Confucius was born in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, which coincided with the transition of the old and new society in China. Zhou Tianzi fell from power and influence, the royal family declined, the princes and doctors were authoritarian, and there was war for years. The people are caught in the situation of "changing their sons to eat, analyzing bones and making trouble". As the saying goes, "There were 244 years in the Spring and Autumn Period, 52 years of national subjugation and 36 years of regicide", and "there are countless princes who cannot protect the country". There is no road in the world, people want to cross the river. On the one hand, slavery tends to collapse, on the other hand, the emerging feudal system needs to be established. The old one has not completely collapsed, and the new one has not been fully established. The society is changing rapidly in the turmoil, and the relationship between people becomes chaotic. In this case, Confucius put forward the idea of "benevolence" to correct the chaotic interpersonal, social and moral relations to meet the needs of the times. This not only meets the political needs of the emerging landlord class, but also conforms to the historical trend of slave liberation.
Confucius' theory of benevolence is an innovation with theoretical contribution in the history of philosophy. He was the first person who raised "benevolence" to the philosophical level. He refined the concept of "benevolence" into the highest ethical category, endowed it with a wide range of meanings, and organically combined it with "ritual" to form the core of his huge ideological system.
"Benevolence" appeared in The Analects of Confucius 109 times. Confucius' main explanation of "benevolence" is as follows: 1. "Benevolent people also"; 2. "The benevolent loves others"; 3. "Benevolent people want to stand, want to reach and reach people"; 4. "Self-denial is benevolence"; 5. "If there is a king, he will die"; 6. "Being able to do five things (courtesy, tolerance, faith, sensitivity and benefit) is a benevolent person in the world"; 7. "The benevolent is rare, and it can be said that the benevolent is also"; 8. "fortitude, stupidity and kindness"; 9. "Filial piety is also the foundation of benevolence!" It can be seen that the meaning of "benevolence" is very extensive, but the most important and core thing is to affirm people's "humanity" and "love" and the social moral norms closely related to "courtesy".
First of all, Confucius saw the indifference between people and the inevitable trend of feudal system replacing slavery from the turbulent years of the Spring and Autumn Period, thus affirming that people meet the requirements of the times and putting forward brand-new norms of interpersonal relations.
Confucius put forward the remarkable proposition that "everyone is benevolent" and further expounded that "the benevolent loves others", which is undoubtedly a great creation. Because here, "benevolence" is no longer a word, but a theoretical category, which embodies Confucius' view of human studies.
Confucius lived in an era when slaves demanded liberation. He believes that to solve social conflicts, people must be treated as real people. He put forward "Love all people, but be kind to others". Confucius affirmed that people still opposed human sacrifice. He once cursed, "Who started it?" Even if the figurines were used for human sacrifice, he opposed them. As we know, a large number of documents and archaeological data prove that a large number of slaves were martyred during the Yin and Shang Dynasties. Therefore, judging from Confucius' opposition to human martyrdom, even to the martyrdom of figurines, the "human" he proposed includes slaves.
Secondly, benevolence is a kind of moral ethics and social norm relative to "ceremony". During the Spring and Autumn Period, due to the "collapse of rites and bad music", the social order was very chaotic, and the struggle between the old and new forces was extremely sharp. Confucius put forward "self-denial and self-surrender", as the content of benevolence, which has certain rationality. The so-called "self-denial", in our view, is to overcome one's own selfish interests and restore normal ethics and social norms (admittedly, such social ethics and social norms were transformed from profit and loss on the basis of the previous generation). We know that in the Western Zhou Dynasty, laws and regulations and all kinds of red tape were systematic and complete. There is a saying that "the gift is 300, and the small gift is 3,000". From auspicious celebrations, sacrifices, welcoming guests, country drinks and military diplomatic gifts to daily life, we should pay attention to etiquette. Its rules are "kiss" and "respect". That is to say, it starts from oneself, traces back to father, grandfather, great-grandfather, great-grandfather, and extends to the kinship of nine generations, such as parents, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and becomes a vein centered on the eldest son. From this, it developed into patriarchal clan system, enfeoffment system and inheritance system, and determined different levels of material rights and interests and communication methods. Confucius's "self-denial" is by no means a simple repetition of the previous generation. He himself once said: "Yin gains and losses are all due to reasons, so it is clear; Obviously, Zhou's gains and losses are due to. Those who follow the week, though immortal, can be known. " At this time, the relationship between propriety and the brand-new concept "benevolence" put forward by Confucius is exterior-interior, which enriches the spirit of benevolence and is no longer an isolated etiquette system. Confucius said, "If people are heartless, what is a gift? People are heartless, so what are you happy about? " This just illustrates this point.
