What is the historical evolution of Confucius' Confucianism?

Confucianism has had a profound influence on China, East Asia and the world. Confucianism basically adheres to the legislative principles of "kinship" and "respect", upholds the "rule of etiquette", advocates the "rule of virtue", and emphasizes the "rule of man". It upheld the "rule of propriety", advocated the "rule of virtue", and emphasized the "rule of man". Confucianism had a great influence on feudal society and was long regarded as the orthodoxy by feudal rulers. The fundamental meaning of Confucianism's "rule of etiquette" is "differentiation", which means that nobility, inferiority, superiority and superiority have their own special behavioral norms. The rule of the state depends on the stability of the hierarchical order. Confucian ritual is also a form of law. It is centered on the maintenance of patriarchal hierarchy, and any violation of the norms of "rites" will be punished by "punishment". Confucianism's doctrine of "moral governance" advocates the use of morality in educating and sensitizing people. Confucianism believes that no matter whether human nature is good or bad, it is possible to educate people by moralizing them. This kind of education is a kind of psychological transformation, which makes people's hearts good and good, and makes them aware of shame and not evil. This is the most thorough, fundamental and positive way, which cannot be achieved by legal sanctions. Confucianism's "rule of man" is a philosophy that emphasizes the specialization of human beings, their possible moral development, and their compassion, and treats them as "human beings" who are capable of change and who can make complex choices and who have ethical natures, in order to manage and rule them. From this point of view, there is a strong connection between "moral rule" and "rule of man". While "moral rule" emphasizes the process of indoctrination, "rule of man" is a kind of politics of the virtuous, emphasizing the virtuous person himself. Since Confucianism believed in the power of "personality" to inspire, it developed on this basis into such extremes as "government by men" and "rule by men, not by law". Therefore, on this basis, it developed into the extreme "rule of man" doctrine, such as "the rule of man lies in the people" and "there is rule of man, not rule of law". [Background of the emergence of Confucianism Confucianism refers to the thinking of the Confucian school of thought. Confucianism refers to the school of thought of Confucianism, which was founded by Confucius at the end of the Spring and Autumn period, nearly 1700 years after the history of Chinese civilization had passed through the Xia, Shang, and Zhou dynasties. Confucianism, founded by Confucius, is a complete system of thought that summarizes, generalizes and inherits the traditional cultures of the Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties. Sima Qian said in the "Records of the Grand Historian - The Family of Confucius": "Confucius made the Spring and Autumn Annals in accordance with the Records of the Grand Historian, from Duke Yin, down to the 14th year of Duke Lamentation, and the 12th year of the Grand Historian, and the 12th year of the Grand Historian, and the 12th year of the Grand Historian. According to Lu, pro-Chou, so Yin, transported three generations." Confucius, the founder of Confucianism, said: "To state the past without making any statement, to believe in the past" ("Analects of Confucius") is his own ideological nature. During the Eastern Zhou period, Chinese society was undergoing epochal changes in history, the Zhou royal family was declining, the vassals were getting bigger, the "Zhou Rites" which maintained the feudal patriarchal hierarchical system was greatly damaged, the vassals were fighting for supremacy, and the society was in a state of turmoil. At this time, the intellectuals representing the interests of various classes were very active and became an important social force, they have been on the stage of history, writing books and proposing solutions to the real problems of the society, forming a prosperous situation in which the Hundred Schools of Thought competed with each other. Among them, the most influential ones were Confucianism, Legalism and Taoism, each of them designed a set of solutions for the emerging landlord class to end the division and realize the unification of the country, laying the foundation for the choice of social governance ideas after the Qin and Han Dynasties. During the Spring and Autumn Period in which Confucius lived, the deep crisis caused by the irreconcilable contradictions within the society shook the authority of the traditional culture, and the skepticism and criticism of the traditional culture increased day by day, so even Confucius, who was "an ancestor of Yao and Shun, and a charterer of the civil and military affairs", could not help injecting the spirit of the era into his own system of thought and appropriately reforming the traditional culture, so that the traditional culture could be transformed into his own system. Even Confucius could not help injecting the spirit of the times into his own thought system and making appropriate modifications to the traditional culture in order to establish a new harmonious order and psychological balance in the social practice. This situation was especially prominent in the Warring States period, which was a time of great changes, because people could vaguely see the dawn of a new era breaking