君主制形成的根本原因也就是奥巴马、民主党形成大政府的动力，控制美国民众，成为人类的导师，新上帝,成为人上人（中英文版）  

快感除了这三件致命事外，还有最致命的一件事我留在这里强调，就是名誉这种快感的危害远比其他感官快感来得大，其他快感用身体在享乐，娱乐至死的后果最多也是纵欲而死，危害的只是你个人，最多也就影响到你的家人朋友，并不能对其他人带来伤害，可是名誉却不一样，它甚至可能对整个社会，整个人类带来伤害。名誉其实就是我们生活中常说的面子，一种虚荣，一种所谓的人上人的感觉，其实也就是中国人常说“吃得苦中苦，方为人上人”，我们世俗人生追求的出人头地、高人一等，等等，这些都属于名誉、虚荣、面子。我们闲聊最常见的话题就是，比张三有钱，比李四级别高，小孩比王五家的聪明等等诸如此类，在比别人优秀、优越中享受丝丝的快感。

我的老乡林语堂是这样说虚荣，面子的，“面子这个东西无法翻译，无法为之下定义，它像荣誉，又不像荣誉，它不能用钱买，它能给男人或女人实质上的自豪感。它是空虚的，男人为它奋斗，许多女人为它而死。它是无形的，却靠显示给大众才能存在，它在空气中生存，而人们却听不到它那倍受尊敬，坚实可靠的声音，它不服从道理，却服从习惯。它使官司延长，家庭破产，导致谋杀和自尽，它也能使一个不义之徒由于同乡人的斥责而改邪归正，它比任何其他世俗的财产都宝贵，它比命运和恩惠还有力量，比宪法更受人尊敬。它经常决定一次军事行动的胜负，它可以推翻政府的一个部。中国人正是靠这种虚荣的东西活着。”①对于我的老乡林语堂，世人有很多误解，我这里多说两句为他正名，一般人都认为他专门写优雅生活，闲适人生，可他自己并不么认为，他在《生活艺术》这部著作中，谈的更多是一些哲理上的思考，他也一直认为自己是一位有思想有深度的作家，可惜很多人没看过他这本《生活的艺术》，我也是偶然在一次读书会上才看到这本书，不过我可以很肯定的说，林语堂并不是一个专门谈论闲适优雅人生的作家，从上面这句话就可以看出，他的思想极其深刻。

我们仔细观察可以发现虚荣是从与其他人的比较得来的，与其他人联系一起才可能有虚荣，如果没有他人这一参照物，也就没有虚荣。萨特说‘他人就是地狱’，当然‘他人就是地狱’的前提是他人比自己优秀，如果自己比他人优秀，那么他人就不是地狱而是可怜的参照物。可以看到追求虚荣是无限的历程，你永远无法得到满足，因为有时人上人的虚荣还要延伸到千秋万代，所以这个世界就相当于有无限的他人。纵欲可以致死，但是虚荣却永无止境，我们追求人上人的道路是永远没有尽头的，因为身体根本就无法限制我们的虚荣，也就是常说的，“心有多大，天地就有多宽”。

虚荣既然是一种与他人的关系，一种人上人的感觉，而且追求虚荣永无止境，永远无法得到满足。以此为基础思考我们世俗社会的人与人关系时，首先会发现一件毛骨悚然的事，对于人与人之间关系而言最大的虚荣就是使他人臣服，沦为奴隶，这是人与人关系中最不对等的一种状态，也就是最大的虚荣，能使人产生最大快感。现实生活中也确实如此，原始社会战胜的一方将战败的部落全族沦为奴隶，通过战争掠夺奴隶也是古代社会再正常不过的事，古罗马就是通过不断的发动战争掠夺奴隶发展壮大的，证明人类自古以来就将他人沦为奴隶视为最彻底的征服，追求一种最大的人上人，一种最大的人上人虚荣。可以想象拥有一个对你无比忠诚，凡事都为你考虑的奴隶，绝对是比拥有一条忠诚的狗更值得炫耀的事。

