Confucius on Water

Zi Gong asked: "When a gentleman sees a large water, he must look at it, why?" Confucius said: "If you are a man of water, how can you compare your virtue with others?" To be selfless in giving is like virtue; to be born in the way is to be benevolent; to be humble, and to follow the logic of every sentence is to be like meaning; to be shallow is to be popular, to be deep is to be unpredictable, to be like wisdom; to go to the valley of a hundred people without any doubt, is to be like wisdom. Brave; weak and slightly reaching, as if observing; accepting evil and refusing to give in, as if covering up; being obscured, going in, and coming out fresh and clean, as if becoming good; the most measured, it must be flat, as if it is right; if it is full, it does not seek generalization, as if it is measured; It is bound to go east after all the twists and turns. Therefore, when a gentleman sees a big water, he must look at it.” You have to watch carefully, why?" Confucius said: "Water can inspire a gentleman to use it as a metaphor for his moral cultivation. It spreads all over the world and gives to all things without partiality, just like the morality of a gentleman. The growth of all things is like the benevolence of a gentleman; the nature of water is downward, taking shape according to things, like the high righteousness of a gentleman; the shallow places flow endlessly, and the deep depths are unpredictable, like the wisdom of a gentleman; rushing into the abyss without hesitation is like a gentleman His decisiveness and courage in dealing with matters; permeating every detail and understanding every detail, like a gentleman's discernment; suffering a bad reputation and silently refusing to defend himself, like a gentleman's open-minded mind that tolerates everything; even under mud and sand, there is still a clear water in the end, like a gentleman's ability to transform. When putting things into a measuring vessel, they must keep it level, just like a gentleman who stands upright; when it is full, he stops, and is not greedy for too much, just like a gentleman who pays attention to propriety and handles things in a measured way; no matter what kind of setbacks and questions, he must do it in the right way. Flowing into the sea is like a gentleman's unwavering faith and will. Therefore, when a gentleman sees the water, he must observe it carefully (because it is undoubtedly observing himself!)"

Confucius on Water

Confucius had an indissoluble bond with water throughout his life, and his extensive and profound cultural thoughts contained rich water cultural factors. Through observing, experiencing and thinking about water, Confucius elucidated his profound understanding and understanding of water, either from the social and historical levels, from the perspective of philosophical speculation, or from the concept of moral education, and then used this to grasp, Understand the laws of life, society and the natural world.

A wise man enjoys water

Confucius has a famous saying: "The benevolent man enjoys the mountains, and the wise man enjoys the water." ("The Analects of Confucius Yong Ye") Why is water enjoyed by a wise man like Confucius? The reason is not only because of the various natural forms of water - whether it is calm or turbulent, whether it is a trickle or a mighty flow, whether it is a pool of clear water or a vast mist, all these can make wise men like Confucius understand It's a pleasure to linger on and enjoy. At the same time, water can also wash away the dirt in people's bodies and minds, keeping people's bodies and minds in a clean and clear state. And more importantly, "a wise man understands the principles of things and flows around without stagnation, just like water, so he enjoys water" (Zhu Xi's "Annotations to the Four Books"). That is to say, water has the characteristics of "moving" in an endless stream, and "a wise man is not confused" ("The Analects of Confucius·Zihan"), quick to respond, quick to achieve success, also has the color of "moving", and various natural features of water The form and function often provide enlightenment and insight for wise people to understand society, life and even the entire material world.

The fact that Confucius loved water can be found in many historical books. "The Analects of Confucius·Advanced" tells us this: One day, Confucius asked with great interest the ambitions of several proud disciples sitting around him. Zilu, Ran You, and Gong Xihua all made impassioned speeches, expressing their extraordinary ideals and pursuits. Only Zeng Dian (Zeng Xi) was at odds with everyone else's ambitions: "Mo Chun, the spring clothes are ready, five or six crowns, six or seven boys, bathing in Yi, dancing in the wind, chanting and returning." It means, When spring comes, put on comfortable spring clothes and meet up with five or six adults and six or seven teenagers to go swimming in the Yishui River, and then enjoy the cool and pleasant breeze on the dance platform, where everyone can have fun leisurely So happy, and then went home happily singing. These words seemed very unambitious, but unexpectedly they got the approval of Master: "I and Dianye!" It means that I agree with Zeng Dian's idea!

