Views on China Thought

Strictly speaking, "ethics" and "morality" are two concepts and categories. In the history of China's traditional theoretical thought, "ethics" and "morality" were originally expressed in a single word, and their applications were different. "Lun" means generation, class and order; "Reason" means governance, order and regularity; "Tao" means Tao and reason; "Virtue" is the rule of reason and the observance of Tao. In the history of western ethics, it is considered that "ethics" is the unity of subjectivity and objectivity, individual and society, and it is the truth existence of absolute spirit in the objective spiritual stage. "Morality" is a form that embodies ethical spirit and regulates ethical relations. Ethics endows morality with objective content. It can be seen that "ethics" pays attention to society and emphasizes objective relations and order; "Morality" focuses on the individual and emphasizes the internal integrity of subjectivity.

On the level of objective relationship and practice, people often understand "ethics" and "morality" by adjusting their own practice and the formed relationship, and use these two concepts equally. They are established in daily ideological exchanges. Therefore, the words "ethics" and "morality" are sometimes very common, and sometimes they should be strictly distinguished.

On traditional ethical thought

In traditional cultural theory, "virtue" is self-cultivation, with "goodness" as the core, "virtue" is governing the country and "righteousness" as the core. In the history of China's ancient thoughts, although there is no clear exposition on the theoretical category of "ethics", there are rich ethical thoughts in a large number of works on society, politics, personal cultivation and social relations. Mainly reflected in the following three aspects.

1, family ethics

Family ethics is mainly reflected in filial piety and kindness. "Filial piety" is respect for parents and ancestors, and "mourning" is obedience to elder brother, which is used together in Confucian ethical culture. "Kindness" means "fraternity". In the history of traditional family ethics in China, Confucianism, represented by Confucius and Mencius, advocates filial piety the most. Confucius was the first person to advocate "filial piety", and his theory of "benevolence" was based on "filial piety". The so-called "gentleman's business" is based on morality. Filial piety is also the foundation of benevolence! In the Western Han Dynasty, due to the supremacy of Confucianism, "filial piety" was also extended to all aspects of social life, forming a systematic filial piety. First of all, Dong Zhongshu, a great scholar in the Western Han Dynasty, put forward the "three cardinal guides and five permanents". In the Song and Ming Dynasties, "filial piety" was pushed to the extreme and became "foolish filial piety". It can be seen that the moral concept of "filial piety" has a gradual evolution process. As the starting point of ethics, there is also a process of implementation from the inside out, from relatives to friends, from near to far, from small to large. In the end, it is almost everywhere and all-encompassing. "Filial piety, put in heaven and earth, spread all over the world, applied to future generations, without any time. "It can be said that filial piety has been fully developed in feudal society and has become a systematic and theoretical moral norm. Filial piety has the dual function of maintaining the harmony between family and country, and it is regarded as the fundamental artery to maintain the harmony between family and country. Therefore, the concept of filial piety goes far beyond the scope of moral concept, and it is infinitely expanded and applied to all aspects of the whole society. In Han Dynasty, filial piety ruled the world and implemented the system of "promoting filial piety". Filial piety can be an official, so a large number of dutiful sons appeared.

The main manifestations of filial piety are, first of all, the continuation of family blood, raising offspring and making the family successful. Secondly, respecting the old and loving the young is filial piety. It is filial piety to comfort parents spiritually, and it is the basic requirement of filial piety to make parents worry about food and clothing. In China's traditional ethics, it is emphasized that children should repay their parents' upbringing, and more importantly, they should respect the spiritual level of their loved ones. For example, the book "Home Miscellaneous Instruments" says: "All children who are taught by their parents must learn it, save time and do it quickly. It's against life to be finished. Still those who are ordered to be unworkable, they are soft and rigid, and they are clear from right and wrong. Wait until your parents agree. If you don't allow it, you should obey it if it doesn't cause great harm. If you go ahead with your parents' orders, you are still a disobedient son, although you can do everything. The situation may not be a thing? " As a junior, you should keep your parents' orders in mind and finish them at once. Tell your parents after you finish, even if what they say is wrong, you should explain it politely. Even if your own opinion is right, and you have done it yourself, it is also an emotional unfilial to your parents. Because in addition to the principle of right and wrong between parents and children, it is more important to have feelings. Secondly, from loving one's parents and ancestors to respecting all elders and the elderly, this is the further meaning of "respecting relatives". The Book of Filial Piety says: "Those who love their relatives dare not be wicked (love each other), and those who respect their relatives dare not be slow (love each other)." On the premise of loving parents, this paper puts forward the ideas of "forgiveness and respect" and "fraternity" Clearly require people not only to love their parents and brothers, but also to love other people's parents and brothers with the same feelings, that is, "to be old and be human;" Young and young, and young people. " (On Mencius Li Lou) This moral concept, which extends from loving parents to loving all elders and the elderly, embodies the national character and humanitarian spirit of the Chinese nation and can be said to be a relatively positive and progressive component of feudal filial piety.

