Don’t do to others what you don’t want others to do to you, from The Analects of Confucius. Quotations from the ancient Chinese thinker and educator Confucius. Explain that you don't want others to treat you with your words and deeds, and you shouldn't treat others with those words and deeds. Explanation of word meaning

Desire: something you want to do; Bu: don’t want; Shi: to impose. Don't let others do what you don't want to do. Yu: preposition, in.

Understanding

"Do not do to others what you do not want others to do to you" is the way of dealing with others that was first advocated by Confucianism. This sentence is impossible to achieve in a period of sharp and intense class contradictions. Today, under the premise of building a harmonious society, it is possible for people to be more tolerant, care less, empathize with each other, and put themselves in others' shoes. This can also promote unity and bring social stability.

Source

1. "The Analects of Confucius·Yan Yuan Chapter"

Zhong Gong asked about benevolence. Confucius said: "When you go out, you feel like you are seeing a distinguished guest, and when you treat your people, you feel like you are receiving a great sacrifice. Don't do to others what you don't want others to do to you. There is no resentment in the country, and no resentment at home." Zhong Gong said: "Although Yong is not sensitive, he asks for things like this. That’s it!”

Translation: Zhong Gong asked Confucius how to behave in a humane way. Confucius replied: "A person should treat others seriously, don't impose things you don't like on others, and don't complain whether in government or in public." Zhong Gong thanked: "Although I am slow, I must bear in mind what you said. "

2. "The Analects of Confucius·Wei Linggong"

"Zi Gong asked: 'Is there anything that can be carried out throughout life? . Don't do to others what you don't want others to do to you."

Translation: "Zigong asked Confucius: 'Can the principle of life cultivation be summed up in one sentence?' Confucius said: 'That is forgiveness. Don't impose on others what you don't want. '"

"Don't do to others what you don't want others to do to you" is one of the classic sayings of Confucius and the essence of Confucian culture. China's "The Analects" is just like the Western "Bible", which summarizes and guides the culture of a nation or a region. The Analects of Confucius is divided into twenty chapters, among which the "Yan Yuan Chapter" mainly tells Confucius's explanation of "benevolence" and "forgiveness".

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Definition

"Don't do to others what you don't want others to do to you" means: don't impose on others what you don't want. . Confucius emphasized that people should treat others with forgiveness and should promote the way of "forgiveness". Only in this way can we express benevolence. The way of "forgiveness" is the negative expression of "benevolence", and its positive expression is "if you want to establish yourself, you can help others, and if you want to achieve yourself, you can help others." The benevolence explained by Confucius centers on "loving others", and the behavior of loving others certainly includes the aspect of treating others with forgiveness. The Analects of Confucius mentions: The Master's way is only loyalty and forgiveness.

What this sentence reveals is an important principle in dealing with interpersonal relationships. What Confucius said is that people should treat others based on their own behavior. People should have a broad mind and never be narrow-minded when dealing with others. Instead, they should be magnanimous and tolerant. If you forcefully push things that you hate to others, it will not only damage the relationship with others, but also make things stalemate and get out of hand. This principle should indeed be adhered to in interactions between people. This is a reflection of respecting others and treating others equally. In addition to paying attention to your own existence in life, you must also pay attention to the existence of others. Everyone is equal. Do not do to others what you do not want to do to others.

Analysis

The "people" understood above are in a broad sense and refer to the public. However, the definition of "people" in the era when "The Analects" was born usually refers to the narrow sense. In other words, it refers to people above the rank of scholar, which is relative to "people". "Do not do to others what you do not want others to do to you" is written in front of "Going out is like seeing a distinguished guest, and treating the people as if they are receiving a great sacrifice." This is described in the same sentence. It is obvious that the "people" here refer to The exploited class, the working people.

In today's language, "people" in the narrow sense refers to slave owners, that is, the exploiting class, and "people" refers to slaves, that is, the exploited class. Therefore, this sentence can of course be understood as "do what you don't want others to do." The interpersonal principle of "Do not treat others the same" applies to the exploiting class, but the relationship between the exploiting class and the exploited class may not be the same. This understanding is not nonsense, nor is it completely impossible. However, as we all know, Confucius was a person who highly praised "benevolence", and "people" here should be taken in a broad sense.

What Confucius said is not a universal theorem. If everything starts from this principle, many things will get stuck in the middle and it will be difficult to move forward. Suppose two people are facing each other with guns, and their lives are at stake. A is righteous and B is evil. At this time, if A strictly abides by the principle of "do not do to others what you don't want others to do to you", wouldn't it be tragic? Of course A doesn't want to be killed, so why not kill B who doesn't want to be killed? Any truth or law is only suitable under certain conditions and circumstances.

"Don't do to others what you don't want others to do to you" is the essence of Confucianism and a deep-rooted creed of the Chinese nation. However, in reality many people cannot abide by "Do not do to others what you do not want others to do to you." "The creed of "Everything is centered on personal interests, only taking into account one's own feelings, and ignoring the feelings of others. Whether dealing with interpersonal relationships or political relations, we should not hesitate to recognize the importance of the enduring principle of interpersonal relationships: "Do not do to others what you would like others to do to you."

Example: Confucius tells us to do to others what you do not want others to do to you. If you violate it, you will be disharmonious with others

"Don't do to others what you don't want others to do to you." This allusion comes from "The Analects of Confucius·Yan Yuan": "Zhong Gong asked about benevolence, and Confucius said: When you go out, you are like seeing a distinguished guest. , so that the people can do to others what they do not want to do to themselves. There will be no resentment in the country and no resentment at home. "This is what Confucius said. "Wei Linggong": "Zi Gong asked: Is there anything you can say that can be implemented throughout your life? Confucius said: Forgiveness. Do not do to others what you do not want to do to yourself." This is also about forgiveness. Its meaning is roughly: don't ask others to accept things you don't like; don't ask others to do things you don't want to do. This is a concrete embodiment of Confucius’ thought of benevolence

For a proposition, we need to make a comprehensive analysis. "Don't do to others what you don't want others to do to you" does not logically deduce "do to others what you want to do to others." It can be seen from logic that the original proposition is true, and the converse proposition of this proposition is true at the same time, but "Do to others what you want to do to others" is the negation of the proposition, "Do not do to others what you do not want to do to others", and the negative proposition is It is not necessarily true.

You just can't impose it on others if you don't want it to be done to you. However, if the other party is willing, it does not fall within the scope of "giving". What you want may not be what others want, so you cannot impose it on others.

Generally speaking, no matter whether it is "what you want" or not, you cannot "give", that is, impose it on others. There is only one standard for giving things to others, that is, whether the other person is willing or not, and it cannot be based on our wishes. standards to impose on others.

What you don’t want may not be what others don’t want; what you don’t do to others is your personal opinion when you have things you don’t want; you think you don’t want the leftover buns from breakfast, but that’s exactly what you want. It's a rare delicious meal for the beggar next to you; don't do to others what you don't want others to do to you. What I want to say is not that the leftover buns from breakfast are very cold and may be bad for the stomach, and they are a bit dirty. They should not be given to others as food, but that they should not be given to others. You should impose your personal opinion on others: "The leftover buns from breakfast are very cold, may be bad for the stomach, and are a bit dirty, so they should not be given to others as food." If you want to include personal opinions, they have subjective content and Meaning, don’t treat others the wrong way is exactly what you think when you have something you don’t want.