The Analects of Confucius Yan Yuan Twelve

Analysis:

During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, great social unrest caused great changes in the cultural and academic fields. The ancient books "Poetry" and "Book" originally hidden in the government began to spread among the people. Knowledge and technology that can only be taught and taught by people who work for the government can also be circulated among the people, or even mainly among the people. Private lectures have become a historical trend. Confucius is an important advocate of private schools, and he is also the most accomplished, representative and influential figure in the style of private schools. Slightly behind Confucius, Mozi founded Mohism, which is also called Xianxue with the Confucian school founded by Confucius.

Confucius, whose name is Qiu, was born in (now Qufu, Shandong). Born in 55 1 year BC, died in 479 BC. Confucius was a great thinker and educator in ancient China and the founder of Confucianism. He was born in a family with aristocratic tradition, but he lost his aristocratic status. He grew up in Lu, where the most ancient books and cultural relics were preserved and the social customs were very old, but he was active in the period of great social change. He used to be a doctor, but he mainly engaged in private lectures all his life; He studies ancient books and records, but he can "review the past and learn new things". This makes his thoughts both conservative and progressive. He yearned for the system of the Western Zhou Dynasty, which basically belonged to the aristocratic position. He said, "How depressing! I am Zhou! " "I am very weak. I haven't dreamed of Duke Zhou for a long time!" "If you are useful to me, I am the Eastern Zhou Dynasty!" Confucius constantly condemned the "there is no way in the world" at that time, hoping to have a "there is a way in the world" society, and this "there is a way in the world" society is Confucius' ideal society, not all of which he advertised as "the ancient saints preceded Wang Zhidao". Confucius' private lectures are new things in this historical period. Confucius regards "promoting talents" as a main content in his political discourse, which is against the hereditary system of official positions. All these indicate the progressive factors in Confucius' thought.

It is said that Confucius taught 3000 disciples, of which 72 were the most commendable. People respectfully call them "sages" and Confucius "saints". These "sages" have their own specialties. We can divide them into four groups (or four subjects), namely "morality" (moral conduct), "politics" (political work), "speech" (eloquence) and "literature" (articles and knowledge), and each subject can elect several representatives. "Virtue": The representatives are Yan Yuan, Min Zikai, Ran Boniu and Zhong Gong; "Politics": the representatives are You Ran and Lutz; "Words": The representative figures are Slayer and Zigong; Literature: The representative figures are Zi You and Xia Zi. Yan Yuan is Yan Hui, a native of Lu, who has a son, Yuan, who is 30 years younger than Confucius. On one occasion, Yan Yuan asked Confucius to explain what "benevolence" meant. Confucius said, "Self-denial and self-respect are the benevolent people in the world." "Self-denial" is to restrain or restrain yourself; "Liv" means to return to the word "Li", which means etiquette and politeness; "Self-denial and self-defense" is a well-behaved behavior, and you can't run amok. Speaking of the word "courtesy", Confucius also taught his disciples: "see no evil, don't listen to evil, don't say evil, and don't move if you are evil." It means that if it doesn't conform to the "ceremony", then don't look, don't listen, don't say, don't touch. In other words, all speech acts should abide by the word "ceremony". If everyone can "self-control", then the whole world can return to "benevolence", which is the meaning of "benevolence". Confucius liked Yan Hui very much and thought he was a very kind and virtuous man. Yan Hui lives in a poor area and has a simple diet. Others can't stand it, but he can live happily. Of all the disciples, Confucius thought Yan Hui was the most like him, because both of them did what they should do and didn't do what they shouldn't, so the other disciples couldn't catch up with Yan Hui. Unfortunately, Yan Hui's life is short. At the age of 29, his hair turned white and he died soon. Confucius was very sad to see his favorite student die young. He cried and said, "Since I had Yan Hui as an apprentice, I have been much kinder to my apprentice." Lu Aigong asked Confucius, "Who among your disciples loves reading best?" Confucius said, "Yan Hui loves reading best. Not only that, he never loses his temper, and he won't make the same mistake twice. Unfortunately, he died short-lived Alas! Everything is over! "

