Confucius is the founder of Confucianism, in the history of more than 2500 years of Chinese culture, Confucius thought and the Confucian school he pioneered, not only the main body, but also long dominated. From the most important ideological significance, it can be said that Confucius and Confucianism laid the core values of Chinese civilization, and at the same time had the most profound impact on the inheritance and development of the entire Chinese civilization.
In terms of the spirit of Chinese culture and the spirit of the Chinese nation, it can also be said that Confucius and Confucianism have shaped the spirit of Chinese culture and the spirit of the Chinese nation. Confucius and Confucianism played an irreplaceable role in shaping the cultural spirit and the national spirit: it was both the main trunk and the main body, and it was also dominant, which could not be replaced by any other school of thought and culture. It is precisely because of the position of Confucius Thought that in modern times a consensus has been formed in the minds of most Chinese: Confucius has become a symbol of Chinese culture to a considerable extent.
What is the most important role of Confucius Thought? One of the important roles just mentioned is to lay the core values of Chinese culture. If we use an academic language, it can also be said that the most important role of Confucius and Confucianism is to determine the value rationality of Chinese culture. Value rationality is a sociological concept. It played an important role in Western sociology and social thought in the 20th century. Confucianism has established the value rationality of Chinese culture, laid the moral foundation of Chinese civilization, endowed Chinese culture with the most basic moral spirit and moral stance, and also made Confucian civilization a "moral civilization".
In history, China is often referred to as the "state of etiquette and righteousness", and the state of "etiquette" is highlighted by etiquette and ceremonies, which are hospitable. However, the "etiquette" of the "state of etiquette and righteousness" highlights the essence of morality and highlights the mature moral civilization of Chinese culture. Why is China called the State of Etiquette and Righteousness? It is to indicate that this civilization is a mature moral civilization, and it is a high-quality, high-level, and high-level moral civilization. Therefore, this mature moral civilization has become a prominent feature of China as a civilized country as a whole, and it can be said in today's words that moral strength is the most prominent "soft power" of Chinese civilization. Whether it is the soft power of Chinese civilization or the prominent characteristics of the entire civilized country, all this is derived from the power of this moral shaping of Confucius and Confucianism.
01
Reverence
"Chongde" is the original words of Confucius, which are found in the Analects and also appear in the Book of Shang. Since the Western Zhou Dynasty, Chinese culture has begun a new cultural development that is different from that of Xia and Shang, and this development is to constantly attach importance to the power and tendency of "morality". It was on this basis that Confucius emphasized the development of "virtue" on the basis of the thought of Zhou Gong and the culture of Western Zhou. The Western Zhou Dynasty also had many concepts——— "jingde" and "Mingde", but Confucius particularly emphasized "chongde", and the spirit of "chongde" was prominently embodied in Confucius thought.
What is Repute? Reverence is to always put morality in the first place, in the most important position, in everything is like this, whether it is politics, diplomacy, or the governance of the country, personal self-cultivation, we must take moral values as the fundamental force, and moral values as the fundamental basis for handling and evaluating everything. The spirit and attitude of people and things must first be examined from a moral point of view, and such a spirit and attitude is to insist that morality is more important than everything. In terms of governing the country, Confucius emphasized that "the Tao is based on the government, the Qi is punished, and the people are exempt and shameless; the Tao is virtuous, and the Qi is courteous, and there is shame and dignity." "To lead the country with justice and to govern the country with punishment, the people can obey, but the people of this society have no moral heart." On the contrary, if the country is led by morality and etiquette, the people are not only willing to obey, but also become moral. Therefore, in terms of governing the country, Confucius did not believe that strong violence can become the fundamental method of governing the country, Confucius's ideal is to use the power of moral culture, in the form of non-violence and non-law to achieve the management and leadership of the state and society, that is, we are talking about today "governing the country with virtue", which is the influence of Confucius's "reverence for virtue" spirit.
Confucius's exposition of thought in the Analects talks about the state, society and individuals, what is moral ideal, what is moral politics, what is moral virtue, what is moral personality, and how to carry out moral cultivation. These expositions embody the spirit of "reverence" everywhere, not in one aspect, but in many aspects. Therefore, the spirit of "reverence for virtue" advocated by Confucius, including various specific expositions expounded under this spirit, has become the moral basis of Chinese culture. Chinese civilization is a moral civilization, and one of the main characteristics of moral civilization is that it is based on the embodiment of these expositions of Confucius. "Chongde" is the general spirit of Confucius Thought.
