What does the ancient Chinese theory of human nature include

Modern borrowing significance of ancient Chinese human nature theory Abstract: Ancient Chinese human nature thought has a rich content, its wonderful human nature theory, in the history of Chinese thought occupies an important position, which about the concept of righteousness and profit, "the unity of heaven and man" and so on are reflected in the ancient Chinese human nature thought of the excellent components, ancient human nature thought on the Ancient human nature thought on the understanding of human nature and the realization of the way to the modern value of human guidance has an important reference significance. Keywords: human nature, righteousness and benefit, unity of heaven and earth, human nature, shaping of human nature Ancient Chinese thinkers' doctrines on human nature are unique, and their analyses of human nature can be said to be very distinctive. They debated fiercely about the good and evil of human nature, and the situation of "one person playing a trumpet, each playing his own tune" appeared from time to time. However, there were similarities in their differences, which formed the general characteristics of Chinese human nature theories. Although many of these ideas are not in harmony with our current thinking, there is no lack of useful ideas for us to learn from. I. Ancient China's Definition of Human Nature and Its Limitations The reason why the ancient Chinese thinkers' theories of human nature can be inherited from each other and learn from each other is that the most important thing is that they have a consistent view on the definition of human nature, even though some of the thinkers have some objections, which does not affect the mainstream view. Since Confucius, various schools of thought have begun to study the issue of human nature, and there have been heated debates on the issues involved, but the definition of human nature is the center of their arguments. Confucius once said, "Sexes are similar, but habits are far apart." Yangguo" began the discussion on human nature, because his discussion is too fragmented, and no in-depth investigation, leaving a wide space for future generations, which is also the cleverness of Confucius, no one to criticize his theory of human nature. Suozi was the first person who began to discuss human nature after Confucius, but he left very few works for posterity, and his thoughts were only covered in the book "Mencius", which discussed human nature in this way: "Birth is called nature", "Mencius - Suozi" for the first time attributed human nature to the innate, and human beings are born with a kind of nature, i.e., human nature, not only this discussion, but also Mencius, who was the first to discuss human nature in this way. Not only did Suzi discuss this, but Mencius also believed that people have innate endowments and moral qualities, which are the basis of their acquired virtues. He said, "Benevolence, righteousness, propriety, and wisdom, not from outside, but inherent in me." Xunzi, who holds the theory of sex and evil, also believes that "birth is called sex," and Xunzi also said, "The reason for birth is called sex." At the same time, in the "Psalm of Righteousness", the theory of sex and evil says: "All sex is the nature of heaven, and it cannot be learned or practiced. Rituals and righteousness, the birth of the saints, people learn and can be, the things and become. Can not learn, can not do, but in the person, called sex." Dong Zhongshu of the Han Dynasty also believed that "birth is called nature," saying, "The natural capital of birth is called nature." The Spring and Autumn Annals - A Deeper Look at the Names and Numbers argues that human nature is also innate and natural. Other thinkers of various generations have had their limitations regarding the one-sided definition of human nature. "The attributes contained in man as a whole can be roughly divided into two main categories: natural attributes due to the growth and development of the body, and social attributes due to learning and social influences during practical social activities." The ancient Chinese view of human nature has had a profound influence on the thinking of modern people. Nowadays, the society still believes in a metaphysical and imaginary heaven that scrutinizes everything on earth, and has the idea that "human calculations are not as good as heaven's calculations", which can be seen in the ancient Chinese view of human nature's lopsided emphasis on the aspect of natural attributes. This shows that the ancient Chinese view of human nature emphasized one-sidedly on the aspect of natural attributes. The relationship between actuality and contingency of human nature in ancient China and its reference Since human nature is related to human beings, the issue of human nature is inevitably related to the nature of human beings. Marx said, "The nature of man is not an abstraction inherent in a single man, but in its reality he is the sum of all social relations." ② Since human nature is closely related to acquired influences, human nature should not only have natural attributes, but should also include social attributes. "Thinking about the question of human nature is certainly