Top Scholar

Chapter 327 Wang Suxuan
The morning sun over Longchang slanted into Yangming Xiaodongtian.

The master and disciple had lost track of the passing days and nights, completely immersed in their quest for the Great Dao...

Wang Shouren's beard was much thicker than his hair; it had grown into a full beard from not trimming it for so long. He stroked his long beard with his hair disheveled, but his eyes still shone like morning stars as he spoke:

“The mind is conscience and cognition, and things are laws and reality. Since these two cannot be separated, they must be connected! Could it be that the force that unites the two is ‘action’?”

“That’s right.” Su Lu picked up his brush and wrote the character ‘heart’ on the mountain wall, and then wrote the character ‘thing’ next to it.

Then he pointed one finger to his heart and the other to the object, saying:

"Teacher, look at these two ends—the mind cannot create seedlings from the soil out of thin air, nor can things automatically tell people how to plant them. If you want the mind to connect with things, you need something to build a bridge!"

As Su Lu spoke, he wrote the character '行' (walk) heavily between '心' (heart) and '物' (matter), and said, "Our ancestors did not know how to grow crops at first. It was only by chance that they discovered that harvested rice could grow into new seedlings that they wondered if they could obtain more food through sowing. Then they kept trying and finally domesticated wild rice, millet, sorghum, wheat, and beans, and thus we have the five grains that nourish the world today!"

“Yes, this example perfectly illustrates the relationship between mind, matter, and action.” Wang Shouren nodded in agreement. “The three are indeed like an iron triangle, none of which can be missing. Therefore, our Dao should also revolve around these three!”

“Teacher is absolutely right.” Su Lu nodded and said, “Without the idea of ​​planting, Shennong would not have put it into practice or tried it. Without trying and practicing, one cannot gain knowledge of planting, and Shennong’s most wonderful ideas would just be a bubble.”

“When Shennong gained knowledge through practice, without the conscience to ‘save his people from famine,’ he would not have taught everyone how to plant crops…” Wang Shouren clapped his hands and laughed, “It seems that these three things are indeed complementary and indispensable.”

He said happily, "That's it! I used to always be caught up in 'seeking principles within the mind' or 'seeking principles outside of things,' forgetting that 'action' is the foundation—the mind knows things through practice, and then changes things through practice. The feedback from things then calibrates the mind, and this is the principle of 'integration of mind and matter'!"

"As expected of the teacher, your summary is excellent!" Su Lu then wrote the four characters 'Mind-Matter Integration' on another side of the mountain wall and laughed, "Thus, the first theory of our sect is born!"

"Haha, yes!" Wang Shouren said excitedly, his hands behind his back, his enthusiasm growing even stronger.

"This integration requires two criteria—first, recognizing the truth of the compound. Just as only by correctly recognizing that 'water flows downhill' can we build a canal!"

"Secondly, actions must be in accordance with conscience and goodness! For example, when repairing a canal, one should not cut off the water supply to other households."

"Yes, yes, this is the 'double harmony' of subject and object!" Su Lu said excitedly while making notes on the paper.
"In this way, the world will not stagnate, but will be continuously propelled forward through the practice of 'mind, matter, and action' by millions of people!"

“Indeed, when knowledge is insufficient, practice makes up for it; when things present a challenge, practice breaks through it. This is more practical than ‘reason resides in people’s hearts’ or ‘reason exists outside of things.’” Wang Shouren’s heart couldn’t help but burn with excitement, and he said with longing, “I really want to see the world back then…”

He couldn't help but chuckle as he said, "Unfortunately, the road ahead is long and arduous. Even Confucius didn't live to see a world where Confucianism flourished, and we probably won't live to see that day either."

"Success doesn't have to be achieved by me, but I will definitely be a part of it!" Su Lu said firmly.

"Well said!" Wang Shouren said to Su Lu, half-jokingly and half-seriously, "Sometimes, I can't even tell who is whose teacher between us."

