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First, the dual attributes of the concept of "gentleman"
It is recognized in academic circles that Confucius' moral thought can be expressed as "the study of sanctification", that is, taking an ideal personality as the highest realm of moral practice. It can be said that the whole content and mode of thinking of Confucian moral thought are centered on the road to sanctification. It is precisely because the moral practice of Confucianism aims at achieving the character of saints that the implementation of Confucianism inevitably requires a social group that can undertake this ideal in real life. In Confucianism, the subject who can really carry the Confucian moral ideal and practice the Confucian moral norms is the gentleman. In The Analects of Confucius, although Confucius often expressed his admiration for saints, he took the personality of a gentleman as a model of life and the goal of practice to educate his students. He often compares a gentleman with a villain to show his value tendency and moral pursuit. "Gentleman with game, villain with soil flavor; The gentleman is pregnant with punishment, and the villain is pregnant with profit "; "A gentleman is figurative, while a villain is figurative"; "Saint, I can't see; See a gentleman, yes! " Sage is the highest ideal of Confucian moral practice, but in real life, people should practice Confucian morality according to the standard of gentleman, and gradually approach the road of becoming a saint.
In the era of Confucius' life, "gentleman" was a general term for the dominant nobility, so the concept of gentleman was an identity concept from the beginning. There is a saying in the Book of Songs: "He is a gentleman, but he is not a vegetarian." . Because Confucius pursues the educational thought of "teaching without distinction" and teaches the character of a gentleman to his students as the main content of education, in the eyes of some modern scholars, Confucius has broken the traditional hierarchical boundaries and changed the title of a gentleman from the concept of identity to the concept of moral culture. This kind of understanding mistakenly thinks that the concept of identity and the concept of morality are contradictory, so the affirmation of one side is bound to be accompanied by the negation of the other. I didn't realize that identity itself contains requirements for specific behavior patterns, and it itself contains certain moral connotations. One of the main characteristics of China's moral culture is that moral requirements are closely related to people's social status, and all norms depend on their status. For example, the phrase "the monarch treats his ministers with courtesy, and the ministers are loyal to the monarch" not only contains the confirmation and affirmation of the status level, but also contains relevant moral requirements. Identity constitutes the premise of morality, and morality is the confirmation and maintenance of identity, which complement each other. Confucius lived in an era of "ritual collapse and bad music", which shows that on the one hand, the old hierarchical order and the code of conduct attached to this order can no longer effectively restrain people's thoughts and behaviors; On the other hand, the more people from the lower classes, the more eager they are to enjoy the privileges that are not enjoyed under the traditional hierarchical system, so as to show their power and status. The phenomena of "Bashu Palace Dance" and "Wandering in Mount Tai" fully illustrate this point.
Although the traditional hierarchy is no longer authoritative, people's hierarchy is still deeply rooted. Therefore, the problem faced by Confucius is not to change people's hierarchical concept into the concept of equality that we can understand and accept today, but to find the basis and scale for re-dividing the social hierarchy at that time, thus laying a more solid foundation for the restoration and consolidation of the hierarchical system. Confucius' inheritance and transformation of the culture of rites and music in the Zhou Dynasty shows that Confucius just abandoned the old bloodline standard of dividing social classes and took people's cultural accomplishment and moral achievements as the reasons to prove the rationality of the hierarchy system.