Benevolence is the core of Confucius' ideological system. Before Confucius, although some people talked about benevolence, as the main content of an ideological system, it began with Confucius. There are many places about benevolence in The Analects of Confucius. Some words about "benevolence" are aimed at the specific situation of the questioner, and sometimes it is inevitable to emphasize one aspect. Confucius regarded benevolence as an ideal moral standard, but he also described it as a kind of love that has the distinction of closeness and nobility. For example, "Fan Chi asks benevolence. Confucius said,' Love.' "But he added," A gentleman learns to love others, while a villain learns to love others easily. " He advocated "loving people and loving kindness" and said that "a gentleman without kindness has a husband." "The villain has no benevolence" and "the gentleman violates benevolence and has no final meal. It is inevitable that he will have expectations and be displaced." Confucius said "gentleman" refers to the aristocratic rulers; "Little people" refers to people who are ruled. "Benevolence" or "benevolence" is the difference between two kinds of people and two kinds of morality, just as Mencius and Li Lou quoted Confucius as saying, "The second way is benevolence and benevolence." The class nature and hierarchy of benevolence are very distinct.

Confucius said, "Man is more to humanity than fire and water. Fire and water, I saw dance and death, but I didn't see dance and death. " Confucius believes that man needs benevolence more than fire and water. Fire and water are indispensable things in life. If you are not careful, you will sometimes suffer from loss, and "benevolence" is only good for the people, not harmful to the people. He believes that benevolent governance will win the support of the people. Confucius said, "A benevolent man wants to be a man and succeed." He also said that benevolence means "don't do to others what you don't want others to do to you", which is the way of "forgiveness". This thought of "putting yourself in the other's shoes" requires the nobles to admit that people other than themselves have independent will and personality. But treating people is based on the subjective heart, not the objective opposite party. In this way, it can't be done in an opposing class society. So when Zi Gong asked, "What if you can give alms to the people and help others? "? Can you say that you are a benevolent person? Confucius said, "Anyone who is kind will be holy!" Yao Shun is still sick! Confucius believed that not only the "benevolent", but also a sage like Yao and Shun could not do good to the people. It can be seen that the "benevolent" mentioned by Confucius is very limited.

Confucius said "benevolence", which means to use blood relationship to reconcile social contradictions and stabilize social order. His disciple You Ruo said: "He is also a filial brother, but he is prone to make mistakes. It's not easy to make mistakes, but it's not easy to make mistakes. Gentleman's business is based on inheritance and Taoism. Filial piety is also the foundation of benevolence! " A man who is filial to his parents and obedient to his brother will not commit the crime of insurrection. Zhang Ziwen is with Confucius. Confucius said, "It is a benevolent person to be able to do five things for the world." These five are "courtesy, tolerance, faithfulness, sensitivity and benefit". "Respect is not insulting, forgiveness is popular, faith is responsible, sensitivity is meritorious, and forgiveness can make people." This is the truth that Confucius, as a benevolent, adjusted the internal relations of the ruling class and eased the contradictions between the hostile classes. The words "be lenient" here all mean being gentle with workers. Confucius also said, "Make people timely" and "Make people like big sacrifices". The former sentence said that workers should not be used in agricultural production season, and the latter sentence said that workers should be used with caution.

In Confucius' view, ceremony should not be just a form. He believes that "benevolence" should be the basis of "ceremony", and only by injecting the new spirit of "benevolence" into the rigid body of "ceremony" can ceremony play its role. He criticized the nobility from the perspective of "benevolence" and said: "Li Liyun, jade and silk clouds? Music rhyme, bell and drum cloud? " "If people are ruthless, such as courtesy? What's the fun of being heartless? It is disrespectful to stay at home and wear mourning clothes. What do I think! "