Thirdly, benevolence is also a lofty spiritual realm, which not only emphasizes doing good and governing people, but also has the significance of introspection and cultivation. Confucius once said, "Benevolence comes first when it is difficult." . He said, "If you want to stand up and be a man, if you want to achieve it, you can achieve it", that is, forgiveness, which is one of the ways for benevolent people to do things. He once described the benevolent as follows: "the benevolent is quiet ... the benevolent lives long", "only the benevolent can be good and evil", and "the benevolent has no evil". Confucius believes that it is difficult to achieve the spiritual realm of "benevolence", not only to be "open-minded and selfless", but also to "go out as a distinguished guest and make the people like a big sacrifice". Don't do what you don't want, don't do it to people without complaint, and there is no complaint at home "; And you can't be glib. Of course, benevolence is not unattainable. Confucius once said, "Is benevolence far away? I want benevolence, and I am benevolent. " In other words, the key to benevolence lies in personal subjective efforts. He put forward the idea of "believing in learning, being good at dying, not entering a dangerous country and not giving birth to a chaotic country". The creed that there is a way to see the world clearly and there is no way to be hidden. And made it clear: "being rich and expensive is what people want, not going with the flow, everywhere;" Poverty and meanness are human evils. If you don't get them their way, you won't go. ".In this way, he stressed that in personal cultivation, we should have ideological firmness and selectivity in dealing with the environment. In his view, to be an upright person, we should always remember to be strict with ourselves with "benevolence" and achieve "no violation of benevolence in the end, and it is inevitable that we will have expectations and be upset." When investigating the cultivation of his students' "benevolence", he once pointed out that the results are different because of their different subjective efforts. He said: "Go back, March is not inhuman, and all that is left is the sun and the moon." He warned students to exert their efforts of introspection, and clearly pointed out that "benevolence is for oneself, and benevolence is for others"? "How do you ask? He said to the students: "Filial piety is also the foundation of benevolence!" "Filial piety to parents and obedience to elder brother means maintaining the patriarchal blood relationship of a family or family from both vertical and horizontal aspects. By extending filial piety to a wider scope, we can achieve loyalty ("if you want to stand up, you can reach it") and tolerance ("don't do to others what you don't want others"), and we can reach the realm of "benevolence". The realm of benevolence here is consistent with "the benevolent loves others". Under the historical conditions at that time, if the slave owners and nobles wanted to gain a foothold, they should also let the feudal main class gain a foothold; Slave owners and nobles should be approachable by themselves, and also make the feudal main class approachable. Meanwhile, the ruling class and the ruled class are the same. This seems contradictory, but it was the real society at that time. Although Confucius gained and lost, he could not fundamentally solve the sharp social contradictions at that time, which was the failure of Confucius' social improvement.
Of course, the content of Confucius' "benevolence" is not only that, but also many manifestations, such as courtesy, tolerance, faith, sensitivity and benefit in moral cultivation; "Love" includes "wisdom" and "courage" necessary for respecting the virtuous and benevolence; The "golden mean" in methodology; And the ideal social order defined by benevolence, the so-called "benevolent rule" of "those who have a monarch will be benevolent in the world" and so on.
Confucius' so-called ceremony, as mentioned above, is not the true face of Zhou Li, but a kind of "ceremony" developed through "gains and losses". He explained the ceremony with benevolence and put forward "What if people are heartless?" It is believed that unfriendly is the main reason for Zagreb's collapse. He put forward the viewpoint of "the benevolent loves others", pushing others for benevolence with the heart of loving relatives, taking blood as a link, and not sticking to the restriction of blood, thus breaking through the blood-based ceremony and pushing it to all levels of society. Human martyrdom and human sacrifice are ancient rituals, but Confucius denounced them as "indecent" and "heartless", reflecting that the ceremony has a new look because of the spirit of benevolence. Confucius also listed the ceremony as the object for everyone to learn. Like seeking benevolence, "paying attention to courtesy" is true, and it is all up to you. "One day, the world will return to benevolence", regardless of family background or status, whoever has the kung fu of self-denial and courtesy is a benevolent person. Thus, the way of governing politics leads to the moral cultivation of teaching introspection and forms the central content of Confucian political thought.
