Human nature is human nature formed under certain social systems and certain historical conditions. Therefore, nature does not always remain in "human nature is good at the beginning", but is affected by the social environment in which we live. Human nature is those human natures that fundamentally determine and explain human behavior.
An old Eastern saying goes: "Accumulation of actions becomes habit, accumulation of habit becomes character, accumulation of character becomes destiny". There is also a famous saying in the West: "Sow an action and you will reap a habit; sow a habit and you will reap a habit." Character; sow a character, reap a destiny." It can be seen that everyone has the same view on character formation, so what is character? Henan scholar Yao Guzi pointed out in the 18-type personality theory that human character is determined by human nature. Character is an expression of personality.
Needs come from nature, demands come from needs, philosophy comes from seeking, philosophy comes from practice, practice comes from practice, practice comes from practice, and nature comes from practice. Nature determines needs, needs determines pursuit, pursuit determines philosophy, philosophy determines character, character determines behavior, behavior determines habits, habits determine nature, and so on, and finally becomes a fixed pattern, which is personality. Apart from environmental factors, this is the process of personality formation.
People come to the world for the continuous improvement of personality and ecology, in order to achieve the purpose of civilization and happiness. Human greatness is essentially the greatness of personality; conversely, human ugliness is essentially the filth of personality. People with great personalities will continue to serve and increase the beauty of the ecology, while people with ugly personalities will continue to destroy and increase the ugliness of the ecology. Everyone must become a scholar of humanities and use truth, kindness and beautiful methods to Caring for others and oneself, and demonstrating to each other the lifestyles and ways of thinking that arise from the inheritance, development, blending and differentiation of aesthetic concepts and cultural phenomena are human beings' daily efforts for world civilization and happiness until the rise of personality and ecology . Everyone takes the rise of personality and its ecology as their mission, preaching it everywhere, serving those who don’t love me, serving those who love me, serving those I love, serving the human renaissance, and bringing the discovery and rise of man to the world. Be thorough. Those who rise through personality and ecology, who accept the invitation of the Self and respond freely, are also driven by the love of the Self and go around the world to spread humanistic theories and methods of civilization and happiness. Humanity is a treasure house of truth, goodness and beauty. Passed down from generation to generation by mankind, expressed in the conscience of man, presented to all who aspire to improve their personality and ecology, on the one hand it indicates belief, on the other hand it inspires emotion, and it is celebrated like a poem in praise of civilization and its happiness. .
Human beings evolved from the ladder of things. This simple fact determines that human nature must be similar to the nature of things. Therefore, human nature should be associated with "seeking my survival." However, the "seeking my survival" that represents the entire content of physical nature is far from enough for humans, because humans and objects are fundamentally different.
In "The Book of Changes", the "Tao" of "Shengsheng" means the Tao of "supporting the way of heaven to witness things" and the Tao of "Yin and Yang"; the "De" of "Shengsheng" focuses on guiding the choice of life values. ; The "emotion" of "shengsheng" is specifically the sadness of the saints and the human feelings of ordinary people; the "situation" of "shengsheng" is embodied as "time" and the ideal is transformed into "realm". These four aspects are interdependent. Xian constructs the philosophy of life of "The Book of Changes" in which there are ways to follow, virtues to express, feelings to show, and situations to wait for.
The "Tao" of "Shengsheng" has two meanings: the Tao of "supporting the way of heaven and witnessing things" and the Tao of "Yin and Yang". The former is the reason why the "Tao" of "Shengsheng" in the Book of Changes was established. Basically thinking about logic, the latter is the constant law that needs to be followed in the way of "life and life", which is one of the natures of the way of heaven in the "Book of Changes".
"Assisting the Way of Heaven to witness things" originates from the concept of the unity of nature and man in the "Book of Changes" and is the fundamental basis of the "Tao" of "life and life".
