Summarize the evolution of Confucianism and its causes

1. Spring and Autumn Period and Warring States Period: A hundred schools of thought contended for supremacy, and Confucianism was one of them. At this stage, although Confucianism was a prominent school of thought, it was not adopted by the rulers because its ideas could not be adapted to the war-torn and turbulent social environment at that time.

①Foundation: Founded by Confucius during the Spring and Autumn Period, ren is the core of Confucius' thought system, which advocates mediation and harmony of social relations with a loving heart. Confucius defended the Zhou Dynasty "ritual", advocating that the noble and the lowly have "order", which is a conservative part of his political thought.

② Development: Mencius in the Warring States period developed the teachings of Confucius, and politically advocated benevolent government, and put forward the idea of "the people are more important than the ruler", advocating the government in the people, opposed to tyranny. He advocated giving peasants a certain amount of land, not infringing on their labor time, and lenient punishment and thin taxes. Confucianism began to combine with politics.

Xunzi: materialism, believes that nature has its own laws, can grasp its laws and use it.

2. Qin Dynasty: Confucianism was rejected after the burning of books.

3. Western Han Dynasty: Confucianism became orthodox.

Dong Zhongshu transformed Confucianism:

①A proposition: Heaven and man are closely related, the emperor should do things according to the will of heaven; Confucianism is used to rule the world, and other doctrines should be banned; the establishment of schools such as the Imperial College, and the Confucian classics as the content of education.

② impact:; adapted to the feudal unity and centralization of the needs of the time, in line with the requirements of historical development, has a positive effect; Confucianism has since become the feudal orthodoxy, far-reaching influence on future generations; advocate the establishment of the Imperial College and the local education system, is conducive to the development of feudal education; the exclusive use of Confucianism for a long time to restrain the people's thinking, is not conducive to the development of science and culture.

4. Song Dynasty: the new development of Confucianism - the development of Rigaku.

Rigaku is based on Confucianism, absorbing Buddhism and Taoism to form a new Confucianism, Zhu Xi is the master of Rigaku.

Content: ① "reason" is the source of everything in the universe, is the first; "gas" is the material that constitutes everything in the universe, is the second; ② "heavenly" and "human desires". ② of the "Divine Principle" and "human desire" in opposition to the proposed "to survive the Divine Principle, the destruction of human desire" is in essence a defense of the feudal hierarchy.

5. Ming and Qing Dynasties: Early Enlightenment thought, Confucianism was criticized.

① During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the rulers adopted the method of "eight-legged", in which only the Four Books and Five Classics were used to select students, and the style of writing was "eight-legged". This makes Confucianism become the spiritual pillar of the maintenance of feudal autocracy, the eight-legged to take the people has become a policy of ignorance, seriously hindering the development of science and technology and cultural endeavors.

② During this period, the early Enlightenment thought, Confucianism was criticized.

(1) Ming Li Zhi, the pioneer of anti-feudal thought. Accused that Confucianism is not "the most important theory of the world", denied that Confucius is "born a saint"; to a certain extent, reflecting the requirements of the era of the sprouting of capitalism, with a certain degree of democratic coloring.

(2) the early Qing Dynasty three democratic Enlightenment thinkers (living in the late Ming and early Qing Dynasty)

Huang Zongxi: fiercely criticized the feudal monarchical autocracy, put forward the monarch is "the world's greatest evil"; advocate the rule of law, opposed to the rule of man; opposed to the agriculture and suppression of commerce, advocating industry and commerce are the basis.

Gu Yanwu: emphasized the practical learning of the world, author of "the world's county profits and diseases of the book"; opposed to monarchical dictatorship.

Wang Fuzhi: a materialist thinker who believed that "qi" is a material entity and "rationality" is an objective law, and put forward the idea that "qi is the basis of rationality" and "the world is only a tool". He also put forward the materialistic viewpoint of "the only thing in the world is the vessel". He also puts forward the idea of "static contains movement, and movement does not give up static", that is, the movement is absolute, and the static is relative to the simple proof of the law. He looked at history from a developmental point of view, and put forward the political need to "keep up with the times".

6, during the Hundred Days Reform: ① Kang Youwei, Liang Qichao combined Western political doctrine with traditional Confucianism to publicize the idea of reform, using the authority of Confucius to create a theoretical basis for the reform.

