Great Wall.”

Li Shimin thought for a moment, “How can this be the same? The reason why the Tang didn’t build the Great Wall is because the Great Wall is inside the Tang Dynasty. The border line is far away from the Great Wall, so there’s no need to build the Great Wall.”

“How can the Song Dynasty be the same? Even if he wants to build it, he can’t touch the Great Wall.”

“Having the Great Wall but not using it is different from not having it!”

“Makes sense!” Xiao Ran agreed.

“As for the weapons you mentioned before, you said that the Tang Dynasty should make them by themselves. The ones made by the Tang Dynasty will definitely not work. Let’s get some back from there! "Li Shimin needs more big-caliber truths to reason with other countries.

"This time, Tubo must be included in the territory of the Tang Dynasty. It was criticized before, but this time I can't let people talk about this issue. Tubo must belong to the Tang Dynasty."

"The previous situation was that the Tang Dynasty couldn't beat Tubo in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, and after leaving the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, the Tang Dynasty beat Tubo violently. It was a state where no one could do anything to anyone!"