The book "Book of Changes" covers all things in the world, which is what the so-called "the range of heaven and earth is transformed without being exceeded, and the tune is transformed into all things without being left behind" ("Xi Ci Uploading"), as shown. It is a harmonious whole of life among heaven, earth and man. Taking the two hexagrams Kan and Li as the end of the upper sutra, Kan represents water, represents the moon, and Li represents the sun, and represents brightness, which symbolizes the creation of all things in the heaven and earth, with the sun, moon, yin and yang penetrating them, and all things being vigorous and reaching the stage of manifestation and perfection. The two hexagrams Xian and Heng are the beginning of the lower meridian. Xian represents the interaction between men and women, and Heng represents the permanence of the family. It symbolizes that after the creation of all things, human men and women, couples, families, monarchs and ministers, and related social systems emerged. The end of the sixty-four hexagrams is Ji Ji and Wei Ji, which symbolizes that after the formation of the whole world, its development and changes will never end. Each of the sixty-four hexagrams is also a whole of heaven, earth and man. Mainly reflected in: on the one hand, each hexagram has a center and a theme, and the sixty-four hexagrams have sixty-four centers and sixty-four themes; on the other hand, each of the sixty-four hexagrams expresses heaven, earth, People's respective positioning and harmony are integrated into one. As far as gossip goes. Each hexagram has three lines, the upper line is heaven, the middle line is human, and the lower line is earth. As far as the Chong hexagram is concerned, each hexagram has six lines, the upper two lines are for heaven, the middle two lines are for humans, and the lower two lines are for earth. (Xi Ci) said: "The Book of Changes is a book, vast and complete. There is the way of heaven, the way of human beings, and the way of earth. It combines three talents and two of them, so six. The sixth is not other, it is the way of the three talents. "The movement of the six lines is the way of the three poles." (Shu Gua) said: "The works of the sages in the past were based on the principles of life and destiny, and they were called yin and yang. , the way to establish the earth is benevolence and righteousness. It combines the three talents, so the six paintings in the Book of Changes form the hexagram. "It all refers to the integration of heaven, earth, and humans.
Heaven, earth, and humans constitute this unified body of life. At the same time, it also has the "virtue" of life, which contains the author's clear moral value orientation, including establishment and destruction, taking and abandoning, and even good and evil. It can be said. The "Book of Changes" reflects the way of the sage. It is a book that teaches the way of the sage. It is a book that can guide people in observing words, observing changes, making utensils, and divination. Its profound philosophy can enable a gentleman to achieve great things and make his life destiny better. Perfect. If it is in harmony with the Tao, then it is virtue. The Tao of "prosperity" will inevitably lead to the "virtue" of "prosperity", that is, anything that can make the living thing "proliferate" is "virtue". "The virtue of heaven and earth is life" ((Xici Xizhuan)), "life and birth" of all things are the "virtue" of heaven and earth, "Yi Zhuan") The author also follows the principle of the connection between heaven, earth and man, and pursues life from a broad cosmological background There is a basis for rationality and the source of moral rationality. From the cosmology of the natural generation of all things in the world, the theory of life value is deduced, that is, the "virtue" of "birth" in the field of life and society. The basic way of thinking in "Yi Zhuan" is to deduce the value of life from cosmology. Almost the entire content of "Xiang Zhuan" reflects this theoretical intention or understanding of invoking analogy.
Good - "Shuowen" Jiye. "Jade Chapter" is great. "Guangyun" is good and good. "Poetry·Wind" Women are kind-hearted. "Jian" is good, there are still many. "Li Shaoyi" asks about art, saying: You are accustomed to something, and you are good at something. "Shu" is difficult, so it is called Xi. Art is easy, so it is called good.
Good - "Shuowen" is good. "Guangyun" Xian also. "Release Name" good, quantity also. Act within your ability and don't dare to exceed the limit. "Taijia" One person is good, and all nations are chaste. "Note" Yuan, big. Liang, good. "Posthumous Law" Wen Hao and Shan Yue Liang.
Benevolence - "Release Name" Forbearance. "Yi Qian Gua" A gentleman's body is benevolent, which is enough to grow others. "Li·Liyun" Benevolence is the foundation of righteousness and the essence of obedience. Those who get it are respected. "Cheng Hao said" The heart is like a grain seed. The nature of life is benevolence. "Liu Shu Zhengzhen" Yuan Dynasty, Cong Er Congren. Benevolence follows people and follows two. In heaven it is yuan, in man it is benevolence. The reason why people are spiritual in all things is benevolence.
Love - "Zhengyun" is the origin of benevolence. Silence from the heart. It also means affection, kindness, favor, pity, pampering, pleasure, stinginess, admiration, and hiding. "The Book of Filial Piety·Admonitions and Admonitions" is a general name for lovers. "Posthumous Law" means love when given.