If we analyze the specific meaning of Confucius when using the concept of "gentleman" in detail, we can see that gentleman, as an identity concept, is always consistent with Confucius. Although Confucius endowed the title of gentleman with more moral color, this does not mean denying the hierarchical content inherent in the concept of gentleman, but re-establishing the supreme position of gentleman in society from a higher level. Therefore, a gentleman is the concept of identity first, and then the concept of morality. The morality in Confucius' mind can only be "the virtue of a gentleman", that is, the etiquette tradition and code of conduct that represent the lifestyle and values of the aristocratic class, but it cannot be a universal morality that reflects the value tendency and interest requirements of ordinary people. The reason why Confucius often evaluates the difference between a gentleman and a villain from a moral point of view is not only to make them personality symbols of different moral realms, but also to highlight the superior position of a gentleman's identity and confirm the legitimacy and rationality of hierarchical order and ruling relationship. In the final analysis, Confucius' ideal society is a world where "rites and music are conquered from the emperor" and "politics is not in the doctor's office, and Shu Ren does not discuss it". In such a society, the determination of rank has inherent unity with the stability of the whole society. For Confucius, rank means civilization, and the lifestyle of a gentleman represents real life. Therefore, Confucius, as a thinker and educator who was interested in the rites and music system in the Zhou Dynasty, attached great importance to and respected the moral connotation of the rank of gentleman, which did not mean that he completely denied the traditional hierarchical order and social identity consciousness. On the contrary, Confucius taught him through his education.
His condemnation of all kinds of overstepping behaviors and his adherence to the code of conduct under the traditional hierarchical system show that he always regards the hierarchical structure of society as sacred and inviolable, and regards the difference between the ruler and the ruled as unquestionable. Only the gentleman is the subject of moral practice, and it is possible to practice Confucius' moral ideal; The villain is not the main body of moral practice, but its role is only to provide the necessary life guarantee and practical object for the moral practice of the gentleman. For example:
Confucius said, "A gentleman who is not kind has a husband, and a benevolent person has no villain." ("The Analects? Xian Wen 14 ")
For this sentence, the annotations have always been vague, even the most authoritative Annotation to the Analects of Confucius edited by Zhu only gave Xie a brief annotation. Moreover, judging from the relationship between the annotation and the original text, Xie's explanation is far-fetched. If it is generally believed that the title of gentleman villain has only moral significance in Confucius, and it is no longer a symbol of status, then this sentence really seems arrogant no matter how it is interpreted. But if we combine the historical background at that time with Confucius' consistent aristocratic tendency, we can see at a glance that the so-called gentlemen and villains here are actually identity concepts rather than moral concepts. This sentence of Confucius only reflects his attitude towards different classes when practicing morality and ethics. In Confucius' mind, the villain is not the subject of moral practice, and his behavior has no virtue, so he can't promise the other party with "benevolence". Although the gentleman is the subject of moral practice, virtue can only be obtained through human practice, so it can't be considered that all gentlemen must have virtue. In other words, the real meaning of Confucius' sentence is: a gentleman has benevolence and righteousness, but a villain has no benevolence; And there is no kindness between villains. Individual members in the group of gentlemen and villains can change their status for various reasons, but the hierarchical difference between gentlemen and villains cannot be smoothed out. In addition, in the Analects of Confucius, there are many examples in which "gentleman" and "villain" refer to the ruler and the ruled respectively, such as:
"Advanced in music, savage; Those who lag behind in rites and music are also gentlemen. " ("The Analects? Advanced eleventh ")
"A gentleman learns to love others, but a villain learns to love others easily." ("The Analects? Yang Huo XVII ")
"A gentleman is virtuous, a villain is virtuous. The wind on the grass must be suppressed. " ("The Analects? Yan Yuan Twelve ")
"A gentleman believes in a man, but if he doesn't, he thinks it's private; Believe and protest. If you don't believe it, you think you are slandering yourself. " ("The Analects? Zhang Zi's Nineteenth Term)
