Lu Jianhua | the human world before Confucianism

The human world before Confucianism

Lu Jianhua

Professor of the Department of Philosophy, Anhui University

Source: Social Sciences, No. 8, 2020

Summary: Before the emergence of Confucianism, there was a systematic theory of human nature in China, which was constructed by politicians from the last years of the Shang Dynasty to the Spring and Autumn Period. Generally speaking, the pre-Confucian doctrine of human nature involves all the main aspects of the theory of human nature, such as the essence, content, basis, and value orientation of human nature; the constructors of the pre-Confucian theory of human nature believe that human nature is the innate intrinsic nature of human beings, the content of human nature is either "virtue" or lust, the basis of human nature is heaven, and the value of human nature points either to "good" or to "evil". In this way, the constructors of the pre-Confucian doctrine of human nature understood the problem of human nature as a moral problem, or in other words, understood the problem of human nature from the moral dimension. These undoubtedly have a profound impact on Confucianism.

Keywords: before Confucianism; sex; heaven; virtue; desire

The Confucian doctrine of human nature originated from Confucius. Confucius's so-called "sexual proximity, xi xiangyuan also" (Analects of Yang Goods) opened the precedent of the Confucian theory of human nature, and roughly framed the framework and development direction of the Confucian theory of human nature. However, the source of the Confucian doctrine of human nature was before Confucius, and it can be said that the doctrine of human nature before Confucius or before Confucianism constituted the source of the Confucian doctrine of human nature. From the perspective of Confucian human nature, the pre-Confucian theory of human nature, as the source of confucian human nature, was directly or indirectly taken by pre-Qin Confucianism and seems to be scattered. It is precisely because of this that the pre-Confucian theory of human nature was not valued by the academic community, and the research results were relatively small. From the perspective of the pre-Confucian theory of human nature itself, the pre-Confucian theory of human nature has its own internal logical structure, development process, and is systematic. So, what kind of doctrine is the pre-Confucian doctrine of human nature, which is the source of the systematic, Confucian theory of human nature? This is something that needs to be studied.

One

Judging from the documents handed down from generation to generation, the word "sex" first appeared in the "Book of Shang and Shang Shu" in the "Xi Bo Ji Li", from the mouth of Zu Yi. The Xi Bo Li records that in the last year of the Shang Dynasty, King Wen of Zhou defeated the Shang vassal state "Li", and the Shang sage Zu Yi panicked and reported to the King of Shang and gave advice to the King of Li: "Xi Bo is both Li Li, Zu Yi is afraid, and rushes to the king, saying: 'Heavenly Son, the heavens have cursed me yin orders, and the Ge people are yuangui, and they dare not know ji. The non-first king does not meet my descendants, but the king uses sexual drama to kill himself, so the heavens forsake me, there is no good food, no nature, no dilusion. Now my people are mournful, saying, "Heaven does not bring down the might? Fate is not good. "Now the king is like a platform?' Wang Yue: 'Whoops! Am I born with a destiny in heaven? Zui replied, "Whoops! Is it a sin that is multiplied, but can it be condemned to heaven? Yin Zhi is the mourning, referring to nai gong, not without killing Erbang! ’”

Since the Siberians understand human nature as "nature", meaning that its discussion of human nature involves "heaven", or even from the height of "heaven", it is necessary to discuss heaven first before discussing its human nature; and since "nature" was proposed by Zui, special attention should be paid to Zuyi's so-called heaven.

From the dialogue between Zuyi and King Sui, it can be seen that heaven is the supreme lord and determines the good fortunes and misfortunes of the world, which is the common belief of King Su and Zuyi. The difference is that the heaven in the heart of the king of the dragon has no moral existence, so in the view of the king of the king, the heaven has no concept of good and evil, nor does it have the fixed providence, the heavens have nothing to do with man's blessing and punishment, and the reward and punishment have no certain or fixed standards, so that on the one hand, the heaven is only the object of faith, not the object of imitation, people can only believe in the heavens, and can not speculate and imitate the will, on the other hand, the mandate of heaven is destined to remain unchanged, and will not be transferred for man-made reasons; and the heaven in Zuyi's heart is a moral existence. Therefore, in Zuyi's view, heaven has its concept of good and evil, heaven's protection and punishment of man is related to human behavior, and rewarding good and punishing evil is its basic value orientation, so that on the one hand, heaven is not only the object of faith, but also the object of imitation, man not only believes in heaven, but also can speculate on providence, obey and imitate providence, on the other hand, the mandate of heaven is not fixed, and the transfer of the mandate of heaven depends on man's behavior.

