The Modern Value of Confucius Thought
Chen Lai
Mr. Chen Lai
Hello everyone, with the establishment of the nishan world Confucianism center lecturer group today, the series of lectures has also begun. Starting with Confucius, there is no objection to this, so I have formulated the title "The Modern Value of Confucius Thought." Of course, it is impossible to cover everything, mainly from the perspective of moral culture.
In November 2013, when General Secretary Xi Jinping inspected Qufu, Shandong Province, he delivered an important speech. The general secretary particularly stressed: We must carry forward the traditional Chinese virtues, guide all the people to be good and upward, and make everyone the main body of practicing Chinese virtues. Today, when I talk about Confucius's thoughts, I want to base myself on the spirit of the general secretary's speech and talk about my own understanding.
Although we have had various evaluations of Confucius and Confucianism in modern times, as far as historical facts are concerned, I am afraid that no one can deny this: Confucius Thought and Confucianism, which continued to develop along Confucius Thought later, are the backbone and subject of Chinese culture. In the long history of Chinese culture for more than 2500 years, Confucius Thought and Confucianism pioneered by Confucius are not only the main body, but also dominated for a long time, we can say that Confucius and Confucianism laid the core values of Chinese civilization and had an extremely important impact on the inheritance and development of the entire Chinese civilization.
Compared with other schools of thought in the history of Chinese culture, Confucianism has the most profound influence on the inheritance and development of the entire Chinese civilization. For example, in Shandong, Mozi was also born, and Mozi was also a great thinker in the Warring States period, when Ru Mo was also called. However, after the Han Dynasty, moxue stagnated, and in the subsequent cultural development of more than 2,000 years, it is rare to see the figure of the Mo family, and the influence of Mozi cannot be compared with the influence of Confucius. It was Confucius and Confucianism that shaped the spirit of Chinese culture and the spirit of the Chinese nation, in other words, confucius and Confucianism played an irreplaceable role in the shaping of cultural spirit and national spirit in Chinese history. It is precisely because Confucius thought is in such a historical position that in modern times, in the minds of most Chinese, a consensus has been formed that Confucius has become a symbol of Chinese culture to a considerable extent. If Chinese culture wants to find a symbol and use a character to represent it, then this iconic figure is none other than Confucius.
The most important role of Confucius and Confucianism is to establish the value rationality of Chinese culture. "Value rationality" was originally a sociological concept that played a very important role in Western sociology and social thought in the 20th century. Value rationality is to pay attention to the value goal of behavior, and to look at the rationality of behavior with value rationality. From this point of view, Confucianism has established the value rationality of Chinese culture, laid the moral foundation of Chinese civilization, and endowed Chinese culture with the most basic moral spirit and moral stance, which makes Confucian civilization a moral civilization.
The lecturer group of nishan world confucianism center was officially established
In history, China is often referred to as the state of etiquette, not the state of etiquette. The state of etiquette highlights ceremonial rituals, hospitality, and so on. But what should be highlighted in the state of etiquette and righteousness is the essence of morality. It emphasizes that China is a country with a mature moral civilization. To call China the State of Etiquette and Righteousness is to point out that the civilization in which China is located is a high-quality, high-level, and high-level moral civilization. We can say that moral strength is the most prominent soft power of Chinese civilization. So what is the content of Confucius Thought? The following is a brief discussion on five points around the value rationality and moral civilization just mentioned.
The first point is Reverence. "Chongde" is the original words of Confucius, which are found in the Analects, and these two words also appear in the Book of Shang. Since the Western Zhou Dynasty, chinese culture has seen new developments and tendencies relative to the Xia and Shang periods, and this development and tendency is the power of constantly attaching importance to morality. Confucius emphasized virtue on the basis of Zhou Gong Thought and Western Zhou culture. There are many concepts in this regard in the Western Zhou Dynasty, such as "Jingde" and "Mingde", Confucius particularly emphasized "Chongde", and Confucius thought prominently embodied the spirit of Chongde.