Secondly, harmony is the basic requirement of harmonious family relations. Traditional family ethics pays attention to interpersonal relationships within the family, not only the "three relatives" such as husband and wife, father and son, and brother, but also almost all kinship relationships related to blood, such as grandparents, granddaughters, uncles, mother-in-law, sister-in-law, sister-in-law and cousins. How to deal with these complicated relationships, there are many incisive opinions in traditional family ethics, which deserve our serious study and summary. In family relations, the first is the relationship between husband and wife, the way of husband and wife, the meaning of heaven and earth, the source of weathering and the sum of husband and wife. The husband is required to be righteous, not forgetting righteousness when he sees color, being rich without losing virtue, and the wife being thrifty and hardworking. If the husband is unfair, the woman will be unhappy. Only when couples respect each other as guests can they be harmonious and happy. The second is brotherly relationship, which is a naturally formed relationship of flesh and blood and should be friendly. The third is the sister-in-law relationship. Sister-in-law has no blood relationship between brothers and fathers, which leads to most family conflicts. Dealing with the relationship between sisters-in-law is an important element of family harmony. Family harmony, harmony between husband and wife, father and son, brother and sister-in-law, has become the foundation and guarantee of family prosperity and glory, and it is also one of the ethical problems to be solved. In family relations, there are mainly husband-wife relations, father-son relations and brotherly relations. As the saying goes, "one family, these three are enough." Since in the past, as for the nine clans, they were all based on three relatives, so those who value human relations will be loyal "(Yan Zhitui, Yan's family training brother).

2. Educational ethics

In traditional culture, educational ethics is mostly expressed in the form of family letters and family instructions. It first emphasizes the moral ethics of education. People's moral quality is an acquired social attribute, which is relatively stable after its formation. If a defect is formed, it will cost a lot to change it, and it will bring great pain to individuals and families.

"Innocent, pure and solid, early education." It is emphasized that early education not only conforms to the law of children's physiological development, but also fully embodies children's psychological characteristics. Youth is the knowledge storage period of life, and its basic task is to learn all kinds of knowledge necessary for human life and form a certain life ability, including moral awareness and knowledge and skills. Children in this period are particularly curious, have the strongest memory and imitation, and are the easiest to concentrate, with simple life experience and no distractions. Therefore, adolescent knowledge education can get twice the result with half the effort. "The knowledge of childhood is not open, naive and solid, and the reader, although he hasn't reviewed for a long time, can still recite a few lines." (Zhang Ying's "Cong Xun Zhai Yu")

Moral education and learning are inseparable, and the growth of learning is conducive to improving children's ability to analyze and understand problems, thus promoting the development of children's various abilities. Judging from a large number of documents, the ancients regarded "determination" as the primary goal of education. Yao Shunmu, a great scholar in the Ming Dynasty, said: "Mortals must make up their minds first, not make a career first. Life is always wasted. How can they do anything? " What is "ambition"? It is to attach importance to one's own self-cultivation, including valuing righteousness over profit, being charitable and not deceiving the world. People with such lofty aspirations and noble sentiments will certainly be able to defend their country, take the world as their duty and serve the country as their duty; Will be mighty and unyielding, poor and humble, rich and rich. Improve yourself if you are ambitious. Being a successful person is a realm of life. For example, Yang Ming Jisheng said, "People need determination. At first, I decided to be a gentleman, but later many of them became villains. If you didn't set a goal at the beginning, you wouldn't have a direction, so you would be a villain in the world and everyone would hate you. Determined to be a gentleman, you can be an official or not, and everyone respects you. Therefore, I want you to be ambitious first. " ("Yang Ming Jisheng's Collection of Yang Zhongyu, Give a Book to the Son")

