Do not do to others what you do not want others to do to you
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How to deal with the relationship between people, the relationship between individuals and collectives, the country, and society The relationship between countries and the relationship between countries has always been a major issue facing human society. Confucius's teachings on "Do not do to others what you do not want others to do to you" and "If you want to establish yourself, establish others; if you want to achieve yourself, achieve others" provide principled guidance on how to correctly handle these relationships.
1
"Don't do to others what you don't want others to do to you"; "Don't do to others what you don't want others to do to you"; "If you want to achieve, you can achieve others." These are the specific contents and manifestations of Confucius's thoughts. This is also the proposition of humanistic philosophy about the interrelationship between people revealed by Confucius from the inner needs of people. These propositions express Confucius' profound understanding of the nature of human beings and the relationship between people. They are also the secret of the eternal vitality of Confucius' philosophy.
Confucius said in two places in "The Analects" "Don't do to others what you don't want others to do to you." First, when answering Zhong Gong's question about benevolence, he said: "When you go out, you are like seeing a distinguished guest, and you treat the people as if you are a distinguished guest." Don’t do to others what you don’t want others to do to you. Have no grudges at home and no grudges at home.” (The Analects of Confucius, Yan Yuan); secondly, when answering Zigong’s question, “Is there anything you can do to others throughout your life?” "Forgiveness, don't do to others what you don't want others to do to you" ("The Analects of Confucius, Wei Linggong"). That is, this proposition was put forward when Confucius answered what "benevolence" and "forgiveness" are. The basic meaning of "benevolence" is "loving others", including loving relatives, loving others, benevolent people and loving things. According to Cheng Hao and Cheng Yi, "benevolence" is "the whole", which "means, etiquette, wisdom, and trustworthiness". They call it the "four branches", that is, it is the summary of all good virtues. "Shuowen·Xinbu" "Forgiveness is also benevolence". "Forgiveness" belongs to the category of benevolence. The basic meaning of "forgiveness" is to "extend oneself to others" and extend one's inner love to love others. Therefore, the proposition "Do not do to others what you do not want others to do to you" is based on the assumption of human nature that human nature is good. It is required to use one's own benevolence and kindness to judge the hearts of others, and to handle emotional relationships and material interest relationships between people based on kindness. This proposition contains the need to distinguish two opposing concepts, namely "what you want" and "what you hate", which are experienced from the perspective of human beings' personal subject. All human spiritual activities and behavioral pursuits are nothing more than It is almost these two things that the entire human subject can perceive together. "Doing what one does not want oneself to do" and "doing things one does not want one to do" are "what one hates", and its opposite is "what one desires", that is, "If one wishes to be established, one can establish others; if one wishes to achieve oneself, one can achieve others." "Don't do to others what you don't want them to do to you, that's benevolence" ("Guanzi·Xiaowen"). On the contrary, "Gathering together what one desires" ("Mencius, Chapter 1 of Li Lou") is also "benevolence". Therefore, Confucius's proposition "Do not do to others what you do not want others to do to you" embodies the great "love" of mankind. The "little words" or true meaning contained in it are "general love and charity".
The establishment of human subjective consciousness is when people realize the difference between themselves and the external world, and the difference between soul and body, and then pursue the relationship between soul and body, and think about their own origin and destination. , thinking about the ultimate explanation of the external world and the relationship between human beings and the external world, etc. Man realizes that he is an existence that is different from nature, so he gradually establishes the concept of "group" and establishes the subjective consciousness of man as the spirit of all things. The subjective consciousness of individual human beings emerges from the further development of human civilization. Within a human group, what kind of relationship should be between oneself and others, and between oneself and the whole, in order to achieve social harmony? Chinese sages have conducted long-term explorations. Confucius summarized the results of previous explorations and established the philosophy of "benevolence". In addition to affirming human subject consciousness, he also emphasized the importance of individual subject consciousness. Confucius's thoughts on "Don't do to others what you don't want others to do to you" and "If you want to establish yourself, you can establish others; if you want to achieve yourself, you can achieve others", which shows that Confucius has a profound understanding of the individual subjective consciousness of human beings. In Confucius's individual subjective consciousness, this is relative to the group. Because if the individual's subjective consciousness is separated from the group, it will become an isolated individual. Every individual is an individual in the group. Individuals who are separated from the group may lose certain provisions of human nature. The inevitable logic of "Don't do to others what you don't want others to do to you" is that you should do to others what you want to do to yourself. Regardless of whether we should do what we want or do not do what we do evil, we should consider it from the perspective of human beings as a whole. Don't impose on others what you don't want, and consciously give to others what you want. This kind of personal desire and dislike is the reference of the group. According to Confucianism, only by integrating oneself into the group can one be considered a complete person. "Benevolence" as the essence of human beings is determined in the interactions between people. People who are separated from the group are no longer human beings. "Don't do to others what you don't want others to do to you" means to affirm others when affirming yourself. When you affirm others, you also affirm yourself. The reason why people are human is in the harmony of causes and conditions between people.
