Zhu studied Confucianism and formed his own system. Later, people called his theory Zhu Cheng Neo-Confucianism. Most of his contributions to later generations are related to his thoughts and what he did to publicize his thoughts.
His theory was very popular with later rulers. In order to publicize his theory, Zhu Guang recruited disciples and built an academy. Bailudong Academy and Yuelu Academy, founded by Zhu at that time, are now one of the four major academies in China and the national key cultural relics protection units. He preached that the "Four Books" in ancient times were classic books that scholars must read, which made them textbooks in feudal society, and later scientific research had to choose test sites from them.
These two points made great contributions at that time. The two academies trained many talents for the country, and the following four books also enabled the students at that time to concentrate on their studies. Although the Four Books are no longer applicable today, we have to say that Zhu's thoughts at that time were still very advanced.
Zhu also established Neo-Confucianism. Even today, it is very advanced and a kind of materialism. He believes that "reason" exists above the society, including the universe, natural laws and ethics, and is the standard to measure whether human behavior is appropriate. Those who break "reason" and do whatever they want will be punished. On this basis, it is proposed that the motion and stillness of things are infinite and inseparable.
This materialistic thought is the main thought of dialectics today, which breaks the wrong idealism in the past and is also one of Zhu's important contributions.
Although some of Zhu's ideas have been criticized by later generations, we have to say that many of his ideas are still relatively advanced, and even now, they are still worth learning.
Zhu's philosophical thoughts:
Zhu, a famous Neo-Confucianism scholar in the Southern Song Dynasty, inherited and developed Neo-Confucianism on the basis of Er Cheng, which belongs to objective idealism and has a great influence on the development of later generations.
Zhu's philosophical thought is manifested in the theory of regulating qi, the view of movement and static, the theory of human nature and so on. Among them, the theory of regulating qi is Zhu's most famous theory. Er Cheng was the founder of Neo-Confucianism in the Southern Song Dynasty, and Zhu was his disciple, so he later inherited and developed Neo-Confucianism on the basis of Er Cheng, borrowed from the ideological system of Buddhism and Taoism, and formed a huge system. Zhu's so-called reason is Tai Chi, which is the sum of all things in heaven and earth, that is, Tai Chi gives birth to all things. Everyone and objects have a complete reason as the basis of existence. Qi is another category in Zhu's philosophical system, which is tangible and traceable, and is the material that casts everything. There are primary and secondary points between reason and qi, with reason first, qi second, reason first and qi as the object.
Zhu's "view of motion and static" regards motion and static as an infinite chain process, and this process is infinite, and motion and static are inseparable and interrelated. It can be seen that Zhu's thought has certain dialectical views. In addition, he also discussed that there are two forms of movement, which he called "change" and "transformation".
"Knowing everything" is to discuss the epistemological problems in philosophy with the proposition of "knowing everything" in universities. Zhu believes that people's understanding must be based on "the prophet, and then ignore the knowledge". From the source of knowledge, knowledge comes first; From the social effect, action is more important than knowledge, and knowledge and action influence each other. The more you know, the easier it is to act. If you practice and do it yourself, you will know better.
On the theory of human nature, Zhu put forward the idea of "preserving righteousness and destroying human desires", acknowledging that people have legitimate desires for material life and opposing the absolute advocacy of Buddhism for "no desires", but everything should be based on justice.
Zhu's four books:
The four books refer to the Great Learning, The Doctrine of the Mean, The Analects of Confucius and Mencius. Zhu was a famous thinker, philosopher and philosopher in the Southern Song Dynasty. He combined The Great Learning, The Doctrine of the Mean, The Analects of Confucius, Mencius and The Five Classics into A Collection of Notes on Four Books, which is the most famous in the history of China literature development.
Notes on Four Books and Four Sentences
Notes to Four Books, namely Notes to Four Books, are divided into chapters and sentences of the University, chapters and sentences of the Doctrine of the Mean, notes to the Analects of Confucius and notes to Mencius. For the first time, Zhu juxtaposed The Great Learning, The Doctrine of the Mean and The Analects of Confucius and Mencius, with a total volume of 19, of which four books are very detailed, with unique viewpoints, emphasis on righteousness and reason, no empty talk and practical application. Some people commented that "inheriting the classics and enlightening group learning and teaching from generation to generation" provided a solid foundation for the composition of China's traditional culture.
