Mozi believes that "the father is heartless and filial, and the brothers are not harmonious, which harms the world" and "the father is heartless and unfilial, which harms the world", so he advocates universal love. He also believes that universal love is "taking the law from heaven", "the law of the holy king, the rule of the world", so "we must persuade our lovers", so that "both father and son can be good, and if this is the rule of the world", "the father must be good, the son must be filial, the brother must be a friend, and the younger brother must be a heart. Therefore, a gentleman should be a gentleman, be a loyal minister, be a loving father, be a dutiful son, be a friend and be a brother. "When you enter, you are filial, and when you leave, your brother grows up in the village and sits in a proper position. There are differences between men and women." It can be seen that family ethics plays an important role in Mozi's thought, and filial piety is an important criterion to measure whether the society can be governed in Mohism's ideological system: "We must be filial and persuade relatives, respect the virtuous and teach the good. "Is to teach students politics, reward good and punish violence. And that if this is the case, there will be a cure for the chaos in the world; The danger of the country will also depend on what is available. " Mohist school attaches great importance to the love, respect and filial piety between father and son, and thinks that "love" is human nature, and love between people should be pushed from loving relatives to loving relatives in the world, that is, "treating people as relatives", which means that "love is equal and begins with relatives". Why does Mozi attach so much importance to family ethics and highly admire filial piety? Because affection is the first emotion that people feel, sincere and beautiful. The harmony and happiness of the family is the inevitable result of the mutual care of the family. Our experience and study of love originally came from the family. Love those we love, and then love others in society. Family ethics and family love are the basis of lovers, so Mozi said "I love my family" also based on "I love my family".
Mozi believes that filial piety means "loving your loved ones". Filial piety in the Classic: benefiting relatives. "Jing Shuo" filial piety: if you are divided into relatives, you can get benefits, but you don't have to get it. At the same time, it is pointed out that "there is love and sharing", and everyone should love their parents as much as possible and love their parents more than others. This is human nature and duty, which is determined by blood and affection. We can't ask others to love their parents more than they love their parents, nor can others ask us to do so, and even if there is such a request, no one can do it. The so-called pro-parents means that children love their parents, and they should "eat when they are hungry, clothe when they are cold, protect when they are sick, and bury when they are buried", take good care of their parents' food and clothing, serve them wholeheartedly when they are sick, and make them happy when they are cared for. After the death of parents, we should "bury ourselves in peace" and "sacrifice our filial piety to our loved ones". Therefore, in Mozi's view, filial piety is all about being able to enjoy parents' life, being buried together with death and offering sacrifices on time.
In-laws, usually narrowly understood as providing only material benefits, are actually not the case. In Mozi's thought, profit is defined as "happiness with income", which means that you can feel happy after obtaining it, and the income is not limited to material, but also includes emotional and spiritual income. Therefore, caring for relatives not only includes the supply of materials, such as food, clothing, property and so on. It also includes emotional and spiritual comfort, such as companionship. Teacher Zhang, a famous Mohism expert, once illustrated that in rural families with many children, some children provide money and material needs for the elderly, and some children accompany the elderly to raise things, all of which are filial piety. It cannot be said that it is filial piety that provides money and material things, but it is not filial piety that accompanies things. According to common sense, it takes more time and energy to accompany things, which is more difficult than providing money and materials. For example, you often go home now and spend more time with your parents, which is obviously more enjoyable than giving them some money.
Mozi believes that filial piety and love for parents can "get benefits" and try his best to "dare not spare no effort to make profits secretly, not for those close to him" so that parents can "enjoy themselves", but he does not advocate obeying their parents' command will without principle. Because in Mozi's view, although children should be filial to their parents, "if they are all parents, this law is also ruthless." The law is ruthless and cannot become law. "Mozi not only advocates that children should be filial to their parents, but also advocates that parents should love their children. This is a reciprocal relationship based on equality. It is difficult for parents to force their children. In Mozi's view, it is also "although the father is not kind to the son, this is also called chaos in the world." If parents force their children to do something, such as committing crimes or other things that violate common sense, it is "illegal" for children. At this time, disobedience is not a violation of filial piety. Therefore, once filial piety loses its reciprocal relationship, it is not a desire for parents, but a fool.
Foolish filial piety, that is, not violating parents' wishes, comes from the Confucian proposition of not violating. "Meng asked filial piety. Confucius said: No violation. Yu. My son told me: Sun Meng asked me about filial piety, and I answered it without violating it. Fan Chi said: What is it? Confucius said: people are born and do things with courtesy; When you die, you will be buried and sacrificed. "("The Analects of Confucius ") Confucianism even thinks that parents who have died for three years cannot be called filial piety. "A father who doesn't change his father's way for three years is filial piety" (The Analects of Confucius, Learning and Thinking) and "not violating" not only violate parents' wishes, but also violate the provisions of "courtesy".
