Confucianism basically adheres to the legislative principles of "pro" and "respect", maintains "rule by courtesy", advocates "rule by virtue" and attaches importance to "rule by man". Confucianism has a great influence on feudal society and has long been regarded as orthodox by feudal rulers. The fundamental meaning of Confucian "rule by courtesy" is "difference", even if the noble, the humble, the old and the young have their own special code of conduct. Only when aristocrats, young and old, old and young, and relatives and friends have their own rituals can we realize the ideal society of Jun Jun, minister, father, son, brother, brother, husband and wife in the eyes of Confucianism. The governance of a country depends on the stability of hierarchical order. Confucian "ceremony" is also a form of law. It takes the maintenance of patriarchal clan hierarchy as the core, violates the norms of "ceremony" and will be punished by "punishment". The Confucian theory of "rule by virtue" is to advocate moral influence and education. Confucianism believes that no matter whether human nature is good or evil, people can be influenced and educated by morality. This kind of education is a psychological change, which makes people feel good and ashamed but not evil. This is the most thorough, fundamental and positive way, which is beyond the reach of legal sanctions. The Confucian theory of "rule by man" is an idea that attaches importance to the particularity of man, his possible moral development and his sympathy, and manages his rule as a changeable "man" with complex choice initiative and ethics. From this perspective, "rule by virtue" is closely related to "rule by man". "Rule by virtue" emphasizes the process of enlightenment, while "rule by man" emphasizes the moralist himself, which is a kind of saint politics. Because Confucianism believes that "personality" has great appeal, on this basis, it has developed into extreme "rule of man" doctrine such as "governing the people for politics" and "governing the people cannot". Confucius regards "benevolence" as the highest moral principle, standard and realm. He was the first to integrate the whole moral standard and formed an ethical thought structure with "benevolence" as the core, including filial piety, brotherhood, loyalty, forgiveness, courtesy, knowledge, courage, respect, tolerance, faith, sensitivity and benefit. Filial piety is the foundation of benevolence and one of the basic pillars of benevolence's ideological system. Benevolence is the core of Confucianism, which has a great influence on the development of China's culture and society.
Confucianism refers to Confucian thoughts. In the history of China's civilization of nearly 1700 years, Confucius, the founder of Confucianism, was founded by Confucius, a thinker at the end of the Spring and Autumn Period. Confucianism founded by Confucius has formed a complete ideological system on the basis of summarizing, generalizing and inheriting the traditional culture of respecting relatives in Xia, Shang and Zhou Dynasties. Sima Qian said in Historical Records Confucius Family: "Confucius made the Spring and Autumn Period because of historical records, went to seclusion, and eventually lost his public for fourteen years and twelve men." According to Lu, pro-Zhou, so Yin, three generations of luck. " Confucius, the founder of the Confucian school, said: "You can't keep your word" (The Analects of Confucius) is the essence of his own thought. During the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, China society was undergoing epoch-making changes in history. With the decline of the royal family in the Zhou Dynasty, the feudal patriarchal hierarchy was greatly destroyed, feudal lords competed for hegemony, and the society was in turmoil. At this time, intellectuals representing the interests of all walks of life are extremely active and become an important social force. They have stepped onto the historical stage, written books and put forward solutions to practical social problems, forming a prosperous situation in which a hundred schools of thought contend. Among them, Confucianism, Legalism and Taoism have the greatest influence. They each designed a set of plans for the emerging landlord class to end the separatist regime and realize reunification, which laid the foundation for the choice of social governance ideas after Qin and Han Dynasties. During the Spring and Autumn Period of Confucius' life, the profound crisis caused by irreconcilable contradictions within society shook the authority of traditional culture, and the spirit of suspicion and criticism of traditional culture increased day by day. Even Confucius, the "ancestor of Yao and Shun, the charter of civil and military affairs", had to inject the spirit of the times into his own ideological system and transform traditional culture appropriately in order to establish a new harmonious order and psychological balance in social practice. This situation was particularly prominent during the Warring States Period of great changes, because people had vaguely seen the dawn of a new era in the ruins of the collapsed old world. What kind of social model will be in the future has become a big problem that attracts worldwide attention and has caused a big debate in the ideological circle. At that time, a hundred schools of thought contended on behalf of the interests of all social classes and strata, and put forward their own opinions one after another. One of the most important debates is how to treat traditional culture. In the ideological confrontation around this issue, Confucianism and France are the most representative schools. They are evenly matched, tit-for-tat, and British people gather. They are all outstanding scholars. In addition, there are schools such as Mohism, Taoism, Yin and Yang, and military strategists. There are many schools. In the history of China, learning and speech are both enlightenment times.
