- [Foreword]
Confucianism emphasizes that the king and his ministers should be lawful and self-sufficient, and be loyal to the king and serve the country.
Under the influence of Confucianism, the concepts of scholars, farmers, industry and commerce were deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.
Many people believe that only by becoming an official can they change their destiny and achieve their ideal life. Therefore, under the influence of Confucianism, groups of students often emerge in society who are crazy about pursuing high-ranking officials and rich salaries.
It’s not just China, Japan is also learning Confucian culture .
But among the many Japanese who study Confucianism, a Japanese thinker and Confucian researcher named Fukuzawa Yukichi said without scruple: "A country where everyone wants to be an official cannot be strong."
Fukuzawa Yukichi Why do you say that? As a Confucian student, why did he suddenly abandon the concepts he had studied for many years?
- [Growing up under the constraints of family and society]
Fukuzawa Yukichi is a famous Japanese scholar, educator, and the first militarism theorist. Someone once said of him: He relied on his sharp tongue and the pen of a scholar to promote social enlightenment.
The fact that the Japanese have printed his face on the 10,000-yuan banknotes with the largest face value is enough to show how much the Japanese respect him.
But in China, many people hate him deeply. Because it was him who indirectly led to the war of aggression against China, leaving corpses everywhere and wailing incessantly. Today, let’s talk about his story.
Although Yukichi Fukuzawa had a profound influence on Japan, at the beginning, he was just an unknown figure.
He was born in a low-level samurai family in Osaka, Japan in 1835, and was the youngest son in the family.
At that time, Japan vigorously advocated learning Chinese Confucian culture in order to rule better. Fukuzawa Yukichi's father believed in Confucianism very much. Even Fukuzawa Yukichi's name is related to Confucianism.
When Fukuzawa Yukichi was born, his father happened to get the "Ordinance of the Imperial Order" that had been missing before. So, his father was so excited that he simply named him Fukuzawa Yukichi based on the title of the book.
However, although Fukuzawa Yukichi's father was a loyal Confucian scholar and had a good understanding of Confucian culture, he was never reused and remained a low-level samurai with an extremely humble social status at the time.
And this is related to the social environment and customs at that time. Japan has been deeply influenced by the Central Plains culture since the Tang Dynasty. After that, Japan's hierarchical system became more and more strict. In the context of strict feudal ethics and officialdom system, many people are eager to change their destiny by becoming an official. If you don't become an official, you will have to live at the bottom of society and be exploited all your life.
Therefore, becoming an official is almost the only way for them to change their destiny.
But many people often fail to successfully enter official careers throughout their lives.
Fukuzawa Yukichi’s father is one of them.
The difference from ordinary people at the bottom is that if you are born in a bureaucratic family, you can still have enough food and clothing, and enjoy all the glory and wealth even if you do nothing. The sharp contrast and oppression of this level made Fukuzawa Yukichi feel deeply.
When Fukuzawa Yukichi was two years old, his father died of illness. At this time, the Confucian family tradition left by his father has not dissipated. Fukuzawa Yukichi's eldest brother is another carbon copy of his father, who attaches great importance to the study of Confucianism.
Under the influence of his family environment, Fukuzawa Yukichi also began to study Confucianism at an early age. Due to the strict hierarchical system at that time and Fukuzawa Yukichi was not the eldest son, he could not inherit even the meager family property.
In order to change his destiny, he began to desperately acquire knowledge.
In terms of learning, Fukuzawa Yukichi has shown extremely high learning talent and strong understanding ability. Although he has to work part-time jobs to make ends meet after school, his grades are still far ahead of other children.
Because of the hardships of life in his childhood, Fukuzawa Yukichi witnessed the hardships of the lower class people's lives since he was a child. He also had the idea of anti-feudalism in his heart because of the oppression and shackles of his family and society.
This can be easily seen from some things.
When Fukuzawa Yukichi was about 12 or 13 years old, one day, as soon as he walked into the house, he was severely scolded by his furious elder brother. Just because he accidentally stepped on the waste paper that his elder brother had laid out on the ground. The waste paper was extraordinary, and one of them happened to have the name of Master Pan "Oppei Daizen Taifu" written on it.
