——Approaching Confucius from "The Analects of Confucius"

I am ashamed to say that as the first of the four books, "The Analects of Confucius" should have been read long ago, or even studied over and over again, but I have never Do it. There are only a few words that are familiar to me, such as "Learn and practice it over time, don't you just say it", "Don't do to others what you don't want others to do to you", "The deceased is like a husband", etc. After reading "Brother Yingwu" not long ago, I finally mustered up the courage to pick up Li Ling's book "The Lost Dog—I Read The Analects of Confucius" and began to get closer to Confucius.

Who is Master? Judging from the self-deprecating metaphor of a lost dog, the author reads "loneliness". He believes that this is the fate of intellectuals. Anyone who embraces ideals and cannot find a spiritual home in the real world is a lost dog. As Said defined the characteristics of intellectuals, they are away from home, alienated from the mainstream, marginalized, and have an amateur and peripheral identity. Obviously, Confucius seems to be such a person. Confucius' experience seems to be a bit quixotic and helpless, but most contemporary intellectuals are not.

The Master is known as the "Teacher of All Ages" and "The Most Holy Teacher". He is the teacher of each of us scholars and the source of our Confucian culture. Sima Qian even praised, "The high mountains stand tall and the scenery moves." Go and stop. Although you can't come, your heart is going to it. "The legacy left to future generations is undoubtedly rich and inexhaustible, but his life in this world was desolate and even desolate.

The book "The Lost Dog - My Reading of the Analects" starts with several introductions such as "Confucius is a human being", "Confucius's disciples", "ancient and modern people read the Analects", and finally ends with "Confucius' teachings" "Confucius talks about the gentleman" and "Confucius' legacy" conclude the book, and the middle part is a general explanation of the Analects of Confucius. One of the author's more obvious views is that Confucius was not a saint. He was established step by step by Zigong and other disciples and descendants. So, what kind of person was Confucius?

Dazai asked Yu Zigong: "Master, who is a saint? How many abilities are there?" Zigong said: "The general who strengthens the sky and controls the saints has many abilities." After hearing this, Zi Gong said: "Dazai, you know me! I am a young man, so I can do a lot of things. How many gentlemen are there? Not many." Rather than saying that the master is a low-key person, it is better to say that he understands himself and the times, and is a far-sighted person. , he never regarded himself as a saint, although he valued ancient etiquette, benevolence and filial piety.

The master’s emphasis on filial piety lies in the absence of any violation and the difficulty of sexual intercourse. Filial piety is divided into filial piety and filial piety, and nurturing means feeding and serving. Nurturing is the biological basis of talent. Animals are loyal and obedient because of nurturing. For parents, on this basis, there is more need to respect the elderly. What is filial piety? He has not changed his ways for three years, which can be called filial piety. There is no filial son at the bedside of a long-term illness, and it is valuable to be difficult.

Being kind and courteous is the core of Mr. Wang’s thinking. "Eight people dancing in the court are tolerable, but who can't be tolerated." "It's so gloomy and elegant, I'm from Zhou." A person's realm is not only related to his own situation. Even if he is in the mud, he still has to look up at the stars. "If a person is not benevolent, what is the use of etiquette? If a person is not benevolent, what is happiness? A benevolent person is kind, and a wise person is beneficial to others." Benevolence and etiquette are the foundation for people to stand in the world. Otherwise, how can people become human beings? "A person with lofty ideals and a benevolent person will not harm his benevolence by seeking life, but he will kill himself to achieve benevolence." Benevolence may seem daunting and out of reach, but most of the time, benevolence is within reach in daily life.

“A benevolent person, if he wants to establish himself, he can establish others; if he wants to achieve himself, he can achieve others.” “Benevolence” is not an unattainable cloud, but every word, every deed, and every move in daily life. "How far is benevolence? I want to be benevolent, and this is the most benevolent thing." If you are determined to be a gentleman, a benevolent person, you must use "benevolence" to restrain and regulate yourself at all times, and you will do it for life. Zigong asked: "Is there anything you can say that can be implemented throughout your life?" Confucius said: "Forgive! Don't do to others what you don't want others to do to you." The book says that the word "forgiveness" here does not mean "forgiveness." , but it is actually the core of "benevolence", that is, treating oneself as well as others. I checked "Shuowen Jiezi", "Shu means benevolence"; then I checked "Ren means closeness". It can be seen that the "Tao of Forgiveness" that we pursue throughout our lives is to compare our hearts with our hearts, be selfless and have no desires, or say "I will have no self", and live up to benevolence and righteousness. "Being rich and noble through unrighteousness is like a floating cloud to me."

