on The Avengers in Tang Dynasty

[Editor's note] People have long been interested in the prosperity of the TangDynasty and are curious about the daily life of the Tang Dynasty. How todeal with official corruption, how to deal with unauthorized retaliation, howto evaluate animal protection, and how to face gender differences ... Althoughthe Tang Dynasty is thousands of years away, they have carefully considered anddiscussed these issues. For contemporary people, the life of the TangDynasty is not so much a drama with a strange image as a mirror that penetratesthe third world and reflects our own characteristics. This article is anexcerpt from a new book "Living Like a Tang" published by UnitedPublishing in August 2019. Author Xu Licheng, Ph.D., Department ofChinese, Fudan University. He is currently working in the ChineseDepartment of East China Normal University, specializing in literature of theWei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, Sui and TangDynasties. "Like the same life Tang" FINANCIAL AND JointPublishing, August 2019

Confucian Revenge Ideas in Han Dynasty Avengers

in martial arts and fantasy novel, we often see this paragraph: the hero'sparents died when he was young the He accidentally learned the news of hisfather's killing and enemies, so he spent a lot of money, worked hard, learnedall the skills, and devoted himself to the cause of revenge, so the story waspromoted. We will also find that, regardless of the dynasty's background,few people in the story will persuade the Avengers: "If the father iskilled, the government should first report that the enemy is punished by thelaw. It is wrong to retaliate without permission." The character's motivefor revenge for his relatives and the goal of killing the enemy are morallyrecognized and have inherent legitimacy. In a mind full of revenge, thereis almost no room for thinking about law.

This is not because the Chinese lack legal awareness, but because the conceptof revenge has penetrated into ancient Confucianism and became part of Chineseculture. The laws of different dynasties are different, but no matterwhich dynasty, whether he knows the law of this dynasty, he will recognize theethics of blood feud. A word we often see in novels is "Father andenemy are uncommon enemies." This is not a saying, but a Confucianclassic. In "Book of Rites, Quli," there is a saying:"Father's hatred is declared by the Buddha. Brothers' hostility does notoppose soldiers. Friends and enemies, different countries." This passagemeans that if a father It is shameful to kill and live in the same world as hisenemies. If a brother is killed and encounters an enemy on the street, itis shameful even to return home with a weapon. He must stand up and fightdirectly. If a friend is killed, he cannot live with hisenemies. According to Book of Rites Tan Gong, Xia Zi asked Confucius howto deal with the hostility of his parents. Confucius replied that if hisparents were killed, his children should "sleep under a blanket, under apillow, not as an official, and live with the world." In the case ofvarious city governments, they Will not fight the enemy, that is, they willsleep on thatched roof every day until they complete their revenge. Theyhide their weapons under their heads and remind themselves to complete revengeat any time.

Confucianism emphasizes the legitimacy of blood feud because it has strictrules on world order. In Confucian theory, for a society to functionsmoothly, it must establish and follow the ritual framework. In short, theso-called ritual is that everyone follows their role in social relations anddoes what they should do. Mencius said: "Father and son haverelatives, monarchs and righteousness, husband and wife are different, childrenare orderly, friends have faith." In many social relationships, therelationship between father and son is the most basic. No matter howsimple a person's social relationship is, the relationship between father and son,mother and child must be dealt with. Therefore, Confucianism regardsfilial piety as the basis of ethics, realizes filial piety, and extends it toother social relations. Only in this way can the Confucian politicalframework based on rites be established. In The Analects, "filialpiety and filial piety are the foundation of benevolence", this is thetruth.

A direct consequence of focusing on filial piety is the promotion ofrevenge. "Biography of Spring and Autumn Gong Yang