What is the difference between Confucius' and Laozi's views on rituals?

When it comes to Chinese culture, the two giants of history, Confucius and Laozi, are like two insurmountable peaks that future generations can only look up to.

These two saints, one is the founder of Confucianism, known as the "supreme master", and one is the founder of Taoism, the founder of Chinese philosophy, the pioneer of Chinese philosophy, the first to lead the Chinese philosophy to the pinnacle of the field of philosophy. Without either of them, Chinese culture would be missing the most important part and would be overshadowed. However, it is undeniable that there are many differences between the ideas of Confucius and Laozi. Today, let's talk about this about the two sages.

The two men had different views on "etiquette".

Confucius once asked Laozi about rituals. This incident once aroused a heated debate to prove its authenticity. After examination, it was proven that Confucius asked Laozi for advice. Moreover, he asked Laozi about the specifics of "rites". It can be seen that the two were very close, and both sages were very interested in rituals. Lao Zi had been the Zhou Dynasty's "history of the guardian", and was familiar with the specific contents of the Zhou rituals, which were a complete set of social systems and different rituals.

While Confucius and Laozi were both very familiar with and interested in the Zhou rituals, their views on the rituals were very different.

In the eyes of Confucius, the "rites" clearly define the norms of speech and behavior of people of different status, different status, and even the wedding and funeral of such a short matter of the family have to be rules, have to be done in accordance with the rules, beyond the rules is "tolerable" of the big things, and even the status of the people who have to do something, and even the rules of the people who have to do something. Big things, and even what status of people appreciate, use what kind of music also have clear requirements, if the minister to use the monarch of that level of standard music, is treason, disobedience and offense.

So, in the Analects of Confucius, it is recorded that Confucius said, "If you don't learn the rites, you can't stand on your own feet", and he regarded the "rites" as an important means to maintain the social order of the country, and the people's living in peace and happiness, and therefore, Confucius' whole life was used to Therefore, Confucius devoted his life to "restoring the rites", which means restoring the Zhou rites and the social norms formulated at the beginning of the Zhou Dynasty. Restoring the Zhou rites was also Confucius' political ideal and political ambition.

What was Laozi's attitude toward the Zhou rituals?

Lao Zi said in the Tao Te Ching: "Rites are the thin end of loyalty and the first of chaos. It can be seen that Laozi's attitude towards rituals is not as loving as that of Confucius.

In fact, the official Lao Zi did was a position in charge of the Zhou rituals, so he was very familiar with the Zhou rituals to understand, and Confucius would ask him for advice on this opposite.

What did Laozi think of the job he had been doing before he retired? He believed that a truly good society is one in which everyone spontaneously speaks of loyalty, faith and morality, and that there is no need for an artificially formulated set of social orders, codes of speech and behavior to bind and constrain; the human heart will self-restrain itself. If it comes to the point where a system has to be artificially formulated to constrain people's behavior, it means that the society is already sick. Therefore, he said that ritual is the beginning of the loss of loyalty and trust in man and the beginning of social chaos.

Lao Zi was not opposing or criticizing such a social system, only that his view was a little deeper and sadder, as if there was some flavor of hopelessness contained in it.

Lao Zi was older than Confucius, perhaps, he had experienced that kind of ideal society without the need for discipline, constraints and everyone self-discipline, to the late Zhou Dynasty, the kind of chaotic society even more pain, he also hoped to be able to restore good social order, so, in his eyes, the restoration of the rituals of the Zhou Dynasty, is just in order to cure the social diseases of the time had to be used in the form of a dose of prescription medicine, but, in his heart, this is not the the best policy, so, though helpless, it had to be so. That is why he expressed the sentiment that the rites are the thinning of loyalty and the first of the chaos.

In fact, Confucius, Laozi, have a heart to save the world, only, the two think differently, the two take a different approach, one actively involved in it, running around, educating the people of the king, knowing that it is not so and so, a cold-eyed look at the world, incomparably calm and objective, pointing directly to the root cause of the problem, a sword to seal the throat. So there will naturally be differences in their thinking. This difference, leaving the descendants endless imagination space and development space, but also to the Confucian and Taoist thought doctrine has left an infinite development extension space.

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