through the boundaries of the old hierarchy of inferiority and superiority in the ruins of the old world that had been collapsed. The question of what kind of society the future would be became a major concern of the world and gave rise to a great debate in the world of thought. The hundred schools of thought, representing the interests of various classes and strata of society, put forward their own ideas, and one of the main points of contention was how to deal with the traditional culture. One of the main focuses of the debate was how to deal with traditional culture. The two major schools of thought, Confucianism and France, were the most representative of the exchange of ideas around this issue. They are equal and opposite, and they are all prominent in their respective schools of thought. In addition, there are Mohists, Taoists, Yin-Yangists, military schools and so on, it can be said that there are many schools of thought, in China's history, academics and speech for the age of enlightenment. [Before the formation of Confucianism, the aristocrats and the free people of ancient society received the traditional six virtues (wisdom, faith, saintliness, benevolence, righteousness, loyalty), six behaviors (filial piety, friendliness, harmony, marriage, responsibility, and compassion), and six arts (etiquette, music, archery, imperialism, calligraphy, and the arts) from the "masters" and the "Confucians". The socialized education of the six arts (rites, music, archery, martial arts, calligraphy, and art). From the point of view of the content of education, social education in ancient China was based on the values, habits, practices, behavioral norms and guidelines and other cultural elements that had been formed over a long period of time in the specific living environment of the Chinese people. Confucianism absorbed all these cultural elements and elevated them to the level of systematic theory. Confucius, the founder of Confucianism, for the first time broke the old monopoly of education by the ruling class, changing the principle of "learning in the government" to "education for all" and spreading traditional culture and education to the whole nation. In this way, Confucianism has gained a solid national psychological foundation, and has been accepted by the whole society and gradually Confucianized by the whole society. However, the Confucian school of thought insists on the principle that "the way is not limited to three generations, and the law is not limited to two kings" (Xunzi - The System of Kings). Confucianism is rich in complexity, and the feudal imperial power gradually developed its basic theories and ideas, namely, the doctrine of unification, the doctrine of the ruler, the subject, the father, and the son, and the doctrine of Chinese and barbarians. []The Influence of Confucianism on China Confucianism has existed in China for thousands of years, and still has a great potential influence on all aspects of China's politics and economy, which will not be eliminated in the near future. [The undesirable features of Confucianism I. "If a minister is not loyal, he should die; if he does not speak properly, he should also die;" and finally, it even developed into "if a ruler wants a minister to die, he has to die." This is an old-fashioned, archaic political philosophy that creates an unequal society. No matter how ridiculous a king is, his subjects are only loyal, and cannot be evaluated, let alone criticized, in any way. The phrase "Therefore, the Lord of Ming observes the people, and does not let them observe themselves" not only erases any critical spirit that might exist, but also turns the subjects of the nation into lackeys of the king, serving as mere submissives. Secondly, the king is the subject, the father is the son, and the husband is the wife. The strict feudal hierarchy is Confucianism is more despicable "Three Principles" theory also lies in the division of people into three, six, nine and so on, and this kind of composition is inherent. The class division in China is the "revolutionary version" of Confucianism. In China, the children of peasants can only have a rural household registration at birth, and their chances of survival and development in the areas of health care, education and employment are far inferior to those of children with urban household registration. The fact that the children of high-ranking cadres have more chances to make a fortune in officialdom than the children of ordinary people is also obvious to all. Where does this ethic of birth and descent come from? From Confucianism! Three, "Do not look, do not listen, do not speak, do not move." That is to say, what is not in accordance with etiquette, what is not in accordance with the law is not to be seen, not to be heard, not to be spoken to, not to be acted upon. In a democratic society, people can do what they want to do, see what they want to see, and say what they want to say, as long as they do not violate the terms of the laws and regulations. If people do things that cause new social problems, new laws must be created. Until such time as new laws are put in place, people's actions should not be sanctioned. So the law in a civilized country is a specific constraint on people's actions, not a code of conduct that tells them how to act. Fourth, "loyalty and filial piety" contains the old idea of Confucianism to promote loyalty and filial piety. If it is loyalty to the country, as in the case of Yue Fei, then of course it is more in the interest of the people