How Ancient Benevolent People Viewed Life and Death

The concept of life and death is part of the concept of life and values, and it is a very important part. The attitude toward life and death directly affects people's value orientation in real life, and different concepts of life and death will produce different attitudes toward life. The words "life does not bring, death does not take away", "come naked, leave empty-handed", "life and death is heaven's destiny", "better to die than to live", and so on are the most important words for people's attitude towards life and death. " and other words are an expression of the view of life and death.

After human beings have culture, the view of life and death has also become an important part of human culture. Different views on life and death have led to different religious beliefs, and the concept of life and death itself is a kind of faith. Different regions, different ethnic groups, and different historical periods have different views on life and death.

First, let's look at the Chinese concept of life and death. The Chinese regard birth as a joyous event, and death as a funeral, and believe that parting is one of the saddest things in life. It is taboo to talk about death in normal times, and a long and healthy life is an auspicious thing to say, and there is no better curse for a person than "not to die well". Ancient officials encountered parents in mourning, must leave their homes in mourning for three years, known as the "Ding Wu". The question of life and death is not only an important part of traditional Chinese culture, but also the ultimate goal of Buddhism and Taoism.

The following is an introduction to the concepts of life and death in ancient China's Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism.

The Confucian concept of life and death.

For thousands of years, Confucianism has been the foundation of Chinese thought, and Confucian culture is the orthodoxy and mainstream of Chinese culture. Confucianism emphasizes the cultivation of character and virtue and the pursuit of well-being in life. Confucianism attaches great importance to the life of human virtues, the "five blessings" in the Shangshu means: longevity, wealth, health and tranquility, you good virtue (virtue), and the end of the life of the examination (good end).

To live a long and healthy life, to live in abundance and tranquility, to have a noble character, and finally to have a good death is the basic Confucian concept of life and death.

On the issue of life and death, Confucianism reveres virtue, benevolence and righteousness, and considers these more important than life. Confucius said, "The aspiring scholar, without seeking life to harm Ren, has to kill his body in order to fulfill his benevolence," " Asking in the direction of death, dying in the evening can be carried out." For this point, Mencius spoke more clearly, he said: "life, also I desire; righteousness, also I desire. The two can not be reconciled, give up life and take righteousness." That is to say, there is something more important than life in this world, which is benevolence, righteousness and morality. Mencius often used the term "life" to replace "life", and he believed that if we talk about life, there is no difference between human beings and dogs and cows, but only in terms of sex, there is a difference. The concepts of "sacrificing one's life for righteousness" and "killing one's own body to fulfill one's benevolence" have always been highly esteemed by Confucianism, and the same meaning is also expressed in the saying, "Life from time immemorial has its own deaths, and the heart of a man is left to shine through the sweat of the valley". Even the poet Li Qingzhao was able to write such a poignant sentence as "to live as a man of honor, and to die as a ghost".

Thanks to the influence of Confucianism, there have been countless people in China's history who have lived and died as they should. The terms "fear of death" and "live and let live" are pejorative. In modern times, people say, "Some people live, but they are dead; some people die, but they are still alive." It is also about the relationship between life and death and the value of life, which has the influence of Confucianism.

The Daoist and Taoist concepts of life and death.

Taoism is China's domestic, Laozi and Zhuangzi are the main founders of Taoism, known as "Lao Zhuang", their philosophical thinking, especially the view of life and death formed the later Taoism, Taoism in the issue of life and death focus on health, the pursuit of longevity, practicing the so-called immortal style of Taoism. Many famous ancient healers were also often Taoists, such as Ge Hong of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, who was a famous Taoist scholar and alchemist, as well as a famous doctor.

Zhuang Zi believes that man is a form of existence of "gas", "the life of man is also, the gathering of gas is also, the gathering is life, the scattering is death", that life and death is only a change of form, life and death are relative existence, without life there is no death; on the contrary, without death there is no life. Without death, there is no more life, and death is not necessarily a bad thing. Zhuang Zi advocates Qi life and death, regardless of life and death, should be natural.

These views of Zhuang Zi are very philosophical, which are the simple dialectical views of the ancients on the issue of life and death, and still have a lot of inspiration and worth pondering for today's people.

Lao Zhuang's thought developed into the later Taoism, Taoism's concept of life and death advocates the pursuit of tranquility in the spirit, in the body focus on health, even today, in the issue of health Taoism is still unique.

The Taoists believe that life and death is a natural phenomenon and through the health to achieve longevity has a positive significance, especially the Taoist invention of the guiding techniques (including qigong, massage, taijiquan, etc.) is still an important method of fitness.

As for the Taoist immortality and become immortal, can only be said to be a kind of ancient people on the issue of life and death of a kind of good wishes, Taoism in this regard has left many stories and legends, which is also a valuable cultural heritage.

3, the Buddhist concept of life and death

Buddhism in the Han Dynasty from India to China, was once the most widely spread in our country's most influential religion, until today, Buddhism still has a great influence on the thinking and the mass base.

Buddhism's basic view of life is that "the sea of bitterness has no boundaries, and turning back is the shore." Buddhism believes that the world is full of suffering, life is not only the suffering of birth, old age, sickness and death, but also the suffering of unfulfilled desires. People in real life do have all kinds of sufferings and misfortunes, and there are many uncertainties in life, so the Buddhist view of life and death is easily accepted by people.

Buddhism believes that life and death is a kind of reincarnation, according to what you did in your life, after you die, you will enter the six paths of hell, hungry ghosts, animals, asuras, humans, and heaven. Buddhism also believes that all the wealth, poverty, misfortune and loss in life are due to karma, that people's different behaviors cause different retribution, and that the relationship between people is also determined by karma.

Buddhism advocates transcendence of the self through spiritual practice, through which one's attachment to oneself is extinguished and one enters a state of selflessness, in order to be transformed into a Buddha and enter the world of bliss in the West, and to realize eternal happiness.

Buddhism, in the more than 2,000 years since it was introduced to China from India, has continuously infiltrated Confucianism, and has been able to maintain consistency with Confucianism in many of its moral requirements, such as the accumulation of virtues and the practice of good deeds.

The Taoists advocate immortality; the Buddhists advocate a hundred sufferings in life and casting oneself into the world of bliss after death; and the Confucians believe that the pursuit of well-being in life but morality is above all else are all differences in the concepts of life and death with each other.