The Influence of Confucianism and Taoism on Traditional China

Unconsciously, learning ancient texts has been several years, from reading comprehension to memorization is exactly a process of slow accumulation, which can be said to be very rewarding. The most impressive and thought-provoking issue for me is the traditional Chinese Confucianism and Taoism as expressed in the ancient texts and their influence on the literati. As a high school student in the new century, I am of course an atheist, but the philosophical ideas and even the immortal style of Taoism that flowed between the lines of those popular articles still y impressed me.

The influence of Confucianism on the Chinese literati should be the deepest, simply rooted in the bones of the traditional culture of the blood and standing. From "learning to be a good scholar" and then "eunuchs" and even finally "poor is good for oneself, and to achieve is to help the whole world," the idea has become a life creed, from the "Li Sao" of Qu Yuan to the "Yue Yang Lou" of Fan Zhongyan, to the "Yue Yang Lou" of Fan Zhongyan. From Qu Yuan's "Li Sao" to Fan Zhongyan's "The Records of Yueyang Tower", we can see traces of its penetration. The five-character motto of "benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom and faith" is even more common in ancient texts, from the Four Books and the Five Classics to the Thousand Character Classic and the Rules of Discipleship, and the policy of "Dismissing the Hundred Schools and Exclusively Respecting the Confucians and the Scholars" has really been well implemented over the past several thousand years. And from the historical origin of Confucianism is indeed the starting point of Chinese culture can be traced back, from the Confucian disciples preaching half of the "Analects of Confucius" to rule the world can be seen from its true philosophical meaning.

The connotation of Confucian ethical ontology can be summarized by three aspects: the idea of "benevolence", the idea of "the middle", and the idea of "the five virtues". "Ren" appears more than sixty times in the Analects, and Confucius used it to summarize almost all the human virtues he could imagine. "Ren" became a noble character with a wide range of ethics. In ancient Chinese, "zhong" means "power", an instrument for weighing, which consists of a wooden pole and a weight, and is operated on the principle of balance and leverage. The word "zhong" then metaphorically and symbolically refers to judging the time and situation, acting according to the situation, adapting to the situation, being neutral and impartial; of course, it is not wrong to use the pejorative terms of steering the ship by the wind, being ambiguous, and adhering to the middle ground, etc. However, the meaning of ethical ontologization is not the same as that of the word "zhong". However, the color of the ethical ontology can be changed after adding the "five ethics" to the meaning of the item. The "five Confucianisms" are first of all the naturalization of human beings, i.e., to make "father and son", the principle of time and geography that represents the transmission of ancestry, ancestor worship, biological inheritance, and the laws of nature, as the first condition of ethics, and then to generalize it to the relationship between ruler and ministers at the time of the ****, Teacher-student relationship, superior-subordinate relationship, brotherly relationship, to the natural order of the calendar series on behalf of the social order of the *** time series to become the literati and even all the ordinary people of the spiritual and ethical life of the core content.

With the strengthening of feudal centralization and the establishment of the orthodox status of Confucianism, the spirit of the literati was alienated. There was no shortage of martyrs in every dynasty and every generation, but it could hardly be said to be the embodiment of an independent personality any more, but rather an abstract idea to which one attached oneself and to which one voluntarily became a victim. To establish merit, to establish speech and to establish oneself, to leave the heart to shine in the green, the repeated recognition and advocacy of loyalty and martyrdom, so that death has become a kind of hidden impulse, in exchange for a perfect gesture framed on the screen. This situation reached its peak in the Ming Dynasty. Fang Xiaoru to Zhu Di generous statement of extermination of ten clans is not afraid of not to mention the nine clans, whether or not to take into account the many innocent relatives and students of the life is not subordinate to him? Rites of the argument, the civil officials were publicly dragged down to strip the clothes and spanking time, whether they have considered their own dignity and life risked the "orthodoxy" of the value of what? Such foolish valor, how pathetic, this pathetic on the one hand created the misfortune of the Chinese literati, on the other hand, but also created the "anger out of the poet" under the immortal chapter.

