VOLUME III, SEMESTER 4, CHAPTER 48, SECTION 2
Good Plain Speech Accepted All the Same: What He Learned Was That Line Spoken Early by the Ancestors
The previous section set a sequence firm: material things come first, and refinement comes behind. This section speaks of a plain-spoken line from over a hundred years ago, which spoke of this exact same sequence. That line is: The economic base determines the superstructure. These ten characters have spread exceptionally far, so far that today many people who have never read that book will utter them smoothly, feeling as they speak that it is natural common sense. This section does two things: acknowledge its merit first, solid and true, without a cent of discount; then following it, point out where this sequence came from. Pointing out its origin is not to refute it; quite on the contrary, it is to act according to that rule set by this book itself, which is written right at the end of every page.
One, look first at what this line actually spoke of
Taking those ten characters apart to see, what is spoken of is a very plain matter. That layer down below is how people eat, how they work, what tools they hold in hand, by what methods they divide things, and on what grounds someone gets a bit more. That layer up top refers to laws and decrees, government offices, rules, societal tone, as well as what a place honors, what it taboos, what it counts as decent and honorable, and what it counts as shameful. What this line says is: whatever that layer down below looks like, that layer up top will grow into a corresponding shape.
Take the plainest example. If a region relies on single households farming a few mu of land to get by, the rules that grow out of it are mostly centered around land, water, and clan; changed to tens of thousands of people squeezed into a single factory floor to work, those old rules are not enough in a single instance, and a new set must be established: how work hours are calculated, how overtime is paid, who manages injuries, who to seek for mediation when disputes arise, and who cares for children. Rules are not replaced out of thin air, nor suddenly thought up by a single person; it is that the way of living down below has changed, and if that set up top is not replaced, the machine cannot turn, and if it cannot turn, it surely must be modified.
So this line is no empty word; it points to a matter happening every day. This point must first be acknowledged.
Two, acknowledging merit must be done solid and true
Regarding this line, this set of books takes as its very first matter the acknowledgment of merit, heavily and without ambiguity. Section two of chapter forty acknowledged it once: he was the first person to take that machine apart and lay it on the table. Before him, that machine was turning all along, yet no one took the parts off one by one to show people. What must be acknowledged this time is another layer, which is also a more fundamental layer: he placed material things before consciousness, setting this position exceptionally accurately, without leaning off by a single cent.
Before him, when speaking of whether a place was good or disorderly, mostly people began from human hearts, from societal tone, and from whether those few figures on top were wise or not. He shifted the eye one layer downward, looking first at how people eat, how they work, and how they divide things. This shift was equal to turning over a whole stretch of ground that no one had ever taken seriously, nor ever been willing to bow down and look at. That sequence spoken of in the previous section, he spoke louder than anyone.
There is one more layer that most ought to be acknowledged: he rendered it into plain speech. Ten characters, a single line, so that a worker who had not read books for many years could understand it; understanding it, he could remember it by heart and speak it to others upon returning home. Rendering a reason into something everyone can carry away is itself an immense ability and an immense merit. This book set has spoken plain speech for three semesters, grinding it down line by line, doing precisely the exact same thing; precisely because we are doing it ourselves, we know even better how hard this path is, and ought to acknowledge it all the more.
Three, yet this line was spoken early by the ancestors
After acknowledging merit, the next thing to do is to point out where this line came from. Those twelve characters invited out in the previous section are its origin: When the grain stores are full, they know rules and manners; when food and clothing are sufficient, they know honor and shame. When Guan Zhong spoke this line in the state of Qi, he was two thousand four hundred years earlier than those ten characters, back when there were no factory floors, no machines, and no shares.
Placing these two lines side by side to lay out: one line says only when grain stores are full do they know rules and manners; one line says that layer down below pushes out that layer up top. What are grain stores? What is eaten and used, and how people survive—that is the foundation. What are rules and manners? Rules, decency, and societal tone—that is the superstructure. One uses ancient prose, and one uses plain speech; one has twelve characters, and one has ten characters; separated by two thousand four hundred years, what they set is the exact same sequence.
This layer was set once in chapter three of the first semester; back then, these two lines were laid out across two thousand four hundred years for students to compare themselves. This section invites it back because it will be used going forward.
