To the concept of filial piety in conscience

Pu Yao Xue Palace

Wang Yangming believes that in the process of filial piety such as ancestor worship, relatives, and servants, it is necessary to achieve the unity of knowledge and action, because only on the basis of understanding the knowledge of filial piety, the act of filial piety that is practiced by the body, and the unity of knowledge and action, can it be regarded as true filial piety.

"Filial piety" is the core concept of Confucianism, but also the most unique ethical representation in traditional Chinese culture, countless Confucian scholars in successive dynasties have vigorously expounded and carried forward the idea of "filial piety", which has had an important impact on the formation of the ethical spirit of the Chinese nation and the shaping of national thought. For Wang Yangming, "filial piety" has an important significance, and some of his important life and academic choices are determined by filial piety.

To the Conscience – The Theoretical Basis of the Concept of Filial Piety

Wang Yangming has formed the personality ideal of "sanctification" since he was a child, and he once said that "ascending to the throne is not a first-class thing, or reading and learning the sages"[1]P1126, and his ultimate lifelong ideological efforts were aimed at solving the problem of how to be sanctified.

"To the conscience" is the core point of view in Wang Yangming's entire system of mental science, and on the basis of absorbing the concept of "conscience" pioneered by Mencius, Wang Yangming developed "the conscience, Mencius's so-called 'heart of right and wrong, the heart of everyone, the mind of right and wrong, not to be known in the void, not to be learned and able to do, is the conscience, is the nature of destiny, the essence of my heart, the natural spirit of the enlightened person also"[2] P1070, and also elevated the concept of "conscience" to the status of the value ontology.

In Wang Yangming's theory, conscience is not only the origin of ethics and morality, but also the ultimate basis for the existence of all things in heaven and earth.

What is "conscience"? Wang Yangming once explained that "the conscience is the essence of the mind"[3]P169, and "conscience" is the existence of the "heart" itself. This is also a unique feature of Wang Yangming's theory of "psychology", the "heart" discussed by Wang Yangming does not refer to the "heart" in the sense of physics or biology, but refers to the moral concepts, order, norms and realms of man and the universe, with nature, with society, and with human concern.

However, with regard to Wang Yangming's understanding of filial piety, if we cannot grasp the essential characteristics of "psychology" or "conscience" and analyze the significance of "conscience" in generating the universe and natural order from the perspective of pure naturalism, it is likely to lead to misunderstanding of Wang Yangming's "mind" system.

Subsequently, Wang Yangming put forward the view that "the heart is the reason"[3]P16, holding that the heavenly principle is intrinsic to people's hearts, rather than the existence of the principle outside the human heart, which is different from Zhu Xi's practice of seeking reason outside the heart. Wang Yangming believes that filial piety to parents means that there is nothing outside the heart, exhausting the heavenly principle of filial piety, and the principle of filial piety does not lie in heaven but in the heart of existence and individuality.

Because "reason" comes from "heart", if there is no "heart", then there is no "reason" to speak of, in Wang Yangming's system of psychology, "heart" can only be the only one, so "heart" is "reason", and filial piety and respect are also the highest "reason" and the highest moral principle.

In Wang Yangming's view, "filial piety" is not only a basic moral law in human society, but also the presentation of "conscience", "conscience" is the most basic presentation of filial piety, so without "conscience" there can be no more talk of filial piety.

The filial piety concept of "unity of knowledge and action"

Moral character is the embodiment of the moral principle norms of a certain society or class group in the individual, and is the stable moral tendency and characteristics that people constantly pursue and gradually form in long-term moral practice, and are expressed through people's own ideological consciousness and behavior[4]P413.

In the Confucian view, "benevolence" is the highest ideal state of a person's moral character, while Wang Yangming developed such a theory that filial piety is an important symbol for a person with such a noble moral quality as "benevolence". Wang Yangming inherited and carried forward the pre-Qin Confucian concept of "benevolence" as "filial piety", although he believed that in the process of education, we should not only pay attention to the education of filial piety, but also take filial piety as an important criterion for whether people can become "benevolent".

