Harmonious Thoughts in China Throughout the Ages

In Chinese culture, "peace" and "harmony" are synonymous, and "harmony" appeared in ancient times in the category of "peace". Harmony" appeared in ancient times as the category of "harmony". As one of the core categories of classical philosophy, the idea of "harmony" has gone through a historical process of conception, germination, formation and development, constituting a complete and distinctive theoretical system. Various schools and schools of thought in the history of Chinese thought, especially the three pillars of Chinese philosophy, Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism, have all coincidentally expressed their prayers and aspirations for "harmony", and these ideas have been reflected and complemented each other, and have accumulated and coalesced into the basic spirit and long tradition of Chinese culture, which is still glittering with the light of wisdom today.

The concept of "harmony" was first nurtured in the ancient rituals of witchcraft. This primitive cultural form of early mankind gradually differentiated into "music" and "ritual". In ancient times, "music" referred to the trinity of music, song (poetry) and dance, and classical Chinese aesthetics highly valued the "harmony" contained in and embodied in "music". Pre-Qin aesthetics believes that the beauty of "harmony" lies not only in the appropriate unity of natural forms, but also in the significant ethical and moral significance of this unity, whose thoughts are obviously far richer and deeper.

"Rites" are the products of a certain stage of social development. In the Western Zhou Dynasty, ritual was a general term for the political system and moral norms, and it also included all kinds of ceremonial rites and rituals. The core of the Zhou rites was the patriarchal hierarchy based on slavery. Intuitively, "rites" emphasized "division", "distinction" and "difference": "Rites are used to distinguish between inferiority and superiority, and to differentiate between nobility and inferiority" ("Huainanzi"), and furthermore, "rites" emphasize "division", "differentiation" and "dissimilarity". "The purpose of "ritual" is still "harmony".

The formation of the meaning of "harmony" is also closely related to the emergence and development of the concepts of "yin and yang" and "unity of heaven and man".

The origin of the "five elements" is very early, and Min Zi first expressed the five elements as "water, fire, wood, gold and earth", which are in fact the five most basic, necessary and direct substances to maintain the survival of human beings. Shi Bo also regarded the five elements as the material elements that produce "all things", and highlighted the role of "and" in it with the generalization of "and real creatures".

"The unity of heaven and mankind" is a major feature of traditional Chinese culture and a major proposition of classical Chinese philosophy. Since the establishment of the spirit of rationality in pre-Qin, "God and man in harmony" has gradually given way to the "unity of heaven and man", which is the harmony and unity of man and nature, man and society. Dong Zhongshu combined the basic theories of Confucianism with the cosmology of the five elements of the Yin-Yang school, which had been popular since the Warring States period, to provide a complete cosmological system as the cornerstone of Confucianism's ethical and political program.

"Harmony" is the concept of classical Chinese philosophy in exploring the relationship between "heaven (nature) and man", "man and man", "man and man", "man and man", and "man and man". The three pillars of Chinese philosophy, Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism, have all given full play to this, and each has focused on developing and enriching the thought system of "harmony".

"Harmony" has a special place in the Confucian system of thought. The starting point of Confucianism is the relationship between individuals and groups, and the relationship between people and themselves, and the pursuit of harmony between people. Confucius emphasized the harmony of the present world and the harmony of the society, and took "harmony and difference" (Lun Yu - Zi Lu) as the standard of ideal personality; while Mencius emphasized that "the timing of heaven is not as good as the location of land, and the location of land is not as good as the harmony of people" (Meng Zi - Gongsun Chou). Confucianism, represented by Confucius and Mencius, put forward a series of moral principles aimed at realizing interpersonal and social harmony, as well as the visionary ideal of building a commonwealth society. The core of Taoist thought is "Tao", and an important characteristic of Tao is "harmony". The starting point of Taoism is the relationship between the subject and the object, the relationship between the object and the self, and the pursuit of harmony between man and nature. Lao Zi, the founder of Taoism, said, "Everything is negative and holds the yang, and the qi thinks it is harmony"; and Zhuang Zi, another representative figure, said, "The one who is in harmony with others is called human happiness; the one who is in harmony with the sky is called celestial happiness." Taoism attaches great importance to conforming to nature, following the laws of nature, and living in harmony with nature, in order to achieve the realm of "Heaven and earth are born alongside me, and all things are one with me" (Zhuang Zi - The Theory of Things).

Completing the dialectical synthesis of the three major harmony theories of Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism is Song Ming ethics. It takes the harmony of things and self as the goal, the harmony of people and self as the means, and the harmony of self as the basis, and integrates the three major theories of harmony, which are separated from each other and have their own ends, into a body-use combination and a closely linked organic whole, thus completing the construction of the theoretical system of harmony thought. Song Mingxiology or from the harmony of things and I push to the harmony of people and I, or from the harmony of people and I push to the harmony of things and I, at the same time attaches great importance to the harmony of man and nature, that is the reality of the foundation of the harmony of all of life, is the ultimate goal of the cultivation of life and the realm. Harmony of the Song and Ming philosophical ideas, but also concentrated in the "Kong Yan's music" on the importance of emphasizing, Kong Yan's music, not only happy in the thing I am one, but also happy in the people I am one, is the individual and the universe, human society, the integration of the unity and coordinated development.

In summary, the traditional idea of harmony draws on the essence of "yin and yang, five elements" and "unity of man and nature" to form and develop, and through the different philosophical systems have their own focus on the play, and gradually deepen and constantly enriched, and ultimately by the Song and Ming philosophies to dialectically synthesize and form a complete theoretical system. Finally, it was dialectically synthesized by Song and Ming philosophies, forming a complete theoretical system. The traditional thought of harmony has played an indispensable role in maintaining social stability, promoting social harmony and advancing the historical process of social development, and has provided a reference for the construction of a harmonious socialist society.