15.4? Confucius said: "Those who govern without doing anything will be like Shun? Why should I do that? I just face south."
Confucius said: "Those who can govern without doing anything can , I think it’s Shun, right? What did he do? He just sat respectfully and faced the south.”
Confucianism’s main emphasis is on controlling oneself, which is called cultivating oneself and regulating one’s family. Ruling a country and bringing peace to the world all depends on self-cultivation and self-care.
However, since the purpose of self-cultivation is to level the world, it is based on the leveling of the world, the demonstration effect, the "xie (xie) way", and the "imitation rate" as the standard for self-cultivation.
The Way of Rules and Regulations was proposed in "The Great Learning", that is, I will first give you a demonstration, a model, a rule, and a standard, and everyone will naturally follow this. Strictly demanding oneself is not to force others, but to influence and lead others.
Zhang Juzheng said, why did Confucius say that Shun was the only one who could rule by doing nothing? Because Yao had laid a perfect foundation for him before, and he had a group of virtuous ministers such as Yu, Ji, Qi, Gaotao, Boyi and so on. So he can manage by doing nothing, but if it were another person or another prerequisite, he wouldn't be able to do it! Daily speeches to make your dreams come true! Write and speak, grow seven times faster! The more you give, the richer you become.
Dear comrades, good morning! It’s 6:30 again, and we continue to study the Analects of Confucius. As usual, let’s review what we learned yesterday. Chapter 3 of the 15th "Wei Ling Gong Pian" of "The Analects of Confucius".
Confucius said: "You! Very few people know virtue."
This passage was made by Confucius scolding Zilu. What are you scolding?
Zhong You, there are too few people who can truly know virtue, including you.
Why did Confucius say this?
It is said that when Confucius was besieged in the state of Chen, he had no food to eat and the situation was very critical. Confucius still played the qin when he should play, and read when he should read, without any mess.
As for Zilu and the others, they were not so well-educated. Seeing that they had no food to eat and were facing danger at any time, they couldn't calm down, so they came to question Confucius to vent their emotions.
Confucius therefore told him: A gentleman is poor, but a villain is poor! A person's character and cultivation can only be seen at critical moments.
“Knowing virtue”, what kind of virtue do you need to know? Zhang Juzheng said that when principles are obtained from the heart, it is called virtue. If you don’t really understand it, understand it thoroughly, have a clear mind, and truly possess this virtue in yourself, you won’t be able to appreciate its profound and true meaning.
In fact, the reason why any big person is great is because they have experienced hardships and hardships and become successful. It is impossible for a person who has not experienced hardships to achieve great achievements.
After a brief review of yesterday’s content, we will study a new chapter today. This chapter is very interesting, and it is of common concern to everyone. The idea that Taoism has always advocated is to govern by inaction.
So does Confucianism emphasize governing by doing nothing? If we are particular about it, then what exactly does it mean to govern by doing nothing?
Let’s look at the original text first.
In the fourth chapter of the Analects of Confucius Wei Linggong, Confucius said: "Those who govern without doing anything are like Shun? Why should I do that? Just respect yourself due south."
Simple Translated, it means: "The person who can rule without doing anything is Shun, right? What did he do? He just sat respectfully and faced the south."
Two things were said The first is that there are too few people who can govern by doing nothing. In Confucius' mind, there is only one person who can do it, and that is Shun.
The reason why he is able to govern by doing nothing is because first, he is respectful to himself, and he is respectful to himself; second, to the south, he sits in his own position and sets an example.
Use a relatively large space to explain what is going on.
Governing by doing nothing is a Taoist idea, proposed by Lao Tzu, a contemporary of Confucius and a little earlier, who was a little older than Confucius.
What is Taoist governance by inaction?
Lao Tzu said: "I do nothing and the people become themselves. I like to be quiet and the people are independent. I do nothing and the people become rich. I have no desires and the people are simple."
I There is no need to do anything more, the people themselves know what to do.
