Gongsun long

Gongsun long

Gongsunlong (320-250 BC), Zi Bing, was born in Handan, Hebei Province. Li Jianbai is the representative of the "famous scholar". The founder of sophistry. He is one of the representatives of famous scholars. Famous scholars were active in the middle and late Warring States period and advocated the theory of "rectifying name and reality", that is to say, "rectifying each other's right and wrong and making name and reality consistent". Famous scholars are good at debating, and they are good at logical analysis and exploring the law of thinking, so they are also called "debaters", and they were called "famous scholars" since the Western Han Dynasty. In his history of Chinese philosophy, Feng Youlan divides famous scholars into two groups: "contract difference" and "Li Jianbai". Huishi is the representative of the former and Gongsun long is the representative of the latter.

Gongsun long was eloquent and had been a disciple of Pingyuan king. His main work, Gongsun Longzi, was composed of 14 articles in the Western Han Dynasty and three volumes in the Tang Dynasty. Eight of them were lost in the Northern Song Dynasty, and only six remain in one volume. Among them, the two most important ones are on the white horse and on the strong white, which put forward such arguments as "the white horse is not a horse" and "leaving the strong white". They hold that for the "strong white stone", "those who can't see what they can get are not strong"; and "those who can't see what they can get are not white", which emphasizes the difference between vision and touch. It also analyzes the relationship between general and individual, emphasizes the difference between "white horse" (individual) and "horse" (general), and draws the conclusion that "white horse is not a horse". He is also famous for another family, Huishi.

The circulation of Gongsun Longzi is very complicated. Some people doubt its authenticity after Song Dynasty. They think that Gongsun Longzi was compiled by Jin Dynasty people based on fragmentary materials, which lost the original features of Gongsun Longzi in pre Qin period to a certain extent.

Life of the characters

Early experience

In the sixth year of King Zhao Huiwen (293 BC), Zhao Sheng was granted the title of Pingyuan king. Mr. Pingyuan liked the arguments of famous scholars, so Gongsun long was a disciple of Mr. Pingyuan.

In the 15th year of King Huiwen of Zhao Dynasty (284 BC), King Zhao of Yan wanted to attack the state of Qi. Gongsun long led his disciples from Zhao to Yan, trying to persuade him to "Yanbing". The king of Yan promised, but Gongsun long said he couldn't believe it. He said: at the beginning, the king recruited "people of the world" who wanted to break Qi and could break Qi to come to the state of Yan, but finally broke Qi. Now "the princes who are in the king's own dynasty are good at using soldiers", so I don't think the king will stop fighting. In this way, he guessed the true intention of the king of Yan and made him speechless.

In 283 BC, the state of Qin signed a treaty with Zhao Guomeng: "if Qin wants to do something, Zhao will help him; if Zhao wants to do something, Qin will help him." They promised to help each other. Soon, Qin Xingbing attacked Wei, and Zhao wanted to save Wei. The king of Qin made people blame King Zhao Huiwen for not abiding by the covenant. The king of Zhao told Pingyuan Jun about it. Gongsun long suggested to Pingyuan Jun that Zhao could also send envoys to blame the king of Qin, saying that the state of Zhao wanted to rescue the state of Wei, but the state of Qin attacked the state of Wei. It was the state of Qin that first violated the covenant.

In the 19th year (280 BC), Gongsun long discussed the issue of Yanbing with Zhao Huiwen. The king of Zhao asked Gongsun long, "it's been more than ten years since the army was abandoned, but if it doesn't succeed, can't the army be abandoned?" Gongsun long replied: "the idea of Yanbing is to love the world at the same time. To love all the world, you can't just call it a false name. There must be a fact. " It also points out that King Zhao Huiwen did not really have the heart of universal love when he got the land of Qin Dynasty and was in charge of plain cloth, and when he died, he added food and wine.

In the ninth year of emperor Xiaocheng of Zhao Dynasty (257 BC), Qin soldiers attacked Zhao and surrounded Handan. The emperor Pingyuan sent people to ask for help from the state of Wei. Xinlingjun led his troops to save Zhao, and Handan was preserved. Yu Qing asked the king of Zhao for the title of Pingyuan king. Gongsun long drove into Pingyuan Jun all night and thought that this was not feasible. He pointed out that "Wang Jujun was the Prime Minister of Zhao, and he was the king after cutting off Dongwu city" not because Pingyuan Jun's intelligence and ability were unique to the state of Zhao, but because Pingyuan Jun was a relative of the king of Zhao. And "if we want to solve the country's problems and seek the benefit, it is the relatives who are granted the titles and the countrymen who count the merits", that is, the merits of counting the countrymen are under the names of the relatives. Therefore, it is suggested that Pingyuan Jun should not be granted the title. Pingyuan Jun followed Gongsun Long's advice and attached more importance to it.