What is a "gift"? "Up and down are equal, and the ceremony of intimacy is called the ceremony." "Courtesy is the difference between honor and inferiority, and the system of up and down is also." This is undoubtedly about Zhou Li. The ceremony advocated by Confucius not only inherits the Zhou Li, but also adds a new content, namely "benevolence". However, Zhou Li did not give "benevolence" a new meaning.
Seeing the drastic social changes in the late Spring and Autumn Period, Confucius wanted to set things right in the form of traditional ceremony, but he felt that the content of traditional restoration ceremony did not meet his principles and requirements and could not solve the main problems. Therefore, the form of the ceremony was adopted and the content of the ceremony changed. This changed the ceremony (that is, a series of etiquette systems, etc. ) Slave owners and rulers in the Western Zhou Dynasty used it to close ethical relations, improve social relations and adjust political relations. Confucius asked people-both the ruling class and the ruled class-to "know the ceremony" and "establish the ceremony". He said, "If you don't know the courtesy, you can't stand." He asked people to "see no evil, don't listen if you are indecent, and don't move if you are indecent."
Confucius believes that if the content of etiquette is not benevolence, but the content of fully implementing ancient traditional etiquette, it is heartless. As mentioned above, "the initiator has no future!" "People are not kind, such as courtesy?" This is the evidence. Ceremony is not only formal, but also contains rich spiritual essence of "benevolence" He said, "Liu Yun, Liu Yun, Jade and Silk Cloud!"
During the Spring and Autumn Period, with the increasing opposition of political relations, kinship and social relations were destroyed, social order was chaotic, and people's livelihood was depressed. The Book of Songs uploaded "China is in great danger, heaven is sad, I am hungry, and the people are in exile". The people issued a "harsh to the rich, a person sad!" This shows the seriousness of people's suffering. Facing this world, Confucius advocated benevolence, righteousness, propriety and righteousness, so as to restore and enhance people's blood relationship, adjust the political relationship within the ruling class and between the ruling class and the ruled class, and then stabilize society and ensure people's production and life. The content and function of Confucius' Book of Rites are "propriety and righteousness are discipline, monarch and minister are right, father and son are right, brother is right, and husband and wife are right".
As one of the main contents of Confucius' thought, "Li" is common in Confucius' discourse. There are 75 references to "ceremony" in The Analects of Confucius, covering 39 chapters. According to different situations, different norms and meanings of "ceremony" are derived. Confucius said: "There are six books ... mourning is the foundation ... residence is the foundation, and inheritance is the foundation ..." He further elaborated: "Can comity be the foundation of the country? He you! Can't comity be the country, such as courtesy? " He emphasized the importance of "courtesy" in governing the country. He believes that "governing the people with peace is not good at courtesy." Why do you say that? Because "the princes are so suspicious of the emblem that they think that the people are also in the square, so the nobles are equal, the clothes are different, and the court has a position, so the people give in." In view of the social reality at that time, Confucius believed that "the monarch and the minister are in harmony, the art is devoted to the work, and the ceremony is also ok." This reflects his political tendency-the thought of great unification. He put the spirit of "benevolent love" into "ceremony" and called "without my love, there are chapters from top to bottom" as "knowing ceremony" He warned the rulers to act according to the ceremony, treat the people with "courtesy" and make the people "ashamed and respectful" so as to follow the rules of ceremony. The so-called "when the ceremony is held, the husband and the people will see the ceremony, and they will not help up and down. If they don't help, they will be happy, and if they don't worry, they will be chaotic." So as to achieve the harmonious realm of "rule by courtesy", that is, "rule the world by courtesy".
