Confucius pursued a social life that was in line with morality, and he regarded "Tao" as the standard for judging whether social politics is good or not. "The world is in order" is the political ideal of Confucius. The copy of Confucius' ideal society was the Western Zhou Dynasty. Confucius advocated the restoration of Zhou rituals, "Zhou was in charge of the second generation, and it was full of culture. I followed Zhou." I have compiled relevant information and hope it can help you.

Confucius’s political thought

The core of political thought: "ritual" and "benevolence"

In terms of the strategy of governing the country, he advocated "governing with virtue" , Governing the country with morality and etiquette is the noblest way to govern the country. This kind of governance strategy is also called "Government by virtue" or "Government by etiquette". This strategy imparted virtues and etiquette to the people, tightened the hierarchy, and clearly divided the nobility and the common people into the rulers and the ruled. It broke an important original boundary between nobles and common people.

Confucius lived in the State of Lu in the Western Zhou Dynasty, which had a deep tradition of patriarchal rituals. At this time, the ruling power of the Zhou Dynasty had ceased to exist in name only, and the princes were constantly fighting with each other. There was a situation where "the king mourned, etiquette and justice were abolished, and political power was lost. The social reality of "the family is different from the customs" and "the king is not the king, the minister is not the minister, the father is not the father, the son is not the son" became the characteristics of that era. The intensification of social contradictions has hindered the development of productive forces, and human spirit and beliefs have also suffered unprecedented damage. These principles together constitute the historical origins and social conditions for the emergence of Confucius' political thought. "Benevolence" and "propriety" are the basic spirit of his political thought.

Confucius’ highest political ideal is to establish a harmonious society in which “the world is for the common good”. The basic characteristics of the "Datong" society are: the road is smooth and "the world is for the common good", so it can "select the talented and capable, be trustworthy and cultivate harmony", "people do not only love their relatives, do not only have children of their own children, so that they can die in old age. "The strong are useful, the young are capable, the lonely, the disabled, and the sick are all supported." Conspiracy and fraud are not popular, and theft and mischief cannot be tolerated. This is an idealized and legendary primitive social scene of the Yao and Shun era, and it is also the scene of Confucius. The highest ideal society we long for. A "moderately prosperous" society is the lower political goal advocated by Confucius.

The basic characteristics of a "moderately prosperous" society are: the great road disappears, "the world is our home", "everyone has his own relatives, each has his own son, and everyone has their own goods and resources". In contrast to this kind of inequality between rich and poor, In order to adapt to the inequality between high and low, a series of regulations, systems and ethics have been produced, "to rectify the monarch and ministers, to respect father and son, to harmonize brothers, to harmonize husband and wife", "to establish the field, to know the wise and courageous", and correspondingly set up "The city walls, ditches and ponds are thought to be solid", and from this, "the plans are made, and the troops are launched from there."

This kind of society is obviously not as perfect as the "Great Harmony" world, but it has normal order, courtesy, benevolence, trust and righteousness, so it is called well-off. This kind of society actually describes the "prosperity" of class society after the emergence of "private ownership".

Confucius’s ideals of a “Great Harmony” society and a “moderately prosperous” society had a profound influence on later generations of China. Later, thinkers at different historical periods and stages put forward visions and goals with different contents. This kind of thinking also inspired progressive thinkers and reformers. Hong Xiuquan, Kang Youwei, Tan Sitong and Sun Yat-sen were all influenced by it.

Confucius’s political views are based on two concepts.

“Benevolence” and “ritual” are the core concepts of Confucius’ thought. All of Confucius’ political views are basically based on these concepts. Two concepts are put forward as starting points.

1. Benevolence and self-cultivation

Confucius did not give an exact definition of "benevolence". But he gave different explanations on different occasions and for different objects. Generally speaking, benevolence has rich connotations, and there are three key points: first, love others with benevolence. "The Analects of Confucius? Yan Yuan" records: "Fan Chi asked about benevolence. Confucius said: 'Love people'." Confucius especially emphasized that "loving people" is a quality that rulers should have. Second, "Restraining oneself and restoring propriety is benevolence." The meaning is to restrain oneself and make one's words and deeds conform to the norms of etiquette. Third, be honest and honest. "A wise man enjoys water, and a benevolent man enjoys mountains." In addition, Confucius also said that "hardness, perseverance, wood, and restraint are close to benevolence." In Confucius' explanation of "benevolence", the most meaningful thing is "loving others".