The development of Confucianism can be traced back to the pre-Qin period. Qin Shihuang paid more attention to the law than Confucianism, and even "burned books to bury Confucianism", which made the development of Confucianism encounter an unprecedented blow. Until the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, he advocated "ousting a hundred schools of thought and respecting Confucianism alone". Since then, Confucius' thoughts have been highly praised by emperors of past dynasties, The Analects of Confucius has become the mainstream, and the apotheosis of Confucian schools has also started from this time. However, Zhu spent almost half his life studying the Four Books and finally wrote the Notes on the Four Books. After his repeated textual research, the "Four Books" are very complete and well organized. When commenting, Zhu, unlike other scholars, paid attention to the theory of righteousness and reason, and constructed the skeleton of his whole ideological system with the philosophy of four books. Therefore, The Notes on Four Books is not only a new height of Confucianism, but also a new height of the history of Zhu literature.
Zhu's reading method:
Zhu was a famous Neo-Confucianism and educator in the Southern Song Dynasty. The 24-character Zhuzi pronunciation invented by him is the most influential ancient pronunciation. This content is: step by step, read carefully, swim with an open mind, observe yourself carefully, work hard, respect and keep your ambition. These twenty-four words provide a good reading method for future generations. As long as you are strict with yourself according to Zhu's methods, you can quickly master the knowledge in the book.
Step by step is what Zhu particularly emphasized. Reading must start from the basics, and you must not be sloppy and eager to achieve success. According to their own situation, in line with their own cognitive laws, word for word repeated research. Only by mastering the basic knowledge of books in a down-to-earth manner can we have our own unique views on the contents of books. Intensive reading means not only reading thoroughly, but also mastering. After mastering it, you must think, so that you can understand the essence of the book, which is similar to "reading it a hundred times" Swimming with an open mind means that when reading, you should carefully ponder the meaning expressed in the book. Don't go with the flow when you encounter problems you don't understand. You can draw a conclusion after careful thinking, and then study and chew these questions and answers carefully.
Observing yourself is to combine reading with your own experience and experience, and to combine the knowledge in the book with reality. You can't take what you have learned to heart. Only when it is applied to life can the value of books be reflected. Pay close attention to your strength, that is, study hard, never relax, have a sense of urgency, and you can't fish for three days and dry the net for two days. To be respectful is to do it sincerely, to have a correct attitude and to adhere to principles. We should also have a lofty reading goal, and persevere towards this goal, keep learning and keep learning new knowledge.
Zhu's influence on later generations;
Zhu has a great influence on later generations, with both advantages and disadvantages.
Zhu's Neo-Confucianism theory is his greatest achievement. He believes that "reason" means mountains and rivers, birds and animals, insects and fish, changes in the four seasons, benevolence, righteousness, courtesy and wisdom. These are the laws that exist in the world and cannot be destroyed. Everyone's every move must be bound by the law, and those who violate the law will be punished by nature and society. "Reason" and "desire" are opposite. Desire is only allowed within the normal range, and it should be forbidden beyond the normal range. This theory was abridged by the rulers to restrain the people. In the short term, it is conducive to the rulers to manage the people, so that the people can keep their position and achieve the goal of national stability; In the long run, people's normal desires cannot be realized, people have no enthusiasm, and they do things negatively, which is not conducive to social development.
The "Four Books" proposed by Zhu are the four ancient books of China. He believes that these four books are classics that scholars must read, and they cannot be called scholars without reading them. These four books later became compulsory textbooks in feudal society. Every imperial examination was based on these four books, and the reader's thoughts were imprisoned by these four books until the end of feudal society.
Zhu's "Three Cardinals and Five Permits" defines the difference between people, that is, the monarch, minister, father and son, husband and wife should obey what they should do, and ministers should absolutely obey the king, children, parents, wife and husband, which restricts the relationship between people to a certain extent and plays a positive role in maintaining social order in the short term. In the long run, it stifles people's natural desires and makes people become pedantic.