Based on the immorality of heaven, the unthinkability of providence, and the destiny of heaven remaining unchanged, the king of Qiu thought that people did not need to be responsible for their own actions, could not see and did not reflect on the irrationality and immorality of their own actions, so they firmly believed that they "had a destiny in heaven", even if they "did not worry about nature", they did not think that this was "heaven forsaken me". Based on the morality of Heaven, the knowability of Providence, and the variability of The Mandate of Heaven, Zui realized that man must be responsible for his own actions, so he criticized the impropriety and immorality of King Gong's behavior, and advised Him to do something, so he took "not worrying about nature" as "Heaven forsaken me".

Why zui understands human nature as "nature" in the "Xi Bo Ji Li", Ruan Yuan has explained: "The word 'sex' is added to this 'sex' word, and it is clear that sex is subject to heaven." That is to say, Zui believes that although human nature is human nature, it is the nature of human beings, but human nature does not come from man himself, but is rooted in heaven and endowed by heaven. In other words, heaven is the basis and origin of human nature. At the same time, this shows that in Zui's view, human nature is innate and innate. Ruan Yuan's interpretation is undoubtedly accurate.

So, what kind of "nature" is this "nature"? Or what does "nature" as human nature really mean? Sun Xingyan's explanation can be used as a reference: "Nature, the nature of destiny, benevolence, righteousness, wisdom and faith." Here, Sun Xingyan interprets Zuyi's "nature" with Song Ru's "nature of destiny", which is obviously blunt, but also has its rationality. The reason is that Song Ru's "nature of the Mandate of Heaven" and its direct basis of the "nature of the Mandate of Heaven" ("Zhongyong") are related to this "nature". Conversely, interpreting this "nature" with the "nature of destiny" also has a certain rationality.

Although "nature" is not "the nature of destiny", Sun Xingyan's interpretation shows that Zuyi's so-called human nature is rooted in heaven from the source and from the perspective of metaphysical basis, and heaven is the "essence" of human nature. This is accurate. This statement is also the same as Ruan Yuan's statement. Sun Xingyan's interpretation also shows that Zuyi's so-called human nature is essentially the "destiny" of heaven, not caused by human beings. This is also accurate. It can be seen that Sun Xingyan, like Ruan Yuan, also believes that Zuyi's so-called human nature is innate and innate. This is equally accurate. In this way, after confirming Zui's so-called human nature out of "heaven", "destiny", and the innate nature of this human nature, it is also confirmed that human nature is essentially the innate, innate nature of man.

The next question is, what is the content of What is Zui's so-called human nature? Since Zui understands human nature as "nature", it must be examined from the perspective of "heaven". Since Zui's so-called "heaven" is on the one hand the supreme lord and supreme god, on the other hand, it has moral attributes, is the existence of the supreme good, and is the embodiment of morality; and because between heaven and man, heaven's requirements for man are to renounce evil and follow good, and man is absolutely obedient to heaven, then the "nature" imposed by heaven on man or the "sex" of man subject to heaven should be in content the "virtue" that heaven itself has. As for what this "virtue" refers to, it should refer to all the "virtues" in life. Sun Xingyan's interpretation of the specific content of "nature" as "benevolence, righteousness, wisdom and faith" may not be accurate, but his interpretation of Zuyi's "nature", that is, the content of human nature, from the perspective of "morality", is generally not mire.

Since the content of Zui's so-called human nature is the "virtue" descended from heaven, this means that to act in accordance with the "virtue" is to act in accordance with the "virtue". Actions based on "virtue" are "good" behaviors, and it can be known that acting in accordance with "virtue" is also "good" behavior. Based on the value of goodness based on compliance, it can be seen that in Zui's view, human nature is "good" in terms of morality and value, although Zui does not explicitly state it.