人们很奇怪于18世纪的美国南方种植园中还会出现奴隶制，人类的发展不是线性的吗？其实，其一，人类的发展不是线性的，而是反复的，在中国所谓的封建社会里同样存在不少奴隶，只是我们故意视而不见而已，在影视小说中常见的奴婢、官奴就是奴隶的一种。其二，奴隶制永远是潜藏在许多人心中的一种理想制度，一定会经常出现在人类的生活中。看看今天的朝鲜与奴隶制有何区别？而且比古代奴隶制更为先进，通过现代洗脑技术可以使人自甘为奴，没有一丁点的反抗意识，甚至连皮鞭、锁链也不需要了，这难道不就是奴隶制的反复，并且以更高级的形式出现。这里需要指出的是，古代社会另一种的政体是原始民主制，同样是人类心中的理想制度，与奴隶制相比，一种代表人性的恶，一种代表残留在心中的善，民主制用于部落内部，奴隶制用于部落外部，人类永远在这二个代表善恶极端的制度之间挣扎、反复，并不是所谓直线发展。

我们回到正题接着往下推论会发现，由于虚荣是永无止境的，我们很快就不满足于，使几万人甚至几百万人沦为奴隶的奴隶制，我们还想让全世界所有的他人沦为自己的奴隶，成为所有人的人上人这一最极致的虚荣，最极致的梦想，也就是中国的皇帝。不过这还不是最终的虚荣、梦想，因为我们还接着想将皇帝宝座延伸至自己的千秋万代，所以人类最终的虚荣、梦想是什么，谁也不知道？其实皇帝梦是我们每一个人心中的梦想，即使今天许多广告语仍然是帝王级的享受，皇家待遇，宫廷秘方，宫廷御膳等等，无不暴露出人们心中的皇帝梦。于是许多人带着这种最极致的梦想开始了征服，为了这最极致人上人的虚荣踏上了征程。它首先使许多氏族结合为一个部落，又使许多部落合并为一个诸侯国，最后无数的诸侯国又产生了一个封建王国，这也是最早的王朝夏的形成过程，每一个过程都充满了血腥的杀戮，血色的河流，因为每一个人都想成为所有之上的皇帝，都想让其他所有人臣服，除了杀戮外不知还有其他什么办法。

很多人认为我这样的推论，从人上人的虚荣推论出皇帝的必然性是不是有点离谱，中间的跳跃会不会太大了？那么且听我慢慢道来，中国历史上的春秋战国时期，从春秋的一百多个诸侯国之间互相厮杀兼并，最后到战国只剩下七个国家，大家都认为这是很自然的事，可为什么没有问道，从理论上来说一百多个国家如果不要战争，大家和平共处，安居乐业不是更好吗？但是谁也知道这是不可能的事，大家都认为，一个大国强国兼并小国弱国是自然的事，不这样反而令人奇怪，所以也没有人去发问深思。可是你如果仔细思考兼并背后的原因？就会发现难道不就是每一个国王心中一统天下的皇帝梦？而且不单单是自己一统天下，还要延续至千秋万代，也就是千秋霸业梦。一般老百姓，除非他脑子有问题，否则谁也不想爆发战争，因为上战场牺牲的是自己或者自己的兄弟儿子，破坏的是自己的田园、产业。而作为官僚阶层这一级，为了自己的利益，为了在征服邻国的过程中自己也分得一羹，可能有发动战争的动力，但大多数情况下这种动力并不足，为官者，多一事不如少一事，发动战争，即使得胜也未必是好事，因为功高震主常招致杀身之祸，落败的话后果就更不堪设想。所以发动兼并战争的主要动力就是来自国王，可国王为什么要发动战争呢？一个国王，特别是一个强国的国王，无论是物质生活条件还是社会中的地位，环眼天下已经没有几个人可与他比肩了，又何必劳民伤财去兼并吞并邻国呢？为什么？还不就是为了一统天下的皇帝梦，千秋霸业梦。我这么分析道来，应该十分清楚了，人上人的虚荣就是诞生皇帝的主要原因。这里补充一点的是，秦吞并六国时使用军功章制度，根据军功的大小分封土地，鼓励人们上战场厮杀劫掠，但是推出这种制度的是秦始皇，秦始皇也就是为了自己的千秋霸业才推出这种制度，而且他统一天下后慢慢回收土地归国家所有，可见吞并六国的动力来自于他，而不是别人。

