Confucianism - Confucius and Mencius

Fa - Han Feishendao

Tao - Laozi and Zhuangzi

Mo - Mo Di

Bing——Sun Wu

1. Confucianism:

Representative figures: Confucius, Mencius, Xunzi. Works: "The Analects", "Mencius", "Xunzi"

Confucianism was one of the important schools of thought during the Warring States Period. It took Confucius as its teacher in the Spring and Autumn Period, took the Six Arts as its method, and advocated "rituals and music" and "music". "Benevolence and Righteousness", an academic faction that advocates "loyalty, forgiveness" and the impartial "gold mean", advocates "moral governance" and "benevolent government", and attaches great importance to moral and ethical education and people's self-cultivation.

Confucianism emphasizes the function of education and believes that emphasizing education and lightening punishment is the only way for the country to be stable and the people to be prosperous and happy. He advocated "education without distinction" and educated both the rulers and the ruled so that everyone in the country could become morally noble people.

Politically, he also advocates governing the country with etiquette and convincing people with virtue, calling for the restoration of "Zhou Rites" and believing that "Zhou Rites" is the ideal way to realize ideal politics. By the Warring States Period, Confucianism was divided into eight schools, the two most important ones being Mencius and Xunzi.

Mencius’s main thought is that “the people are valued over the king” and he advocates that rulers implement “benevolent government”. In his discussion of human nature, he believes that human nature is inherently good and puts forward the “theory of good nature”, which is consistent with Xunzi’s “nature is good”. "Evil Theory" is completely different. The reason why Xunzi proposed that human nature is inherently evil was also a manifestation of the more acute social contradictions during the Warring States Period.

2. Taoism:

Representative figures: Laozi, Zhuangzi, Liezi. Works: "Tao Te Ching", "Zhuangzi", "Lieh Tzu"

Taoism was one of the important schools of thought during the Warring States Period, also known as "moralists". This school of thought is based on Laozi's theory of "Tao" in the late Spring and Autumn Period, and uses "Tao" to explain the nature, origin, composition and changes of all things in the universe. It believes that the way of heaven is inactive and all things come into being naturally. It denies that God and ghosts dominate everything. It advocates that Tao follows nature and lets nature take its course. It advocates quietness and inaction, keeping the feminine and soft, and using softness to overcome hardness. The political ideal is "a small country with few people" and "governing by doing nothing". After Laozi, Taoism internally divided into different sects, the famous four major sects: Zhuangzi School, Yang Zhu School, Song Yin School and Huanglao School.

3. Mohism:

Representative figure: Mozi. Work: "Mozi"

The Mohist school was one of the important schools of thought during the Warring States Period, and its founder was Mo Zhai.

This school of thought takes "loving each other and benefiting each other" as the basis of the theory: mutual love means treating others as oneself; universal love means loving others as oneself. "The world loves each other" and the goal of "mutual benefit" can be achieved. Politically, we advocate respecting the virtuous, advocating for unity and non-aggression; economically, we advocate strengthening local people and limiting their use; ideologically, we advocate respecting heaven and serving ghosts. At the same time, he also put forward the idea of ??"non-fate" and emphasized that he should rely on his own strength to do it.

The Mohist family has a strict organization, and most of its members come from the lower classes of society. According to legend, all of them can go through fire and knife to inspire themselves through hardship. Those who engage in debate are called "Mobian"; those who engage in martial arts are called "Moxia"; their leaders are called "Juzi". Its discipline is strict, and it is said that "the Mohist's law is to kill those who kill and punish those who injure others" ("Lu Shi Chun Qiu: Qu Si").

After Mo Di died, he split into three factions. By the late Warring States Period, they had merged into two branches: one focused on the study of epistemology, logic, mathematics, optics, mechanics and other disciplines, and was called the "Moist School" (also known as the "Late Mohist School"); the other branch was transformed into the Qin and Han Dynasties. Social Ranger.

4. Legalism:

Representative figures: Han Fei, Li Si, Shang Yang. Work: "Han Feizi"

Legalism was one of the important schools of thought during the Warring States Period. It advocated ruling the country by law, "no distinction between relatives and strangers, no distinction between high and low, and one is determined by the law", so it was called Legalism. . During the Spring and Autumn Period, Guan Zhong and Zichan were the pioneers of Legalism. In the early Warring States period, Li Kui, Shang Yang, Shen Buhai, Shen Dao and others founded the Legalist school. By the end of the Warring States Period, Han Fei integrated Shang Yang's "method", Shen Dao's "power" and Shen Buhai's "technique" to assemble the culmination of Legalist thought and doctrine.

Economically, this school advocates the abolition of well fields, emphasis on agriculture and suppression of commerce, and rewards for farming and war; politically, it advocates the abolition of feudalism, the establishment of prefectures and counties, an autocratic monarchy, the use of power, and the use of severe punishments and laws to rule; In terms of ideology and education, it advocates banning the theories of various schools of thought, using the law as teaching, and officials as teachers. His theory provided theoretical basis and action strategy for the establishment of a unified monarchy.