In addition to highlighting the moral attributes of the gentleman class, Confucius also likes to refer to rulers or upper-class people with obvious moral colors. For example:
Zi Gong asks for benevolence. Confucius said, "If a worker wants to do a good job, he must sharpen his tools first. Living in a country is also a saint or a doctor, and a benevolent person is a friend. " ("The Analects? Wei Linggong XV ")
The butcher asked me, "Benevolent people tell me that there is benevolence in the well." Did it come from it? Confucius said, "What is it? A gentleman can die, but he can't be sleepy; You can bully, but you can't ignore it. " ("The Analects? Harmony is also the sixth kind ")
Confucius said, "A good man who has served his country for a hundred years can win battles and kill the disabled. Sincerity is also a word! " ("The Analects? The thirteenth Lutz ")
Confucius said, "Good people can teach the people for seven years and make up immediately." ("The Analects? The thirteenth Lutz ")
The "benevolent" and "benevolent" here refer to people with Confucian virtues in the gentleman class. It can be seen from the reputation of these gentleman classes that Confucius always regards the gentleman class as the main body of moral practice and the ruler as the driving force to implement Confucian moral ideals. It is worth noting that Confucius clearly pointed out that "benevolent" comes from "scholar", that is, the gentleman class. As can be seen from Confucius' point of view mentioned above, a gentleman is benevolent. For Confucius, the gentleman is the subject of moral practice, so morality can only be the virtue of the gentleman, and it is a value tendency and etiquette norm prevailing in the aristocratic class. But these things are not born, they can only be acquired through learning and practice the day after tomorrow. Therefore, in Confucius' mind, there are also levels within the gentleman class, and the standard for dividing different levels within the gentleman class is moral cultivation. The real benevolent people have different opinions, and the wise people have different opinions. They only belong to a few people in the gentleman class. Since the gentleman can't fully practice Confucius' moral ideal, then the villain and savage who are separated from the gentleman have nothing to do with morality. It can be seen that although Confucius often emphasized the moral quality of the gentleman class, his original intention was only to emphasize the different moral levels represented by different classes and strengthen people's worship consciousness of the aristocratic class represented by gentlemen, rather than to change the prevailing concept of status hierarchy in society at that time. In the history of thought, in order to prove the inherent legitimacy of a certain social order, many social thinkers deliberately give a certain class more moral color. Confucius emphasized and promoted the moral connotation of the gentleman class, that is, by aristocratizing it
Another obvious example of moralizing and sanctifying lifestyle to achieve the goal of solidifying social hierarchy.
In addition, we need to understand a historical fact that the concept of dividing people's social status by property is only the values of the capitalist era and a unique phenomenon of modern civilization. In many pre-capitalist civilizations, including China and Europe, the division between the ruling class and the ruled class has nothing to do with the amount of property. And often property is accompanied by status, not status is accompanied by property. Therefore, poor places can be gentlemen, and rich countries can be villains. In Confucius' thought, the difference between a gentleman and a villain has nothing to do with the rich and the poor, but is closely related to their respective identities and industries. One of Confucius' students, Yan Hui, was poor, happy and conscientious, and was appreciated by Confucius. Fan Chi, another of his students, was dismissed as a "villain" by Confucius for asking him about agricultural technology. This shows that although Confucius broke the traditional patriarchal hierarchy, what he replaced this tradition was not the equal values we believe in today, but the hierarchy based on another standard. Of course, we can say that compared with tradition, it is a great progress for Confucius to divide social classes by virtue instead of descent, but we can't say that Confucius has the equal consciousness we understand, and even thinks that his thoughts are more advanced and humane than those of ancient Greece and Athens at that time. The equality enjoyed by the Athenians and the equality we enjoy today are based on the recognition of common political identity. There is only one equality recognized by Confucianism.
This kind of equality of human nature can not only lead to equality in real life, but also defend inequality in reality.
