Article·Duan Honggang

During the pre-Qin period, a hundred schools of thought contended. Confucius (551 BC - 479 BC) was undoubtedly a very famous scholar among all the schools of thought. At the same time, he He is also very studious. According to legend, he met Lao Tzu, the founder of "Taoism" three times since he was 33 years old. After Lao Tzu's enlightenment and guidance, he suddenly became enlightened.

Later, Confucius studied hard, further improved his knowledge and wisdom, and expressed many enlightening insights. These insights were compiled by Confucius' disciples and included in "The Analects of Confucius".

"A gentleman has no weapons" is a sentence from "The Analects of Confucius: For Government". The original text says - Confucius said: A gentleman has no weapons.

To understand the meaning of "a gentleman does not use weapons", we must first understand the meaning of the words "gentleman" and "qi", and then clarify their extended meanings, and then we can basically understand its meaning. .

The word "gentleman" was born very early. Its meaning has been constantly changing through the changes of the times, and has been endowed with many connotations and gradually enriched.

In the early days, "gentleman" specifically referred to young men. For example, it is written in "The Book of Songs": Guan Guan Jujiu, in the river island. A graceful lady, a gentleman is fond of quarrels.

Later, when the country appeared, the word "gentleman" was given a political color, referring to the king and the king. Judging from the way the character "Jun" is created, it is a typical knowing character, from Yin to Kou. The original meaning of "Yin" is to govern, and "Kou" means password and order. Together, it means "to issue orders to govern the country." This order is only the king has the authority to issue, and it represents a lofty status. Therefore, it has a lofty status. A person is called a gentleman.

Later, the "rituals and music culture" of the Zhou royal family were completely destroyed. As the leader of a country, a gentleman was incompetent in the face of these chaos. Powerless. After seeing this, Confucius was heartbroken and appealed loudly to all walks of life: "Restore rites." And gave new requirements to "gentleman".

Based on the character displayed by saints, scholars, sages and others in society, Confucius required gentlemen to set an example and, like them, use benevolence and noble personality to guide and promote the harmonious development of society.

It was against this background that Confucius gave other meanings to "gentleman" based on his own understanding and the current social situation at that time.

Confucius infinitely expanded the meaning of a gentleman, and called those who have great personality, noble morals, profound knowledge, profound cultivation, and outstanding wisdom. This is different from the previous situation where a gentleman was defined by his status. Completely different.

At the same time, Confucius also pointed out that a gentleman must be responsible and should always regard "cultivating Qi Zhiping" as his life mission. He must also have the ability to strategize and lead others to the light.

It can be seen that Confucius has very high requirements for gentlemen. In Confucius' eyes, those who can be called gentlemen are without exception omniscient and omnipotent people, and have great personalities. They are no different from "sages" the difference.

However, to reach the height and realm of a "gentleman" cannot be achieved overnight. It must go through long and arduous tempering, and continuously cultivate one's talents, abilities and wisdom according to certain rules and methods. , can you become a qualified gentleman.

The original meaning of "qi" refers to those real utensils or containers with specific shapes and fixed capacities. Its functions are conserved and its uses are fixed.

For example, the capacity and function of a bucket can only hold one bucket of water. If you want to hold another bowl of water in it, it will exceed its capacity limit and cannot hold it, which is equivalent to It's a useless effort.

Based on the actual role of utensils in real life, Confucius sublimated them in a metaphysical way and further expanded the meaning of the word "qi", extending it to a kind of constraints and limitations from the outside world. These constraints and limitations The material beyond the scope will be isolated from the tangible frame, unable to play a greater role and achieve adult beauty.

Therefore, Confucius further believed that utensils have form but Tao has no form. "Utility" is only the external form of things, and "Tao" is the internal law of things. Only internal laws are not bound and restricted by external forms. , only things can maximize their own energy and benefit the same kind.

For a gentleman, if he wants to be respected and worshiped by others, he must demand himself with the attitude of "endless learning", constantly sharpen himself, and constantly evolve, so that he can truly reach the ideal height and state.

Confucius’ saying “a gentleman has no tools” and Taoism’s “use of useless things” have the same meaning. They both use dualistic dialectics to examine all things in the world to discover the value of things. Anything within the scope of its functions is useful; if it exceeds the scope of its functions, relatively speaking, it becomes useless.

Confucius used "A gentleman does not have tools" to tell people that in the face of anything, the value of anything cannot be measured by simple usefulness and uselessness, but must be treated separately according to specific circumstances.

A true gentleman must not only have high aspirations, but also be down-to-earth. He must avoid the barriers of "instruments" and cannot prematurely fix his talents and energy like the inherent capacity of the appliances. You must be good at breaking through yourself, discovering your own potential, breaking through the utilitarian color, turning the limited into infinite, being able to do both upright and trivial things, and showing your unique personal charm and value in any environment. Such a person is a true gentleman.