The position and role of Confucius and Mencius in China's traditional culture (for example)

It can be said that it has a history of more than 2500 years since Confucius was founded. For more than 2,500 years, the fate of Confucianism has been uneven. If divided into different periods, it can be said that the three schools of Confucius, Mencius and Xunzi basically belong to primitive Confucianism, which is the earliest Confucianism. Confucius is the founder of Confucianism, and his greatest contribution is to establish a complete system of benevolence. This "benevolence" is the "benevolence" of "benevolence" "Benevolence" is the criterion to deal with the relationship between people, and "benevolence" should be embodied in love, not abstract. We should deal with the relationship between good people by implementing projects such as respect, tolerance, trust, sensitivity, interests, respect and loyalty. From this benevolent policy to Mencius' "benevolent policy", only by implementing "benevolent policy" can we win the world.

The so-called benevolence and benevolence are part of what we call human studies today, and this "person" is the "person" of "person". The "benevolence" advocated by Confucius is to have the heart to love others. Confucius put forward "don't do to others what you don't want others to do to you", which is similar to today's moral golden rule. As my teacher Mr. Ji Xianlin put it, it is also difficult to achieve * * * productism. Some scholars agree with this conclusion. Therefore, this is a very high moral standard. It is very valuable for Confucius to put forward such an idea at that time and establish a set of "benevolence" ideological system.

Monk's "king" is "taking morality as benevolence" Monk believes that "different people have different opinions, and the wise have different opinions, which is irresistible." In other words, no one can use "benevolent government" to stop the unification of the world. He believes that to implement "benevolent government", we must first win "popular support" and the rulers should treat the people with "benevolence". He also proposed to attach importance to the people. He said, "The people are the most important, the country is the second, and the monarch is the light." .

The foundation of benevolent government thought is the theory of good nature. The basic meaning and profundity of the theory of goodness of human nature lies in emphasizing that human nature should first be the social attribute of human beings, not the natural attribute of human beings; Affirming the value of life, encouraging people to pursue the perfect realm of life, with a strong idealistic color, established the unique value orientation of Confucianism.

From a hundred schools of thought to a hundred schools of thought.

To the third master, Xunzi, a master of Confucianism after Confucius and Mencius, the world honored him as Xun Qing. Xunzi himself is not from Shandong, but he has lived in Shandong for a long time and studied in Qi. Especially in the early Warring States period, the famous "Jixia Academy" was established in the capital of Qi State. He is the "teacher who offers the most wine" and has trained a large number of scholars in this "Jixia Academy". This school can be said to be very similar to today's colleges and universities, but it is not a pure undergraduate school, but a school with the nature of a research institute, similar to today's Academy of Social Sciences.

During the Warring States Period, many great thinkers, such as Mencius, Xunzi, Song Shuo, etc., all went in and out of Xia Ji, and some were unknown or not well known by later generations, such as Chunyu Kun, Zou Yan, and other yin and yang scholars, legalists and Taoists. The so-called nine schools of thought, or the main schools of thought, all gathered in Gong Xue, Xia Ji.

As a teacher, he is actually the dean of Jixia Academy. Xunzi once "sacrificed wine for three reasons", and he trained a large number of master scholars, which can be described as a full house of disciples. His thoughts make Confucianism both kingly and overbearing. Xunzi's thought absorbed Taoism and Legalism in Qi culture, but it did not leave Confucius' thought in essence. Therefore, the thoughts of the three masters representing primitive Confucianism are slightly different.

However, until the Warring States period, Confucianism was only one of many schools, or one of nine schools. After the mid-Warring States period, its status gradually improved, and it was called "outstanding learning" together with Mohism. The so-called "outstanding" means outstanding, standing out from the nine schools and ten schools, and being on an equal footing with Mohism, but sometimes Mohism is more powerful.

During the Qin Dynasty, Qin Shihuang adopted the policy of "burning books to bury Confucianism". Many historians believe that many Confucian works were also burned by Qin Shihuang. Therefore, during the Qin Shihuang period, Confucianism was impacted to a certain extent.

