This article totals 2987 words, the recommended reading time is 10 minutes.
The Confucian classic article "University" is the first of the traditional "Four Books and Five Classics", and it is an introductory work for students to learn the classics after the Song Dynasty, and it has a very special position in traditional Sinology. With my shallow knowledge and my own experience, I will try to share the latest understanding in this article. What I understand as the beginning of the content of "University" is what people often call "Xiu Qi Zhiping".
"University" was not a single article before the Liao and Song dynasties. It was originally included in the Book of Rites in the Thirteen Classics of Confucianism. It was extracted from the Book of Rites in order to compile the "Four Books" of Confucianism and placed at the beginning of the "Four Books" at the beginning of the "Four Books". In other words, it's the entry point for getting started. In addition, the official reading order of the "Four Books" is: "University", "Analects", "Mencius", and "Zhongyong".
Why does Rigaku list the University as an introduction to the whole introduction to Confucianism? Zhu Xi's argument is that "University" is the outline. In my opinion, the reason is the first three paragraphs in "University", especially the order and relationship of "Xiu Qi Zhiping" in it.
This order and relationship strings together the entire vast sea of Confucian philosophy in logic and order. Like the road map at the entrance of the scenic spot, let the students who want to browse the "scenic spot" of Confucianism have a general idea at the door.
Here we must first explain that the entire Confucianism of Confucius was aimed at the nobles of the pre-Qin Dynasty. Therefore, when reading and understanding the University or other Confucian classics, we must remember this big context. Without this context, we will have a misunderstanding like a different kind of conflict.
According to tradition, universities are the learning of adults, teaching people to become the learning of adults.
What is an "adult"? In the time of Confucius, "adult" referred to the unproductive nobility (only males), not the modern Chinese meaning "adult". Correspondingly, the concept of "villain" refers to the non-aristocratic male, that is, the ordinary working masses in the current context, not the "morally bad people" extended by later generations.
So "university" used to mean the learning that could become aristocratic without work, or work. In today's context, it is the learning that can make people become capable people. Of course, first of all, specific skill learning is not included here; secondly, there is also the process of "primary school". In ancient times, "elementary school" was the basic homework of literacy, grammar, orthography, and so on.
It should be noted that becoming a talent does not include the study of specific work and life skills in Confucianism. Farming, cooking, and housework are not what "universities" want to learn. Even strictly speaking, the skills of any specific job are not what "universities" are going to learn, such as programming, editing, financial trading, imaging and other skills today.
As an aside, Confucius's aristocratic six arts: etiquette, music, archery, imperial court, book, and number, in today's world, should be interpreted as: the social norms of decent people, music (bias toward musical instruments), self-defense arming ability, traffic work driving ability, written presentation ability, and data management ability.
Therefore, "university" is to talk about the way to become a talent, not to talk about the way of life and production. It is quite close to the growth education outside of the school education I talked about earlier, and it can make people become talents. The article "University" is to explain how to do and how to learn the science of "university". At least from a Confucian point of view, how to do it, how to learn.
The above is the definition and meaning of "university".
Let's now look at the first three paragraphs of "University":
"The way of the university, in Mingmingde ... It's a short way.
He who desires to be wise and virtuous in the world of the ancients will rule his country first; he who wants to rule his country will first cultivate his home; he who wants to unite his family will first cultivate his body; he who wants to cultivate his body will first straighten out his heart; he who wants to straighten out his heart first be sincere in his intentions; he who desires to be sincere in his intentions will first know him; he who wants to know what he wants to know is in the qualities.
After knowing the qualities, knowing and then knowing the sincerity, sincerity and then the heart, the heart and then the body cultivation, the body cultivation and then the family Qi, the family Qi and then the country rule, the country rule and then the world is peaceful. ”
The first paragraph here says that the rule of the world lies in the principle of "Matilda is close to the people". The second paragraph logically deduces how to mingde the world, that is, the relationship between "repairing Qi and ruling the peace". The third paragraph talks about the order of "repairing Qi Zhiping".
I will not talk about the content of the first paragraph here, which is the core content of Confucius's "benevolence" and is not the focus of this article. Starting with the logical relationship between the parts of the second paragraph, I will begin to elaborate.
"University" said: If you want to govern the world well, you must first start by being able to govern a country well.