than loyalty to a political party or a "great leader". Soldiers like Yue Fei, in civilized countries, are loyal to the state, which is the result of the nationalization of the army, is a common meal, is the most basic requirement, is not worth writing a big book. On the contrary, in Chinese history, the army is often loyal to the emperor, so Yue Fei's story is different. Fifth, to hope for a bright ruler to paralyze the people "University" has this paragraph: the object and then know to; know to and then the intention of sincerity; the intention of sincerity and then the heart is right; the heart is right and then the body to repair; the body to repair and then the family; the family and then the rule of the country; the rule of the country and then the world is calm. It is later summarized as: cultivate one's body, unify the family, rule the country and pacify the world. For those in power, if the source of its power is not from the people's authorization, if its power is not restricted, any person to power, no matter how high the level of its cultivation, the result must be a dictator, or even a tyrant, which is also in line with the Confucian saying that "the way of the Lord of the brightest in the Shenzi's persuasion of the dictator also". There are governments in the world that have come to power without bloody suppression, without massacres of people, without reigns of terror, but most of these governments come from countries in Europe and America that are not influenced by Confucianism. Even if the rulers of these countries are not perfect in their own culture, such as Clinton, they still have sex, but the country can be well governed, the people live in peace and work happily, and live freely. Why the difference? Facts have proved time and again, single emphasis on personal cultivation is absolutely can not benefit the people, but must be able to Qi family can, the wisdom of the country. Not only in the history of China, but also in the history of the world, before the implementation of democracy, there is no emperor who relied on personal cultivation to rule the country. Only a democratic system can give the power of empire to the people to decide who should be the leader of the country and the right to replace unqualified leaders. Only such a system can ensure long-lasting peace, universal peace, freedom of the people and social progress. The authoritarian system distorted Confucianism to serve it, and for the emperors, any idea that was conducive to centralized rule was a desirable one. Not only did they revere Confucianism, but they also took Confucianism out of context, for example, by turning a complaint in the Poetry Classic - Xiao Ya - Gu Feng Zhi Shi - North Mountain, which reads, "Under the pervasive sky, there is no one other than the king's land; along the shore of the land, there is no one other than the king's ministers; the great masters are not evenly distributed, and I am engaged in the only virtuous", into a theoretical basis for the rule of centralized power, and which had been passed down for thousands of years: "Under the sky, there is no one who is not the king's land, and there is no one who is not the king's subject in the land of the rate of the land". [] The essence of Confucianism The advisor of the Provincial Calligraphers Association, all members of the Provincial Calligraphers Association Presidium, as well as experts and scholars from cultural institutions more than 100 people attended the seminar, Peking University Professor, the famous scholar Dr. Zhang Xin made an academic report. Dr. Zhang Xin in his speech on the culture of mediocrity made a discussion, he believes that, originated in Shandong, "mediocrity culture" is an important cultural contribution of Confucius and Mencius to the world, in today's technologically advanced still has a very important practical significance and value. "Mean" is to emphasize "goodness" For the concept of "Mean", Zhang Xin introduced his own viewpoint. "'Zhong' means suitable, and 'yong' means doing things in an appropriate way. And when things are done in a suitable way, they can last for a long time, which is 'good'." As a traditional culture, Zhang Xin believes that the "spirit of mediocrity" is to grasp moderation, do things in a moderate way, and strive to stay within a reasonable range. "At the forum, Dr. Zhang Xin gave full recognition to the "Spirit of Mediocrity", which originated in Qilu. Dr. Zhang Xin believes that Confucianism is the core of traditional Chinese culture, and Shandong is the important birthplace of Confucianism, and the ideas of Confucius, Mencius and other Confucian representatives from Shandong are valuable resources of Chinese culture. For the spirit of mediocrity and the influence of calligraphy, Zhang Xin said, "the spirit of mediocrity is the essence of Confucianism, Chinese culture is the spirit of mediocrity as the core of the culture of rituals and music." In addition, the mediocrity of thought on the spirit of classical Chinese art has also had an important impact, especially in the development of the art of calligraphy, the mediocrity of thought is materialized in the pursuit of "the beauty of the neutral" from the two Han Dynasty, the Wei Jin and North and South Dynasties to the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties, has been playing a hidden or obvious role. "There is no need for culture to conform to international standards" For the valuable traditional culture of the Chinese nation, Zhang Xin believes that everything