A brief discussion of Confucius's "Inner Sage and External King" approach and his political thought

Later generations of scholars without exception attribute it to the main doctrine of Confucianism. thought, but it was not the original creation of Confucianism. The term "inner sage and outer king" first came from "Zhuangzi Tianxia Chapter". But this does not prevent the use of "inner sage and outer king" to explain Confucianism, because since the Song Dynasty, with the convergence of Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism, Neo-Confucianism emerged, and then the use of "inner sage and outer king" began to be used to explain Confucianism. Confucius' Confucianism has far-reaching connotations and rich content, which can be reflected not only in morality and personality, but also in its political thought. The following is a brief analysis of Confucius’s philosophy of “inner sage and outer king” and his political thoughts.

1. The emergence of the term "Inner Sage and Outer King"

"Inner Sage and Outer King" first appeared in "Zhuangzi·Tianxia Chapter". The author of "Tian Xia Pian" said: "The birth of saints and the success of kings all originate from one (Tao). This is the "Tao of the inner sage and the outer king". According to the "Tian Xia Pian", the "inner sage and the outer king" are the principles of the world. What practitioners of Taoism pursue, "inner sage" is the author's personality ideal, which is expressed as follows: "If you are not separated from the sect, you call it a heavenly person; if you are not separated from the essence, you are called a divine person; if you are not separated from the truth, you are called a perfect human being." Taking Heaven as the sect, virtue as the basis, Tao as the door, and signs of change, we are called saints; treating benevolence as kindness, righteousness as principle, etiquette as behavior, happiness as harmony, and instilling kindness and benevolence, we are called gentleman "; "Outer King" is the author's political ideal, which is expressed as follows: "Using the law as a division, using the name as a table, reference as a test, and inspection as a decision. The numbers are one, two, three, and four, and all officials use this Xiangte; taking things as a matter of course, food and clothing as the main thing, keeping crops and livestock, taking care of the old, weak, orphans and widows, all of them are taken care of, this is the principle of the people." From this we can see that the "inner thoughts" of the author of "Tian Xia Pian" The doctrine of "sage and king outside" is the product of the combination of Confucianism, Daoism and Legalism. In layman's terms, "inner sage" means cultivating one's moral character and cultivating virtues, requiring people to be a virtuous person; "outer king" means managing the family and governing the country. , The unity of "inner sage and outer king" is the highest realm pursued by Confucian scholars.

Although the term "inner sage and outer king" does not come directly from Confucianism and Confucius, "The World Chapter" "The way of "inner sage and outer king" expounded by the author is similar to Confucius' Confucian thought, which provides a theoretical basis for Confucianism to adopt this term.

2. "Inner sage and outer king" in Confucius' remarks. "King"

In terms of "inner sage", Confucius advocated that "benevolence depends on oneself." Confucius said: "To restrain oneself and restore propriety is benevolence." If one day restrains oneself and returns to ritual, the world will return to benevolence. Is it up to oneself to be benevolent, rather than up to others? "[i][1] Whether a person can become a benevolent person with noble moral character or not, the key lies in oneself. As the saying goes, "I want to be benevolent, and this is the most benevolent person." [ii][2] In terms of "foreign kings", Confucianism uses "Cultivating oneself" is the starting point, and "cultivating oneself" is the end point. Confucius said: "Cultivating oneself is to respect others", "Cultivating oneself is to tranquilize people" [iii][3] In Confucius' thoughts. Among them, the inner sage and the outer king are unified with each other. The inner sage is the foundation and the outer king is the goal. Only by continuous inner cultivation can one become a "benevolent person" and a "gentleman" and achieve the inner sage. Only the foundation of the inner sage can be achieved. Only by doing so can the country be stabilized and the goal of the outer king be achieved. Similarly, only when the inner sage achieves the goal of the outer king is it meaningful. Only when the outer king is achieved can the inner sage be finally completed. If you want to be established, you should establish others; if you want to reach yourself, you should reach others. "[iv][4] When you have established yourself and become enlightened, don't forget to enable others to establish themselves and understand as well. In other words, while meeting your own needs, you must also meet the needs of others. When both are satisfied, then A truly "benevolent person" can truly achieve "the way of being a saint within and a king outside". Establishing oneself and reaching oneself is the foundation, and establishing others and reaching others is the destination.