02
Noble
In the Analects, Confucius spoke more than 100 times about the idea of "benevolence." "Benevolence" is the moral concept that Confucius talks about the most, and it is also the moral concept that Confucius attaches the most importance to. This was recognized soon after the death of Confucius. Therefore, at the end of the Warring States period, everyone in the ideological circles at that time agreed that the most important thing in Confucius Thought was the respect for understanding "benevolence". When we say "Guiren" today, we are not a concept that we ourselves created to give Confucius thought, but something that has existed in ancient times.
Before 2000, the "Spring and Autumn of the Lü Dynasty" at the end of the Warring States period clearly said: "Confucius Guiren". "Guiren" means that Confucius attaches the most importance to and respects among many moral concepts. In ancient times, the concept of no value was expressed by the word "noble", such as "harmony is precious" and "people are precious", that is, "harmony" (harmony) and "people" (people) are regarded as the most important value. "Benevolence" is the most important ethical category in Confucius Thought, the highest moral theory of virtue in Confucius Thought, and also represents Confucius's social ideals. "Ren" can be said to represent benevolence and fraternity in the literal meaning, and at the same time, "benevolence" in Confucius thought is a name of all virtues, a synonym for the whole, and represents all things.
If we look at it from the perspective of Confucianism, "benevolence" also represents the highest spiritual realm in Confucian thought, which is both the principle of man and the highest virtue, as well as a social ideal and the highest spiritual realm. It is in this way that "benevolence" has become the primary moral concept in the core values of Chinese civilization. To sum up the core values of Chinese civilization, the first is "benevolence". Whether it is "benevolence, righteousness, wisdom" or "benevolence, righteousness, wisdom, and faith", both are headed by "benevolence", and "benevolence" is the primary concept for the development of the core values of Chinese civilization.
The meaning of "ren" has been clearly explained in the Analects, the most famous of which is "Fan Chi Asks Ren, Zi Yue: Lover." "Confucius originally attached great importance to family ethics, including filial piety. If we compare it with the ideas of three generations ago, Confucius proposed a more universal interpersonal ethics on the basis of family ethics——— "benevolent people love others". The starting point of the practice of "benevolence" was originally the most direct love for both parents, but confucius proposed a universal interpersonal ethic on this basis, that is, "the benevolent person loves others" .
The concept of "benevolence" is set as a universal value of social culture, of course, "benevolence" has a variety of forms of expression, for example, in ethics, it is fraternity and kindness, emotionally it is compassion, intolerance, and sympathy, in terms of value, it is caring, tolerant, and harmonious, and in terms of behavior, it is peace, symbiosis, and mutual assistance, especially it contains the support of the weak - the care of the vulnerable. More broadly, it also includes cherishing life and treating all things well. Therefore, "Ren" has diversity in the face of the natural world and the natural ecology. "Ren" is the ideological core of Confucius and Confucianism, and in the history of more than 2500 years, the concept of "ren" has also become one of the most concentrated expressions of the moral spirit of Chinese civilization.
The final basis of the Datong spoken of in modern times, including the community of human destiny spoken of today, is the concept of "benevolence." Confucius not only emphasized the importance of "benevolence", but Confucius expanded "benevolence" into two aspects of practical principles or practical wisdom. One is "do not do to others what you do not want to do to yourself"; the other is "you want to benefit others, and you want to reach others". Then "do not do to others what you do not want" is also called "forgiveness", "you want to benefit others, you want to reach others" can also be called "loyalty". Confucius attaches great importance to these two principles, so the Analects also say that "loyalty" and "forgiveness" embody Confucius's consistent way, from the perspective of "forgiveness", that is, what you do not want and never impose on others; from the perspective of "loyalty", you must develop to be happy, and you must also let others develop to be happy. Confucius did not advocate that "what one wants must be applied to others", and he thought that what was good must be given to others, so this avoided the mentality and behavior imposed on others, and also avoided many disputes and adverse consequences.
The thinker Mr. Liang Shuming has an explanation for Confucian civilization, arguing that Confucian ethics are based on each other, or on each other. In this way, in a nutshell, the characteristics of our ancient Chinese ethics can also be said to be the starting point of Confucian ethics, that is, to respect each other and respect each other's needs, rather than taking others as the realization of the self and others as the object of practice of the self. Mr. Liang Shuming's understanding of Confucius's "loyalty" and "forgiveness" and Confucian ethics has a feeling of modern people. In this sense, Confucian ethics is characterized not by highlighting the self, but by highlighting others, insisting that the other comes first and the other precedes the self. This is the starting point of the ethics of "benevolence".
