"Lord Belle, my lords, the servants think that if we talk about the exploration of the laws of all things in the world, the countries of Europa all originated from what they called the ancient Greek civilization. And the learning done by many of the philosophers of ancient Greece is now recognized by Western countries as the true forerunner of its contemporary learning. ”

For Yuri's opening, although there is some repetition, Hongyi still nods vigorously - instilling new ideas in Du, Zhu and others sometimes needs to be repeated.

"The philosophers of ancient Greece were always looking at the objective world calmly, always thinking, what is this world we exist in? How do objects in the world move? ”

Thales[1] said that all things originate from water, that it is the transformation of water, but that it returns to water, and that water surrounds the earth, and that the earth floats on the water, constantly absorbing nutrients from the water. Heraclitus[2] said that all things were neither created by God nor man, but by fire. Fire is concentrated and becomes gas, gas is concentrated and becomes water, water is concentrated and becomes earth, soil melts to produce water, water evaporates produces gas, and gas returns to fire. Democritus [3] believed that the origin of all things is the 'atom' and the 'void', and that 'atoms' of various shapes and sizes make up all things, and the 'void' is the place where the atoms move. ”

This detailed description can be more or less understood by Hongyi, after all, "History of Ancient Greek Philosophy" is one of the elective courses for students majoring in international politics. But Du Duhu, Zhu Changzuo and others are simply covered by clouds and fog. Fortunately, as Confucian scholars, they still have a basic awe of what they don't understand, and they listen quite seriously. From time to time, he nodded his head in approval or shook his head in question, but at least he didn't scoff.

Yuri was clearly inspired by such an inclusive atmosphere, and then plucked up his spirit and spoke deeply.

"Heraclitus, when observing the worldly realm, believed that everything flows, and everything changes. He vividly used the rushing river to illustrate the truth that everything in the world is constantly moving, changing, constantly producing and dying. ”

"The Buddha said: Life is created by oneself, the phase is born from the heart, everything in the world is incarnated, the heart does not move, everything does not move. The heart does not change. Nothing changes. At this time, Zhu Changzuo responded thoughtfully, but it was Zen science.

"Hehe, what Brother Yunmen said is extremely true. But the truth expounded in Zen Buddhism. Naturally, these Westerners will not understand. They are always more metaphysical. Hongyi explained calmly. Continue to make a listening form.

"Lord Xie Belle and Master Zhu ordered." Yuri had to pause and respond. Seeing Xiao Xuanye's expression, he continued:

"This Heraclitus also said: 'We cannot step into the same river twice,' and he always believed that everything is the unity of opposites. The so-called mutually exclusive things are combined, and the different tones create the most beautiful harmony. ”

Aristotle was looking for causes in the face of phenomena in the objective world. For example, what objects fall differently? He believed that the speed at which objects fall is determined by their weight, and that the heavier the object, the faster it falls. What does the car move? He thought that there had to be a horse or some other force to push it forward for the car to move forward. ”

Speaking of specific phenomena, Du Duhu and Zhu Changzuo finally understood it a little easier, and they also nodded from time to time following the appearance of the young master.

"Aristotle believed that objects are not always stationary after they have been created, and he found that there are two distinct types of motion: one is spontaneous motion, in which objects tend to their 'natural place', where a heavy object such as a stone falls towards the rock, and a light object such as a flame rushes upward, and the heavier the stone, the faster it should fall. The other type is forced movement, a car parked on the road, it has no 'natural place', so it has to have the force of a horse or some other force acting on it to move. ”

"Therefore, in the eyes of Westerners, ancient Greek scholars will sum up their way of thinking in one sentence, that is, 'heaven and man are separated'. In other words, the ancient Greek philosophers paid more attention to nature, and also regarded nature as an object of study, and separated man from nature. ”

Hongyi was greatly admired in his heart - Yuri's "History of Western Philosophy" course must be A+!