From the above dialogue between Confucius and his disciples From it, we can get some information: First, the wonderful realm described by Zeng Dian is exactly the atmosphere of the world of great harmony that Confucius pursued and longed for throughout his life - peace in the world, social stability, prosperity of the country, and people living a peaceful life. A beautiful life of abundant food and clothing, freedom and happiness, peace and comfort. Second, the recent nature, never abandoning it, and integrating into one body are the embodiment of the Confucian idea of ??"unity of nature and man". According to Confucius, bathing in the Yishui River in his hometown to purify his body and mind is clearly an indispensable pleasure in life. Although Confucius had noble virtues and was regarded as a saint by future generations, he was also a straightforward man of flesh and blood. The space he lives in is a society with broken etiquette and filth. The worldly affairs will inevitably pollute his soul, and the body itself will always produce dirt, making people feel dirty and uncomfortable. So he often bathed in clean water to wash his body and mind, making his mind spotless, peaceful and comfortable, and his body clean and refreshing. This is the implicit meaning. The extraneous meaning is that "everything in the heaven and earth flows in the same direction, and everyone has his own place." Therefore, Confucius would naturally "sigh and deeply appreciate" the calm and cheerful spiritual realm expressed by Zeng Dian.

Confucius' "pleasure with water" is also reflected in the fact that he occasionally pinned his frustration on the waves of the water - "If the way is not good, float on the sea on a raft" ("The Analects of Confucius Gongye Chang") This can be illustrated by emotion.

There are nine out of ten things in life that are unsatisfactory. Confucius, who had great ambitions to help the people of the country, was knowledgeable and moral. The Confucianism he founded had a wide influence on the society at that time and enjoyed a high reputation. However, Confucius's teachings, especially his political opinions, were not popular with the rulers at that time. In order to promote his "Confucianism", Confucius once led his disciples to travel around the world. Wherever they went, they were often treated with cold treatment and ridicule - "cutting down trees in the Song Dynasty, cutting down traces in the Wei Dynasty, being poor in the Shang and Zhou Dynasties, and trapped in Chen and Cai" , suffered humiliation at the hands of the Ji family, was so distressed that he died." ("Liezi Yang Zhu") Such a miserable situation could not help but make Confucius feel sad countless times, and finally cried out when he was not satisfied. He solved the huge complaint of "if the Tao is not good enough, he will float in the sea on a boat". In fact, Confucius never wanted to live in seclusion in the vast sea and live what Taoism calls a "happy wandering" life. This complaint is just the helplessness and emotion of the old man who "worked for more than seventy years and found nothing" ("Han Shu·Rulin Biography"). Despite many setbacks, he still traveled among the countries in order to realize his moral politics. However, Confucius's words pointed out a basic behavioral direction for future generations of officials, that is, when they are frustrated in their official career, they want to take advantage of it and abandon their worldly fate. Can people really do this? No wonder Zhang of the Tang Dynasty said that when he came to the South China Sea in exile in Qinzhou (now Guangxi), he would sigh, "The vastness of the sea is unreachable." It seems that if you don't really want to be a hermit. , The frustration of official career cannot be wiped out by the sea.