Celebrities and sages have the ambition of celebrities and sages, and ordinary people also have the ambition of ordinary people. Zhang Lei, a poet in the Northern Song Dynasty, is called "Four Bachelor of Su Men" with Huang Tingjian, Qin Guan and Chao. He wrote a poem, which reflected that on a cold night, children selling cakes peddled along the street to educate their sons to work hard for their ambitions. The title of the poem is very long, like a short preface: "The neighbors in the north sell cakes, and they sell them around the street every five drums." Although the cold gale is not abolished, the time is slightly worse. Because of writing poems, there are precepts and straw. " His poem said: "first frost is like the snow in the first month on the city, and the sound of the first floor is heartbreaking." Singing outside with a plate, the people in the tower failed. The north wind blows my clothes and shoots at my bread, but I'm not worried that my clothes and bread will get cold. If you are neither humble nor humble, you will be strong. If a person wants peace, he will have leisure. " This poem is full of deep sympathy for the people, and takes it as an example to educate his son: "If you have no ambition, you will have a firm ambition, and if you want peace, you will have leisure." No matter how high or low your career is, your will must be firm. If a person pursues it, it is impossible to be at leisure. The hardship of life should be the driving force of people's rise. The poet educates his son by selling cakes to children, which is a unique poem.

When a person has the will, he needs to study hard, so that he can learn something. First of all, it is emphasized that diligence is the key to learning. In ancient times, there were countless proverbs, legends and family instructions about teaching children to persuade them to learn. Only from Saint Amethyst, which has a wide spread and great influence, there are more than 20 stories that persuade students to study hard and encourage them to learn. For example, "In Meng Mu, I chose my neighbors and my son didn't learn, so I broke the machine"; "Head hanging beam, awl stab, he doesn't teach, self-improvement. Such as fireflies, such as snow, although the family is poor, learning is endless "; Sue, 27, began to work hard and study. Now that he is old, he regrets retiring. He is a young man. He should have thought of it earlier. These stories are well known to women and children through the catchy Ode to Saint Amethyst.

Traditional educational ethics attaches great importance to the teaching of research methods. Zuo talked about the "three things" of reading, namely, eyes, mouth and heart, which are still classic reading methods. On the issue of intensive reading and extensive reading, Zheng Banqiao has his own unique opinion: "Reading from scratch is the most useless thing. My eyes are gone, my heart is anxious, my heart is running out, and my contacts are at a loss. If I look at the beauty in the field, it will pass at a glance, which has nothing to do with me. Who has seen Song Cheng more than Confucius since ancient times? I don't know how many times I have read the Book of Changes to Bian Wei. The more I talk, the more I explore, the more I study, and the more I walk, the less I know where I am poor. Although I know the sage who walks safely, I don't waste the power of learning. Dongpo didn't have to study twice, but he read Epang Palace in Hanlin and got four drums. The old official was miserable and Poe worked tirelessly. How can you learn by heart just because you can understand it after reading it once, and then leave the book behind and end your study hastily! Only Yu Shinan, Zhang Suiyang and Zhang have read books all their lives and never read them twice, but they have never written a good article. Besides, you can recite it by looking at it. What's the harm in memorizing it? That is to say, in 130 historical records, Biography of Xiang Yu is the most important, and in Biography of Xiang Yu, the battle of the stag, the banquet of the Hongmen and the meeting of Gaixia are the most important. Reciting the concept repeatedly can make you cry with joy. Here you can hear several paragraphs. If you read a Historical Records and remember every word, you are not an unreasonable fool! Some novelists even say that all kinds of legendary evil songs and doggerel words are unforgettable, such as broken cabinets and rotten oil and sauce. Its filth is intolerable "(Zheng Banqiao Collection). People often think that they are smart enough to read, so they try to be brave. Zheng Banqiao thinks this is the worst thing. Confucius read the Book of Changes and three broken bamboo slips, while Su Dongpo read Epang Palace Fu until midnight. None of these masterpieces can be forgotten at a glance. But you can't read everything and remember everything, such as a historical record, which is full of millions of words. Among them, only the wonderful articles such as the deer war in the biography of Xiang Yu are the best articles, which should be read repeatedly. If you read all the articles, you will become an ignorant person. Reading should be selective, not everything. Only a really good book requires you to read it again and again and explore it carefully, and you can't "read it from the beginning". Zheng Banqiao is strange, and his reading experience is valuable. In addition, China's traditional ethics has a very good incisive exposition that reading is not as good as copying books, cherishing books and learning honestly.