其实中国世俗社会的智慧是无人能及的，中国的思想家很早就认识到君主制是最合理的制度，因为无数的血腥厮杀证明了，人类追求的就是这个极致的人上人虚荣，让所有人为臣、为奴，让自己成为皇帝。根本就没有什么能够阻止贪婪的人性，没有什么可以阻止人类奔向这个目标，既然无法阻止皇帝的诞生，那为什么不明确君主制的合理性，早早确立一个皇帝，这样反而可以使生灵免遭涂炭。中国的思想家们很早就认识到，只有一个皇帝的社会才能免于战祸，才是最稳定的社会，天无二日，人无二君。于是管子说“为人君者坐万物之原，而官诸生之职者也”，韩非子说“道不同于万物，德不同于阴阳，衡不同于轻重，绳不同于出入，和不同于燥湿，君不同于群臣。凡此六者，道之出也。”君主既然是从道中直接产生出来的，君主超乎一切臣民就是必然的。②

而儒家更是从最自然，最经验的角度强化君主制，儒家从血缘人伦常理出发得出，人与禽兽之别是‘礼’，“礼者，贵贱有等，长幼有差，贫富轻重皆有称者也”，在这基础上得出“君君，臣臣，父父，子子”，“妻者夫之合，子者父之合，臣者君之合”。礼的具体内容还有很多，简而言之，即“三纲五常“”，三纲五常”最基本的精神是绝对尊崇父家长的权威。儒家认为，相对臣、子、妻而言，君、父、夫都具有父家长的身分，其中，君主是全社会最大的父家长，“天子者，天下之父母也”，夫权则是父家长权威的另一种表现形式，各级父家长在其各自统辖范围内拥有独一无二的至上权威。又如荀子说“君者，国之隆也；父者，家之隆”，强调“天无二日，民无二王，国无二君，家无二尊，以一治之也”等。③从这些论述无不看出儒家的伟大之处，儒家可以说与我们世俗经验完全吻合。我们每个家庭，少则几个人多则几十个人，但是在每个家庭中父亲都是最高权威，只有这样一个家庭的才能稳定有秩序。推演到整个社会，那么一个社会同样必须有一个最高权威，社会才能稳定井然有序，这个最高权威就是皇帝，这个推演过程极其自然，合情合理，无可辩驳。而且我们生活中，环眼所见的任何事物也同样大小井然有序，大海、长江、河流、小溪，从大到小，井井有条，直耸云霄的参天大树，挺拔健壮的大树，亭亭玉立的小树，同样层级分明。在动物世界里，每个猴群都有猴王，其下的猴子也存在等级制，每个蜂窝都有蜂王，而公蜂，工蜂依次围绕着蜂王排列，同样等级森严等等，这种现象很多很多，我这里就不一列举了。这些无不证明了儒家等级制，君主制是极其自然合理的学说，于是儒家通过这些人伦常理，给追求极致人上人虚荣的君主制披上了一层温柔的面纱。

儒家除了使皇帝得到人上人的最大虚荣外，其他辅佐皇帝治理的精英——官僚阶层的虚荣也得到了满足，使“男女有别，上下有等，尊卑有序”。孔子的《礼记》其实就是对这种等级制进行具体规定，具体规定到每一个等级的礼仪、服装、排场等。④于是产生一种金字塔形的等级结构，每个精英根据德行能力各居其位，每一层次的下面都有参照物衬托他们的优秀优越，从来没有其他一个国家有其他一本著作，对等级制进行如此详尽的描述规定，所以我一直强调儒家是人类最伟大的世俗学说，没有之一。在这个金字塔等级的底层是无数无德无能的老百姓，可谁叫他们是芸芸众生，只能作为一个衬托其他人优秀的参照物而存在。这里强调一点的是，在儒家学说中皇帝的权力的至高无上的，这些官僚精英阶层实际上也是皇帝的奴隶，皇帝可以随时决定他们的生死，所谓“伴君如伴虎”，“君叫臣死，臣不得不死”，所以中国官僚阶层的奴性也是最足的，全世界无出其右。

