This is a famous saying of Zhang Zai in the Northern Song Dynasty, which comes from Quotations of Hengqu:
These four sentences are the end-result of Zhang Zai's lifelong study in the Northern Song Dynasty and the essence of his thoughts. Feng Youlan, a contemporary philosopher, called it "four sentences in a horizontal canal". Because of its conciseness, it has always been praised by people. It means that a scholar's heart should represent the world, and his life should represent all people. He wants to inherit and carry forward the unique study of the sage, create a peaceful foundation for all generations, and tell the aspirations and pursuits that a scholar should have: the world, all peoples, the way of sages, and a peaceful foundation.
Zhang Zai (1020- 1077), a native of Hengqu Town, Meixian County, Shaanxi Province, was a famous thinker and educator in the Northern Song Dynasty, one of the founders of Neo-Confucianism, and the founder of Guan Xue. He was praised as "Mr. Hengqu" by the world.
Come with me to understand the ideal pursuit represented by these four sentences.
"The heart is heaven and earth," Cheng said. "Heaven and earth are unintentional, but creatures are the heart." He said, "Heaven and earth were formed unintentionally." Heaven and earth are unintentional, and people have a heart. The human heart is the heart of a benevolent person who can help others, and the heart of a sage of Dagong. 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", which 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. " ?
"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. I want to live a long life, and I cultivate my self-cultivation, so I am very firm. " Through self-cultivation, if a person can finally achieve such a state that he can maintain his sexual integrity regardless of his life span, then the individual can be said to 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.
? "Learning for the sake of being a saint" and "being a saint" are pre-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.
"Peace in the world" expresses the eternal political ideal of Confucianism in pre-Qin and Song Dynasty. 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.