"Whatever is used for the will, there must be something, and the thing is also a thing." Ruyi is used for affection, that is, the matter is one thing; it is intended to be used to hear the lawsuit, that is, to hear the lawsuit as a thing; where there is nothing that is used for the intention, there is meaning that there is a thing, and there is no intention that there is nothing. [1] P52 Filial piety is the principle of "affection", and "affection" is called "thing" by Wang Yangming, and the "thing" here does not refer to the real things in existence and the world, but to those things that depend on the existence of people and are meaningful to people.

At the same time, it also shows that things cannot exist without the mind. Conscience, as the moral ontology of the supreme good, will show its corresponding principles in different situations, such as meeting the father and knowing filial piety, meeting the brother and knowing the compassion, meeting the friend and knowing the faith, and so on. The cycle of conscience repeats and cycles, and with the object, the relative induction is generated, which makes the conscience and the thing form a sense of affinity, and the two are integrated.

Conscience is the origin of filial piety, filial piety is the use of conscience, but only by conscience itself can not send filial piety, only when conscience and matter can be issued filial piety, so filial piety is accompanied by things and produced, thus indicating that conscience and things have become a necessary condition for mutual understanding, it is not difficult to find that filial piety is the expression of virtue issued after the combination of conscience and things.

The unity of knowledge and action is the main way for Wang Yangming to achieve conscience, and filial piety is a manifestation of conscience, so the unity of knowledge and action is also the most important way to achieve filial piety. Filial piety can be called "knowing", and among the knowledge is the impulse to act, which is also the manifestation of the unity of knowledge and action, "where the knowledge is true and solid, that is, the action; the clear awareness of the action is the knowledge, and the knowledge and action are inseparable." Only for the scholars of later generations to divide the work into two sections, but lost the knowledge of the ontology, so there is a saying of unity and progress"[5] P155.

Wang Yangming showed that the reason why knowledge is not done is that because the personal selfish desires block the original connection between knowledge and action, if we want to achieve the unity of knowledge and action, we must clear the obscuration of selfish desires on knowledge, which requires the attainment of qualities. Only through the practice of lattice objects can we remove the obscuration of selfish desires from the heart, so knowing filial piety is bound to practice filial piety. The realization of the unity of knowledge and action marks the principle of filial piety for "things", so Wang Yangming believes that only the unity of knowledge and action can be regarded as true filial piety.

Wang Yangming regards knowledge and action as a relationship of mutual inclusion, mutual support, and mutual promotion, knowing is the beginning of action, and action is the completion of knowledge. Similarly, "filial piety" originates from the essence of the mind, from the "conscience", and along this logical relationship, Wang Yangming's "filial piety" is "should", which is the basis for all moral construction. This also shows that filial piety integrates moral norms and moral practice, people's moral character and social moral norms are born from "filial piety", and moral cultivation and moral education are based on "filial piety" as the starting point.

The modern significance of the concept of filial piety

Wang Yangming's psychological system is the inheritance and development of the philosophy of the mind put forward by traditional Confucianism, and Wang Yangming's psychological system expounded by "filial piety" embodies his unswerving pursuit of the "heart" that integrates with all things in heaven and earth, and it is also hoped that the "to conscience" theory can benefit the world, so as to realize his humanistic feelings of national peace and civil security and world unity.

On the basis of inheriting the Confucian "Taoism", Wang Yangming has positive value in the philosophical deliberation and theoretical advancement of the interpretation and exertion of Confucian traditional morality and the construction of Confucian ontology.

In fact, the relationship between knowledge and action is actually a problem raised very early in the history of Chinese philosophy, and although Wang Yangming's "unity of knowledge and action" has certain limitations of subjective idealism, it still has its practical significance. "Unity of knowledge and action" has the value of transcending the times, which is not only a cure for the social ills of Wang Yangming's life era, but also a solution to the social problems of the current era.

Although there are many people who have filial piety, they do not take practical action, and Wang Yangming's idea of "unity of knowledge and action" is to warn these people that if they do not practice filial piety, they will not really have filial piety. He stressed the importance of filial piety, because morality is fundamentally practiced, and moral consciousness that cannot be practiced is unintentional.