Regarding Confucius' "pleasure in water", "Mencius Li Lou" said that Confucius "hurtly called water, saying, 'Water, water!' '" "Xunzi You Zui", "Shuo Yuan Miscellaneous Comments", "Han Shi Wai Zhuan", "Confucius Family Sayings", etc. all have Confucius answering his student Zigong's question about why "a gentleman must look at the big water" The specific content of these records may be different from the facts, but the fact that Confucius particularly liked water is absolutely true, and Confucius' "pleasure with water" is not just about being intoxicated and lingering in the natural pleasure of water. More importantly, he can understand the true meaning of life through in-depth observation and experience of water. In other words, his understanding and thinking about water are largely based on the construction of the edifice of Confucian ethics and morals. "Han Shi Wai Zhuan" has a long explanation of the reason why Confucius "must look at the water when seeing it". The general idea is: water nourishes all things and is selfless, like virtue; it brings vitality to the earth wherever it goes, like benevolence. ; Flow from high to low, soothing the rapids, all following the principle, it seems like meaning; galloping forward, rushing through thousands of mountains and ravines, like bravery; there are deep and shallow, shallow can be popular, deep is unpredictable, like wisdom. It can be seen that Confucius was not satisfied with purely appreciating nature, but tried to communicate the inner connection between the beauty of water and human moral spirit to explore the social significance and value of water, and from this he derived the Confucian principles and principles of life. To a certain extent, this socialized and moralized understanding of water reflects the ancient idea of ??"the unity of nature and man". Confucius paid special attention to moral education, and the Confucianism he founded is mainly one. This is a moral theory. Water, a substance that is ubiquitous in the material world and inseparable from human beings, has many of the characteristics of water that Confucius expounded on his moral thoughts: "like virtue", "like benevolence", "like righteousness". "Like courage", "like wisdom", etc., are indeed very similar to Confucian ethics and morals, so they were pleased by Confucius and Confucian "wise men" and "gentlemen". Therefore, Confucius logically combined the shape of water with water. Performance is linked to human character, will, knowledge, moral cultivation, etc. At this time, water has become a perceptual form and conceptual symbol that embodies Confucius' ethical and moral system, and has become the moral water and personality water of Confucius culture. This kind of moral aesthetic view of water had a great influence on later generations. Many thinkers in later generations viewed the beauty of water in this way.

"Confucius looked at the temple of Duke Huan of Lu, and there was a teapot... Confucius Gu said to his disciples: "Pour in the water." The disciples took the water and poured it into it. It was medium and straight, full and full, and empty and empty. Confucius sighed and said: "Hey, what's wrong with being full but not overflowing?"..." ("Xunzi · You Zui") In Confucius' sigh about the water being full but not overflowing, we clearly got another idea of ??"fullness causes damage." , The warning of modesty and benefit."

"There is a boy's song that says: 'The water in Canglang is clear, and I can wash my tassel; the water in Canglang is turbid, and I can wash my feet. ’ Confucius said: ‘When the little man listens to it, he washes his tassels when he is clear and his feet when he is dirty, and he takes it for himself. '" ("Mencius Li Lou Shang") Clean the tassel and wash the feet with the turbid water. This is the most convenient and direct benefit that water gives to people, but Confucius tells us such a principle of life from this simple fact. : A person's position in society, loyalty, good and evil, honor, disgrace, happiness and misfortune mainly depends on himself.

2. "The deceased is like a man" - Confucius's view of sports

Benliu. The endless water not only pleased Confucius, but also aroused his infinite philosophical thoughts. Once, Confucius stood on the bank of the river and looked at the rolling river and said, "The days and nights are passing by like this." ( "The Analects of Confucius - Zihan") This is Confucius's philosophical thinking about the passing of time, people and things, which can never be retained like flowing water. It has a deep sigh caused by the passage of time and the failure of achievements. It also has philosophical insights brought about by contemplation of abstract philosophical issues such as time, eternity, change and other material movements.

From the first level, it is true that time passes like running water and will never return, youth will eventually grow old, and everything will become a hurried passerby like running water. Faced with the short journey of life, how should a person as insignificant as a piece of grass in the world spend this life? "Singing to wine, life is like dew in the morning, but the days are bitter in the past" (Cao Cao's "Dan Ge Xing"). This is Cao Mengde, a hero of a generation with great talent and strategy. Facing the fleeting time, he lamented that life is short and his achievements are unfulfilled. "Don't you see the water of the Yellow River coming up from the sky, rushing to the sea and never returning! Don't you see the bright mirror in the high hall has sad white hair, and the morning is like blue silk and turns to snow in the evening! If you are proud of your life, you must enjoy it to the fullest, and don't let the golden bottle stand in front of the moon." (Li Bai's "The End" "Wine"), this is another attitude towards life interpreted by Li Bai, a great poet of the generation, as "the dead are like this", which is full of pessimism, negativity and helplessness. "If you are confident that you will live two hundred years, you will be like the water hitting three thousand miles" (Mao Zedong's "Qinyuanchun·Changsha" Notes), this is Mao Zedong's understanding of "the deceased is like a man", and it shows a kind of hard work An enterprising and self-improvement attitude towards life. The author believes that this kind of understanding can best reflect the essential connotation of Confucius' "the deceased is like a husband". Confucius asked people to imitate the spirit of the surging water flowing eastward, to keep moving forward day and night, to brave the past and the present, and to strive to blend the limited water of life into the infinite river of life and career. In this regard, Confucius himself also set a glorious example for us. Although he encountered obstacles everywhere in order to promote Confucianism, he still pursued the "right way" of life as persistently and without hesitation as the flowing river. .

