Traditional Culture Encyclopedia - Traditional festivals - Talking about the Humanistic Value of Literary Classics

Talking about the Humanistic Value of Literary Classics

(1) Attention to the rational spirit of mankind

The pursuit of truth, the way of heaven, and the revelation of the value of life is an eternal theme of classical literature. The ancient people's realization that life is short but the universe is eternal, and even their contemplation of history and life, is actually a longing for the infinite and eternal realm. The ancient people called seeing is called the image, that is, when observing heaven and earth, the image of all things in heaven and earth is called the image, that is to say, the image of the law is no greater than heaven and earth. I Ching" as our country's ancient group of the first, said: "the ancient king of the king of ?2's world also, look up to see the image in the sky, look down to see the law in the ground, look at the birds and beasts of the text and the ground of the appropriate, close to take all the body, far from all the things, and then began to make eight gossip, in order to pass the gods of virtue," here put forward the emulation of heaven and earth, the inclusion of the universe, the human and God are connected to each other, people blending of The cosmology of the unity of man and heaven, people "praise the fertilization of heaven and earth", and heaven and earth "with the reference". In addition, the "I Ching" says, "The sky is the key, the gentleman to self-improvement," which reveals the inner nature of human life; "the earth is the kun, the gentleman to the virtue of carrying things," which expresses the basic principles of interpersonal relations, the relationship between man and nature, that is, people should care for each other, tolerate all things, and be generous to each other. The basic principle of interpersonal relationship and relationship between human beings and nature is that people should care for each other, be tolerant of all things, and be generous.

Laozi's "Tao Te Ching", the Confucian classics "Poetry", "Shangshu", "Analects", "Spring and Autumn Annals", etc., are proposed to follow the Tao of Heaven, respect for morality, in the saints of the saintly people's edification and cultivation, the people respect Heaven and believe in God, and follow the fate of Heaven and know to be open and honest, "from the heart" and "not exceeding the rules". not overstep the rules". Confucius said "not righteous and rich and noble, in me as floating clouds"; Zeng Zi said: "Shi can not not not Hong Yi, the task is heavy and the road is long"; Mozi said: "the reason why the benevolent people for the thing, will be the world's interests, remove the world's harm "Mencius put forward "the greatest and most rigid" of the "vast natural qi" ...... The doctrines of the hundred schools of thought are all based on the Tao. Completed the work of the Han Dynasty Sima Qian in the history of the world in the adversity of the moral ideal is still regarded as the highest level of the pursuit of life; the Tang Dynasty Chen Zi'ang in the "Ascension to the Youzhou Terrace Song" wrote "the former do not see all the people, the latter do not see the next. I think the world's long, the only pathos but under the tears"; Li Bai in the Tang Dynasty wrote "the five mountains in search of immortality do not hesitate to go far, a lifetime of good into the famous mountain tour", these heirloom works, there is the lamentation of the passage of time, the ontological reflection on the human being as a human being, the mystery of the universe, the desire to transcend the world of affairs.

After setting up a lofty goal, it is more important to have a way to achieve this goal, so the saints and sages throughout the ages have paid much attention to the cultivation of the body, which manifests the consciousness of introspection, self-awareness of values, and the cultivation of effort, continuous self-improvement, and the creation of an ideal personality, which has formed the humanistic spirit of the Chinese people's "inner transcendence". Confucianism, "Rituals - University", put forward: "those who want to correct their hearts, first sincere their intentions", that is, "correct heart and sincere intentions," the process of cultivation and the physical practice of the Qi family, ruling the country and leveling the world, Confucius puts forward: "Seeing the virtuous think of qi, and see the unwise but internal self-reflection. Confucius put forward "see the virtuous and think of Qi, see not virtuous and self-reflection," Zeng Zi put forward "three times a day to reflect on my body," requiring themselves strict and comprehensive, tolerant of others and simple, cultivate into a benevolent man, gentleman. Buddha, the classics guide people to cultivate, the history of the classic stories recorded in countless, such as "Journey to the East" recounts the cultivation process of the Eight Immortals; "Journey to the West" recounts the Tang Monk teacher and disciples to obtain the true scriptures, cultivate the right results, the cultivation process of attaining the path to Buddhahood.

(2) The manifestation of morality and the spirit of love and benevolence

As an important carrier of traditional culture, classical literature is full of the manifestation of morality, human decency, and ethical behavior. As recorded in Zuo Zhuan, Wang Sun Man asked Chu Zi about the Xia Ding, saying: "In the past, Xia's party had virtue, far away from the figure of things, tribute to the gold and nine herdsmen, the casting of tripods like things, a hundred things, and for the preparation, so that the people know that the gods are treacherous," which is said to be the ancient Xia Yu's casting of tripods is the intention of the tripods, which have a primitive symbolic meaning of the artifacts to show the gods are treacherous, indicating that the heavens give blessings to people of virtue, so that people through the tripods will be able to realize that the gods are treacherous. The purpose of the tripod was to show the divine treachery through the tripod as a primitive symbolic object, to show the blessings of heaven to the virtuous people, and to make people receive moral education through this symbol.