Because of the hierarchical thinking that has been instilled since childhood, "Fukuzawa Yukichi stepped directly on it" is obviously a sign of great disrespect.
As a result, Fukuzawa Yukichi's eldest brother angrily scolded him for "violating the ways of a retainer."
Fukuzawa Yukichi knew his elder brother's temper. In order to put an end to the trouble, he immediately bowed his head and admitted his mistake. He did a very good job of saving face.
Yukichi Fukuzawa believes that if stepping on King Pan’s name is a sin and will result in evil retribution, what will happen if it is the name of God that is stepped on? So, he secretly stepped on the talisman. Naturally, nothing happened and no retribution occurred. After
, Fukuzawa Yukichi also secretly changed the divine body enshrined in the shrine. When he saw a group of good men and women faithfully worshiping the false god, he snickered in the dark.
Yukichi Fukuzawa’s “rebellion and immorality” goes far beyond this.
- ["A country where everyone wants to be an official cannot be strong"]
Fukuzawa Yukichi's behavior of "hating the feudal system, mocking superstition, and criticizing the feudal system at that time" seemed very "bold" at the time.
In the strict social environment at that time, many ordinary people had to cover their faces with towels at night if they wanted to go shopping. Otherwise, you will be ridiculed and bullied.
Fukuzawa Yukichi was very disgusted with this. He believes that when you spend your own money to buy things openly, there is no need to be secretive, and he is not inferior to others. So no matter day or night, Fukuzawa Yukichi not only did not cover his face with a towel when he went out on the street, he also wore two knives on his waist and walked on the street with his head held high.
Later, when Fukuzawa Yukichi came of age, he had been studying hard and became a well-known sinologist.
Unlike traditional Confucian scholars, Fukuzawa Yukichi's thoughts have already changed. He felt more and more clearly that some uninformed but high-ranking peers were wantonly bullying and exploiting poor students like them. He realized sadly and angrily that in that society, a person's fate was already determined as soon as he was born. Ministers are ministers, and soldiers are soldiers.
Fukuzawa Yukichi had heard about his father's experience for a long time, and he was even more annoyed by the current situation. He said angrily: "The clan system is my father's enemy."
This shows that Fukuzawa Yukichi has a deep hatred for the clan system. Deeply disgusted.
Because of this, he wanted to escape even more.
In order to find his own way of life, Fukuzawa Yukichi began to seek development elsewhere. During this period, he gradually abandoned the Confucianism he had been studying before. He realized: "The reason why a country can be independent is because its citizens have an independent heart. If everyone wants to be an official and the whole country is full of the same old official style, then the country cannot be strong no matter what."
Just imagine it , if everyone rushes to become an official and dives into the Four Books and Five Classics to learn the dull eight-part essay , it will indeed be detrimental to the long-term development of the country. Fukuzawa Yukichi had studied Confucian culture without sleep or food, and he was very aware of its bad habits and shortcomings. This was reflected to a certain extent in "the demise of the Qing Dynasty and the humiliating modern history."
In order to change the status quo, Fukuzawa Yukichi came to Nagasaki, the only country that trades with the Dutch, and learned the Dutch language while working.
At that time, "Western Studies" was also called " Orchid Studies ". Through the study of Orchid Studies, Fukuzawa Yukichi began to understand Western culture.With Yukichi Fukuzawa's determination to change the status quo, he soon became the leader among his peers in studying Orchidology.
However, Fukuzawa Yukichi seems particularly conceited about his progress.
In 1858, the international situation was strange, and the feudal system of the Tokugawa Shogunate took a turn for the worse. King Pan tried to study the academic and international situation to defend himself. In this context, Fukuzawa Yukichi was invited to teach Orchidology.
And this was a huge blow to the proud and conceited Fukuzawa Yukichi.
It turns out that at that time, trade treaties were signed with the great powers, and Yokohama became one of the treaty ports, mostly trading with foreigners. For this reason, when Fukuzawa Yukichi came to Yokohama, he found that he didn't recognize the store's signboards or the labels of the goods. For him, who had always been complacent, this was like a bolt from the blue.
