Confucius was dissatisfied with "there is no way in the world" and the turbulent society at that time. With a strong sense of hardship and salvation, he traveled around the world and advocated "morality" and "rule by courtesy". He said: "Governing the country by virtue is like Beichen, where there are many stars." He put forward "courtesy is the country" ("advanced"), which embodies his understanding of the status and role of etiquette in politics.
Confucius held a very respectful attitude towards The Rites of Zhou, but in fact there were gains and losses. Innovation in inheritance aims to save the world. Confucius is a great advocate of "Zhou Li". In The Analects of Confucius, he talked many times about his yearning for the rites and music of the Western Zhou Dynasty. Confucius said: "Zhou Jian is the second generation, and he is depressed about literature." I followed Zhou. " ("Bashu") "Zhou Zhide can be described as the ultimate virtue." (Taber) "If you are useful to me, I am the Eastern Zhou Dynasty!" (Yang Huo) "What! I have been declining for a long time, and I no longer dream of Duke Zhou. " In the final analysis, this attitude of talking about peace and affection is conservative, because no matter how good the ceremony is, it only represents a lost era, although that era was indeed brilliant.
If Confucius really faced the social situation of the collapse of rites at that time and blindly defended the Rites of Zhou, he must be an out-and-out conservative. However, in fact, he also has many dissatisfaction with Zhou Li. On the premise of praising Zhou Li, he has many gains and losses on the Zhou Li issue. For example, "Zhou Li" attached importance to offering sacrifices to ghosts and gods, while Confucius, when answering Fan Chi's question, advocated: "Serving the people and staying away from ghosts and gods can be described as the unity of knowing and doing." (Yongye) Luz asked ghosts and gods, and Confucius told him clearly: "If you can't serve people, how can you serve ghosts?" (Advanced) His disciples all think that "Zi is not strange, not powerful, not chaotic, not god." (Shu Er) Confucius valued personnel over ghosts and gods, and innovated the basic spirit of Zhou Li. Another example is that the patriarchal clan system and hereditary system stipulated in Zhou Li were also broken by Confucius here. His "Xing Cai" (Luz) broke the respect for relatives, advocated "Scholar" (Zhang Zi), and opened the door to learning.
Confucius creatively put forward the idea of "benevolence" through the gains and losses of "Zhou Li", making it the commanding height of his whole ideological system, and cooperating with "Li", governing the people while cultivating self-cultivation and achieving a good social order on the basis of perfecting human relations.