The Duke of Yansheng let out a long sigh. He could not deceive himself. Having learned more brilliant methods, discovered broader perspectives, and gained clearer sight, he could no longer endure the rot of the past.
Fang Yun smiled faintly. "If we imagine history as a graduated ruler stretched before our eyes, we will find that during the Western Zhou, Ritual and Music was like a blazing sun, illuminating every mark of the Western Zhou. But by the Eastern Zhou—the Spring and Autumn Annals and Warring States Period—as the ruler extended, the sun of Ritual and Music had not changed. Yes, it had not grown dimmer! Yet during the Spring and Autumn Annals, in Sage Kong's era, a new sun rose. This sun of the Confucian School was a hundred, a thousand times brighter than the great sun of Ritual and Music!"
"People of the Spring and Autumn Annals could still feel the light of Ritual and Music, but the most brilliant existence of the Spring and Autumn Annals and Warring States was the sun of the Confucian School! We should absorb the radiance of the Confucian sun, not foolishly absorb the light of the sun of Ritual and Music."
"The ideas of Ritual and Music were great. Its sun could still shine upon us. Yet once we have accepted the light of the Confucian sun, though the glow of Ritual and Music still remains upon us, every one of us has already become more resplendent than the sun of Ritual and Music!"
"And in the near future, upon the graduated ruler of human history, a new sun a hundred, a thousand times more radiant than the Confucian sun will inevitably appear. By then, the Human Race will still be touched by the light of the Confucian sun, but every