The so-called "restoration" is the second saint, that is, another sage after Confucius in Confucianism. This title belongs to Confucius's most admired apprentice Yan Hui. The reason why Yan Hui is called "Fusheng" is because he not only inherited Confucius's ideas and teachings, but also developed and innovated Confucianism, and could be implemented into concrete actions.
Yan Hui's fame is very large, but when it comes to specific deeds, most of them are very pale. His personality traits are also not prominent, like a glass of boiled water, dull and tasteless. But his deep thoughts and noble personality are contained in these seemingly inconspicuous trivial things.
Among Confucius's disciples, Yan Hui was undoubtedly the one who was most valued and even respected by Confucius. However, the depth of Yan Hui is impossible for ordinary people to penetrate, and even Confucius discovered Yan Hui's great wisdom and foolishness through a long period of investigation. The Disciples of Confucius were not convinced of Yan Hui at first, and after several tests, they had to submit to Yan Hui.
Yan Hui
Yan Hui's inheritance and development of Confucianism is mainly reflected in the following aspects:
With "Ren" as the core, the "Yan Shi Confucian" school of Confucianism was formed
The four disciplines of Confucius, virtue, speech, political affairs, and literature, Yan Hui was the first person in the virtue section and the first of the seventy-two sages of Confucius. The core of "Yan's Confucianism" is Lide, the core of Confucianism is "benevolence", and the "virtue" of Yan Hui is to take "benevolence" as the core and implement it into concrete actions.
Confucius commented on Yan Hui: "Xianya, Huiye! "Back also, its heart march is not against benevolence!" "If you use it, you will do it, and if you give it up, you will hide it; I am a husband with Er!" "A spoonful of food, a scoop of drink, in the dark alley." People are overwhelmed, and they will not change their happiness! And so on, all of which are praises for Yan Hui's noble virtues.
Confucius was very strict with his students, often scolding them for doing something wrong, but Only Yan Hui, Confucius never scolded. Not only was he not scolded, but even Confucius's courtesy to Yan Hui went beyond the teacher to the disciple, but was placed in an equal position. This kind of treatment is unique among the disciples of Confucius.
Kong Qiu
The reason for this is because Yan Hui's pursuit of the spiritual world has surpassed Confucius! Yan Hui was not a man of his life, willing to guard the poverty, devoted himself to learning, and the peace of his heart was not as good as confucius who was running around the princely states.
It is a pity that Yan Hui died early, otherwise, Yan Hui would probably become the first Chinese sage who was comparable to Confucius, or even surpassed Confucius!
Yan Hui's "people-oriented thinking" had a great influence on Mencius
"People-oriented thought" is a core component of Mencius's ideological doctrine, and his ideological origin was largely influenced by Yan Hui.
Confucius once asked his disciples to state their ideals, but when Zilu and others were talking about it, Yan Hui said a few words: "May there be no good deeds, no alms!" ”
That is to say, in the depths of Yan Hui's thoughts, he hopes that the world is a situation of peace and tranquility and rule by doing nothing. This idea is very close to Taoist thought. He believes that the fundamental to governing the world lies in "not disturbing the people."
There is a story that can also reflect Yan Hui's people-oriented thinking. Lu Dinggong asked Yan Hui, "Zi Yiwen Higashino Bizhi's Good Yuhu?" Yan Replied, "Good is good, though, its horses will be good." Lu Dinggong disagreed, saying, "Gentlemen inherently slander people." "But soon, Higashinobi's horse ran away!"
Lu Dinggong was very strange, so he consulted Yan Hui, and Yan Hui said this sentence: "Shun does not impoverish his people, and the father does not impoverish his horses; it is Shun who has no lost people, and the father has no lost horses." "The same is true for governing the world, Shun has never disturbed and tormented the people, so he has won the support of the people!"
Before Mencius, Yan Hui was the first Confucian disciple to possess the "people-oriented thought."
The study and collation of the I Ching has made great contributions to future generations
The I Ching is one of the six Confucian classics, and Confucius is the greatest credit for the systematization of the I Ching. Yan Hui's study of the I Ching is probably no later than Confucius's, and there is a record in the Analects that "Yan Yuan is weak and crowned, and with Zhongniyan "Yi", that is, in terms of the achievements of the I Ching, Yan Hui is almost synchronized with Confucius, and the two people can discuss it together.
After traveling around the world, one of Yan Hui's most important tasks was to study and sort out the I Ching. It was precisely because of the huge workload that Yan Hui was crushed, causing him to die prematurely due to excessive fatigue.
After Yan Hui's death, Confucius completed the compilation of the I Ching on his basis, leaving this precious spiritual legacy for all mankind.
Yan Hui is probably the richest person in the spiritual world in Chinese history! He was able to maintain a state of mind that was not troubled by the world under the attitude of joining the world, and insisted on pursuing the perfection of the spiritual world. When onlookers can't see his situation, he is still unmoved, always wandering in his spiritual homeland, this kind of realm, who can compare? Today's people, who are tempted by material interests, should really draw spiritual food from Yan Hui's body!