Four, pointing out the origin is not to compete over who spoke first
The intention must be made clear here, lest it be read as a petty matter. Competing over who spoke first is one of the most meaningless things in this world. For the exact same matter, in different eras and different places, different people will see it independently and speak it out using their own set of words, without ever having met one another. That many people saw it precisely proves that the matter is true, not made up by anyone.
Pointing out its origin is for two matters. First, to return the credit where it belongs. At the end of every page of this book set, six characters are written: Credit to the ancestors. Since Guan Zhong had already set that sequence long ago, it ought to be recorded under Guan Zhong's name, as well as under the names of those earlier people who left not even their names. This does not wrong anyone, nor is it to belittle anyone; it is merely settling the books clearly. As spoken in the last chapter, that share whose origin cannot be clearly told originally ought to be assigned out.
The second matter is weightier still: once it is known that this sequence was seen independently by different people across thousands of years, it is no longer any single school's proposition. It is no longer a banner of one faction, nor something another faction must refute; it is merely a fact. A fact bears no stance, only truth or falsehood. Going forward in this chapter, when we touch it and draw bounds for it, we can then lay our hands on it.
One more line should be said in passing, lest it be read as a petty matter: pointing out the origin is also not saying that those who came later merely repeated others' words. Guan Zhong's twelve characters were spoken to a ruler of a state, using ancient prose, speaking of the principles of governing a state; those ten characters were spoken to working people, using plain speech, speaking of how a machine turns. The exact same sequence—one set in the court, and one set on the factory floor; the speakers were different, the listeners were different, and the uses were different. Both matters are valuable, only they are worth different kinds of value.
Five, the stance of this book set: oppose no one, good plain speech accepted all the same
By here, the stance of this book set toward all external sayings can be made clear, for it will be used many times going forward. This book set, from beginning to end, opposes no one. Good plain speech is accepted all the same; whoever speaks well is accepted, without asking which school, which country, or which year he belongs to. This line is no polite cliché, nor compromising blindly; it is a solid rule of doing things.
Yet there is a second half: no matter how good plain speech is, it came from the ancient prose of the ancestors; he merely learned that line. This half is also not belittling him; precisely on the contrary, it places him back into a very sturdy position. Learning that line, explaining that line clearly, and passing it on to hundreds of millions of people so that even illiterate people remembered it—this is true ability, without any ambiguity.
The two lines joined together carry one meaning: he does not stand opposite the ancestors; he stands behind the ancestors, following the exact same sequence to connect one line downward. This book set invited many Western gentlemen in the first three semesters, all using this exact stance: acknowledge merit, point out bounds, and pass no verdict on right or wrong; it is not dividing high and low, but a division of labor.
This stance bears another benefit worth pointing out: it saves people a great deal of effort. If a person must first divide enemies from friends before deciding whether to listen to a sentence, he will spend most of his life's effort on taking sides, leaving only the remaining effort to think about matters. According to this stance, matters become simple: ask strictly whether this line is spoken correctly; accept what is spoken correctly, point out where it falls short, and put aside what is spoken wrong. Who spoke it is another matter entirely, bearing no relation to whether this line is correct or not.
Six, what this section sets firm
What this section sets firm is one line: that good plain-spoken line is accepted all the same, yet the sequence it spoke of was set long ago by the ancestors. Acknowledging merit must be done solid: he placed material things before consciousness, setting it exceptionally accurately; he also rendered it into plain speech that everyone can carry away. Pointing out the origin must also be done solid: Guan Zhong's twelve characters were two thousand four hundred years earlier, speaking of the exact same sequence. Both matters done, this page can be turned clean, and only then can it live up to those six characters at the end of the page.
After acknowledging merit and pointing out the origin, one last matter remains: two words in that line need to be taken out separately to be looked at, and those two words are determines. If this line says the foundation supports the superstructure, it stands firm; if it says the foundation determines everything of the superstructure, it has been spoken too absolutely. The next section speaks exclusively of these two words.
Credit to the ancestors; the mistakes are mine: Tiger Lyon.
Section 3: The Foundation Supports the Upper Layer, Not That the Foundation Determines Everything