Benevolence is the highest principle of being a man. Although life is precious to everyone, there is something more precious than life, and that is "benevolence". "To die a mortal" means that people in do or die would rather give up their lives and keep the morality of kindness. Since ancient times, it has inspired countless people with lofty ideals to shed their blood for the life and death of the country and the nation, and wrote touching and magnificent poems.

Said by: Wei Linggong in The Analects of Confucius during the Spring and Autumn Period.

Original text:

Confucius said, "Benevolent people don't live, but die."

Translation:

Confucius said, "People with lofty ideals are benevolent. No one is afraid that death will damage benevolence, but some will sacrifice their own lives to fulfill benevolence. "

Extended data:

Creative background:

This book is a summary of what Confucius said to his disciples.

The Analects of Confucius is one of the classic works of Confucianism and a collection of recorded essays, which mainly records the words and deeds of Confucius and his disciples in the form of quotations and dialogues, and embodies Confucius' political, aesthetic, moral and utilitarian values. The Analects of Confucius covers politics, education, literature, philosophy and ways of living.

As early as the end of the Spring and Autumn Period, when Confucius set up an altar to give lectures, its main contents were initially established; After the death of Confucius, his disciples and re-disciples passed on his remarks from generation to generation, and gradually recorded the words and deeds of these oral quotations, so it was called "On"; The Analects of Confucius mainly records the words and deeds of Confucius and his disciples, so it is called "language".

In the Qing Dynasty, Zhao Yi explained: "The speaker, the sage's language, the commentator, and the Confucian discussion." In fact, "Shang" means compiling. The Analects of Confucius refers to recording the words and deeds of Confucius and his disciples and compiling them into books. The Analects of Confucius consists of 20 articles and 492 chapters, of which 444 chapters record what Confucius and his disciples talked about in time, and 48 chapters record what Confucius and his disciples talked about each other.

As a Confucian classic, The Analects is profound and all-encompassing, and its thoughts mainly include three independent and closely dependent categories: ethics-benevolence, social and political category-courtesy, and cognitive methodology category-the mean.

Benevolence, first of all, is the true state in people's hearts. The final compromise must be kindness, and this true and kind state is "benevolence". Confucius established the category of benevolence, and then expounded that courtesy is a reasonable social relationship and a norm to treat people and things, and then expounded the methodological principle of the "golden mean" system. "Benevolence" is the ideological core of The Analects.