It should be noted that in the "Xi Bo Li", Zui listed the situation of "heaven forsaking me" as "no good food, no nature, no di di". Among them, "not worrying about nature" means that heaven does not let us speculate on nature, that is, it does not allow us to speculate on our own nature, so that we lose our nature, are driven by desire, and commit evil deeds. This means that God blesses people, so that people can speculate on human nature, so that people can know human nature, so that they can go along with it, not driven by desire, and be positive and good. This also shows from one side that Zui's so-called human nature is good, and human nature is good, which inevitably means that the content of human nature is "virtue".

From the above, it can be seen that the theory of human nature arose in the last years of the Shang Dynasty and existed in the Xibo Jiali, which was proposed by Zuyi. The Zui doctrine of human nature is closely linked to and subject to its doctrine of heaven. In Zui's view, the basis and origin of human nature is heaven, human nature is essentially the innate nature of human beings, the content of human nature is "virtue", and the value of human nature points to "goodness". The content of human nature is "virtue", which shows that Zui's so-called human nature only involves the "heart" in the word "sex" in content, but does not involve the "life" in the word "sex".

Two

During the Western Zhou Dynasty, the theory of human nature developed. Relevant materials on the doctrine of human nature in the Western Zhou Dynasty are found in the Shangshu Zhou Shu (尚書) in the Summons, the Book of Poetry and Daya in the Scrolls, and the Chinese Zhou Yu Shang (. Zhou Yushang) in the Matsuri Gong Zhi Mu Wang Zheng Dog Rong (ੂ.

Let's start with The Calling. The "Summons" is a work of the early years of the Western Zhou Dynasty, and its main body is the edict of the Summoning Gong, which is intended to encourage King Cheng of Zhou to respect virtue and protect the people, "pray for eternal life in heaven". It speaks of human nature, mandate of heaven, and "virtue": "The king first obeyed the Yin Imperial Affairs, which was better than I had the Zhou Imperial Affairs." Temperance, but the day and the day, the king respects the place, must not be disrespectful. I must not be unsupervised by Youxia, nor can I be unsupervised by Youyin. I do not dare to know, there is a summer service destiny, but there are calendar years; I dare not know, not to extend. But if you do not respect virtue, you will fall into your life early. I do not dare to know, but I have received the Mandate of Heaven, but there are calendar years; I dare not know, I do not extend it. But if you do not respect virtue, you will fall into your life early. Now that the king is ordained, I also have only the order of the two kingdoms, and I will do the same", "Wang Qidezhi, with the prayer for eternal life." But the king shall not use the small people fornication with non-Yi, nor shall he dare to kill and use the servants, if he has merit. Only his throne is in Deyuan, and Xiaomin is only used for the world, and the king of Yue is prominent. I am appointed by heaven, and if there is a summer calendar year, do not substitute for the Yin calendar year, and I want the king to receive the eternal destiny of heaven with a small people."

Judging from the above words, the summons is believed to be the supreme and supreme being, the absolute master of mankind, and that the "mandate of heaven" depends on providence and also depends on man-made, so the ruler must obey the will of heaven, "respect morality" and "temperance", in order to "receive the eternal destiny of heaven".

Based on the supreme goodness of heaven and the goodness of heaven's destiny, "respect for virtue" and "temperance" are both good and good for people. "Respect for virtue" refers to the prudent and conscientious practice of "virtue" in terms of man's external behavior; "temperance" refers to man's inner nature, which means that man should "section" his own "nature."

What is "festival", especially what is the "festival" of "festival". This is crucial for understanding the doctrine of calling for human nature. Sun Xingyan, Wang Xianqian, etc. quoted the "Jiehu Sex Also" in the "Lü Shi Chunqiu Chongji" to explain it. Sun Xingyan said: "Those who are temperamental, Lü Shi Chunqiu Chongji Chapter" Yun: "Festivals of Sex also"; Wang Xianqian said: "'Festivals, but the sun is its march', "Lü Lan Chongji Chapter": "Festivals of Sex Also". In the view of Sun Xingyan and Wang Xianqian, the "temperament" of Zhao Gong is equivalent to the "temperance of temperament" in "Lü Shi Chunqiu Chongji". This view may have influenced Fu Sinian, who although he insisted that the "festival of nature" was "jiesheng", he also quoted the "festival of nature" in "Lü's Spring and Autumn Heavy Self" to interpret the "temperament" of Zhao Gong. This shows that clarifying the meaning of "jiehu sex" in "Lü Shi Chunqiu Chongji" seems to be the key to accurately understanding the "festival nature" of Zhao Gong.

