The Connotation of Junzi Personality

The connotation of the gentleman personality is as follows:

Confucianism is the mainstream thought of traditional Chinese culture, whose core values are benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and faith, whose goal is to realize the commonwealth society, and whose method is to cultivate oneself and to keep the family together, to rule the country and to pacify the world. In the humanist vision of Confucianism, man is the spirit of all things, human nature is inherently good, and man can progress through learning and cultivation to reach the state of a saint.

And in the Confucian moral system, the gentleman is an important concept, which is both the Confucian ideal personality and the Confucian moral standard.

The term gentleman first appeared in the Book of Songs, originally referring to the son of a ruler or after a nobleman, but was later given a new meaning by Confucius, that is, a person of high moral character and moral cultivation, not limited to those with status. Confucius mentioned the gentleman many times in the Analects and elaborated the characteristics and behaviors of a gentleman from different perspectives. According to Confucius, we can summarize the following points:

The gentleman is consistent in appearance and acts without shame. Confucius said, "A gentleman is open and honest, while a villain is long in the tooth." "A gentleman does not worry or fear." "Introspection without guilt, what worries and what fears does the man have?" "Quality over text is wild, text over quality is history. The quality of writing is refined, and then the gentleman." All these words show that the mind of a gentleman is frank, confident, honest and sincere, and will not change his essence because of external forms.

The gentleman is at peace with his poverty and is happy with the way he is, and does not take things for granted or grieve for himself. Confucius said, "A gentleman eats without wanting to be full and lives without wanting to be at peace." "The gentleman wants to live in the nine barbarians. Or he said, 'Ugly, as it were?' The son said, 'If a gentleman lives there, what is ugly about it!'" All these words show that the gentleman's attitude towards life is simple, self-sufficient and contented, and he will not lose his moral pursuits because of the lack of material things.

A gentleman's actions speak louder than his words, and he acts on his words before he follows them. Confucius said, "If words are not written, actions are not far away." "Act first on his words and then follow them." "A gentleman desires to speak in silence and act with sensitivity." All these words show that the words and deeds of a gentleman are consistent, practiced and effective, and he will not say one thing and do another, nor will he engage in empty talk without doing anything.

The gentleman is courteous and respectful of others as well as himself. "Do not do unto others what you would not have them do unto you," said Confucius. "To be respectful without courtesy is laborious; to be prudent without courtesy is insecure; to be brave without courtesy is chaotic; to be straight without courtesy is strangling." "The gentleman has nothing to contend for. Must also shoot! Greeting and rising, down and drinking. Its contention is also a gentleman."

These words all show that the principle of the gentleman in the world is to treat people with courtesy, to rule oneself with courtesy, and to transform people with courtesy, and not to hurt others or oneself because of one's own interests or emotions.