2. Gentleman's Way and Possession of Power
The practice subject of Confucius' morality is a gentleman, a "benevolent" and a "good man" who occupies a dominant position; The gentleman's practice of Confucius' morality depends on the existence of the villain class. Although the villain is not the subject of moral practice, it provides the economic basis and practical object for the gentleman to achieve the cause of sage. Some scholars believe that "Confucius is not concerned with social politics, but with the realization of human beings. "Because this view ignores the background of Confucius and his basic understanding of society and people, it is hard to say that it touches the essence of Confucius' thought. People in Confucian ethics are not natural people in the pure sense, but social people in a certain ethical relationship. Confucian thinkers of all ages, including Confucius, understood and stipulated human behavior from the perspective of society. Therefore, Confucianism regards the existing hierarchical relationship in society as a self-evident natural law and an eternal "Tao" and "reason". It is precisely because Confucius and his students regard the unequal social hierarchy as their starting point and theoretical destination for thinking about all social problems, so their requirements for society are not from a personal standpoint, but from a social standpoint. The specific provisions of morality were formulated by the ancient holy king for all the people, not as individuals with natural freedom and rational existence. In order to make everyone in society act according to the obligations assigned to them in advance by society, the existence of a political ruling machine above the whole society becomes a necessary condition for implementing Confucius' moral ideal. The origin of morality determines that morality itself is not free.
And people who are bound by this kind of morality are not free. In this way, morality has the nature of oppression. At the same time, the pursuit of the sage cause of "giving to the people and helping the people" also makes Confucius and his students regard political activities as the main form of practicing Confucian morality. The combination of morality and politics is the logical result of Confucius' moral thought and the ultimate goal pursued by Confucius and his students. According to Confucianism, it is "the sage inside and the king outside". Therefore, the "person" realized by practicing Confucian morality is not the all-round individual we are pursuing today, but the moral person and political person as the carrier of a certain moral concept and the link of a specific political order.
The traditional political view in the west regards political activities as a process in which social communities manage public affairs and approach common value goals, while China has regarded politics as a process of ruling and educating the ruled since ancient times. Therefore, moral education constitutes the main content of China's traditional political activities, and the concern for morality is correspondingly combined with the cognition of political purposes. In the Analects of Confucius, wherever moral values and contents are involved, the social and political functions of morality are emphasized. The purpose of morality is not self-discipline, but governance. This aspect can be seen everywhere in The Analects of Confucius. For example:
He is also filial to his younger brother, but few are good at committing crimes; 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 being a man. ("The Analects of Confucius Learn First")
Be cautious in pursuing the distance, and people's morality will return to thick ("The Analects of Confucius, the first chapter of learning")
Governing the country by virtue, such as Beichen living in its place, is shared by all the stars (the Analects of Confucius is the second chapter of politics).
Politics is the Tao, punishment is the punishment, and people are free and shameless; Morality, courtesy, shame and dignity. ("The Analects of Confucius, Chapter Two for Politics")
Gentlemen are loyal to their relatives, and benevolent people are prosperous; Never leave the old, people don't steal. ("The Analects of Confucius Taber Chapter 8")
If you give a good gift, the people will not dare to be disrespectful; If you are just, then the people dare not refuse; If you keep the letter, people will not dare to be heartless. ("The Analects of Confucius Lutz Article 13")
A good man can teach the people for seven years, but he can also be brave (Article 13 of the Analects of Confucius, Lutz).
A good marksmanship and rowing are not allowed to die. Yu Ji bowed down and won the world. ("Article 14 of the Analects of Confucius")
People are apt to make gifts (Article 14 of the Analects of Confucius)
A gentleman seeks the Tao but not the food. Farming is also awkward; Learn, and Lu is among them. A gentleman cares about Tao but not poverty (Chapter 15 of The Analects of Wei Linggong).
