Chapter 260: Chapter 198: Chen Ke Comes Out of the Mountain, the Birth of a Once-in-a-Century New School: The Learning of the Mind

"Greetings, Prince Huai’an."

Chen Ke, dressed in white robes, said politely with a cupped-fist salute.

"So it’s you, Chen Ke. It’s been a while."

Lu Mingyuan also smiled and invited him in.

"My visit today is rather presumptuous, but I have a doubt in my heart that I had to come and discuss," Chen Ke said with a cupped-fist salute, seeming quite emotional.

After Chen Ke entered the small courtyard, Lu Mingyuan poured him a cup of tea and asked with a smile,

"I heard that last year you resigned from your position as Hanlin Academy Attendant Scholar and returned to the Wenyuan Pavilion to study. Have you had any new insights recently?"

"I am here today for this very reason," Chen Ke said seriously.

"Ever since listening to Your Highness’s ’chicken soup,’ I have had many realizations every day."

"Over the past year, I have read another two hundred thousand volumes in the library, and I have been pondering a question, searching for an answer, but have found nothing. That is why I wished to ask Your Highness to clear my confusion."

Lu Mingyuan grew uncharacteristically serious. He sat up straight and said with a faint smile, "What question?"

"When people come into this world, is their fate preordained and arranged by others from the start, or does it belong to them? For any scholar, when their learning reaches its worldly limit, they inevitably arrive at the four great schools of today, at the Five Confucian Saints. That is an end one cannot see."

"I cannot see that ’One,’ so I am unable to continue my thoughts."

"Looking at the four most popular schools of thought today, none of them can provide an explanation."

Chen Ke explained with extreme solemnity.

"Which are the four schools of thought currently popular in the Confucian Temple?"

Lu Mingyuan asked curiously.

Chen Ke recalled for a moment, then quickly answered, "Strictly speaking, there are three. The Supreme Ancestor Master’s Renxue is the foremost Dao, held in the highest esteem. It serves as the foundational knowledge for all schools and is not counted among them."

"The second most influential today is the Principle Saint lineage. This school is formidable; even the Ren Sheng Lineage must be wary of it. The philosophy of the Li Xue lineage is to ’preserve heavenly principles and extinguish human desires.’ It also demands that scholars be strict with their words and cautious in their actions, emulating the Saints in every move and every word. This lineage has many followers."

"Previously, many Great Scholars in the Kong Family also somewhat revered the Dao of Zhu Xue."

Chen Ke finished describing the first school.

Setting aside Ren Sheng’s teachings, which everyone must learn, the Principle Saint lineage is currently the undisputed number one school.

After all, it is the newest school of thought to be recognized by the Celestial Dao, and all the Dynasties in the world value it highly.

"’Preserve heavenly principles and extinguish human desires?’"

Lu Mingyuan was a little taken aback. He hadn’t expected such a philosophy to be so popular in this world.

But on second thought, it was quite reasonable. After all, schools of thought are cyclical. A philosophy like this was bound to emerge over a few hundred or a few thousand years.

It was an inevitable path.

The concept of "preserving heavenly principles and extinguishing human desires" is incredibly complex. To put it in the simplest terms, it means emulating the Saints in all things, placing moral cultivation first, and following the Saints’ ways no matter what you do.

It established a set of standards for the studies of the Confucian Family.

Anything that followed this standard was considered correct and would not be too far off the mark.

This philosophy itself wasn’t a major issue. There are so many poor scholars in the world, and not every family can have a Library Pavilion. Simplifying knowledge, spreading it, and making it understandable to everyone is a good thing.

But you can’t stop people from misusing it. The most common are the half-baked ones who demand you learn from the Saints, yet they fail to do so themselves. Their understanding is shallow, but that doesn’t stop them from criticizing you.

Within a fixed standard, it genuinely raised the minimum level for many scholars, but it also made it very difficult to break through the upper limits.

Lu Mingyuan believed the Principle Saint’s contribution was similar to Emperor Qin Shi Huang’s standardization of weights and measures. He unified the various schools of thought within the Confucian Temple, defined the scope for the Court’s imperial examinations, and standardized the tests, allowing Confucianism to spread far and wide.

