Chapter 40: Serve the Human Race
Chapter 40: Chapter 40: Serve the Human Race
"Confucianism?"
Zhu Ge was taken aback for a moment, then his expression turned serious.
He looked at the others, and each of them wore a curious expression.
They always heard about the Confucian Dao, but what exactly was "Confucianism"?
In reality, they didn’t know the difference between paths like "Immortal" or "Martial" either. However, since the Master and Yu the Scholar were the closest practitioners they knew, they were most interested in the Confucian path.
"The character for ’Confucian’ is written like this."
Zhu Ge used a wooden stick to write the character on the ground.
’In my previous life, the character for ’Confucian’ was standardized back in the Han Dynasty. It didn’t change even with the advent of simplified characters. Even in its ancient seal script form, it was a combination of the radicals for ’person’ and ’need’.’
Therefore, the most fundamental conclusion was...
"Confucianism is that which is needed by people!"
Zhu Ge said solemnly, "This part means ’person,’ and this part means ’need.’ Therefore, the Confucian Dao is the path that the Human Race needs."
"And what does the Human Race need?"
"When war comes, what people need is sacrifice and protection."
"In times of peace, securing the well-being of the Human Race and solving the problems of its survival and development—that is what is needed by people."
"It is the integrity to die with the enemy, to rather be a shattered jade than an intact tile."
"It is willingly bowing down to serve the people like a humble ox, treating the common folk around you as the highest priority."
"In short, to truly comprehend the Confucian Dao, you must understand what people need."
Zhu Ge’s gaze was solemn as he made eye contact with each person.
"If you twist ’what people need’ into a tool for your own advancement, a method for your own profit, then you become a corrupt scholar who clings to life and fears death. The Human Race has absolutely no need for such a person, and therefore, such a person will never be able to ascend to the Great Dao."
Confucianism!
Whether it was the benevolence of Confucius or the righteousness of Mencius, both were normal, highly sophisticated schools of Confucian thought.
Unfortunately, as more people tried to take opportunistic shortcuts, the study of Confucianism became muddled, and its reputation was gradually tarnished.
’But thankfully, this isn’t my previous life. The doctrines of corrupt scholars haven’t yet appeared in this world.’
Judging by the conduct of the Master and Yu the Scholar, the current Confucian Dao was a genuine, powerful Great Dao, possessing considerable combat strength without having become corrupt or rigid.
There were many Confucian practitioners in the world who had sacrificed themselves to save the people of the Human Race, and many who, like the Master and Yu the Scholar, protected their own corner of the world.
No one spent their days spouting classical platitudes, nor did anyone engage in empty talk and pointless debates. Everyone was heading in a pragmatic direction.
Therefore, Zhu Ge had to do his best to plant a seed in their minds, to keep them from growing crooked.
"What people need, what people need..." A faint white light flickered in Yu the Scholar’s eyes, similar to when he had gone all out against the Fungus God.
The other four also showed expressions of sudden understanding.
Seeing the light in Yu the Scholar’s eyes, Zhu Ge couldn’t help but think of the term "sudden enlightenment."
’Could he be about to have a breakthrough?’ Zhu Ge was delighted at the thought.
Only Ji Fuhui’s eyes were darting around.
"What people need?" Little Black Egg Ji Fuhui scratched his head. "People need to shit and piss. Is that part of the Confucian Dao too?"
When Ji Fuhui was a child, he ran around the terraces every day, getting tanned completely black by the sun, which was how he got the nickname Little Black Egg.
Little Black Egg was the most mischievous troublemaker as a child, and as he grew up, his thinking remained just as erratic and unconventional.
The question he now asked stunned the others, who had just been on the verge of some insight.
Even the light in Yu the Scholar’s eyes dimmed and disappeared.
"What nonsense are you spouting!" Big Belly Dog Duan Lei punched Ji Fuhui on the shoulder. "If you don’t get it, just keep your mouth shut!"
Everyone had just seen Yu the Scholar on the brink of enlightenment, only for Little Black Egg to go and ruin the moment.
