Chapter 2 2. Determined to act benevolently

If we only pay attention to the external expression and ignore the true inner feelings, it will inevitably become formalistic and put on airs, which just loses the real purpose of ritual and music - to allow people to have an appropriate way to realize themselves. Since ancient times, sages have taught people that they must first "resolve".If the ambition is not established, it means that there is no direction. "Aspiration" means "a scholar's heart is his aspiration", a scholar is a scholar, and the aspiration of a scholar's heart is "aspiration".Confucius mentioned aspirations three times, the first is to aspire to study; the second is to aspire to practice benevolence, and the third is to aspire to practice or seek the Tao.So when it comes to ambition, three words are related to it. The first is learning, the second is benevolence, and the third is Tao.

What is "benevolence"?Among the 511 paragraphs, 58 discuss "benevolence"; the word "benevolence" appears 104 times in total.From the beginning of the chapter, there is a very short passage in the third chapter: The Master said: "Smart words and charming colors are rare and benevolent." ("The Analects of Confucius Xue Er") Confucius said: "Speaking beautifully, expressing affectionately; this kind of person rarely has a sincere heart." Is it too strict for Confucius to say that?In today's era, if you go to apply for a job, and you say that I can't be eloquent, but I want to be resolute and dull, then who will let you work?When you are looking for a job, you must try to speak well and have a very warm expression to have a chance.Is it "fresh and benevolent" to do so?Don't get me wrong, "ren" here means "sincere".

To learn Confucianism, you must first know the importance of the word "sincerity".Because man is the only animal among all animals that can be insincere.When did you see a cat bark like a dog, or a dog bark like a pig?No.Only people can pretend, pretend, and choose how I want to interact with others.Westerners use the word "PERSON" when talking about "personality". "PERSON" comes from the Latin word "PERSONA", which means "mask", that is, to be a person is to wear a mask.The mask represents that you have various abilities and play different roles.For example, when you meet parents, you are a child; when you meet brothers and sisters, you are one of them; when you are a teacher at school, the teacher is your mask; when you are a wife at home, your wife is also your mask; The object, his own role and identity should also be adjusted accordingly.This is the observation of Westerners, and so is Confucianism.If a person is afraid of being insincere all his life, if he keeps acting, putting on a show, and playing fake things, then it will be boring.

Therefore, Confucianism talks about "benevolence", starting with "sincerity", without hypocrisy, without concealment, just like the heart of a child. "The Doctrine of the Mean" said: "The one who is sincere is the way of man." Sincerity is the right way of life.Confucius said: "If a person is not benevolent, what is it like to be polite? If a person is not benevolent, what is like music?" Rites and music are the main content of education, which enables people to enter the society and conduct themselves in the world; but if you only pay attention to external performance and ignore the true inner feelings, It is inevitable that it will become formalistic and pretentious, which just loses the real purpose of ritual and music - to allow people to have an appropriate way to realize themselves.

"Sincerity" involves two issues: 1. I want to be sincere to everyone in general; Do it well and play the role well.So, you can "smart talk", but don't forget the sincerity in your heart.For example, I have been teaching in school for a long time. In class, I can speak eloquently. My words are beautiful and pleasant, and my expression is flattering and warm. But my heart is sincere, so that students are willing to listen.Therefore, as long as we can proceed from sincerity, rhetoric is not a problem. The second requirement of "benevolence" is "initiative".People live in the world, since childhood, most of their behaviors are passive.Parents tell us to do this and do that; teachers teach us that this is right and that is wrong;If one day no one cares about us, no one urges us, will we still take the initiative to do good deeds?It's hard to say, maybe as long as no one is paying attention, we're going to run amok.Therefore, whether a person can take the initiative to practice "benevolence" is related to whether his life belongs to him or not.If you are passive and have others watch and control everything, then you are dealing with others, and if something happens, you will find all kinds of reasons and excuses.Confucius has a saying: "How far is benevolence? I want benevolence, and I will do so!" Is the opportunity to practice benevolence far away from me?No, as long as I want, "Jen" will come immediately.For example, when I take a bus and an old lady comes up, if I am willing to give up my seat, I can immediately "benevolent".Everyone in life, as long as they interact with others, there must be many opportunities to "do benevolence", but they must change from passive to active, and become good things that they are willing to do, so as to have moral value.Confucius said: "For benevolence, it depends on oneself, but on others?" ("The Analects of Confucius Yan Yuan") If a person wants to practice benevolence, he must start from himself, not from others.Others cannot do benevolence for you, or force you to do benevolence.If others tell me to do it, then I am just an instrument of others' will.Therefore, Xingren needs a subjectivity—that is, yourself. Only after the subjectivity is established can you have the initiative.