The nature of destiny is purely good, and its spirit is clear and not ignorant. This discovery of the good is the essence of clear virtue, and it is the so-called good knowledge. The discovery of the perfect thing is right and wrong, right and wrong, light and heavy, thick and thin, responsive to feeling, ever-changing, and always inherent in nature. ("Great Learning", "The Complete Works of Wang Yangming", Volume 26, Continuation 1)
Goodness is not instinctive. Innate goodness can only be formed subtly through acquired education. Forced indoctrination is Useless. Traditional Chinese culture has always pursued the word "kindness": when dealing with others, it emphasizes the beauty of being kind and benevolent; when interacting with others, it emphasizes being kind to others and being willing to do good deeds; when it comes to oneself, it advocates taking care of oneself and always having a kind heart. I remember a famous person said that for everyone, the only power is the law; for individuals, the only power is kindness. Confucius and Mencius talked about loyalty, filial piety, benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, etc. Mencius talked about the four principles: "The heart of compassion is the root of benevolence; the heart of shame and hatred is the root of righteousness; the heart of resignation is the root of courtesy; the heart of right and wrong is the root of wisdom." The three principles mentioned in "The Doctrine of the Mean" Virtue is wisdom, benevolence and courage.
The plums, orchids, bamboos, and chrysanthemums in Chinese paintings are each endowed with symbols of virtue: plums represent perseverance and patience, orchids represent elegance and quietness, bamboos represent loyalty, integrity, and modesty, and chrysanthemums represent sincerity and simplicity. .
It is right that human beings are inherently good by nature. With the development of society, the fruits of labor have more than enough to satisfy one's own life. There is wealth and poverty, and there is strength and weakness. How to treat the rich and the poor, the strength and the weakness, there is good and evil. Good and evil are relative but accompanying each other. . Pursuing all sentient beings in Buddhism means to persuade people to do good. The kindness of the ancients is reflected in many aspects. Hunters do not hunt young and pregnant animals, fishermen do not use dense nets to net small fish, and loggers do not cut down young seedlings. This shows the social nature of kindness and its significance in society. Kindness is the virtue of the Chinese nation. Everyone has kind intentions, good intentions, and good deeds. When kindness interacts in society, it is a harmonious society!
Laozi said: "Tao is born, virtue is in animals, objects are in shape, and utensils are in it. Therefore, all things respect Tao and value virtue. Tao is respected, virtue is noble, and the fate of the husband is always there. Nature." Among them, "Tao" refers to the truth that the operation of nature is consistent with the human world; and "De" refers to the virtue, conduct, and royal way of the human world. However, the original meaning of virtue is actually something that develops and changes in accordance with the laws of Tao. At that time, Tao and morality were two concepts, and there was no word morality. The conjunction of the two words "morality" began in Xunzi's "Encouragement to Learning" chapter: "Therefore, learning ends with etiquette, and this is called the ultimate morality." In ancient Western culture, the word "morality" originated from the Latin "Mores", which means customs and habits. "The Analects of Confucius? Xueer": "It is rare for a man to be filial to his younger brother, but like to offend his superiors; it is rare for him to be filial to his younger brother, but he is not fond of offending his superiors, but is fond of causing trouble. A gentleman is committed to his roots, and the Tao is born from his roots." Mr. Qian Mu's annotation: " The essence is benevolence. The Tao, that is, the way of humanity, is rooted in the heart. "
Chinese morality developed from ancient times. Legend has it that Yao, Shun, Yu, and Duke Zhou were all moral models. Confucius compiled the "Six Classics" and passed them to the "Five Classics" in the Han Dynasty, which contained a large number of moral thoughts. The theory developed by Confucius is called Confucianism. Later, Confucianism developed the Five Classics into the Thirteen Classics. These Confucian classics have become the main ideological source of Chinese morality. Although the moral values ??of Chinese society in various eras are not entirely consistent with Confucianism, Confucianism is the basis for the moral values ??of Chinese society in all ages.
Morality is the conceptual standard for judging whether an action is legitimate or not. Morality is a social norm that regulates people's behavior. According to the thoughts of Confucius, the country should be governed by "morality and law", and morality and law complement each other. At the same time, the law reflects the will of legislators, and the legal provisions formulated by legislators in compliance with public opinion reflect the legal demands of social moral concepts.
