There is such a sentence in the "Analects" for the political chapter- Zi Yue: "Gentlemen do not instruments", and a sentence that seems to be so simple is actually full of profound meaning. In the I Ching, it is said: "The metaphysical is called the tao, and the metaphysical is called the instrument." It can be seen from this that the metaphysical is the body of the esoteric Tao, and the metaphysical is the artifact with specific functions. The Tao is formless, and the Instrument is tangible. The instrument is only the external form of the occurrence of things, and the Tao is the essential law of the development of things.
"Gentlemen are not instruments" tell us that gentlemen should not be satisfied with acting like utensils as tools to achieve certain functions, but should pursue the essence of a higher level of the Tao. Confucius once said: "When you hear the Tao, you can die at night", which is this noble spiritual pursuit. This is similar to the statement put forward by the German modern philosopher Kant that "man is the purpose, not the instrument".
Confucius proposed in his time that "gentlemen are not instruments" to show that gentlemen should not be limited to their own skills, but should explore more spiritual things. A gentleman should be "determined to be in the Tao", be knowledgeable and knowledgeable, and become a generalist with all-round development. This is more of a spiritual level of self-actualization, and talent is the real goal. Self-actualization is the highest level of human spiritual pursuit, which is the top layer of Masno's hierarchy of needs.
Confucius's statement naturally had a rather positive progressive significance in his time. He encouraged people to jump out of their narrow cognitive limitations, get out of their own inherent circles, and face the unknown world, so as to broaden their horizons and finally achieve self-improvement. So in today's day and age, are Confucius's words meaningless? The answer, of course, is no.
German philosopher Immanuel Kant
Some people believe that in today's information age, the total amount of knowledge is incomparably huge, and the various professional fields are constantly subdivided and the knowledge is complex, and it is no longer possible to appear the generalists mentioned by Confucius. Of course, there is some truth to this, but it is also slightly one-sided. Confucius did not ask the gentleman to be omniscient and omnipotent, but emphasized the all-round development of man.
In Confucius's time, the requirement for readers was to "pass through the five classics and six arts." The Five Classics refer to the poetry book Lile Yi Chunqiu, while the Six Arts refer to the number of Lile Shooting Imperial Books. Etiquette is etiquette, music is music, archery is archery, royalty is driving, books are calligraphy, and numbers are mathematics. It can be seen that the ancient people were versatile. Is this familiar with the "morality, intellectual, physical and aesthetic work" we are talking about today?
Masno's theory of needs
Whether it is "gentlemen are not instruments" or "people are the goal", they all tell us: We must pursue the highest spiritual goal of human self-realization, and today, when the material conditions of survival have been basically satisfied, people must gradually achieve their own all-round development. A true gentleman must have high ambitions and must not set limits on himself. Only by constantly trying and challenging yourself can we stimulate my own potential and realize more possibilities.
To survive in today's society, we need to have our own skills and have our own foothold. At the same time, we may as well have our own interests and hobbies, and have our own exploration and research. We must believe that there are many possibilities in the future, and that human potential is difficult to limit. Self-realization is a long and interesting process, discovering yourself, appreciating yourself, pleasing yourself, and finally realizing yourself, can be described as "the road is long and the road is long, I will go up and down and explore".