② The bourgeois reformists and the stubborn feudal forces of the polemics, is the capitalist ideology and the feudalist ideology of the head-to-head, so that some intellectuals began to get rid of the shackles of feudalism.

③ During the Hundred Days' Reform in 1898, the Guangxu Emperor's edict abolished the eight stocks and changed the content of the test, but it was soon abolished by Cixi.

7, the late 19th century: the introduction of Western capitalist ideas, the spread of bourgeois ideas of democratic revolution, the Xinhai Revolution established the bourgeois **** and the country, the concept of democracy **** and the popularity of the concept of Confucianism, Confucianism orthodoxy has been violently impacted.

8, the reign of the Northern Warlords: ① Yuan Shikai set off in the cultural field of "respect for Confucianism and antiquity" countercurrent, for the restoration of the imperial system to wave the flag.

② 1915 the rise of the New Culture Movement, fierce criticism of the old morality, put forward the slogan "down with Confucius", shaking the orthodox position of feudalism.

9. The spread of Marxism and the victory of the New Democratic Revolution abolished the orthodoxy of Confucianism.

10. During the Cultural Revolution, Confucianism was devastated and became one of the targets of the dictatorship of the proletariat.

11. In the new era of reform and opening up, the status of Confucianism has been upgraded, and it has become the main position for traditional culture and moral education.

Sublimation of understanding

1, the reasons why Confucianism is respected

① Confucianism has become the orthodox thought, mainly because of its theory itself to promote celestial sensibility, moral norms, put forward the great unity, catering to the needs of centralized power of feudal absolutism.

② Confucianism emphasizes people's concern for society, has a strong sense of social responsibility, and is also pursued by the general public and faith.

③ The inexhaustible vitality of Confucianism also lies in the fact that it can constantly absorb the advanced parts of other ideas and make adaptive adjustments according to the needs of social development, and therefore it is favored by the ruling class.

2, Confucianism in traditional Chinese culture to achieve the dominant position.

Throughout the past two thousand years, the reason why Confucianism has become the most popular is because of its ideological core, i.e., philosophically, it advocates the concept of heavenly destiny and the concept of heaven and man; ethically, it takes benevolence as the core of the Three Principles and Five Principles, publicizes loyalty and filial piety, and strictly follows the order of hierarchy; politically, it advocates the concept of "great unity"; and politically, it advocates the concept of "great unity". On the political front, it advocates "great unification" and the maintenance of authoritarian centralization, which are the ideological weapons needed by all the exploiting classes after they have gained dominance, and are fundamentally adapted to the needs of feudal autocratic rule. On the other hand, it is because Confucianism has a strong sense of social responsibility and is capable of changing its face according to the changing needs of the times. Especially in the Han Dynasty, Confucianism absorbed the ideas of Taoism and Legalism, and combined them with the Yin-Yang and Five Elements theory to create the theory of divine right of kings and the theory that "if Heaven remains unchanged, so does the Way", arguing the divine right of kings and the Way of Heaven to prove the Way of man, making Confucianism the political philosophy of the ruling class for a long time. Confucianism also developed in the course of disputes and struggles with Buddhism and Taoism. In order to enrich its own philosophy, Confucianism criticized Buddhism and Taoism, and at the same time drew on their useful materials to enrich and develop its own philosophical system. Song Ming philosophy is a product of the "merging of the three religions", but at the same time, it maintains its own fundamental qualities and positions.

3. The modern value of Confucianism: Confucianism's sense of unity, people-centeredness, morality and harmony are beneficial to the maintenance of the unity of the Chinese nation, the establishment of harmonious interpersonal relations, the enhancement of a sense of mission and responsibility in history, and the pursuit of the ****same development of the society and the protection of the ecological environment.

4, the correct treatment of traditional Chinese culture, including Confucianism

Our scientific attitude and approach to traditional culture should be to use the past for the present and critically inherit. But how to "use the past for the present and critically inherit it"? We believe that: ① for those in the long history of the practice of the formation of excellent values and principles, can be transformed into the spirit of the times to inherit. ② Some of the contents can be extracted from the feudal ideological core, extract its useful spiritual factors, so that it can become a useful ideological elements of today's new cultural construction. ③The dregs of traditional culture must be rejected and discarded.