As the starting point of ethics, "benevolence" began in 1990s and was used to set off a great debate on world ethics from 1990s to the mid-1990s. In the end, everyone found a consensus that the golden rule of world ethics is - "Do not do to others what you do not want to do to yourself" . From the perspective of the whole world, "do not do to others what you do not want" has been confirmed as the golden rule of world ethics, revealing its important ethical significance; from the perspective of the entire East, the historical development process of Chinese civilization since more than 2500 years, this teaching of Confucius Renxue and the way of "loyalty and forgiveness" have been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people and transformed into the moral spirit of Chinese civilization.
03
Respect
Confucius thought also has the admiration of "righteousness", and how to deal with the relationship between "profit" and "righteousness"? This is also the eternal moral theme of human civilization.
Chinese represented by Confucius believed that the basic issue was the relationship between "righteousness" and "profit." Confucius said, "A gentleman is a righteous man, and a villain is a profit." The difference between a gentleman and a villain is not a difference in status, but a difference in moral awareness, moral understanding, moral character, and moral quality. Confucius also said that "a gentleman's righteousness is supreme", that is, righteousness is supreme, that is, righteousness is put first in everything. Therefore, if there is a topic of change in righteousness and profit that runs through the history of Chinese moral thought and ethical thought, it is that there has been a clear consciousness since Confucius. In the Book of Rites, some of Confucius's sayings are also quoted, expressing similar meanings to those in the Analects, for example, the Book of Rites quotes Confucius as saying, "Forget righteousness and strive for profit, and kill his body", forget all righteousness, always strive for profit, and the final result is not the destruction of the family, it becomes the death of the body.
Mencius paid special attention to righteousness and profit, and greatly carried forward this aspect. In the Han Dynasty, Dong Zhongshu explicitly emphasized the opposition between the Confucian position of "righteousness" and the pursuit of "profit", which was to explicitly interpret "benefit" as utilitarian. According to the original saying, "Justice does not seek profit, and the clear way does not count merit", that is, "righteousness does not seek its own interests, and the clear way does not count its merits". This is moral and utilitarian, and it must be distinguished, and righteousness and morality refer to moral principles. Confucius said that "a gentleman's righteousness is supreme", and this "righteousness" is a moral principle. "Profit" is the utilitarian principle and the requirement of self-interest.
Therefore, from the pre-Qin to the Han Dynasty, it should be said that the idea of "respecting righteousness" has been formed. In Confucius's view, what is a gentleman? Confucius believed that a gentleman is a person with high morals, and what are the characteristics and qualities of a person with high morals? An important aspect is "honoring righteousness", and putting "righteousness" above other things as a criterion for evaluation is "honoring righteousness". "Respect for righteousness" has formed such a view in Confucius's thought, and people must at all times take "righteousness" as the first and "righteousness" as the first. Such ideas have adhered to this position from the beginning of Confucius to the Confucianism of the pre-Qin and Han Dynasties. This position is to insist on morality over utilitarianism, and to regard those who pursue utilitarianism as villains - "to fight for profit will perish".
Mencius played such an idea. Although the Book of Rites and Music does not use Confucius's original words to express it, it also puts forward a similar idea, called "seeing profit and giving way, righteousness also". These are all based on the ideas of Confucius and early Confucianism, and both embody similar moral ideas. When we talk about eight honors and eight shames, the most fundamental adaptation is to the two articles of "righteousness" and "profit", which on the one hand is also a spiritual embodiment of reverence. "Righteousness" represents moral principles, and "righteousness" is still the spirit of reverence, but this spirit has different concrete expressions, and the distinction between "righteousness" and "profit" is, on the one hand, the expression of reverence, on the other hand, profoundly affects the value preferences of Chinese culture.
Every civilization has its own values, expressing a preference, who is more important than whom, "righteousness" is more important than "profit", this is the value preference of Chinese culture. Mencius said that the choice of fish and bear paws applies not only to one person, but also to society and the country. So Confucius's Confucianism, including Confucius and his close students, expressed this idea in different ways. For example, in "The University", it is said: "The state does not take profit as profit, but takes righteousness as profit", and the idea of "taking righteousness as profit" is a new expression of the relationship between "righteousness" and "profit" mentioned earlier, not that Confucianism does not talk about "profit", but regards the pursuit of "righteousness" as the most fundamental "benefit". The state cannot only pursue the interests of wealth and prosperity, but the state must regard the pursuit of morality as the most fundamental interest. Such profound thinking should be said to be consistent with the core values of socialism.