3. Confucius' "Being a saint within and a king outside". "Political Thoughts in "

Confucius' political thought of "Inner Sage and External King" reflects the direct unity of morality and politics. Confucianism all talks about morality and politics. It is believed that politics can only be guided by morality. Only when morality is implemented in politics can it have a universal impact. Politics without moral guidance is hegemony and tyranny. Such politics is unpopular and cannot last long.

< p>Confucius said: "Government based on virtue is like Beichen, who lives in his place and is surrounded by stars. "[v][5] Politicians are required to first come from moralists. Only when rulers first devote themselves to the way of saints and become "benevolent" can they become the "holy master" loved by the world. How can one become a moralist? According to Confucius said that only by practicing "benevolence" and "propriety" and achieving inner sage can one become a qualified ruler. In Confucius' thought, there is no distinction between politics and moral education. Confucius said: "Tao governs. If the people are harmonized by punishment, the people will be spared and there will be no shame; if they are governed by virtue, they will be harmonized with etiquette, and they will be shameless and dignified. "[vi][6] Confucius targeted the lower class people, using profit and happiness as the main tool, supplemented by criminal justice, trying to achieve the goal of "celebrity ethics" to stabilize people's hearts and stabilize his rule.

Morality The unity with politics is from "inner sage" to "outer king". Here, "inner sage" is the premise and foundation of "outer king", and "outer king" is the natural extension and inevitable result of "inner sage". "Cultivating oneself" can naturally "manage people", and "managing people" must first "cultivate oneself"

Summary

Although the theory of "inner sage and outer king" first appeared in "Zhuangzi". ", but it is a basic proposition of Confucianism, and even modern Confucianism still holds this.

From primitive Confucianism to political Confucianism in the Han Dynasty, and from Neo-Confucianism in the Song and Ming dynasties to modern Neo-Confucianism, over the past two thousand years, times have changed, and so have the interpretations of Confucianism. "Thinking in the pattern of ". Therefore, we must critically analyze the spiritual heritage of this traditional society.

The civilization model of Chinese culture that unifies the world - Inner Saint and External King

We know that the Ming Dynasty had many satellite countries. The Ming Dynasty's satellite countries relied on its own strength. Many countries were convinced, "surrendered" and

joined voluntarily. Many of the satellite state models of the Ming Dynasty are the model by which China will unify the world in the future. Although it has enough force to conquer other countries, it does not rely on force, but relies on its own strength (morality) to speak for itself. Although the model of the Ming Dynasty is imperfect, flawed and needs to be improved

According to Chinese culture, "subduing the world" does not rely on force, but at a specific historical stage it cannot be without force. When people's consciousness reaches a very high level, all it takes is some logical principles to bring the world to its center. When people are uncivilized or barbaric, a certain amount of deterrence is needed, such as King Yu's "Xing Tian Dance with Qi". When they come to invade, you must ensure that you can defeat them. At this time, you need your own strength.

If you become strong, everyone will come and submit, and no one will be able to drive you away; if you fall behind and become weak, everyone will leave you (national independence), and no one will be able to stay.

If we live there, all that remains will be contradictions and wars. If China is now the world's most powerful country, I don't think anyone would want to be independent from China and suffer poverty. If you yourself are poor

poor and backward, no one wants to suffer poverty along with you. If others want to be independent, you cannot completely blame them. You should first examine whether you have done it yourself.

Obviously, how to convince people and how to unify the world is proportional to the degree of civilization of people in the society. The more civilized the society, the more important it is

Use morality to unify them; the more backward and barbaric a society is, the more it needs force to unify it. This is the same as the relationship between morality and law. The more morally corrupt a society is, the more important the law becomes; the more morally moral a society is, the more important the law becomes. Everyone does not commit crimes,

They are all sensible and do not follow the rules. What role does the law have? On the contrary, many people commit crimes, so what can be done without relying on the law to punish them?

Everyone commits crimes, so don’t those who enforce the law commit crimes? If the morals of the entire society are not good, the morals of those who enforce the law will be good? The moral corruption of law enforcement personnel will lead to corrupt officials. You can only imagine what this society is like.

