A gentleman is ashamed but does not cultivate, and is not ashamed to see dirt.

A gentleman is ashamed but does not cultivate, and is not ashamed to see dirt; Therefore, one is not tempted by reputation, is not afraid of slander, walks in the right way, upholds one's own integrity, and is not swayed by things. This is called a sincere gentleman. ("Not the Twelve Sons")

Appreciation This is Xunzi's theory of "shame".

It should be said that Confucianism attaches great importance to "shame". "To learn is close to knowledge, to practice is close to benevolence, to know shame is close to courage." ("The Book of Rites: The Doctrine of the Mean") "Respect is closer to etiquette, and far away from shame." ("The Analects of Confucius") "Tao is the basis of government, and harmony is If punishment is used, the people will be exempted from it; if the way is governed by virtue, and by etiquette, there will be shame and dignity." ("The Analects of Confucius: For Politics") "The gentleman is ashamed of being overly affectionate." ("Mencius Li"). "Lou Xia") "People can't be shameful. The shame of having sex is nothing." ("Mencius: All the Heart") Such remarks about "shame" can be found almost everywhere in Confucian classics.

So, what exactly is shame? Shame should be a sense of humiliation that arises deep in the heart. "Seeing dirt", "seeing no trust", and "seeing no use" were three common "shames" in Xunzi's time. At that time, if a person could keep these three kinds of "shame" in mind, it should be said that it was already very rare. "Knowing shame is close to courage."

But this is not what a true gentleman is "shameful" about. Compared with external encounters such as "seeing dirt", "not seeing faith", and "seeing no use", the "not cultivating", "not believing" and "being unable" that a gentleman is "shameful" are more inclined to the inner psychological experience. Taking inner psychological experience as the basis and regarding external life encounters as the end; shame cannot uphold this inner "origin", and whether shamelessness can obtain the external "end" because of this is the "inner end" of Confucius. Save yourself from guilt" ("The Analects of Confucius·Yan Yuan").

But this does not mean that a gentleman should, as the "Book of Han·Dong Zhongshu Biography" says, "correct his friendship without seeking his own benefits, and understand his way without considering his merits" regardless of external utilitarianism. For a true gentleman, any external changes cannot interfere with the overall situation in his heart ("Don't be tempted by praise, don't be afraid of slander"). Just like a national Go player must consider the general trend of the entire chess game every time he makes a move, a true gentleman has also established an "inner time and space" of life in his ordinary life. Whenever an external figure touches the human heart, he first does not make a simple value judgment on the external figure, but finds a suitable position for it in the "inner time and space" of his life. Regardless of whether it is praised or destroyed, it will not be focused on. No matter how powerful it is, it will eventually land in the most suitable place in the heart. And I just "walk the path, upright myself", and be an "Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva" in this unique land.

Of course it is not easy to reach this state. The real difficulty here does not lie in the external "others' praise" and "others' destruction", but in the "self-reputation" and "self-destruction" caused by this "others' praise" and "others' destruction". No matter how powerful the power of "others' praise" and "others' destruction" is, after all, it only exists in the moment of interaction with others, but the "self-reputation", "self-destruction" and various related prejudices it causes will linger in life. All the time. This is the real "thing", this is the real "thief in the heart" (Wang Yangming's words). In the face of this extremely powerful "thief in the heart", can you "not be swayed by things"?

Being a super-moral "honest gentleman" is actually better than the kind of Taoism that abides by morality. More difficult sir.

What to do? Mencius said: "Keep the promise." After all, the word "shame" comes from a generally recognized social norm. Why not try to transform it and make it a part of "inner time and space"? ?In this process, we must first be "shameful not to cultivate," "shameful not to believe," and "shameful not to be able to do it," in order to eventually be qualified to "not ashamed to see dirt," "not ashamed to see faith," and "not ashamed to see use." To be honest, if we don’t have the psychological experience of “shame for not cultivating”, “shame for not believing”, and “shame for not being able to do so”, we would still insist on saying “no shame for not seeing dirt”, “no shame for not seeing faith”, “no shame for not seeing use”. This is really a bit "***". "The shame of ***, ***." The decline of Chinese culture after the Song Dynasty is precisely related to this ambitious mentality.

Painting a tiger cannot be compared to a dog. Confucianism is difficult to learn all the way up. But if Chinese culture needs to develop and Chinese scholars need to mature, I am afraid this is the only way.