In human society, individuals exist as members of the species. Individual survival security, material interests, and spiritual life are all interdependent. People should love each other and should hate each other. Don't do anything to others, give them whatever you want. However, in any society, there are differences between those in power and the common people, leaders and the led, managers and the managed.
The subjects of what should be done and what should not be done are those in power, leaders and managers. They should be virtuous to the people, educate the people, govern the people and enrich the people. Common people should also establish and implement the idea of ????giving and not giving to each other. Everyone should be kind to others, which reflects the love between people and the harmony of society.
II
Confucius’ thoughts of “don’t do evil to others” and “build people to be successful” are based on the goodness of human nature. Regarding the issue of human nature, although Confucius only put forward the vague proposition of "similar natures and different habits", Confucius essentially insisted on the goodness of human nature. Confucius defines human nature as "benevolence", that is, human beings are benevolent, and at the same time defines "benevolence" as "loving others", which shows that the inner nature of human beings is good. This substantive thought of Confucius has been Mencius clearly revealed it. Mencius believed that people's good nature is innate, and it comes from the "four principles", namely "the heart of compassion, the root of benevolence; the heart of shame and disgust, the root of righteousness; the heart of resignation, the root of propriety; the heart of right and wrong. "The heart is the root of wisdom." Among these "four ends" are the germs of the "four virtues" of benevolence, justice, propriety, and wisdom. The heart of compassion sprouts the virtue of benevolence, the heart of shame sprouts the virtue of justice, the heart of resignation sprouts the virtue of justice, the heart of right and wrong sprouts the virtue of wisdom. These "four virtues" are inherent in everyone. Because people have this kind of kindness, when dealing with interpersonal relationships and the relationship between leaders and being led, don't violate people's kindness. The key to winning the hearts of the people is that those in power "gather with them what they want, but do not do to them what is evil." If "it does what it wants", the people will love it, and a regime "will exist if the people love it". On the contrary, if it "does what it wants to do", the people will hate it, and "if it does evil, it will perish" . ("Dadaili·Zizhang asked about entering the official position") In Mencius's view, if everyone brings out his own kindness, he can resonate with other people's souls and communicate with other people's souls. "If you hate hunger and cold, you will know that the world wants food and clothing; if you hate yourself and work hard, you will know that the world wants peace; if you hate yourself and become weak, you will know that the world wants wealth." ("Han Shi Wai Zhuan") In this way, people can find spiritual connections between each other. As a ruler, you should "benefit the people" and "implement virtues to the people"; as a common people, you should be kind to others. If everyone applies virtue to others according to their environment and status, wouldn't everyone be able to become Yao and Shun? When everyone starts from their good nature, compares themselves to each other, and implements the principle of "loyalty and forgiveness", it will be easier for people to communicate spiritually. This is because everyone has the same desires and needs, or as an American psychologist Just like Maslow.