From a second level, the philosophical enlightenment of "The dead are like this" to Confucius and later generations is: the movement of matter is like running water, which takes place in space, and this movement persists day and night. , never stops, and is its time expression. Confucius not only simply realized that all matter is in motion, but also used the endless flow of water as a metaphor to illustrate the relationship between motion, time and space. The subject of movement is the material that exists objectively like flowing water. The movement of this material is natural, and everything is determined by the nature of the material.

Mr. Li Zehou believes that the sentence "The deceased is like a man, not giving up day and night" expresses Confucius's persistence in life, his understanding of existence and his feelings about generation. Confucius did not pursue eternity beyond time, but placed eternity and transcendence in the present time, under the political and religious ethics of the time and the goal of constructing social order. Everything is changing, and the "unchangeable one", that is, the eternal ontology, is the changing material world itself (see "The Process of Beauty"). Against this philosophical background, Confucius's view of movement was filled with strong social and life emotions. Under the control of this emotion, he observed, understood and discovered the laws of nature and human society, forming a distinct idea of ??evolution.

Concerning the evolution of nature, Confucius put forward many views, such as "What can the sky say? The four seasons move and all things come into being." ("The Analects of Confucius Yang Huo") That is to say, the four seasons of the year, spring The replacement of summer, autumn and winter, the transition of day and night, the endless growth and metabolism of all things, these are all carried out according to their own inherent laws, rather than the will and arrangement of "Heaven". Another example is "When the years are cold, you will know that the pines and cypresses will wither" ("The Analects of Confucius·Zihan"), "Thunder and wind will change" ("The Analects of Confucius·Xiangdang"), "The wind on the grass will die" ("The Analects of Confucius·Yan Yuan") 》), etc., all discuss the changing state of nature from the perspective of movement. In the eyes of Confucius, everything in the natural world, from the sun, moon and stars to the grass, trees, birds and birds, are all in motion.

Regarding human evolution, Confucius believed that human history is constantly advancing and social systems are also in constant change. He said: "The gains and losses of Yin due to Xia rites can be known; the gains and losses of Zhou due to Yin rites can be known, and those who may succeed Zhou can be known for hundreds of generations." ("The Analects of Confucius: Weizheng") also said: " Zhou Jian was in the second generation, and he was extremely literary. "Xia Li", "Yin Li", and "Zhou Li" all refer to the social system. This system has both inheritance and gains and losses and development in the evolution of human society. Confucius' theory of historical profit and loss that "can be known for a hundred generations" points out that the movement of history is a movement of progress and development. The rise and fall of various dynasties in Chinese history fully prove that Confucius's view of historical development is very correct. As far as human beings are concerned, Confucius also fully affirmed the historical inevitability of its development. He said: "The future generations are to be feared. How could we know that those who come are not what they are now." ("The Analects of Confucius·Zihan") Confucius also appeared to speak from his own experience and life. Experience affirms the development and changes of people. He said: "When I was fifteen, I was determined to learn; when I was thirty, I stood up; when I was forty, I was not confused; when I was fifty, I knew the destiny; when I was sixty, my ears were obedient; when I was seventy, I followed my heart's desires without going beyond the rules. ” ("The Analects of Confucius·Wei Zheng")

The formation of the three "doctrine of the mean" ideas mainly comes from the enlightenment of ancestors' water control

"The Doctrine of the Mean" is Confucius' comprehensive view of nature, human society, history and reality A concept of merit-based methodology proposed by experience. It is the original form of dialectics and system theory thinking. Confucius believed that "the golden mean" is the best way to deal with problems, so he praised "the golden mean as the virtue, it is the most perfect!" ("The Analects of Confucius·Yong Ye") The so-called "zhong" refers to "allowing to hold on to the middle" ("The Analects of Confucius·Yong Ye") The Analects of Confucius "Yao said"), that is, the "right way" is fairness, and its opposite is "excess" and "less than", both of which are evil ways that go to extremes. "Yong" means constant, often means regularity. "Moderate" means to do things "in the right time". In layman's terms, it means to be in line with the times, grasp the appropriateness, and be realistic and realistic in choosing good methods and ways to solve problems.