To sum up, the "benevolence" mentioned by Confucianism has two requirements, one is sincerity, and the other is initiative.When this kind of sincere and active force appears, it is what Confucius called "resolute and benevolent", and embarked on the right path of life.On the right path of life, the dignity and value of personality will be continuously displayed, and human life will have the possibility of self-improvement. A person's determination to do benevolence begins with the sincere awareness of the inner power to do good, and actively asks himself to do good. Such good deeds come from within, not for any external purpose, but for what I should not It should be done.

Good and evil are concepts we are all familiar with.Some people ask, since Confucianism tells us to practice benevolence, what is the relationship between practicing benevolence and doing good?Do they mean the same thing, or do they have different content?Before answering this question, we must first ask, before Confucius mentioned "practicing benevolence", were there any good people in the world?Of course there are, and there are many.In this case, why did Confucius create another word "benevolence" to encourage everyone, wouldn't it be enough to just talk about "goodness"?It can be seen that there is still a difference between doing benevolence and doing good. The key difference is that ordinary people are usually good people in line with social norms or other people's expectations, but they don't necessarily know why they should be good people.Knowing why people should be good people and do good deeds involves the question of what human nature is.

Confucian views on human nature basically have two positions, one is inherently good, and the other is to be good. "Being kind" is my experience in studying Confucianism over the years.Did Confucius ever say what is human nature?The belief he did not explicitly say, but implicitly accepted, was that "human nature is good."For example, he said: "The nature is similar, but the habits are far away." Does "similar nature" mean that nature is inherently good?If sex is inherently good, it should be said that sex is the same.So "sexual similarity" means: sex is plastic, and it is only similar to everyone.For another example, Confucius said: "If the son wants to be kind, the people are good. The virtue of a gentleman is the virtue of a villain, and the grass on the grass will die." When the leader shows good deeds, the common people will naturally listen to the scenery, which shows that human nature is virtuous. A common tendency towards good.Therefore, although the word "benevolence" is inseparable from the meaning of "goodness", it is more than that. Confucius' "benevolence" is not so much a noun as a gerund, referring to the dynamic human nature—human nature Goodness also refers to the dynamic way of human beings—choosing the good and being stubborn.Therefore, a person’s determination to do benevolence begins with a sincere awareness of the inner power to do good, and actively asks himself to do good. Such good deeds come from within, not for any external purpose, but for our own sake. Should it be done.

The Master said: "If you aim at benevolence, there is no evil." ("The Analects of Confucius Liren") Confucius said: "As long as you are determined to do benevolence, you will not do bad things." Why?Because "benevolence" is both sincere and active, a person who is sincere and active in doing kindness represents the beginning of his practice of benevolence.In Confucianism, sincerity and evil are irreconcilable, because human nature is good, and there is an important prerequisite for human nature to be good, that is, people must be sincere.A person who is sincere and kind will spontaneously ask himself to do what he should do.

For example, a small storefront has the words "Tongshouwucheng" posted on it.The first kind of consideration is for my business to be better in the future, regardless of age, I will pay the same price, I will never deceive you, and keep my word; , I will be "children without deceit".This is the difference between practicing benevolence and doing good. The Confucian practice of benevolence refers to the second type, which is a kind of self-requirement and a kind of moral value. I don't consider external interests, but only whether I should do it or not.Then Confucius said another passage: Confucius said: "Only benevolent people can be good and evil." ("The Analects of Confucius Liren")