Xunzi believes that human nature is evil, "Human nature is evil, and those who are good are false" ("Xunzi: Evil Nature"), "Human nature is the result of heaven", and the evil nature of human beings Nature is natural. "Emotion is the quality of human nature." Emotion is the content of human nature. "Desire is the response of emotion." Desire is the response of emotion. Desire is something everyone has, from the emperor to the common people. Although Xunzi advocated the "theory of evil nature", he still advocated that you should do to others what you want and do not do to others. This is in line with human nature. Xunzi believed that human beings are born with a desire for profit and are evil in nature; human etiquette, justice and morality are man-made and the result of acquired education. People hate fighting and riots caused by greed and greed, and hate social conditions that are "dangerous and chaotic"; they pursue harmonious and balanced interpersonal relationships and a social environment of justice and peace. Everyone has desires, from the emperor to the common people, because desire is part of human nature. There is no end to human desires. What you want does not mean that others don't want it. What should we do when everyone has desires and there is no end to them? Xunzi believes: "Although the desire cannot be exhausted, it can be nearly exhausted; although the desire cannot be gone, the pursuit can be restrained. Although the desire cannot be gone, the pursuit is still close to the end; although the desire cannot be gone, the pursuit cannot be achieved, and those who are worried want to be restrained in the pursuit. ” ("Xunzi Correcting Names") In order to achieve the goals of "near end" and "modest pursuit", it is necessary to formulate "rituals and justice" to "nurture people's desires and give people what they want". People's greatest desire is "noble things". "Life", "Happiness and peace", "Therefore, the most important way to maintain health and happiness is etiquette and justice" ("Xunzi: Strengthening the Country") through the provisions of "ritual" to satisfy people's desires, and to control people's desires within certain limits. . In other words, whatever you want is only conditional satisfaction. Generally speaking, it is impossible for mortals to do whatever they want. "Whatever man wants, God will follow" refers to the desire for survival and development of the entire human group. Therefore, the "near desire" and "modest pursuit" advocated by Xunzi are very realistic.
In order to better realize the moral practice principle of "do not do to others what you do not want others to do to you", Confucius also emphasized that leaders and managers of governments at all levels must understand and study Human nature is an issue. Without understanding human nature, we cannot effectively govern and manage effectively. "Therefore, when a gentleman comes to the people, he should not know the nature of the people and understand the sentiments of the people. Since he knows that they have their habits in life, then the people will obey their orders." ("The Book of Rites of the Great Dai, Zizhang Wenzhi Official") "With the "Sheng" refers to the good nature that people are born with, and "habit" refers to the bad habits that people contract due to the loss of their good nature. The good nature of human beings requires "loving others" and also requires being "loved" by others.
Use your own heart to judge the hearts of others, achieve your own goals, establish yourself and others, reach others, and achieve the beauty of adulthood. Do not impose things that you hate or are unwilling to endure on others; at the same time, you should do what meets the needs of human nature. , give to others what you yearn for, so that the relationship between people and the whole can be in harmony and coordination, and people's good nature will be able to be carried forward. Otherwise, people's evil (whether it is Innate nature or acquired habits) will grow, spread, and spread, destroying social peace and stability, causing people to lose the basic guarantee of life, and society will no longer be a society.
Studying human nature, understanding human nature and each person’s correct understanding of themselves are important foundations for practicing benevolence. The purpose of exploring human nature is to understand "human love", "the so-called love is creation; the so-called creation is to discover oneself in the object." "Understanding yourself will also understand others." "The world seen by people who are ignorant of themselves is also uniformly gray. Only in front of people who can gaze into their own souls with twinkling eyes, everything will be dazzling. "People who can thoroughly understand their own personality can find all kinds of personalities even among the most ordinary people", "Personality cannot be given, but can only be obtained." , "Only through love can we understand the personality of others. Only by abandoning distinction and rationality of choice, and embracing gentle affection, can we understand the personality of others. Not with improvised impressions and capricious intuition, but with persevering love and "You must love your neighbor as much as you love yourself" (Miki Kiyoshi, Japan: "Notes on the Theory of Life") Mr. Miki Kiyoshi's words illustrate that only by understanding yourself can you understand others; only by understanding yourself can you understand others; Only with love can you understand others. Nowadays, some people seem to be devoted to studying Buddhism, seem to be repenting of their faults or sins, and seem to have good intentions, but in fact they are full of evil thoughts, greed and delusion, and often impose things they do not want on others. Others; some people are too egocentric and law-minded, have inflated egos, have ulterior motives, exclude everyone, and want to monopolize fame and fortune. Such people are unlikely to achieve career success. This kind of person does not possess basic human goodness, let alone Buddha nature. Since there is no self-nature, one cannot know oneself, one cannot know others, and one cannot discover oneself from objects. Therefore, he does not understand and cannot understand the value and significance of "Do not do to others what you do not want others to do to you."
