"Make a heart for heaven and earth, make a life for the people, carry forward the past and learn from the past, and make peace for all generations". The meaning of this sentence is: establish the heart of life for heaven and earth, point out a road for the people to follow, inherit the knowledge that Confucius and Mencius and other former saints have not passed on, and open up a permanent and peaceful foundation for future generations.
This is a famous saying of Zhang Zai, a great master 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 stand for the world, and his life should stand for all the people. He should inherit and carry forward the unique learning of going to the holy, and create a peaceful foundation for all generations, and tell the aspirations and pursuits that a scholar should have: the world, all the people, the way of sages, and the peaceful foundation.
Zhang Zai (12-177), born in 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 Guanxue, known as "Mr. Hengqu" in the world.
Come with me to understand the ideal pursuit represented by these four sentences.
"Make a heart for heaven and earth", Cheng Ming Dow said: "Heaven and earth have no heart, but take biology as their heart. "And he said," Heaven and earth are formed unintentionally. "Heaven and earth are unintentional, but people have a heart. The heart of people is to enable people to grasp the heart of benevolent people who love and help others, and the heart of a sage who is a grand duke. In fact, compassion is the heart that can't bear others, that is, Confucius's "don't do to others what you don't want others to do to you", that is, the starting point of benevolence. In this way, Mr. Ma Yifu concluded: "Scholars' affairs should not be based on knowing and seeking benevolence, being kind and being unkind, but on the heart of heaven and earth." ?
"To make a living for the people" comes directly from Mencius' thought of "making a living". There is a saying in Mencius: "He who does his best knows his nature. If you know its nature, you will know the sky. Keep your heart and nurture your nature, so it's natural to do things. I have to live a long life, and I am self-cultivating, so I am determined. " Through self-cultivation, if we can finally reach such a state that no matter whether a person's life span is long or short, we can maintain our sexual integrity, then this individual can be said to have settled down. The "life for the people" marked by Zhang Zai actually means "life for the people and my compatriots", and its life lies in teaching, and "cultivation is called teaching", which is also called.
? "For the sake of going to the saints and succeeding in learning", those who "go to the saints" are the pre-Confucians represented by Confucius and Mencius; "Juexue" is the Taoism advocated by Confucius and Mencius. As far as Confucianism is concerned, Confucius is certainly a master, and the great masters of Song Dynasty, such as Lian, Luo, Guan and Min, promoted the development of Confucianism to a brand-new stage. Only Song Confucianism can really carry forward the Confucian orthodoxy of Confucius and Mencius.
"peace for all ages" expresses the eternal political ideal of the pre-Confucianism and Song Confucianism. "Open" expectation is called.
"Make peace for the world", realize the cultural ideal described in Zhang Zai's "Ximing", live in harmony with the people, and return all the people to the world, so that the ignorant modern people can return to the frank and honest human spiritual home.