What are the problems in China's traditional ethics?

Generally speaking, the fine moral tradition of the Chinese nation refers to the essence of traditional moral thoughts such as Mohism, Taoism and Legalism with ancient Confucian ethics as the main content. In the historical process of more than two thousand years, the ethical thoughts of Confucianism, Mohism, Taoism and Legalism and the theory of mind and nature in Buddhism have influenced and absorbed each other, forming a unique ethical tradition of the Chinese nation.

(A) the overall supremacy, "self-denial" sense of social responsibility and mission. In the traditional ethical structure of China, for the benefit of the country and the people, "promoting the interests of the people under heaven" (Mozi Classic) is the highest expression of morality and the greatest "righteousness". Adhering to this principle to regulate people's behavior and observing this principle is the embodiment of "people with lofty ideals." Many thinkers, politicians and writers have been advocating this realm of life. Confucius said, "Suicide leads to adulthood, but failure to survive leads to harm" (The Analects of Confucius, Yongye). Mencius said: "Life is what I want; Yi, I want to. You can't have your cake and eat it, so you have to sacrifice your life for justice "(Mencius Teng Wengong). Fan Zhongyan advocated that "if you live in a temple, you will worry about your people;" Far away, the rivers and lakes, and near, you are worried about the king. " "Worry about the world first, and enjoy the world later" (The Story of Yueyang Tower); Du Fu lamented that "there are thousands of spacious buildings, and the poor in the world are happy, and the wind and rain do not move" ("The autumn wind in the hut breaks the song"); Lin Zexu Mingzhi said that "it is difficult to live or die for the country, but it is difficult for every cloud has a silver lining to avoid it" ... These views and propositions all adhere to the principle of putting national interests and overall interests first, and "putting righteousness first and interests first" in the relationship between individuals and others, society and groups. When considering personal interests, we should not violate moral principles and harm the interests of society and others. The so-called "righteousness before taking", "unjust and rich and expensive, like a cloud following me" (The Analects of Confucius Yong Ye).

(2) The principle of interpersonal harmony of benevolence and righteousness.

In China's traditional ethics, we pay special attention to and emphasize respect and care for people, advocate mutual care, love and help among people, and strive to create a harmonious and friendly mild atmosphere. Confucius regards "benevolence" as the core content of his ethics. He linked "benevolence" with "love" and regarded "love" as the fundamental requirement of "benevolence". It is advocated that "if you want to stand, you want to be benevolent" and "if you give to others, you can say that it is benevolent" (The Analects of Confucius). To promote harmony between people, we should start from our own personal feelings such as desire, emotion, will and interest, put ourselves in the other's shoes, enhance understanding, be considerate and take care of each other, and provide convenience to each other, especially to those in need. Based on the utilitarian principle of simple respect between people, Mozi put forward the ethical principle of "mutual love and mutual benefit". He believes that the contradictions and disputes between people are all caused by the selfish thought of "harming others and benefiting themselves", that is, "not loving each other". The trapped people should "love themselves and love their bodies", and love and being loved are interrelated. "Those who love others must love others, and those who benefit others must benefit others" (Mozi's Love for All). This kind of interpersonal love is not only manifested in psychological sympathy and care, but also in mutual benefit in real life, which makes people get practical benefits. Mohist school broke through the Confucian hierarchical concept of "love has equal difference" through "combined love" and "mutual benefit" and advocated the universality of paying equal attention to love and benefit. Strive to make it "widely used by the world" and "widely spread by the world".

(3) the vigorous spirit of "self-improvement" and the broad mind of "being virtuous and carrying things".

Thousands of years of changes in China's traditional culture have given birth to the personality spirit of China people, which is manifested in two interrelated and opposite aspects: one is "striving for self-improvement" and the other is "caring for morality". In the Book of Changes, the theory of "vigorous" was first put forward, that is, "vigorous but not sleepy, but poor with the intention of not sleepy", "vigorous and unyielding" (The Biography of Elephant in the Book of Changes), and "vigorous" is manifested in the initiative, initiative and unyielding character of life, the spirit of struggle and "vigorous and self-reliant", and "respecting morality and carrying things" is China's traditional ethics and morality. It is pointed out in the Book of Changes Xiang Zhuan that "the terrain is vast, and a gentleman carries things with virtue". It is advocated that a gentleman should be as broad-minded as the earth, gestating, containing and accommodating all things, thus making himself a profound saint. This excellent quality is manifested in two aspects: first, to tolerate others with a pleasant mood, to be kind to others, to be kind to life, to look at everything from the perspective of interests, to find the beauty in life, to find things that are beneficial to human beings and themselves, to get along with others, to find more similarities, to seek common ground while reserving differences and to develop together. The second is to find your own shortcomings with a modest attitude, learn from others' strengths, learn from each other's strengths, and overcome your own shortcomings and deficiencies. This honest attitude urges people to constantly enrich themselves, thus making themselves stronger and stronger.