Three
When Liu Baonan, a famous scholar in the Qing Dynasty, quoted the words of "Han Shi Wai Zhuan" when commenting on "Don't do to others what you don't want others to do to you", he said: "Do to others what you want to do to yourself." It must be given to everyone.” (See "The Analects of Justice - Yan Yuan No. 12") "Do not do to others what you do not want others to do to you" and "Do to others what you want to do to others", both embody Confucius' thought of "a benevolent person loves others". When Confucius responded to Zigong's question: "What if you can help others by giving generously to the people? Can you call it benevolence?" He said: "What is benevolence must be holy! Yao and Shun were just as sick as others! A man who is benevolent has his own desires. To establish oneself is to establish others, and to be able to draw examples from others can be said to be the way of benevolence." ("The Analects of Confucius Yong Ye") Confucius made a strict distinction between the two concepts of "benevolence" and "sage" and believed that "sage" "Higher than "benevolence". Liu Baonan explained: Where "benevolence" and "sage" are in common, "both encourage forgiveness in order to grow and nourish all things." The difference is that the scope of virtue of "benevolence" is narrower, while the scope of "virtue" of sage is narrower. Vast. "Benevolence, precepts and love, understanding of the holy precepts, and reading "Shuowen" are the first friendship. Understanding it means that there is no stagnation or obstruction in speech. Therefore, it connects heaven and earth, yin and yang, soft and hard ways, and then you can serve heaven. By observing the ground, I can understand the way of benevolence and righteousness in others, and then I can achieve my own goals and achieve things. If I am not clear about the principles and principles, and I am not able to understand others, it means that my doubts are blocked and I am blocked. If you use it to govern yourself, you will behave erratically; if you use it to govern others, many people will be opposed. , "the great success of benevolence" is called "sage", so "sage" is higher than "benevolence". It can be seen from this that "giving generously to others" is a holy virtue with great benefits, and it is also in line with the purpose of "do not do to others what you do not want others to do to you."
1. Provide moral education to the people. Confucius advocated "guiding people with etiquette and harmonizing them with virtue" ("The Analects of Confucius: For Government"), and opposed "guiding people with politics and harmonizing them with punishment". He believed that only by using "ritual" and "morality" to teach people Only by inspiring people's moral consciousness can they understand their own value and establish a sense of self-respect. Self-esteem is human consciousness and a kind of virtue. If a person loses his self-esteem, he becomes like an animal. Because some advanced mammals have a sense of shame and a certain kind of self-esteem. People's self-esteem is based on people's affirmation of their own value. "Don't do to others what you don't want others to do to you" reflects that the foundation of self-esteem is respect for others. If you give or impose things on others that you "don't want", you have lost your conscience and the rules of life. People who are greedy for enjoyment are not only unwilling to do hard and creative labor, but also simple general labor. So who created his enjoyment and pleasure? Of course it is the labor of others. A person who is unwilling to work but is forced to do so by others has lost his moral character and has become an individualist. Extreme individualism often results in a loss of self-esteem. A world where individualism is rampant is not a harmonious and peaceful world. If every one of us is empathetic and truly "do not do to others what you do not want others to do to you," then there will be less friction, less conflicts, and less resentment between people in society.
To achieve this, the moral and cultural quality of the people is very important. Therefore, imparting moral education to the people, improving the people's cultural knowledge level, and improving people's moral quality are tasks that politicians cannot ignore. In ancient times, people attached great importance to the education of "rituals" and "music". The social functions of "rituals" and "music" are to enable people to maintain harmony and coordination with others, and to maintain balance in people's hearts, thus making people's Spiritual life is more in line with the requirements of human nature.