in our country is based on tradition, and he especially emphasizes conformity with tradition. "Only the national is the world." According to Zhang Xin, many foreign thinkers are now reflecting on the mode of operation and the direction of society, and have sensed the potential crisis therein. The result of these reflections is that many thinkers are turning their attention to China, and the focus of their attention is on the Mean Sense. "The spirit of the Mean will become increasingly valuable and important over time, and this has already been demonstrated." According to Zhang Xin, the Middle Way is the most continuous culture in the world, and the most valuable core spirit and concept among China's many cultural schools. "Therefore, we need to emphasize the integration with tradition and compatibility with the excellent spirit of other cultures, while there is no need to blindly emphasize the international integration." 1. The Rise of the Han Dynasty Before Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, both the Qin and Han Dynasties were ruled by the Legalist ideology. After Emperor Qin Shi Huang (260 BC - September 10, 210 BC) burned books and pitted Confucianism against the Chinese characters, which were still in their infancy and did not have the ability to express themselves accurately, orthodox Confucianism basically disappeared. Dong Zhongshu proposed the "Unification of Spring and Autumn" and "Dismissing the Hundred Schools and Exclusively Respecting Confucianism", emphasizing Confucianism as the philosophical foundation of the state and the elimination of other systems of thought. Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty adopted his idea. From then on, Confucianism became the orthodoxy, and the study of the Four Books and Five Classics became the prominent study. At this time, Confucius (551 BC - 479 BC) had been dead for more than a hundred years. Dong Zhongshu developed the parts of Taoism, Yin-Yangism and Confucianism that were favorable to the rule of feudal emperors into Neo-Confucianism in terms of specific policies. In the process of popularizing Confucianism in the Han Dynasty, many social problems were solved. Confucianism favored the application of benevolence in the management of the state, on the basis of which politicians restricted the over-concentration of land and established a sound moral system. They put forward policies such as "limiting the number of fields for the people, so that they can be tamed" and "Three Principles and Five Constants". During the reign of Emperor Wu of the Western Han Dynasty, the feudal state was strong, which created the prerequisite for the stability of feudal rule. In order to maintain the unification, it was necessary to establish an appropriate system of thought. Dong Zhongshu absorbed the elements of Taoism and Legalism that were conducive to the rule of the monarch, and transformed Confucianism by adding the ideas of "Divine Right of Kings" and "Great Unification", which objectively facilitated the strengthening of feudal centralization and consolidation of the state, and also contributed to the stability of the society, and from then on, Confucianism gradually became the ruling orthodoxy of the feudal society. . Throughout the past 2,000 years, the reason why Confucianism has been able to lead the way is, on the one hand, because its ideological core, i.e., the philosophical concept of heaven and man, the ethical "Three Principles and Five Principles" with "benevolence" at the core, and the political advocates of grand unification, are fundamentally adapted to the needs of feudal authoritarian rule. On the other hand, it is because Confucianism has a strong sense of social responsibility. On the other hand, it is because Confucianism has a strong sense of social responsibility and is capable of changing its face according to the changing needs of the times. The fact that Pre-Qin Confucianism was not accepted by the rulers of the time and even suffered a devastating blow from Emperor Qin Shi Huang was due to the theoretical defects of Pre-Qin Confucianism when it was first created. The content system of pre-Qin Confucianism is full of strong, gentle and simple ethical and affectionate colors, which seems to be "far-fetched and broad in things". For example, Confucius's "benevolence", which aimed at restoring the "Zhou Rites" through "correcting the name", represented an era that was gone, so Confucius's ideas would not be favored by the emerging landlord forces. Therefore, the ideas of Confucius would not be favored by the new landlords. Although the "benevolent government" of Mencius has been transferred to the position of the new landlords, his "benevolent government" is based on the principles of "the people are the most important thing" and "the ruler is the least important thing". However, its "benevolent government" was based on "the people are the most important" and "the ruler is the least important", which emphasized too much on the interests of small peasants, and thus would not be appreciated by the rulers. During the period of Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty, the feudal state was strong and powerful, which created the prerequisite for the stability of feudal rule. In order to maintain the situation of unification, it was necessary to establish a corresponding system of thought, and Confucianism then had the conditions to revitalize. Confucianism advocates moral, ritual and human rule, emphasizing moral probation; Legalism advocates "a break