The "state" here is not a state in the modern sense, but a sub-feudal autonomous unit within the feudal system of the Zhou Dynasty. In terms of scale, it should be a city or cities, with an average of about tens of thousands of people; in terms of population proportion, it should be equivalent to the current prefecture-level city or a small European country, such as the Netherlands.
If you want to govern a country well, you must first start by being able to manage a family.
The "home" here is not the concept of "home" in modern Chinese. Like the "state" above, this is also a small sub-feudal autonomous unit within the feudal system, and the scale is smaller than that of the "state". At that time it was supposed to be the level of a village, that is, the concept of a large family and its surroundings. In the present, it should be understood as a larger organization, such as a company with hundreds of people.
If you want to manage a family well, you should first manage yourself and your family.
The "body" of "self-cultivation" here is the concept of a family, not just a person. Because in ancient times, people had to get married when they reached adulthood. Single youth generally did not exist in ancient times. In general, a person, especially a man, is either unmarried or unable to marry a wife because he is poor. The latter are also in the minority, and are often not the object of "teaching" in "The University".
Therefore, I think that "self-cultivation", in modern terms, refers to a family, or a person who is not yet married. We must not simply think that it is a person, and self-cultivation is a matter of one person. In other words, managing the family well is also within the scope of "self-cultivation".
The above is a physical space narrowing, that is, the big task of "ruling the world" is divided into smaller tasks than one. The following content of "University" is to "shrink the space", but this space has become a psychological space, and the content of the explanation has also entered the inner world of the person who wants to become a talent.
To put it simply, the following is to enter the realm of practice (as the hereafter called).
So how do you manage a small family?
"University" said that you should first correct your thinking and correct your mentality. That is, your ideas and ideas should be right: if your thinking is wrong, your behavior will of course follow your mistakes; since your behavior is wrong, the result will naturally not reach the result you want. Therefore, "self-cultivation" must first "correct the mind."
So how can we "straighten out our minds" and straighten out our own thinking?
"University" said that you must first be honest, especially or mainly honest with yourself, which is now often called "seeking truth from facts". Objectively face the facts and the current situation, do not think wishfully, do not deny the facts, especially not deny their own faults.
Why are there so many people who deny the facts and cannot "seek truth from facts"? I think the main reason is that they can't and don't want to admit their mistakes. In the midst of your own mistakes and not accepting your own mistakes, always choose the latter. Lie to yourself and think you're not wrong. At the same time, they often think that the fault lies in others, the fault lies in the environment, and push the responsibility that should be borne by themselves to others.
If you look closely at yourself or the people around you, you will surely find many such self-deceitful people very quickly. Often, such people are not yet self-aware, or simply unwilling to know themselves.
So the "sincerity" link, I think, is the most difficult for individuals. Most of the people who are unable to carry out self-growth education are mainly blocked in this link.
So if the psychological threshold of "sincerity" can be crossed, how can we do a good job of "sincerity"?
"University" goes on to say: You must first understand the principles, grasp the laws, and reach the state of "knowing". A person must understand some basic principles, such as man is not God, it is impossible to be omniscient, it is impossible not to make mistakes; man is limited in time and space; many things are not changed by man's subjective will, and so on.
Only when you understand, you will not be arrogant; only if you are humble and empty inside, can you install new content. Those contents that are "sincere" can only be seen by you.
So how do you understand these truths? "University" finally says: You have to "lattice things" first.
There are many explanations of "lattice objects", and I will only say my understanding.
A person must understand the real truth, not from books or blackboards, but from the observation of objective things, that is, the real world. Therefore, as a prerequisite for "knowledge", the "lattice object" is the observation of objective things in order to discover or master the principles and laws behind them. This is to give the abstract "reason" out of the concrete "thing" to the "grid".
Like "to the soft to the strong", it is derived from the observation that dripping water can penetrate the stone; like the "reincarnation of life", it is derived from the observation of the alternation of death and new life; like "the heavens and the earth are not kind", it is derived from the observation of natural disasters. These are the truths that the ancients derived from the observation of objective things.
Of course, these are not right to say another. Here we are talking about where the truth comes from. It is not derived from man's subjective imagination. It is derived from objective observation and thinking from the outside world.
The above is the "Xiu Qi Zhi Ping" in traditional Sinology or Classics. In the contemporary era, especially after modernization and the Chinese revolution, I think there is actually a 2.0 version of "Xiu Qi ZhiPing", this article will not be discussed, put in the next part to continue to share my views with you, and welcome to leave a message to discuss.
If you like it, just like it or "watching".