"Hanshu·Yiwenzhi" records 217 legalist works, nearly half of which are extant today, the most important of which are "Shang Junshu" and "Han Feizi".

5. Famous Masters:

Representative figures: Deng Xi, Hui Shi, Gongsun Long and Huan Tuan. Work: "Gongsun Longzi"

Mingjia was one of the important schools of thought during the Warring States Period. He was called a Mingjia by later generations because he was engaged in debating name (name, concept) and reality (facts, reality) as his main academic activity. . At that time, people called him "arguer", "chasser" or "famous expert in punishment (form)". The representative figures are Hui Shi and Gongsun Long.

6. Yin-Yang School:

Representative: Zou Yan

The Yin-Yang School was one of the important schools of thought during the Warring States Period. It advocated the theory of Yin-Yang and the Five Elements and used it to explain It is named after social personnel affairs. This school of thought should have originated from the ruling class in charge of astronomy and calendars in ancient times. Its representative figure was Zou Yan, a native of Qi during the Warring States Period.

Yin-Yang theory believes that yin-yang is the positive and negative opposing and transforming forces of things themselves, which can be used to explain the laws of development and change of things. The Five Elements Theory believes that all things are composed of five elements: wood, fire, earth, metal, and water. There are two laws of mutual generation and mutual victory (蜜), which can be used to explain the origin and change of all things in the universe. Zou Yan synthesized the two and interpreted the attributes of the five elements as "five virtues" based on the theory of mutual generation and mutual victory of the five elements. He created the "theory of the beginning and end of the five virtues" and used it as the law for the rise and fall of dynasties in the past, and for the emerging unified dynasty. Provide theoretical basis for its establishment.

"Hanshu Yiwenzhi" records twenty-one works of this school, all of which have been lost. The "Book of Rites·Yue Ling", which was written in the late Warring States period, is said by some to be the work of the Yin Yang family. Some chapters in "Guanzi" are also written by the Yin-Yang family. Some materials from the Yin-Yang family are preserved in "Lu Shi Chun Qiu·Ying Tong", "Huainan Zi·Qi Su Xun", and "Historical Records·The Chronicles of the First Emperor of Qin".

7. Politicians: Representative figures: Su Qin, Zhang Yi. Founder: Guiguzi. The main remarks are passed down in "Warring States Policy"

Political advisors were counselors who used vertical and horizontal strategies to lobby the princes and engage in political and diplomatic activities during the Warring States Period in China. Listed as one of the hundred schools of thought. The main representatives are Su Qin, Zhang Yi, etc.

During the Warring States Period, the south and the north were combined to form a vertical line, and the west and the east were linked to form a horizontal line. Su Qin urged Yan, Zhao, Han, Wei, Qi, and Chu to unite vertically to resist Qin, while Zhang Yi tried his best to break the vertical alliance and unite the two vertical lines. The six kingdoms of the Heng Dynasty each served Qin, and the Zong Heng family got its name from this. Their activities had an important impact on the changes in the political and military structure during the Warring States Period.

"Warring States Policy" has extensive records of its activities. According to "Hanshu·Yiwenzhi", political strategists once wrote "Sixteen Masters and One Hundred and Seven Chapters".

8. Zajia:

Representative figure: Lu Buwei

The Zajia was a comprehensive school in the late Warring States period. He got his name because he "combined Confucianism, Mohism, and Ming Dynasty" and "integrated all the Taoism of hundreds of schools of thought" ("Hanshu Yiwenzhi" and Yan Shigu's annotations). "Lu's Spring and Autumn Annals" compiled by Lu Buwei, Prime Minister of Qin, gathered his disciples and was a typical collection of miscellaneous works.

9. Nongjia:

Nongjia was one of the important schools of thought during the Warring States Period. It got its name because of its focus on agricultural production. This faction originated from the officials who managed agricultural production in ancient times. They believe that agriculture is the basis of food and clothing and should be placed first in all work. "Mencius. "Teng Wengong 1" records that Xu Xing, "the words of Shen Nong", proposed that wise men should "farm and eat with the people, and govern well", which expresses the social and political ideals of farmers. This party also pays attention to recording and summarizing agricultural production technology and experience. Chapters such as "Shang Nong", "Ren Di", "Bian Tu", and "Jian Shi" in "Lu Shi Chun Qiu" are considered to be important materials for the study of pre-Qin farmers.

10. Novelist:

Novelist, one of the nine or ten pre-Qin dynasties, collected folk legends and discussions to examine people's customs. "Hanshu·Yiwenzhi" says: "The flow of novelists comes from the barnyard officials. Talking in the streets is the result of hearsay."