The spirit of benevolence advocated by Confucianism became the norm that people in ancient societies relied on. Confucius said "benevolence, love"; "Shangshu" put forward the "five teachings" (father righteousness, mother's kindness, brotherhood, brotherly friendship, brotherly respect, filial piety); Zhuang Zi advocated "universal love for all things, heaven and earth as one"; Northern Song Dynasty Zhang Zai's Ximing puts forward the ideological point of view of "the people and the things", and looks at everything in the world with the spirit of love and benevolence, and is the same as heaven and earth. The famous words of Mencius, "The rich and the noble cannot be lustful, the poor and the lowly cannot be moved, and the mighty and the powerful cannot be subjugated," have become the classic standard for the spirit of Chinese morality and integrity. Over the past 5,000 years, there have been countless men of benevolence and integrity, or they are all righteous, two-sleeved clean, or just and upright for the people, such as "the master of a table of real fame, a thousand years who can be between the two" Zhuge Liang, such as "to be from the beginning, clean up the old mountains and rivers" Yue Fei, "I heart a magnetic needle stone, do not point to the South refused to rest" Wen Tianxiang, it is such a value orientation and pursuit, promoting the Chinese nation indomitable conquest of thousands of difficulties and dangers, over the long river of history to today, which is also China's classical literature is full of vitality of the important factors, and thus the formation of the promotion of righteousness and concern for the people's livelihood of the literary tradition.

The literary masterpieces of the past generations have attached great importance to the character of virtue and integrity, and always try their best to praise those who are loyal, filial, righteous and noble, the character image of good and bad, such as the water of the Jingwei, clear and easy to distinguish. Classical works not only with its exquisite external form, but also with its rich moral connotation, giving people a higher aesthetic enjoyment, and give people a spiritual lofty realm.

(C) the tradition of "teaching the way of the world"

One of the important characteristics of traditional culture is to be used in the world, so the classical literature has a tradition of "teaching the way of the world", said Bai Juyi in the Tang Dynasty: The Tang Dynasty, Bai Juyi said: "The article is written for the time, the poem is made for the event", Song Dynasty, Su Dongpo also put forward the literary creation to "words must be the fault of the time". The ancients paid attention to virtue and character, and had the ideals of "establishing virtue", "establishing merit" and "establishing speech", and caring for the world also became their heartfelt responsibility. They transcend personal gains and losses, do not take things for granted, do not take themselves for granted, and are concerned about the country and the people. For example, in "The Book of Songs", they said, "Always at work"; Mencius said that a gentleman should "entrust himself with the weight of the world" and "be happy with the world, and worry about the world"; after the Han Dynasty, the scholars put forward the idea of "taking the world as one's own responsibility". After the Han Dynasty, the scholars put forward the idea of "taking the world as one's own"; Fan Zhongyan of the Song Dynasty said, "worry about the world first, and enjoy the world afterward".

Classical literature celebrates light and justice, lashes out at darkness and decadence, advocates morality and ethics, advises good and punishes evil, and raises the question of the destination of life. The classics of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism, for example, advocate "benevolence, righteousness and morality" and teach people the way to live in the world. The "Classic of Poetry" and "Li Sao" express people's pursuit of an ideal personality; from the "Biography of Lian Po and Lin Xiangru" written by Sima Qian, Lin Xiangru is portrayed as a gentleman who is above morality and righteousness, and Lian Po is characterized by his "taking a bramble and asking for forgiveness" and "correcting one's mistakes when one knows they are wrong", and so on. "and other specific manifestations of these moral principles, people can feel the history of the Shiji narrative history of the solemn and literary elegance; Tang poetry and Song lyrics are known as the two jewels of Chinese literature, as China's classical poetry history, each excelling in a generation of literary triumphs of the colorful music, has become a national history and culture in the most elite part of the nourishment and shaping of the world of people's minds. For example, "Thousands of liquids are blown through the wild sands to reach gold" (Liu Yuxi's "The Wave of Sand"), "There is no way out of the mountain, but there is another village in the darkness" (Lu You's "Traveling to the Shanxi Village"), and "Where can I get the clear water from the canal, for the source of living water comes". The source of living water" (Zhu Xi "feeling of watching the book") and so on do not give a person philosophical revelation. The four great masterpieces of the Ming and Qing dynasties, with their fascinating storylines, enhance people's aesthetic sense and aesthetic appreciation; short story collection "Three Words", "Two Beats" and so on, tell stories of karma, warning people that good and evil have their rewards, and warning the world to choose the good and follow.

Traditional classic literary works of life in the many feelings for life to show the direction of life, expressed a strong social care and humanistic concern, from which we see a picture of heaven and earth, heard a song on the earth, they seem to be a stream of clear water cleansing the dirt, stirring up turbulence and promoting clarity. The works not only show the historical process of China in its language and art, but also contain the pursuit of noble moral realm and the concept of unity of mankind, which is an inexhaustible source of spirit for the future generations, both in artistry and ideology are shining. It enlightens people's conscience and goodness, facing the heavenly way, transcending life, and choosing justice and goodness.