3. Act ethically

In the traditional ethical thought, there are very important contents to deal with ethics, such as the social influence on people, the growth of teenagers' making friends, and the first is to choose friends. Yan Zhitui said: "Young people, who are not sure, naturally have to be modest, smoky, laughing, unwilling to learn, imperceptibly." Yan Zhitui also said: "Living with kindness, like entering the room of Lan Zhi, will last for a long time; Living with the wicked is like entering an abalone shop, which stinks for a long time. " ("Yan Family Instructions Mu Xian") Therefore, a gentleman should be cautious in making friends. After a person gets married, he gradually breaks away from his parents' teaching and the strict requirements of his teachers. The important social relationship is to make friends. If a friend is very speculative, his words are just like Lan Ruzhi's, which is very pleasant to listen to, even his parents, brothers and wives don't listen. Only his words are believed. If you fall into the wrong hands, it is easy to go astray and even stick to your own opinions. Therefore, "it is better to choose friends than to protect your family." Among the closest relatives, it is enough to choose two or three virtuous people who love reading as friends. Brothers can also communicate with each other, and they will not be too lonely.

The second is indifferent to fame and fortune. In traditional ethics, Confucianism gives people the impression that it values righteousness and benefits and opposes utility. For example, for scholars, to learn from saints, their ultimate value orientation is Tao or benevolence. A saint marks the highest moral realm. Yan Zhitui has a wonderful exposition in "Yan Family Instructions": "Don't steal the beauty of others, think for yourself (don't covet the hollow reputation)." Chapter 7 of Family Instructions Mu Xian said: "It is a shame that the ancients used words to match their bodies. Anything that is done by others is clearly called it, and you should not steal the beauty of others as your own strength; Although light and cheap, it will be returned to Yan. Stealing people's wealth is the punishment; Stealing the beauty of others is the responsibility of ghosts and gods. " Plagiarism of others' fame and fortune is a despicable act. Stealing from others is punishable; Those who steal other people's spiritual wealth should be condemned by their conscience. If a noble person absorbs useful things from others, even if that person is humble, he should be famous for him. He said in his family precepts: "Name and reality are the same shape and shadow." A good name is a good virtue and skill; When the face is beautiful, the shadow is beautiful. Today, those who don't cultivate themselves and seek fame in the world are still ugly and blame Yan Ying for being in the mirror. The staff sergeant forgot his name, the staff sergeant established his name, and the corporal stole it. Those who forget the name, combine virtue with virtue, enjoy the blessing of ghosts and gods, and seek the name instead; People who are famous, self-cultivated and cautious are afraid that the concept of honor is not obvious, so they will become famous; Stealers are ugly and treacherous, and their names are flashy, hence the name. "Fame and practical ability are just like shape and image. People with good moral character and all talents naturally have a good reputation; People with beautiful faces have beautiful images. If you don't cultivate your self-cultivation, it is impossible to gain a good reputation in the world, just like being ugly and imagining a beautiful image in the mirror. People with high morality forget fame and fortune; People with average morality pursue fame; People with low morals steal reputations. People who pursue fame are gentle on the surface and treacherous on the inside, but they can't get fame in the end. If you want to get ahead, you must first cultivate your self-cultivation, but the highest realm of life lies in nobility and indifference to fame and fortune.

The difference between people and animals is that people are spiritual and the spirit can last forever. It is an important source of human civilization to educate future generations and benefit society. To live is to cultivate goodness and establish a name as a profession.

