Hello everyone, here is a small broadcast reading, today we continue to share the seventh article of "Mencius, Dedication", this is the last article of Mencius, the previous issue, we shared Mencius's "theory of mentality", shared the "heart" in Confucianism, especially in Mencius's thought in the two meanings, the subject of morality and the subject of the self, Mencius showed the subjectivity of man.
This was an important contribution of Mencius in Confucian philosophy, and had a profound impact on later generations of Confucian philosophy, including Lu Wangxin and Cheng Zhu Rationality, as well as Zhang Zai's qi theory. In this article, Mencius mainly talks about his attitude towards life and his governing philosophy of "benevolent government".
In this article, Mencius famously proposed that "the people are precious, the society is secondary, and the king is light." The whole "Mencius" is actually discussing the governing concept of "benevolence and invincibility", and behind this concept, it is based on the well-being of the people, so it is actually a "people-oriented" governing concept, and the specific embodiment is in Mencius's sentence "The people are precious, the society is second, the king is light", the people are the most important, even the gods such as Ceres and the earth god are secondary, which shows what important position Mencius put the people in.
Mencius said: "The monarch is good and benevolent, and the world is invincible", Mencius believed that a monarch with benevolence and benevolent government would not let his people die. He said that King Hui of Liang did not have benevolence, and that he wanted to fight for land, so he let the people fight, but after suffering heavy casualties, he still did not give up, so he let his relatives die. Here Mencius not only criticized King Huiwang of Liang's "unkind" behavior, but also spoke of his attitude toward war. Mencius said that there is no war under the heavens that is justified, if there is, King Wu of Zhou consulted the King of Shang, and when King Wu of Zhou consulted the King of Shang, he said to the local people, don't panic and be afraid, I am here to appease you, not to make enemies with you. The sound of the people prostrating their heads in thanks was as loud as the mountain roaring tsunami.
Mencius said that if you do not believe in the monarch of benevolence, the talent of the country will run out; if you cannot observe etiquette and righteousness, the relationship between the upper and lower levels will be chaotic; political affairs will not be on track, and financial expenditure will not be enough. Therefore, Mencius's idea of "benevolent government" is actually a kind of governing concept that is both internal and external, not only in the treatment of internal governance, but also in the relationship between foreign countries and countries, and its fundamental is based on the well-being of democracy as the core and starting point. In layman's terms: the people's yearning for a happy life is our goal, which is actually the practice of Mencius's concept of "benevolent government".
Not only should a country practice "benevolent government", but everyone should practice "benevolent morality". Mencius said, "He who is benevolent, man is also." In short, the Tao also". This means that the so-called benevolence mainly refers to people, and people acting in accordance with the way of benevolence conforms to the right path of life, so what should be done? Only by integrating benevolence into natural behavior is it true that "benevolence" is achieved.
Mencius said that when Shun ate dry food and nibbled on wild vegetables, it was as if he planned to live such a life; and when he became the son of heaven, wearing a single robe and playing the piano, his life still did not change. We often say that the rich cannot be adulterous, the mighty cannot be bent, and everyone's mentality will change with the change of the environment, and the only constant is their ability to adapt to not be humble. Great people, in any case, can cultivate virtue with peace of mind.
"The Mean" says: "A gentleman is not self-sufficient", and a gentleman can be at ease no matter what situation he goes. The "prudent independence" pursued in Confucianism has a similar meaning. "The Mean": "Mo sees hidden, mo shows no subtlety, so the gentleman is cautious and independent." The so-called "cautious independence" refers to a person's solitude, even if there is no one to supervise, can strictly demand themselves, consciously abide by the moral code, do not do anything immoral, this kind of prudence is not only a kind of self-restraint and self-discipline, but a natural behavior, as if the virtue and self-integration together, so Mencius said: "Benevolent, human." In short, the Tao also".
We often say that Confucianism attaches great importance to self-cultivation, starting from oneself, "self-cultivation, family unity, governance, and peace in the world", everyone should start from themselves and become an example for others, so that from the bottom up, from the inside and outside, a family and a country can live and work in peace and contentment for a long time. Regarding how to cultivate oneself, in addition to integrating "benevolence" into one's daily behavior, Mencius famously proposed: "Cultivate the heart is not good at widowhood", and to cultivate the method of kindness, it is also necessary to reduce unnecessary desires.
Lao Tzu also said in the Tao Te Ching: "There is always no desire to look at its wonders; there is always desire to look at its delusions", "Less selfish desires, no worries about learning". Regarding the desire and impulse to restrain human nature, many philosophers in the West have talked about it, the more typical is Schopenhauer, Schopenhauer is a famous pessimistic philosopher in the West, he has a famous saying, he said: Life is in boredom and pain, desire is satisfied is boring, desire is not satisfied to suffer. Desire is the root of most of life's suffering, and desire also makes us more distant from our own good intentions.
Therefore, Mencius said, "Nourishing the heart is not good at widowhood." He is also a man and a widow, although there are those who do not have a widow, and those who are also widowed are also hungry, and although there are those who have a lot of desires, they are widowed. Mencius said: The best way to cultivate kindness is to reduce your desires. If a person's desire for profit is small, then even if there is some loss of goodness, it is very little; if a person's desire for profit is more, then even if the goodness is preserved, it must be very little. ”
Well, today we talked about some of Mencius's ideas and views on benevolence and self-cultivation, these ideas are also consistent in Mencius, Mencius's ideas are somewhat simple and unpretentious in our eyes today, but the ideas of more than 2,000 years ago still have a huge impact on today's society, whether in the concept of governing the country, or in the relationship between people, Confucian thought and spirit are integrated into the blood of everyone's Chinese, and have become part of the Chinese cultural gene.
Well, the main content of the book "Mencius" is introduced here, and we will summarize and sort out Mencius's thought in the next article. How to like my content, please pay attention to the small broadcast reading, we will see in the next article.