Mr. Chen Lai gave a lecture on the topic of "The Modern Value of Confucius Thought"
Reverence for virtue means that we must always put morality in the first place, whether it is politics, diplomacy, governance of the country, or personal cultivation, we must take moral values as the fundamental force and moral values as the fundamental basis for handling and evaluating all things. In terms of governing the country, Confucius said: "The Tao is based on the government, the Qi is punished, and the people are exempt from shame." The way is virtuous, the same is courtesy, shame and dignity. "Lead the country by decree, govern the country with criminal law, and the people can obey." But in such a society, people have no moral heart. If the country is led by morality and etiquette, the people will not only be willing to obey but also become moral. Confucius, who did not believe that powerful, violent politics could be the fundamental way to govern the country. Confucius's ideal is to use the power of moral culture to manage and lead the country and society in a non-violent and non-legal form. This is what we are talking about today as "ruling the country with ethics." When Confucius talked about the state, society, and the individual, he embodied the spirit of reverence everywhere.
The second point is Guiren. In the Analects, Confucius spoke of "benevolence" more than a hundred times. Ren is not only the moral concept that Confucius talks about the most, but also the moral concept that Confucius attaches the most importance to. At the end of the Warring States period more than two thousand years ago, the book "Lü Shi Chunqiu" clearly said "Confucius Guiren". Among the many moral concepts, Confucius most admired benevolence, and "benevolence" is the most important ethical category in Confucius thought, and it is also the highest virtue in Confucius thought. At the same time, "benevolence" also represents Confucius's social ideals. In the literal sense, the word Ren can be said to represent benevolence and fraternity, but we must also remember that ren is also a name of all virtue in Confucius thought, representing all virtues. Therefore, "benevolence" is indeed the core of Confucius's thought. If you look at it from the perspective of Confucianism, "benevolence" also represents a highest spiritual realm. That is to say, it is not only the principle of man, but also the highest virtue, but also the social ideal, or the highest spiritual realm. It is precisely because of this that "benevolence" has become the primary moral concept in the core values of Chinese civilization. Today we want to summarize the core values of Chinese civilization, the first one is benevolence. Traditionally, whether we talk about "benevolence, righteousness, and wisdom" or "benevolence, righteousness, wisdom, and faith", we are all headed by benevolence.
"Ren" has been clearly explained in the Analects, the most famous of which is, "Fan Chi asked Ren, and the son loved others." Confucius originally attached great importance to family ethics, especially "filial piety". On the basis of family ethics, a more universal interpersonal ethic is proposed, that is, "benevolence". Mencius expressed it as "benevolent, lover." At the starting point of Ren's practice, the most direct thing is the affection for his parents. On this basis, Confucius proposed a universal interpersonal ethic, "the benevolent person loves others", and Confucius set the concept of benevolence as a universal value of social culture. Of course, benevolence has a variety of manifestations. For example, in ethics it is friendship, fraternity, and kindness; emotionally it is compassion, intolerance, and compassion; in value, it is caring, tolerant, and harmonious; in terms of behavior, it is peace, symbiosis, and mutual assistance. It includes care for the vulnerable. More broadly, benevolence also has the meaning of cherishing life and treating all things well. "Ren" is the ideological core of Confucius and Confucianism, and a concentrated expression of the moral spirit of Chinese civilization. Like the "Datong" spoken of in modern times and the "community of shared future for mankind" we talk about today, the final foundation is benevolence.
Confucius not only emphasized the importance of benevolence, but also developed benevolence into two aspects of practical principles, or practical wisdom. One is "Do not do to others what you do not want", and the other is "to establish yourself as you want to stand up, and to reach and reach others". "Do not do to others what you do not want to do to yourself", also known as "forgiveness". "To stand up for oneself, to attain one's own desires", also known as "loyalty". Confucius attached great importance to the practical principles and wisdom of these two aspects. Therefore, the Analects say that "loyalty and forgiveness" reflect Confucius's consistent way. Forgiveness is what you don't want, and you should never inflict it on others. Loyalty means that you want to develop yourself, you want to be happy, and you must let others develop and let others be happy. Confucius does not advocate what he wants, but will do to others, and will not impose what he thinks is good on others. The mentality and behavior imposed on people will produce endless adverse consequences. The hegemonism we see today in international exchanges is based on the principles imposed on others.