Zhuangzi went even more extreme, saying: "Until the saint dies, thieves will continue!" The chaos in the world is caused by you "sages"! Everything happens naturally, why do you care about others! That person is filial to begin with! You advocate filial piety and build a chastity memorial arch, so everyone rushes to imitate you. In order to get the name of filial piety, you pretend to be a bunch of hypocrites. Whether people love each other, whether they respect each other, and whether they are chaste or not are all natural. Do you need to control them?
Governing by doing nothing, if you want to study it carefully, there are many things that need to be discussed, especially the Taoist saying.
We will not go into too much detail here, but focus on what Confucius said about governing by doing nothing.
Governing by doing nothing mainly emphasizes paying attention to oneself, cultivating oneself, cultivating oneself to respect others, cultivating oneself to tranquilize others, cultivating oneself to tranquilize the people, which is the Confucian way of cultivation. Cultivate oneself, manage one's family, govern the country, and bring peace to the world.
How to cultivate yourself?
The purpose of studying things to gain knowledge, being sincere and upright, is to bring peace to the world. Therefore, it is to level the world as a demonstration effect, to cultivate one's self with the "Xie" method, and with the "imitation rate" as the standard.
The principle of discipline is proposed in "The Great Learning", which means that I will first give you a demonstration, a model, a rule, and a standard, and everyone will naturally act according to this.
Just like at the wine table, someone said: "Let me try it out first!" He drank as much as he wanted in one sip, and everyone followed suit and drank as much as he wanted. This is the way to influence through actions. others, rather than commanding others.
Taoism doesn’t have any rules and regulations. Just don’t worry about anything, and you don’t need to worry about yourself. Therefore, the Taoist rule of doing nothing is true inaction, while the Confucian rule of doing nothing is to strictly demand oneself, not to force others, but to influence and lead others. Are Taoism and Confucianism connected? Wang Yangming said it most accurately, it is called "a hair'sth of a hair, a thousand miles", a slight difference is a thousand miles.
Let me give you a few examples. I just now have a clearer understanding of what governing by doing nothing means. Let me give you an example from the Song Dynasty.
First of all, let’s talk about Song Renzong, the most respected emperor in the Song Dynasty. From the posthumous title of Ren, it can be seen that this person is very extraordinary.
He has been the emperor for many years, and the country can be said to be in a very good state under his rule. The people lived and worked in peace and contentment, and everything was in order. The Song Dynasty reached unprecedented prosperity, and all aspects of humanities were quite outstanding.
What did he do? He said: I can do nothing but be the emperor. He doesn't do many things.
Who is the other person? Also from the Song Dynasty, Jingkang was shameful and created a record of being captured by Song Huizong.
Song Huizong could not do anything except the emperor. His calligraphy is good, his painting is excellent, he is an expert in garden architecture, his literary talent is good, he is good at writing poems and lyrics, and he has done a lot of things as a result.
Because he likes architecture, everyone rushes to offer flowers and flowers to please him. The whole country is full of complaints and the people are in dire straits.
In the end, there was an invasion of foreign enemies, civil unrest inside, and internal distress and external distress. He was captured by Jin Guolian's son and sat in a well in Heilongjiang to watch the sky.
I have been less vocal in the group during this period because I am watching "Zhang Juzheng". I think it is also very interesting, so I will tell you about it.
The little emperor Wanli, the Wanli Emperor? Zhu Yijun, ascended the throne at the age of ten. One year he came to Zhang Juzheng and said: Teacher, I want to learn poetry.
Zhang Juzheng told him: It is not impossible to study poetry, but you cannot focus all your energy on it. For example, Li Yu, the later leader of the Southern Tang Dynasty, and Huizong of the Song Dynasty, their poems and prose are good, but what about them? The country is dead!
The first thing to do now is how to be a good emperor and do your job as an emperor well. Writing poetry, calligraphy, etc. can be your hobby, but you cannot focus on it.
