These four sentences of Zhang Zai are summarized as "four sentences of horizontal canal" by contemporary philosopher Feng Youlan. "Four sentences in a horizontal canal" contains the following meanings:
1、
"Setting up the heart of heaven and earth" means that people born can grasp the heart of a benevolent lover and a saint is the heart of a grand duke. In fact, compassion is the heart that can't bear others, which is what Confucius said, "Don't do to others what you don't want others to do to you."
People ",that is, the starting point of benevolence. In this way, Mr. Ma Yifu concluded: "Scholars should not seek benevolence with knowledge, and be kind and heartless, but should be based on the heart of heaven and earth. "
2、
"Life for the people" comes directly from Mencius' thought of "life". There is a saying in Mencius: "He who does his best knows his nature. If you know its nature, you will know its nature. Keep your heart and cultivate your nature, then things will be natural. Die young?
Second, cultivate one's morality to achieve, so make a living. "Through self-cultivation, if we can finally reach a state that no matter whether a person's life is long or short, we can maintain our sexual integrity, then this life individual will
You can say that you have settled down. The "life for the people" marked by Zhang Zai is actually "life for the people, the life of my compatriots", and its life lies in teaching, and "cultivation is called teaching", which is the so-called.
3. "The past is not forgotten", so those who "go to the holy" are the first to promote Confucianism represented by Confucius and Mencius; Juexue is Taoism advocated by Confucius and Mencius. As far as Confucianism is concerned, Confucius is certainly a master, and the Song Dynasty masters such as Lian, Luo, Guan and Min pushed the development of Confucianism to a brand-new stage. Only Confucianism in Song Dynasty can truly carry forward Confucius and Mencius.
4. "Harmony is the world" expresses the eternal political ideal of pre-Qin Confucianism and Song Confucianism. The expectation of "openness" is called. Only by "making peace for the world" and realizing the cultural ideal described in Zhang Zai's Mingxi can ignorant modern people return to the honest spiritual home of mankind.