You can't go against your parents' wishes, and you can't go against the rules of "ceremony", which is essentially the same, because "ceremony" is the determination of parents' rights and the obedience of children. Confucian "rites" have no respect for children's personal dignity and rights. For example, depriving a son of his property right "selfless wealth" (Book of Rites Quli). For example, after he got married, his son loved his wife very much and the relationship between husband and wife was very good. As long as his parents are unhappy, they must divorce. "The son is very suitable for his wife and his parents are unhappy." (The Book of Rites) Which parent can't hide that his son and husband are in love? For example, Lu You in the Song Dynasty is an example. Lu You's parents can't conceal the love between Lu You's husband and wife, but Lu You can only divorce his wife, causing lifelong regret.
Therefore, the Confucian "ceremony" is a mechanical, dogmatic and cold rule. From this point of view, Confucianism talks about pro-ceremony, which completely abandons the affection between father and son, but is determined by the external rules of "ceremony" But this rule is obviously not loved from the heart, but more can be felt. For example, children smile at their parents, which is definitely more satisfying than "politeness". "Rites" obviously can't and can't stipulate how many times children should laugh at their parents, let alone decide which one is from the heart and which one is out of the rules. "Rite" has become the stipulation of parents' privilege for their children, and the "filial piety" under this privilege has nothing to do with the affection between father and son.
Mozi's filial piety culture attaches importance to loving and benefiting relatives, and pays attention to funeral "mourning is ceremony, mourning is matter" and "mourning is death", and also pays attention to "filial piety is more important than relatives". Thick support, frugal burial and sacrifice constitute a complete system of Mozi's filial piety culture. As the saying goes, "If there are old people in the family, there are treasures", adoptive parents should do their best to raise them. "They dare not spare no effort and don't care about their own interests." Festival burial is the fundamental "mourning" for paying attention to funeral. Sacrifice is to remember your loved ones and not forget to thank your parents. Folk customs have always had the tradition of paying homage to relatives on time. Every year, festivals such as Tomb-Sweeping Day, Mid-Autumn Festival and Cold Clothes Festival are special days to pay homage to relatives. When people are old, their parents are gone, and their voices and smiles only exist in memories, leaving only a pile of loess to bury their parents. Facing the grave, how can they not remember and appreciate their parents? Life is too short, how can all fame and fortune compare with the preciousness of parents' affection? When parents are away, the day of sacrifice becomes the day of reunion of brothers and sisters. Mozi said, "Let's get together with the crowd and get close to our hometown." Isn't the relationship between brothers and sisters filial to parents? Therefore, Mozi's filial piety culture is full of strong feelings, whether it is caring for relatives or funeral sacrifices, which also shows that Mozi's filial piety culture is the most humanistic care.
Some people think that Mohism's thought of saving burial lacks humanistic value and humanistic care, and thick burial is the embodiment of humanistic value. However, should the humanistic value be measured by the amount of material wealth? Can it be said that people with more material wealth have "humanistic value" or "more humanistic value" Mencius once said that "being rich is heartless", which is obviously a criticism of the humanistic value of being rich. In other words, having a lot of material wealth in the world cannot be used as a standard to measure whether it has humanistic value. Then, after death, a large number of materials are used for reburial, and even people are killed as martyrs, which cannot be said to have humanistic value. On the contrary, reburial not only has no humanistic value, but also destroys humanity. Many times, holding a grand funeral has become a means to cover up the lack of support before death. Being born without support and being buried after death has become the so-called "filial piety". What's more, after the death of relatives, they sang and danced, so that some "vulgar performances" appeared at the funeral, which violated the essence of the funeral. It can be seen that Mozi's theory of "pseudo-bereavement" is true. Moreover, reburial is only in the name of filial piety, and Huainanzi tells the key point: "Numerous words and ceremonies are used to protect its quality, and reburial is used to lose its home. Beads and scales are poor in wealth, deep ridges are exhausted, poor families are few, and the sick are poor, so that the wind will lose the world. " It can be seen that thick burial is a foolish skill created by the rulers in order to "keep the world and lose it"-thick burial is filial piety. Once such a custom is formed, it will break away from the essence of funeral, violate filial piety and become a ruling skill.