?He admired Zhang Juzheng from the bottom of his heart. As soon as Zhang Juzheng said it, he agreed. Then I returned the collection of poems that I had prepared, and occasionally flipped through them.
In fact, this is a very correct way of guidance. It is not that we do everything, but that we do what needs to be done.
Liu Baonan quoted from "Lu's Spring and Autumn Annals" and said: "In the past, the sage kings established their bodies and the world was established. When they governed their bodies, the world was governed. Therefore, those who are good at resonating are not good at resonating, but at sound; they are good at influencing. Those who serve the world are not in the world, but in the body."
This is all about cultivating oneself, managing one's family, governing the country, and bringing peace to the world, and that everything must be united with knowledge and action.
This is to govern the world by doing nothing, doing nothing? Scholars can say this in class. The person who really sits in the position of ruling the world will have a different view when he comes to study this paragraph. This is Zhang Juzheng. Zhang Juzheng said, why did Confucius say that Shun was the only one who could rule by doing nothing? Because Yao had laid a perfect foundation for him before, and he had a group of virtuous ministers such as Yu, Ji, Qi, Gaotao, Boyi and so on. So he can manage by doing nothing, but if it were another person or another prerequisite, he wouldn't be able to do it!
How did Shun become the leader? Yao did a lot of research here. Shun was already quite famous at that time. It was said that wherever he went, the climate would be better, and the people all supported him.
Yao didn’t believe it, or he wanted to really investigate him. So how do you examine him?
The first is to ask his son and ministers to make friends with Shun and communicate with him from the outside to see what this person's words and deeds are like.
The other one betrothed his two daughters, Ehuang and Nvying, to Shun at the same time to observe him and see how he treated his family.
Both his sons and ministers said to Yao: "Being friends with Shun, it seems that this person is really good. It is indeed as the outside world said, and it is not a false reputation."
As for Ehuang Nvying, she spent time with him day and night. When she saw that this person was different on the outside, he was different on the inside. He was very humble in front of others. When he got home, he lost his temper and changed his appearance. , but consistent internally and externally, so I think this person is a true gentleman.
Then he gave up his seat to Shun. And Shun lived up to expectations. He only considered things in that position, made good use of people, and set a good example. Only then could he have a good social environment at that time.
In fact, it is very difficult for us ordinary people to pay attention to governance by doing nothing. Treating by doing nothing is definitely not doing nothing. Doing nothing is not called inaction, let alone cure.
True inaction requires action, and action can lead to inaction. If you are promising, you must first set an example and set an example, which is to train people. You have cultivated a group of capable people. Only when everyone can find their own place and operate normally can you be able to do nothing. It may seem like you are not doing anything, but you have arranged everything properly, and the people below are responsible for their own duties, doing their own thing, and running in an orderly and normal manner. It seems like doing nothing.
Zhang Juzheng said: "Those who taught Shun well respected his virtues and appointed virtuous people." Those who learn from Shun respect his virtues and appoint virtuous people.
Governing by doing nothing is a high state. First do something, straighten out all aspects, and then smooth them out. It looks like inaction, a high state.
Don't think that you can do nothing because of the Taoist saying "to rule by doing nothing". It’s about doing something and not doing something.
Doing is as good as not doing. Do not do what you shouldn’t do, but do what you should do.
That’s it for today. Do you know what governance by inaction is? So is it for or not? Why? I hope everyone will think carefully about it.
Continue to study the next chapter tomorrow.
15.5? Zizhang asked. Confucius said: "If you say words of loyalty and act with sincerity and sincerity, you can do it even in a barbarian country. If you say words that are unfaithful and act with no reverence, even if you live in a state, how can you do it? If you stand, you will see that they are participating in the front; When I was in public office, I saw him leaning on the balance, and then he went on to do it. "Zi Zhang wrote to all the gentry.
What does this chapter mean? Tomorrow morning we will continue to study and discuss together.