Why did Confucius just "gain and lose" the Zhou Li and form its "ceremony"? This is because, although he can speak "Li Xia" and "Li Yin", he is "insufficient", which is due to "lack of literature". So he said: "Zhou Jian is the second generation, he is depressed!" " I am from Zhou. "The ceremony he inherited was a relatively standardized ceremony at that time, emphasizing hierarchy, which was no different in slave society or feudal society. Confucius could not surpass the times because of the limitations of his time. However, after all, he saw the inevitable trend of feudalism replacing slavery. Therefore, his "courtesy" infiltrated the spirit of the times of "benevolence" and put forward "benevolence is also", thus affirming that man is a "person" rather than a thing.
Confucius advocated "Fu Li" and achieved certain results. As the saying goes, "Zhong Ni is a statesman of Lu, and his teaching never forgets ..." There are 70 disciples of Confucius and 3,000 disciples, all of whom are filial, and their words are articles, behavioral instruments and examples.
For a long time, many people in academic circles regarded Confucius' political thoughts as "retro" and "historical retrogression". This is debatable. As can be seen from the above, the mainstream of Confucius' thought is not retro, but improvement and innovation. Mencius called Confucius "a saint at that time", which is a very pertinent evaluation. In fact, Confucius innovated in ancient times by the slogan of restoring Zhou rites. Although Confucius "knows what he can't do" and runs into a wall everywhere because of difficulties, there are also reasonable positive factors in his subjective thoughts. He used "benevolence" to give "ceremony" new content, instead of mechanically copying all complicated etiquette forms. He established all the laws and regulations of Yin and Zhou rulers to maintain the ruling order and hierarchy by destiny and theocracy, and made reasonable transformation and explanation of them by humanitarianism and rationalism in real life, which made people happy to accept them, thus adjusting the chaotic social order and establishing a harmonious society that emphasized "propriety and righteousness".
As a world cultural celebrity, Confucius has gone down in history. His thoughts were even used for reference by some industrial societies in East Asia. His thoughts of "benevolence" and "propriety" have far-reaching influence on later generations.
First of all, Confucius' thought of "benevolence" adapted to the historical trend of slave liberation. It was progressive humanitarianism. In the long historical process of later generations, due to the influence of this thought, on the one hand, people's mutual assistance and unity in social life constitute the fine moral tradition of the Chinese nation. Confucius advocated that "people with lofty ideals should be benevolent, not for survival". After different times, it has become an ideal morality and common sense of the nation: for the benefit of the nation and the country, he would rather sacrifice his life than pity. At the same time, the idea of "benevolence" was reasonably absorbed by some progressive thinkers in history and became a spiritual weapon to criticize, expose and condemn feudal rulers. Many people with lofty ideals who love the country and the people have used the word "benevolence" to strengthen their will and achieved an epic cause. For example, Yue Fei, Wen Tianxiang and Tan Sitong, one of the six gentlemen in the Reform Movement of 1898, are such typical examples. Comrade Liu Shaoqi once said, "When necessary, it is natural for most countries that have produced party member to' sacrifice their lives for benevolence' and' sacrifice their lives for righteousness'". Therefore, countless glorious party member and revolutionary martyrs like Zhao Yiman, Liu Hulan, Dong Cunrui and Huang Jiguang gave their precious lives for the greatest liberation cause of mankind without hesitation. On the other hand, in the long history of class struggle, in the feudal society of more than two thousand years, "benevolence" won the favor of rulers. They use it to serve themselves, deceive the people, paralyze the class consciousness of the working people, reconcile class contradictions, and use it as a cover for exploiting and oppressing the people, disintegrating the working people's will to struggle. For example, Zeng Guofan, the executioner who suppressed the revolution of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, advocated benevolence, saying that "Confucius teaches people more than benevolence" and that "benevolence" can "level my feelings and interest everything". But he slaughtered the soldiers of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom crazily and never relented. Here, Confucius' thought of "benevolence" was changed beyond recognition. In this regard, Comrade Li Dazhao once pointed out during the May Fourth Movement: "... Confucius' cloud is not a personal name, but an idol to protect the monarch. It is not clear that Confucius was born today and advocated freedom. However, the spirit of his theory is no longer suitable for the spirit of today's times: therefore, it was not himself who slapped Confucius, but the authority of the idols carved by Confucius for emperors of past dynasties; Not to slap Confucius, but to slap the soul of authoritarian politics. "
Secondly, the proposition of "Benevolence of Man" put forward by Confucius shows strong subjectivity, and it is undoubtedly the most realistic and progressive to make a horizontal comparison with Greek and Indian cultures that advocated that man's essence was God's creation and gift at that time. This is the first time in human history to reveal the law of human relations. Therefore, it is undoubtedly correct for us to emphasize giving full play to people's subjective initiative and respecting individual personality today. However, it is not feasible to emphasize individual will blindly and engage in "individual standard". Because everything can only be done in the social network, people must live in a certain society and be restricted by social politics, culture, laws and regulations and moral norms. This is the true meaning of Confucius' "benevolence".