Mozi said that Yao Shunyu was buried on this festival. "Shunxi taught seven honors, died, and was buried in Nanmu, wearing three collars, and Gu Mu's coffin was sealed. It's buried. The city people took it. Yudong Jiaojiuyi died and was buried on the mountain to be recalled, with three collars and a three-inch coffin. Ge is blocked, twisted, and impassable. The ground is deep, and there is no spring water, but it doesn't stink. After the burial, the remaining soil will be collected. If it is ploughed, it will stop. " The record of Lu's Spring and Autumn Annals can also prove that what Mozi said is true: "Yao was buried in the ancient forest and connected to the trees; Shun was buried in Jishi City, unchanged, and Yu was buried in Huiji, unchanged. Therefore, the former king buried it frugally, did not love its expenses, did not hate its labor, and cared for the dead. What the former king hated was the humiliation of the dead. If you send it, you will lose face. If you are frugal, you will not send it. Therefore, the burial of the late king must be frugal. " Therefore, some scholars have pointed out that it is very likely that there will be a simple burial in the Yao, Shun and Yu era, and Mozi's statement is reasonable. There is no doubt that Mozi is the inheritor of China culture, and Zhuangzi has clearly pointed out that Mozi is a "man who learned from the past". Huai Nan Zi also said: "I don't talk about it because of its ceremony, I was buried poor because of its wealth, and I was killed because of its long service, so I turned my back and went to Xia Zheng." Summer is the inheritance of tradition, so festival burial is our real cultural tradition.
Mozi said that kindness and love are the duty of children, but Mozi also pointed out that "the benefit of intellectual relatives is not filial piety." In Mozi's view, filial piety is not only the inheritance and kindness of parents, but also "taking people as relatives" on this basis. Caring for the elderly is a deeper meaning of filial piety. Therefore, Mozi put forward the idea of "filial piety", that is, starting from his own initiative, loving and respecting the elderly, forming a universal good social fashion of loving and respecting the elderly. In ancient times, the productivity was low, and the old people often had more wisdom and experience. Therefore, respecting and loving the elderly is not only a kind of humanistic care, but also directly affects production and life. Folklore "chopping wood and beheading, asking the old man the way", "not listening to the old man, losing money at the moment" and "asking the three old people when in doubt" all show that the old man has made great contributions to society. Personally, who doesn't want their parents to be respected by others? So Mozi said, "I want to kiss first, and then people will repay me for kissing." We respect others, others will respect us, so respecting and loving the old must start from ourselves. There is a very positive saying circulating in the society to the effect that although I may not be rewarded for respecting and loving the elderly at that time, I will still choose to respect and love the elderly, because I hope my parents will get love and respect from others when they are away from home without my company. This is precisely the embodiment of Mozi's thought of being a dutiful son. Therefore, there is a view that criticizing Mozi's universal love is utilitarian and questioning the inequality of returns just shows that this view is short-sighted. Imagine that if we take a long-term view and strive to start from ourselves, it will become a positive energy that affects social customs, and the return will be like "returning a peach to a plum". The elderly, including our parents, will get the greatest love and respect in society. However, if we don't do this, how can good social customs appear out of thin air? Therefore, Mozi not only advocates filial piety and kindness, but also advocates "taking people's relatives as relatives", which is the true tradition of filial piety.
Mozi said that the establishment of the country and the election of rulers are all aimed at "eliminating the harm of the world and promoting the benefits of the world", so it is necessary to "obey God's will", "run politics" and "righteousness". Part-time politics includes the responsibility of the government to provide for the aged. "So it is necessary to retire to see its people, feed them when they are hungry, clothe them when they are cold, nurse them when they are sick, and bury them when they die." Therefore, in Mozi's filial piety thought, filial piety is not only a family ethics for children to love their relatives, but also a good social fashion to respect the elderly and love the young, and it is also the responsibility of the government. The tradition that the government is responsible for providing for the aged can be traced back to the Xia Dynasty. The Book of Rites records: "Xia Houshi is old in the east and old in the west; Yin people are older than right scholars and older than left scholars in raising the country. " "Preface" and "Learning" are the institutions for the aged in Xia and Shang Dynasties, so Mohist school's "raising three old people and providing for the old" in Huainanzi is an inheritance of traditional filial piety. "Book of Rites Wang Zhi" also pointed out that the "Yu family" (or for dynasties or tribes) before the Xia Dynasty had a tradition of providing for the elderly, and the tradition of government providing for the elderly did not change with the change of dynasties, but gradually improved: "Where providing for the elderly, there are gifts given by the Yu family, gifts given by the Yin people and used by the Zhou people. Fifty are raised in the countryside, sixty in the countryside, and seventy in the school, reaching the princes. " Since the unification of Qin dynasty, the newly established imperial court has also institutionalized pension. Today, China will face the arrival of an aging society, and how to provide for the aged has become a problem that the country and individuals must face. At this time, we should vigorously carry forward the traditional filial piety culture, inherit the traditional pension system from family, society, especially the country, and learn from the experience of other countries to continuously improve the national pension system. National pension is the responsibility, the inheritance of filial piety, the embodiment of civilization and the embodiment of ruling ability.