Let's look at the relevant discussion of "Lü's Spring and Autumn Heavy Self": "The room is large and yin, and the height is more yang; more yin is more, and more yang is paralyzed, and this yin and yang discomfort is also afflicted." It is because the king was not in the big room, not for the high platform, the taste was not precious, and the clothes were not hot. The heat of the burn is the plug, the plug is not up to the qi; the taste of the treasure is the stomach full, and the stomach is full of the big shovel. Medium and big and not up to the qi, so that eternal life can be obtained? The former Saint King's garden pond is also enough to look at the shape of the labor; it is also the palace terrace, which is enough to dispel dryness and wetness; it is also a horse dress, which is enough to escape and warm the skeleton; it is also a diet, which is enough to be suitable for taste and emptiness; it is also sound and color music, which is enough to entertain itself. Fifth, the reason why the Holy King cultivates sex is not good and thrifty, but also evil, and frugality is also sex."

This means that although man's survival requires the means of life, accompanied by material and sensory needs, excessive material desires and sensory pleasures will harm the body and harm life, so to demand "eternal life", it is necessary to restrain one's material desires and sensory desires, make them moderate, that is, they must "temper sex". Here, it is obvious that the "knot" of "frugality" refers to moderation, and the "sex" of "frugality" should refer to man's sensual desires and physical desires.

Regarding the "Spring and Autumn of the Lü Dynasty", Gao Lu's commentary has always been valued by later commentators. In order to interpret the "temperament" of Zhao Gong, Wang Xianqian quoted the "jiehu sex" in the "Lü Shi Chunqiu Chongji", and at the same time attracted the high temptation: "'Festival, only the day and its mai', Lü Lan Zhongji Chapter: 'Jie Hu Sex Also.' 'High note: 'Verse, Judas', is an example.

Let's look at Gao Lu's commentary on "frugality also": "Festival, Judas also." And just the right thing to do, but the system is also.". Here, the high temptation "knot" is "and", referring to the words "and suitable for its emotions, but also system", it can be seen that its so-called "and" refers to coordination, regulation, and moderation. That is to say, the "knot" it understands is temperance. Based on the "festival, Judas and also", gao lures "knotty" as "and suitable for the emotional nature, but the system is also", and directly understands the "sex" as "emotional nature", which can be seen that the "sex" of "festival sex" refers to human lust or sensory, physiological desire. In this way, it believes that "abstinence" is to temper lust, to temper the senses, or to physical desires. In this way, the high-temptation annotation is also more accurate.

Since the "temperance" in "Lü's Spring and Autumn Heavy Self" refers to the temperance of human nature, and the "sex" of which refers to people's senses or physiological desires, then, with the "temperance of nature" in "Lü's Spring and Autumn Heavy Self", the "temperance" of the summoning is interpreted, "temperance" also refers to the temperance of human nature, and the "sex" of "temperance" also refers to people's senses or physiological desires.

Regarding the "temperance" of the summoning of the gong, Ruan Yuan also discussed it in the "Ancient Precepts of Life", and his views are more worthy of attention. Ruan Yuan quoted the Shang Shu Zhao Zhen (尚書) as saying, "Temperance, but the sun is the day, wang jingzuo, must not be disrespectful to virtue" and then discussed: "Mencius, The Heart also means that the mouth, eyes, nose, and limbs are also sex. The desire for taste, color, sound, smell, and tranquility in sex is to be tempered. The ancients quoted mencius from "The mouth is also tasteful, the eyes are also colored, the ears are sound, the nose is smelly, the limbs are an ano, sex is also, there is destiny, and a gentleman is not sexual" and then discussed: "If it is said in conjunction with the "Summons", it is more obvious. But its taste, color, sound, smell, and tranquility are sex, so sex must be tempered, and if it is not tempered, the lust in sex is indulged." It can be seen from this that Ruan Yuan believes that the "knot" of "temperance" refers to temperance, "temperance" refers to temperance of human nature, and the "sex" of "temperance" refers to human lust or sensory desire.