A gentleman learns to love others, but a villain learns to love others easily. (Article 17 of the Analects of Confucius and Yang Huo)
If we only study these words separately, then they seem to be just moral admonitions from life experience. However, putting these quotations scattered in various chapters and containing roughly the same meaning together, the value tendency and practical purpose contained in Confucius' moral thought are very prominent in front of our eyes. From this, we find that for Confucius, the value of morality is only that it can reflect the status and boundaries of all social classes. Because morality can make a person know his rank and position in society and the corresponding code of conduct, morality has become the best means for rulers to domesticate the spirit of the ruled. As Confucius pointed out, only through administrative means and legal means can the ruled appear submissive on the surface, but to really make the ruled accept the rule willingly, it is necessary to identify with the legitimacy of the existing political order and the superiority of the ruler in his heart, so as to consciously accept the status and behavior norms imposed on him by society. "Good gifts make people good"; "A gentleman learns to love others, but a villain learns to love others easily." . Here, we can see that although the ancient thinkers in China were inferior to their counterparts in ancient Greece in logical thinking ability because of their emphasis on intuition, the ubiquitous and ever-present logic still played a leading role silently. No matter how much Confucius attaches importance to the significance of morality in people's life activities, because he regards morality as an inherent attribute of ruling power itself, his moral thought must take the legitimacy of hierarchy and ruling relationship as the premise and destination of theory, and the morality he advocates must be
However, the existence of a huge ruled class should be regarded as a necessary condition for rulers to solve their own livelihood and an intermediary to engage in moral practice. From today's perspective, it is debatable whether a moral concept that regards morality as a tool to rule others still belongs to the category of morality, and whether virtue can be a sufficient condition for one person to be superior to another, but it is obviously not a problem for Confucius and his students.
The study and practice of Confucian morality is not only beneficial to the rulers, but also to the practitioners themselves, because it is the only way for individuals to gain high social status and stable living security. This is another lesson we have learned from Confucius' exposition on moral values. Confucius does not despise the poor, but he despises those who try to change their poverty through so-called "small business". In Confucius' view, all pure profit-making behaviors have no moral attribute. A gentleman is figurative, while a villain is figurative. But in Confucius' view, the distinction between righteousness and benefit is not the dichotomy of righteousness and benefit, but the distinction between righteousness and benefit. This shows that there is a strong interest appeal and utilitarian tendency beyond morality in Confucius' moral thought. The reason why the pursuit of morality is higher than the pursuit of profit is not because the peace of mind can better reflect the meaning and value of life than the satisfaction of material desires, but because Confucian morality itself contains material interests. Therefore, a true gentleman should gain benefits by studying and practicing Confucian morality, rather than trying to improve his life and status through a "villain's skill", which is not worth the candle. "The gentleman seeks the Tao without seeking food. Agriculture is also among them; Learn, and Lu is among them. A gentleman worries about the Tao without worrying about poverty. " This sentence shows that the so-called "Tao" of Confucius is actually a ruling skill to study how to govern and eat people, and virtue is regarded as an attribute that only exists in ruling activities. Therefore, when Confucius invited Fan Chi to study crops, he was regarded as a "villain". Nangong Lie, another of his students, is suitable for Kyrgyzstan's bow crops.
When the facts of the world proved that it was profitable to do good, Confucius praised it and thought it was an idea of advocating virtue. This shows that Confucius views the value of morality with a pragmatic attitude. The morality of behavior depends on the purpose it pursues and the effect it achieves, and has nothing to do with the behavior itself.
From the perspective of the development of human civilization, it is a necessary prerequisite to establish a true moral philosophy whether to admit that morality has independent character and value that cannot be measured by other standards. The existence of a pure moral philosophy is not only the basic condition for an individual to live a moral life truly related to his own mind, but also the necessary link for a society to transition from barbarism to civilization. In the history of the west, we can see that as early as ancient Greece, Socrates had already started moral independence. Socrates' famous motto about virtue is "Virtue is knowledge". Only when people really understand the difference between right and wrong, good and evil, can they really make their actions have inevitable morality. However, in Confucius and Confucian thinkers of past dynasties, the implied proposition about morality is that "morality is power". Morality is not only used to tame people's spirit, but also to demonstrate the legitimacy of rulers' power. The achievement of moral practice can be the reason to exercise the ruling power over the people. Those who exercise ruling power kindly have the right to ask the governed to provide services. The more obedient the ruled is, the higher the virtue of the ruler is. "Therefore, greatness will win its position, its reward, its name and its longevity. ..... Therefore, great virtues must be ordered. " It is worth noting that according to the logical relationship between virtue and power, what Confucius emphasizes here is not that rulers must have virtue, but that those who have virtue must become rulers and gain various benefits. As a pair of propositions that can prove each other, virtue must have power, and without power, there must be no virtue, which has become the traditional politics of China.