2. Apply benevolent governance to the people. Bad government and tyranny are always hated by the people, while benevolent government is what the people yearn for. Politicians must consider and understand the wishes of the general public, especially the wishes and demands of the people at the lowest level, from their own perspective and from their own hearts. "Shang Shu·Wu Yi" requires politicians to "predict the difficulties of farming" and then "know the support of the villain" and "those who rely on them will hide" the secret pain and unspeakable suffering in the hearts of ordinary people at the lower level. Politicians must start from the standpoint of loving the people, implement peaceful politics, guide morality, educate the people, and enable them to consciously abide by social ethics and laws; they must enable the people to have permanent property and have the means of production to engage in the production of material wealth; they must make The people should live and work in peace and contentment, be well fed and clothed, and neither hungry nor cold; their wealth should be reduced, fewer corvees should be sent, and the burden on the people should be reduced; relations between countries should be properly handled, wars should be reduced, and just wars that have to be fought should also be resolved quickly. While satisfying the material life of the people, politicians must also pay attention to the cultural and spiritual life of the people. No one should impose on others what they do not want and what they hate, and politicians should not impose on the people what they hate.
3. Giving wealth to the people. Wealth and honor are what people want, and God will follow what people want. Material life is the basis of people's survival. Human beings come from nature, and the determination of self-worth makes them belong to society. Therefore, human beings are natural existences and social existences. As a natural existence, it must be restricted by the laws of nature. To maintain the continuation of human life, material exchange must occur with nature. The way, means and nature of material exchange between humans and nature are different from those of animals. Therefore, human survival needs are still the first-level needs. Therefore, it is the primary and fundamental task of those in power to continuously improve and enhance the people's material living conditions and satisfy the people's "wants" for material life. Confucius advocated the policy of "enriching and benefiting the people" and emphasized that "benefiting the people for their benefit" is an important part of moral government. Xunzi started from what he wanted and advocated "enriching the people through government". He believed that as long as "the taxation of fields is light, the levy of Pingguan City is reduced, the number of merchants is reduced, the labor force is rarely promoted, and the farming season is not taken away" ("Xunzi· With policies like "Rich Country"), people can become rich. He also said: "The way to fulfill a country is to use it wisely to enrich the people, and to be good at the rest. Use it wisely to benefit the people, and enrich the people with governance. If you enrich the people, you will have more. If you make the people rich, the people will be rich. If the people are rich, the fields will be fertile and easy to govern. ), if the field is fertilized with ease, the yield will be a hundred times greater.” (Ibid.) As long as the rulers implement the policy of "enriching the people and enriching the people", the people's enthusiasm for production will be mobilized and more wealth will be produced. Both history and reality clearly show that only by implementing policies to enrich the people can society be stable, the country strong, and history advance.
4. Building a home for people’s souls is an aspect of benevolent government. Material life is the basic need of human beings, but it is not the whole life. After people's material life is satisfied, they need cultural and spiritual life. Cultural and spiritual life determines people's quality of life. If a person has a very rich material life, but his spirit is empty, his values ??are distorted, and he loses the pursuit of ideals and real life value, he is likely to become decadent or even commit a crime. As far as human nature is concerned, everyone has the pursuit of beauty. Everyone hopes that they will not only have a wealthy material life, but also a beautiful cultural and spiritual life. Everyone hopes that their souls will have a place to rest. Some people like music, paintings, and literary works, and place their souls in the art world; some people like to explore the secrets of the universe and society, and place their souls in academic gardens; some people like flowers, birds, and travel. They place their spiritual life in leisure time and space; some people believe in religion and place their souls in the other world. In short, to make people's lives truly human, politicians must create a space rich in cultural and spiritual life for the people to satisfy people's cultural and spiritual life.
In short, from the dialectical relationship between "giving what you want" and "doing nothing" and "doing nothing", we have realized the value of giving, and also realized the true meaning of Confucius' "giving generously to others", that Starting from the standpoint of loving the people and meeting their needs in all aspects is the true love for the people.
IV
From the various crises faced by mankind around the world and from real life, we have also realized Confucius's "Don't do to others what you don't want others to do to you." value and meaning.
