Where did the concept of "Fengtian" come from? On the "Destiny View" in the Western Zhou Dynasty

The reason why Zhou people were able to replace Shang dynasty as the new leader of hundreds of countries at that time with far fewer people and far less strength than merchants was closely related to Zhou people's "great fortune" and their philosophy in the process of starting from Shang dynasty to stabilizing political power and sealing princes. This concept of Zhou people is simply the concept of impermanence of destiny, respecting morality and protecting the people, and is full of sense of hardship, which is collectively called Zhou people's "destiny" concept. The starting point of Zhou people's world outlook: destiny is impermanent. In Historical Records, Sima Qian recorded the same story in different places, telling the story of his great-grandfather's Wuyi, who arrogantly wanted to be the enemy of heaven, so he found someone to play "Heaven". After that man lost (of course, he didn't dare to win), Wu Yi killed that man, which means he killed Tian. Not only that, martial arts hangs a bloody skin high on a branch, and then shoots it with a bow and arrow, that is, "shooting into the sky." As a result, while hunting on the Weihe Plain, Wuyi was hacked to death by lightning on a sunny day (historians speculated that it was probably killed by Zhou people). "Emperor Wuyi has no choice. He is a puppet and is called a god. With it, it makes people do it. It's a pity that the gods are invincible. It is called' shooting the sky' to hide the skin, congestion and pride. " Wuyi was hunting in Weihe River and Weihe River, and was struck by lightning. Wuyi was electrocuted. From this story, we can at least see that the contradiction between Zhou people and businessmen is not simply because they were imprisoned, but at least in the great-grandfather generation, that is, Wuyi, the contradiction between the two sides has been "not * * * in the belief level." The Zhou people who shot at the sun in Wuyi formed a set of their own unique beliefs about "fate" long before the Shang Dynasty. The gods believed by Zhou people and merchants were the highest and only gods among many superstitions at that time, but the "gods" of merchants were the "personality gods" who were detached from the world but were keen to intervene in personnel, while the "heaven" of Zhou people was the "natural sky" that people could see when they looked up, which kept a distance from and dominated the world. In the view of Zhou people, the change of dynasties is determined by destiny, that is, providence, which is impermanent. It can not only take care of the former Xia people, but also transfer this care from Xia people to businessmen. Now, Zhou people have learned many times through divination that fate will be transferred from businessmen to Zhou people. Zhou, destiny always ... Yi Guan Yin, your life is not easy! Life is hard-won and unrestrained. Xuanzhaoyi asked, echoing from the sky. God's burden is silent and tasteless. I am the king of punishment, and all the people are fu. -The Book of Songs "The Portrait of the King of Wen" clearly expresses the viewpoint of "impermanence of destiny", and the obedience of merchants' descendants to Zhou people is the embodiment of "impermanence of destiny". Zhou people thus warned their own people to learn from the Yin people like King Wen and conform to their destiny. Always remember that fate is not immutable. "alas! Your child is sealed, but his life is not eternal. You saw it! Nobody appreciates it. "Ming is smooth, Gao is smooth, and Kang is good for the people." -"Shang Shu Kang Patent" As can be seen from the above warning of the Duke of Zhou to Kang Shu, Zhou people not only declared that "the destiny is impermanent", but also earnestly warned their own people that "the destiny not only helps our family name" and asked Kang Shu to keep it in mind at all times. It is precisely for this reason that many emperors in later generations should start with "Feng Tian Yun" to show their destiny when issuing government decrees. The "standard" of destiny transformation: the view that virtue is "impermanent destiny" is obviously a double-edged sword, which not only shows the rationality of Zhou people replacing businessmen, but also shows that destiny can not protect Zhou people forever and will definitely leave Zhou people like businessmen in the future. In the literature, we can see that Zhou people think that the reason why Destiny left the merchants and came to them is the same as that why Destiny left the Xia people and came to the merchants. It was because the kings of these two dynasties gradually lost their virtue in the process of keeping their destiny, so that the sky could not stand it, so they abandoned them. "I heard that in the past, Yin Xianzhe was afraid of the rising king, and good for evil. As for Di Yi, he made his own soup salty, but Wang was afraid of imperial affairs, but he was respectful and did not dare to admire himself. How dare he drink? The more he takes foreign clothes, the more he takes domestic ones. A hundred servants are gentle and elegant, and only take the residents of Zonggong, and dare not indulge in wine. Not only did I dare not, but I was at a loss ... I only heard of Yue, and I will be the heir to the king in the future. I was drunk and lost my life, which was useless to the people, and it was even more difficult to protect my grievances. It's not easy sex ... it's just wine, not self-interest, but escape. This is a terrible heart disease, so you can't be afraid of death ... so, the sky is mourning for Yin and doesn't love Yin, so run away. The sky is not abused, and the people will recover quickly. " -"Shangshu Jiugao" The above general idea is that the sages of the Shang Dynasty are all afraid of fate, people, and implement moral policies. From Tang Cheng to the first place, I can control my own destiny well, and I dare not and have no time to indulge in wine. Until Shang Zhouwang, I thought my fate was always there, so I was addicted to wine and refused to listen to advice, and even ignored people's lives. Therefore, "Heaven loses me in Yin" is not cruel, but the crime and punishment incurred by Yin people themselves. Zhou Wang indulged in debauchery. In other early documents, Duke Zhou repeatedly mentioned the issue of "matching heaven with virtue", such as: "I left Tudor in Yin, but I died in Yin. I have the life of Zhou You, and I will be punished by