Confucius said: "Only those who practice benevolence can love good people and hate bad people." What does that mean?Usually we ordinary people like our friends and hate our enemies.But our enemy is not necessarily a bad person. He may be your enemy because of some conflict of interest or concept.What should a truly benevolent person do?Judge objectively, without any partiality or other concerns.Just because this person is my friend, I will cover up and condone his bad deeds; this person is my enemy, and I will not affirm his good deeds.In this way, it becomes irrelevant.If the other party also treats you in this way, I am afraid you will be wronged.Therefore, benevolent people have an objective evaluation of bad and good people, and never lose the principle of justice just because you are my friend or enemy. This is the gap between a kind person and a benevolent person. Maybe the behavior shown is the same, but the inner motivation is different. "Doing kindness" may also consider future interests or one's own selfishness, while "doing benevolence" only considers whether one should do it or not. No matter how the external conditions change, you may have to take various risks and be criticized , but as long as you think you should do it, you can stick to it.On the contrary, if you only consider the external interests, then when the external conditions change, you may also change.Therefore, Confucius was always uneasy about "good people". He always felt that a person who does good deeds and is a good person may only fulfill various external requirements for goodness. Do what needs to be done.The two are very similar at the beginning, but in the later performance, it may be "a slight mistake, a thousand miles away". Confucianism is not a kind of pan-moralism. It does not mean that you only need to be a good person. A good person cannot be separated from external achievements. Career, merit and virtue must be coordinated. Does life have a purpose?If so, for what purpose?If not, what is life for?If we asked Confucius this question, he would probably say that the purpose of life is to "practice benevolence".Hearing such an answer, probably everyone will feel pressure, because according to my simple research, Confucius only praised six people in the book as meeting the requirements of "practicing benevolence", and five of these six people ended up miserable. The opening chapter of "The Analects of Confucius Weizi" says, "There are three benevolent people in Yin Dynasty." In the last years of the Shang Dynasty, there were three people who practiced benevolence: Weizi went to him, Jizi was his slave, and Bi Gan died admonishing him. Weizi left King Zhou, Jizi became his slave, Bigan persuaded him and was killed. In other words, the selection of these three people is all related to a well-known villain, King Shang Zhou.The first benevolent man, Wei Ziqi, was the concubine brother of King Zhou of Shang. His mother was not a queen when he was born, but a concubine of Emperor Yi. Later, he was made a queen and gave birth to Zhou, so Zhou inherited the throne.Later, King Zhou of Shang became bad, and Wei Zi repeatedly advised him, but King Zhou refused to listen.Wei Zi ran to the place "Wei", which is his feudal country in today's Shanxi and Shandong areas.Later, when King Wu defeated Zhou, Wei Zi "covered his face and tied his hands to beg for surrender", exposed his upper body, tied his hands behind his back, and knelt down on his knees. Someone on the left was leading a sheep, and someone on the right was holding a grass, pleading guilty to King Wu.King Wu released him and announced the restoration of his original title as a show of generosity. Jizi, the second benevolent man, was the uncle of King Zhou of Shang Dynasty. "Historical Records Song Weizi Family" records: "Zhou is the elephant chopsticks and the Jizi Xi." Seeing that King Zhou of the Shang Dynasty turned bad, he had to pretend to be crazy and was treated as a slave, and was later put in prison.After King Wu destroyed Shang, he released him and asked him personally how to govern the country.As a result, Jizi did not want to be obedient citizens of the Zhou Dynasty, so he led thousands of people to the Korean Peninsula via Shandong, which is today's North Korea, and established the "Jizi Dynasty" in Korean history. "Seal it with North Korea", and now North Korea still has Jizi's tomb and temple. The third benevolent man, Bigan, is also the uncle of King Zhou of Shang, and he is known as "the most loyal minister in ancient times".At the age of twenty, he assisted Emperor Yi with the high position of Taishi, and was entrusted with the lonely and heavy assistant Emperor Xin that is King Zhou.He has worked conscientiously for more than forty years, paid little attention to taxes, developed production, and enriched the country and strengthened the army.But at the age of sixty-three, he died because he had his heart cut open for admonishing King Zhou. In addition to these three people, the fate of the other two benevolent people is also sympathetic.They are the two princes of Guzhu Kingdom, one is Boyi and the other is Shuqi.Boyi left the capital in order to allow Shuqi to inherit the throne, but Shuqi also followed after he found out.Neither of them wanted to inherit the throne, so they ran to the west of Zhou Wuwang's territory.At that time, King Wu of Zhou was preparing to start a revolution.Boyi Shuqi said, you'd better not make a revolution, because the Shang Dynasty has ruled for more than six hundred years, and everyone is used to it. If you