in the law", the rule of law, emphasizing the rule of violence; Taoism advocates the rule of nature, "doing nothing", the three have a great complementarity. The practice of governance in the early years of Qin and Western Han proved both positively and negatively that: in the era of turmoil and warlordism, it was difficult to implement the unification of the whole country by the Confucian line, while the Legalist line was able to achieve such an effect; in the beginning of the end of the turmoil, the population was withering and the production was destroyed, so the Taoist politics of doing nothing should be practiced to rest with the people so as to restore and develop the production; when the country was stabilized and put on the normal operation track, the violent rule of strict punishment and harsh law could not be practiced any more. When the country was stabilized and on the right track, it could no longer be ruled by violence with severe punishment and harsh laws, and the Confucian line was preferred. The three showed a tendency to merge with each other. During the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, Dong Zhongshu laid down the basic pattern of the ruling ideology of feudal society in China, based on Confucianism, supplemented by Legalism, and also adopting the reasonable ideas of Taoism. From then on, the model of governance centered on Confucian ethics and morality, supplemented by Legalism's harsh laws and punishments, and Taoism's power politics basically conformed to the conditions of ancient China, and became the unchanging guideline of governance for all generations of the ruling class. Knowledge of Emperor Wu's "Dismissing the Hundred Schools and Exclusively Respecting Confucianism": In the early Western Han Dynasty, the feudal rulers, forced by the social situation of economic depletion and the people's desire for governance, took a step backward and pursued the ruling ideology of Huang-Lao as a means of attempting to achieve the rule of doing nothing. But with the change of historical conditions, to the Han Wu Di period began to implement the political, the ruling ideology is bound to face new choices. Since the rise of the Han Dynasty, Confucianism has been active and developed in addition to the Yellow and Old Man schools of thought, and Dong Zhongshu at the time of Jingwu was a representative figure of Confucianism in the Western Han Dynasty. In the first year of Yuanguang (134 years ago), Dong Zhongshu made the "Three Strategies of Heaven and Man". In his "Three Strategies of Heaven and Man", he proposed that the rule of thought should also follow the "unification" of the "common scriptures and common friendship", and that "nowadays, teachers have different ways, people have different opinions, a hundred different ways, different meanings, which is why we have died in order to hold the unification". "Therefore, he suggested that "all those who are not in the six arts of Confucius' art should be eliminated from the path, and should not be allowed to advance in the same way." Dong Zhongshu was appreciated by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty for his theoretical clarification of the principle of ideological rule by honoring Confucianism. Subsequently, Emperor Wu took a series of measures to establish Confucianism as the ruling ideology. In the fifth year of Jianyuan (136 BC), Emperor Wu set up five Confucian doctors and dismissed the other doctors of various scholars, so that the hundred schools of thought other than Confucianism were excluded from the official school, which was called "suppressing the hundred schools of thought and honoring the six schools of thought". In the fifth year of Yuan Shuo (124 years ago), Emperor Wu issued an imperial edict to approve the proposal of Dong Zhongshu and Gongsun Hong to set up the Imperial College in Chang'an to educate the young people with Confucian scriptures, and Confucianism became the main content of the governmental schools from then on. Emperor Wu transformed the system of selecting officials by stipulating that the disciples of doctoral students with excellent performance could be appointed as officials, and those who had a good knowledge of the arts could be selected to take up important positions, and he also broke the rule of employing Gong Sun Hong, a Confucian scholar from the cloth, as the prime minister. In this way, as the status of Confucianism rose, feudal politics and Confucianism were closely integrated, the Western Han emperors cited Confucian theories in their edicts and court deliberations, and used the Spring and Autumn Annals to decide on prisons in the judicial process. Emperor Wu followed Confucianism and held major ceremonial activities such as sealing Zen, changing the right date of birth, repairing suburban sacrifices, and fixing the calendar, which initially formed the historical tradition of Confucian politics. It is important to understand that this policy of Emperor Wu was very different from that of the Qin Dynasty, in that other schools of thought were not banned after the official school of thought had become exclusive, and the Confucianism advocated by the emperor himself had widely absorbed the doctrines of the Legalists and the Yin-Yang School, and the unified ideology had a certain tendency to synthesize, and thus succeeded. Confucianism, combining education, examination and selection of officials, was the creation of Emperor Wu, which objectively contributed to the social trend of emphasizing knowledge and education, and Confucianism gradually penetrated into all aspects of society, resulting in the basic paradigm of traditional Chinese culture. However, in essence, it was still a feudal and authoritarian cultural policy. Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty used the imperial power to intervene in the academic thought, inhibited the free development of national thought, confined the spirit of exploration of the thinking world, violated the law of unity of thought in truth, and had obvious negative effects. 2. Changes through the ages After the Han Dynasty, the Four Books and Five Classics have been revised countless times, and the original works of Confucius have been completely changed. Confucianism evolved into metaphysics in the Wei and Jin dynasties. During the Tang Dynasty, Confucianism basically dominated, but Taoism and Buddhism also penetrated. In the Song Dynasty, Confucianism developed into the Science of Science, honoring Zhou Dunyi, Cheng Hao and Cheng Yi as the originators and Zhu Xi as the master of the art. Later it gained official status. Much of what is now known as Confucianism comes from the literature of the Song dynasty (960 AD-1279 AD). During the Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties, the imperial examinations were based on Zhu Xi's theories, which had a very restrictive effect on thinking. It was not until the May Fourth Movement that the dominance of Confucianism was abolished. (1) Confucius is the founder of Confucianism, he put forward "benevolence", with the nature of classical humanitarianism: advocate "rites", the maintenance of the Zhou rituals, which is the conservative part of the political thought of Confucius. Confucian culture later developed into the orthodox culture of ancient China. (2) Mencius, a representative of Confucianism in the Warring States period, advocated benevolent government and put forward the idea of "the people are precious and the ruler is light"; advocated that "government should be based on winning the people" and opposed tyrannical government; advocated that peasants should be given a certain amount of land, that peasants should not be infringed upon in their labor time, and that penalties should be lenient and taxes should be thinly spread. (3) Dong Zhongshu of the Western Han Dynasty established Neo-Confucianism on the basis of Confucianism, taking Yin-Yang and Five Elements as the framework and adopting all schools of thought. Its core is "the induction of heaven and man", "the divine right of kings". His ideas were concentrated in the Three Treatises of Heaven and Man and the Spring and Autumn Annals. (4) The metaphysics that emerged in the Wei and Jin dynasties used the ideas of Lao and Zhuang to interpret the Confucian I Ching, which was a kind of negative thought in defense of the scholars. The Zhouyi, Laozi, and Zhuangzi are called the "Three Xuan". Xuanxuanism advocated inaction on the part of the monarchs and the dictatorship of the gatekeepers, and was mainly practiced in Luoyang. It was mainly practiced in Luoyang. Representative figures included He Yan, Wang Bi and the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove. (5) Han Yu, a Confucian master in the middle of the Tang Dynasty, used Confucianism's theory of heavenly destiny and feudal discipline to oppose the views of Buddhism and Taoism from the point of view of safeguarding the feudal rule. (6) Rigaku, a neo-Confucianism based on Confucianism and absorbing Buddhist and Taoist ideas, was the main philosophical thought of the Song Dynasty. Zhu Xi is the master of the development of rationalism, Zhu Xi inherited the ideas of the Northern Song philosophers Cheng Hao and Cheng Yi, and further perfected and developed the system of rationalism of objective idealism, which is later called Cheng Zhu rationalism. Its core content is: "reason" is the source of all things in the universe, is the first nature; "gas" is the material that constitutes all things in the universe, is the second nature. He opposed the "Divine Principle" and "Human Desire", and believed that human desire is the root of all evils, so he proposed "to keep the Divine Principle and eliminate human desire". This was actually a defense of the feudal hierarchical order. (7) In the middle of the Ming Dynasty, Wang Yangming opposed Zhu Xi's view that mind and reason were two different things, and founded the theory of subjective idealism, xinxue, which was opposed to Zhu Xi's. The theory of reason changed from objective idealism to objective idealism. The evolution of rationalism from objective idealism to subjective idealism shows that it has gone to the extreme. (8) Deng Mu of the Yuan Dynasty: he called himself "the outsider of the three religions" and wrote a book boldly denying the feudal monarchy, and his non-monarchical ideas had a certain influence on the progressive thinkers of the Ming and Qing dynasties. (9) Ming Dynasty: Li Zhi is the late Ming "heretical" progressive thinkers, he accused the Confucian classics is not "the most important theory of the world", exposing the hypocrisy of Taoism, against discrimination against women and repression of merchants. He was the pioneer of anti-feudalism in China, and his ideas reflected the demands of the budding capitalism in a certain sense, with democratic colors. (10) The late Ming and early Qing dynasties: ① Huang Zongxi: After the fall of the Ming Dynasty, Huang Zongxi lived in seclusion and wrote writings, fiercely criticizing the feudal monarchical system, advocating the "rule of