Tao is governed by politics, and Tao can be understood as propaganda and guidance. To govern is to use administrative orders as a means. Governing by the Tao refers to using administrative orders as a means to guide and govern the people.
if the punishment is consistent, the people will be bound by criminal law, and the problem will be solved by punishment.
It was advocated by legalists at that time that the Tao should be governed by politics and punished by justice. People don't have to talk about reason or righteousness, but about rules, as long as they conform to the rules and regulations. This is also the method used by many modern countries.
Confucius believes that the result of this is that the people are free and shameless, and ordinary people can not commit crimes because they are afraid of punishment.
From the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period to the Qin Dynasty, and even to the Han Dynasty, people were governed by harsh punishments. Don't be deceived by Liu Bang's three chapters of the law. On the surface, Liu Bang said that there were three chapters of the law. In fact, the Han Dynasty followed many systems of the Qin Dynasty, such as making mistakes, cutting off the nose, cutting off hands and feet, tattooing on the face and so on.
When severe punishment is used to govern the country, people will naturally try not to break the law in order to escape their guilt, but they are shameless, that is, they don't feel that many bad behaviors are problematic and have no sense of shame.
how do we understand the above?
Confucius' most worrying state is that the people are free and shameless. That's not illegal. A person has no inner restraint on himself, no sense of morality and no upward power.
the virtue of Tao stresses virtue, and the courtesy means that we are bound by courtesy.
People can not only use legal rules to judge whether a person's behavior is qualified or not, but also look at whether something is acceptable and moral.
The White Deer Plain reflects the changes in China. In the era of Bai Jiaxuan, if something goes wrong, everyone will have a public opinion. People's behavior should be judged by the whole clan. People who do something wrong have a cold spine and feel that they can't stay in the village any longer. This is the constraint brought by clan etiquette.
People can not only use legal rules to judge whether a person's behavior is reasonable or not, but also pay attention to whether something is passable and moral.
On the contrary, people are guided by virtue and etiquette. What is the result of virtue of Tao and courtesy of Qi? Confucius believes that managing the people from this not only has a sense of shame, but also can obey the rules, which can be understood as obeying the rules and stressing character.
Confucius' ideal is that everyone has a truly beautiful character.
There are many different views on this view. For example, Mr. Hu Shi thinks that in a dirty country, if everyone talks about rules instead of morality, it will eventually become a normal country with human flavor, and morality will naturally return gradually.
So should we talk more about law and less about morality?
Before discussing it, there is actually a premise, that is, whether the social background is peaceful for the country and the people, or whether it has become a mess. In troubled times, values will be more in line with the original survival instinct, and they will try their best to eat more and occupy more to satisfy their inflated selfish desires and wander on the edge of morality.
Morality is a weak constraint, which advocates what people should do, while law is a strong constraint, which emphasizes what people must do. What Mr. Wang put forward is the importance of law in troubled times. It is empty talk and unrealistic to ask people to do things according to morality when people's lives are in jeopardy.
Confucius' ideal is that the world is one country. When the society has been standardized, how can people have good quality and virtue in a stable society?
Look at today's society. Compared with the United States, the crime rate in China is already very low.
The United States is a country that speaks by law, and anyone who breaks all kinds of laws may be put in prison. It is this system that speaks entirely by law that leads to people's impunity and shamelessness.
There is no need to argue with Mr. Hu Shi about Confucius' theory. This is under different circumstances, and different ruling ideals are two different realms of governing the country.
Confucius' ideal is that when the state system is quite standardized, the people's lives are stable and the social order is good, they should be treated with morality and courtesy. Let the people have higher pursuits and practice spiritually and morally.
Fan Deng's mission in studying is to hope that when the society is stable, we can get to know all kinds of knowledge together, so as to achieve the goal of pursuing the future with caution, respecting people's morality, and being ashamed and qualified.