start a revolution, it means rebellion.But King Wu of Zhou said that Shang Zhou was so bad that there was no revolution without revolution, and he had to be accountable to the people.As a result, King Wu of Zhou succeeded in his revolution, King Zhou of Shang was killed, and it became the Zhou Dynasty.The two brothers Boyi and Shuqi said, no, I don't want to eat the food from your Zhou Dynasty.In fact, where the food is divided, what is the Zhou Dynasty and the Shang Dynasty.But the two were very noble, and fled to Shouyang Mountain and starved to death.When Sima Qian wrote "Historical Records", he specially wrote biographies for them, and defended them against injustice, saying that heaven can tell me, what's going on?Why did such a good man have such a terrible fate?It means that good will not be rewarded for good, and evil will not be rewarded for evil.But Confucius said that Boyi and Shuqi "seek benevolence and get benevolence, so why not complain?" What they pursue is benevolence, and they will achieve the result of benevolence, so they will not complain.So, will all Xingren end badly, or even kill themselves and become benevolent?Confucius did not mean this, but said: "A man of lofty ideals and benevolent people, if they do not seek to survive, they will harm their benevolence, and if they kill themselves, they will achieve benevolence."But this is an edge case and generally not necessary. In addition to these five, the sixth benevolent man mentioned in the book is Guan Zhong.Guan Zhong's fate was completely different. He was the prime minister of Duke Huan of Qi. He only worked hard when he was young in his life, and later he was rich and prosperous.Why did Confucius praise such a person?Because he did one thing, avoiding the war in the early Spring and Autumn Period through diplomatic means, so that the people did not have to experience the misery of their lives. "Huan Gong and nine princes don't use military vehicles, but Guan Zhongzhi's power" ("The Analects of Confucius Xianwen"), "The people have received his gifts until now", benefiting the people with the power of one person, and the people still receive his gifts today.So Confucius said that he met the requirements of practicing benevolence. It can be seen from this that Confucianism is not a kind of pan-moralism. It does not mean that you only need to be a good person. A good person cannot be separated from external achievements. Career, merit and virtue must be coordinated.You need to be able to actively do good deeds for everyone, so that everyone can live in harmony and make the society more harmonious. For example, if you are a county magistrate, you can manage the entire county well, and Confucius will praise you for fulfilling the requirements of practicing benevolence. The word "benevolence", Mencius said, is the most honorable title given to people by heaven, and it is the most stable residence for people to live in the world.Confucianism says that "benevolence" is the purpose of life. People live in the world, starting from sincerity, taking the initiative to walk on the right path, step by step combining their own lives with the well-being of the public, doing what they should do, and even sacrificing their own Life is at stake.True Confucianism should take this standpoint.Confucius himself, although he called himself "If you are holy and benevolent, how dare I dare", but he never tires of learning and teaching, and finally created the Confucian school with his own virtue and knowledge, so that everyone who has studied Confucianism in future generations can understand the purpose of life It lies in "practicing benevolence". Starting from this purpose, human life can continue to grow and finally reach the stage of perfection; in this sense, Confucius is also a man of benevolence. Because if a person gives up his ambition, he will be scattered, floating, and lose his direction in life.It's like a ship sailing in the vast sea, without a compass needle, then it has no problem of "navigation" at all, it is just floating. Once, I got an opportunity to visit the Confucius Institute in Qufu, Shandong.As soon as you enter the door, you will see four sentences. The first two sentences are "aspire to the Tao, follow the virtue", and then go inside, it is "according to the benevolence and practicing the art".The Confucius Research Institute must think that these twelve characters can represent the thoughts of Confucius, so they put them at the entrance.But what exactly does this sentence mean?Why did we talk about Dao, morality, and benevolence first, and finally came the "art" of art? The Master said: "Aim for Tao, base yourself on virtue, base yourself on benevolence, and practice art." ("The Analects of Confucius") Confucius said: "Aspire to pursue ideals in life, firmly grasp the cultivation of virtue, never deviate from the right path of life, and freely embrace artistic and cultural activities." The first one is "aspire to the Tao", "Tao" represents the broad road of life, refers to the ideal of life or a perfect personality, so we must aspire to pursue it.That is to say, you have to be a human being, not just a creature, and you must be determined to walk on the right path of life.When people generally resolve to do something, it means that they have not achieved it yet, and if they have achieved it, there is no need to resolve.Aiming for the "Tao" of Tao is probably impossible for ordinary people to achieve in a lifetime, but if you can't do it, you must have this ambition. Without ambition, you will have no direction. Without