We say that today we are in a process of modernization and globalization, and a very important feature of the modernization process is that it has greatly promoted the development of human productive forces, but it has also undermined the traditional balance of "righteousness" and "profit" to a considerable extent. In traditional society, people also demand "profit", but under the role of Confucius Confucianism, a balance of "righteousness" and "profit" can be achieved. Modern society and culture have developed one-sidedly towards tools and utilitarianism. "Utilitarian" is the opposite of morality. "Tools" are the opposition between value rationality and instrumental rationality in Western sociology. Value rationality is to have a definite value goal, and "tool" is to emphasize the rationality and rationalization of means. How to deal with the ills of modern society is a topic that the whole world and modern civilization must deal with. Of course, we can say that the ideas of Confucius and Confucianism can form a kind of restriction on the one-sidedness or bias in the development of modern society, which is its modern value.
The concept of "righteousness" in Confucius thought generally refers to moral principles. After Arriving at Confucius, the concept of "righteousness" in Confucianism became richer, the most important of which was given the normative meaning of "justice". The Book of Rites, "Benevolence with Love, Righteousness with Righteousness" and "Benevolence is close to pleasure, righteousness is close to etiquette", highlights the normative meaning of righteousness. Benevolence is used for love, righteousness is for righteousness, righteousness is the meaning of norms, and benevolence is the power of representing a norm.
In Confucius thought, morality is also emphasized, but "benevolence" and "righteousness" are not treated equally and juxtaposed, confucius's disciple Zisi, Zisi's student Mencius has already mentioned "benevolence" and "righteousness" together, and raised "righteousness" to the status of standing side by side with "benevolence". Therefore, in Confucianism after Mencius, the importance of "benevolence" is not only mentioned separately, but also more "benevolence" and "righteousness", making "benevolence" the most prominent moral value in Confucianism. In Confucianism, the meaning of "justice" places special emphasis on making a clear distinction between right and wrong, and making a decisive determination to punish evil and promote good. And righteousness is not only the virtue of the individual, but also the value of society.
In today's real world, we are faced with various complex phenomena in the real world, what is the meaning of "benevolence" and "righteousness"? "Benevolence" is to lead to social harmony, "righteousness" is to lead to social justice, "benevolence" is to lead to "world" peace, and "righteousness" is to lead to international justice.
04
Keep it in the middle
"Guarding" means guarding and guarding, and "medium" means moderation. Confucius attaches great importance to moderation, the original meaning of "zhong" is impartial, and one of the meanings of "zhong" is "time", which means that moral principles should be adjusted with the changes of the times and the changes of the environment, and after adjustment, they can achieve all the time, avoid the disconnection of moral principles from the times, so that the application and practice of moral principles can be coordinated with the changes of the times and the environment, and the solidification of moral codes is avoided. "Mediocrity" is to pay attention to the constant of change, that is, the constant of change, although the environment of the times is constantly changing, people are constantly adapting to the changes of the environment of the times, and at the same time, in moral life, there are some universal principles that do not change with the times.
Therefore, "moderation" represents such a universal principle in Confucius's view. On the one hand, Confucianism's idea of "moderation" opposes "over" and "not enough", and opposes bias. The Analects say: "Too much is too late", so Confucius's thought from this point of view always advocates the exclusion of extremes with moderation. On the other hand, it also proposes "clinging to both ends and using them" and "neutrality without leaning on them". This is not only the attitude of life, but also a method of thinking, and it should be said that this kind of thinking and attitude of the Chinese nation has played a very important role.
"Medium" is not biased, of course, we humans in practice have this bias and dependence, which is inevitable. But the ideological interests of "moderation" always remind us to pay attention to the fact that there will always be different extreme propositions in society in every era, but this is after all a minority. Therefore, not taking the extreme, avoiding the extreme, and choosing the middle way, this middle way must be a choice that meets the requirements of most people. Therefore, on the one hand, "moderation" has the meaning of morality itself, and on the other hand, this virtue of moderation in Middle Way thought gives Confucianism and Chinese civilization a non-extreme and steady character.
Therefore, in the history of Chinese civilization and in the era dominated by Confucianism, there have been no major mistakes in extreme policies, which embodies the value of moderation and the moderation of thinking, and has played a guiding and restraining role in the history of Chinese civilization. If we look at the Chinese nation and the character of the Chinese nation, moderation can also be said to have a shaping effect on the character of Chinese civilization, and this character is not to go to extremes and to approach the middle way.