The formation of Confucianism
Before Confucianism, the aristocrats and freemen in ancient society received the traditional socialized education of Liu De (wisdom, faith, holiness, benevolence, righteousness and loyalty), six lines (filial piety, friendship, harmony, marriage, agreement and sadness) and six arts (courtesy, music, shooting, imperial, calligraphy and art) through Confucianism. From the teaching content, the social education in ancient China was completely based on the values, habits, customs, codes of conduct, norms and other cultural elements formed by the Chinese nation in a specific living environment for a long time. Confucianism absorbed all these cultural elements and rose to the theoretical level of the system. Confucius, the founder of Confucianism, broke the monopoly of the ruling class on education for the first time, from "learning in the official" to "teaching without distinction", which spread traditional culture and education to the whole nation. In this way, Confucianism has a solid national psychological foundation, which is accepted by the whole society and gradually Confucianism the whole society. However, Confucianism adheres to the principle that "Tao can't be three generations, and law can't be inferior to king" (Xunzi Wang Zhi). The connotation of Confucianism is rich and complex, and the feudal imperial power gradually developed basic theories and ideas, namely, the unity of monarch, minister and father, and the distinction between Chinese and foreigners.
[Edit this paragraph] The influence of Confucianism on China
Confucianism has existed in China for thousands of years, and it still has great potential influence on China's politics, economy and other aspects, and will not be eliminated in the short term.
[Edit this paragraph] The essence of Confucianism
More than 65,438+000 consultants from the Provincial Calligraphers Association, all members of the Presidium of the Provincial Calligraphers Association and experts and scholars from cultural institutions attended the seminar. Professor Peking University and famous scholar Dr. Zhang Xin gave an academic report. In his speech, Dr. Zhang Xin discussed the doctrine of the golden mean culture. He believes that the golden mean culture originated in Shandong is an important cultural contribution of Confucius and Mencius to the world, and it still has very important practical significance and value today with advanced science and technology. "Cheap" means emphasizing "goodness". Zhang Xin introduced her views on the concept of "golden mean". "'China' is appropriate, and' Yong' means doing things in the right way. And doing things in the right way can last for a long time. This is' good'. " As a traditional culture, Zhang Xin believes that the "golden mean spirit" means grasping moderation, doing things in moderation, and striving to stay within a reasonable range. The core of the "golden mean" is the forum of rites and music culture. Dr. Zhang Xin fully affirmed the "golden mean spirit" of the origin and Qilu land. Zhang Xin believes that Confucianism is the core of China traditional culture, and Shandong is the important birthplace of Confucianism. The thoughts of Confucius, Mencius and other Confucian representatives who came out of Shandong are valuable resources of China culture. Regarding the influence of the golden mean and calligraphy, Zhang Xin said, "The golden mean is the essence of Confucianism, and China culture is a ritual and music culture with the golden mean as its core." In addition, the doctrine of the mean also had an important influence on the spirit of China's classical art, especially in the development of calligraphy art, the doctrine of the mean materialized into the pursuit of "harmonious beauty", which has been playing an implicit or explicit role from the Han, Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties to the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties. "Culture does not need to be in line with international standards." Regarding the precious traditional culture of the Chinese nation, Zhang Xin believes that everything in our country is based on tradition, and he particularly emphasizes the integration with tradition. "Only the national is the world's." Zhang Xin introduced that many foreign thinkers are now reflecting on the operation mode and trend of society and feeling the potential crisis. The result of many thinkers' reflection is to turn their eyes to China, and the focus of attention is the golden mean. "As time goes by, the value and importance of the doctrine of the mean will become more and more obvious, which has already been shown." Zhang Xin believes that the golden mean is the most continuous culture in the world and the most valuable core spirit and concept among many cultural schools in China. "Therefore, we should emphasize the excellent spirit of integration with tradition and compatibility with other cultures, and there is no need to blindly emphasize integration with the international community." 