Cheng Haoxin's thought laid the foundation for Lu Wangxinxue

□ Xin Shijun

"If the center is self-reinforcing, how can foreign things be moved" is a poem written by Cheng Hao when he was 10 years old. This poem seems simple, but it is closely related to Cheng Hao's theoretical thought, and there are still important ideas today.

Stick to the Tao heart and make it consistent

The origin of this poem is that Cheng Hao's mother told him the story of the poem "Drinking Greedy Spring" written by Wu Yinzhi, a lian official of the Jin Dynasty. When Wu Yinzhi went to Guangdong to take office, he passed by this place in Shimen and saw a spring, which was called "Greedy Spring" by the locals, and the general officials did not drink it, saying that they would become greedy after drinking it. Wu Yinzhi not only drank it, but also wrote the poem "Drinking Greedy Spring": "The ancients clouded this water, and they cherished thousands of gold." Try to make Yi Qi drink, and in the end it will not be easy. This means that the ancients said that this water is a greedy spring, and if you drink a cup, you will be greedy for money. However, if Bo Yi and Shu Qi (Shang Dynasty people, who did not eat Zhou Su and starved to death in Shouyang Mountain) drank this water, they would not become greedy. After Cheng Hao read "The Fountain of Greed", he expressed his views with "the center is like self-consolidation, and how can external objects be moved", which actually involves the problem of the relationship between mind and matter.

The mind mentioned by the ancients refers to thoughts, consciousness, will, etc., which are of course a reflection of external objects, but once the will is formed, it will produce huge energy. In ancient times, self-cultivation was actually the cultivation of the mind. "The human heart is in danger, but the Taoist heart is small" means that people's desires often interfere with the Daoist heart and change the Daoist heart, so it is necessary to adhere to the Daoist heart and make it consistent. "Do not forget the original intention, in order to be able to always" is to emphasize the great role of the heart. If the "master" of the mind is not firm, it will be troubled by material desires, and there will be no way to achieve anything under the world. Ercheng Theory emphasizes the role of the mind in dealing with the relationship between mind and matter, which is completely consistent with Confucius's ideas of "a gentleman is not a vessel", "unrighteous and rich and expensive, and I am like a floating cloud", "rich and noble, is what people want; not with its way, not in the same place", and also in line with Mencius's "I am good at raising my haoran qi" and "rich and noble cannot be adulterous, poor and lowly cannot be moved, and mighty cannot be bent".

Have a mind that is one with heaven and earth, and have no selfish desires

Instead of acknowledging the role of the mind in general, Cheng Hao further believed that the mind he wanted to "self-fix" was a public mind. Cheng Hao said: "The saints are just, and their hearts are full of the principles of all things in heaven and earth, and each deserves his own part." The saint is rational, so it is straight and easy to do. That is to say, if a saint is committed to righteousness, the mind will try its best to conform to the principles of all things in heaven and earth, so that all things have their own place to play. The saints follow the rules of things, so the path is straight and easy. "Selflessness, unity without self." Although they are one and the same, they are between heaven and earth, and they are no different from heaven and earth. "Those who are most righteous are selfless, and those who pursue the unity of the world do not consider the individual." Although he stands alone between heaven and earth, he is one with heaven and earth. Cheng Hao said that the so-called "Heavenly Principle" is the principle that all things in heaven and earth generally follow, and without a common heart, there can be no "heaven and earth view" such as "the unity of heaven and earth and all things." Cheng Hao said: "The public is the same, and the private is different." The same person Tianxin also. "But the Grand Duke, the things come and go." To be a grand duke is to have a heart that is one with heaven and earth. Out of a public heart, it can make people broaden their horizons, ascend to the heights and look far ahead, not tired of things, not disturbed by emotions, and can be clear and reasonable.

Cheng Hao has been an official for many years and has always taken "treating the people as wounds" as his motto. In his career, everywhere he went, he hung a plaque in the lobby that read, "Treat the people as wounds," which means that if you can care for and empathize with the sufferings of the people as you would if you were hurting yourself, and solve the people's sufferings, the people can live and work in peace and contentment. While proposing to "rule the world with selflessness in the grand duke", Cheng Hao also raised "selflessness" to the height of "Tianli" and Tiande. He said, "He who is reasonable, the common man of the world, shall not be private." Reason is selfless. When one enters into selfishness, although one wants to be good at one's words and deeds, it is rude. This means that the axioms that embody the world must not have selfish intentions, and if there is a selfish intention, although one wants to make one's words and deeds good, they do not meet the standard of etiquette.

We must continue to cultivate our hearts and not be moved by external objects

The "self-consolidation" in "If the center is self-reinforcing, how can external objects be moved" refers to the firm will, and the firm heart needs to be constantly maintained. Cheng Hao expounded in both the Zhiren Chapter and the Qualitative Book the important issue of the philosophy of life, which is to follow the principle of heaven with the heart of the Grand Duke. "Three hundred rites, three thousand majesty, not the desire of the people and the strong man can not also." So guard against their desires, abstain from extravagance, and make them enter the path. "There are so many rituals and prestige, not to forcibly restrain people in order to eliminate the desires of ordinary people, but to restrain people's desires, to abstain from luxury, and to bring them into the norms of morality.

As for how to restrain people's desires, Cheng Hao said: "Learning is not precious to thinking, but thinking can suffocate desire." The three provinces of Zengzi, the way of suffocation. Cheng Yi also pointed out: "The heart is still planted, and the virtue of its birth is for benevolence." That is to say, the heart is like a seed, and what is nurtured is a benevolent heart. And to cultivate benevolence, it is necessary to make people righteous. Cheng Hao said: "Scholars must first know ren. The benevolent one is in harmony with the object, and righteousness, etiquette, wisdom, and faith are all benevolent. To know this, to save it with sincerity, without inspection or exhaustion. If the heart is lax, then there is defense, the heart is unremitting, why bother?" Selfish desires and slackness are the weaknesses of human nature, and only by resolutely fighting against slackness can we achieve "new day by day, day by day, and day by day", the principle of life, nature is endless, the revolution is new, and all changes are beneficial. Cheng Hao said: "Learning is knowing what it has, and it is also nurturing what it has." This tells us that only by constantly cultivating the mind and improving the quality of the mind can we maintain our concentration and not be moved by the temptations of external objects. Only by establishing the heart, protecting the heart, nourishing the heart, fixing the heart, and opening up the heart path can the road be smooth and reach a higher realm. Cheng Hao's happy learning laid the foundation for Lu Wangxinxue, which was Cheng Hao's greatest contribution to Chinese philosophy. (The author is a professor at the School of Marxism, Zhengzhou University)