The original intention was good, but as time went on, it could easily devolve into the "eight-legged essay."

Everyone only knew the Saints’ methods but lacked their own thoughts, studying merely for utilitarian purposes.

The above-mentioned types are still manageable—just half-baked dabblers finding fault and damaging others’ reputations.

The most terrifying thing is when you emulate the Saints in all things, you end up in a situation of ’learning for the sake of learning’ and lose your original heart.

In other words, you lose yourself.

However, Lu Mingyuan could somewhat understand why this school had the most followers.

The most popular schools and the simplest principles are often the most controversial.

Since the Principle Saint enabled so many people to read and understand principles, there were bound to be opportunists who would use the Saints’ teachings to do evil, as well as plenty of people who would misinterpret the principles.

"And the third?"

Lu Mingyuan inquired. He had no interest in Li Xue. ’I am who I am, why should I imitate the Saints?’ he thought.

’If a person is outstanding enough on their own, why abide by convention? They can completely break the rules and establish their own system.’

"The third is Ritual Studies—the ’li’ from ’liyi,’ or rites. It is derived from the teachings of the third Saint and requires scholars to understand the Dao of ritual. Their principle is to ’respect rites and music, and order will naturally form.’ They do not like to contend, but prefer to follow the will of heaven and emphasize the Dao of ritual. Its main core is self-cultivation."

Chen Ke said.

Lu Mingyuan was not very familiar with the teachings of the Ritual Saint, but he had heard of them.

In essence, it was about the civilizing influence of a Saint King, the Dao of ritual.

It represented the civilizing influence of the Central Plains Dynasty over the Four Seas. It dictated that one must follow "ritual": as a person, one must respect the old and care for the young; as an official, one must be loyal to the king and love the country. The strong should treat the boundaries of the weak as their own, unlike the Demon Country, where the weak are prey for the strong—a completely different law of survival.

"Ritual Studies seems to have been the mainstream in the early years, right?"

Lu Mingyuan recalled something. Qi Xingyan seemed to be a descendant of the Ritual Saint lineage, as was his beloved wife, Qi Muxue.

"Correct. It was the mainstream two thousand years ago, and all the scholars in the world revered the Dao of ritual. But after the Military Family emerged, Ritual Studies fell into decline."

Chen Ke nodded.

Lu Mingyuan had a sudden realization. ’That’s just what I thought.’ 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

Two thousand years ago, the Dao of ritual was indeed the mainstream in the world. It emphasized wisdom and reason. Even great nations were expected to be reasonable with each other, with ritual as the guiding principle.

Back then, when war broke out, envoys from both countries had to show courtesy to each other on the battlefield. Then, everyone would fight according to procedure. If one side suffered heavy losses and sounded the retreat, the other side had to stop.

They would even send some supplies over to prevent the other side from having problems.

Later, the Military Family appeared. When they went to war, they completely ignored the rules, pressing their advantage, employing deception, launching sneak attacks, using fire, and laying siege. In short, they used any means necessary to win.

As the saying goes, "Warfare is the Dao of deception."

It was precisely because of this that many nations that revered Ritual Studies were destroyed. Over time, the Kings of various countries took a look and thought...

’This philosophy is fatal! It’s fine if everyone is reasonable, but you can’t play the game if you run into someone who isn’t.’

Thus, Ritual Studies instantly declined. However, with the arrival of a prosperous era, it returned to the mainstream. This time, of course, it was a modified version of Ritual Studies, advocating the Dao of ritual among scholars, respect for one’s teachers, family harmony, and the etiquette between ruler and subject.

"Heaven, Earth, Ruler, Parent, Teacher" became the core of Ritual Studies, perfectly suiting political needs, so it was elevated once again. Of course, the Military Family still ignored it, only bringing it out when needed and disregarding it otherwise.

"And the fourth?"

Lu Mingyuan continued to ask.

"The fourth is the school designated by my master, the Wen Sheng, called National Studies. It holds that all studies are equal—calligraphy, music, divination, numerology, medicine, and astrology are all practical fields of knowledge in the Central Plains World and should not be ranked. It advocates for entering officialdom to serve the people."

Chen Ke explained.