the king, and I will be the emperor in the end ... unless my small country dares to swim in the life of Yin. Only the sky doesn't allow me to mess around, how can I dare to find a position? Only the emperor is not jealous, only I am obedient to the people, but I am afraid of dawn. " -"Shangshu Daozi" said that it is disrespectful to heaven, and the disaster is on Yin. If it weren't for God's help to Zhou people, how could Zhou people dare to seek a position without authorization? Because there is a great fate falling from the sky, we should be in awe. "Similar warnings also appear in the titles of Shangshu, such as Duofang, Gao Kang and Zhao Gao, all of which warn the rulers and their ruling groups. Only by respecting morality and cultivating oneself can the destiny guarantee the long-term rule of Zhou Dynasty." Heaven has no relatives, and virtue is complementary "is not only the basis for destiny to choose and abandon Xia and Shang dynasties, but also the basis for destiny to choose or abandon future Zhou people." So, how can we pass goodness to heaven, so that it can be recognized and recognized by heaven? In the context of this appeal, Zhou people once again showed their great wisdom as "allies" and threw out the saying that "destiny lies in people's hearts." They believe that the match between virtue and heaven is ultimately to respect morality and protect people. Similarly, for example, Cheng Tang replaced Xia Jie and King Wu replaced Shang and Zhou Dynasties. They succeeded because they first respected morality, protected the people and won the hearts of the people, so they were also blessed by fate. "God bless the people, be a king and be a teacher. Only he can respect God and spoil all parties ... God bless the people, and the people will do whatever they want ... God takes the people for themselves and listens to them." -"Shangshutai Oath" In the chapter "Shangshutai Oath", which records the oaths of various governors coming to the League, many sentences reflect the view that "the destiny is the people's heart". For example, the main idea of the above quotation is that God protects the people and establishes monarchs and teachers for them. When he (the monarch) can help God (by protecting his people), he can love and solve the world. The monarch only "acts for heaven", which is arranged by God to protect CoCo Lee and the world on behalf of heaven ... God loves people, and whatever people want, God will obey ... what God sees and what my people see; What God hears comes from what my people hear. It is not difficult to imagine that under such a grand occasion, Zhou Wuwang's remarks are equivalent to showing his future "policy agenda", which has played a huge positive role in the submission of more governors and the arrangement of the old land of Yin and Shang after the Shang Dynasty (of course, this was unexpected by King Wu). Xia Jie's loss of virtue led to Shang Tang's fate in the summer, and his fate shifted from the summer to the Shang Dynasty. Losing his virtue led to Zhou's fate, which shifted from business to Zhou. The wisdom of Zhou people lies in that they realized the truth of "impermanence of destiny" from the above facts, so they should try their best to keep it; I also realize that the way to keep destiny is to match heaven with virtue, and the concrete performance of matching heaven with virtue is to always pay attention to respecting virtue and protecting people, and destiny is public opinion. In the process of systematizing this theory, Zhou people not only fully and reasonably explained why they replaced Yin Shang as the new ruler, but also solemnly warned future generations how to comply with destiny and public opinion with the conclusion that "I don't know what the future holds, as long as I can respect morality and protect the people". Portrait of the Duke of Zhou, and in this whole set of operation from theory to practice, we can always feel the strong sense of hardship that Zhou people always have. In order not to be abandoned by fate, we must be cautious, "don't forget the hardships of our predecessors", otherwise, Zhou people themselves are likely to face the same ending as Xia Jie, Shang and Zhou. Historical facts seem to prove the correctness of Zhou people's "theory of destiny" time and again, presenting us with an immortal truth: the people are rich and the country is in danger. In the first five articles of the special series "Re-understanding the Western Zhou Dynasty", we introduced the origin of Zhou people and their ancestor Hou Ji, who was abandoned at birth, but had an extraordinary temperament and was proficient in farming. Later, he became the ancestor of the Zhou Dynasty, and she introduced Duke Zhou, the chief designer of the Western Zhou Dynasty, as a saint in the eyes of Confucius and Mencius. How did he become the first "historical figure" in China? This paper introduces the evolution of hundreds of vassal States divided by the Duke of Zhou from "many but small" to "few but strong" and gradually moves towards a unified empire. Where does the tradition of "great unification" in China come from? This paper also introduces the disappearance of the class of "China people" who once held real power in this process, and the historical trend of "China people" in the Western Zhou Dynasty from the perspective of "Han rebellion" and "Tian usurped Qi". It also introduces the evolution of the title system from the Western Zhou Dynasty to the Qin and Han Dynasties, and the identity of the "contempt chain" of the pre-Qin characters: how did the title change from five to twenty? And the marriage system of the Western Zhou Dynasty serving the feudal system and patriarchal clan system. Do you think that the ancients "didn't marry the same surname" were stupid children who were afraid of life? In fact, it is the marriage system of the Western Zhou Dynasty, which is the history that we can see or restore through historical materials today. But history is just a phenomenon after all. Only by understanding the philosophical concepts behind these phenomena, as the actual operators of systems or regulations, can we understand those phenomena and the present situation that is still affected by them more deeply. In the next article, we will see how the decline of the Western Zhou Dynasty "perfectly" verified the conclusion thrown by their founders. Reference reading: Du Yong's On Zhou People's Thought of Destiny; Huang Aimei's History of the Western Zhou Dynasty