1. The rise of the Han Dynasty preceded the rule of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. Both the Qin Dynasty and the Han Dynasty were ruled by Legalists. After Qin Shihuang (260 BC-BC 10 September, BC 2 10) burned books to bury Confucianism, Chinese characters were still in the primary stage and did not have the function of accurate expression, orthodox Confucianism had basically disappeared. Dong Zhongshu put forward "the unification of spring and autumn" and "ousting a hundred schools of thought and respecting Confucianism alone", emphasizing that Confucianism is the philosophical foundation of the country and putting an end to other ideological systems. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty adopted his idea. Since then, Confucianism has become orthodox, and the Confucian classics of the Four Books and Five Classics have also become prominent. At this time, Confucius (55 BC1year-479 BC) has been dead for more than one hundred years. Dong Zhongshu developed the part of Taoism, Yin-Yang School and Confucianism that was beneficial to the rule of feudal emperors in specific policies and became a new Confucianism. During the popularization of Confucianism in Han Dynasty, many social problems were solved. Confucianism tends to manage the country with benevolent policies, and politicians use this as a basis to limit the excessive concentration of land and establish a sound moral system. Some policies are put forward, including "limiting people's names and places, taking their shortcomings" and "three cardinal guides and five permanents". During the period of Emperor Wu of the Western Han Dynasty, the feudal country was strong, which created the premise for the stability of feudal rule. In order to maintain the situation of great unity, we must establish the corresponding ideological system. Dong Zhongshu absorbed Taoism, Legalism and other factors conducive to the rule of the monarch, reformed Confucianism, and added the idea of "divine right of the monarch" and unification, which objectively contributed to the strengthening of feudal centralization, the consolidation of the country, and the stability of society. Since then, Confucianism has gradually become the dominant orthodoxy in feudal society. In the past two thousand years, Confucianism has been dominant. On the one hand, its ideological core, that is, the philosophical concept of the unity of man and nature, the ethical concept of "three cardinal guides and five permanents" with "benevolence" as the core, and the political proposition of unified unification, fundamentally adapted to the needs of feudal autocratic rule. On the other hand, Confucianism has a strong sense of social responsibility and can constantly change its face with the needs of the times. Confucianism in pre-Qin dynasty was not accepted by the rulers at that time, and even suffered a devastating blow from Qin Shihuang, which was caused by its own theoretical defects when it was founded. The content system of pre-Qin Confucianism is full of strong, gentle and simple ethical family color, which seems to be "pedantic and broader than things". For example, Confucius' "benevolence" aims to restore the era represented by "Zhou Li" by "correcting its name", so Confucius' thoughts will not be favored by emerging landlord forces. Mencius' theory of "benevolent governance" has shifted to the position of emerging landlord forces, but its theory of "benevolent governance" is based on "the people value the monarch" and excessively highlights the interests of small farmers, so it will not be appreciated by the rulers. History developed to the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, and the feudal country was strong, which established the premise for the stability of feudal rule. In order to maintain a unified situation, it is necessary to establish a corresponding ideological system, so that Confucianism can have the conditions to restore vitality. ? Confucianism advocates the rule of virtue, courtesy and man, and emphasizes moral influence; Legalists advocate "breaking away from the law", implementing the rule of law and emphasizing violent rule; Taoism advocates letting nature take its course and "governing by doing nothing", which are highly complementary. Through the practice of governing the country in the early Qin Dynasty and the Western Han Dynasty, it is proved from both positive and negative aspects: in turbulent times, it is difficult to achieve national unity with the Confucian line, but the Legalist line can achieve such an effect; At the beginning of the unrest, the population withered and the production was destroyed. Therefore, Taoist inaction politics should be practiced to share the interest with the people in order