The unity of man and nature is the philosophical basis and essential feature of Confucianism, and it is also the starting point of Confucian consumption thought. Although ancient Confucian scholars were divided into materialism and idealism, neo-Confucianism and psychology, most of them thought that heaven and earth were the nurturers of everything and people, and that people were integrated with everything in heaven and earth, and people's behavior should follow the example of heaven and earth. Confucius absorbed the wisdom of Zhouyi and advocated "knowing and fearing heaven", that is, observing the laws of nature and consciously unifying the harmony between man and nature. Starting from "harmony between man and nature", Mencius emphasized that man and nature can interact as long as they are sincere and innocent, which is another expression of "harmony between man and nature". While affirming the objectivity of nature, Xunzi emphasized "controlling the destiny and using it", and advocated following the relative independence of man and nature, and at the same time giving full play to man's subjective initiative, so as to realize the harmonious realm of "each being born in harmony and each being nurtured". Zhang Zai, a Confucian scholar in the Song Dynasty, was the first scholar in the history of ancient thought to clearly put forward the idea of "harmony between man and nature". He said, "Confucianism is sincere because of Ming and sincere because of Ming, so heaven and man are one."
Pushing oneself and others, pushing people and things is the logical basis of the ecological proposition of Confucian consumption thought. Mencius believes that further extending benevolence to nature means that "a gentleman is to things, and a lover is benevolent; Be kind to the people and be kind. Be kind to people, be kind to people and love things. On this basis, Zhang Zai put forward the idea of "harmony between people and things". He emphasized that only when human beings regard all life in the universe as important as that of his compatriots and respect it, can human love for nature be extended from traditional interpersonal morality to ecological morality, thus realizing an ideal society in which man and nature live in harmony.
The philosophical basis of harmony between man and nature and the logical basis of pushing oneself and others, pushing people and things are mutually conditional and complementary, and the isomorphism of * * * has laid a solid ecological ethics foundation of Confucian consumption thought. Under the interaction of the two foundations, Confucian consumption thought not only pays attention to human beings themselves, but also pays attention to the broader natural field; Confucian consumption thought is not to conquer nature for pleasure, but to seek harmony between man and nature.
2. The connotation of ecological aesthetics
Confucianism advocates elegant character and spiritual pleasure in consumer life and pursues a poetic consumption realm in harmony with nature. In terms of cultural consumption, Confucius believes that the Book of Songs can help us understand birds and animals and appreciate the harmony and beauty of nature. In leisure consumption, Confucius likes flowers. Confucius also likes tourism consumption. He traveled around the world and visited famous mountains and rivers. He put forward the proposition that "the benevolent enjoys Leshan and the wise enjoys water".
Mencius' family daily consumption thought contains rich ecological aesthetics thought.
Dong Zhongshu integrated his consumption thought into the social ideal of harmony between man and nature.
3. The connotation of ecological frugality
Confucianism advocates "frugality without extravagance" and emphasizes frugal consumption without violating the etiquette system, which objectively plays a role in protecting the ecological environment. Confucius advocated frugality, and advocated frugality as a virtue in the daily consumption life of benevolent gentlemen. Confucius also regarded "a gentleman benefits without pains" as the first of the "five beauties".
Mencius also advocated frugality and opposed waste. Niu Shan, once lush and beautiful, has finally become a barren hill because of the invasion of excessive human consumption. Mencius deeply regretted this. He concluded: "So, if you get it, it will last forever;" If you lose support, you will have nothing. " People are required to make rational use of natural resources and maintain moderate consumption.
Although Xunzi was full of confidence in the acquisition of wealth, he still advocated frugality in consumption. He said: "if you are strong in capital and frugal, you will never be poor ... if you lack money, you will not be able to make it rich." Xunzi also discussed the criteria of biological selection of ecological environment: "the mountain and the wild animals return", where the dead arowana goes, and where the birds and animals in danger go. "The ecological environment is beautiful, and birds and animals will compete to live there, but once the environment deteriorates, the birds and animals there will choose to leave, so that the originally deteriorated ecological environment will further become a wilderness, and subsequent consumption will not be guaranteed.
4. The connotation of ecological norms
Confucianism advocates meeting people's consumption needs on the basis of coordinating the relationship with nature. When these ideas are put into practice, they become concrete codes of conduct for protecting the ecology. Confucius likes the consumption life of fishing and hunting, but he only uses bamboo poles instead of nets to fish. He only shoots birds with arrows with raw silk, not birds living in nests. Because fishing with a rope net will catch all the big fish and small fish, and shooting the birds that come home will destroy the nest and kill all the big birds and birds. Confucius also linked the ethical behavior of filial piety with the protection of living things, and thought that not cutting down trees or hunting at an appropriate time not only hurt living things, but also was unfilial and should be opposed.
Xunzi emphasized that the consumption and utilization of nature should be "destiny's will", "timeliness" and "moderation", and should not be hacked and killed in violation of the laws of nature's life. He proposed "timely repair" ("Xunzi? King system "), but also stressed the importance of" time ban ","the system of the holy king is also: lush vegetation, axes do not go into the mountains, not long ... so the mountains are barren and the people are versatile "("Xunzi? The king system "). In addition, Xunzi believes that protecting the ecology is a major event for everyone in the world. "The highest one has no drought, the lowest one has no water, the cold and summer are harmonious, and the grain is ripe in time, which is also a matter of the world." Therefore, everyone should follow the ecological norms in their consumption activities.
Dong Zhongshu asked human beings to rationally consume natural resources and maintain ecological harmony. He divided natural resources into "edible" resources (such as grain and vegetables) and "inedible" resources (such as mineral deposits and coal), and advocated that "edible" resources should be eaten every day and consumed as much as possible in order to live up to the natural gift of "benefiting the people from heaven". As for the "inedible" resources, we should save and care more, control consumption and make them inexhaustible. Therefore, human beings should carry forward the spirit of "the most precious thing in the world", actively care for nature, and achieve "everything grows from below and rises to heaven" (yin and yang of heaven and earth), and live in harmony with everything in heaven and earth forever.