Aiming at the global moral decadence, various crimes, destruction of the ecological environment, various regional wars and conflicts, diplomatic disputes between countries, and counterfeit, counterfeit, and inferior products that appear in mainland my country We should draw wisdom from the wisdom and teachings of ancient philosophers such as "Do not do to others what you do not want others to do to you" and "If you want to achieve yourself, you can achieve others; if you want to establish yourself, you can establish others", and use this as a guide for thinking and solving problems. problems faced.
From the perspective of the relationship between countries, no country wants to lose its national sovereignty, does not want its territory to be occupied, and does not want its national unity to be destroyed, etc.
From the perspective of "Do not do to others what you do not want others to do to you", then any country should respect the sovereignty of other countries, not invade other countries' territories, not destroy the unity of other countries, and not impose war on others. People of other countries, don’t enslave the people of other countries, etc. If you want your own country's sovereignty not to be infringed, you should not infringe on the sovereignty of other countries; if you want your country to develop, you should let other countries develop too; if you want your country to be strong, you should also let other countries become strong. etc. However, some countries are not like this. They find various excuses and reasons to interfere in other countries' internal affairs, restrict other countries' economic development, restrict other countries' trade, and even exert various pressures, fearing that some developing countries will become rich and powerful. These strange phenomena in the world happen in front of us every day. If politicians from various countries, especially those in developed countries, could understand Confucius's teachings of "Don't do to others what you don't want others to do to you" and "If you want to establish yourself, you should establish others; if you want to achieve yourself, you should achieve others", Then, the world will be more peaceful, more humane, and there will be fewer disputes and frictions.
From the perspective of the relationship between producers, sellers and consumers, any producer or seller can only be a producer or seller for one or several products. In terms of consuming a large number of goods, he is still a consumer, so they should also understand the principle of "do not do to others what you do not want others to do to you." If you are unwilling to buy fake and inferior products, you should not produce or sell inferior products; if you are afraid of fire, you should not produce or sell inferior electrical appliances or burning appliances; if you are afraid that eating inferior drugs will endanger your life, you should not produce or sell inferior drugs; If you are afraid that eating low-quality, toxic food will affect your health or endanger your life, you should produce or sell low-quality, toxic food, etc. The counterfeit and inferior products that appear on the market today are caused by some people who are driven by profit and have lost their "conscience" and humanity. If they can rediscover their "conscience" and regain their lost humanity, use Confucius's heart of kindness to wash away the evil in their hearts, and use the principle of "don't do to others what you don't want others to do to you" to guide their lives. behavior, will likely be of value.
From the perspective of the relationship between managers and the managed, leaders and the led, they should also be handled based on the principle of "do not do to others what you do not want others to do to you." The main task of managers is to deal with contradictions in various interpersonal relationships, so as to achieve harmony between internal interpersonal relationships and between internal and external relationships, so as to achieve the goals of the organization. In order to achieve this goal, we must value and respect people. Management must first respect your subordinates and employees, so that your subordinates and employees respect you. If you want to be respected as a subordinate and employee, you must also respect your boss. When people respect each other, harmony within the organization can be achieved. Managers' respect for their subordinates and employees should not only respect their personality, but also care about their material life and cultural and spiritual life. Humanism is the mainstream of the development of modern enterprise management. The principle of "do not do to others what you do not want others to do to you" is applied to enterprise management and used to deal with the relationship between managers and the managed, leaders and the led. The relationship is a manifestation of the principle of humanism.
From the perspective of daily relationships between people, it is also very necessary to practice the principle of forgiveness of "do not do to others what you do not want others to do to you." Don't force others to do what they want, don't take away what others love, respect yourself and others, compare yourself to others, benefit yourself and others, be aware of others, and be successful in yourself and things, then you can get along harmoniously. Whether you can understand people, help people, and resolve various conflicts between people using the principle of loyalty and forgiveness is a sign of whether you are civilized and educated. Some ill-educated people will say hurtful words when they have a slight friction with others, and sometimes make the conflict very serious and even commit crimes. The improvement of personal cultivation and the harmony of interpersonal relationships are inseparable from Confucius's principles of loyalty and forgiveness.
In short, the virtues of benevolence and loyalty and forgiveness embodied in Confucius' thought of "Do not do to others what you do not want others to do to you" are of very important value in building a civilized world. It must be vigorously promoted.