In Confucianism, "straight" does not mean "upright", but "straight forward". You burn books and pit Confucianism, and I am firm and clear; you are still polite, and I am approachable. Identity can be unequal, treatment can be unequal, but respect between people must be reciprocal. But if you think about it, is this really fair?
What is "etiquette"? Etiquette is a set of cumbersome rules, in fact, much like military ranks and armbands, it clarifies the division of labor of each class by separating different social classes. For harmony means stability, stability (in an agrarian society) means prosperity, and prosperity means that individuals have a greater likelihood of pursuing the greatest happiness within their means.
But because contemporary society is too far from the concept of "survival", those beasts that can harm our ancestors are now obediently lying in the glass window of the zoo spitting out their tongues to dissipate heat, and that kind of war of annihilation is also very rare in the 21st century, so under the erosion of the fine wind and rain of materialism, people do not really have the so-called "anxiety of survival", and "the anxiety of mortgages and card debts" is not within the scope of customer service provided by Confucianism.
Therefore, understanding Confucianism becomes extremely difficult for us in modern times.
The purpose of Confucianism is to create a stable society that provides favorable development for agriculture
Confucianism seems out of place in today's society, not a matter of thought, but a problem of the times. Stripping away the background of the times to read Confucian classics is basically equivalent to playing hooligans. Asking children to memorize the Analects without explaining the differences in the times is equivalent to child abuse.
That is to say, the whole logic of Confucianism is to let Zhuge Liang have the happiness of Zhuge Liang, and the stinky cobbler has the happiness of the stink cobbler. All things breed together without harming each other, and the Tao parallels without contradicting each other. Little Tokugawa Stream; Great Deoktunhua. You walk your Yangguan Road, and I cross my canoe bridge. Adults have big fun, and little people have small fun. Everyone is in his place and performs his or her duties; if they do not encroach on each other and do not attack each other, the whole world will be ruled.
Few people have explained clearly why the realm of "Datong" is: "It is because of the conspiracy to close but not to be happy, and the theft and thief are not done", because in the Confucian definition, everyone in the society where each is in his place understands his duty, and will not have to look at Shu and look at the outside of the bowl after eating. Since no one will steal and abduct, naturally there is no need to sleep and lock the door. Confucianism constantly emphasizes "observance of etiquette" in order to maintain social stability.
Only a stable society can provide agriculture with favorable development. The typical characteristics of agriculture are spring ploughing and summer cultivation, autumn harvest and winter storage. April is beautiful, May is singing. June eclipses are depressed and millet, and in July, henkui and shu are kept. In September, the garden is built, and in October, the crops are harvested. Nothing changes, it's the best change. If the war in the southeast is not over all day long, there are good deeds in the past for thousands of years, Wei Wu wields a whip, there are relics in the east of jieshi, and the beacon fire lasts for three months, how can the six animals prosper and the grain is abundant?
The original intention of the world is not to expand the territory, but to maintain stability. The ideal of the ancient scholars was to cultivate oneself and rule the country and the world, that is, to return to the ultra-stable social structure of the ancient times.
The Zhou Li says: "The punishment cannot be a doctor, and the etiquette cannot be a common man." "It is often understood as a kind of privilege, but in fact it is a warm vein of Confucianism.
If you only look at the first half of the sentence, it seems to be safeguarding the interests of the aristocratic class, but in fact, the focus is on the second half of the sentence. The Confucian imagination of a good society is a bit like the Marvel Universe: the greater the power of the nobility, the greater the responsibility. The six arts of ritual, music (poetry), archery, imperial court, book, and counting cultivated the abilities of these elites and also cultivated their temperament. At the same time, it creates a sense of majesty and ceremony.
Confucius's cram school is actually very similar to an officer's training class
What Confucius gave out was more of the red tape in Confucian culture than his ideas. After students learn them, they can continue to rely on this craft to maintain the hierarchical order of this society, and thus maintain social stability.
But why is there a need for a sense of majesty and ritual? Because in this way, the possibility of rebellion in the maximum prohibition of criminals can be prohibited. Scholars and doctors can carry pens, martial arts can hold guns, it is easy to say, but it is not simple to do. The so-called "courtesy is not inferior" is actually an immunity to ordinary people. It did not require the people of Li to suffer along with the nobles, forcing themselves to memorize each set of etiquette clearly, practicing diligently every day to eat the six arts thoroughly, and making food, clothing, housing, and entertainment restrained and boring.
"Etiquette" is class. And class is honor, responsibility, and even more exemplary.
Since we do not want the people to mess with the rules and let the world proletariat unite to overthrow the tyranny of the ruling class, the ruling class itself must first abide by the rules and use cumbersome rituals to make the rules concrete.
Cumbersomeness brings out an inexplicable sense of sacredness, like reading Kant's Critique of Pure Reason—the more dizzying the red tape, the more it makes people sit on their knees. However, it is impossible to sit on the front of the precarious position, and the status is not only a kind of enjoyment for the nobility, but also a kind of restriction.
In this sense, the happiness of Zhuge Liang and the stink cobbler is likely to be equated.
Because the nobility can master more resources, it needs "etiquette" to restrain the behavior of the nobles, so that the class will not become a zero-sum game, and the winner takes all. In summary, the logic of Confucianism is as follows: "ritual" consolidates classes, classes maintain stability, stability brings prosperity, and prosperity is finally implemented in each individual and becomes a sense of happiness. So the loser sings on the way, and the walker rests in the tree. Wild and fragrant, beautiful and shady.