Confucius regarded "the mean" as the key to life and emphasized that people should "stick to the middle" when thinking about judgment issues. Later generations of Confucian scholars regarded Doctrine as the guideline for "cultivating one's moral character, managing one's family, governing the country, and bringing peace to the world."

So, how did the idea of ??the Doctrine of the Mean come into being? On the one hand, it was the natural form of water that directly inspired Confucius. "Middle" refers to the middle line of the water flow. On the other hand, and the most important point is that the formation of the idea of ??"gold mean" is closely related to the ancient ancestors' summary and understanding of the experiences and lessons in controlling floods. In ancient times, one of the most pressing social issues was the fight against floods. Floods were the natural enemies of ancient ancestors, and controlling floods is a major historical feature of China. The legendary story of Nuwa accumulating ashes to stop floods shows that our country has been fighting against floods indomitably since its matrilineal society. By the time of Tang, Yao, Yu and Shun, China was still "flooded". In order to relieve the suffering of the people, Yao ordered Gun to control the floods. Gun blindly adopted the method of "blocking and blocking" (earth blockage and blockage). "The water continued to flow for nine years and the function failed." Not only did it fail to control the flood, but it caused more serious consequences. After Gun's death, Yu inherited Gun's flood control business and learned from Gun's failure to control floods. He switched to a diversion-based approach and led the people after thirteen years of arduous struggle to finally guide floods along lowlands and rivers and into the sea. , quelled flood disasters for thousands of years. By the Spring and Autumn Period when Confucius lived, embankments were ubiquitous and had become the main means for people to fight against floods. With embankments, the initiative to contain floods is greatly enhanced. From Gun's "dike" in the process of water control, to Dayu's "threshold", and then to the large number of "embankments" that appeared in the Spring and Autumn Period, it marked that the development of water control theory and technology has reached a new stage. Although in a sense, "embankment" is also "em", the "em" of embankment is qualitatively different from the "em" used by Gun. It is a leap from simple passive flood control to active flood control. At the same time, the relationship between "sparse" and "堠" is a unity of opposites, complementary to each other, and can transform into each other under certain conditions. Which water control method should be adopted depends on the time and local conditions. The dialectical development process of "堠 - dredging - embankment" presented in the theory and practice of water control greatly inspired Confucius' theoretical thinking and made him deeply realize that if human beings want to conquer and transform nature, they must optimize and Discover the path to success. This paved the way for the introduction of the "gold mean" methodology. In addition, in history, King Li of Zhou Dynasty adopted the "slander" policy to block the people's mouth, which led to silent thunder and unrest among the people. This gave Confucius and many knowledgeable people the opportunity to "defend the people even more than the Sichuan Province." ", it is a warning that the river cannot be blocked yet, how can the people block it. Coupled with the fierce ideological struggle between "doing" and "inaction" in the conceptual society where Confucius lived, as well as Confucius's experience in teaching practice, Confucius's golden voice inspired him to focus, systematize and theorize it. , thus putting forward the idea of ??"gold mean".

In addition, in "The Analects of Confucius", Confucius repeatedly praised Dayu's great historical achievements in controlling floods and benefiting the people, remembering that he "descended in the palace and tried his best to drain ditches" ("The Analects of Confucius·Tai Bo"), with one heart He devoted himself to the cause of flood control and regarded Dayu as a benevolent man and sage who said, "I am inseparable" ("The Analects of Confucius Taibo"). On the one hand, this expresses Confucius' admiration for heroic saint-kings like Dayu, and it also shows that Confucius has ideologically regarded the water control activities of eliminating water damage and promoting water conservancy as a major matter for the governance of the country.

In summary, it is not difficult to see that water undoubtedly gave Confucius many profound revelations and insights in the process of generating many of his cultural thoughts. Whether it is the form, nature and function of natural water or the great practice of water control by ancient ancestors, they provided valuable nutrition and sources for Confucius' theoretical thinking and creation, and also greatly enriched and enriched his cultural thoughts.