"Pipe": Whoever fights for the world must first compete for people
Although the date of the book "Guan Zi" has yet to be determined, the rationalist view of nature advocated by the book, the denial of the mandate of heaven and the ghost god, and the emphasis on human power are of great significance in the history of the development of Chinese thought.
I. Heaven is the "Heaven of Nature"
The Pipe • Situation begins with an interesting phenomenon:
"If the mountain is high and does not collapse, it prays to the sheep to the end; if the abyss is deep and not dry, it is very heavy."
When people see the steep mountains, they will go there to cook sheep and sacrifice to the mountain gods; when they see the depth of the water, they will go there to throw jade stones to ask for the blessing of the gods. In fact, there is no "mountain god" in the steepest mountains, and there is no "daffodil" in the deepest pool, and all kinds of natural gods are people's imagination.
Guan Zi believes that all things in nature have no will, spring, autumn, winter and summer are only the passage of yin and yang, the length of agricultural time is only the role of yin and yang, and the change of day and night is nothing more than the change of yin and yang. Generally speaking, the operation of yin and yang between heaven and earth is normal and abnormal, but more cannot be reduced, and less cannot be increased. The overall changes in heaven and earth are beyond the profit or loss of human beings.
In other words, neither "heaven nor earth" will change due to human behavior, the so-called "although it is not right, there is no damage to the surplus, and there is no benefit to the insufficient", and the general rules of nature of heaven and earth do not change with the changes in society, which is the same truth in ancient and modern times.
Second, Qi Huan asked the heavens
Qi Huangong asked Guan Zhong, "How noble is the king?" The pipe said, "Your God." Huan Gong looked up at the sky. Guan Zhong told Qi Huangong: "The so-called heaven does not refer to the heavens that are reckless and reckless. As the king of a country, he should take the people as the sky. ”
It can be seen that in Guan Zhong's mind, the godly heaven of the people in the past has long lost its divinity and has been reduced to a natural heaven, and a more rational "heaven for the people" has been proposed. This is the same as the "Heavenly Vision of The People, Heaven Listening to The People".
"Bullying" Chapter Cloud:
"Whoever contends for the world must first contend for others."
If the "people" here are understood as "people's hearts" and "people's hearts", then the meaning of Guan Zi's words is no different from Mencius's "win the people, and get the world". However, according to the "Pipe", "the origin of the overlord is also people-oriented", this opens up the gap between the pipe and Confucianism. After all, Mencius only mentioned the royal way, not the domineering way.
Third, the attitude towards ghosts and gods
The term "ghost god" is cited more than 90 times in The Pipe. The attitude of the "Pipe" towards ghosts and gods has two sides: on the one hand, it denies the superstition of ghosts and gods, and on the other hand, it uses the majesty of ghosts and gods to educate the "leaky people" (small people who have not yet been civilized).
"Concentrate on the intention, one in the heart, the eyes and ears, the evidence of knowledge." Can you specialize? Can it be one? Can you know the evil without knowing the odds? ”
The gist is that as long as you are attentive and have your ears and eyes right, even if you don't ask God for advice, you can predict auspiciousness. Guan Zi stressed that if the king (saint) of a country is not committed to pursuing the way of governing the country and the people, does not attach importance to agricultural production, and does not strive to make the people unified and obedient, but is obsessed with "bullying the turtle basket" and "using witch doctors", in that case, not only can not be murdered, but also will lead to frequent evil spirits and gods, and the country will fall.
In the era when the belief in ghosts and gods was prevalent, the pipe was not exempt from the vulgarity after all. Guan Zi proposed that out of the needs of national governance, the monarch should "ming ghosts and gods, only mountains and rivers, honor the temple of the emperor, and honor the ancestors." That is to say, the monarch attaches importance to the ritual of respecting ghosts and gods, and the small people can feel the respect and humility; the monarch respects the sacrifice of mountains and rivers, and its authority can be spread among the people; the monarch respects the ancestors of the temple, and the people can keep to themselves; the monarch obeys the ancestors of the ancestors of the sect and the ancestors, and filial piety can be complete.