China's model of unifying the world is basically the Ming Dynasty's model of unifying the world. It is powerful and "inner sage", and foreign countries and foreign countries have followed suit and taken the initiative to unite with China

, or voluntarily join China instead of conquering by force, this is the "foreign king". However, the theory is now clearer, because the theory of the Ming Dynasty was still confusing. Although the Ming Dynasty proposed to govern by doing nothing, in fact, the society of the Ming Dynasty did not have the social conditions for governing by doing nothing, because the moral character of the people at that time simply could not reach that level. The development history also proves this. The Ming Dynasty formally worshiped Confucianism, but

the ideology of the entire Ming Dynasty was still very chaotic. As far as the emperor was concerned, it was well documented that some believed in Confucianism, some believed in Buddhism, and some believed in Taoism. , there are some who believe in Christianity

It is said that there are also some who believe in Muslims, and there may be some who don’t believe in anything. Are there still some who are influenced by materialism? Unknowable. This shows that the Ming Dynasty

did not yet have the conditions for a true inner sage and outer king.

A society governed by inaction requires very high quality and moral standards of social people. If people do not commit crimes, of course there is no need for governance. Only in this way can we achieve governance by inaction

of. A country with inner saints must be well governed internally, the people must have high moral character, and the whole country can be cohesive from top to bottom into a whole, just like the kingdom of bees and ants (termites) (of course this It is a low-level form of cohesion), there is only the collective, no individual, only the public, and no selfishness. A country or a nation that can unite so strongly will be indestructible. No enemy can defeat them or enslave them.

If the entire human race can condense into a whole, and there are no difficulties that humans cannot overcome, can the life of the entire human race be unhappy?

The Chinese people use their strength and moral inspiration to attract foreign kings. The Chinese people’s foreign kings are not to rob other countries and people, but to be as rich as me, ***

We will move towards human civilization together and eventually reach the same level as me. This is the "Great Harmony of the World". Westerners use bandit logic. They rob wherever they go. Especially in the era of European colonialism, they robbed Indians from India, Africa, America, and Austrian people. Aboriginal people, of Southeast

Asia. There was even a bandit-style invasion of China in the Ming Dynasty, but it was met with a powerful counterattack by the Ming Dynasty. These bandits were either beheaded or defeated

. Otherwise, China at that time might have become the target of invasion.

Even the modern so-called "European and American civilization" considers its own interests too much and cannot be compared with the great unity of China.

If China does well and abandons its erroneous philosophical ideas, it will be at the forefront of the world in the near future (20-30 years). At that time, China did not need

force, but only needed cultural and moral propaganda to unify the entire human world. Of course, at this specific historical stage, military strength is still needed

.

Make an assumption: If the Ming Dynasty of China did not perish and developed in a normal way, it would not necessarily follow the capitalist model. The Chinese have their own model.

For example, in their annexation of the world, Britain, France, and Germany followed a policy of colonial expansion and maritime aggression. The Chinese are probably using moral propaganda to make everyone voluntarily join China and accept Chinese-style civilization on the basis of China's development. In terms of production model, even the capitalist model is relatively mild. It is not as cruel to people and lacks humanity as in European countries. It is also very likely that it will go to public ownership, or part of it may go to public ownership.

Cruelty is not the essence of Chinese culture.

China has been very favorable to ethnic minorities in all dynasties, such as the Han Dynasty, the Tang Dynasty, and the Ming Dynasty. It is unknown for other dynasties. The Han nation and the Han Dynasty

taught them civilization and production technology, gave them economic assistance, and allowed them to enter and leave many passes (the Han nation was not allowed) to do business and relax

Herding, hunting, and clearing wasteland. But when they learned the advanced production and labor technology of the Han nation, why did they always attack the Han nation again and again?

Moreover, some people ignore the historical facts and say: "The Han people invaded and abused the ethnic minorities." Do such historical lessons need to be summarized?

Add a topic: It’s really shameless. CCTV News Channel broadcast the folk performance "Battle of Sal Lake" at 13:22 on May 5, 2006, which shows that >

Politicians do not regard themselves as Han people at all. These people are a new ethnic group called the "Ma people". The establishment of a new nation is different from an established nation. Established nations have historical origins and a certain causal relationship. They cannot be joined by just anyone who wants to join. The establishment of a new nation can be done regardless of bloodline, because it

has no historical origins and everything starts from scratch.

Those who engage in philosophy always start from the essence and explain the problem thoroughly