“That’s not that important,” Su Lu said with a smile.

“Haha, indeed!” Wang Shouren actually agreed, “What does it matter who is whose teacher? What matters most is to comprehend the Great Dao.”

It's hard to imagine that these two uncouth, savage-like fellows were actually scholars of the Book of Rites...

~~
After countless conversations, the two finally pieced together the framework of their worldviews. Now it was time to discuss their philosophies of life…

“Since the world is a ‘mind-matter duality, with action as the bridge,’ then the ideal personality of a gentleman should possess ‘cognitive ability, action ability, and moral ability’,” Su Lu said, following the thread of his worldview.

"Yes, a gentleman should 'understand knowledge, extend conscience, and practice diligently.' Only by possessing all three can one be a complete person, and only by reaching the pinnacle of all three can one become a sage!" Wang Shouren, as expected of a veteran clickbaiter, immediately extracted the core selling point.

"Teacher, I understand 'understanding knowledge and practicing diligently,' but what does it mean to extend one's innate knowledge?" Su Lu asked.

“The nature of Heaven’s mandate is pure and perfect goodness. Its spiritual clarity and unwavering nature is the manifestation of this perfect goodness, which is the essence of enlightened virtue, and is what is called innate knowledge.” Wang Shouren then said: “Therefore, ‘extending innate knowledge’ is to remove the obscuration of selfish desires through self-cultivation in order to restore the ‘perfect goodness of Heaven’ in one’s heart.”

He paused for a moment and then concluded: "Incorporating this into our theory, it becomes the eight characters: 'Inherent good intentions lead to good deeds.'"

After he finished speaking, he asked Su Lu, "What are your thoughts, Hongzhi?"

"In my humble opinion, Teacher, your 'attainment of conscience' should take another step forward," Su Lu said bluntly.

"The pursuit of innate knowledge should not merely teach people to 'do good and avoid evil.' Although all scriptures only teach people to do good, it is undeniable that human nature is selfish. If we only teach people to be indiscriminately good people, then others who believe in our doctrines will suffer losses."

He laughed as he spoke, "Teacher, people will do business that could cost them their lives, but nobody will do business that loses money."

“Indeed, but such strict requirements are necessary. Aren’t immoral doctrines just heresies and fallacies?” Wang Shouren frowned. “If a doctrine is to flourish, it cannot allow its followers to suffer losses, or at least make them feel that they haven’t suffered losses,” Su Lu said. “For example, Buddhism preaches that if followers do good deeds and accumulate merit, they can be reborn into a good family in their next life. This way, the number of followers will increase… Since we want to develop a practical doctrine, we have to consider this point.”

"..." Wang Shouren pondered for a long time before saying, "What you said makes sense. So, how do you suggest we take this further?"

"A teacher's 'cultivation of conscience' is a kind heart that helps those in distress. For example, seeing mountain people starving, conscience will urge one to learn farming methods, and then teach the mountain people slash-and-burn agriculture and building terraced fields—this is 'conscience bound to responsibility.'" Su Lu said, raising his voice:
"However, helping others shouldn't always mean suffering losses yourself... Since you've helped the mountain people avoid hunger, you should enjoy their rewards. As for whether the rewards are a portion of the harvest or respect and prestige, that's a matter of personal choice."

"In short, the students' view is—if you only talk about giving without expecting anything in return, no one will be willing to do it for long. Of course, you can't just want the benefits without giving anything in return; that would be losing your conscience and being unscrupulous!" Su Lu said, unable to resist adding a sarcastic remark.

"In fact, from ancient times to the present, whether it is the world or a small family, the problem lies in the fact that 'giving' and 'receiving' are not proportional."

“Your viewpoint does align with Confucius’s teachings,” Wang Shouren said with a smile.

“I am also a follower of Confucius,” Su Lu said, his eyes wide.

"Haha, I didn't even notice," Wang Shouren chuckled dryly.

