What does the "harmonious thought" in China's traditional culture include?

The debate and practice on the relationship between man and nature in China traditional culture has laid a harmonious cultural spirit with the Confucian "Benevolence in the World" as the core and "Harmony without Difference" as the principle. Its main contents include: the concept of harmony between body and mind based on benevolence, the concept of group harmony from oneself to human beings and the concept of harmony between man and nature.

First, the concept of harmony between body and mind based on "benevolence"

For the understanding of "benevolence", thinkers of all ages basically agree with such a connotation: "The reason and standard for people to become human is the unchangeable and unyielding principle stipulated by the inherent nature of human talent. According to the requirements of "benevolence", people should cultivate their self-cultivation, so as to achieve the perfection of personal morality and the promotion of realm, and then promote the harmony between people, people and society and even people and nature. Therefore, the importance of the concept of harmony between body and mind based on benevolence is self-evident.

First of all, the importance of physical and mental harmony is reflected in the basic role of governing the country and leveling the world. Mencius thought: "The foundation of the world is in the country, the foundation of the country is at home, and the foundation of the home is in the body." The University also emphasizes: "Those who have an ancient desire that is obviously superior to the world should rule their country first; If you want to govern your country, you should first get your family together; If you want to reunite with your family, you should first repair your body; If you want to cultivate yourself, you should be upright first; If you want to be correct, be sincere first; If you want sincerity, let them know first. "Secondly, the importance of physical and mental harmony is also reflected in the internal requirements of the subject. The traditional thought of harmony, especially Confucianism, holds that the nature of the subject needs the self-cultivation of the subject to achieve harmony. On the contrary, Mencius closely linked the harmony of the monarch's body and mind, that is, "benevolence" with the rise and fall of the country. "The monarch is ruthless, the monarch is righteous, and the monarch is righteous. "One is the monarch, and the country has been decided"; On the other hand, Xunzi advocated the monarch's "benevolence" education. "As for Shu Ren, courtiers and officials must cultivate themselves first, and then dare to be upright.". Through the discussion of Mencius and Xunzi, the subject of physical and mental harmony has inherent legitimacy.

Second, the concept of group harmony from oneself and others.

Self-cultivation is the foundation of benevolence in the world, and the key to benevolence in the world is to treat people and achieve group harmony. Mencius said that "the weather is not as good as the geographical position, and the geographical position is not as good as human harmony". "Harmony with people" means group harmony to a great extent, that is, under the premise of self-cultivation, individuals drive others to cultivate their self-cultivation through infection. As for how to "treat others with yourself", Confucius' thought of "being kind to others" provides us with a way, that is, "the way to be a man is loyalty and forgiveness". "Loyalty" means taking positive actions and recommending good things to others. "You can stand up if you want to, and you can achieve it if you want to." Forgiveness means negative inaction. Don't impose what you hate on others. "Do to others what you don't want them to do to you. "

The way of loyalty and forgiveness, the concept of group harmony from oneself and others, is the elaboration of "benevolence" at the group level. On the traditional cultural level, "benevolence" is not only the need of family hierarchy ethics, but also the requirement of political and social ethics. First of all, traditional culture advocates "self-cultivation, governing the country and leveling the world", and the direct purpose of "self-cultivation" is "self-cultivation". Therefore, self and others should first practice in individual families, that is, maintain group harmony in hierarchical families. Secondly, on the basis of family harmony, "benevolence" began to transition from "home" to "country" Under the impetus of Mencius, the concept of "benevolent government" entered the life of the ruling class, and benevolent government "protected the people", protected the country and leveled the world. Thirdly, as the requirement of social ethics, "benevolence" has the meaning of universal friendship to a certain extent, that is, the loved ones spread abroad from the family and finally reach "all brothers within the four seas" China's traditional culture has long pursued ideological unity and political unity, which also determines that the purpose of physical and mental harmony and group harmony is to build a harmonious, orderly, fair and just society.

Third, the concept of "harmony between man and nature"

The thought of "harmony between man and nature" is the eternal theme of China's philosophy of man and nature. Although there are obvious differences in their understanding of "harmony between man and nature", such as Laozi's theory of changing heaven, Xunzi's theory of controlling heaven, and Yijing's theory of harmony between man and nature, on the whole, the theory of "harmony between law and practice" emphasizes that man should take the realization of heaven as his own responsibility, which embodies the popularity of the universe and emphasizes the unity between man and nature.

The ancient people's worship of "heaven" stems from their awe and awe of powerful nature. After gradually unmasking the mask of "heaven", people still insist on the diversified understanding of "heaven", which mainly develops along the two lines of "natural" and "ethical" heaven. The former is represented by Taoism and the latter by Confucianism. From then on, "heaven" is not only the life source of all things in the universe, but also the value source of human ethics. While communicating with people and leading people's behavior to "people", ethical heaven also integrates with people, emphasizing the importance of nature to people and people's respect for nature. In this way, "the unity of man and nature" links the ethical respect for nature with the humanistic ethical concern for people, and realizes and completes the complete connection between human nature and heaven in ethics.