This question was particularly tricky.
The members of the Ancient Text School either fidgeted with the edges or indents of the desk, or furrowed their brows, unable to retaliate for a long time.
Xu Yanmiao had a sudden idea and nudged the Ministry of War’s assistant: “Can I somehow prove that Xunzi didn’t quote from the
Ancient Texts of the Book of Documents
because he had never heard of it?”
The Ministry of War assistant thought for a moment: “Well, I can prove that the
Ancient Texts of the Book of Documents
was well-known, and if Xunzi hadn’t heard of it, then he must have been ignorant. From there, I’ll argue that your theory is built on the idea that Xunzi was ignorant.”
Xu Yanmiao widened his eyes.
The assistant became more enthusiastic: “If you’re pinned with that view, then you won’t be able to use any of Xunzi’s ideas in future debates. He’s ignorant, so any arguments he made are certainly open to refutation. Although I haven’t found any yet, I don’t need to search anymore because you just admitted that Xunzi was ignorant!”
—Using their own weapon against them.
Xu Yanmiao, the debate novice, suddenly realized.
[So this is just being a contrarian!]
He had an epiphany.
[So a debate is just two contrarians firing at each other!]
—And then he went on and on in his mind, anyway, the entire court already knew what “contrarian” meant.
Old Text School:
Exactly! The Modern Literature School is just full of contrarians!
New Text School:
What, can’t we call others contrarians just because we can’t win?
New Text School taunted:
“So, have you come up with a way to prove it? Stop struggling, the
Ancient Texts of the Book of Documents
is a forgery.”
The members of the Old Text School’s mouths tightened, and they began to sweat despite the cold winter.
Qian Yizhang pondered for a moment, his mind seemingly flipping through pages of books, looking for that single phrase to make a counterargument.
“Xunzi said, ‘The purpose of the book is to record government affairs; the purpose of poetry is to stop in the middle of sound; the purpose of rituals is to be the fundamental division of laws and categories.’”
He really found something.
“Poetry refers to the
Book of Songs
; ritual refers to the
Book of Rites
; thus, books refer to the
Book of Documents
. Xunzi uses the
Book of Documents
to record political matters, while ‘the danger of the human heart, the subtlety of the way’ expresses the idea that ‘the human heart should always be vigilant, and the way should be nurtured with subtlety,’ which relates to nature and character, not politics. Thus, Xunzi naturally would cite the
Tao Te Ching
, which is about nature and character, not the
Book of Documents
, which records political affairs…”
Qian Yizhang spoke fluently.
Now it was the New Text School’s turn to be refuted.
And the members of the Old Text School cheered for the master: “Exactly! That’s it! Lord Qian is truly a genius! Lord Qian is so learned! Lord Qian brings glory to ancient literature!”
Old Text School
: “I still have one question. The
Ancient Texts of the Book of Documents
mentions that the Yellow River flows over the Ji Shi mountain, and the person who uncovered the
Ancient Texts of the Book of Documents
made an annotation stating that the Ji Shi mountain is located to the southwest of Jincheng, where the river passes. However, Jincheng was established after the person’s death. How could they know the name of the county after their death?”
The members of the Old Text School began to sweat from their foreheads.
Qian Yizhang: “The person who uncovered the
Ancient Texts of the Book of Documents
was a descendant of Confucius. In the
Confucian Anthology
it says, ‘The teachings of the ancient sages were handed down through the family… we have studied them generation after generation.’ Some even call the
Book of Documents
the Confucian tradition. Since it has been passed down for generations, it is only natural that the name of Jincheng would be mentioned by later generations!”
New Text School:
“I still have one question…”
Qian Yizhang: “This question is absurd, let me prove it with one statement…”
New Text School
: “I still have one question…”
Qian Yizhang: “I have an answer…”
New Text School
: “I have one more question…”
Qian Yizhang: “And I have another answer…”
Old Text School
: “I still have…”
Qian Yizhang: “I also have…”
The members of the Old Text School couldn’t get a word in.
Other than the truly sharp-witted Lord Qian, they were all used to debating using the New Text theories and points, so they were temporarily unable to come up with the right evidence to counter with ancient texts.
But it was fine, they had learned something from Xu Yanmiao that was just right for them.
Lord Qian: “To say that King Wen never changed the era name and used this to attempt to disprove the
Ancient Texts of the Book of Documents
is simply a fabrication. Listen to the historical records…”
Xu Yanmiao:
[Exactly!]
Members of the Old Text Schooll: “Exactly!”
Lord Qian: “Talking about the
Ancient Texts of the Book of Documents
being lost during the Yongjia rebellion, the
Chronicles of the Emperors
says that Taibao Gong used ancient texts to teach Fufeng’s Su Yu… and the
Records of the Confucian Scholars
mentions their transmission… and the
Book of Documents’ Correct Exegesis
says… with historical records… After four hundred years, finally, it was… you people are distorting the facts, do you think my memory is poor?”
Xu Yanmiao:
[Wow! Master is amazing! The battle of wits with the scholars!]
Members of the Ancient Literature School: “Exactly!”
Lord Qian: “You are nitpicking…”
Xu Yanmiao:
[Master is awesome!]
Members of the Ancient Literature School: “Exactly!”
[But what’s the significance of the Ancient Literature School members flipping sides? Watching Lord Qian easily take on the Modern Literature School—are they going to pull back?]
Members of the Ancient Literature School: “Exactly…”
…Hmm? Were they just scolded?
Lord Qian: “You Modern Literature people shouldn’t push your luck…”
Xu Yanmiao:
[Tsk tsk, don’t they feel ashamed? A group of people totally unable to match an 86-year-old elder!]
“…” Forget it! Let them scold! At least Xu Yanmiao is on our side!
The members of the Old Text School continued to cheer: “Exactly!”
The New Text School, thoroughly defeated, could only hold on miserably.
Seeing that the Old Text School members could just blindly follow their master, the New Text School became both angry and aggrieved.
—They also had masters! But their master was probably still on the way back to the capital! And even when he arrived, he’d probably first have to see his unfortunate nephew, the Prince, who had just been imprisoned. There was no way he would catch up.
So frustrating!
“You guys just keep saying ‘exactly’!” The New Text people angrily protested. “Can’t we just get back at you?”
“A bunch of echoers, it’s a shame to be in the same court with you!”
The Old Text School members were momentarily speechless, unable to say anything in agreement.
And Xu Yanmiao…
The voice of the onlookers was especially loud:
[Exactly!]
Old Text School
: “…”
Whose side are you really on?!