We should also advocate thrift, which is a traditional virtue of China. In China's traditional ethics, frugality is advocated in dealing with people. For example, Emperor Kangxi said in the "Academy Training": "A husband is an official, and frugality can maintain honesty. Living in an official's hometown is not only economical, but also has a beautiful house, many wives and concubines, and many servants and friends. Why not give it if you are not greedy? Not cheap, who lacks desire? As the saying goes,' frugality makes honesty, extravagance makes greed', which is a rational necessity. " It is impossible for a person to unilaterally pursue a luxurious life of luxury houses, beautiful houses, wives and concubines, followers like clouds and extravagant friends who are not greedy. To be honest, we must cultivate the virtue of thrift.

In order to educate his son Sima Kang, Sima Guang, a famous minister in the Northern Song Dynasty, wrote a famous article "Training frugality to show health", which said: "frugality is the virtue of virtue"; Waste is a great evil. * * *, too, people who speak virtue come from thrift. A thrifty husband has few desires. If a gentleman wants less, he will not serve, but can serve; Little people have few desires. If they can use them carefully, they will stay away from evil. Therefore, thrift is also a virtue. If you are extravagant, you will have more desires. If a gentleman wants more, he will be greedy for money, waste his way and get into trouble quickly. If a villain wants more, he will ask for more, if he abuses it, he will lose his life and his home. So they will bribe officials and steal their hometown. So extravagance and waste is a great evil. "

In traditional ethics, there are still many contents that advocate saving burial. They think that life is a person's beginning and death is a person's end. They advocate preferential treatment before death and simplicity after death. We should try our best to make a name for ourselves in life and live frugally after death. This idea has also been advocated in society so far.

Second, talk about the characteristics of traditional ethics.

China's traditional ethics was deeply influenced by Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism and other cultures during its formation, especially Confucianism. In the long traditional society of China, Confucianism has a deep-rooted dominant position in people's ideological and moral fields. Therefore, China's traditional ethics is mainly the expression of Confucian ethics. Its characteristics are reflected in the following three aspects.

1, patriarchal ethics

Patriarchal ethics is the basic feature of China's traditional civilization. It is a kind of family ethics based on consanguinity, which evolved from the patriarchal clan system of clan society. Patriarchal clan system maintains the integrity of the family by consanguinity, for example, the family is dominated by patriarchy, the blood line is calculated by paternal line, the woman marries the man's family, and the woman lives in the husband's family. Patriarchal parents, as the core of the family, have supreme power and practice economic autocracy and ideological autocracy over the whole family. Sima Guang said in Book IV "Family Instrument" of "Instrument": "Only one person gives orders can rule the family." In fact, the patriarchal clan system is the key to the whole feudal patriarchal clan system. The combination of patriarchal ethics and Confucianism formed the patriarchal etiquette system. Through the development of feudal rulers and emperors and literati, a set of feudal etiquette system with "three cardinal guides and five permanents" as the core has been formed, which has formed a more practical family ethics content.

2. The characteristics of publicity and education

"Sui Shu Volume 34 Jing San" said: "Confucianism helps people to be enlightened, and saints teach from home instead of home, so some Confucianism announces it and makes it clear." In China society, the family combined by the consanguinity generated by marriage is the basic unit of society and occupies an important position in the social structure. In the long-term feudal society, the three basic principles of "the monarch is a minister, the husband is a wife and the father is a son" were first realized through family education. Family education in China is often embodied by family training, family training, family training and family letters. It has played a great role in spreading Confucianism to the people and society. It is precisely because of this family education model that Confucian ethics has reached a level that is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. Some ancient "family precepts" and "family precepts" we have seen today have detailed explanations on Confucianism's loyalty, filial piety, benevolence, the golden mean, establishing reputation and so on, and use them to educate future generations, so that they can integrate traditional ethics and Confucianism into their words and deeds in life. For example, Zhuge Liang's "Family Instructions" tells future generations: "A gentleman's trip, quiet cultivation of virtue, frugality of Xiu De. Not cold, not awake, not quiet, not far away. You must be quiet before you can study. If you don't learn, you can't be versatile, and if you don't want to learn, you can't succeed. If you are slow, you can't be energetic, and if you are dangerous, you can't be radical. Years go with the times, meaning goes with the days, becomes withered, laments and worries, what will happen! " This kind of "family training" is actually beneficial to every member of society.

