Confucius' political thoughts are mainly embodied in The Analects of Confucius, which is a collection of speeches made by him and his disciples. In addition, the Six Classics compiled by Confucius also reflected the basic political thoughts of Confucius. Confucius established a systematic and complete theoretical system, including philosophy, ethics, politics, education, economy, history, literature, aesthetics and so on. He was formed through the work of "narration" and "writing". And "Shu" is that he systematically sorted out the ancient books and documents before the Zhou Dynasty, and edited and deleted six classics: Poetry, Shu, Li, Yue, Yijing and Chunqiu. Zuo is Confucius' own work, mainly The Analects of Confucius.
The main body of Confucius' political thought is the study of benevolence and courtesy, which is the core category of Confucius' political thought.
1, about benevolence
Confucius had the concept of benevolence before. In the early Spring and Autumn Period, people called the corporal of respecting the elders, loving the people and being loyal to the monarch, and being virtuous as benevolence. Confucius inherited the ideas of his predecessors and developed into a systematic theory of benevolence.
What is benevolence? Confucius mentioned benevolence in 100 places in The Analects of Confucius, which has a wide meaning, but it has two basic meanings: one is love. His disciple Fan Chi asked Confucius what benevolence was, and Confucius replied, "Love". Shuowen has an explanation: "benevolence, affinity and obedience", which is in line with Confucius' thought. Benevolence is the relationship between people. We should be friendly and help each other. Love is different. According to Mencius, "Kiss the people, be kind to the people and love things". Love your loved ones first, then spread to the people, and then spread to things; It is the first generation, the first inside and the second outside, with both the second and the thickness. This is a kind of "benevolence" that is divorced from the "natural nature" of human beings.
2. About the ceremony
The second meaning of benevolence is self-denial. Confucius said in reply to his disciple Yan Yuan, "Self-denial is benevolence" (Yan Yuan). Self-denial is self-restraint. "Reward ceremony" means that all words and deeds must be accepted. What is emphasized here is people's moral consciousness. By restraining themselves, people can reach the realm of conscious etiquette and reach see no evil. Don't listen to evil words, don't say evil words, and evil will do. "Listening, speaking and doing are all in harmony with the ceremony. This is the realm of benevolence.
"Rite" is also an ancient concept, and Duke Zhou formulated "Rites of the Week". However, Confucius was the first person to discuss it in many ways. What is a gift? The meaning of ceremony includes two aspects: first, it belongs to the provisions of the fundamental political system. "Zuo Zhuan" was hidden in the public for eleven years: "Rite, serve the country, settle the country, make the people benefit the heirs." In other words, ceremony is to govern the country, consolidate the state system and maintain the order needed by society. Confucius also said that etiquette is the "Great Classic of Kings" (Zuo Zhuan has been known to the public for fifteen years), the fundamental rule and the key to governing the country. Therefore, "it is impolite for a bad country to lose its home" (
Confucius believes that ceremony and ceremony are unified, ceremony is fundamental, ceremony is subordinate, ceremony is the form of "festival" or ceremony, or ceremony is to consolidate and embody social order and system in the form of code of conduct and etiquette. Therefore, the realization of ceremony depends on both the force of compulsion and the force of custom, which is a combination of internal and external forces, so ceremony and music are linked. The concept of "returning the courtesy to others" mentioned by Confucius actually advocates the establishment of a "ceremonial society" like the Zhou Dynasty, that is, an orderly and systematic society.
Confucius advocated the combination of ceremony and benevolence, accepting benevolence in ceremony and enriching ceremony in benevolence. This is an innovation of Confucius. "Regarding the relationship between propriety and benevolence, he thinks that benevolence is the inner spirit of propriety, and propriety is the manifestation of benevolence. Benevolence is the highest realm of ceremony, and ceremony is the way to realize benevolence. As far as the essence of benevolence and courtesy is concerned, benevolence, in the final analysis, embodies the benevolent relationship between people rooted in blood relationship; Rites mainly regulate the political order and system of society. In Confucius' ideological system, paying attention to the combination of benevolence and propriety is essentially paying attention to the combination of benevolence and politics, thus making a major revision of Zhou Li. Benevolence and propriety are not contradictory, because benevolence is content and propriety is form, and the combination of them is a kind of system perfection.
3. On the idea of governing the country by virtue
Linked with Confucius' theory of benevolence, righteousness and propriety, in the general plan of governing the country, he advocated "governing the country by virtue", which is the noblest way to govern the country. This strategy of governing the country is also called "rule by virtue" or "rule by courtesy". In fact, this strategy broke the traditional creed that courtesy is no less than Shu Ren's, and broke the original important boundary between nobles and civilians.
Specific measures to implement the rule of virtue:
1) Pay more attention to education than punishment. Confucius believes that to govern a country well, we must strengthen education on the basis of satisfying people's affluent life. On the issue of ritual punishment, Confucius advocated that ethics is fundamental and punishment must be used with caution when necessary. I believe that only by combining leniency with severity can political affairs be harmonious. Combining leniency with severity means both civil and military skills, and combining rule of virtue with punishment.
2) Oppose excessive extraction and advocate "making people upright". Righteousness is right, that is, serving the people is not too much, but appropriate.
Confucius saw the reality of polarization and disparity between the rich and the poor at that time, and thought that this was the basic factor that caused social unrest and national subversion, so he put forward an egalitarian economic proposition. He said: "People with state-owned families do not suffer from inequality because of widowhood or anxiety because of poverty." ("Ji Shi")
3) Correct yourself for political needs. Confucius believes that to govern the country, to be upright, we must be upright first, and then we can be upright. He said: "His body is upright, and he has no orders: his body is not upright, although he does not obey orders." (Luz) Therefore, Confucius advocates that the ruler must be a "gentleman" who is highly respected and practical. In this way, he played an exemplary role for those in power, was promoted from top to bottom, and naturally governed the people and the country. Confucius put forward certain moral standards for politicians.
4) Cultivate talents. Linked with Confucius' thought of ruling by virtue, he believed that the monarch mainly ruled the world and must promote talents, discover and promote outstanding talents, and participate in state affairs. Regarding the standard of talents, Confucius thought that it should be "based on Tao, based on morality, based on benevolence, and based on art" (Book II), that is, it should have political ideals and goals, be based on the spirit of benevolence and noble morality, and be good at using professional knowledge and skills. In short, a talented person should have ideals, morality, knowledge and ability to govern the country. This is a standard of having both ability and political integrity.
Confucius' theory of benevolence embodies the spirit of human nature, while Confucius' theory of propriety embodies the spirit of etiquette, that is, order and system in the modern sense. Humanism is the eternal theme of mankind, which is applicable to any society, any era and any government, and order and institutional society are the basic requirements for establishing a civilized human society. This humanitarianism and order spirit of Confucius is the essence of China's ancient social and political thought.
Source: Excerpted from Zhang Yongdong's New Theory of Political Thought of Confucianism in Pre-Qin Period.