"Love others" is benevolence, which reflects Confucius's basic understanding of "benevolence". Confucius believed that treating others with a friendly attitude is a quality that everyone should have. "The Analects of Confucius? Yang Huo" Zai Zi Zhang asked Confucius about benevolence, and Confucius replied: "Being respectful will not insult you, being tolerant will win people, being trustworthy will make people trust you, being sensitive will make you meritorious, and being helpful will be enough to win over the people."

"That is to say, being able to widely practice the five virtues of respect, tolerance, trust, sensitivity, and kindness is benevolence. The core of Confucius's sentence is to emphasize that we must treat others with respect, generosity, integrity, diligence, and kindness.

Confucius understood "loving others" in the context of real social relationships. In his view, the quality of benevolence lies in "loving others", and "loving others" begins with "loving relatives." Confucius' student Youruo said: "Being filial to your brothers is the foundation of benevolence?" Youruo's words are consistent with Confucius' understanding of benevolence. In other words, honoring parents and obeying brothers is the starting point of "benevolence" as Confucius said. "Love others" refers to love from near to far, that is, starting from loving one's father and brother, and extending this benevolence to people who are not related to oneself by blood. Regarding the inner logic of Confucius's thought, Mencius during the Warring States Period It is further interpreted as "Be kind to people and love things." This statement is in line with the original meaning of Confucius's thought. Confucius' "love" actually has differential love, that is, based on the distance of blood relationship and social status. The degree of "love" is determined by respect and inferiority.

In Confucius's ideological theory, "benevolence" is the inner moral quality of an individual and is the basic prerequisite for participating in social life. Quality, whether in poverty or wealth, it is impossible to have a moral life. "Those who are not benevolent cannot stay together for a long time and cannot be happy." Whether a person has the quality of "benevolence" also determines whether a person is in a good life. Whether you can treat others properly in social life, in the words of Confucius, is that "only the benevolent can be good to others and can be evil to others."

The "benevolence" mentioned by Confucius is a quality obtained through personal moral cultivation. , there is no way to obtain this quality other than self-cultivation, "It is up to oneself to be kind, but not up to others?" Therefore, Confucius paid special attention to personal cultivation. "The Analects of Confucius? Zilu" records: "Zilu asked the gentleman. Confucius said: "Cultivate yourself to respect yourself". He said: "That's all." He said: "Cultivation of oneself to bring peace to others." He said: "That's all." He said: "Cultivate yourself to bring peace to the people." "In Confucius' view, the significance of self-cultivation, especially for the social class above the scholar-officials, is by no means limited to individuals, but also related to the quality of social and political life. Because the scholar-official class bears more responsibility for improving the quality of social and political life. Responsibility, in the words of Zeng Zi, a student of Confucius, is that "a scholar must be ambitious and have a long way to go." Cultivating oneself to become a benevolent person is a lifelong career.

Confucius believed that a gentleman is a gentleman. The cultivation of people is of great political significance. The moral character of this class will affect the atmosphere of the entire society. "If a gentleman is loyal to relatives, the people will thrive in benevolence; if he does not preserve the old, the people will not steal." As long as scholars continue to exert moral influence on the surrounding social environment, even if they are not engaged in politics, it actually has the meaning of being engaged in politics. Confucius said when answering that "Zi Xi is not in politics", if you serve relatives with filial piety, Treating your brothers with kindness and everything you say and do reflect the way of doing politics, which is already a political career.

Confucius believed that the cultivation of scholars should mainly start from the following aspects.

First, cultivate the virtue of "self-denial and tolerance". Confucius believed that being courteous in the face of power and other interests is the embodiment of the noblest morality. "Confucius said: Tai Bo, he is the most virtuous! Third, if the world gives way, the people will be praised for having nothing to gain. "According to Confucius's point of view, if everyone can disregard personal gains and losses in social life and put the word "let" at the forefront, conflicts in real life can be easily solved. Even in the face of political power, people should treat each other with " "Let" come first, so Confucius highly praised the legend that Taibo refused to be emperor and fled to Wu.

Second, adhere to the principle of "loyalty and forgiveness". Confucius's students once summarized Confucius's principles of life. He said: "The Master's way is only loyalty and forgiveness. ”According to the interpretations of commentators in the past dynasties, the so-called “loyalty” means “centering your words” and “being able to respond to the outside”, which means being sincere; Treat others the same way you treat yourself.

The basic spirit of "loyalty and forgiveness" is to properly understand the interests of yourself and others. In social interactions, put the interests of others before your own, and do whatever you want. Benefits should be obtained by others first. "If you want to establish yourself, you should establish others; if you want to achieve something yourself, you should achieve others." At least you cannot impose things you don't like on others. This is "don't do to others what you don't want others to do to you." /p>

Third, be content with poverty and live in peace and harmony.