law" and opposing the "rule of man", and opposing the emphasis on agriculture and suppression of commerce. The rise of democracy in the late Qing Dynasty also has a certain impact. ② Gu Yanwu: late Ming and early Qing thinkers, emphasizing the practical learning of the "world of practical application". Advocated the combination of academic research and social problems, trying to reverse the impracticality of the late Ming academic style. Author of "the world's county profits and diseases of the book", he advocated "practical learning" is to criticize the science, against the monarchy, Gu Yanwu's style of learning on the Qing dynasty scholars have a great impact. Wang Fuzhi was an outstanding materialist thinker, he believed that "qi" is a material entity and "reason" is an objective law; he put forward "qi is the basis of reason" and "the world is only a tool". "the world but the tool" materialist view, Zhu Xi's science and Wang Yangming's psychology, to criticize, he also proposed "static is contained in the movement, the movement does not give up the static", denying the main static metaphysical thought of the science family. He viewed history from a developmental point of view, believing that there is a law of historical development, and he proposed that in politics, we should "keep abreast of the times". Wang Fuzhi's thought shines with the light of innovation. 3. Recent research and development The existing Confucianism (different from that of Confucius), as the orthodoxy of the feudal dynasty, regarded class as the basis of human society, advocated feudal morality, emphasized self-restraint through individuals, and ignored the role of law in social life. Western scholars believe that Confucianism is one of the major factors that make it difficult for Asian countries to accept Western democratic ideas. Attitude towards ancient Chinese traditional culture, since modern times there have been two opposing ideological tendencies: one is the nationalist school, that all is well with Chinese traditional culture, and even the twenty-four filial piety is also uncritically affirmed: one is the Westernization school, all the roots of China's backwardness is attributed to the cultural traditions, advocating that China's traditional culture should be abandoned completely and westernized wholesale. These two views are wrong, our scientific attitude and approach to traditional culture should be to use the past for the present, critical inheritance. But how to "use the past for the present, critical inheritance"? We believe that: (1) the excellent values and principles formed in long-term historical practice can be transformed into the spirit of the times and inherited. For example, the spirit of "heavenly health, the gentleman to self-improvement" in the "Zhouyi Dazhuan", the "Analects" advocated the sacrifice of life for righteousness, to see the benefits of righteousness, to see the danger of authorization, "the three armies can take the commander in chief, but not to take away the will of the horseman," as well as the "soldiers can not fail to carry out the spirit of". The sense of historical mission of "A scholar cannot fail to be resolute and resolute, and a heavy load is a long way to go", the independent personality of "The rich and the noble cannot be lustful, the poor and the lowly cannot be moved, and the mighty and the powerful cannot be subjugated", and the sense of anxiety of "Be happy with the world, and worry about the world", which is put forward by "Mengzi". The sense of worry of "joy for the world and sorrow for the world" and the idea of the unity of the world emphasized in the Spring and Autumn Annals of the Dukes of the Ram, etc., can be easily transformed into the new era. Especially the ideological tradition emphasizing unification is of more practical significance. (2) Some of the contents can be extracted from their feudalistic ideological cores, and their useful spiritual factors can be extracted, so that they can become useful ideological elements for the construction of a new culture today. For example, the idea of "people-oriented". From the early Western Zhou Dynasty's "respect for heaven and protection of the people" to Mencius' "the people are the most important thing, the gods of earth and grain come second, and the ruler is the least important thing" to Xunzi's "the ruler is a boat, and the common people are water. Water carries the boat, water overturns the boat", the people-oriented thinking constitutes an important part of ancient Chinese political thought. Of course, the real connotation of "people-oriented" in ancient times was not and could not be the interests of the people. Today, by removing its feudal core, we can transform the ancient idea of "people-oriented" from the perspective of people's ownership and develop it into the socialist concept that the interests of the people are above all. Confucianism's propositions of "cultivating oneself and placing others at ease" and "correcting one's mind and cultivating one's body" are still relevant today with the establishment of a socialist market economy. Today we still need to advocate self-cultivation and dedication to socialism. (3) The dregs of traditional culture must be rejected and discarded. For example, the female concept of "three subordinates and four virtues", the natural concept of "Heaven is unchanging and the Tao is unchanging", and the feudal hierarchy concept of "differentiation between inferiority and superiority, and the distinction between noble and lowly".