Thirdly, Confucius regards filial piety as the foundation of benevolence, which will certainly have a positive impact on the affinity and tolerance of family and society, but it will easily make some people's psychological quality younger and weaker. Because in the corresponding relationship between father and son, husband and wife, brother, monarch, minister and people, responsibility and obligation are given to the latter, and dignity and rights are given to the former. Therefore, no matter how mature a person is, he will never grow up in front of "adults" and always feel ignorant in front of the chief executive. This situation still exists today. The psychological quality of young people and weakened people will often waste a person's most talented time, cultivate people's dependence and dampen people's enterprising spirit.
Fourth, what Confucius called "benevolence" is the love of "universal love" and the love of difference from near to far. Benevolence is a moral principle under the hierarchy. Benevolence is not asking for the elimination of class differences, but affirming class differences. But benevolence has the significance of opposing tyranny. This has a relatively progressive significance and far-reaching influence in history. For thousands of years, the broad masses of working people have often regarded "benevolence" as the criterion for judging politics, called tyranny and tyranny "ruthlessness" and called good governance "benevolent politics"; At the same time, "benevolence" is often used as a standard to evaluate people's moral quality, such as saying that someone is kind, kind, kind and kind.
Fifth, the function of Confucius rites is to close people's ethical relations and improve people's social relations. In a narrow sense, it does have the function of maintaining normal social order and ethics. Even in today's spiritual civilization construction, it is still worth promoting. Acting according to etiquette can put an end to many ills. For example, Jia Yi once said in the Han Dynasty: "The philosophers were forbidden before the generals, and the legalists were forbidden after themselves". The hierarchical relationship stipulated by the etiquette system makes individuals have a strong sense of belonging, which is characterized by being subject to others in personality and actually being subject to power. In the process of standardizing, preaching and edifying rituals, people tend to be satisfied, conservative and self-denying, with the advantages of honesty and simplicity, thus developing the inertia of not making progress and following the rules. Therefore, the Enlightenment in modern China often reveals the truth from the anti-ceremony, calling for people's awakening.
The ritual system has long been washed away by the historical torrent, but the remnants of some traditional ideologies associated with the ritual system, such as hierarchical concept, attachment psychology, bloodline theory and paternalism, have become serious obstacles in the process of China's modernization.
Sixth, etiquette has a great influence on people's way of thinking. Rites have changed from behavioral norms to ideological barriers, resulting in hierarchical thinking. Confucius said, "see no evil, don't listen to evil, don't say evil, and don't move if you are evil." . Under the bondage of ceremony, people's right to know is restricted by ceremony, and people can't go beyond their social status to discuss problems. Politically, it is "not in place, not seeking politics." The so-called "meat eaters ask for it, what?" In this way, the main task of people's understanding is to explain etiquette norms, rather than breaking through "norms" to explore new problems. In the history of China, etiquette has severely restricted the thought.
In a word, Confucius' thoughts of "benevolence" and "propriety" have many places worth summarizing and discussing. Comrade Mao Zedong once said: "Our nation has a history of thousands of years ... We are Marxist historians and should not cut off history. From Confucius to Sun Yat-sen, we should sum up and inherit this precious heritage. This is of great help to guide the current big movement. " In other words, the study of Confucius' thought should not be limited to discovering the original truth of Confucius' thought, but should further study and compare Confucius' thought after the "gains and losses" of later Confucianism and rulers, reasonably abolish it and inherit excellent cultural heritage.