What does Confucius mean by benevolence?

Benevolence, which Confucius thought, is essentially a lofty humanistic spirit that advocates people-oriented, people-oriented, respects people's value and cares about everyone's real rights and interests.

Confucius regards "benevolence" as the highest moral principle, moral standard and moral realm, but the exact meaning of "benevolence" is not given in Confucius' exposition.

Confucius was the first to integrate the whole moral standard and formed an ethical thought structure with "benevolence" as the core, including filial piety, brotherhood, loyalty, faithfulness, courtesy, righteousness, honesty, shame, benevolence, love, harmony and equality. Filial piety is the foundation of benevolence and one of the basic pillars of benevolence's ideological system.

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Interpretation of Confucius' Thought of "Benevolence"

Benevolence, as the core of Confucius' ideological system, "gives the people to help the people" and "wants to establish people and achieve things." Confucius thinks that Yao and Shun are the most "benevolent" typical figures, and they are also typical representatives of people's learning.

Although Confucius' humanistic spirit lacked a democratic foundation in the historical period of the transition from slave society to feudal society, it inevitably represented the trend of social progress and conformed to the historical trend of slave liberation, which was similar to the spirit of "fraternity" in the humanitarian trend of thought that originated in the European Renaissance.

Although the contents of "freedom" and "equality" are missing, "benevolence" was put forward more than two thousand years earlier than "fraternity". As for China's humanistic spirit of freedom, equality and fraternity, it did not appear in the real sense during or after the European Renaissance, but was the stubbornness of the feudal system, which greatly hindered the development of Confucius' humanistic spirit.

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