Mr. Chen Lai's book "Confucius and the Modern World"
In the 20th century, there was a great Confucian scholar, Mr. Liang Shuming. For a long time from the 1920s to the 1930s, he carried out rural construction campaigns in Shandong. Through this rural construction movement, he realized that Confucian ethics, in modern terms, is to put the other side first, in other words, to put each other first, which is the starting point of Confucian ethics. We should respect each other and respect each other's needs, rather than using others as tools for self-realization and others as objects of practice for ourselves. This understanding is a modern feeling of Confucius's "way of loyalty and forgiveness" and the practical wisdom of the Analects. In this sense, the characteristic of Confucian ethics is not to highlight the self, but to highlight others, to focus on each other, insisting that the other is the priority and the other is before the self. The teachings of Confucius renxue and his way of loyalty and forgiveness have been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people and have been transformed into the moral spirit of Chinese civilization. What you do not want and do not do to others has also been confirmed as the golden law of world ethics.
The third point is respect. How to deal with the relationship between profit and righteousness is the eternal moral theme of human civilization. Confucianism, represented by Confucius, believes that the basic value problem is the relationship between righteousness and profit. Confucius said that "a gentleman is a righteous person, and a villain is a profit", and the difference between a gentleman and a villain is not a difference in status, but a difference in moral consciousness, moral understanding, and moral quality. At the same time, it is also said that "a gentleman's righteousness is supreme" and "righteousness is supreme" means that righteousness must be put first in everything. If there is a topic that runs through the history of Chinese moral thought, the debate between righteousness and profit, then this topic began with Confucius. Later, the Book of Rites also quoted some of Confucius's sayings, such as "forgetting righteousness and fighting for profit, in order to die", that is, you always fight for profit, and the final result is that the family is destroyed and people die. In Mencius, more attention was paid to the relationship between righteousness and profit, and this aspect of respect for righteousness was also greatly carried forward. In the Han Dynasty, Dong Zhongshu clearly emphasized the opposition between the Confucian position of righteousness and the pursuit of profit, clearly interpreted profit as utilitarianism, and advocated "righteousness without seeking its own benefit, and clear its way without regard to its merits." That is to say, morality and utilitarianism must be distinguished.
Confucius believed that a gentleman is a person with high morals, so what are the characteristics of a person with high morals? One of the most important aspects is honor. Confucius believed that at all times, people should put righteousness first and righteousness first, and should not take profit as the first and profit as the first. From the beginning of Confucius, to the late Qin Dynasty, to the Han Dynasty Confucianism has adhered to this position, insisting that morality is higher than utilitarianism, and regards those who pursue utilitarianism as villains. The debate between righteousness and profit has profoundly influenced the value preferences of Chinese culture. Every civilization has its own values, and values are a value preference. Preference is who is more important than whom, and the debate between righteousness and profit emphasizes that righteousness is more important. This is the value preference of Chinese culture. Confucius, his students, and houxue all expressed this idea in different aspects, such as the "University" that "the country does not take profit as profit, but takes righteousness as profit." This idea of righteousness as profit is an expression of the distinction between righteousness and profit and the relationship between righteousness and profit mentioned earlier. Confucianism does not pay attention to profit, but regards the pursuit of righteousness as the most fundamental benefit. The state cannot only pursue the interests of wealth and strength, but the state must regard the pursuit of morality as the most fundamental benefit.