In fact, even if we do not borrow the "temperament" of the "Lü's Spring and Autumn" and interpret the "temperament" of the Summoning Gong like Sun Xingyan and Wang Xianqian, but directly from the text of the "Summoning", especially the "temperance of the Summoning, but the day and the day, the Wang Jingzuo, must not be disrespectful", interpreting the "temperance" of the Summoning Gong, we can also draw the same conclusion. In the "Summons", "respect for virtue" and "temperance" are interrelated, "respect for morality" must be "temperate", and "temperance" is for "reverence". The basis and criterion of "temperance" is "morality", and the external manifestation of "temperance" is "respect for morality". Ruan Yuanyue: "'Wang Jingzuo must not be disrespectful. 'That is, the reason why sex is also versed" also expresses this meaning. Since "temperance" is based on "virtue" and standard, it can be seen that the "sex" of "temperance" is not composed of "virtue", that is, the content of "sex" is not "virtue". The content of "sex" is not "virtue", indicating that its content should be the opposite and opposite of "morality". "Sex" is lust, and "temperance" is based on "virtue" and the standard "section" lust. This "section" must be temperance.

Just as far as "frugality, only the sun is its mai", "frugality, only the day is its mai", not "shunning, only the sun is its mai", or "fullness, only the day is its mai", it can be seen that "festival" is opposite to "shun" and "exhaustion", which should be temperance. Because of "temperance, only day by day", temperance of human nature, can be made day by day, day by day to good, it can be seen that the content of human nature is not "virtue", but the opposite of "virtue" - lust.

Since the content of the so-called human nature of the summons is human lust, human senses or physiological desires, going along with the sex means indulging lust, harming others, and endangering society, indicating that the so-called value of human nature of the summoner points to "evil", and also shows that the so-called human nature of the summoner only involves the "life" in the word "sex" in content, and does not involve the "heart" in the word "sex".

Moreover, although human nature as an innate inner human existence is self-evident. Nor is it explicitly stated. We can still see it in the "Summons": since in the "Summons", "reverence" and "temperance" are interrelated, of which "virtue" and "sex" are opposite, and "virtue" is only external to the existence of man, it can be inferred that the so-called "sex" of the summons is essentially an innate existence inherent in man.

Let's look at "Volume A". "Volume A" is also a work of the early years of the Western Zhou Dynasty, which is a poem written by the author of "Volume A" when King Zhou Cheng traveled to Volume A, which was intended to praise King Zhou Cheng, and at the same time contained the intention of exhorting King Zhou Cheng to make meritorious achievements. The text of the Scroll a deals with human nature is as follows: "Companion Yu'er Youyi, Yuyu'er Xiuyi." Brother-in-law gentleman, Balmir nature, like a former chieftain. Ertu Yu Chapter, also the thickness of the hole. Brother gentleman, Balmir nature, hundred gods and lords. Er was ordained to be long,000. Brother gentleman, Balmir nature, pure Er'er Changyi".

Here, "Mir's nature" is the key to understanding the doctrine of human nature in Scroll a. So, what is "Mir nature", and especially what is the "Mir nature" of "Mir sex"? Previous generations have detailed research: "The Biography of Mao Notes: 'Mi, the end also.' Hu Chengjue said, "The end, do it." Michi nature, that is, to the fullest of its nature also. Yao Jiheng said, "Mi, Shiwen, Yiye." "Mir nature" means to sufficiency of its nature, so that there is no loss also". This shows that "Mir sex" means expanding your humanity and maximizing your humanity.

What is the result of "Mir's sex"? The "Scroll A" believes that the result is: "like the first chieftain", "the lord of the hundred gods", and "the pure er changyi". That is to say, if King Zhou Cheng can expand and give full play to his humanity, he can inherit the work laid by the previous kings, worship the hundred gods, and always enjoy great blessings. This result is not only "good" for King Zhou Chengwang himself, but also "good" for others, for society, and for the country.