After this incident, Fukuzawa Yukichi realized that the orchid learning he had studied hard for many years was in vain, and he began to grit his teeth and learn English. Because he could not find a suitable teacher, he and a friend studied hard together with the only blue shadow chess dictionary and secretary.
It is precisely because of this that it brought him an opportunity to go to the United States.
Half a year later, Fukuzawa Yukichi was recommended by a friend and seized the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to follow the shogunate envoy to the United States. That trip to the United States shocked Fukuzawa Yukichi. He was shocked by the relatively advanced civilization of the United States at that time.
When he returned to China, Fukuzawa Yukichi brought back a Webster's Dictionary. This was also the first time such a dictionary was imported in Japan. However, because he was in a hurry, he did not have enough opportunities to visit and study.
In the second year after returning to China, Fukuzawa Yukichi was once again sent to Europe as an envoy. This time going abroad had a very important impact on Fukuzawa Yukichi's thoughts.
After coming to Europe, Fukuzawa Yukichi was very curious about the various local policies and economic systems. He paid attention to the postal service, the conscription constitution, hospital operations, etc. At the same time, he made detailed records of his observations in Europe, and then compiled them. In 1866, he completed "The Preliminary Collection of Western Affairs". It was this book that awakened countless feudal and ignorant Japanese people, and was of extremely important significance to the subsequent development of Japan and the policies of the Meiji Restoration .
And Yukichi Fukuzawa also became the first person in Japan to open his eyes to the world.
After that, Fukuzawa Yukichi and other new intellectuals formed the "Meirokusha ", a group with ideological enlightenment significance. They publish publications to get close to some advanced ideas and promote democracy, freedom, and equality.
Later, due to government suppression, Mingliu Society was later forced to disband.
However, Fukuzawa Yukichi, who was eager to change the current situation in Japan at that time, was still active on the road to ideological enlightenment. In addition to publishing publications, he also participated in various social activities to criticize Japan's backward status quo at that time and pointed out the urgency of change.
Yukichi Fukuzawa has publicly stated many times that the first priority for change is not to purchase weapons in large quantities, but to develop education. In order to develop education in Japan and improve the quality of the people, he published " Encouraging Learning Chapter " to encourage learning; he also encouraged people to start new businesses and be independent...
For all these reasons, Fukuzawa Yukichi is very prestigious in Japan.
Even later, the Japanese government sent him many invitations to become an official, but he refused without exception.
This has puzzled many people. In fact, the answer has already been clearly laid out in front of the Japanese people. Yukichi Fukuzawa has emphasized many times that the independence of a country requires every citizen to have an independent consciousness. If everyone in a country wants to be an official, then the country will not be strong.
This statement looks good, but it also hides some hidden dangers. At that time, some militarists used the independent ideas he promoted to promote Japan's external expansion.
But it cannot be said that he was completely used, because he himself also strongly agreed with foreign aggression.After Japan's Meiji Restoration, he wrote more than 40 articles advocating the invasion of China in nearly two decades, forcibly linking civilization with the invasion of China, and promoting the idea of the weak eating the strong.
is more than that, Fukuzawa Yukichi even proposed a corresponding plan. He proposed that Japan invade and occupy North Korea, annex Taiwan, occupy the three northeastern provinces of China, and finally plant the Japanese flag on the top of Beijing. It can be said that it is Fukuzawa Yukichi's long-cherished wish to "plant the Japanese flag on Chinese soil and let it fly so that the Japanese people can be satisfied."
Various actions of Fukuzawa Yukichi have made countless people hate him and make him angry.
- Summary
Yukichi Fukuzawa, as the first person in Japan to open his eyes to the world, brought advanced ideas to Japan.
However, discussions about him have always been divided.
Some Japanese people believe that he played an important role in the ideological enlightenment of Japan, and some Japanese people believe that he led to militarism. To the Chinese people, he was a despicable promoter of war, but it is undeniable that, apart from him as a person, some of his ideas were actually very progressive and very helpful to China at that time.
was not only used at that time, but also had certain positive significance for today's society.
Just like his famous point of view - "A country where everyone wants to be an official cannot be strong."
What do you think of this?