Morality is universal and applies to everyone in the entire society, regardless of status. Everyone is equal before morality. "The Great Learning": "From the emperor to the common people, all are based on self-cultivation." "People have classes and differences, and no country can avoid them. Other people's talk about equality is mostly based on the theory of natural human rights. Our country's talk about equality is based on the theory that human nature is good. Taking the class of etiquette as an example, and cultivating one's moral character Equality is the basis, regardless of class or difference, the equality of people lies only in morality." ”
Morality is a criterion for people to evaluate a person. If a person violates social morality, such as being unkind, unjust, unfaithful and unfilial, then people will give him a negative evaluation, causing him to have a bad reputation. , thus forming a kind of social pressure on him from the surrounding people to restrict his behavior.
On the other hand, for many people, morality is the conscious observance of one's own conscience without the need for social pressure from those around them. People's moral judgment on a person mainly comes from the words and deeds displayed by this person. As the saying goes, "Those who speak out do not have to be virtuous." Those who verbally advertise benevolence, justice, and morality may not necessarily actually have benevolence, justice, and morality. Therefore, people often "listen to their words and observe their actions" and then make judgments. Regarding personal opinions on morality, there are those who are tolerant and those who are demanding towards oneself and others. Chinese culture often advocates being strict with oneself and being forgiving to others. Confucius said: "If you are generous, you should be responsible for yourself, and if you are weak, you should be responsible for others." Han Yu: "The ancient gentleman was also responsible for responsibilities to himself, and he was gentle for treating others."
Benevolence and righteousness are Confucian culture The two fundamental moral elements in China can be said to be the core values ??in the overall values. Without benevolence and righteousness, loyalty, filial piety, propriety, joy, etc. all lose their meaning. Ren: A moral category with a very broad meaning in ancient China. It originally refers to the mutual love between people. Confucius regarded "benevolence" as the highest moral principle, moral standard and moral realm. Confucius said: "If a person is not benevolent, what is the courtesy? If a person is not benevolent, what is happiness?" "Bai Hu Tong": "The king and his ministers are united by righteousness, and if they can't, they will leave." "The Book of Changes": "If you don't serve the princes, you should be noble." Compared with other value elements, benevolence and righteousness are transcendent. For example, Confucius said in "The Analects of Confucius: Zilu": "Words must be believed, and actions must bear fruit. You are just a villain." Mencius said: "As a great man, you do not need to trust your words, and your actions do not bear fruit, only righteousness lies." The importance of benevolence and righteousness is evidenced by the words of Confucius and Mencius. Confucius said: "A benevolent man with lofty ideals does not seek life to harm benevolence, but kills himself to achieve benevolence." Mencius said: "Life is what I want, and righteousness is what I want." What you want is what you want; you can’t have both, and you have to sacrifice your life for righteousness.”
Confucius: Benevolence is the foundation of righteousness; righteousness is the integrity of benevolence. "Benevolence is a human being; Taoism is righteousness." Mencius: "Benevolence refers to the human heart; righteousness refers to the way of people." Confucius said: "There are many benevolences, and righteousness has long, short, small and big." Zhu Xi: "Benevolence refers to the virtue of the heart and the principle of love. Righteousness refers to the control of the heart and the principle of love. "Han Shi Wai Zhuan": "Love comes from emotion, which is called benevolence. Love with integrity is called righteousness." Han Yu's "Yuan Dao" says: "Charity is called philanthropy, and righteousness is called righteousness." ;...Benevolence and righteousness are the names; Dao and virtue are the empty positions."
Benevolence - Confucius said: The benevolent one loves others. The broad sense of benevolence covers many things. For example, "filial piety and brotherhood are the foundation of benevolence." "Those who can practice the five are benevolent in the world." The five are "respect, tolerance, trustworthiness, sensitivity, and benefit." "Strength, perseverance, wood, slowness, and closeness to benevolence." "The words of a benevolent person are also critical." "Erudition and sincerity, asking questions and thinking closely; benevolence is in it."... However, benevolence is not unattainable, "How far is benevolence? I want to be benevolent, and this is the most benevolent thing." Benevolence is not irrational, unprincipled, or weak. "Only benevolent people can do good to others and evil to others." "There must be benevolent people." "Courage."