注：

①《中国人的面子》人民文学出版社，林语堂

②《中国的王权主义：传统社会与思想特点考察》上海人民出版社，刘泽华著 116页

③《中国的王权主义：传统社会与思想特点考察》上海人民出版社，刘泽华著302页

④《礼记》人民文学出版社，孔子

When we observe carefully, we find that vanity is derived from comparing with other people. Only when we are connected with others can we have vanity. If there are no others as references, there will be no vanity. Sartre said that ‘others are hell’. Of course, the premise of ‘others are hell’ is others are better than you. If you are more excellent than others, then others are not hell but a poor reference. You can see that the pursuit of vanity is an infinite process, and you can never be satisfied because sometimes human’s vanity extends to thousands of generations. Hence, the world is equivalent to having an unlimited number of others. Indulgence can lead to death, but vanity is never-ending. There is never an end to our pursuit of being superior to others because the body can’t limit our vanity at all; that is, people often say, “how big the heart is, how wide the world. “

Since the vanity is a relationship with others, a feeling of being superior to others, and the pursuit of vanity is endless and never feels satisfied. When thinking about the relationship between people in our secular society, you will first find a creepy thing. The biggest vanity in the relationship between people is to make others surrender and become slaves. The biggest vanity is the unequal state in the relationship between people, which can make people feel the greatest pleasure.This is the fact in real life. The victorious tribe in the primitive society reduced the defeated tribe to enslaved people. It was normal for ancient society to plunder slaves through war. Ancient Rome developed and grew by plundering slaves through continuous war. It proves that humans have regarded other people’s enslavement as a complete conquest since ancient times and have pursued the maximum human vanity of being superior to others all along. It can be imagined that owning a slave who is extremely loyal to you and considers everything for you is more worth flaunting than owning a loyal dog.

Many people are strange that slavery still appeared in southern American plantations in the 18th century. Isn’t human development linear? First, human development is not linear but repeated. There are also many slaves in China’s so-called feudal society, but we deliberately ignore them. The maid-servants and official slaves in film, television, and novels are some kinds of slaves. Second, slavery is always an ideal system hidden in the hearts of many people and will often appear in human life. Looking at today’s North Korea, what is the difference between North Korean society and slavery? Moreover, North Korean society is more advanced than ancient slavery. Through modern technology of brainwashing, people can become slaves voluntarily. There is no sense of resistance, and even whips and chains don’t need. Isn’t this the repetition of slavery, and the slavery emerges in a higher form? It should point out here that another system in ancient society was primitive democracy, which was also an ideal system in the hearts of humans. Compared with slavery, one represented the evil of human nature, and the other represented the good left in the heart of humans. Democracy was used inside the tribe, and slavery was used outside the tribe. Humans always struggled and repeated between the two systems representing the extremes of good and evil; human history is far from the so-called linear development.

When we get back to the topic and infer, we will find that since vanity is endless, we will soon be dissatisfied with the slavery that only makes tens of thousands or even millions of people become slaves. We also want all other people to become our slaves, and we become the masters of all people. This seems an ultimate vanity and dream of humans, that is, the emperor of China. However, this is also far from the human ultimate vanity and dream because we still want to descend the emperor’s throne to our generations. Hence, no one knows what human ultimate vanity and dream are? In fact, the emperor’s dream is yet the dream of each of us. Even today, many advertisements still advocate imperial enjoyment, royal treatment, secret palace recipe, and so on, all of which expose the emperor’s dream in everyone’s hearts. So many people hit the roads to conquer other people for this ultimate dream and embark on a long journey for this ultimate human vanity. It first combined many clans into one tribe and then merged many tribes into one vassal state. Finally, countless vassal states united an imperial dynasty, which was also the forming process of the Xia Dynasty, the earliest dynasty. Each process was full of bloody killings, and the river ran blood because everyone wanted to be the emperor of all and master anyone else; I didn’t know what to do except blood killing.

In fact, the wisdom of China’s secular society is unparalleled. Chinese thinkers have long recognized that the monarchy is the most reasonable system because countless bloody battles have proved that humans pursue ultimate vanity, making other people subjects and slaves and making themselves emperors. Nothing can stop the greedy human nature at all, and nothing can keep humans from rushing to this goal, the throne of emperors. Since it can’t stall the birth of the emperor, why not clarify the rationality of the monarchy and establish an emperor early so that living beings can be saved from being burned to the ground. Chinese thinkers have long recognized that only an emperor’s society can be free from the scourge of war and is the most stable society. There are no two suns in the sky or two emperors on the earth.Therefore.Guan Zi said, “a person who is an emperor stems from the origin of all things, and the officials’ position is also.” Han Feizi said, “Tao is different from all things, virtue is other from negative and positive, balance is different from weight, inked lines are different from shape. And tuner is different from dry and wet; a king is different from all officials. All these six, from which the Tao comes out. “Since the monarch is directly generated from the Tao, it is inevitable that the monarch surpasses all his subjects.②

