The World One Family conveyed Chinese's good wishes for the unity of the world. This concept has a deep historical context, and a group of the most outstanding thinkers in ancient China have interpreted the tianxia family and left a rich legacy for future generations.
Zi Xia: Brothers in all corners of the world
There is a story in the Analects: Two disciples of Confucius, Sima Niu, chatted with Zixia, and Sima Niu said to Zixia with a sad face: "Oh, your brothers are still alive, only my brother has passed away, leaving me alone." Zi Xia comforted him: "Although your brother is no longer alive, but a gentleman treats himself with respect and courtesy, then all the brothers in the world, are you still worried about not having a brother?" ”
"Brothers in all corners of the world", this is what a broad mind. The world is far beyond the scope of our daily activities, the way of life we are familiar with, although we are in different regions, from different cultures, and have never even met each other, Chinese think that they can be regarded as brothers and treated as brothers. This is Chinese simple and beautiful goodwill, which arises from the great attention and respect for blood, kinship and family, and extends beyond the family, to society and the wider world.
In another Confucian classic, the Book of Rites, there is a long conversation between Confucius and his disciple Yan Yan during their trip after attending the Wax Festival (an event held on the wax moon to worship the hundred gods), the famous "Ritual Luck Chapter". This is an esoteric article on the origin, operation and function of the rites, and for thousands of years, the most concerned part of this article is the simplest and most understandable part of its text, which shows what the ideal world of Chinese is like - the world is just, the world is the same, the world is one.
In this dialogue, Confucius first proposed that "the journey of the great road is also the world is just", depicting a beautiful picture of the world of Datong, which is a world of selflessness, "people do not kiss their relatives alone, do not only have children and sons", not only filial piety to their parents, love their children, but also can extend this love to others; this is a world where everyone gets what they want, "the old have the end, the strong have useful, the young have growth", and the vulnerable groups in society can also be well taken care of. Confucius then revealed the difference between Datong and Xiaokang, the world of moderate prosperity, "each kissing his own relatives, each son and his son", each person strives for the happiness of his family, but Confucius also proposed that "the saint is willing to take the world as a family, take China as one person, and those who do not intend it will know their feelings, understand their righteousness, understand their interests, achieve their sufferings, and then they can do it."
Just as "brotherhood within all seas" is not a factual judgment but a value judgment, confucius's "one family under heaven" is not describing the actual state of the world, but advocating a perspective and putting forward a vision. When we think that although the world is big, we can coexist peacefully, all our efforts are also invested in resolving disputes and promoting harmony, and when some people think that although the world is big, they cannot tolerate others who are different from them, then their efforts are also invested in the struggle between you and me.
However, it is not easy to realize the world, and Confucius cautiously expressed his confidence in the realization of the world. He placed particular emphasis on the important role of the indoctrination of saints in this process. In his view, a saint must have a meticulous and thoughtful understanding of human affairs, and be well versed in human feelings, human righteousness, human interests, and human suffering. Human feelings are joy, anger, sorrow, fear, love, evil, and desire, and this is the seven emotions of the seven emotions and six desires that we are talking about today; human righteousness is fatherly kindness, filial piety, brotherhood, brotherhood, husband righteousness, women's listening, changhui, young shun, junren, and subject loyalty. The saint reconciles human feelings, advocates human righteousness, "preaches faith and cultivates harmony, still resigns, and competes", takes the lead in setting an example, and convinces people with reason and emotion, so that others can be inspired by them and become people with a benevolent spirit, if all people can treat others with the attitude of treating their families, then the family in the world will be natural.
Zhang Zai: MinWu Mateya, Wu Wu and Ye
Great dreams have the power to transcend time, and the concept of the world under one family put forward by the pre-Qin Confucians has long stirred in the chest of Chinese. Even in an era when Confucianism was being challenged, the idea of one world under one roof was affirmed. Pre-Qin Confucianism was good at the discussion of human nature, but did not pay much attention to the construction of the ontology of the universe, that is, to answer what the origin of the universe was, which made Confucianism retreat in the war with other ideological trends, and the rationalism that arose in the Song Dynasty constructed a more exquisite cosmic ontology, using "qi" or "reason" to connect the universe, society, nature and self.
In this line of thinking, the family is no longer just the result of acquired indoctrination, it has acquired a metaphysical basis. Zhang Zai, the early theorist of the Northern Song Dynasty, was the one who proposed "establishing a heart for heaven and earth, establishing a destiny for the people, continuing to learn for the saints, and opening up peace for all the worlds", was a person with a real lofty ideal, his works are not many, but there are several articles that have a very far-reaching impact on future generations, of which "Xi Ming" can be seen as a kind of understanding of the Song people's family under the heavens.
Zhang Zai believes that the origin of the universe is qi, and everything, including people, is formed by the convergence of qi. The "Xi Ming" first said that the heavens are dry and the earth is Kun, "Qian is called the father, and kun is called the mother", the universe is a big family, the heavens and the earth breed all things, and also breed the people who are the heads of all things. "The plug of heaven and earth, my body; the handsomeness of heaven and earth, my nature", the yin and yang qi that fills the gap between heaven and earth, cultivates the form of man and all things, and the self-improvement of heaven and the thick virtue of the earth nurture the mentality of man and all things. Since man and all things are nurtured by heaven and earth, then "the people, my compatriots; things, I and also", all the people under the world are my compatriots, and all things in the world are my friends. The term "civil affairs and" that we still use today came from this.