The teacher and student burst into laughter.

Wang Shouren was telling the story of "Zigong refusing gold and Zilu accepting oxen"...

The State of Lu once had a law that allowed those who redeemed Lu citizens who had been enslaved from abroad to receive a reward from the government. Zigong, after redeeming Lu citizens, believed that "good deeds should not be done for personal gain" and insisted on refusing the reward. Confucius, upon learning of this, said:
'Zigong was wrong. From then on, the people of Lu stopped ransoming people. Taking the money would not harm their conduct, but not taking the money would prevent them from ransoming anyone again.'

Confucius meant that although Zigong gained a good reputation, the common people would feel ashamed to accept the reward due to moral pressure, and naturally they would not lose money to redeem slaves.

Later, Zilu rescued a drowning person, who, in gratitude, gave him an ox, which Zilu readily accepted. Confucius, upon learning of this, praised him:

"Zilu did the right thing; from now on, the people of Lu will surely save those who fall into the water."

Therefore, Confucius's core consideration was very simple: when evaluating acts of kindness, one should not look at whether the individual is "noble," but rather at whether their actions can encourage more people to do good together—ensuring that good deeds have reasonable rewards is the way to make good deeds last.

~~
Since Confucius had said so, Wang Shouren accepted Su Lu's suggestion and found it increasingly reasonable.

“Your concept of ‘shared rights and responsibilities’ has filled the gap in my life! I always thought about being ‘selfless,’ but I forgot that ‘rights and responsibilities are commensurate’ so that people are willing to take responsibility—just like teachers need to be paid for teaching, and soldiers need to be paid for fighting. This kind of ‘taking responsibility’ is not drudgery, but a proper way of life!”

"Teacher is absolutely right!" Su Lu clapped his hands in praise, "Demanding a return for one's efforts will not corrupt social morals. Those who are truly insatiable are those officials and gentry who spout empty words of benevolence and morality!"

"Hmm." Wang Shouren nodded, picked up his pen and wrote on the wall: "Understand knowledge, extend conscience, and practice diligently," adding next to it: "Weigh rights and responsibilities."

~~
As for methodology, it had already been integrated into their previous discussions, namely Su Lu's 'hypothetical-deductive method'.

"Extending one's innate knowledge" is the fundamental methodology, while "understanding knowledge" and "diligently practicing" are the support and foundation...

The two spent an unknown amount of time writing on every accessible cave wall, finally completing the basic structure of this theory.

As Su Lu finished writing the last stroke, Wang Shouren stared intently at the writing covering the entire cave, and said calmly, "I have never been so certain before. This... is the path of the sages that I have been pursuing!"

"Then congratulations, teacher! You've finally established your own school of thought!" Su Lu breathed a sigh of relief and casually tossed the worn-out calligraphy brush on the ground.

"Uh... what should we call our sect?" Wang Shouren suddenly paused, the two of them had been researching for so many days, but they had forgotten to come up with a name.

“Wang Xue?” Su Lu asked.

“Well, it should at least be called the Wang Su School.” Wang Shouren shook his head and said, “And it can’t just be named after a name. It has to have a general term, such as ‘Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism’.”

"New learning?" Su Lu suggested again.

Wang Shouren misheard it as 'the philosophy of mind'. "Alas, that's inappropriate. We've strayed too far from Lu Jiuyuan's philosophy of mind."

He shook his head, looked at the two largest characters on the cliff face—'thing' and 'mind'—and his eyes lit up.

"Let's still call it 'Sōgaku'!"

As he spoke, he picked up a brush and wrote a large character '惣':
"惣 is an alternate form of 总, meaning 'to unify' or 'to summarize'. Therefore, '惣学' means the overall learning that integrates mind and matter, knowledge and action, and rights and responsibilities!"

P.S. Wang Su has finally achieved enlightenment! That old monk must have been exhausted... Please support him with monthly votes!
(End of this chapter)