Deep logical thinking of culture. In real political life, the most prominent embodiment of this concept is that the supreme rulers of China in past dynasties, no matter how fatuous and immoral, were named "sages of the dynasty" when they were in office.
Because morality itself is not independent, but manipulated. Therefore, in Confucius' view, people's compliance with moral standards and pursuit of practical interests are not irreconcilable contradictions as people think. Confucius' ideas of governing the country with virtue for benefit, seeking wealth with learning and serving the people with benevolence have deeply influenced his students. Many students of Confucius came from humble origins. They followed Confucius because Confucius' education could help them gain political dominance. They demand benevolence, courtesy and gentleman, in fact, they hope to obtain the qualification to rule others; Confucius' relevant answers also revolve around the central question of what kind of moral means to achieve the ideal ruling effect. Morality is desirable because it has extremely high practical value for rulers and individuals. For rulers, morality can make rule more legitimate and cultivate a social psychology and popular character that is conducive to rule; For an individual, good moral cultivation can improve a person's social status and gain ruling power, thus satisfying his needs and desires in other aspects. Although Confucius asked people to abide by moral standards, he also showed great moral courage. "Being unjust and rich is like a cloud to me"; "Benevolent people are benevolent, there is no harm in saving, and there is benevolence in death." However, because the independent status and absolute value of morality have never been clearly affirmed, his moral admonition and example in this respect have lost its meaning.
3. The dependence of benevolence on propriety and the domination of propriety on benevolence.
"Benevolence" is the central category of Confucius' moral thought and the main quality that embodies the virtue of a gentleman. But what is "benevolence"? Confucius has no clear and unified answer. Confucius will give different explanations and explanations of "benevolence" on different occasions and for different seekers of Tao. In many cases, Confucius just pointed out the manifestations of "benevolence", such as:
Fan Chi asked. Confucius said, "I know the significance of serving the people and staying away from ghosts and gods." Seek benevolence. He said: "A benevolent person can be said to be benevolent if he suffers first and then benefits." (The Analects of Confucius Sixth)
Zi Gong said, "What if you can give to the people and help them? Can you say that it is a benevolent person? " Confucius said, "Anyone who is kind will be holy! Yao Shun is still sick! Benevolent people want to be a man, but they want to be a man. It can be said that the benevolent side has already existed. " "The Analects of Confucius Yong also the sixth")
Confucius said, "The knower is not confused, the benevolent is not worried, and the brave is not afraid." "The Analects of Confucius Zi Han IX")
Ask Ren. Confucius said, "Love." ("The Analects of Confucius Yan Yuan Twelve")
Nakamiya wenren. Confucius said, "Going out is like seeing a distinguished guest, which makes people like bearing 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 "; ("The Analects of Confucius Yan Yuan Twelve")
Sima Niu asked Ren. Confucius said, "Benevolent people are also deceitful." ("The Analects of Confucius Yan Yuan Twelve")
Ask Ren. Confucius said, "Be respectful at home, respect deacons and be loyal to others. Although it is destroyed, it cannot be abandoned. " ("The Analects of Confucius Lutz XIII")
Confucius said, "fortitude, stupidity and kindness." ("The Analects of Confucius Lutz XIII")
In these regulations, Confucius only pointed out what a person with the character of "benevolence" should do, but did not make positive provisions on the content of "benevolence" itself, which caused certain difficulties for people today to understand Confucius' related thoughts. In order to roughly and accurately understand Confucius' specific provisions on "benevolence", I try to extract three paragraphs from the Analects of Confucius that involve the basic content of the concept of "benevolence" to analyze and comment on Confucius' thought of "benevolence".