direction, your life will just go around in circles. The second is "according to virtue", "morality" refers to the cultivation of personal virtue.A person who is a good person, does good deeds, and cultivates his own morality will eventually gain experience, and you must hold on to this experience, otherwise it will be a pity to take one step forward and two steps back. "According to" means to grasp it firmly. After finally cultivating a little virtue, you must grasp it well, don't regress, and keep going forward. The third is "depending on benevolence", "benevolence" is the right way of life shown in the individual. "Benevolence" is different from "Tao". "Tao" is the common and universal way of human beings, while "benevolence" cannot be separated from the individual, it is a personal way.Everyone is different. For example, if you are a businessman or a scholar, you should follow the path you can walk, choose the good and be persistent, and never deviate from it. This is called Yi Yuren. Finally, "playing in art", "art" is the six arts: rites, music, archery, imperial, calligraphy, and mathematics, which can be collectively referred to as art and cultural activities. "You" stands for swimming freely and freely.People's lives should not be too tense. Talking about personality, virtue, benevolence and righteousness all day long will bring tension to the nerves.Human life needs to be adjusted. "Playing in the arts" means that in your leisure time, you might as well play chess, sing, or play ball to relax.Today's so-called sports and leisure activities all belong to the category of "art".From this, we also know that when we talked about Confucius before, it was easy to describe Confucius as a hard-headed person who seemed to be teaching others every day, but he was not. Playing in Art" has something to do with it. Next, Confucius said: "Scholars are determined to be Taoist, but ashamed of those who wear bad clothes and bad food, it is not enough to discuss." Clothes and bad food, such a person is not worth talking to, because his ambition is false.why?Because he is ashamed of living in poverty, which means his ambition is humble.In Confucius' mind, a "scholar", that is, a scholar, should strive to become a gentleman, cultivate talents and virtues, obtain official positions, and benefit the people. Of course, when Confucius said this, he did not mean that scholars must live in poverty, but that what scholars should worry about in their hearts should not be living conditions, but ideals in life.The so-called "a scholar who lives in his arms is not enough to be a scholar." ("The Analects of Confucius Xianwen") If a scholar is nostalgic for a comfortable life, he is not qualified to be a scholar.Because the specific life requirements of food, clothing and housing are necessary conditions for human beings, but not sufficient conditions.For example, a person needs to eat, and if he does not eat, he will starve to death.Therefore, eating is a necessary condition for human beings.But eating alone is not enough to be a human being. The word "sufficient" means a sufficient condition.What, then, is enough to be human?road.There is a sentence in it for reference.Zi Gong used to be poor, but later became rich. He asked his teacher, if a person is poor but not flattering, rich but not proud, what does the teacher think?Confucius said, not bad, but not good enough, "If you are poor, you will enjoy the Tao, and if you are rich, you will be polite." "Tao" is the right way of life.No matter what circumstances a person is in, if he can persevere in practicing the Way and take pleasure in doing so, he will be close to the realm of "human accomplishment".As the saying goes, "Three armies can lose their commander, but a man cannot lose his ambition" ("The Analects of Confucius Zihan"), even if a country's army can lose its commander, the ambition of a common people cannot be easily given up.Because if a person gives up his ambition, he will be scattered, floating, and lose his direction in life.It's like a ship sailing in the vast sea, without a compass needle, then it has no problem of "navigation" at all, it is just floating.It is very appropriate to use a boat sailing in the sea as a metaphor for living in the world.In life, if he can "aspire to the Tao", he will have a direction, and he will work hard to follow the direction every day. No matter how slow he is, he will reach the end one day. When we read, we must distinguish the words of the disciples of Confucianism, that is: the words of the students represent their personal experience, and may not be "entirely equal" to the thoughts of Confucius. The four words "consistently" are too important. Confucius said in it: "My way is consistent".It's a pity that very few people know what he's talking about.If you take a test today, ask students from elementary school to university to answer, what is Confucius' "consistent" way?I am afraid that most people will say Zeng Zi's words, "The way of a master is nothing more than loyalty and forgiveness." Is "loyalty and forgiveness" really the way of Confucius? The first appearance of "consistency" is related to Zi Gong, a student of Confucius.Confucius in Zigong was thirty-one years old, very smart and eloquent, and he was a top student in the language department.But smart people tend to make a mistake when speaking: comparison.I like to compare who is better and who is worse.He observed his teacher and thought that Confucius "learned a lot and knew it". The Master said: "Give it to me, do you want me to be a woman who