"What? Westerners are really ignorant, don't they understand what the unity of heaven and man is? How can man be separated from nature? The two are exactly one and the same! Zhu Changzuo began to shake his head again.

"This ......"

Apparently, Yuri's "classical Chinese philosophy" failed! It can only be done by Hongyi himself.

"Brother Yunmen, I have some family words here, I don't know if I can talk about it?"

"What do you have to teach you? Chang Zuo listens to it! Zhu Changzuo couldn't help but give face to the prince Baylor, but he was still not convinced by his tone.

"Good! As you said, our Chinese sages pursued the unity of man and nature, believing that man and nature should be integrated in order to live in harmony. It can be said that we achieve perfection from the inside out, through introspection and outward. ”

"Lord Belle is so insightful! Not bad indeed! ”

Zhu Changzuo had to fully affirm the knowledge of a three-year-old doll.

"Brother Yunmen praises falsely. The people of ancient Greece were different from the Qin princes of the Central Plains, and when they thought about this world, they stood on the opposite side of this world and looked at it, as if they were holding the world in their own hands and observing. Hongyi explained cautiously, afraid that Zhu Changzuo would not understand.

"Arrogance! It's lawless! Zhu Changzuo really pointed it out. In his understanding, everything in heaven and earth has its own law, and man is only a part of it, how can you go to the outside of the world to observe the world world? Isn't there an abyss from which there will be no return?

"Ha Luha, the benevolent see the benevolent and the wise see the wise, Brother Yunmen doesn't have to mind too much. After all, we Chinese people have always respected the heavens and the ancestors, and even the monarchs of all dynasties, only the true dragon and the son of heaven can hang the people for the heavens? However, the Westerners have always left the affairs of heaven to God or the gods, and the communication between heaven and earth is entirely dependent on priests or sorcerers. That must be the case, right? Hongyi said a reason that Zhu Changzuo understood well.

"Alas, if this is the case, after all, it is ignorant and cannot be edified!" Zhu Changzuo occupied the moral high ground as he wished, and he "forgiven" the "ignorance" of Westerners very graciously.

But actually about that. Hongyi has his own true understanding, that is, a comparative study of Eastern and Western natural philosophies in the pre-Qin and ancient Greece, which were almost the same period. This was the title of his final thesis that year.

Hongyi believes that the difference between the two can first be made by comparing the different religious backgrounds in the formative period of natural philosophy. In ancient China, "religious consciousness" was the main component of official learning, which was controlled by "Zhenren Zhenguan" and fixed in the form of classical literature, and its transition to natural philosophy was very sluggish and incomplete, which was manifested in the concretization of the understanding of "heaven"; In ancient Greece. Religious consciousness did not become a government school. On the contrary, it has been diluted by the spread of folk schools, and therefore. It was replaced by natural philosophy more quickly and thoroughly. It is manifested as the concretization of the understanding of the "foundation[4]".

Secondly. It can be compared with the "Tao" of Lao Tzu and the "Tao" of Heraclitus and Parmenides. Lao Tzu's "Tao" is used to refer to the origin of all things; Heraclitus's "Tao" is used to refer to the process of exchange between fire and all things, while Parmenides' "Tao" is used to refer to the way of knowing all things.

In terms of comprehensiveness, Lao Tzu's "Tao" is the highest. It is not only the unity of "being" and "nothing", but also the unity of "movement" and "stillness", so it is also the most empty and ambiguous, so that it was later tampered with beyond recognition; Although the "Dao" of Heraclitus and Parmenides is inferior to the "Dao" of Lao Tzu in terms of comprehensiveness, it may elucidate the struggle and unity of one and many, opposites, and begin to realize the difference between phenomena and essences, thus becoming more concrete and explicit. This can illustrate the abstraction of pre-Qin natural philosophy and the concreteness of ancient Greek natural philosophy.

