"The Analects of Confucius Study" 90101
Original text Zihan talks about profit, destiny and benevolence.
In the vernacular, Confucius rarely spoke directly about benefit, fate, and benevolence.
Thoughts 1: Why did Confucius rarely talk about profit? How do you choose between justice and profit?
"Shuowen Jiezi": "To speak directly is to speak, to discuss difficulties is to speak." "Zhou Li" Chun Guan Da Si Yue notes: "The origin is called speaking, and the reply is called speaking." According to this explanation , when there are questions and answers, it is called words, and when there are no questions, it is called words. Therefore, "yan" here means "speaking directly without asking", that is, Confucius took the initiative to speak.
Mr. Qian Mu said: "Benefits are what people want, which can cause disputes and lead to bad morals. Talking about benefits cannot last long, so talk less." Benefits are people's great desires. It is most likely to cause disputes. Most things are caused by the struggle for profit. The trend of profit-seeking cannot be encouraged, so Confucius rarely talks about profit. Cheng Zi said: "Zi rarely talks about benefit, because it does not cause people to benefit but to harm, but people should not be interested in benefit. The sage regards righteousness as benefit, and righteousness is benefit when it is safe." Therefore, Confucianism has always had the distinction between righteousness and benefit. ". "Book of Changes" says: "Benefit is the harmony of righteousness." Real benefit is based on morality, and cooperation will win.
Confucius "rarely talks about profit", and rarely talks about it. On the contrary, there are many records in The Analects of Confucius that talk about profit, and they do not deny the pursuit of legitimate interests, such as "Wealth can be sought after, even though I am a whip-wielding man, I will do it" ("Shu Er Pian") ), Confucius not only did not object to morally profitable behaviors, but was also willing to accomplish them. Another example is "Benefiting the people because they benefit them, it is not necessary to benefit them if they do not benefit them" ("Yao Yue Pian") and so on. The true meaning of Confucius' "rare words about profit" is that he does not "metaphorize profit" and does not seek personal gain. "A gentleman is compared to righteousness, and a villain is compared to benefit" ("Li Ren Chapter"). Those who are "speaks of benefit" are caressing and coveting benefits, or harming righteousness because of calculation of benefits. The value proposition of the sage is to "think of righteousness when you see benefits" ("Xianwen Chapter") and "think of righteousness when you see benefits" ("Ji Shi Chapter" and "Zi Zhang Chapter"). If you "act with profit in mind, you will have too many complaints" ("Ji Shi Chapter" and "Zi Zhang Chapter") "Li Ren Chapter").
In the view of Confucius and Mencius, if a gentleman, ruler, or manager blindly emphasizes profit and ignores righteousness, it will cause great harm. At the beginning of the book "Mencius", when Mencius responded to King Hui of Liang's question "How can we benefit our country?", he said, "King! Why do we need to say benefit? It is just benevolence and righteousness." The king said, "How can we benefit our country?" The doctor said , 'How can it be beneficial to my family?' The scholars and common people said, 'How can it be beneficial to my body? Mencius replied: "Your Majesty! Why do we have to talk about profit? Just talk about benevolence and righteousness. If the king asks: 'How can I benefit my country?' The doctor will say: 'How can I benefit my family?' Scholars and Ordinary people will also say: "How can we benefit ourselves?" If everyone at the top and bottom is competing to benefit, the country will be in danger. "
On the other hand, most of the time, we will consider everything in the moment. Is this good for ourselves? We only consider whether my salary should be increased, but not whether I should pay more, leaving "righteousness" behind.
Thought 2: How to understand fate? What is your mission in life?
Ming: Fate, the destiny of heaven. "Annotations" says: "It is said that the destiny of heaven is to give birth to human beings. Heaven has no body and no verbal destiny, but human beings are born naturally according to their feelings. They are wise and foolish, good and bad, poor and prosperous, and young and long-lived. If the destiny of heaven is given, "It's the fate of Yun Tian." "Historical Records": "Confucius rarely calls fate, so it's hard to say. If it's not the change of Tongyouming, it's not enough to know the destiny." Teacher Guangyuan said: "Fate, it turns out." It comes from heaven and is established by oneself; and cultivating one's self and fulfilling the Tao, doing everything that is within me, can be called destiny, so it is "rarely mentioned".
The "fate" we ordinary people talk about is often personal "destiny". Confucius also said that he "understood the destiny of heaven when he was fifty." The destiny of heaven is the way of heaven. Because it is too profound and difficult for ordinary people to understand, Confucius did not talk much about destiny. Cheng Shude quoted the Ming Confucian Gu Xiancheng in "Analects of Confucius" as saying: Confucius has been determined to learn since he was fifteen, and not confused when he was forty, which is the state of cultivation; knowing the destiny at fifty is the state of enlightenment, which means that when a person reaches the age of fifty, he will be enlightened. It's time to understand life, and do what you should do wholeheartedly, and don't go against nature. Since it is a state of enlightenment, it needs to be experienced. If you talk about it too much, people will just write in vain, which does not have much meaning. Sometimes it will lead to superstition and other behaviors, which is even more misguided, so it is "rarely said". Even a Confucian scholar like Zigong said, "The Master's articles can be read and heard, but the Master's words about nature and the way of heaven cannot be read and heard." We can easily understand Master's descriptions of poems, books, rituals, music and other classics. It is easy to hear, but the Master's words about nature and the way of heaven are inaudible. It's hard for Zigong to hear, let alone ordinary people, which shows that he doesn't say much. In "Yong Ye Chapter", Confucius said: "If you are above the average person, you can speak up; if you are below the average person, you cannot speak up." Confucius said that people with average wisdom and above can teach him the most profound knowledge; You cannot teach the most profound knowledge to people who are young. If the person is below the average level of wisdom, one cannot teach the most profound knowledge to him like the person with the average level of wisdom. If he does, not only will he not be able to understand, but it will lead to misunderstandings, that is to say, it will be harmful rather than helpful.
But Confucius still has to talk about the key point. In the last chapter of "The Analects of Confucius", Confucius left us a profound question.
He said: "If you don't know destiny, you can't be a gentleman" ("Yao Yue Pian"), which means that if you don't understand destiny, you can't be a gentleman.
In addition, destiny also has a connotation, which is the mission of life, which is also what Confucius often emphasized. For example, Confucianism knows that it is impossible to do it, "A gentleman's official position is to act righteously; it is the way to do it." If it doesn’t work, we already know it.” In other words, under the premise that life is limited, you can still do what you should do and work hard to fulfill your destiny. Of course, destiny can also be understood as the law of the operation of heaven, which is the law of operation between the entire heaven and earth, which is the law of heaven. Confucius said in "The Book of Changes·Xici": "Walking aside without drifting, one is happy and aware of destiny, so one does not worry." At this time, Confucius was completely enlightened, aware that everything can change, and his heart was magnanimous and worry-free. At the age of fifty, Confucius knew the destiny of heaven. At the age of seventy, he followed the desires of his heart without exceeding the rules, acted according to his will, and all his thoughts and thoughts were in harmony with the Tao.
Think carefully about our mission in life. Is it such a muddle-headed way to waste our lives doing nothing? I am 58 years old this year, what else do I want to worry about? It is better to obey the destiny, obey the destiny, be down-to-earth, study the Master's way carefully, inherit as much as you can, and pass on as much as you can, so that this life will not be in vain!