Confucianism strengthens the monarchy from the most natural and empirical view. From the common sense of blood and human relations, Confucianism concludes that the difference between humans and animals is’ ceremony ‘. ” What is ‘ ceremony ‘? noble and humble are different, old and young are dissimilar, and the distinct of weight and light, rich and poor are also unlike “. On this basis, Confucianism comes to a conclusion that “monarch, emperor, minister, subject, elder, father, younger, son”, “wives are the helper of husbands, sons are the assistant of fathers, Ministers are the aide of monarchs”.There are many specific contents of rites. In short, the most basic spirit of Confucianism is “three cardinal principles and five permanent principles” , that is, respect the authority of parents absolutely. Confucianists believe that, compared with ministers, sons, and wives, monarchs, fathers, and husbands all have the identity of parents. Among them, monarchs are the largest parents in the whole society, “the son of heaven is the parent of the world,” and husband power is another form of expression of parents’ authority. Parents at all levels have unique supreme authority within their own jurisdiction. As Xunzi said, “the king is the prosperity of the country; The father is the prosperity of the family, ” .He emphasized that “there are no two skies, no two kings for the people, no two monarchs for the country, no two authorities for the family, and only one rule”.③ From these discussions, we can see the greatness of Confucianism, which can be said to accord with our secular experience completely. A family has a few people at least or dozens of people at most, but the father is the supreme authority in any case. Only such a family can be stable and orderly. And society is similar to these; society must also have ultimate authority. So that society can be stable and orderly. This supreme authority is the emperor. This deduction process is extremely natural, reasonable, and irrefutable.

Moreover, as far as our eyes can see in our lives, the world is in perfect order. The sea, Yangtze River, rivers, and streams are well ordered from large to small. The towering forest, tall and strong trees, and graceful small trees are best orders alike. Every Monkey herd has a monkey king in the animal world, and the monkeys under it also have a hierarchy. Every honeycomb has a queen bee, while male and worker bees are arranged around her in rank, with the same strict hierarchy. There are plenty of such phenomena, which I will not list here. All prove that the Confucian hierarchy and monarchy are extremely natural and reasonable theories. Therefore, Confucianism puts a gentle veil on the monarchy that pursues the ultimate human vanity through these common human relations principles.

In addition, giving the emperor the hugest vanity of the emperor, Confucianism also satisfied the vanity of the bureaucratic class, the elites who assisted the emperor in his governance. Then, “men and women are distinguished from one another, and there is an orderly hierarchy of superiority and inferiority”.Confucius’s “Book of Rites” stipulates this hierarchy system, specifying each level’s etiquette, clothing, and pomp. ④Therefore a pyramid-shaped hierarchical structure is produced; each elite occupies his own position according to virtue and ability. Under each level, there are inferior levels as reference objects to set off elites’ superiority. No other country ever has another book to describe and regulate the hierarchical system in such detail. Therefore, I have always stressed that Confucianism is the greatest secular theory of humans. At the bottom of this pyramid-hierarchical system are countless immoral and incompetent people, but they are a common herd who can only exist as a reference to set off the excellence of elites. It is emphasized here that the emperor’s power is supreme in Confucianism. In fact, these bureaucratic elites are also the slaves of the emperor. The emperor can decide their life and death at any time. The so-called ” kings and bears often worry their keepers even since ancient times. ” the king calls the minister to die, and the minister has to die” is that. Therefore, the servility of the Chinese bureaucratic class is also the most abundant, which is unparalleled in the world.

Note:

①  Lin Yutang  “Chinese face”, people’s Literature Publishing House,

②Liu Zehua “Chinese kingship: an investigation of the characteristics of traditional society and thought”, Shanghai People’s publishing house, p 116

③Liu Zehua “Chinese kingship: an investigation of the characteristics of traditional society and thought”, Shanghai People’s publishing house, p 302

④ Book of rites, people’s Literature Publishing House, Confucius