How do we treat our fellow citizens? Nature should be treated with love. Zhang Zai has a more emotional description in the "Ximing", he also regards society as a big family, in the big family, the king is the Zongzi, the subject is the Zongzi family, the elder and the young are orderly, "respect the high year, so it grows long; the love is lonely and weak, so the young are young." The sages in this family are more virtuous than others, but all the people under heaven are children of heaven and earth, and everyone is equal, "all the people in the world are tired (old and sick), disabled, lonely (lonely and helpless), widows, all my brothers are connected without telling the truth", these vulnerable groups in society are not outsiders, but members of the big family of society, our brothers and sisters, and it is our duty as a family member to love them.
Treat people with benevolence, and treat things with benevolence. Unlike Western philosophy, which attaches importance to the rational treatment of things and nature with tools, Chinese philosophy emphasizes the "unity of nature and man" and "benevolence and love of things", and the relationship between man and nature is not the former conquering the latter, but relying on each other to support each other. Introducing nature as a human being is not only a respect for the laws of nature, but also expands the connotation and depth of human beings.
The ancients often said that self-cultivation, family unity, governance of the country, and peace in the world, these four are gradual. Zhang Zai's "Xi Ming" is reverse reasoning, from the cosmic level to the social level to the family level, the three levels are not separated but unified, Zhang Zai's argument is lofty, but it is implemented on a small incision, a thing that is feasible for everyone. Feng Youlan said that ximing advocates a way of life, "it only requires that in less than a hundred years of life, people should fulfill their responsibilities and obligations as members of the universe and society." Although there are two kinds of responsibilities and obligations, people do not need to do two things. Although the matter is one kind, but the meaning can be twofold", this matter is "benevolent filial piety, so things are sincere, but not only benevolent filial piety", that is, continue to practice the virtue of benevolence and filial piety throughout one's life.
Wang Yangming: All things in heaven and earth are one with man
Song Ming Science developed into the middle and late Ming Dynasty, and the psychology system founded by Wang Yangming gradually swept the society. Wang Yangming also made a discussion on the tianxia family. Confucianism has the so-called Four Books and Five Classics, four of which refer to the Analects, Mencius, The University, the Zhongyong, the University, and the Zhongyong, which were originally chapters in the Book of Rites, which Zhu Xi of the Song Dynasty extracted as chapters and sentences, and merged them with the interpretation of the Analects and Mencius into one book, which is the "Four Books and Chapters and Sentences Collection". This book almost achieved the status of a textbook in the Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties, and is a must-read book for readers.
The opening chapter of "University" reveals that "the way of the university, in Mingmingde, in the people, in the end of the good", this is called the three articles of "University". It was from here that Wang Yangming began to discuss the family of the world. Wang Yangming defines "university" as "the study of adults", and since there are adults, there are corresponding villains. What is the difference between the two? He said: "The grown-ups, those who regard the heavens and the earth as one and all things as one, regard the world as one family, and China as one person." If the man is in the shape of a skeleton and divides me, the villain is a villain. "Those who can realize that heaven and earth are one and all things are one, and that those who are one in the world are adults, and those who are confused by the difference in appearance and distinguish you and me are small people."
What unites and melts all things in heaven and earth into one is man's conscience, that is, benevolence. Man has a conscience, no matter how great the specific difference between man, conscience is hidden in the human heart, and when you see a child fall into a well by mistake, he will have compassion, and when you hear the birds and beasts wailing, you will have an intolerable heart. Wang Yangming further said: "The conscience of man is the conscience of grass, trees, tiles and stones. If the grass, wood, and tiles have no conscience, they cannot be grass and wood tiles. But the grass, trees, tiles, and stones are the same, and the conscience of the heavens and the earth is not to be destroyed by the heavens and the earth. Covering the heavens and the earth, all things and human beings are one, and the most exquisite point of its development is that the human heart is a little bit of spirituality, wind and rain, dew, sun, moon, stars, animals, animals, plants, trees, mountains, rivers, earth and stones, and the original human beings are only one. Therefore, grains, animals and animals can raise people; medicine stones and the like can cure diseases, just for the same qi, so they can communicate with each other. ”
Conscience is something that everyone has, but either explicitly or implicitly, the adult can realize the unity of all things and the family under the heavens because he can remove his selfish desires, while the villain is blinded by his selfish desires, and if he can suppress his selfish desires, he can also become an adult. Therefore, he advocated "to the conscience", to "clear and clear morality", and to persevere in good and eliminate evil. All things in heaven and earth are one, all have conscience and benevolence, and the implementation of this benevolence will enter the level of "being close to the people", pushing from the benevolence of oneself to the family, from the benevolence of the family to the society, and from the benevolence of the society to all things under the world, which also realizes the grand ideal of the unity of all things and the family under the world, and attains the realm of perfection.
Qian Mu once said: "The world is united and the world is at peace, which is a kind of human society in the ideal of the ancient Chinese." The so-called 'whoever has flesh and blood, do not respect his relatives', this is the ideal that Chinese culture hopes to achieve. Therefore, we can say that Chinese culture is 'humanist', that is, 'humanistic', that is, 'cosmopolitan'. Although thinkers of different eras have different interpretations of the world's family, and inevitably bring some prejudices, the spirit of benevolence, peace and equality contained in it is unchanged, timeless and new. Today, such a spirit has been injected into the efforts of the Chinese steadily promoting the community of human destiny, and a new chapter has been added to the historical context of the world's one family. ( Romukh )
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