Confucius believed that as a gentleman, you should control your own desires and not regard the satisfaction of personal desires as your personal life goal. "A gentleman has no food to eat and no need to live in peace." A gentleman should regard virtue and morality as the pursuit of life, and this pursuit should not be given up under any circumstances. "A gentleman will never violate benevolence, and any mistakes will be followed, and any misfortunes will be followed."

Confucius believed that for individuals, the process of self-cultivation is a process of constant self-reflection. Everyone must constantly review themselves on a moral level. And it’s about introspection.” Zeng Zi, a student of Confucius, also said: "I have to examine myself three times today: Have I been unfaithful in my plans for others? Have I not trusted my friends in my dealings? Have I not learned to teach others?" The two-phase confirmation is enough to show that on the issue of how to have good moral character , Confucius’ understanding is consistent. Virtue comes from personal moral consciousness, and everyone who recognizes his or her social responsibilities should have this kind of moral consciousness.

In Confucius’ concept, the personal life of scholars is always connected with social politics. The highest moral pursuit of scholars is morality, and politics that conforms to morality is everyone’s ideal. Based on this understanding, Confucius believed that as a scholar, you should abide by the principles of morality and can engage in politics when the country is "righteous", but it is a shame to be an official in a country without virtue. If a country has no principles, then it will be a shame to have grain.” In addition, Confucius also said: "If the country has the Way, then you can be an official. If the country has no Way, you can be involved in it." For those countries with dark politics, Confucius believed that the best way is to choose to leave; there is no morality in the whole world. Under such circumstances, the best way is to be a hermit, "If there is a way in the world, then see it, if there is no way, then hide it." This is the most basic moral bottom line for scholars, not to help the tyrants.

2. "Rites" and moral education

During the Spring and Autumn Period, rites collapsed and music collapsed. Thinkers explored the reasons for the turbulence of social order and sought ways to solve social problems. Confucius believed that restoring the ritual system was the fundamental way out of social turmoil, and advocated using "ritual" to regulate social life and rebuild social and political order.

The concept of "ritual" had already appeared before Confucius, such as "Zuo Zhuan." "The Eleventh Year of Yin Gong" records: "The gentleman said: "Rites" are the ones that govern the country, determine the country, order the people, and benefit the heirs." "Zuo Zhuan? The Fifteenth Year of Zhaogong" also records: "Rituals are the great scripture of the king." "The original meaning of etiquette is norms, which are the codes of conduct that people must abide by in social life, including political and economic systems and moral principles.

Confucius believed that etiquette is a code of conduct applicable to all aspects of social life. Whether it is the relationship between father and son, husband and wife, brothers, or the relationship between monarch and minister, the rules of etiquette apply. When Confucius answered the question of what filial piety is, he said: "In life, things should be done with etiquette; in death, burials should be done with etiquette, and sacrifices should be done with etiquette."

Etiquette is the foundation for people to have a proper social life. Guarantee is also a criterion used to judge whether a person's social behavior is legitimate. "The Analects of Confucius? Taibo" contains Confucius's words: "Being respectful without etiquette will lead to fatigue, being cautious without etiquette will lead to chaos, being brave without etiquette will lead to chaos, being straight and rude will lead to strangulation." It means: be respectful without restraint by etiquette. If you are cautious and do not follow the rules of etiquette, you will be cowardly and timid. If you are brave but do not follow the rules of etiquette, you will be rebellious. If you are straightforward and do not follow etiquette, you will hurt others. Respect, prudence, courage, and straightforwardness are usually considered virtues, but in Confucius' view, even virtues need to be regulated by etiquette. Without the norms of etiquette, virtue will not be a virtue.

Confucius believed that etiquette is the foundation for everyone to establish himself in the real society. "If you don't know etiquette, you can't stand up." Confucius also mentioned when educating his son Kong Li: "If you don't learn etiquette, you can't stand up." "Yili." Everyone should consciously abide by the constraints of etiquette, "Don't look at anything that's not polite, don't listen to anything that's not polite, don't say anything that's not polite, don't do anything that's not polite."

Confucius believed that etiquette is a personal code of conduct and a standard for national political affairs. Rulers must govern the country according to the rules of etiquette. "Government comes first with etiquette, etiquette is the foundation of government?" Based on this understanding, Confucius advocated that the monarch should control his behavior with etiquette and govern the country according to the provisions of etiquette. political obedience. "If you use good etiquette, the people will not dare to be disrespectful." "If you use good etiquette, the people will be easy to do." If the ruler can govern the country according to the rules of etiquette, it will no longer be difficult to govern the country. This kind of politics based on etiquette is virtuous government.