Lu Mingyuan understood this one.

This was currently the mainstream way Academies cultivated scholars. No matter how learned a person was, their ability was ultimately limited, and this limitation was mainly due to their status and position.

If a scholar becomes a teacher, even if they teach a hundred students in classes every three years, over a lifetime of, say, sixty years, that’s only two thousand students.

And most of those two thousand students would only reach the stage of literacy.

After all, not everyone is suited to studying Confucianism. They could study other fields instead. One could achieve sainthood through calligraphy, with a brush that moves like dragons and snakes, and become a Saint all the same.

It was quite reasonable that National Studies ranked fourth.

"Are there any others besides these four?"

Lu Mingyuan asked curiously.

Chen Ke nodded. "Yes, but the other schools more or less have their own problems. For example, the School of Diplomacy, the Yin-Yang School, and the School of Agriculture that emerged in recent years are quite varied, but none have been officially recognized by the Confucian Temple. They can only be considered niche."

In Lu Mingyuan’s view, these schools of thought were likely highly sought after in their respective eras.

But with the development of the times, they had undoubtedly fallen behind. Some were eliminated by the era, while others gradually revealed their shortcomings.

These were all very normal phenomena.

"Regarding your question—who a person should listen to upon coming into this world—I’d like to hear your thoughts first," Lu Mingyuan said with a gentle smile.

Chen Ke said in a deep voice, "I believe that a person should follow their own original heart and not be shackled by heavenly principles or established knowledge. It’s just that in all the classics I have reviewed, I cannot find such an explanation. Even the Sub-Saint believed that human nature is inherently good, preordained by heaven."

Lu Mingyuan laughed heartily. "Since there is no such principle in this world, since you have never seen such a school of thought, why don’t you just be bold and create one yourself?"

"When faced with uncertainty, it is not wrong to seek answers in the classics. But the classics do not contain all the principles; you need to think and find the answer yourself. So, from the very beginning, hadn’t you already found the answer?"

Chen Ke said thoughtfully, "When faced with uncertainty... ask one’s own original heart?"

Lu Mingyuan nodded. "That’s right. My mind is principle. I am my original heart."

’My mind is principle!’

Chen Ke felt as if something had pricked his entire body, and he stood up, incredibly agitated.

"Your Highness, I’ve had an epiphany!"

At that moment, dark clouds instantly gathered between heaven and earth, blanketing the sky above the Great Yan Imperial Palace.

A celestial phenomenon occurred once more. Chen Ke’s eyes shone brightly as he said, "Only by putting it into practice can one possess this knowledge. Without action, even if you read many books and learn many theories, you can never truly acquire it. It is precisely because scholars do not follow their own original hearts that they are bound by Li Xue!"

Lu Mingyuan nodded. "It seems you have comprehended the first level of the Learning of the Mind. The road ahead of you is likely still very long."

BOOM!

A storm swept through the Capital City. The scholars of the entire Great Yan Capital City, and indeed the entire Central Plains World, felt something in their hearts and turned their gazes toward the Imperial Capital.

Everyone kneeling outside the Imperial City stared with wide, incredulous eyes at the celestial phenomenon of the Dao Golden Lotus blooming in the sky.

At first, they thought they had moved the heavens and that the Celestial Dao was revealing itself, but upon closer inspection, that was not the case.

It was a legendary great Dao phenomenon.

The last time a phenomenon of this scale was seen, it was because of a Disciple of the Literary Saint.

This time, the power was even greater. Who could have comprehended a great Dao?

「At this moment, in the Jiangling Royal Mansion.」

"This Confucian Golden Lotus phenomenon... could it be that someone has comprehended a new school of thought?"

Standing still in the courtyard, the plain-looking Lu Yunhuang heard an ancient voice, filled with surprise, from within his body.

Lu Yunhuang said in utter astonishment, "This disciple thought that after a hundred years, with the countdown to Reincarnation beginning, no new schools of thought would be born. I never expected there really would be one, and a new school of the great Dao recognized by the Celestial Dao at that?!"

The owner of the ancient voice sensed a threat and said with narrowed eyes, "A supreme new school of thought..."

"This person likely has the bearing of a Saint."

...