In the early Han Dynasty, Confucianism was not taken seriously. In the early Han Dynasty, the rulers believed in Taoism, which was then called "the study of Huang Lao". Because the rulers in the early Han Dynasty thought that using the "inaction" of the Huang family could alleviate social contradictions. Results In the early Han Dynasty, the Taoist thought of Huang Lao was always followed, which really eased social contradictions and improved productivity to some extent. But as an imperial dynasty and the highest feudal ruler, it is impossible for him to "govern by doing nothing" for a long time.

Therefore, during the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, he enlightened many times, and as a result, a Confucian master named Dong Zhongshu appeared. He put forward a resounding slogan of "ousting a hundred schools and respecting Confucianism alone" in "Three Strategies for Heaven and Man", hoping that Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty could abolish other schools and erect the banner of Confucianism. Back to directory >>& gt

Xenophobic Confucianism actually blends various ideological systems.

In fact, although Dong Zhongshu put forward the idea of "ousting a hundred schools of thought and respecting Confucianism alone", he did not actually respect Confucianism alone. In his book The Story of the Spring and Autumn Period, it can be said that Confucianism, Taoism and Yin and Yang thoughts are integrated, especially many thoughts of Zou Yan, a Yin and Yang expert in Qi State. Therefore, scholars in the history of China's philosophy call it Dong Zhongshu's ideological system. In other words, the so-called system of "ousting a hundred schools of thought and respecting Confucianism alone" he established mainly integrated Confucianism and Yin and Yang scholars. So their rule, in the eyes of the people, is in line with God's will.

Therefore, from the beginning of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, emperors of all dynasties began their letters with "Fengtian as the carrier and the emperor wrote a letter". In fact, this is not pure Confucianism, but the result of the combination of Confucianism and Yin and Yang. It was from this time that I personally felt that Confucianism began its own division, that is, after Dong Zhongshu, it was divided into three parts, one was political Confucianism, the other was academic Confucianism and the other was folk Confucianism.

Political Confucianism, starting from Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, almost every emperor went to Mount Tai to meditate because of the thinking mode of combining Yin and Yang of Confucianism. The so-called meditation activity is to tell the people all over the world that I, as the emperor, obey my fate. So from that time on, the emperor was called "the son of heaven". Political Confucianism was actually monopolized by emperors and dynasties.

It should be said that Confucius Temple plays a certain role in political Confucianism. In fact, as a tool of political Confucianism, Confucius Temple did not play a good role, but as a carrier of folk Confucianism, it played a greater role. Some people in academic circles suggested that Confucianism should be a museum. The so-called "museum", that is, Confucianism no longer exists, can only be found in museums and history textbooks If this viewpoint is applied to political Confucianism, I think it is very appropriate. Confucianism, as the part that served the feudal emperors, is really dying out, and there is no longer a foothold in the real society.

However, the other two kinds of Confucianism and political Confucianism are not exactly the same, but different, especially academic Confucianism. Now some people are paying attention to moral Confucianism. Because of the time, I won't explain it here. In the field of academic Confucianism, I personally think that from Confucius, Mencius and Xunzi to today, it has experienced five relatively large stages of development. The first stage is the "Confucianism alone" stage, specifically the era of Confucius, Mencius and Xunzi, which is basically the "Confucianism alone" period. Are there any Confucian scholars who respect Confucianism after them? Yes However, I have looked through the relevant cases of Confucianism, especially some cases in the Song and Ming Dynasties, such as the cases in the Song and Yuan Dynasties, the cases of Confucianism in the Ming Dynasty and so on. And I found that few people really abide by the Confucian system, probably only two or three schools. Therefore, Confucianism mostly absorbs foreign cultures in schools, such as Taoism, Taoism or Buddhism. Gradually formed the second stage, that is, the complementary type of Confucianism and Taoism, which was the most prominent in Wei and Jin Dynasties. Wei and Jin dynasties are divided into two directions, one is the complementarity of Confucianism and Taoism, and the other is the complementarity of Confucianism and Taoism, each with its own emphasis. Many thinkers in Wei and Jin Dynasties, including many celebrities of metaphysics in Wei and Jin Dynasties, should be said to be representatives of the complementarity of Confucianism and Taoism.