Interpretation 丨 Gentleman yu yi

Gentleman was originally a collective term for the aristocratic ruling class with power and property. The words "jun" and "zi" have appeared in the oracle bones, and the word "junzi" was first seen in the "Shangshu Wuyi" "Junzishou, its Wuyi", and the Eastern Han Dynasty classicist Zheng Xuan's note: "Junzi, stop at the official elders." As two ruling classes with different statuses, those with higher status such as kings and princes are called "kings", and those with lower status such as the secretaries of state are called "sons". "Son" can be promoted to "Jun", and "Jun" also has a derogatory "Son". For example, in the Spring and Autumn Period, the old monarch died and the new monarch was established, and he was called a son in that year, and a king in the past year. Duke Huan was originally a count, and was derogatorily referred to as "son" because of his use of Yi li. Confucius was the key figure in realizing the transformation of the righteousness of a gentleman from "position" to "virtue". After Confucius, the criteria for determining whether a person can become a gentleman are no longer the hierarchy of status, but noble thoughts and decent behavior. Therefore, the "gentleman" in the Analects is mainly used as a moral concept, referring to a virtuous person or a person with high morals.

After Confucius's transformation and reinterpretation, especially after giving the gentleman the connotation of "righteousness", "gentleman" became an ideal personality. "Righteous, appropriate", "righteous" means just, reasonable, and should be done. The Analects repeatedly associate righteousness with gentlemen, such as "a gentleman's righteousness is taken as a hostage, courtesy is done, Sun takes it out, and faith fulfills it." Gentlemen do things on the basis of morality, according to etiquette, expressed in humble language, and accomplished with a loyal attitude. "A gentleman is also in the world, there is no adaptation, there is no Moye, and righteousness is compared." A gentleman has no rules on how to do things in the world, nor does he stipulate how not to do them, as long as they can be reasonable and appropriate. Gentlemen and villains are impermanent, "those who do good deeds are gentlemen, and those who do evil deeds are villains." This breaks the mindset that is not a gentleman or a villain, as Zeng Guofan said: "Is benevolence and righteousness always there?" If you do it, you are a gentleman, and if you violate it, you are a villain. "On the same day, if you are righteous, you are a gentleman; if you are selfish, you are a villain." In the same matter, if you first think of justice, you are a gentleman; if you think of selfish interests, you are a villain. ”

"A gentleman is righteous, and a villain is a profit." Gentlemen treat people and things in the world according to morality, and whether they can do their righteousness is an important criterion for distinguishing between gentlemen and villains. Confucius said, "A gentleman's righteousness is supreme." A gentleman has courage but no righteousness is chaos, and a villain has courage but no righteousness is a thief. Mencius believed that a gentleman should rely on righteousness in everything, "words do not have to be believed, deeds do not have to be fruitful, but righteousness is there", words do not necessarily keep faith, and doing things does not necessarily have results, as long as it is moral. Confucianism refers to "righteousness" and "benevolence", "etiquette", "wisdom", and "faith" as the "five constants", that is, as an independent individual in society, for the sake of their own development and social progress, they should possess these five most basic qualities and virtues. Volume III of Zhang Zai's "Hengqu Yi Shuo" says: "Yi is for the gentleman, not for the villain, so it is written in the trigram, although the yao has a small and large, and it is a matter of resignation, it will be the righteousness of a gentleman." "The Zhou Yi is all about human affairs, just to teach people how to have gentlemanly virtue.

"Gentleman" occupies a very important position in Confucius Studies, from the beginning of the Analects "People do not know but are not ashamed, not also gentlemen", to the pawn chapter "Do not know their fate, can not be a gentleman also", can be described as running through the whole process, echoing from beginning to end, forming a complete and deepening system of gentleman cultivation. According to the statistics of the linguist Mr. Yang Bojun's "Commentary on the Translation of the Analects", of the 20 chapters and 512 chapters, there are 86 chapters that record Confucius and his disciples on "gentlemen". In the more than 10,000-word Analects, the concept that appears most frequently is "benevolence", a total of 109 times, followed by "gentleman" with 107 times.

It can be seen that "gentleman", like "benevolence", is a concept that has been repeatedly and multifacetedly defined, interpreted and emphasized by Confucius. The personality realm of the gentleman is second only to the unattainable saint, and Confucius said: "Saint, I cannot see it!" He who sees the gentleman, Skoyan. Unfortunately, at that time, not only were saints difficult to see, but gentlemen were also "much?" Not much also". Although the word "gentleman" was not pioneered by Confucius, Confucius made a new interpretation and definition of it, enriched the connotation of a gentleman with specific moral qualities, and formed a complete system of values and theories. Some scholars have even called Confucius's transformation of the meaning of the gentleman "Confucius's greatest contribution to Chinese philosophy", believing that this move laid the core conceptual position of "gentleman" in Confucianism.

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