Yi - a very broad moral category in ancient China. It originally refers to what should be done in a fair and reasonable manner. Confucius said: "Righteousness means what is appropriate." Zhu Xi said: "Righteousness means what is suitable for the laws of heaven." Righteousness means rationality, morality, justice, and righteousness. Confucius said: "The so-called righteousness of a gentleman means that both the noble and the humble have something to do with the world." "A gentleman regards righteousness as the highest priority." "Seeing benefit and thinking about righteousness." "Being rich and noble without righteousness is like a floating cloud to me."
< p>Morality, the Tao pervades all things, runs through everything, and is everywhere in the Tao. It is the unchanging ontology of the universe. Laozi explains it with seven laws, and it universally demonstrates its irresistible and unchangeable nature in all existence and movement. It is the ontology, ultimate, unified and unchanging existence of this Tao that regulates the misfortunes, blessings, life and death, victory, defeat, pain and joy of all life actions. It is said that it is inaccessible, intangible, and invisible; it is said that it has no discipline and cannot be separated, so it will not be abolished and its fruit will not be ignorant. Moreover, all human culture and all behaviors are nothing more than trying to transcend something and trying to obtain something. If these two things are collectively referred to as Dao, the result may be surprisingly clear, and they are inherently an immutable thing. Therefore, it can be concluded that all human culture and all behaviors, running around, arguing, and searching for their ultimate essence, are nothing more than seeking the Tao, knowing the Tao, using the Tao, and following the Tao until they achieve the Tao. If we talk about it in terms of consciousness, Tao is the pinnacle of absolute truth. If we talk about it in terms of being, Tao is the ultimate mind that is relatively clear. After a survey of all human pursuits and assumptions about truth, none is more accurate, more real, and more true than Laozi's Tao. Natural and more rounded. Wonderful sound bestows Zen on the ultimate existence but extremely empty, the ultimate non-being but extremely true, the ultimate respect without doing anything, the ultimate humility without changing, the ultimate birth and destruction, the ultimate death and birth, so it becomes the ultimate unity and best pursuit of all life. Natural and free.Virtue is the use of Tao, it is the accumulation of wisdom, energy, realm, and dependence. It is a wise choice, and it is the benefit and disadvantage of the main body and the dependence. Body and function can only decompose consciousness and cannot exist separately. Those who are consistent with the Tao are said to accumulate virtue and advance to the enlightenment of the Tao. Those who are contrary to the Tao are depleted of virtue and will fall into the darkness of suffering. Such is the social power, such power, and such destiny, none of them can surpass the virtues, abilities, principles, and disciplines of Tao. Virtue includes virtue ability, virtue conduct, and virtue receiving, which are the root of dependent origination, the cause of gathering and dispersion, and the foundation of destiny. The best effect of doing is to do everything, and the highest form of doing is to do nothing. It is difficult to see the true face of Lao Tzu just from the literal meaning, and it is inevitable to misjudge the reverse misleading of idealism and elimination of accumulated accumulation. Action holds the skin, inaction reaches the root. If there is no fact that invalidity is ineffective and softness is restrained in hardness in the living society, then it is not the universality of Tao. For example, the difference between different ways of handling one thing is essentially the difference between existence and non-existence, and it exists everywhere, throughout the world. Inaction does not contradict doing, and the rule of virtue does not contradict the rule of law. It only clearly reveals the best state of doing. There is no way to save a person when he falls into the water, and there is no way to stop the world from falling into ruin without treatment. However, the rule of law does not abandon the rule of education and the rule of virtue. This is the unity of existence and non-existence. This means that it is impossible for society to always be in a state of rule of law with progress. There is no existence and non-existence in the present moment, and there is no existence in the present moment of attachment. All living beings are the unified support for life. On this solid soil, ancient and modern sages have advocated a model of simplicity and peace in the world. This virtue means teaching everything and doing everything.
The Theory of Good Nature is the view of Mencius, a representative figure of Confucianism during the Warring States Period, that human nature is inherently good. Contrary to Xunzi's theory of evil nature, Xunzi believed that human nature is inherently evil. However, some people think that Mencius's theory of the goodness of nature does not clearly and directly claim that human nature is inherently good. The goodness of nature points out (or emphasizes) the good nature and the good side of human nature.