05
Still
We chose four perspectives, "benevolence, righteousness, neutrality, and harmony," to describe the spiritual expression of Confucius's reverence. It should be said that before Confucius and including some wise men who were contemporaries of Confucius, they all proposed the difference between "and" and "same", "the debate of harmony", "and" is the harmonious sum, and "same" is the same same.
What is and what is it? And, that is, the reconciliation of different things; the same, is the continuous repetition of a single thing. It can also be said that "and" is the harmony and harmony of different elements, and "sameness" is the identity of a single thing, also called simple identity. Before Confucius, in the era of the Western Zhou Dynasty, and in the late Spring and Autumn Period, the wise men already had such an understanding, that is, harmony is better than the same, and harmony is better than singleness. Confucius's thought was not self-generated, and it also absorbed the essence of this kind of thought and the ideas of the same era since the Western Zhou Dynasty, so in Confucius's thought, this shanghe ideological tendency inherited and developed the wisdom of early Chinese harmony and debate.
What kind of wisdom? It is from the Western Zhou Dynasty to the late Spring and Autumn Period of harmony and the same debate, it is believed that difference and diversity are the prerequisites for the development of things, and the coordination and reconciliation of different things are the fundamental conditions for the development of things. Only in this way can things continue to grow and develop. The continuous development of life, the endless growth of the universe, is premised on the existence of diversity and difference; denying diversity and difference, and pursuing only unity, which is often forced to be the same. And "harmony" includes tolerance and tolerance for differences and diversity, and such tolerance and tolerance are the basis of the democratic values we talk about today.
By confucius, he formally proposed that "gentlemen are harmonious but different, and villains are the same but not harmonious", and put forward that "harmony is precious". "Harmony is precious" expresses a choice and preference for value. Therefore, the idea of "harmony and difference" not only affirms difference but also pays attention to harmony compared with the early debate of harmony; it is necessary to seek harmony on the basis of difference, which can be said to be a step further than the earlier debate of harmony and sameness. Confucius also believed that "harmony" is the mind, temperament, and realm of a gentleman, and the "harmony" pursued by Confucius is also a harmonious concept based on the coexistence of diversity.
Of course, the idea of a separate "and" has been around for a long time. In the Confucian classic "Book of Shang", it is proposed that "concord all nations" and "peace states" are all about the relationship between countries and the external world, and the concept of "harmony" is regarded as a basic dialogue and value of foreign exchanges. Therefore, the foreign exchanges of the Chinese civilization world outlook have long determined their own value ideals. This ideal is "harmony", that is, harmony. After Confucius, on the basis of this concept of "harmony", the harmonious meaning of "harmony" became more prominent. Just now, we said that "keeping the middle" is to exclude the extremes of moderation, and "Shanghe" is to replace the middle with harmony.
A characteristic that can be seen in the history of Chinese civilization over thousands of years is the constant pursuit of a world of peaceful coexistence, which is our enduring ideal pursuit for thousands of years. 60 years ago, at the Bandung Conference in Indonesia, the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence were formed, and China was one of the main advocates, actively participating in the conclusion of this consensus, from which we can also see that the basic values of Chinese civilization still have a profound impact in contemporary times. Peaceful coexistence between countries is the universal ideal of mankind, Confucius thought arose 2500 years ago, Confucius thought and Confucianism, the idea of relations with the outside world is basically shangwen is not shangwu, shang soft is not still courageous. Confucius advocated that the distant world should be "cultivated since then", that the soft power of culture should be developed, and that our values should be developed to attract friendly relations in the outside world. Of course, "harmony" is not only the basic value of external and external interaction with the outside world, but also the basic value of adjusting social relations internally and promoting social harmony.
Therefore, the main moral spirit of Confucius thought can be summarized by "reverence". Concrete manifestations are: insisting on morality above everything else, advocating that the other precede the self, emphasizing morality above utilitarianism, rejecting extremes with moderation, and replacing conflict with harmony. These are not only the essence and morality of Confucius and Confucianism, but also will continue to exert value-leading forces in our social practice today and in the practice of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.
◎ This article was originally published in Wen Wei Po (author Chen Lai, dean of the Institute of Chinese Studies, Tsinghua University), the source network, the copyright of the picture and text belongs to the original author, if there is infringement, please contact to delete.