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What does "gentlemen are harmonious but different, villains are harmonious but not harmonious" mean?

The meaning of "a gentleman is harmonious but different, and a villain is similar but not harmonious" - a gentleman can maintain a harmonious and friendly relationship with others in interpersonal interactions, but his views on specific issues are not necessarily Agree with each other. Villains are accustomed to catering to other people's psychology and echoing other people's opinions on issues, but deep down they do not have a harmonious and friendly attitude.

Source of the work

"Gentlemen are harmonious but not uniform; villains are harmonious but not harmonious" comes from "The Analects of Confucius·Zilu" and was said by Confucius.

Original text of the work

Confucius said: "Gentlemen are harmonious but different; villains are harmonious but not harmonious."

Comments on the work

He : For things, it is the "unity of diversity". For people, "harmony" means harmony with views and opinions, and the unity of diversity of views and opinions.

Identical: The absolute identity of homogeneous things, that is, the superposition of identical things.

Translation of the work

Confucius said: "A gentleman can maintain a harmonious and friendly relationship with others in interpersonal interactions, but he does not necessarily agree with each other on his views on specific issues. Villains are accustomed to catering to other people's psychology and echoing other people's opinions on issues, but deep down they do not have a harmonious and friendly attitude."

He Yan's "Analects of Confucius". The explanation of this sentence is: "The gentleman's heart is harmonious, but his views are different, so he is called different; the villain has the same hobbies, but each strives for profit, so he is called discord."

Creative background

In the pre-Qin era, "harmony" was a very important concept. It referred to a kind of difference and unity of diversity, so it was different from "tong". For example, in cooking, the sour, sweet, bitter, spicy and salty must be blended together to achieve a state of complete five flavors, with taste beyond salty and sour. Only when , Shang, Jiao, Zheng, and Yu are combined together to reach a state where the five-note sound is outside the palace and Shang, can it be regarded as superior music: Zhangangsheng. On the contrary, if the salty person blindly adds salt, Those who are sour will try their best to be jealous, those who love the palace will reject Shang and Jiao, and those who like Shang will not use Yu and Zheng. The consequences are not difficult to imagine, but also unimaginable. Therefore, Yan Ying, who was earlier than Confucius, once said: "If you use water to save water, who can eat it? If you focus on the harp and harp, who can listen to it?" ("Zuo Zhuan: The 20th Year of Zhaogong") On the basis of this thought, Confucius introduced the difference between "harmony" and "tong" into the thinking of interpersonal relationships, and thus came this sentence in "The Analects of Confucius·Zilu".

Appreciation of works

The so-called "harmony without difference" means that a gentleman can maintain a harmonious and friendly relationship with others in interpersonal interactions, but his views on specific issues are inconsistent. There is no need to agree with each other; the so-called "agreement without harmony" means that villains are accustomed to catering to other people's psychology and echoing other people's opinions on issues, but deep down they do not have a harmonious and friendly attitude. . In daily life, it is normal for people to hold different views on a certain issue. A true friend should gain knowledge through exchanging opinions and communicating thoughts; even if the thoughts cannot be unified temporarily, it will not hurt the harmony, and it can be proven through the test of time whose opinion is more correct; therefore, between true gentlemen, Friendship does not seek to maintain consistency at all times; on the contrary, it is to tolerate each other's independent opinions and not to hide one's own different opinions, which can be regarded as sincerity and sincerity. However, this is not the case for those little people who work hard. They either conceal their thoughts, or they have no thoughts at all. They only know what others say and act according to the wind; what's more, they follow the same party and oppose those who are different. People draw the line: all opinions of "friends" must be defended, even if they are wrong; all opinions of "enemies" must be opposed, even if they are right. In this way, different circles are drawn between people and different gangs are formed. The true meaning of "friend" has been lost.

Perhaps, this kind of "similar but not harmonious" friendship between villains is out of a need for survival. In the eyes of some people, isolated individuals are easily disadvantaged and harmed. If they do not join a gang or squeeze into a certain circle, they will lack the necessary sense of security: As everyone knows, this sense of security is obtained by At the expense of independent personality and dignity. When a person does not even dare to express his true thoughts, and does not even have the right to have his own opinions, what is the meaning of this person's life? What's more, this kind of villain behavior of "identical but not harmonious" is not only It exists a lot in today's daily life, and it has also penetrated into today's academic field consciously or unconsciously. As a result, academic disputes have turned into sectarian opinions. We know that the original intention of academic disputes is to eliminate falsehoods and preserve truths through the exchange and collision of different viewpoints, and to promote academic development; while sectarian views are to adhere to and defend the views of one's own school without principles, turning academic disputes into a battle of interests: Obviously, the latter has expanded from personality alienation to academic alienation, and the root of the alienation lies in the word "profit". As the ancients pointed out: "Gentlemen and gentlemen are friends of the same way, and villains are friends of the same interests." (Song Dynasty Ouyang Xiu's "Clique Theory") Or it is said: "Gentlemen discuss right and wrong, and villains make plans." Interests.

” (Qing Dynasty Shen Juyun’s “Xiyan Tuyu”)

Unlike villains, true gentlemen do not pay much attention to interest disputes in interpersonal relationships, but they have the courage to stand firm in the face of major right and wrong; true gentleman A gentleman does not care much about right and wrong in interpersonal relationships, but he can seek common ground while reserving differences on the basis of facing up to different opinions. Therefore, even if such a person may still have some shortcomings of one kind or another, he can at least maintain freedom of thought. and personality independence.