Confucius believed that governing a country with virtue should start from the following aspects:

First, enrich the people and create equal balance.

Confucius advocated the implementation of policies to enrich the people. "The Analects of Confucius? Yan Yuan" records: "Zigong asked about government. Confucius said: If you have enough food and enough soldiers, the people will trust you." In Confucius' view, the people should be rich first and then educated, which is the so-called "rich" and "taught" , making the people rich is a prerequisite for the people to obey the rule.

Starting from the desire to enrich the people, Confucius advocated that rulers should restrain their desires and not compete with the people for financial gains. Youruo, a student of Confucius, answered the question of Duke Ai of Lu, "How can we do this when we are hungry and don't have enough resources?" He said: "The people are enough, who is the ruler and the one who is not enough? The people are not enough, who is the ruler who is enough?" This sentence expresses Confucius' A common understanding of the door. Confucius and his disciples clearly realized that the prosperity of the people is the prerequisite for the prosperity of the rulers. Only when the interests of the people are satisfied can the rulers seek to satisfy their own interests.

While advocating enriching the people and enriching the people, Confucius emphasized that an egalitarian policy of governing the country should be implemented. Confucius said, "Those who have a country and a family will not worry about inequality but poverty; they will not worry about poverty but insecurity; they will benefit from poverty; they will be harmonious without widows, and they will be safe and secure." Confucius's words expressed his views on a reasonable society. Understanding of the status of wealth possession. In Confucius' view, for the princes, officials and officials who "own a country" and "have a family", they are not afraid of less wealth but of uneven property possession; they are not afraid of poverty but of social instability. As long as wealth is average, there is no such thing as poverty.

Confucius’s idea of ??equality has a profound influence on Chinese history. Later political thinkers often required rulers to implement egalitarian economic policies. The farmland system in the Cao and Wei dynasties and the land equalization system in the Sui and Tang dynasties were both the result of the influence of the idea of ??equalization.

Second, promote talented people.

Letting outstanding talents control the political power of the country is an issue that has been shared by thinkers throughout the ages. After summing up historical experience, Confucius lamented that "talent is difficult". Confucius believed that the key to whether a ruler can effectively govern a country is to select talents with both ability and political integrity.

According to "The Analects of Confucius? Zilu", Confucius's student Zhong Gong was the Prime Minister of the Ji family and asked Confucius how to handle political affairs well. Confucius replied: "First have officials, pardon minor offenses, and promote talents." There are officials, that is, those in power should take the lead in setting an example, and pardoning minor offenses means being tolerant to others. Confucius placed the promotion of talents on an equal footing with these two aspects, which shows that he attached great importance to the issue of talents.

The basic spirit of the idea of ??"promoting talents" is to emphasize that officials at all levels of the country should have good cultural accomplishment. "The Analects of Confucius? Zizhang" contains the words of Zixia, a student of Confucius: "Being an official means being excellent. Learning, and excellence in learning will lead to officialdom." This passage from Zixia helps to understand Confucius's thoughts on promoting talents. The meaning of this sentence is: People who have entered the official career should learn some knowledge in their spare time, and those who are good at learning can become officials. This proposition has two aspects of meaning. On the one hand, it emphasizes that people with good knowledge can be officials, and scholars should regard serving the country as their life goal; on the other hand, it also involves what kind of talents can be officials and master Regarding the issue of power, Confucius’ subjective wish was for people with higher cultural quality to hold the power of the country.

Third, educational ideas.

Confucius discussed a wide range of issues, the main ones being political thought and ethical thought, with the purpose of educating rulers and people. Enlightenment means educational influence, political and religious culture, and people's customs. Confucius pioneered the practice of running private schools. He "teached without distinction" and had "three thousand disciples and seventy sages." Many of his students were from the common people. Confucius advocated that education should include: "Aiming for the Tao, relying on virtue, relying on benevolence, and practicing art." Zhu Xi's annotation is: "Art refers to the writing of rituals and music, and the methods of shooting, chastity, calligraphy, and counting."

Confucius attached great importance to cultivating political talents through education. The purpose of his school is to cultivate politicians, which is the so-called "excellence in learning will lead to officialdom". He himself also said: "Learning is where salary comes from." He believed that political talents should strengthen their moral and talent cultivation, and "aim for Tao, rely on virtue, rely on benevolence, and play in art." This reflects Confucius' The concept of talents with both ability and political integrity has a profound impact on the political thought and practice of later generations.