"A gentleman beware of independence." Why did the lone scholar at the turn of the Han and Jin Dynasties dare to lead the world?

First of all, let’s talk about the meaning of “a gentleman be cautious”. The superficial meaning is that a gentleman with good moral character should always think independently about worldly affairs while being cautious at all times, and should always pay attention. One's own words and deeds. But this seems to be contrary to the concept of actively participating in worldly affairs advocated by Confucian culture. In fact, this is also the ideological contradiction of the literati in the Han and Jin Dynasties. Why did there appear to be pioneers in the Han and Jin Dynasties? What about the lone gentleman? Let me talk about it in detail below.

The first point is that various thoughts were shuffled in the Han Dynasty. Confucianism was promoted to the altar and one family was the most powerful. There was also an ideological system that deposed hundreds of schools of thought and took the Confucian system as the leading one. The rise of Taixue, A lot of idealistic pursuits have been produced. But in the later stages of development, the constant wars and political struggles in the Wei and Jin Dynasties made real literati lose confidence in the court. The current situation was turbulent, and many literati without power became victims of the struggle. The culture of "a gentleman be cautious in independence" came into being. People who practiced this idea appeared on a large scale in the Wei and Jin Dynasties.

The second point is that the unified environment of the Han Dynasty provided a unified and stable social living environment for gentlemen and literati, who followed traditional Confucian culture and etiquette education. There were actually many lone literati in the Han Dynasty, but at this time most of these groups lived in economically developed areas. They had aspirations to serve the country but were unable to do so because of too many talents. They had no choice but to choose to work alone or were unwilling to compromise in the court and were voluntarily demoted. Most of the lone literati in the Wei and Jin Dynasties had never stepped into the court life. Some people were simply unwilling to serve as officials. Confucian moral values ??could no longer restrain them. The lone literati in the Eastern Han Dynasty still cared about "loyalty, filial piety, etiquette and justice" in Confucian culture. , but in the view of the independent literati in the Wei and Jin Dynasties, it is also very important to assess the situation and the situation, and this is how the "gentleman be cautious in independence" came into being.

The last point is that the special political environment during the Han and Jin Dynasties forced literati to move closer to the cautious and independent side, which reflected the changing process of Confucian culture. During the convergence period between the Eastern Han Dynasty and the Wei and Jin Dynasties, the traditional Confucian cultural system was constantly under attack, and the status of literati continued to decline. If the gentlemen in the Eastern Han Dynasty used their actions to support the original intention of Confucianism, benevolence, then those who followed A lone gentleman who dares to be the first is one who is determined and brave enough to protect the world as his own responsibility. It also shows that in every era we need independent gentlemen who dare to be the first.