Life experience

He may have been a door guest to hirayara for a long time. According to the biography of Yu Qing, Pingyuan Jun, in historical records, "Pingyuan Jun is kind to Gongsun long.". From 279 BC to 248 BC, Gong sunlong led his disciples to Yan state from Zhao state. It is recorded in the spring and Autumn Annals of the Lu family that he said that King Zhao of Yan was a "Yanbing". Although the king of Yan agreed, Gongsun long said to the king of Yan. "Princes in the king of the dynasty, who are good at using the army", so I think the king will not stop the army, Yanzhao King speechless response. Gongsun long once traveled to Wei and studied with his son Mou. In the state of Zhao, it is recorded in the book of lvshi Chunqiu · shenyinglan that Gongsun long once discussed Yanbing with King Huiwen of Zhao. The king of Zhao asked Gongsun long, "it's been more than ten years since the army was abandoned, but if it doesn't succeed, can't the army be abandoned?" Gongsun long replied: "when Lin and Lishi of Zhao state were occupied by Qin, the king put on the clothes of mourning state and made a plain cloth general. He attacked Qide city in the East, and the king added food and wine to celebrate. How can this end? " According to Lu's spring and Autumn Annals, the state of Qin made an alliance with the state of Zhao: "if Qin wanted to do something, Zhao would help him; if Zhao wanted to do something, Qin would help him." Soon after. Qin Xingbing attacked Wei, but Zhao wanted to save Wei. The king of Qin made people blame King Zhao Huiwen for not abiding by the covenant. King Zhao told Pingyuan Jun about it. Gongsun long gave advice to Pingyuan Jun, saying that Zhao could send envoys to blame the king of Qin, saying that if Qin did not help Zhao save Wei, it was also a violation of the covenant. In the ninth year of emperor Xiaocheng of Zhao Dynasty (257 BC), Qin soldiers attacked Zhao, and Pingyuan Jun sent people to ask for help from the state of Wei. Xinlingjun led his troops to save Zhao, and Handan was preserved. Yu Qing of the state of Zhao wanted to take Handan, the place of emperor Xinling, as the place of emperor Pingyuan, and asked for more fiefdoms. When Gong sunlong heard of this, he dissuaded Pingyuan Jun and said, "you have no merit in overthrowing the army and killing the general, but you have sealed Dongwu city. The heroes of the state of Zhao are mostly on the right side of the monarch, who is the Prime Minister of the state. My husband granted Dongwu city the title of no merit. He admired Zhao Guoxiang's seal and his incompetence. As soon as he solved the country's troubles and wanted to benefit, his relatives were granted the title of no merit, and the people of the country were also meritorious. It's better not to accept it for your sake. " Pingyuan Jun accepted Gongsun Long's advice, but did not accept the fiefdom. Gongsun long is good at debating. "Gongsun Longzi · Jifu" says that Gongsun long and Kong Chuang met at the Junjia of Pingyuan to discuss Gongsun Long's "white horse is not a horse". In his later years, Qi envoy Zou Yan passed Zhao, and Pingyuan envoy and Gongsun long discussed that "white horse is not horse". Gongsun Long's life ended in confusion. Gongsun Long's main ideas are preserved in Gongsun Longzi. There are 14 pieces of Gongsun Longzi in the history of Han Dynasty. Now there are six. Ji Fu is a biography of Gongsun Long's life. The other five chapters are: on the white horse, on referring to things, on general change, on strengthening the white and on name and reality, among which on the white horse is the most famous.

Main achievements

basic thought

Gongsun Long's philosophical thought, Huainanzi, says that Gongsun long is "different from the same, and separated from the strong and white".

On the contrary, he is totally divorced from perceptual knowledge and only emphasizes the logical analysis of concepts, which has very strong metaphysical characteristics. But in logic, his contribution is worthy of attention.

Gongsun Long's theory of "Li Jian Bai" is based on the analysis of "Jian Bai Shi". "Gongsun Longzi · Jianbai Lun" said: "if you see that you are not strong enough to get what you want, there is no strong enough; if you are not strong enough to get what you want, there is no white enough. "That is to say, when people look with their eyes, they do not know that it is hard, but they know that the stone is white, that is, there is no hard; when people touch with their hands, they do not know that it is white, but they know that it is hard, that is, there is no white. In the former case, it's hard to hide. In the latter case, the white hides. This is called self possession. "Jian Bai Lun" also said: "get its white, get its strong, see and do not see from. There's no one left. One is not mutually beneficial, so those who leave also hide. "Seeing its white color, feeling its hardness, seeing and not seeing" is called separation. Because stone, hard and white cannot contain each other, they are separated. Separation means hiding. He believes that "there is no such thing as firmness in the world, but firmness.". He said: "if the white will be white, then the stone will not be white. "If there is no stone, will evil take strength and whiteness? Therefore, it is necessary to leave. "That is to say, there is no independent hardness (i.e. Abstract hardness) that does not make stones and objects hard. That is to say, it's hard to hide. If the white color itself is white, it does not have to show itself white by making the object white. He regards white color as an abstract white color. If it can't see, it's hidden. If a stone does not have the ability to become a stone independently, how can it form a solid and white stone? Therefore, his conclusion is that white and hard are not combined in the stone, but independent from the stone. This is the main argument of the theory of "Li Jian Bai". On the one hand, it separates the various attributes of things from the physical entities, on the other hand, it isolates them one by one and denies their unity. In philosophy, this means that the general does not exist in the individual, but can be separated from the individual. The sophistication of Gongsun Long's theory of "Li Jian Bai" is most obvious in his proposition of "white horse is not horse".

"White horse is not horse" is a famous proposition in the history of ancient thought. Gongsun Long's argument is like this: "the horse has the shape of life; the White has the color of life. Life color is not life shape. Therefore: the white horse is not a horse. The word "horse" refers to the form of horse, and any horse with the form of horse is named horse. The word "white" refers to the color of white, and all white colors are named white. "White horse" is the shape of the horse, plus the color of white, that is, white color

Chinese PinYin : Gong Sun Long