"Mencius·On the Four Origins": Everyone has a heart that cannot bear others. The former king had a heart that could not tolerate others, and this is a government that cannot tolerate others. With a heart that cannot tolerate others, carry out an intolerable government, and govern the world with the palm of your hand. Therefore, it is said that everyone has a heart that cannot bear others. Nowadays, when people first see a child about to fall into a well, they all have a heart of fear and compassion. It is not because they want to be friends with the child's parents, it is not because they want to be praised by the friends of the local party, and it is not evil. The sound comes naturally. From this point of view, if you don’t have a heart of compassion, you are not a human being; if you don’t have a heart of shame or disgust, you are not a human being; if you don’t have a heart of resignation, you are not a human being; if you don’t have a heart of right and wrong, you are not a human being. The heart of compassion is the root of benevolence; the heart of shame and disgust is the root of righteousness; the heart of resignation is the root of courtesy; the heart of right and wrong is the root of wisdom. Human beings have four ends, just as they have four bodies. There are four ends, and those who claim that they are incapable of doing so are committing treason; those who claim that their ruler is incapable of doing so are committing treason against his ruler. If there are four ends in me, I will expand and enrich them. If fire begins, so does spring. If you can fill it up, you can protect the world; if you can't fill it, you can't serve your parents.
"Mencius Gaozi 1": Everyone has the heart of compassion; the heart of shame and disgust, everyone has it; the heart of respect, everyone has it; the heart of right and wrong, everyone has it . The heart of compassion is benevolence; the heart of shame and hatred is righteousness; the heart of respect is courtesy; the heart of right and wrong is wisdom.
The theory of human nature is an important topic in Chinese philosophy. The first person to talk about "nature" was Confucius ("Nature is similar, habits are far apart" "The Analects of Confucius? Yang Huo"), but Confucius did not explicitly say that nature is good Or for evil. When Mencius spoke of good nature, he pointed out that benevolence, righteousness, propriety, and wisdom are the clues to good nature, which are the four principles of mind. Mencius talked about "heart", which is not only the expression of behavior, not only cultivation, but also goes deep into the place where human temperament originates, originates, and begins. Here we can experience the goodness of human nature and the brightness of human heart. Mencius looked for the foundation and the original mind in the beginning, so Mencius established the foundation of the theory.
Evil nature: "Human nature is evil, and those who are good are hypocritical. Human nature is born to love benefits and follow the rules, so they fight for life and refuse to give in and perish; they are born with diseases. If you are evil, you should be obedient, so the traitor will be born with loyalty and trust; if you are born with the desire of ears and eyes, and with good voices and colors, you will be obedient, so if you are born with lewdness, you will lose the propriety, justice, culture, and ethics. , it must be based on competition, combined with violation of divisions and chaos, and then returned to violence, so it must be the transformation of teachers and ethics, the way of etiquette and justice, and then it must be based on resignation, combined with literature and theory, and returned to governance, but then. "It is clear that human nature is evil."
Compared with Mencius, Xunzi's idea is closer to Confucius: Confucius believed that people are generally not far away from birth, but they can still see differences. , so you must learn through it, otherwise even good materials will not be able to be used, and Yan Hui is no exception. This idea is different from Mencius' idea that "all things are prepared for me, and there is no great joy in being reflexive and sincere."
Xunzi is said to be a Confucian scholar after Confucius and Mencius because he ultimately hopes that people can do good and regards saints as the highest personality. Everyone should aim for saints.
But in the end, Xunzi only stayed at the empirical level to observe human nature and failed to uncover the source of value. This can be said to be the biggest problem with Xunzi's theory of evil nature. Fu Sinian believes that this may be because Xunzi’s target is Mencius, so this rhetorical defect appears.
Individualism and liberalism in Western society are not based on the goodness of human nature. Instead, they are based on the "evil nature" of Judaism and Christianity, and start from acknowledging the "initial basic fault" of individuals. It is believed that the most basic nature of human beings is "self-existence". If it is allowed to develop, it will do things that will hurt others and benefit oneself. Therefore, when organizing a democratic and free government, the first thing is to limit the excessive development of personal self-existence aspirations and not encourage all parties to do so. People are left to their own devices.