A Discussion of the Concept of Orthodoxy (October 5-6, 1903)

O! Of the theories of China's degenerate scholars is there any more ridiculous than the concept of orthodoxy? There was no theory of orthodoxy before the Sui and T'ang dynasties. T'ang and Sung scholars felt that nature as a whole did not change and that truth or the Way therefore did not change. Consequently the transmitters of orthodoxy appeared, maintaining that our Confucian way was different from heterodox (divergent) theories. In this way, a concept of orthodoxy came into being. This concept is promoted by one and followed by many. Like a great river, it has flowed unceasingly, even unto the present. In this essay, I shall attempt to describe its drift and descent into abuse. First, [the idea of orthodoxy] is illogical; second, it discredits the sages; third, it shrinks the scope of the Way of the sage; and fourth, it occludes the thought of the people. I shall now proceed to discuss each of these points in detail.