Since "mi" means expansion and exhaustion, the result of "mi" is "good". It can be seen that in the view of the author of "Volume A", human nature is "good" at the level of value. Since the value orientation of human nature and the good and evil of human nature depend on the content of human nature, the author of "Volume A" believes that human nature is good, and it can be seen that the content of its so-called human nature should be "virtue" as opposed to lust and the like. Because only by walking in accordance with virtue and practicing virtue vigorously can the result be "good". Moreover, from the perspective of the Confucian theory of human nature, whoever emphasizes the perfection of human nature must have the content of his so-called human nature as "virtue", and his so-called value of human nature must point to "goodness", which is also a reason that can be referred to. From this point of view, the so-called human nature of the author of "Volume A" only involves the "heart" in the word "sex" in content, and does not involve the "life" in the word "sex".

Finally, let's look at the "Sacrifice of the Gong Gong Zhi Mu Wang Zheng InuYasha". The "Sacrifice Gong Zhi Mu Wang Zheng Inu Rong" records the events of the early Western Zhou Dynasty, for the sake of the sacrifice father to dissuade King Mu of Zhou from conquering the Dog Rong. The exhortations of the priest and the father are mainly from the "first king" or from the political and historical dimensions, and the words involving human nature are as follows: "The first king is to the people, to correct his virtue and thicken his nature, to seek his wealth and to benefit his instruments, to know the land of interests and harms, to cultivate them with culture, to avoid harm by doing business, and to fear the mighty, so that he can preserve the world and nourish himself."

Here, "mao correct his virtue and thicken his nature" belongs to the measures of the "first king" to govern the people from the moral and human dimensions, so it belongs to the "first king's" understanding of human nature, expressing the human nature theory of the "first king" in the early Western Zhou Dynasty, which means that the people should strive to correct their "morality" and thicken their "nature". Here, "thickness" is similar to the "mill nature" in the Scrolls; the result of "thickness" is to make the people turn to good, not to evil. According to this, it can be judged that the "first king" in the mouth of the priest and the father believes that human nature is "good" at the value level, and the content of human nature is "virtue". Wei Zhao's interpretation of the "sex" of "thick nature" as "emotional nature" is wrong. Here, "mao qi morality" is to let the people strive to correct their "morality", it can be inferred that the "morality" of the people is inherent in the people, not through external forces imposed on the people, and in this regard alone, it can also be inferred that "morality" as an intrinsic human existence should be the content of human nature. "Virtue" is the content of human nature, which means that human nature is good. Here, "Mao Zheng Qide" is consistent with "thick nature", "positive" virtue means "thick" nature, and "thick" sex means "positive" morality. From the perspective of the intrinsic nature of "virtue", "virtue" is "sex". This shows that the so-called human nature of the "first king" in the mouth of the priest and the father of the priest only involves the "heart" in the word "sex" in content, but does not involve the "life" in the word "sex".

It can be seen from the above that the theory of human nature in the Western Zhou Dynasty is mainly the theory of human nature in the early years or early days of the Western Zhou Dynasty, which involves the nature, content and value orientation of human nature. Regarding the nature of human nature, zhao gong, the author of "volume A" and the "first king" in the mouth of the priest and the father of the priesthood are not clearly discussed, but they all believe that human nature is essentially the existence inherent in human beings; regarding the content of human nature, the content of human nature is considered to be lust and the like, and the author of "Volume A" and the "first king" in the mouth of the father of the sacrifice gong mou believe that the content of human nature is "virtue", involving the "birth" and "heart" in the word "sex"; regarding the value orientation of human nature, zhao gong believes that human nature is evil, "Volume A" The author and the "first king" in the mouth of the priest and the father of the priest consider human nature to be good; regarding the origin and basis of human nature, the zhao gong, the author of the "Scroll" and the "first king" in the mouth of the father of the priest and the father of the priest are not discussed.

Three

The relevant materials of the theory of human nature in the Spring and Autumn Period mainly exist in the "Zuo Zhuan", and there is only one article in the "Chinese". It should be noted that although the word "sex" appears in the materials in the "Left Biography", it does not refer to nature, but to "life", which means survival and life, so these materials cannot be regarded as materials of the doctrine of human nature. For example, the "Eighth Year of Zuo Chuan Zhao Gong" contains the words of Shi Kuang: "The present palace room is exalted, the people's strength is exhausted, and the grievances are done at the same time, and their nature is not preserved." For another example, the "Nineteenth Year of Zuo Chuan Zhaogong" contains Shen Yinzhi's words: "I have heard of those who care for the people, the festival is used for the inside and the tree is virtuous on the outside, and the people are happy with their nature without revenge." The "sex" in it is "life".