Thirdly, it can also be clarified through the comparison of the concept of purpose: in China, the introduction of purpose into nature is manifested in the legalization of heaven, and its opportunity is to seek the basis of heavenly Tao in order to attach personnel and doctrines; In Greece, it was manifested in the imposition of divine will on nature, and the opportunity was to seek the causes of nature in order to explain the generation of nature. The introduction of purpose into nature, in the Five Elements Theory of Confucianism in the Warring States Period, is people-oriented; In Plato's doctrine of nature, God is the foundation.

Finally, through the comparison of the two works of Yi Da Biography and Metaphysics, we can see the formation of the ideological basis of Chinese philosophy based on people, and the ideological basis of Western philosophy based on nature.

The Great Biography of Yi is a commentary on the Book of Changes by Confucianism in the Warring States Period, which puts forward a relatively complete thought on nature, which can be regarded as the highest synthesis of pre-Qin natural philosophical thought. The core of "Yi Da Biography" is to take heaven and earth as the criterion, as the basis of personnel, it is not only the integration of the natural concept of the unity of heaven and man since the Zhou Dynasty, but also laid the foundation for the Qin and Han dynasties "Heaven and Man Induction Theory".

Metaphysics establishes a system of worldly realms on the basis of the theory of substance, and explains generation and development, the core of which is the purpose as the cause of things. It is not man-centred, but God-centred; It was an extension of the ancient doctrine of souls and eventually combined with Jewish theology to become an important source of Christian theology.

Through these analyses, Hongyi concludes that the most important feature of the pre-Qin view of nature is that man and the natural world are considered to communicate and interconnect with each other, and the will of heaven is pursued by personnel, and the will of heaven is attached to personnel, and the rationalization of nature is based on the practical needs of people, political governance and moral norms, so that the concept of heaven and ethics are integrated into one furnace, and the moral code is enshrined as the principle and purpose of nature; The most important feature of the ancient Greek view of nature is that the natural world is considered to be external to man, and the natural world is closely combined with epistemology through the exploration of the causes and principles of the external world. Furthermore, from the above two tendencies of "emphasizing ethics" and "emphasizing understanding", the basic difference between the Chinese philosophy of later generations and the Western philosophy of "concealing the sky but not knowing man" was born.

But how can these be clearly explained to Zhu Changzuo, Du Duhu and others for a while? Let's listen to Yuri, a "foreign monk"!

(Chapter to be continued)

"A limerick poem. Hidden Head

Reading literature and reading history is only a long breath

I was saying that there was an opportunity back then

The layout is a long-cherished wish

It's hard to come and go

Get up and spend a hundred years

Point out the suffering and diseases of the world

The edge of the town was razed to the sea

Wen'an Wuding tears of joy

[1] Thales, a thinker, scientist, and philosopher in ancient Greece, was the founder of the earliest philosophical school in Greece, the School of Miletus (also known as the Ionian School). One of the Seven Sages of Greece, the first thinker in the history of Western thought to have a name left behind. "The Father of Science and Philosophy", Thales was the first natural scientist and philosopher in ancient Greece and the West. Thales' students include Anaximande, Anaximene, etc.

[2] Heraclitus (c. 530 – 470 BC) was a legendary philosopher and a representative of the Efes school. He was born into a royal family in the city-state of Epès in the Ionian region. He was supposed to inherit the throne, but he gave it up to his brother and went into seclusion near the temple of the goddess Aldimes. It is said that the Persian king Darius once wrote to invite him to teach Greek culture at the Persian court. He is the author of the book "On Nature", and the existing fragments have survived.

[3] Democritus (c. 460 B.C. ~ 370 B.C. or 356 B.C.), the Abdra of ancient Greece, the great materialist philosopher of ancient Greece, one of the founders of the doctrine of atomic materialism (the first to put forward the theory of atomism (all things are made of atoms)) The great Greek philosopher Leucib (c. 500 BC-c. 440 BC) was his mentor.

[4] Primary, ancient Greek. As a philosophical term, the real user is Heraclitus. Thales began to have a philosophical sense, referring to the root or foundation of all things, from which all things arose and to which they can be returned to their commons. (To be continued......)