a matter of man reflecting on the nature of man as a human being, but in fact, what is more important is to make clear in our hearts an ideal of man as a human being. Thereby transcending the small self at the level of reality and experience, i.e., the actual human nature at the level of experience, and realizing the big self at the level of future ideals, i.e., the nature that should be at the level of ideals." (3) Ancient Chinese thought on human nature also had the realization of the unity of the actual and the contingent. When human nature had not yet become an issue of concern, the discourse on human nature said, "The human heart is only dangerous, the Taoist mind is only subtle, but the essence is only one, and the center is always kept." This is Yao's advice to Shun. "The human heart is only in danger" describes the situation of human nature in its actual state, so it should be prevented. "The heart of Taoism is only subtle" explains the state of human nature in the actual state, and the heart of Taoism should be used to govern the human heart so that things can be handled well. It can be seen that such an analysis of human nature is in line with human nature, only that the later generations have made their own opinions and one-sidedly polarized them. From the concern of human nature to explore the morality of human nature, i.e., the question of good and evil, the ancient thinkers had to face the relationship between what should be and what is, and they always thought the substance of the society based on their personal subjective ideas, and the actual situation was exactly contrary to their ideas. Mencius' theory of the goodness of nature says, "The goodness of man's nature is like the downward movement of water; there is nothing that is not good, and there is nothing that is not downward movement of water." He also says, "Benevolence, the goodness of man, is like the downward movement of water. He also said, "Benevolence is the heart of man; righteousness is the way of man. If you give up your road and do not go by it, and if you let go of your heart and do not seek it, woe to you." On the one hand, he admits that man has an innate good nature and emphasizes the need to preserve this nature by reflecting on himself; on the other hand, he admits that man has the instinctive desires of "food and sex," and that he should try to restrain all kinds of desires to find and preserve the lost goodness of morality once again, so it can be seen that when Mencius emphasizes the goodness of nature, he also admits the evil of nature, and also combines the natural and social attributes of human nature into one. the combination of natural and social attributes of human nature. When it comes to Xunzi, he advocated the theory of sexual evil, which was connected with the background of the time and served the ruling class. He only exaggerated the reality of human nature infinitely, leading to the theory of sexual evil. Xunzi said about the theory of sex and evil, "The nature of human beings is evil, and their goodness is false." He also said that "the ancient sages and kings thought that human nature was evil, and thought that it was dangerous and incorrect, rebellious and ungovernable, so they thought that they would raise the rites and righteousness and make the law, in order to decorate the human nature and correct the human nature, and to disturb and transform the human nature and guide the human nature, and all of them were born out of the rule, and they are in line with the way. Nowadays, the person's chemical division, accumulation of literature, the way of propriety and righteousness for the gentleman; longitudinal disposition, An wanton yield, and violate the propriety and righteousness for the villain. With this view, the human nature of the evil is clear, and its good people pseudo." From the above, Xunzi believes that the natural nature of human beings is "born with a good interest" and "have diseases and evils", which are anti-moral in nature, and should be restrained to create a moral code of etiquette, so that people will abandon the evils and turn to the good, and that since he set a good goal for human nature, it means that human nature has a good goal. Since he set a good goal for human nature, it means that there are good aspects of human nature, and he thought that the sage was innately good in terms of morality, and that he was the one who made the laws, which must be good. It can be seen that Xunzi also followed the dialectical relationship between ought and reality in the direction of human nature. Subsequent generations of thinkers followed the model of the sages and played with their own emphasis on the contingent and actual aspects of human nature. From the viewpoint of the relationship between the actuality and the actuality of human nature, ancient thinkers tried to make their theories reach an idealized realm with absolute coloring, for example, Mencius hoped that all human beings have good qualities, and his original intention was good, but the reality would not appear so ideal. The reality is that people not only have the behavior of good and evil, but also the concept of good and evil, even if we can put an end to people's evil behavior, it is difficult to