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Song Shen Zong's 宋神宗Regret
Some terms are so familiar that people often overlook their special meanings. For example, the term "regret" signifies a kind of sorrow so profound that not even death can easy it.
Song Shen Zong's regrets, same with some other emperors, are entirely the same: they all had certain ideals, plans, but due to the brevity of life and lack of successors, their aspirations were ultimately lost.
Compared to Song Shen Zong, Sun Quan孫權 of the Three Kingdoms era三國時代had much smaller regrets. Sun Quan, dissatisfied with his sons, as they knew only vying for power. He had no choice but personally took up arms and eliminated all his power-seeking sons, leaving only a young son. However, by that time, Sun Quan was old and nearing the end of his life. He was forced to entrust the fate of the country to his youngest son, actually he was handing power over to a group of ignorant women in the deep palace. Allowing such a group of ignorant individuals to wield power against cunning figures like Cao Cao曹操 and Sima Yi司馬懿, Sun Quan was powerless. This is the essence of "regret."
"Regret" is an inevitable product of Confucian politics. The issue with Confucianism is not "lineage" 血統 but "rule by men." 人治 Any one can only hold power for his brief time, and when he pass away, the entire structure will collapse. Properly managed authority had always been impossible. Grand plans constructed by countless wise individuals will collapse at any moment after his life time.人亡政息
Song Shen Zong 宋神宗(Zhao Xu趙頊)'s efforts, compared to Sun Quan孫權, were much larger in scale. With the assistance of Wang Anshi王安石, Shen Zong implemented new policies and reformed the country. However, Wang Anshi's academic background still reflected Confucian thinking, which prevented them from foreseeing the inevitable events that would unfold in a few years. It's like a train heading towards a cliff; anyone wishing to act must do so before the train falls off the edge.
Shen Zong couldn't make things right before the fall. He had spent his life to reform politics. However, after his death, his ten-year-old son, Zhe Zong 哲宗(Zhao Xu趙煦), succeeded him. With a child emperor on the throne, essentially another ignorant woman assumed power—Empress Dowager Gao高太后, Shen Zong's mother.
In this regard, the old party had a much longer-term vision. They had already secured Empress Dowager Gao's高太后 favor through the back door. Therefore, upon Shen Zong's death, Empress Dowager Gao immediately summoned Sima Guang司馬光 back to court and abolished all of Wang Anshi's 王安石new policies.
The Confucian way of thinking has a certain hypnotic effect, causing people to forget that the nation's fate is hurtling along the tracks towards the cliff's edge.
This is the essence of "regret." Liang Qichao梁啟超 said that every time he read the Song Dynasty's history宋史, he couldn't help but feel deep sorrow. He used a more accurate term, "grief," 大慟which goes far beyond mere "regret."
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Addendum 2024:
After Shen Zong's death, the old party of the Song Dynasty immediately returned to power. All of Wang Anshi's new policies were canceled. This is the greatest flaw of traditional Chinese politics: "Any one can hold power, but collapses of his works and even the whole structure he had built are expected "人存政舉，人亡政息
It seems that nothing is permanent. Laws can be changed, constitutions can be amended. Once power changes hands, what was written down becomes empty.
What is eternal?
Can anything only get better and not worse?
Certainly, there is something.
There is a great force beyond human imagination, and that is vitality生命力.
Vitality leads to the destruction of corrupt states and the flourishing of new forces.
However, this great vitality still leaves people with regrets because a cycle may require a long time. Do you think it's easy for a corrupt state to fall? It can only be awaited with countless tears. It takes 500 years for another spring to come, which is too long.
If the universe's vitality is our final safeguard, then what other guarantees do we have?
How can we protect ourselves from decay?
Can we do it sooner?
Can we avoid the disaster that comes once every 500 years?
It is possible.
There is one more thing beyond laws, political systems, and even bank deposits.
Laws can be changed, politics and economics can change, and bank deposits are just virtual electronic numbers. Once a person dies, it all goes back to zero.
Chinese people say it returns to heaven.