A brief description of the hundreds of schools of thought. , Confucius, the founder of Confucianism, stood out among hundreds of scholars because he inherited the cultural orthodoxy of the Central Plains for three generations. As a result, Confucianism not only has a prominent position among hundreds of schools of thought, but has also become the mainstream and core content of traditional culture, exerting an unparalleled influence on the formation of the national spirit of the Chinese people. In fact, we can say that Confucianism is not an academic or school in the usual sense. Confucianism is the cultural essence of the Chinese nation and an expression of China's inherent value system. It has penetrated into every capillary of traditional culture and greatly affected every field of Chinese culture.

All doctrines, ideas, religious sects, and even foreign cultures and religions that originate from Chinese soil cannot avoid bearing traces of Confucian culture. For now, it's more than that. Confucianism has also had a permanent impact on world culture (we know that Japan and the "Four Little Dragons" promoted Confucianism after they had achieved or basically modernized to solve the crisis of faith and moral decline caused by modernization. Measures to correct shortcomings. The so-called "Southeast Asian cultural circle" is basically a cultural composition model with Confucianism as the main body. It has effectively promoted social civilization and progress in Southeast Asia. With the development of history, Confucian ethics is entering Western countries). . Regarding the classification of the hundreds of schools of thought, Sima Tan listed six schools, "but the main point of the discussion of the six schools is: Yi Da Zhuan: 'The world is unified but has hundreds of concerns, and the same goal has different paths." Yin and Yang, Confucianism , Mohism, fame, law, and morality, this is the task of the ruler" ("Historical Records Taishi Gong's Preface"). The scholars in Liu Xin's "Seven Strategies" in "Hanshu Yiwenzhi" are roughly divided into ten schools: Confucianism , Dao, Yin and Yang, Dharma, Ming, Mo, Zongheng, Za, Nong, and novels, so they are called "nine streams and ten schools". , because the basic purpose of each school is to provide political strategies for the king. Confucianism advocates transforming the people with virtue; Taoism advocates governing by doing nothing; Legalism advocates that faith must be rewarded with punishment; Mohism advocates universal love and unity; famous scholars advocate derespecting Yan. After the Han Dynasty, Mohism and famous schools became independent, and the Yin Yang School evolved into a mysterious alchemy. Therefore, only Confucianism, Taoism, and Legalism influenced the politics of the later unified dynasty.

Many thoughts of various schools of thought have left profound inspirations to future generations, such as Confucianism's "benevolent government" and "the way of forgiveness" of "do not do to others what you do not want others to do to you"; Mencius' ancient democratic thought; Taoist dialectics; The scientific thought of Mohism, the materialist thought of Legalism, and the military thought of military strategists are still shining brightly today. They are the famous "sophists" who also created the field of logic in the history of Chinese philosophy. We can and should learn from it. Learn from the Confucian spirit of virility and progress to inspire yourself to work hard; learn from the Confucian spirit of public loyalty and service to the country to cultivate your patriotism; learn from the Confucian spirit of "making profits with justice" to inspire you to treat material interests correctly , draw on the Confucian spirit of benevolence to cultivate your noble sentiments of loving the people; draw on the Confucian concept of integrity to cultivate your own self-esteem, self-reliance and independent personality; also draw on the Mohist concepts of "universal love", "respecting the virtuous", "Frugality"; Taoism's "less selfishness and few desires", "Tao follows nature"; Legalism's "abolition of private and public affairs" and other ideas. 11. Military strategists focus on guiding war. When you have to use force to achieve your goals, the founder is Sun Wu. Military strategists are divided into four categories: military planners, military situationists, military yin and yang planners and military skill strategists. The main representative figures include Sun Wu and Sima Rangju in the late Spring and Autumn Period; Sun Bin, Wu Qi, Wei Liao, Wei Wuji, Bai Qi, etc. in the Warring States Period. Although there are similarities and differences in the theories of "Sun Tzu's Art of War", "Sima's Art of War", "Wu Zi", "Wei Liao Zi", etc., they contain rich elements of simple materialism and dialectics in the practical activities of military strategists. The theory had a great influence on that time and later generations, and was a precious military ideological heritage in ancient my country. It comes from "Historical Records of Qu Yuan and Jia Sheng" written by Sima Qian of the Western Han Dynasty: "Jia Sheng was young and well versed in the books of hundreds of schools of thought. Emperor Wen called him a doctor. ”?

12. Physicians:

Representative figure: Bian Que

The formation of Chinese medical theory was from the second half of the fifth century BC to AD In the middle of the third century, China experienced more than 700 years. In the second half of the fifth century BC, China began to transition from a slave society to a feudal society and to the establishment of the feudal system, which was a great turmoil in Chinese history. period. The changes in social systems have promoted economic development, and new trends have emerged in the fields of ideology and science and culture, including the development of medicine.