"But I really have a question!" Ji Fuhui was thinner than Duan Lei. He clutched his arm in pain from the punch and said aggrievedly:
"I want to shit and piss, I want to eat and drink my fill, and I want to find a wife. Aren’t these things people need, too? Don’t you want them?"
At these words, Duan Lei also grew a little confused. He scratched his head sheepishly, then looked toward Zhu Ge with a foolish grin.
Yu the Scholar also shook his head and sighed. "This is indeed my question as well. Zhu Ge, do you have an explanation?"
Zhu Ge wasn’t bothered by this at all and said with a smile, "Clothing, food, shelter, transportation... eating, drinking, shitting, pissing... marriage... How could these things not be part of the Confucian Dao?"
As his words fell, everyone was shocked.
"Those filthy things are also part of the Confucian Dao?" Ji Fuhui was dumbfounded. "Doesn’t that mean I’m studying the Confucian Dao every single day?"
"No, what you are practicing is the way of being human," Zhu Ge said, shaking his head with a smile. "Those are the things people need. The Confucian Dao is about *solving* the problems related to those needs."
"In ancient times, Cangjie invented writing, solving our need for linguistic communication. Therefore, he is a saint of the Human Race."
"Lai Zu raised silkworms and unreeled their cocoons, Yu the Great tamed the floods and dredged the rivers, and Shennong tasted a hundred herbs—all of them solved the needs of our Human Race. Are they not saints as well?"
These legends weren’t much different between his two lives; they were stories everyone knew, passed down by word of mouth.
"Little Black Egg, look. There aren’t many of us here, but we still have a lot of accumulated waste and sewage. If one day you were to solve this problem, do you think the countless masses would be grateful to you?"
Zhu Ge smiled and turned to Duan Lei.
"Big Belly Dog, if one day you were to solve the problem of food shortages, do you think the people of the world would praise you as ’Saint Duan’ whenever they mentioned your name?"
"Don’t think that the Confucian Dao is only found in books."
"The Confucian Dao is in the terraced fields, under the eaves of our homes, and In the Human Heart."
"To sum it up, it’s just a few words..."
"Serve the Human Race!"
After he finished speaking, the group had another moment of realization.
"The problem of food... rice paddies..." Duan Lei’s eyes shone with excitement.
"There must be so many people in the world who don’t have enough to eat, just like me! If I could solve that problem, think of how many people would be freed from that suffering!"
"Yeah, yeah!" Ji Fuhui nodded vigorously. "And if we didn’t have to dig latrine pits anymore, and the pits didn’t stink, imagine how peacefully I could sleep! And I wouldn’t have fallen into one when I was a kid."
Sui Niang gently stroked her daughter’s head and sighed. "I don’t think about much else, but if I had the great Saint Shennong’s abilities, my own mother might not have died from her illness."
Xianxian, however, looked at Zhu Ge. "Brother Zhu is my Confucianism! Brother Zhu saved me and my mom!"
Zhu Ge smiled at her words, then patted Xianxian’s head. "Good girl, Xianxian."
He looked at the group, very satisfied.
Clearly, they had understood his words in an instant.
After all, if they put themselves in others’ shoes, they knew they would be incredibly grateful to anyone who solved these problems for them one day.
Then Zhu Ge looked at Yu the Scholar. Seeing an even stronger and gentler light beginning to glow in the depths of his eyes, he breathed a sigh of relief.
’It looks like Yu the Scholar might have a breakthrough because of this.’
"So, the Confucian Dao isn’t just found in books."
The one with the deepest realization was, in fact, Yu the Scholar. "No matter how perfectly you write your characters, no matter how elegant or exquisite your words, none of it compares to the people on this earth."
He looked at the Jianshan Terraces Notebook in his hand, then at the crooked characters Zhu Ge had scrawled in the dirt.
Thinking back on his own rigid teaching methods, a slight smile touched the corners of his mouth.
"Master, it turns out we were on the wrong path." He closed his eyes, a tear seeming to trace a path from the corner, and the book in his hand slipped and fell to his feet.
The next moment, a wave of aura pulsed from within him.
"So this is the Second Realm of the Confucian Dao: the Scholar."
"A Scholar must be strong and resolute, for his burden is heavy... and his path is long..."