Judging from the theory of human nature in the Spring and Autumn Period, it involves the views of human nature being good, human nature being evil, and some human nature being good and some human nature being evil. Regarding the evil of human nature, it is recorded in the Chinese Zhou Yuzhong. The "Shan Xiang Gong on the Merits of Qi to Heaven" in the "Chinese Zhou Yu Zhong" contains the words of Shan Xiang Gong: "A gentleman does not call himself a gentleman, not to let him, but to evil himself." Lady sex, the tomb is also, can not be covered also. Ask for a cover of people, and their depression is even worse, so the saints are noble." It means that the gentleman does not boast of himself, not simply for the sake of humility, but hates the act of boasting above others; according to human nature, he wants to surpass those who are above himself, so it is impossible to be above others; if he tries to be above others, he will be suppressed even more severely, so the saints advocate the virtue of "letting go". Here, from Shan Xianggong's "ladyly nature, the one on the tomb" and Shan Xianggong's dislike of human nature, it can be seen that going along with nature will inevitably bully and hurt others, and Shan Xianggong's so-called human nature must be evil; from the evil of human nature, and human nature must be subject to "morality", it can be seen that the content of Shan Xianggong's so-called human nature should be the opposite of "morality"—desire, but this desire includes not only sensual and material desires, but also spiritual, psychological, and even political desires. Shan Xianggong's understanding of the content of human nature involves the "life" in the word "sex", but does not involve the "heart" in the word "sex".

Regarding the goodness of human nature, it is recorded in the "Left Biography". The Fourteenth Year of The Duke of Xiang of Zuo Chuan contains the words of Shi Kuang: "A prince who is born of the people, makes the priest and shepherd, and does not lose his nature." It means that God let the monarch rule over the people and not let the people lose their nature. From the perspective of "not losing human nature", Shi Kuang obviously believes that human nature has positive values, and thus believes that human nature is good, so he advocates that human nature cannot be lost, and only then does he ask to preserve and protect human nature. From the perspective of the goodness of human nature, Shi Kuang's so-called "sex" should refer to the "virtue" within man, that is, the content of human nature should refer to the "virtue" that exists within man. Similar to Shi Kuang's point of view, there is also Uncle Zi. The "Twenty-five Years of Zuo Chuan Zhaogong" contains the words of Uncle Zi: "Qi is five tastes, hair is five colors, zhang is five sounds, obscenity is comatose, and the people lose their sex." It is therefore a courtesy to be enshrined." It means that qi constitutes the five tastes, manifests as five colors, manifests as five sounds, and the people who indulge and let loose in it will be dizzy, and they will lose their nature, so it is necessary to obey the etiquette, and use the etiquette to regulate and regulate desires. It can be seen from this that Uncle Zi believes that the excessive pursuit of desire will cause "loss of its sexuality", which means that desire is opposed to "sex", and the content of human nature can only be the opposite of desire - "virtue"; from the content of human nature is "virtue", it can be inferred that Uncle Zi believes that human nature is good. Shi Kuang and Uncle Zi's understanding of the content of human nature involves the "heart" in the word "sex", but does not involve the "life" in the word "sex".

Regarding the goodness of human nature and the evil of human nature, there are records in the "Left Biography". The Twenty-six Years of Zuo Chuan Xianggong contains the words of the son: "The nature of the husband and the villain, the courage of the husband, the misfortune, the one who seeks fame by his full nature, the non-state benefit." It means that the nature of the villain is to be brave and courageous, and to covet profit from the disaster to satisfy his nature of chasing fame and fortune, which is harmful to the country. It can be seen from this that in the view of the child, the content of the nature of the villain is love and desire, and to go along with the sex is to indulge in lust and indulge, and it is not "beneficial" to the country, so human nature is evil. It can also be inferred from the discussion of the nature of the little man in the child that in the heart of the child there is also the nature of the saint as opposed to the nature of the little man, the content of which should be "virtue", and its value should point to "goodness". This understanding of the content of human nature makes the so-called villain's nature involve the "life" in the word "sex" without the "heart" in the word "sex", and its so-called saintly nature involves the "heart" in the word "sex" and does not involve the "life" in the word "sex". From the fact that human nature is divided into the nature of a villain and the nature of a saint, it can be seen that there is no unified human nature, and different people have different "sexes"; the difference between a villain and a saint is determined by the difference in human nature, so the difference between a villain and a saint is innate and unchangeable.