to restore and develop production. When the country is stable and on the track of normal operation, it can no longer implement the violent rule of harsh laws, and the Confucian line is appropriate. There is a trend of mutual integration among the three. During the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, Dong Zhongshu laid the basic pattern of China's feudal social ruling thought, which was mainly based on the Confucian line and supplemented by the Legalist line and absorbed the Taoist rational thought. Since then, the mode of governing the country with Confucian ethics as the center, legalists' harsh laws as the supplement, and Taoist politics as the means has basically conformed to the ancient national conditions of China, and has become an unchangeable rule of governing the country for the ruling classes in past dynasties. ? Understanding of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty's "ousting a hundred schools of thought and respecting Confucianism alone": In the early years of the Western Han Dynasty, feudal rulers, forced by the social situation of economic recession and people's hearts ruling, took retreat as progress and pursued the theory of learning from Huang Lao as their ruling thought, trying to govern by doing nothing. However, with the change of historical conditions, the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty began to practice promising politics, and the ruling ideology was bound to face new choices. ? Since the Han Dynasty, in addition to the study of Huang Lao, Confucianism has been actively developing, and Dong Zhongshu of Jason Wu is a representative of Confucianism in the Western Han Dynasty. In the first year of Yuanguang (BC 134), Dong Zhongshu took measures of moral policy. In his Three Strategies for Heaven and Man, he proposed that ideological rule should also follow the principles of "unity" and "unchanging Confucian classics and righteousness", and that "today's teachers are different, people's theories are different, and hundreds of schools of thought have different meanings, which means that the above is the unity of death". Therefore, he suggested that "those who are not the subjects of the six arts, Confucius' skills, must be unique, so they do not seek progress." "Dong Zhongshu expounded the principle of respecting Confucianism in theory, which was appreciated by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. Later, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty took a series of measures, thus establishing the dominant position of Confucianism. ? In the fifth year of the Yuan Dynasty (BC 136), Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty appointed doctors of the Five Classics of Confucianism, and at the same time dismissed other doctors, excluding hundreds of schools outside Confucianism from official studies, which was known in history as "suppressing a hundred schools and promoting the Six Classics". In the fifth year of Yuanshuo (BC 124), Liang Wudi issued a letter approving Dong Zhongshu and Gong's proposal to set up imperial academy in Chang 'an to educate young children with Confucian classics. Since then, Confucianism has become the main content of government-run schools. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty reformed the system of selecting officials, stipulating that those with excellent academic performance as doctoral students can be appointed as lang officials, and those who are proficient in one skill can be selected to hold important positions. He also broke away from convention and took Gong Sunhong, a Confucian scholar in cloth, as prime minister. In this way, with the rise of Confucianism, feudal politics and Confucianism are closely combined. In the imperial edicts and proceedings of the Western Han Dynasty, Confucianism was often cited, and in the judicial process, Chunqiu was taken as an example to sentence a prison. When Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty followed Confucianism, he held important ritual activities, such as Guan Chan, Zhengshuo, Xiujiao, and calendar setting, which initially formed the historical tradition of Confucian politics. ? What needs to be understood is that this policy of Liang Wudi is very different from that of Qin Dynasty. Other schools of thought are not banned, because official schools are unique. The advocated Confucianism itself has also widely absorbed the theories of Legalists and Yin and Yang, and the thought of great unification has a certain comprehensive tendency, thus achieving success. Confucianism advocates learning and combines education, examination and official selection, which is the creation of Emperor Wu, and objectively promotes the social fashion of attaching importance to knowledge and education. Confucianism gradually penetrated into all aspects of society and formed the basic paradigm of China traditional culture. But it is essentially a feudal and autocratic cultural policy. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty used imperial power to interfere with academic thought, which inhibited the free development of national thought, imprisoned the spirit of exploration in the ideological circle, violated the law of the unity of thought and truth, and had obvious negative effects. 2. Changes in the Past Dynasties After the Han Dynasty, the four books and five classics of the past dynasties have been revised countless times, and the original work of Confucius has been unrecognizable. Confucianism evolved into metaphysics in Wei and Jin Dynasties. The regime in the Tang Dynasty was dominated by Confucianism, but it also infiltrated Taoism and Buddhism. The Song Dynasty developed into Neo-Confucianism, with Zhou Dunyi, Cheng Hao and Cheng Yi as ancestors and Zhu as teachers. After obtaining an official position. Most of the Confucianism mentioned now comes from the documents of the Song Dynasty (960-960 1279). The imperial examinations in Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties were all based on Zhu's Neo-Confucianism, which greatly restricted his thoughts. It was not until the May 4th Movement that the dominant position of Confucianism was abolished. (1) The "benevolence" put forward by Confucius, the founder of Confucianism, has the nature of classical humanitarianism: advocating "rites" and maintaining rites of the week is a conservative part of Confucius' political thought. Confucian culture later developed into the orthodox culture in ancient China. (2) Mencius was a representative figure of Confucianism in the Warring States Period, who advocated benevolent government and put forward the idea of "valuing the people and despising the monarch"; Advocate "politics depends on the people" and oppose tyranny; It advocates giving farmers a certain amount of land, not infringing on farmers' working hours, and lenient punishment and thin taxes. (3) Dong Zhongshu founded Neo-Confucianism on the basis of Confucianism, with the framework of Yin-Yang and Five Elements, and with a hundred schools of thought contending. Its core is "the unity of heaven and man" and "the divine right of monarchy". His thoughts focused on the three policies of heaven and man and many exposures in the Spring and Autumn Period. (4) Metaphysics, which appeared in Wei and Jin Dynasties, explained the Confucian Book of Changes with Laozi and Zhuangzi's thoughts, which was a negative thought to defend the gentry. Zhouyi, Laozi and Zhuangzi are called "San Xuan". Metaphysics advocates the inaction of the monarch and the dictatorship of the gate valve, and its main activity is in Luoyang. Representative figures are Yanhe, Wang Bi and Seven Sages of Bamboo Forest. (5) Han Yu, a master of Confucianism in the middle Tang Dynasty, opposed the views of Buddhism and Taoism with the theory of Confucian destiny and feudal principles from the perspective of maintaining feudal rule. (6) Neo-Confucianism, which is based on Confucianism and absorbs Buddhism and Taoism, is the main philosophical thought of the Song Dynasty. Zhu is a master of the development of science of philosophy. He inherited the thoughts of Cheng Hao and Cheng Yi, the Northern Song Neo-Confucianists, and further improved and developed the objective idealistic Neo-Confucianism system, which was later called Zhu Cheng Neo-Confucianism. Its core content is: "reason" is the origin of all things in the universe, and it is the first; "Qi" is the substance that constitutes all things in the universe, and it is secondary. He opposed "righteousness" and "human desire" and thought that human desire was the root of all evil, so he put forward "preserving righteousness and destroying human desire", which was actually defending the feudal hierarchical order. (7) In the mid-Ming Dynasty, Wang Yangming opposed Zhu's view that mind and reason are two different things, and founded a subjective idealism theory-mind learning, which was opposite to Zhu. The evolution of Neo-Confucianism from objective idealism to subjective idealism shows that it has gone to extremes. (8) In Yuan Dynasty, Deng Mu claimed to be an outsider of the Three Religions, wrote a book and boldly denied the autocratic rule of feudal monarchs. His idea of no monarch had a certain influence on progressive thinkers in Ming and Qing Dynasties. (9) Ming Dynasty: Li Zhi was a "heretical" progressive thinker in the late Ming Dynasty. He accused the Confucian classics of not being "the supreme theory throughout the ages", exposed the hypocrisy of Taoism, opposed discrimination against women and suppressed businessmen. He is a pioneer of China's anti-feudalism, and his thoughts reflect the requirements of the embryonic era of capitalism in a certain sense, with a democratic color. (10) Late Ming and Early Qing Dynasty: ① Huang Zongxi: After