The relationship between monarch and people has turned family ethics into political ethics, which is a historical feature of China. According to Han Feizi, "Confucianism and Mohism all said that the former king loved the world, so he regarded the people as his parents." As we all know, Confucianism is against Mohism, and there is no "people-oriented" thought, so Han Feizi's statement is not completely accurate. It was Mohism that said that the former king loved the world all the time. Mozi said universal love was taken from the holy king. "If husbands love each other, they will benefit the present, which is what the former six kings did." It is Mohism who regards people as parents, but Confucianism has no such view. Confucianism advocates that a gentleman is the parents of the people, that is, the parents of a gentleman, especially Jun Wang Weimin. Based on this, Confucianism advocates that people should be loyal and filial to their parents, otherwise they will be "no king and no father". How can a gentleman be so arrogant that he thinks he is the parents of the people? Therefore, the original intention of being a gentleman and being the parents of the people is that gentlemen, including kings, should treat the people as parents, rule the world with filial piety, be loyal to the people, and be filial to the people like dutiful sons. Therefore, Mozi said, "Be the son of heaven, take the people as parents, and all the people will respect the saints as kings." "The benevolent is the degree of the world, and it is impossible to be the degree of filial piety." "This is the real China tradition. For example, Han Shi Zhuan records that Qi Huangong asked Guan Zhong, "What is a king? Guan Zhong said: "Expensive days." Huan Gong looked up at the sky. Guan Zhong said: "The so-called sky is not the vast sky. The king regards the people as the sky. "Taking the people as the sky, the so-called king is the son of the people. All the statements that regard the monarch or the son of heaven as parents mostly come from Confucianism, such as Xunzi's Book of Rites: "A gentleman is born to be the parents of the people. Shang Shu Hong Fan: "The son of heaven is the parents of the people and thinks he is the king of the world." "Mencius Hui Liang Wang Shang" "Those who are parents of the people will inevitably lead animals to eat people, and the evil lies in those who are parents of the people. "In the Book of Rites, it is also recorded that Confucius held such a proposition:" Jun is the king of the world, selfless, and his son died without being thick. "People are like parents." Confucianism has completely subverted the tradition of "the monarch is the son and the people are the father". Subsequently, the political ethics that the monarch should be filial and loyal to the people also reversed, and the people should be loyal and filial to the monarch.
The ethics of monarch and minister has always been both loyal and filial, and the reversal of tradition by Confucianism has also created an internal contradiction for Confucianism-the dilemma of loyalty and filial piety. This dilemma of loyalty and filial piety does not exist in China tradition, because loyalty and filial piety, as the ethics of the monarch and the people, means that a monarch should be loyal and filial to the people. Mohism is the inheritor of "Ancient Road Studies". In ancient Taoism, "loyalty" is by no means loyalty. The people are loyal to the monarch, but the monarch must be loyal to the people. According to Zuo Zhuan, Cao Gui argued that the condition for Duke Zhuang of Lu to fight was: "Loyalty to the monarch can also be a battle". In Zuo Zhuan, he repeatedly mentioned "loyalty to the monarch" and "loyalty to the people", all of which meant that you should be loyal to the monarch and love the people. There is also an explanation about loyalty in Everything is Wrong: "Loyalty, so I love; Believe, so don't bully its people. " There is a clear statement in Mozi: "The ancients were wise sages, so they ruled the world and were princes. Those who love the people, are loyal to the people, benefit the people and are sincere, loyal, trustworthy and show their interests. They are tireless all their lives until death do us part. " It can be seen that China tradition not only pays equal attention to loyalty and filial piety, but also pays equal attention to loyalty and faithfulness, and as an ethical relationship between monarch and people, it is a requirement for monarch. In modern society, rulers must be loyal to the people, which has become a universally recognized political ethics. This is not a new creation, but an ancient tradition.
To sum up, Mozi's filial piety culture is an inheritance of tradition, including family, society, country and monarch and people's ethics, which has very realistic guiding significance to contemporary society. Therefore, we should not only strengthen the profound understanding of Mozi's filial piety, but also re-examine the traditional filial piety. From the appearance of Confucianism and Mohism in the pre-Qin Dynasty to the exclusive respect of Confucianism and the disappearance of Mohism in the Han Dynasty, Confucianism became the mainstream. However, in the face of the extremely rare works left by Mozi Mohism, the word "filial piety" in the whole Mozi is only mentioned in dozens, and there are many Confucian disciples from Confucius to Han Dynasty, and there are countless discussions on "filial piety". Moreover, Zeng Shen, who was famous for his "filial piety", was criticized by Mencius. On the premise that Hanshu