It can be seen from the above that the theory of human nature in the Spring and Autumn Period mainly involves the content and value orientation of human nature. Regarding the content of human nature, Shan Xiang believes that the content of human nature is human desire, Shi Kuang and Uncle Zi believe that the content of human nature is "virtue", and the son thinks that the content of the nature of the villain is lust, and the content of the sex of the saint is "virtue". In this way, Shan Xianggong's so-called human nature only involves the "birth" in the word "sex", the so-called human nature of Shi Kuang and Uncle Zi only involves the "heart" in the word "sex", and the so-called nature of the little man and the nature of the saint involve the "life" and "heart" in the word "sex" respectively. Regarding the value orientation of human nature, Shan Xiang is recognized as evil in human nature, Shi Kuang and Uncle Zi believe that human nature is good, and Zi Chan believes that the nature of villains is "evil" and the nature of saints is "good". Regarding the nature and origin of human nature, Shan Xianggong, Shi Kuang, Zi TaiShu, and Zi Xian are not discussed.

Four

Through the above analysis, it can be seen that the theory of Chinese sex originated in the last years of the Shang Dynasty, and there was a systematic theory of human nature in China before the emergence of Confucianism, and from the existing materials, its constructors were zu yi, Zhao Gong, the author of the "Book of Poetry" and the "first king" in the mouth of the father of the sacrifice gong, Shan Xianggong, Shi Kuang, Zi Taishu, and Zi Chan. Generally speaking, although the pre-Confucian theory of human nature has only a few words at the literal level, it contains rich ideological content, involving the essence, content, basis, and value of human nature, and all the main aspects of human nature theory; the constructors of the pre-Confucian theory of human nature believe that human nature is the innate inner nature of human beings, the content of human nature is either "virtue" or lust, the basis of human nature is heaven, and the value of human nature either points to "good" or "evil". The constructors of the pre-Confucian doctrine of human nature understood human nature, and judging from the structure of the word "sex", either in terms of "heart" and only the "heart" in the word "sex", or in terms of "life", only involving the "life" in the word "sex", without taking into account the fact that "sex" is composed of "heart" and "life", and at the same time discussing the two sides of "heart" and "birth" in human nature. In this way, the constructors of the pre-Confucian doctrine of human nature understood the problem of human nature as a moral problem, or in other words, understood the problem of human nature from the moral dimension.

Judging from the logical development of the theory of human nature before Confucianism and the characteristics it presents, it shows the process from "heaven" to "man" and from "outside" to "inside", that is, from valuing "heaven" to valuing "man", from valuing the "outside" of human nature to valuing the "inside" of human nature. Specifically, the doctrine of human nature in the last years of the Shang Dynasty was concerned with heaven, focusing on the control of providence over man and human nature, and ignoring man and human nature itself; the theory of human nature in the early Western Zhou Dynasty was concerned with man, valuing man's control over human nature through external means such as "knots", "mi", and "thick", that is, valuing the "external" things of human nature, and ignoring the inner things of human nature; the doctrine of human nature in the Spring and Autumn Period was concerned with human nature, and valued the situation of human nature itself, that is, the "inner" things of human nature. This shows that the pre-Confucian doctrine of human nature had a gradual deepening trajectory.

Looking at the Confucian theory of human nature from the perspective of the confucian theory of human nature before Confucianism, we will find that the Confucian theory of human nature is to a large extent the logical development of the theory of human nature before Confucianism; from the Confucian theory of human nature to the theory of human nature before Confucianism, we will find that the theory of human nature before Confucianism is the source of the Confucian theory of human nature.