Regarding sitting on the right side, we can give the example of eating in the Book of Rites: "Whoever eats the gift of eating is left and right, the left of the eater is left, and the soup dwells on the right." Outside the hot place, inside the acid sauce, at the end of the green onion, on the right of the wine pulp. For those who cultivate with procrastination, the left is the right end. ”
The ancient nobles lived particularly tired. When eating, the left side must have boned meat, known as "殽"; on the right is a large piece of complete meat, known as "fistula". The food is put on the left, the soup is put on the right; the fish and barbecue are put on the outside, and the sauce and the wine syrup are put inside, and there is no mistake at all, otherwise it is "indecent". The indecency is serious because it represents an indifference to another person. Therefore, the nobles must be meticulous in eating, eating a meal is as rigorous as the graduation ceremony or the National Day military parade, a little push cup for cups, noisy and cheerful atmosphere is not, but also whining and mourning.
Why? The reason behind it is the essence.
Because the core of Confucianism is "constraint"
Discipline your behavior at home and go out to discipline your emotions.
People face some unpleasant chores every day. To put it more broadly, this is called "not to be reckless, nor to ask questions." To a smaller extent, this is called "the mountain has ferns, and the mountains have ferns, and the mountains have ferns." Gentlemen sing songs, and Wei mourns. "Although it is possible to express one's dissatisfaction, it does not roll around and maintains a bitter struggle and hatred of the class enemy every day.
If the work is not ambitious, people with low emotional intelligence may "lose only the shackles of the proletariat, and what they will gain will be the whole world." People with higher emotional intelligence can choose the plan of comparing xiaolou last night and the east wind, like giving a poem "Poetry Sutra april" on their social accounts.
"April" says: "The mountain has Jiahui, Hou Li Houmei." Wasted as a thief, I don't know. It is very subtle, and the meaning is roughly equivalent to: "Oh, there are so many beautiful plants on the mountain, there are chestnuts and arbutus, they are all edible, but I don't know who destroyed them?" ”
Those who understand, naturally understand. While expressing grievances, there is no snugness.
Behind the "etiquette" pursued by Confucianism, in addition to the class, the deeper part of this ideology provides a sense of distance in the space of communication. Speaking and leaving three points, behaving in a subtle way, and giving each other enough face constitute the "moderation" that Confucians have in mind: happy but not obscene, mournful and not hurtful. "Not excessive" is the secret of happiness.
Excess is a kind of taking. When there is no limit to taking, and there is no confusion, it will just fall into another endless hell.
Unwilling to be willing, drawing a knife and slashing, this is not the spirit of chivalry, but the masquerade butcher.
So what exactly is wrong with Confucianism? In addition to the loss of the sense of the times, in fact, the most important problem is that the "responsibility" corresponding to the "etiquette" is missing. Etiquette is dual, it is both a privilege and a responsibility. After the collapse of the liturgy, the responsibilities of the privileged classes were deliberately ignored, while the treatment they could enjoy was infinitely magnified. In the era of Emperor Amma, one mouth after another "slaves", three shouts of long live, the emperor's grace is vast, no matter how the ruling class acts, it is all wise and divine; and the losses of the common people are also thunderous and rainy. That is the traditional culture that Lu Xun criticized.
In the "Three Principles and Five Constants", it is said: "The king is a subject, the king is not righteous, and the subjects surrender to other countries." The state is the people's program, the country is not right, and the people will attack it. The Father is the Son, the Father is unkind, and the Son runs away. The Son is the Father's hope, the Son is not righteous, and the great righteousness destroys his relatives. The husband is the wife, the husband is not right, the wife can remarry. The wife is the husband's help, the wife is not virtuous, and the husband is hughed. ”
The Confucian "hierarchy" has an incidental liability clause. The king is unkind, the country is unrighteous, the father is unkind, the husband is unkind, the wife is unladylike... Once one of them violates its own responsibilities, the other party has the freedom not to cooperate.
Bandit Quail Bandit Iris, Han Fei Tian. Bandits, bandits, absconded in The Yuan. Break it. Good bye.
Treatment can be unequal, but respect between people must be reciprocal
Now the Chinese textbook, very lacking in great virtue, cut and paste a large section of Confucian classics, as if playing mosaic art into the classroom, grunting and shouting a few times: "Father's kindness and filial piety!" Brothers and sisters! Forcing students to copy down a few "famous sayings" that seem to be taken for granted, and then hurrying to the next lesson. This makes no sense at all, except to show the pedantic understanding of Confucianism by contemporary human beings in a variety of ways.
Tateshina, Artemisia. Mourn your parents, give birth to me. The premise of gratitude is that the parent's behavior is worthy of the gratitude of the child. If Kong Rong's brother usually bullied Kong Rong, Kong Rong would not let him eat the pear. This is what Confucius said: "Repay grievances with directness, and repay virtue with virtue." ”
"Straight" here does not mean "integrity", but "straight forward". You burn books and pit Confucianism, and I am firm and clear; you are still polite, and I am approachable. Confucianism emphasizes reciprocity. Identity can be unequal, treatment can be unequal, but respect between people must be reciprocal.
Happiness lies in being respected.
Whether it is benevolence or righteousness, in the final analysis, it is just an external manifestation of "respect".
But at the same time, should we bear with the birth of the dice roll decision? Throw a little reincarnation as a slave from the king of Yama; throw it to two points to reincarnate to the peasants; throw it to three points to reincarnate as a soldier; throw it to four points to reincarnate as a doctor; throw it to five points to reincarnate as a prince; throw it to six o'clock and reincarnate on the day of the day? And the probability distribution of this dice is not even, and the time to one and two of the dice accounts for the majority, is such a game fair?
Confucianism believes that it is fair. The punishment can not be a doctor, and the courtesy cannot be a common man. But think about it, is it really fair? Who wouldn't want to experience the feeling of being tortured to death by aristocratic status?
This may be the question that Chinese culture has always avoided, but it must always be answered solemnly.