It means you have to give up. Letting go and leaving everything to the universal force of vitality to handle.
In fact, there is no need to give up.
If you realize that the great vitality of the universe is actually "the heart," then everything becomes clear.
As long as the heart is present, good politics won't perish.
So do not let go.
Do not waste your energy on virtual numbers and external businesses.
Keep up with the human heart is to embrace the future!
Of course, numbers must be grasped tightly. But the prerequisite is to grasp the heart first.
Where there is a heart, there is a person. Where there is a person, there is business.
If the heart is not there, everything returns to zero.
All practical matters in the world are easy to handle. Where there are people, things are easy to accomplish!
Only the heart is the one that commands everything.
Do not let routine businesses command you. Do not be a slave to your work.
With the heart, there are people to employ. Employ your people with their tools, for example, AI or BI.
Using the heart to use tools is the greatest principle.
Wang Anshi was mainly focused on works. He was working tirelessly, and the only result was that Sima Guang司馬光 and his book, the so called "Comprehensive Mirror to Aid in Governing", was returning to the power.
Those without a heart can only weep in the void and wait for anothet five hundred years of cycles.
And sometimes I do have a second thought. Could the heart be that useful? Yes, because heart is not individual. Heart could be linked up into networks. Networks can grow. A strong mind-network can last thousands of years. And it is not easy to deteriorate so long if it is honest, noble and selfless .
Humans are governed by mind networks. It is proved by history. Mind networks are much stronger than any written documents.
Important is to build a mind for the future.
宋神宗有何遺憾？
(問到底 No.7001 2008 0414 Monday)有的名詞太熟悉，往往使人忽略了其中的特殊意義。例如「遺憾」一詞，就是說：某種哀傷，是這
樣的重大，連死亡也不能帶走。
宋神宗的遺憾，是跟若干中國皇帝的遺憾，完全一樣的：都是有某種理想，某種策劃，但因為生命短促，後繼無人，而付諸流水。
三國時代的孫權，他的遺憾比起宋神宗，就是太渺小了。孫權因為幾個兒子爭權，十分不滿，因此親自起兵，把爭權奪利的兒子殺光了，只餘下一位幾歲大的幼子。但這時候，孫權也老了，不久人世了。被迫把國家命運，交給幼子，其實，即是交給了深宮中的一群無知婦女手中。就讓這樣的一群無知者掌握權力，對付像曹操、司馬懿，這樣的奸雄。但孫權也無能為力了。這就是「遺憾」。
而「遺憾」是儒家政治的必然產品。儒家的問題，不是「血統」，而是「人治」。人存政舉，人亡政息，無法妥善安排權力，無數賢智之士辛苦經營的大局，
隨時會因為一個人的離世，全盤傾瀉。
宋神宗（趙頊）的努力，跟孫權相比，規模大得多。宋神宗得王安石之助，推行新法，改革國家。但是，王安石的學術背景，仍是儒家思維。這使他們無
法預料，幾年後就必定會發生的事情。這好比一列開往懸崖的列車，任何人要想有甚麼作為，就必須要在那列車摔下懸崖之前做妥。
神宗就是無法在摔下去之前做妥他想做的事。他一生都想改革政治。但是，他死後，繼位的是十歲大的幼子哲宗（趙煦）。兒童皇帝即位，換言之，即是另一位無知婦人即位，那是高太后，是神宗之母。
而這方面，反對新政的舊黨，眼光長遠得多。他們早已從後門上車，早已得到高太后的歡心。所以，神宗一死，高太后立即召司馬光回朝，所有王安石的
新政，一律廢除。*
儒家的思維方式，有某種催眠作用，使人忘記了：
國家大局是在奔向懸崖的車軌中前進的。
這就是「遺憾」。梁啟超說，他每次閱讀宋史，都不由得悲哀大慟。他用了一個更加準確的「慟」字。那是遠遠超乎「遺憾」之上的大悲哀。
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(本文第一次貼出日期： 2008.4. 13 香港時間： 5:50 pm)
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