Thus, the ancient literati both read the book of the sages, and heard the world, can talk about the national security and more than worry about the grief, like Du Fu's "country broken mountains and rivers in the city spring grass and trees deep, feeling the flowers splash tears, hate the birds scared heart." "New ghosts are worried about the old ghosts cry, the sky is cloudy and rainy wet sound chirping"; Fan Zhongyan's "first world worries and worries"; Du Mu's "so that the descendants of the descendants of the descendants of the grief also", all show a deep sadness. Few people have Wang Changling "gold hundred battles wear gold armor, not broken Lou Lan will not return," the lofty spirit. Talking about their own fate, like "at the same time the sky cliffs fall people, meet why ever know each other." "Read heaven and earth of the long, the only pathos and yet down" this kind of disillusionment and the majority, and occasionally some of the "happy relatives to love words, music and books to eliminate worry," the feeling of idleness is also in the life of disillusionment after the helpless sighs. Only the most dashing romantic poet Li Bai in the drunkenness will be "born of my talent will be useful, a thousand gold scattered also come back" of the grandeur.

Ancient literati, ten years of hard work, studying hard, in order to be able to win the title, a cast of their own ambitions, for the country to promote the interests of the elimination of evils. However, due to the king's mediocrity, treacherous ministers, many people do not meet the talent, and even subject to false accusations of ostracism, since the life is at stake, "a letter towards the nine heavens, the evening depreciation of the Chao Yang Road 8,000" situation abounds, not to mention what the great show of the great plans. So the literati live in seclusion in the mountains, playing with flowers, plants, insects and fish to kill their ambition, only to leave "open Xuan face field and garden, talk about mulberry and hemp with wine" of the idyllic phrase, not willing to be lonely people will occasionally send some "poor half of the night in front of the seat, do not ask about the ghosts and gods," the whining; the upwardly mobile can only be "a letter in the morning to the nine heavens, and the night to the eight thousand Chao Yang Road," there are many situations, not to mention what great achievements. The positive can only "bow to exhaustion, undeath" to the king to move with love, to understand the righteousness, if lucky to get the king's appreciation, is to show a wave of worry about the country and the people, "also worry, also worry," loyal to the king's feelings. This kind of emotion, can let us not worry about it, for the worry?

Chinese people by the influence of Confucianism, the formation of that meek and kind character, they do not dare like the British as the death of "Charles I", and do not dare like the Russians to force away "Nicholas II", can only spend the day with the king such as a tiger, and finally died of depression. He could only live with the king as if he were a tiger, and finally died of depression. All the poet saints will not "not hesitate to buy a sword of a thousand gold, sable fur for wine can also be proud", the poet immortal can not sing "counting the wind and stream of characters, but also look at the present day," the heroic poem.

But the ancient Chinese thought is not only Confucianism, pre-Qin Dynasty, there are "the hundred schools of thought", the Han Dynasty, there is the introduction of Buddhism, the Han and Tang Dynasty, more by the influence of foreign cultures and the impact of the nomadic culture of the north, although Confucianism is the most traditional and continuity of the academic schools, but the other schools of thought also exist in other ways, the Han Wu Zunzhu, the other schools have not been obliterated, the idea of the exchange and integration is the prerequisite for innovation. Therefore, an examination of the spirit of Chinese culture should not be limited to Confucian classics. Zhuang Zi's mind and Tao meditation, things and I are one, is a supreme state of life, but also many of the literary artists to pursue the state of art. The heart of the empty and clear, false to things, it is often said to bath the spirit of snow in order to enter the literary and artistic creation of a moment of the spiritual realm. The profound influence of Lao and Zhuang is in their spiritual realm and interest in life. It was a seemingly invisible but actually omnipresent influence. So on the other hand, Taoist thinking is also reflected from time to time in ancient texts, from Wang Xizhi's Lanting Collection Preface to Liu Zongyuan's Preface to Yu Xi Poems to Su Shi's Red Cliff Fu. To use an inappropriate analogy, Confucianism, Confucius and Mencius thought is a food store, is to eat every day, Taoism is like a pharmacy, not sick can not go, sick must go. Sickness is like a period of turmoil, in order to set things right, it is necessary to study Taoism. Taoist thought, including the military, the idea of vertical and horizontal, and even astronomy, geography, medicine and so on, so a country and even a literati "sick", have to go to the pharmacy can not.