change people's minds from the concept. Therefore, we have to see our own finiteness and infinite creativity in social life. We have to pursue a kind of limited freedom, i.e., we have to abide by the moral norms and reasonable system of the society, but also have to develop ourselves and perfect ourselves within its limits, so as to make our personalities get the unity of the ought and the reality, and in this way, we can form a relatively healthy human nature. Third, the realization of human nature in ancient China and its modern significance By discussing the finiteness and creativity of human beings, how to realize the unity of finiteness and infinity, the ancient thinkers on human nature is worthy of our deep thoughts, and also an example for us to learn. First of all, they emphasized the role of self-cultivation in shaping perfect human nature. Ancient Chinese thinkers pursued the realm of "the unity of heaven and mankind". Xunzi advocated "knowing the difference between heaven and mankind" and "making use of heaven's order", and the "Medieval Times" also said that In "The Meanwhile", it is also said that "If one can fulfill one's nature, then one can fulfill the nature of man. If you can fulfill the nature of man, you can fulfill the nature of things. If you can fulfill your nature, you can fulfill the nature of man. If you can fulfill the nature of man, you can fulfill the nature of things. If one can praise the fertilization of heaven and earth, then one can participate with heaven and earth." It can be seen that they all combine the enhancement of their own human nature with environmental factors to achieve harmony within themselves by realizing the harmony between man and nature. Taoism, on the other hand, pursues the emulation of nature and the return of simplicity to the truth, emphasizing that true human nature is not to be burdened by material things, not to be enslaved to oneself, and to be free from all constraints, which seems to be too negative but reflects the importance of their pursuit of self-cultivation. "Traditional thought emphasizes individual self-management, i.e., personal self-moral enhancement and perfection, i.e., self-consciousness and self-discipline. Therefore, strict self-discipline has become one of the most highly esteemed virtues in Chinese society." ④ Secondly, they focus on the role of external environment and education in the enhancement of human nature. "The fluffy hemp is straightened without support, and the white sand is blackened with it." The Persuasive Essay There is an inseparable relationship between the formation of human nature and the environment; people live in the environment, and the development of human nature is bound to be influenced by the environment, especially the social and humanistic environment. Therefore, strengthening the improvement of the social and humanistic environment has an irreplaceable role in improving the cultivation of human nature. From the perspective of the ancient ways of realizing human nature, it provides an example for our contemporary society to learn from, and we should draw the essence of it for our own use. (i) The idea of environmental protection and sustainable development in the "unity of heaven and mankind". Modern civilization has brought us the ability to transform nature, and the subjectivity of human beings has been greatly enhanced. While human beings are transforming the natural world, they have also caused the destruction of nature, and nature has given a red light to human beings, and a series of environmental problems have emerged, which has led human beings to put forward the strategy of sustainable development to cope with the punishment of nature. And "Confucianism believes that the entire universe is composed of three parties: heaven, earth and man. These three parties *** together form the harmony of the universe. Destruction by any one of the three parties will destroy the life of the universe and its perfection. Therefore, human beings and nature should develop in harmony, not only to 'fulfill the nature of human beings', but also to 'fulfill the nature of things'".5 This idea of "unity of heaven and man" coincides with the strategy of sustainable development. This idea of "unity of heaven and man" coincides with the strategy of sustainable development. (ii) The ancient Chinese concept of righteousness and profitability can improve the current distortion of social values. The strengthening of economic concepts and the strong color of utilitarianism in modern society, coupled with the spread of liberalism and individualism in the West, have led to the phenomenon of moral degradation and the emergence of a large number of behaviors that are detrimental to others and to self-interest in the transition period of Chinese society. These are all we should pay attention to, and the ancient Chinese on righteousness and profitability of the discourse, to balance the current value orientation has an important role, "the gentleman man beautiful", "adults, words do not have to believe, do not have to be fruitful, only righteousness." Through the dialectical absorption of the ancient Chinese concept of righteousness and profit, it has an important value for improving our moral level.