Such profound thinking should be said to be consistent with the core values of socialism today. We are today in a process of modernization and globalization. A very important feature of the so-called modernization process in modern times is that it has greatly promoted the development of human productive forces. However, it should also be admitted that modernization has, to a considerable extent, undermined the traditional balance of righteousness and interests. In traditional society, people also demand profit, but under the role of Confucius and Confucianism, a balance of righteousness and interest can be achieved in general. Modern society and culture, on the other hand, are one-sided towards tools and utilitarianism. Just now we talked about utilitarianism, which is the opposite of morality. The concept of "instrumental reason", especially "instrumental rationality", like the concept of "value rationality" we talked about earlier, is also an important concept in Western sociology, and it is a concept that is treated with "value rationality". Value rationality is to determine the value goal, while instrumental rationality emphasizes the rationality and rationalization of means. We can say that Confucius and Confucian thought can form a constraint on the one-sidedness or bias of modern social development, which is the modern value of Confucianism, including Confucius thought. The concept of righteousness, in Confucius thought, generally refers to moral principles. After Confucius, the concept of righteousness in Confucianism became richer, and it developed more towards the commitment, perseverance, and persistence of moral obligations. In this process, righteousness is given the meaning of justice. The Book of Rites says that "benevolence is to love, righteousness is righteous", and it is also said that "benevolence is close to happiness, righteousness is close to etiquette", which highlights the meaning of the norms of righteousness, benevolence is used for love, righteousness is used for righteousness, righteousness is used for righteousness, righteousness is a normative righteousness, and righteousness represents a normative force. In Confucius's thought, benevolence and righteousness have not yet been juxtaposed and treated equally. When mencius arrived, he raised benevolence and righteousness together, and raised righteousness to the status of standing side by side with benevolence. After Mencius, although the importance of "benevolence" was also mentioned separately in Confucianism, it was more often referred to as "benevolence", and "benevolence" became the most prominent moral value in Confucianism. The real world we are facing today is very complex, what is the meaning of "benevolence" and "righteousness" to show us the direction? It can be said that "benevolence" is to lead to social harmony, "righteousness" is to lead to social justice; "benevolence" is to lead to world peace, and "righteousness" is to lead to international justice. The two complement each other and are indispensable.
The fourth point is "keeping the middle". Confucius attached great importance to moderation, and the original meaning of "zhong" was impartial, and another meaning was "time in the middle". "Time in the middle" means that the moral principle should be adjusted with the changes of the times and the changes in the environment, and the adjustment can make this "medium" reach "all the time and in the middle", so as to avoid the disconnection of the moral principle from the times. Enabling the practice of moral principles to be in harmony with the changes in the environment of the times avoids the solidification and rigidity of moral codes. "Mediocrity" is to pay attention to change in the constant. Although the environment of the times is constantly changing, and people must continue to adapt, there are some universal principles in moral life that do not change with the times. In Confucius's view, "moderation" also embodies such a universal principle, or universal principle. The idea of moderation has received attention in history precisely because it has opposed it and failed, and its opposition has been biased. In the Analects, it is said that "too much is too late", and Confucius always emphasized the exclusion of extremes with moderation. Just now we talked about the idea of "respecting righteousness" to emphasize morality over utilitarianism, so now when we talk about "keeping the middle," we are advocating the exclusion of extremes with moderation. "The wise are too good, the fools are not enough" "The wise are too good, the ones who are not inferior are not enough", these words are all about wise people, moral people will also make mistakes, their mistakes are often "over", and fools and villains, their faults are "not enough". Confucius proposed "holding on to both ends of it and using them for the people" and advocating "neutrality without dependence", which is both an attitude toward life and a way of thinking.
The idea of "moderation" reminds us that in every era, there are always different extreme ideas in society, and leaders must avoid extremes and constantly adjust to approach the middle way. In every age, in every society, the people who advocate extremes are in the minority. Therefore, not to go to extremes and choose the middle way, it must be a choice that meets the requirements of most people. On the one hand, "moderation" is a practical method, and at the same time, in the Confucian tradition, from the beginning of Confucius, it is emphasized that "moderation" itself is also a fundamental virtue, and "moderation" itself has moral value. From the point of view of "moderation", the so-called errors in morality are nothing more than a deviation from moral principles. Moderate thinking and middle-way thinking have endowed Chinese civilization with a steady character that does not go to extremes. In Chinese history, in the era dominated by Confucianism, there have been no extremely major policy mistakes. Any era of extreme policy mistakes is an era in which Confucianism has lost its dominance. Moderation has played a guiding role in history, a role of restraint.