the Ming Dynasty's death, he wrote in seclusion, severely criticized the feudal autocratic monarchy system, advocated "rule of law" against "rule of man" and opposed attaching importance to agriculture and restraining commerce. His thoughts shocked the academic circles at that time and had a certain influence on the rise of democratic thoughts in the late Qing Dynasty. (2) Gu: a thinker in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, who emphasized practical knowledge of "applying the world". He advocated the combination of academic research and solving social problems, trying to reverse the unrealistic style of study in the late Ming Dynasty. He advocated "practical learning" with the book "All counties and countries in the world are beneficial to diseases", with the aim of criticizing Neo-Confucianism and opposing absolute monarchy. Gu's style of study had a great influence on scholars in Qing Dynasty. Wang Fuzhi is an outstanding materialist thinker. He believes that "Qi" is a material entity and "Reason" is an objective law. He put forward the materialistic viewpoint that "Qi is the foundation of reason" and "the world is the only tool", criticized Zhu's Neo-Confucianism and Wang Yangming's mind, and also put forward "Static means moving, and moving does not give up static", denying the metaphysical thought of Neo-Confucianism. He looked at history from the viewpoint of development and thought that the development of history was regular. He proposed "keeping pace with the times" politically. Wang Fuzhi's thought shines with the light of innovation. 3. Modern research and development of existing Confucianism (different from Confucius thought), as the orthodox thought of feudal dynasty, regards class as the foundation of human society, advocates feudal morality, emphasizes individual self-restraint, and ignores the role of law in social life. Western scholars believe that Confucianism is one of the important factors that make it difficult for Asian countries to accept western democratic ideas. Since modern times, there have been two opposing ideological tendencies in the attitude towards China's ancient traditional culture: one is the quintessence school, which thinks that China's traditional culture is correct and even fully affirms the twenty-four filial piety without criticism; The other is the Westernization School, which attributed all the roots of China's backwardness to cultural traditions and advocated completely abandoning China's traditional culture and westernizing it. Both views are wrong. Our scientific attitude and method towards traditional culture should be to make the past serve the present and critically inherit it. But how to make the past serve the present and criticize inheritance? We think: (1) What excellent value principles formed in long-term historical practice can be transformed into the spirit of the times to inherit. For example, the vigorous and promising spirit of "Tian Xing Jian, a gentleman strives for self-improvement" in The Book of Changes, the quality of "giving up life for righteousness, forgetting profit and taking orders in times of crisis" advocated in The Analects of Confucius, and the historical mission of "a scholar should strive for self-improvement and shoulder a long way to go" put forward in Mencius, "wealth cannot be immoral". In particular, it is more practical to emphasize the ideological tradition of unity. (2) For some content, we can extract its feudal ideological core and its beneficial spiritual factors, making it a useful ideological element in today's new cultural construction. Such as "people-oriented" thinking. From "respecting heaven and protecting people" in the early years of the Western Zhou Dynasty to "people are the most important, the country is the second, and the monarch is the least" by Mencius, and then to "monarch, boat also; Shu Ren, water also. The knife cuts bread and fingers. "People-oriented thought constitutes an important part of ancient Chinese political thought. Of course, the real connotation of "people-oriented" in ancient times is not and cannot be the interests of the people. Today, if we get rid of its feudal core, we can transform the ancient people-oriented thought from the perspective of the people being the masters of the country and develop it into a socialist concept in which the interests of the people are above everything else. The propositions of "self-cultivation" and "cultivation" put forward by Confucianism are still of practical significance in today's socialist market economy. Today, we still need to improve our self-cultivation and dedication to socialism. (3) The dross in traditional culture must be denied and discarded. For example, the female view of "three obedience and four virtues", the natural view of "the sky remains the same" and the feudal hierarchy view of "don't be condescending, be noble and humble".