What are the positive significance of the pre-Qin Confucian idea of shame education? And what are the historical limitations? (iii)
Second, the historical limitations of the pre-Qin Confucian ideology of shame education
1. Self-denial: The concept of hierarchy suppresses human nature
As a specific historical product of the feudal system, the pre-Qin Confucian idea of shame education has certain limitations and backwardness. The pre-Qin Confucian idea of shame education had the limitation of maintaining the feudal hierarchy and serving the ruling class. The pre-Qin Confucian idea of shame education is based on the background of its development, which aims to stimulate and cultivate people's sense of shame, consciously and actively stay away from shame, seek glory and goodness, form a self-discipline personality of "doing one's own shame", and then realize the self-discipline ideal society of "shame and dignity". In this process, the pre-Qin Confucians emphasized the reconstruction of feudal etiquette norms, guided the people to re-establish the bottom line of etiquette and morality in their hearts, and made certain contributions to changing the turbulent political environment and maintaining the feudal hierarchical order.
It is precisely because of this that the pre-Qin Confucian ideology of shame education embodies the will and aspirations of the ruling class, and has a certain concept and color of feudal hierarchy. Pre-Qin Confucians regarded "rituals" with hierarchical and orderly connotations as external manifestations of shame. Confucius devoted his life to restoring the way of King Wen and Zhou Gong, hoping that society would restore the "Zhou Li", so by advocating the moral connotation in etiquette, people were required to cultivate personal good moral conduct in the process of daily use of "etiquette", forming a self-disciplined social atmosphere in which everyone "acts their own shame", and advocated the social moral code of "kings, subjects, fathers, and sons".
He considers it shameful to violate this social moral code and to have a situation in which a monarch is not a monarch, a subject is not a subject, a father is not a father, and a son is not a son, and he acknowledges the difference between people in dignity and inferiority. Xunzi also believed that the "ritual" was regarded as a tool to help the king to carry out class rule, and had the function of distinguishing between rank and nobility. Although people's roles in society are different, and the social responsibilities they bear are also different, then there will be different shameful contents, but in this way, the classification of people's high and low and moral level is obviously prejudiced by the concept of feudal hierarchy.
In short, the pre-Qin Confucian idea of "self-denial and retribution" was, to some extent, the adherence to the concept of hierarchy, which seriously suppressed human nature. Because of this, the pre-Qin Confucian idea of shame education contains the class essence of "teaching" in terms of authoritarian hierarchical rule. When we are placed in a stable modern society with highly developed productive forces and dominated by the market economy, we should objectively analyze and correctly understand its limitations, but we cannot ignore its important value.
2. Emphasis on righteousness over profit: ignoring the basic needs of people
The pre-Qin Confucians regarded "righteousness" as the basic moral judgment standard for measuring shame, and shamed themselves with heavy profits. The value orientation of the pre-Qin Confucian education ideology of shame overemphasized morality, while despising personal interests and exaggerating the social role of morality. This is the emergency theory put forward by the pre-Qin Confucians in response to the chaotic situation of the society at that time, focusing on the modern social situation, it is inevitable that there will be certain historical limitations. This historical limitation is mainly reflected in the relationship between righteousness and profit, and the pre-Qin Confucian concept of "being ashamed of heavy profits" ignores the basic needs of people and is no longer in line with the needs of contemporary social and economic development. Modern society is based on a market economy.
The socialist market economy is not only a way for the mainland to allocate social resources, but also a historical form of the economy, and its far-reaching historical significance lies in the establishment of the status of independent interest subjects, enabling people to form a legitimate view of individual interests, benefits and competition, thus promoting the development of society. The socialist market economy is essentially a economy that seeks profits, so under the conditions of the socialist market economy, the pursuit of personal interests is reasonable and legitimate, and it should be encouraged and supported.
If at this time, we still dogmatically adhere to the idea of "valuing righteousness over profit", it will affect human development to a certain extent, hinder social progress, and violate the mainland's concept of "people-oriented". Of course, we cannot completely subvert the traditional concept of righteousness and profit in the pre-Qin Confucian tradition, and when pursuing wealth and material interests, we must not lightly value righteousness, let alone forget righteousness, we should obtain benefits in a reasonable and legitimate way, strive for both profit and righteousness, achieve a win-win situation, and must not become an "economic person" with only economic brains. #古代史 #