A Confucius said, "He is also filial to his younger brother, but few people like to make mistakes." It is not easy to make mistakes, but it is not easy to make mistakes. Gentleman's business is based on inheritance and Taoism. Filial piety is also the foundation of being a man. ("The Analects of Confucius First Learning") "
Yan Yuan asked Ren. Confucius said, "Self-denial and courtesy are benevolence. A day of self-denial and self-denial, the world will return to benevolence. For benevolence, for yourself, for people? " Yan Yuan said, "What's the purpose?" Confucius said, "see no evil, don't listen to evil, don't say evil, and don't move if you are evil." Yan Yuan said, "Although I am not sensitive, please talk to me." ("The Analects of Confucius Yan Yuan Twelve")
Zhang Ziwen is with Confucius. Confucius said, "It is a benevolent person to be able to do five things for the world." Please ask questions. Say: "public, tolerant, trustworthy, people, and benefit. Respect is not insulting, forgiveness is popular, faith is responsible, sensitivity is meritorious, and forgiveness can make people. " ("The Analects of Confucius Yang Huo XVII")
Filial piety is the foundation of benevolence, and the five virtues of "courtesy, tolerance, faithfulness, sensitivity and benefit" constitute the basic content of "benevolence". Adhering to "courtesy" is the main way to practice "benevolence". As can be seen from the above provisions on benevolence itself, Confucius never regards benevolence or other moral categories as the basis and principle of all moral behaviors with its own value, but mainly discusses moral significance from a political perspective, so as far as the essence of benevolence is concerned, it only involves the way of governance. Confucius obviously regards morality as an inherent attribute of ruling behavior, so the essence of morality is neither self-discipline nor heteronomy, but "righteous man". Because the purpose of "benevolence" is to embellish a clear social order, its content only involves the ways and means of governance, so "benevolence" is bound to be subject to "ceremony" in real life. "Rite" is the real core of Confucius' thought, the whole foothold and final destination of Confucius' moral and political thoughts, and the completion and moderation of benevolence. It regulates and restricts benevolence from the outside. So that benevolence does not exceed the boundaries allowed by the hierarchy. When academic circles talk about Confucius' theory of "benevolence", they will relish Confucius' motto "the benevolent loves others". However, the "benevolent" love for people is not unconditional love, and the benevolent's love for people reflects his own moral cultivation and kindness. The love of the benevolent cannot go beyond the category of "ceremony". "see no evil, don't listen to evil, don't speak evil, don't move evil" expresses not the guidance of benevolence to courtesy, but the norms and constraints of courtesy to benevolence. As Confucius' most outstanding
As Mencius, the successor, pointed out, the function of ceremony lies in "preserving words" and benevolence. For Confucianism, "there is no benevolence outside the ceremony" can be said to be an implicit proposition, and anything that does not conform to the ceremony will not conform to the benevolence. It is precisely because "ceremony" is regarded as the standard of "benevolence" that Confucius' students repeatedly ask whether Guan Zhong, a statesman of Qi State, can be called "benevolence". Although "Sister-in-law drowning her uncle's help" is the best example of Mencius' theory of good nature and the true practice of Confucius' thought of "benevolent love", Mencius can only use "power" to explain this behavior, but not "benevolence". This concept of "courtesy" as "benevolence" has developed to an extreme, that is, "ethics eats people" From the standpoint of true humanitarianism, we can't help but feel that Confucius' "benevolence" has great defects and limitations. It can neither cover all the good deeds of human beings, nor make people make correct judgments and choices between good and evil.
Confucius regarded "benevolence" as the basis of his rule, and asked the rulers to rule in the spirit of loyalty, forgiveness and love. But this ideal itself is based on the rule of man over man. We have pointed out earlier that the morality advocated by Confucius must be based on the existence of the ruled class, whether from the perspective of moral practice or from the perspective of seeking personal interests, so Confucius' moral thought itself includes the confirmation and maintenance of the hierarchy. Because Confucius can't imagine a social order and life form that transcends the relationship between ruling and being ruled, Confucius' moral thought does not contain pure personal morality. Have you ever practiced morality?