Confucianism jinjian Zhuanzhi coffin of the thickness of the size, mourning the period of years, can not afford to Zhuang Sheng's laughter, so Confucianism and Taoism in China's history of thought into two major forces, on behalf of the Taoist school and the humorists. Later, because

Confucianism has "respect for the king" said, for the emperor to use, or Confucianism and the king to use each other, oppression of ideas, and create a unified situation, the world of corrupt Confucianism then out. And Taoist thought of the source of the great, Laozhuang article spirit, enough to make its effectiveness throughout the ages can not be erased, so the thought after the Middle Ages, on the surface seems to be the sole respect for Confucianism, but in fact is the division of Confucianism and Taoism. Chinese people believe in Confucianism when they are in power, do not meet when they believe in Taoism, and each swim in the forest, the landscape, to enjoy the temperament to go. Chinese literature, in addition to the imperial corridors and temples of literature, are all powered by the Taoist ideology of open-mindedness. Corridor and temple literature, are false literature, is the study of the world, in the narrow sense of the word is not literature. Therefore, the literature of true spirituality, the deepest chanting poetry, are all returned to nature, belonging to the humorist, transcendentalist, Taoist school. If there is no Taoist literature in China, and if there is only Confucianism in China which is not open-minded, Chinese poetry and literature will be boring, and Chinese people's mind will be bitter.

After the beginning, Wang He's school started, the Taoist power revival, and the Bamboo Forest Seven Sages followed to advocate, and then cleaned up the smell of corrupt Confucianism, and opened the wind of the Qingtai. In this kind of air, Taoist psychology deep into the human mind, Zhou Qin thought of the tension of the anger, a change for the calm and comfortable, such as grass and trees from the summer of the prosperity of the XuanHui into the early fall of the bold and far-reaching. As a result, the creation of the Qingde Xuantan and Wei Jin literati style is raised to the end of the Jin mature great poet Tao Qian. Tao Qian's light and comfortable, unlike Zhuang Sheng's wild, and no Qu Yuan's grief and indignation. Compared with Qu Yuan's "Divination" and "The Fisherman", his "Rhetoric of Returning to the World" is the same as a lonely and self-appreciating poem, but it does not have the sound of agitation and indignation. He and Zhuangzi, the same advocate return to nature, but for the acupuncture of the world, not Zhuangzi's sharp. Tao refused to bow down for five buckets of rice, only to see the world for five buckets of rice who bowed down for the stupidity of the poor. Zhuang Sheng, on the other hand, scolded the people of the dry and the money as the cattle to be slaughtered and the swine. So Zhuang Sheng's angry laughter, to Tao Qian, only into a gentle smile. And this Yuanming's legacy is reflected in many of his writings, from the furious "Inscription on a Private Room" to the tranquil "Autumn Night in a Mountain Dwelling".

However, in the history of Chinese culture, Confucianism and Taoism have the same origin and different streams, and both of them are facing each other like water and fire, and they are also interconnected and echoing each other, just like the two wings of a bird and the wheels of a car, which are indispensable to constitute the two main spiritual pillars supporting Chinese traditional culture.

