Traditional Culture Encyclopedia - Traditional culture - What is the meaning of benevolence, righteousness, courtesy, wisdom and faith

What is the meaning of benevolence, righteousness, courtesy, wisdom and faith

1, "benevolence": people-oriented, human nature care.

The basic meaning of "benevolence" is what Confucius called "loving people" and what Mencius called "compassion" and "intolerance". The basic meaning of "ren" is what Confucius called "love of man" and what Mencius called "compassion" and "intolerance", which, in today's language, is the basic sympathy and care for the lives of others.

To advocate the morality of "benevolence" is to be human-centered and to treat people as human beings, that is, to recognize oneself as a human being while at the same time recognizing that others are human beings, and that human beings are equal to each other in terms of the nature of their destiny and the value of their lives.

2. "Righteousness": fairness and justice, and adherence to principles.

"Righteousness" originally meant appropriateness. As an ethical category, "righteousness" refers to the moral code of conduct that is recognized as appropriate and desirable in a society. The principle of "righteousness" is often embodied in the form of law, and is therefore a legal prerequisite for a certain society.

3. "Ritual": respect and dignity, etiquette and civilization.

The ancient so-called "rites" is a series of programmed, ritual culture rules, the content is very complex, including the state's rules and regulations, but also includes religious ceremonies, social customs, etiquette and norms.

In the feudal era, many of the specific contents of the rites of passage actually strengthened the feudal hierarchical concept of superiority and inferiority, but the rites of passage to maintain social order and stability, promote respect and respect for people, coordination of interpersonal relations and harmony, and advocate civilized manners, these functions and roles of the contemporary society is still needed.

4, "wisdom": the reverence for knowledge, the pursuit of truth.

"Wisdom" is usually also written as "know", which is used as a verb to refer to cognition and as a noun to refer to knowledge and wisdom. Confucianism lists "wisdom" as one of the "Five Constants" and considers the pursuit of knowledge and the growth of wisdom and intelligence to be an important value in life, reflecting respect for knowledge and wisdom.

Confucianism believes that human beings have the ability to know things, and that everything can be known. There are only things in the world that have not yet been recognized by human beings, and there are no things that cannot be recognized by human beings. A person who possesses knowledge and is good at thinking can become a "wise man". A "wise man" is not only knowledgeable, but also intelligent.

5. "Faith": loyalty to duty, honesty and trustworthiness.

The so-called "faith", or integrity, means to be responsible for what one has promised. Confucianism takes honesty as a basic human morality, and Confucius said that one should be "trustworthy in one's words" when interacting with others, and "honorable and trustworthy in one's affairs" when governing the country. A gentleman should be consistent in word and deed, honest and trustworthy.

Expanded Information

"Benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and trust" are the five most basic ethical and moral categories summarized by ancient Chinese Confucians. As early as the pre-Qin era, the Confucian philosophers have already respectively made in-depth and specific interpretation of the connotation of benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom and trust. In the Han Dynasty, Dong Zhongshu put them together and called them the "Five Constants".

From then on, the "Five Principles" were often combined with the "Three Principles" as the "Three Principles and Five Principles", which became the basic moral code for the ancient Chinese rulers to maintain the hierarchical system and social order. The three principles and five rules became the basic moral code of ancient Chinese rulers to maintain the hierarchy and social order of the time.

After the Han Dynasty, successive Confucian figures have made their own interpretation and play on "benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom and faith" according to the needs of social and ideological development in different periods, and their specific contents have been enriched and complicated, among which there are indeed many ideological dregs, and some of which have produced practical effects in real life, and are regarded as "cannibalistic" in accordance with today's moral standards.

These are the most important things in the history of the world, and the most important thing is that they are the most important things in the history of the world.

"Benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom and faith," as the names of the five highly generalized and abstract moral categories summarized by the ancient Chinese, still have a timeless, universal meaning and value.

This is because: on the one hand, in the long process of historical development, "benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom and trust" in the specific connotation of the Chinese nation has accumulated many fine moral traditions of universal significance, many of which, such as "what you do not want to be done to others, do not do to others", has long been recognized as one of the most important moral principles in China. Many of them, such as "Do not do unto others what you would not have them do unto you", have long been recognized as universal moral principles of mankind.

On the other hand, the expression "benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom and faith", as a generalized and abstract form of moral categories, is also an extremely valuable heritage of traditional Chinese culture, which can be said to be the "brand" of traditional ethics of the Chinese nation.

In the process of constructing moral civilization and core values in contemporary Chinese society, it is still possible to borrow the form of "benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom and faith", absorb the essence, give it new content reflecting the spirit of the times, and construct a system of ethical and moral categories with distinctive Chinese characteristics that are popular among the people.

"Benevolence, righteousness, courtesy, wisdom and faith" has a profound historical and cultural origin, which is conducive to the establishment of a sense of authority and belonging to the same moral beliefs as those of **** in the psychology of the public. The highly generalized and extremely simple and distinctive language form of "benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom and faith" is also very suitable for moral education and propaganda.

China News Network - Today, how do we learn from "benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom and trust"