(4) cultivate self-discipline and practice the principle of moral cultivation.

Paying attention to the cultivation of personal moral quality is a unique ethical culture in China's traditional morality, and the spiritual heritage that can be learned and inherited in this respect is also the richest.

Every school in ancient China has expounded on moral cultivation, and the Confucian school has the most systematic ideological data in this respect. The Confucian school has built a cultivation system of "three cardinal guides and eight eyes" for people, and the "three cardinal guides" of "showing virtue, being close to the people and stopping at perfection" have defined the fundamental purpose of personal moral quality cultivation. "Those who want to show virtue in ancient times should rule their country first and want to rule it. Those who want to cultivate their bodies should first correct their hearts, those who want to correct their hearts, those who want to be sincere and sincere, and those who want to know their hearts, predict their hearts. " (Book of Rites University) Here, the "Eight Eyes of Self-cultivation" plans eight stages of personal moral quality cultivation in detail. They believe that moral cultivation is the foundation of all people in society. ".

Confucianism not only summarizes the complete system of moral cultivation, but also affirms the extreme importance of moral cultivation. At the same time, in order to guide people's moral cultivation, many concrete and feasible moral cultivation methods are put forward, such as "determination", "learning", "self-denial", "self-examination" and "cautious independence". They attach great importance to the cultivation of "status" and think that "determination" is the beginning and foundation of being a man. "The third class can be handsome, but ordinary people can't be successful" (The Analects of Confucius, Zi Han), and the core of "ambition" is "ambition in Tao", that is, "listening to Tao and dying in the evening", and "a scholar's ambition in Tao is not discussed if he is ashamed of his poor food and clothing" (The Analects of Confucius, Li Ren). "Self-denial" means that in order to achieve a lofty moral realm, one must restrain one's own selfish desires and subjective prejudices and make one's psychological feelings and behaviors conform to moral requirements. "Learning" is the basic means of moral cultivation. In ancient Confucian classics, "learning" is mainly the study and understanding of moral theory and moral norms. The opening words of The Analects of Confucius are Confucius' understanding of moral learning. "It is not pleasant to study from time to time." Confucius summarized moral learning into five stages: learning, asking, thinking, distinguishing and doing, namely, learning, asking, thinking, distinguishing and persevering. We should not only learn classics, but also learn advanced moral models, such as "A threesome must have a teacher" and "Seeing the sage Si Qi, but also introspection without seeing the sage" (The Analects of Confucius). "Introspection" means constantly reflecting on yourself, noticing your mistakes and faults, and immediately finding and correcting them. Zeng Shen said: "I saved three times a day and was unfaithful to others." Don't believe in making friends? Can't you learn? "(ibid.). Wang Yangming, a scholar in Ming Dynasty, summed up the method of cultivating goodness by "inspecting and treating", which enriched and developed Zeng Shen's "introspection". He advocates that everyone should always carefully check their own selfish desires such as good things and goods in their spare time, and severely criticize and eliminate them according to the moral theory of sages. " If you go to find a thief, don't give him a way out, don't give him convenience, be sure to sweep it away "; Another example is the cat catching mice. If you stare at it with one eye, you must destroy it completely. Only when you are grand can you be swift (Biography, Part II). "Being cautious and independent" is an important method of moral cultivation, and it is also a lofty realm that moral cultivation should reach. "Book of Rites" points out: "It is probably unheard of for a gentleman to be cautious and not block his actions. If you don't see it, don't show it, so the gentleman is cautious. "This means that a noble person should stick to his moral beliefs, be cautious about his words and deeds, and never do anything immoral even when he is alone and unsupervised. Because a person's moral level can be better reflected in a place where no one knows or pays attention, we must consciously and actively safeguard our moral beliefs. The method and realm of "cautious independence" is the embodiment of one's words and deeds, and it is an excellent moral quality.