Therefore, whether it is to do it without knowing it or knowing it without doing it, in Wang Yangming's view, it cannot be regarded as a true filial piety. Wang Yangming believes that when people get along with their parents, they naturally know how to practice filial piety, but some people will not follow the guidance of conscience, but choose to blindly abide by certain external norms, and even some people will imitate the practices of others, so that they will make dogmatic mistakes. Wang Yangming put forward the idea of "unity of knowledge and action", that is, he hoped to warn others that when practicing filial piety, they should follow the guidance of their own hearts and should not blindly practice filial piety.

Secondly, Wang Yangming also pointed out that the "unity of knowledge and action" should immediately remove the concept of unwholesomeness in the mind, and avoid the transformation of unwholesome concepts into unwholesome behavior, thus causing irreparable harm. Filial piety should also be the case, when there is only one thought of filial piety in the mind, it must be removed immediately, and the thought of filial piety cannot be allowed to stay at the level of concept, if we ignore the thought of filial piety, this unfilial thought may be transformed into unfilial behavior when it is not known.

The reason why Wang Yangming emphasizes the concept of filial piety is because Wang Yangming believes that filial piety is the key to measuring a person's moral character. At the same time, Wang Yangming also pointed out that when practicing filial piety, it is not only about enriching the material needs of parents, but also paying attention to their spiritual satisfaction.

Nowadays, in modern society, the phenomenon of empty nest elderly and rural left-behind elderly people is common, and many young people often do not know how to achieve true filial piety in the process of filial piety, and even many are only verbal, but they cannot do it in behavior. There will also be people who regard filial piety as a tool in the face of interests, and such a phenomenon is not filial piety not only from the perspective of motivation but also from the perspective of behavior, which is completely contrary to the spirit of filial piety that Wang Yangming said.

Wang Yangming's concept of filial piety has a certain universal value, both in the past and in the present. Although the times are changing, and the social form of the modern era is obviously different from the traditional society, in China, whether it is ancient society or modern society, the pursuit of filial piety is eternal. In order to make filial piety a universal value orientation, modern society and Wang Yangming's era are the same, both to justify filial piety, to provide methods for filial piety and to solve various problems encountered in the process of filial piety.

Wang Yangming's inheritance of traditional Confucian filial piety is not only reflected in his emphasis on filial piety as the cultivation and respect of relatives, but also in the fact that filial piety is to cherish the body and take care of life. Not only that, he also said that filial piety should not be calculated about the outcome, and the correct attitude towards gain and loss should be content with the destiny of heaven. In the face of the lack of filial piety in modern society, Wang Yangming's concept of filial piety in his theoretical system of psychology can become an important part of building a system of filial piety that adapts to modern society.

epilogue

Wang Yangming advocated his concept of filial piety with "to conscience", and conscience makes us see our father and know filial piety, so conscience contains the impulse to go to filial piety. In addition, filial piety is required, and the lattice is also carried out under the guidance of conscience. Since conscience enables us to see our father and know filial piety, knowing filial piety can naturally be able to perform filial piety, so there is an inseparable relationship between action and knowledge, and only when we achieve the unity of knowledge and action can we be regarded as filial piety in the true sense.

Not only that, Wang Yangming also practiced the "way of loyalty and forgiveness", attached importance to the indoctrination of filial piety, and in the filial piety education of the children of the family, he urged the children of the family to practice filial piety in the form of family letters; When he established education, he realized the key point of filial piety enlightenment education, and although he put forward the idea of "filial piety" education.

Filial piety has an extremely important position in the history of Confucian thought, and it also has its own unique place in the history of Chinese thought. Psychology is an important part of the history of Chinese thought, and Wang Yangming's filial piety is filial piety in mind. The moral system in his system of mental studies is huge and profound, and the dimensions and true spirit of the mainstream ethical and moral spirit of the Chinese nation that he represents and maintains are also very rich, highlighting the eternal influence and charm beyond time and space.

bibliography

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Wang Yangming. The Complete Works of Wang Yangming, Vol. 26[M].Shanghai:Shanghai Ancient Books Publishing House.2011.

(Ming) Wang Yangming. Biography[M].Beijing:China Pictorial Publishing House.2012.

Wei Yingmin, Wang Zeying. New Ethics Course (2nd Edition)[M].Beijing:Peking University Press.2003.P413.

(Ming) Wang Yangming. To Conscience[M].Beijing Zhixing Unity Yangming Education Research Institute, ed. , v. Beijing:Oriental Publishing House.2015.