The Analects of Confucius is a recorded prose, with a total of 20 articles, including learning, politics, Bashu, Liren, Gongye Chang, Yongye, Shuer, Taibo, Zi Han and Xiangdang.
After the death of Confucius, The Analects of Confucius was collected by his disciples. Among them are Confucius' remarks and disciples' questions and answers, which are the classics on which Confucianism depends.
Confucius (5565438 BC+0-479 BC) was named Zhong Ni. His father, Congo, also known as Shu, once worked as a butcher in Qiaoyi (now southeast of Qufu, Shandong Province) and was a "scholar" of the lower class of the aristocratic class. His mother's surname is Yan and her name is Zheng Zai. Confucius' father died when he was 3 years old, and his mother died when he was 17 years old. When Confucius was young, he used to be a small official in charge of warehouses (commissioners) and cattle and sheep (farmers). Later, Confucius was proficient in the "six arts" (ceremony, music, shooting, imperial, calligraphy and number).
Confucius' political proposition is the theory of "courtesy" and "benevolence" He lived in the era of great changes in the Spring and Autumn Period, and he opposed using politics and punishment to force people to obey. His "courtesy" is a political order, and his "benevolence" is the highest moral standard. Of course, this kind of benevolence and propriety can be divided into up and down, down, up and down, down and down. In the turbulent Spring and Autumn Period, in order to strive for hegemony and pay attention to strength and interests, the governors failed to adopt Confucius' political proposition of "benevolence" and Confucius was not reused. Confucius and his disciples traveled around in 14 and returned to Shandong in 484 BC (eleven years). At this time, Confucius was 68 years old and white-haired. However, in his later years, Confucius devoted his energy to sorting out the ancient book Six Classics.
In 479 BC, Confucius died at the age of 72. His disciples and re-disciples compiled his speech into The Analects of Confucius, with 20 articles and 492 sections, totaling 12700 words. The Analects of Confucius records the death of Zeng Shen, a student of Confucius in his later years, and contains important information about Confucius' life, thoughts and theories, especially educational thoughts and teaching activities. It is a very important cultural heritage in China, and it can be said that it is the earliest educational book in the history of China.
From his political, philosophical and psychological viewpoints, Confucius thinks that the main content of moral education is benevolence and courtesy. Therefore, he advocated "ruling the country by virtue", which reflected the improvement of human value and the characteristics of the times when slaves demanded liberation. Therefore, Confucius' morality conforms to the trend of the times and has progressive significance.
The core of Confucius' so-called "ceremony" is "correcting the name". According to Confucius, the most important principles of Zhou Li are respect and kissing. In order to implement the principle of respect for relatives, Confucius put forward the idea of "correcting names" He said: "the name is not correct, and the words are not smooth; Words are not smooth, things are not smooth; If you can't do it, you will be happy; If the ceremony and music are not prosperous, the punishment will be lost; The punishment is not correct and the people are at a loss. " (The Analects of Confucius Lutz) Therefore, Confucius put forward "Jun Jun, Minister, Father and Son" (The Analects of Confucius Yan Yuan) as the specific content of "Rectifying Name". In other words, the monarch mainly conforms to the way of monarch, the way of minister, the way of father and the way of son. In a hierarchical slave society, the relationship between superiors and subordinates is maintained by "courtesy". So Confucius criticized people and things that didn't act according to their own names. For example, he criticized Dr. Lu for "eight moves to dance in the hall are tolerable, but are you too familiar?" ("The Analects of Confucius, Eight Shu") Lu Sanhuan sang the poem "Yong" when he worshipped his ancestors. In the poem, the emperor sacrificed to the emperor and the emperor was silent, which was also criticized by Confucius.
The category of Confucius' moral thought is mainly "benevolence". Confucius advocated "benevolence", which has multiple meanings in The Analects. One is "the benevolent loves others"; The second is "self-denial and courtesy"; The third is "benevolent". Guo Moruo said in Ten Criticism Books: Confucius' so-called benevolence is obviously in line with the trend of slave liberation. This is what people have discovered. "Confucius advocated' benevolence' and Mencius attached importance to' righteousness'. Therefore, Confucius's "Killing One's Body to Be Benevolent" (The Analects of Confucius Wei Linggong) and his successor Mencius's "Sacrificing One's Life for Righteousness" (Mencius Gao Zi Shang) had a far-reaching influence on later generations with lofty ideals and kindness.