Confucianism advocates rituals, music and education, and expounds the way of ruling the country and securing the state, which has been vigorously advocated and promoted by the official groups in successive generations, and has become the guiding and authentic thought in the socio-political and ethical domains, as well as guaranteed by the national education system, which has been systematically taught and popularized to reward the study of Confucianism, and the reading of the scriptures has become the mandatory course for intellectuals to pursue their career paths, and thus Confucianism has remained prominent and dominated the world of the Confucians for more than 2,000 years. Confucianism has always been the most powerful of all the schools of thought.

The Taoism is different, it emphasizes the natural inaction and light on the rituals and education, maintains a certain distance from the reality, and even often puts forward sharp criticism of the rituals and culture, deviates from the daily use of human life, has the style of hermit and romantic, and thus can not become the official philosophy in most of the historical period, failed to be included in the official curriculum of the national education in the state of the wilderness. Taoist characters do not seek to use the world to do Taoism, also do not intend to make a name for themselves, do not rely on political authority, but can naturally form a submerged stream, flowing to all corners of society, moist and silent.

On the surface of the Confucian obvious Taoist hidden, Confucian strong Taoist weak, Confucian hot Taoist cold, in fact, Confucian and Taoist confrontation, it is difficult to distinguish between the two. People often say that the traditional politics is outside Confucianism within the law, Yang Ru Yin law, we can also say that the traditional thinking is outside Confucianism within the Road, Yang Ru Yin Dao, Road in Confucianism, Confucianism in the Road, since the cause of each other. If China had only Confucianism but not Taoism, Chinese culture would lose half of its luster. Chinese people are influenced by Confucianism, more practical, pay attention to the reality of life, respect for common sense, positive and enterprising, do things to seek to be reasonable, this is one aspect; but the Chinese people have a transcendental consciousness, rich imagination and romantic mood, broad-minded, and constantly outside of the common sense of the spirit of opening up new horizons, the desire for superbly unorthodox, uninhibited, free and easy-going life, do not care about the gain or loss of a moment, life is resilient, enduring, and free. Life is full of elasticity, tolerance and continuity, and these qualities cannot be said not to be due to Taoism. The spirit of the Chinese people, such as perseverance, calmness, open-mindedness and other virtues, is absorbed from the Taoist thought. Even in the political aspect, the Taoist art of mastering the subjects, that is, "the art of the ruler to the south", can also be matched with the Confucian Way of the King, which emphasizes convincing the people by virtue, so as to strengthen the power of the emperor and maintain the feudal rule. Therefore, for a long time, Taoism always existed as an undercurrent. The two schools of Confucianism and Taoism, one bright and the other dark, one visible and the other hidden, have always been present in all aspects of politics and culture in feudal Chinese society. As Lin Yutang said, "Taoism and Confucianism are the two sides of the Chinese soul."

It is obvious that the relationship between the Taoist philosophy of life and the Confucian philosophy of life is both antagonistic and complementary to each other, which makes the Chinese culture have a life philosophy system with a circumscribed scope, a complete hierarchy, and a nature belonging to the present world at a very early stage. In this system of philosophy of life obsessed with the world, embracing different attitudes: both active in the world, the world's first worry, after the world's happiness and happiness of the benevolent; there are also transcendent outside the world, the lust of silence, self-satisfied loneliness of the hermit. Because of this, Confucianism and Taoism can complement each other, and become the regulator that can be treated with ease and maintain psychological balance. And because both put the realization of the pursuit of value in life, according to their own way, in this life, rather than the afterlife or heaven, so people growing in the soil of Chinese culture, all to "poor is good to himself, to achieve is good to the world" as the psychological framework.

Because of the limited learning, I can cite the example is really not much, the above is just some of their own perception and feelings, and even cite what specific words, but I think some of the meaning of the ancient text can be meaning can not be conveyed, the same way some of the connotation of thought can not be a few words to break the ancient culture of China, I can not even be considered to be a little bit through the fur, but I hope to throw a brick to attract jade only.