For thousands of years, the theories of the two factions have said that they compete with each other, and some people say that they have achieved each other. So far, it has become a classic that people can't surpass. So are the thoughts of Confucius and Laozi opposite? Do the schools behind them achieve the same goal through different routes, or do they run counter to each other? Yan Xiaoer thinks it is the former.
In Yan Xiaoer's mind, although Confucianism and Taoism seem to be "opposites", the starting points of the two schools of thought are the same. Because the two schools look at the same thing from different angles, so that the two schools seem to be opposite, but in fact they are complementary or even the same.
Next, I will start with the "starting point" of Confucianism and Taoism, and prove whether Confucianism and Taoism are unified or opposed through the two seemingly opposite viewpoints of Confucianism "benevolent people love others" and Taoism "heaven and earth are heartless", hoping to bring some thoughts and inspiration to everyone.
1, the "starting point" of Confucian school theory: human social order, the Confucian doctrine of the mean, Mencius' lofty spirit, with its positive and promising gentleman spirit of "ruling the country and leveling the world", has been sought after by countless people at home and abroad. Here, the service object of Confucianism can be the people living in this large social group, or the people managed by the ancient rulers in order to maintain social stability and order, but in Yan.
Confucian Confucius and Mencius left many classic theories handed down from generation to generation, including teaching people how to be gentle, courteous and frugal, how to cultivate one's morality, how to become a gentleman, and how to become a virtuous person in power. In fact, behind these actions, they are all laying the foundation for the stability of ancient social order.
In a word, the starting point of Confucianism represented by Confucius is not for the benefit of a certain kind of people, but for the orderly operation of the whole society, and its service object is actually "the order of human society"
2. The "starting point" of Taoist thought: the internal order of human beings, but the temperament of Taoism is somewhat different from that of Confucianism. Taoism has the temperament of "invisibility" and "concealment", but they seem to "talk to the court" instead of talking to the court, which is the genius of Taoism and the most easily misunderstood place of Taoism.
Taoist Laozi said "doing nothing without doing anything" and "Taoism is natural". Many friends equate the simplicity of Laozi's views on "inaction" and "nature" with "zero" in quantitative relations, but it is not.
Taoism compares "inaction" to "recklessness" and "nature" to "excess"
Taoism's "inaction" is not hiding in the mountains, but doing the right thing at the right time, not out of selfish desires. This connotation is the same as Confucius' spiritual core of "knowing what he can't do" when traveling around the world. Taoism's inaction is the opposite of utilitarian behavior.
The so-called "nature" actually corresponds to "surplus". Confucius of Confucianism talks about "omnipotent" doctrine of the mean, and Laozi of Taoism also talks about "anti-Tao movement", which is actually a "degree". In other words, from the Taoist point of view, passive seclusion is an "excessive", and too utilitarian is also an "excessive". The former will make people wither, and the latter will make people become slaves of desire, which is not advocated by Taoist Laozi.
Therefore, it is not difficult to see that the service object of Taoist Laozi is not as objective and grounded as that of Confucian Confucius. Taoist Laozi will be more abstract and more essential. Many of its viewpoints start from the "mind" and our understanding of the world level, and it is aimed at our inner order.
When we really understand the "mystery of inaction" of "Tao nature", what if we are in a vanity fair full of temptation? If you don't move your heart, you will sit still and be orderly.
With the above foreshadowing, it is much easier for us to understand the two seemingly opposite but unified concepts of benevolence of Confucianism and inhumanity of Taoism.
Confucianism says that "benevolence" has become a very classic concept since Confucius. "Benevolence" has rich connotations, but this does not prevent us from having a concrete discussion. On a certain level, Confucius once answered "love others", which tells us that one manifestation of benevolence in the human body is "love others". How to love? Be able to put yourself in others' shoes and care about others.
Because you can put yourself in others' shoes, you can empathize with others' experiences, and you can understand their joys and sorrows; Because we understand our nature of pursuing advantages and avoiding disadvantages, we can also push ourselves and others to understand the mentality of others when facing a thing. At this time, we tend to be more generous, open-minded, kind, humble, tolerant and friendly.
In fact, to put it more thoroughly, Confucius said that benevolent people love others, which overcame the word "private". Because it can be "selfless", it can push others to understand others.
Taoism has also put forward "unintentional", which is actually more fundamental or stricter than the Confucian "benevolence".
In Taoism's view, there is no difference between the concepts of "heartlessness" and "benevolence" in a realistic existence that is integrated with "benevolence", so the Taoist concept of "heaven and earth are heartless, and everything is grass dogs" comes into being, that is, heaven and earth have no "preference" for grass-woven dogs for sacrifice, and it will not be less rainy or more sunny just because it is a sacrifice.
That is to say, in Taoist thought, "benevolence" is almost innate, and we don't need to deliberately restrain our temperament or disposition relative to "benevolence" because these "temperaments" don't exist at all. Taoism's benevolence is actually an advanced version of Confucianism's benevolence, and Taoism's benevolence is actually an ideal state of Confucianism's benevolence.
4. Confucianism and Taoism are not antagonistic, but the essence of theory is that all roads lead to the same goal. That is to say, in Yan Xiaoer's view, Confucianism and Taoism all seem to be righteous, inaction, benevolence and unkind. In fact, the difference between the two schools is more: one is to serve the "human social order" and the other is to serve the "internal order of mankind", tracing back to the source.
At the same time, not only Confucianism and Taoism, but also a hundred schools of thought contend, which was once famous in the history of our country. As long as you pay attention, you will find that although these theories are in full bloom, they are all aimed at "stabilizing human social order" and "making people's lives better", but the angles and levels of different theories are different, so that they have their own characteristics, such as Mohism and Legalism. Of course, the above are some of Yan Xiaoer's ideas, which can be used as a reference and I hope to bring you some inspiration.
Note: This article is the original and exclusive release of Yan Xiaoer's philosophical works. If there is any infringement such as handling or plagiarism, the responsibility will be investigated once found. The pictures in this paper come from the Internet, and some materials come from the Internet. They were hacked and deleted (within two weeks). Please enjoy this series.