Confucius was the first educator in China who advocated "teaching students in accordance with their aptitude". His different education of Lutz and You Ran can be explained as follows:
Lutz asked, "What did Sven do?" Confucius said, "With my father and brother around, how can I smell and act?"
You Ran asked, "What did you do when you heard this story?" Confucius said, "Si Wen must do it."
Gong Xihua said: "I asked Vince what he did, and Confucius said there were' fathers and brothers';"
When asked, Confucius said,' Yes'. Red is also confused, dare to ask. "
Confucius said, "Seek to retreat, so advance; I'm human, so I quit. "
Lutz and You Ran asked Confucius the same question: Should they do it as soon as they heard a good idea? Confucius gave different answers to different people. He said to Luz: My father and brother are at home, so you should ask them first. How can you do it at once? But for You Ran, it must be done at once. Gong Xihua, who stood by, couldn't figure it out and asked Confucius why.
Confucius enlightened and said: Ran is afraid of things, so encourage him; Lutz was reckless, so he restrained it.
Confucius' teaching thought of teaching students in accordance with their aptitude has a great influence on the history of education in China. In his view, a teacher must master four psychological manifestations that students often commit in their studies, namely, being broad but not precise, having narrow knowledge, being too eager to learn and being afraid of difficulties. Only by understanding the psychological characteristics of students can we help and remedy them. In other words, students' psychological differences determine the inevitability of teaching students in accordance with their aptitude.
In teaching, Confucius also advocated that teachers and students learn from each other, discuss with each other and inspire each other, so as to achieve good results of learning from each other. An Analects of Confucius is actually a record of their teachers and students asking questions and discussing with each other. Such as Luz, Yan Hui, Zigong and Xia Zi.
Lutz, who was straightforward and reckless, often criticized Confucius out of love for him. Confucius also cared and cared for Luz and accepted his criticism. When some students didn't respect Lutz, Confucius said to them: Lutz's knowledge is very good, but not deep enough. Yan Hui was Confucius' most proud student, but since Yan Hui never questioned and criticized Confucius, Confucius once said discontentedly: Yan Hui was not the one who helped me, and he didn't dislike my words. Zi Gong, high flyers of Confucius Language Department, often asks Confucius for poems. On one occasion, Zigong quoted Feng Weiqi's pride in the Book of Songs and said, "What does the Book of Songs mean if it says,' If it is incisive, if it is honed'? "
(The Analects of Confucius Learning) means that the Book of Songs says: Like bones, horns, ivory and jade, learn from it, ponder it and strive for perfection. Confucius said happily, Give it to me, and I can discuss the Book of Songs with you now. Xia Zi is an outstanding young Confucius, superior to literature. On one occasion, Xia Zi quoted a poem from the Book of Songs, Feng Wei, and asked Confucius for advice: "You always think it is gorgeous to smile with beautiful eyes. "What is it?" (The Analects of Confucius Eight-legged essay means that the Book of Songs says: A dimpled face is really beautiful, black and white eyes are really pleasing, and flowers are painted on a white background. What do these poems mean? Confucius replied:
Have a white background first, then draw flowers. Xia Zi further clarified: So, did rites and music come into being after benevolence and righteousness? Confucius said happily, "Shang Bo, you are my inspiration. Now I can discuss this poem with you further. Confucius dared to admit that Xia Zi, 44 years younger than him, inspired himself in his study, which showed that Confucius had the courage to learn from the educated and his spirit was admirable!
Confucianism later became the orthodox theory of feudal landlord class, and The Analects became the main classic of Confucianism. Zhu, a philosopher in the Southern Song Dynasty, combined The Analects of Confucius, Mencius, Daxue and The Doctrine of the Mean into four books. In the Ming and Qing dynasties, it was stipulated that in the imperial examination, the topic of eight-part essay must be selected from four books, and it should be "spoken on behalf of saints" Now, all the scholars at that time should regard The Analects of Confucius as a "sacred book" and study it attentively.