The Master values ????trust, "If a person has no faith, he does not know what he can do." "If you cannot say something, you will not be able to catch it in shame.

"But what he emphasized was integrity and great faith, not little faith. "You must be true to your word, and you must be resolute in your deeds. You are such a villain! Master Meng also continued to carry forward his idea, "Sir, you don't have to trust your words, and your actions don't have results, only righteousness lies." It turns out that Master Meng is not rigid and aloof, he understands human nature and knows how to adapt, just like integrity, and is loyal to bad people. You can lie, but white lies are also necessary.

Master knows people through personal experience: "Look at what they are, observe where they are, and observe where they are." "To know people, you need to know their roots and understand them from the bottom up. In response to the incident of "Zai Yu sleeps during the day", he sincerely lamented, "In the beginning I was with people, listening to their words and trusting their actions; now I am with people, listening to their words and watching their actions. "This is the so-called seeing is believing, and hearing is believing.

So, what is a "gentleman"? "A gentleman wants to be slow in words but quick in deeds. " He evaluated the four virtues of Zisanshi, "respect, respect, benefit, and righteousness", "hardness, perseverance, wood, calmness, and benevolence." "A gentleman should have certain moral qualities. To put it simply, he is those who are strong and simple, and clumsy in tongue. What he hates most is those people who are clever and eloquent. Every time they talk about it, he hates it. From now on, eloquence seems to be the same. The expression of a person's talent cannot be achieved by just doing it.

Being able to recognize people and assess situations is great wisdom. Nan Rong, who "has been punished and slaughtered", and Ning Wuzi, who said "If a country has the Way, it will be wise; if a country has no Way, it will be foolish." They are all full of praise. "Don't enter a dangerous country, and don't live in a chaotic country." If there is a way in the world, you will see it; if there is no way, you will hide it. If a country has good moral principles, it will be a shame to be poor and humble; if a country has no moral principles, it will be a shame to be rich and noble. "Perhaps, because of this, he was able to wander in troubled times without feeling aggrieved, but contentedly enjoying himself.

Although the Master was poor and happy, he was a brave man in the face of the test of righteousness. When he was trapped in various countries and his disciples complained one after another, he said righteously and solemnly, "I am born with virtue, so what can I do if I give it to you?" "

But most of the time, Mr. is a humble gentleman who is as moist as jade. "He is gentle but tough, powerful but not fierce, respectful but peaceful. "When Confucius was in the township party, he was as pessimistic as a man who seemed unable to speak." When he was in the imperial court of the ancestral temple, he would just say, "We are sincere." When you are in the court, you talk to the officials below, and you are like talking; when you talk to the officials above, you are like a person; when you are in the king, you are like a hesitant, and you are like a person. "

So, how to achieve being a complete person? Confucius believed that there are three realms: a gentleman who cultivates himself to respect others; a benevolent person who cultivates himself to comfort others: "The old man is safe, his friends trust him, "The young cherish it" and the saint who cultivates himself to comfort others. The basic value pursuit of ordinary people should be the "gentleman" who is a moral example and takes care of himself; if he can help others and promote himself and others, he can be called a "benevolent person"; if there is a certain If you have a good social status and can help the world, you are a saint. From this perspective, Confucius, a commoner, will not think of himself as a saint. "Etiquette is achieved through music", or "Aiming for Tao, based on virtue, relying on benevolence, and wandering in art." "

Perhaps, Confucius most wanted others to say that he was a studious person. "A person who knows things silently, is tireless in learning, and tireless in teaching. "As a human being, he is so angry that he forgets to eat, and he is happy and forgets his worries. He does not know that old age is coming." "We should not be intimidated by the halo of the "sage" that has existed for thousands of years. He is also an ordinary person, but he cares more about the feelings of others, compares his feelings to his own, pays more attention to principles and morality, and treats others with kindness and kindness. It seems that we are also morally complete. In today's era, if you can be "grinding but not phosphorous, nirvana but not dying" and not drifting with the crowd, you can at least become a gentleman.