The fifth point is "Shanghe". Earlier we talked about "benevolence", "righteousness", and "zhong", and now we are talking about "he", and we have chosen to use these four words to describe the specific expression of Confucius's spirit of "reverence for virtue". To speak of "Shanghe" we must first talk about "the debate of harmony with the same", "and" is the reconciliation of different things, and "sameness" is the continuous repetition of a single thing. It can also be said that "and" is the harmonious sum of different elements, and "same" is the simple identity of things. In the Western Zhou Dynasty before Confucius, and in the late Spring and Autumn Period, the wise people have begun to have such an understanding, that is, "harmony" is better than "sameness", and harmony is better than singleness. Confucius absorbed the essence of the ideas of the Western Zhou Dynasty and the essence of the ideas of his contemporaries. Therefore, in Confucius thought, there is the ideological tendency of "Shanghe", and he inherited and developed the wisdom of "harmony and the same debate" in early China. From the Western Zhou Dynasty to the late Spring and Autumn Period, the "Harmony debate" believes that difference and diversity are the prerequisites for the development of things, and the coordination and reconciliation of different things is the fundamental condition for the development of things. Only when different things cooperate can life continue to develop and the universe can live endlessly. If diversity and difference are denied and only unity is pursued, the result is often to force the same. "Harmony" not only does not force the same, but also has the tolerance and tolerance of different and diverse things. And this tolerance, this tolerance, is the basis of the democratic values that we are talking about today. To Confucius's proposal that "gentlemen are harmonious but different, and villains are the same but not harmonious", and the Analects put forward "harmony is precious", they are all expressing value preferences and choices. "Harmony and difference" is relative to the early "argument of harmony and the sameness", which not only affirms difference but also pays attention to harmony, and seeks harmony on the basis of difference, which is a step further than the earlier "debate of harmony and sameness". Confucius also believed that "harmony" is the mind, temperament, and realm of a gentleman. The "harmony" pursued by Confucius is a harmony based on the coexistence of diversity. Of course, the idea of a separate "and" has long emerged. In the Confucian classic "Book of Shang", it is proposed that "concord all nations" and "peace states" are norms for relations between countries, and "harmony" is the basic principle and value of foreign exchanges. After Confucius, on the basis of the concept of "harmony", the "harmony" meaning of "harmony" became more prominent, emphasizing the need to replace conflict with harmony. Just now we said that "keeping the middle" means rejecting the extremes with moderation, and "Shanghe" is to replace conflict with harmony. In the history of Chinese civilization for thousands of years, we have constantly pursued a world of peaceful coexistence. More than 60 years ago, at the Bandung Conference held in Indonesia, a consensus on the "Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence" was formed. China is one of the main advocates of this consensus, and we have actively participated in the achievement of this consensus. It can be seen from this that the basic values of Chinese civilization play a profound role in contemporary times, and peaceful coexistence among countries is the universal ideal of mankind. The proposition of Confucius Thought and Confucianism on the relationship with the outside world is basically that Shangwen is not still martial, and Shang rou is not still courageous. Advocating that the distant world should be "since the beginning of the revision of morality", that is, to develop cultural soft power, to develop our values to attract the outside world to establish friendly relations. Of course, "harmony" is not only the basic value of foreign exchanges, but also the basic value of adjusting social relations internally and promoting social harmony.
The above is a brief report I gave you on the value of Confucius Thought. We can say that the main spirit of Confucius's thought can be summarized by "reverence for virtue", and the specific manifestation of "reverence" is to insist that morality is more important than everything, take the idea of "benevolence" as the core, advocate that the other precedes the self, emphasize morality above utilitarianism, exclude extremes with moderation, and replace conflict with harmony. This is the essence of Confucius and Confucianism, and it will certainly continue to play a role in guiding values in our social practice today and in the practice of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.
(Chen Lai: Master of Confucianism in Shandong Province, Director of the Academic Committee of the Nishan World Confucianism Center, Dean and Professor of the Institute of Chinese Studies at Tsinghua University.) This article is the first lecture given by the lecturer group of the Nishan World Confucianism Center, and it was published in the October 2021 issue of "Into Confucius". ）
Source: Walk into the public account of Confucius Magazine