3. Maintain social characteristics

The enlightening function of China's traditional ethics provides a realistic basis for the realization of Confucian political thought and theoretical personality. Mencius said: "The foundation of the world is in the country, the foundation of the country is at home, and the foundation of the family is in the body" (Mencius). Only by practicing can the family be reconciled, and then the country can be ruled, and the country can be peaceful. Obviously, this chain is interlocking. From the Confucian point of view, family relationship is the epitome of social relationship, and society is the expansion of family. The educational function of traditional ethics is to achieve self-discipline and family harmony by realizing the moral cultivation of children, grandchildren and family members, thus providing a possible basis for "governing the country" and "leveling the world". "University" said: "Things have a beginning and an end, and things have an end and a beginning. Knowing the order is a shortcut. If the ancient desire is obviously superior to the world, rule the country first; If you want to govern the country, you must first cultivate your body; If you want to cultivate yourself, you should be upright first; If you want to be correct, be sincere first; Be sincere, let him know first; Knowledge exists in things. Know what it is, know what it is, and be honest. If the mind is regular and the body is cultivated, the family will be smooth, and the family will govern the country, and the country will be peaceful. From Tian Zi to Shu Ren, one is self-cultivation. " [3] It can be seen that Confucianism unifies the family and the country, and it can be filial at home and loyal to the country. This concept of the unity of home and country certainly makes the rulers feel very much needed. Traditional ethical thoughts are not only for the needs of individuals, but also for the needs of families and countries, and play a very important role in maintaining and stabilizing society.

Third, talk about traditional moral thought.

Tao, as the highest philosophical category in ancient China, aims to explore the origin of the universe. Through conscious consciousness, Taoism realized that everything originated from the chaotic and undivided Tao. Since "Tao" is the origin of all things in the world, the law of the movement and change of "man, earth, heaven, heaven, Tao and nature" and all things must abide by the "law" of Tao. Other theories other than Taoism mainly focus on the meaning of the regularity of Tao, such as "heaven", "man", "the way of saints", "being a minister" and "medical way" advocated by Chinese medicine experts.

"Virtue" is an important philosophical category formed on the basis of Taoism. The original meaning of virtue is "virtue cultivation". For example, Chapter 38 of Laozi said: "Virtue is not virtue, but virtue; There is virtue without losing it, and it is not virtue. " Taoism is based on the thought of inaction and takes naive and simple nature as its virtue. For example, "Zhuangzi Heaven and Earth" said, "People with virtue live without thinking, act without worrying, and do not hide right and wrong." Taoism also takes indifferent and modest cultivation as its virtue. For example, the forty-first chapter of Laozi says: "Virtuous people are humiliating, and thick people steal Jiande."

1, traditional ideology and morality

China's traditional culture is characterized by moral spirit, and morality is at the core. As far as the whole social structure and system are concerned, it emphasizes the moral cultivation of everyone, takes personal cultivation as the direction, and even the whole social operation is based on personal moral cultivation.

China's traditional ideology and morality is actually a comprehensive theoretical system with Confucianism as the main body and Taoism as the content. Confucianism advocates benevolence and filial piety as the foundation, propriety and music as the use, and implements the way of being sage inside and king outside. It holds that human virtue is an advocacy of mastering and implementing social morality, the Three Cardinal Principles and the Five Permanent Principles, and an explanation of a person's good conduct and its positive role in society. For example, Chapter 51 of Laozi says: "Tao gives birth, animals are raised by virtue, pavilions are poisoned by virtue, pavilions are built by virtue, lives are born by virtue, and virtues are raised by virtue." Explain that the greatest "virtue" of Tao is to grow and nourish everything, not to take everything for yourself. Confucianism also strongly advocates the virtue of nourishing all things in nature. It is precisely because of the endless evolution of nature that human beings can survive and continue. Everything in nature is the mother of human beings, and it is advocated that human beings should "carry things with morality" and "be a gentleman, and their politics must be good and evil." This is actually the idea of benevolence and fraternity advocated by Confucianism. What later generations call "morality" is a summary of social ethics. Strictly speaking, the essence of China's traditional moral thought and China's traditional moral thought are integrated, and it is difficult to separate them in details. China's traditional moral thought is actually the embodiment of Confucian moral thought.

Standing between heaven and earth, learning to be a man is the first important thing in life. To cultivate a perfect personality, we must first start with ideology and morality. This is self-cultivation, referred to as self-cultivation