has learned a lot and knows it?" Confrontation: "Yes, no?" Said: "No, I will be consistent." ("The Analects of Confucius Duke Ling of Wei") Confucius said: "Ci (Zigong's name is Duanmu Ci), do you think I am a person who has learned extensively and memorized all kinds of knowledge?" Zi Gong replied: "Yes, isn't it?" Confucius said: " No, I have a central idea that runs through all knowledge." Zigong thought the teacher was old, had read a lot and had a good memory, so he came out to teach students, like a bookcase with legs.But Confucius thought that he was more than that. He said that although I have a lot of knowledge, I have a central idea of ​​"consistency".How can a man be a good teacher if he does not have a central idea to keep his teachings coherent?How is it possible to be a good philosopher?It's a pity that Zigong didn't continue to ask the teacher, what is your consistent thing.This matter becomes a public case, let it go. I think Confucius probably really wanted to find an opportunity to publicly say what his "consistent" way is.He taught the five classics and six arts, rites, music, poetry and books, but he could not teach his own thinking.Because students study with their teachers in the hope of becoming an official in the future. An official only asks if you have learned knowledge, not whether you have learned the thoughts of Confucius, because Confucius was still alive at that time and had not yet become a philosopher respected by everyone.Confucius once took the initiative to bring up this topic to Zeng Shen in class. The Master said: "Shenhu! My Dao is consistent." Zeng Zi said: "Wei." When Zi went out, the disciples asked, "What do you mean?" Zeng Zi said: "The Master's way is loyalty and forgiveness." ) Confucius said: "Zeng Shen, my outlook on life is run through by a central idea."Zeng Shen said: "It is true." After Confucius left, other students asked Zeng Zi: "What is the teacher referring to?" Zeng Zi said: "The teacher's outlook on life is just loyalty and forgiveness." There may be some problems with Zeng Zi's statement.First, Zeng Shen was forty-six years younger than Confucius, and only one younger student, Zi Zhang, was forty-eight years younger than Confucius.Even if he followed his father to attend Confucius's class when he was fifteen years old, he would only have the opportunity to see Confucius in person for about ten years at most.There are many senior disciples of Confucianism, including those who traveled around the world with the teacher, and not everyone can understand Confucius.Second, among Confucius' students, Zeng Shen was slow to respond. Confucius said that he "studied Lu", Lu was dull, and his aptitude and wisdom were not superior.As for his kind nature and filial piety to his relatives, these are his characteristics.Therefore, if one of the disciples can understand the Tao of Confucius, it is probably not his turn.Third, what's more, Confucius once sighed: "No one understands me!" However, why did Confucius choose Zeng Shen to express his heart?Perhaps it was because Zeng Shen was younger and eager to learn, so he could take the opportunity to ask for advice; perhaps it was because Zeng Shen happened to be by Confucius' side.As a result, Confucius took the initiative to bring up this topic, but Zeng Shen replied: "Indeed." Confucius heard this, and immediately left the classroom, reacting violently.Perhaps he originally hoped that Zeng Shen would answer: "What do you mean?" Teacher, what is your consistent way?Unexpectedly, Zeng Shen actually said: "Yes".Even such a young and dull student understands my way, so what can I say... Then tragedy happened.Another student asked Zeng Shen, what is the teacher talking about?Zeng Shen replied that the teacher's outlook on life is just loyalty and forgiveness.The last three words "it's just" is not very responsible. The consistent way that Confucius put so much emphasis on was actually said by Zeng Shen as "loyalty and forgiveness are all."This is the tone of junior high school students. This is a case of the failure of Confucius teaching. "Loyalty and forgiveness is not far from the Tao" comes from "The Doctrine of the Mean". Zhongshu is not far from the Tao, which means that Zhongshu is not the Tao, but not far from the Tao.Confucius' way is not just "to do one's best is called loyalty, and to extend one's self to others is called forgiveness" (Zhu Xi's "Analects of Confucius").The Tao of Confucius also includes knowledge and action. What I know is consistent with my actions, including life and death, how to live and how to die, including heaven and man, destiny and human nature. These can all be summed up in one word: benevolence. "Benevolence" is the standard answer of Confucius' "one consistent" way, so he said such words as "death to benevolence" and "death through benevolence".The "loyalty and forgiveness" mentioned by Zeng Shen is just his own understanding of Confucius' outlook on life, and it does not mean Confucius' thoughts.When we read, we must distinguish the words of the disciples of Confucianism, that is: the words of the students represent their personal experience, and may not be "entirely equal" to the thoughts of Confucius.Moreover, when Confucius passed away, Zeng Zi was only twenty-seven years old. Even if he devoted himself to learning and practicing, it still did not mean that he could understand what Confucius always said when he was young.Later, when we saw him talking about "a long way to go" and pointing out the relationship between benevolence and death, we obviously affirmed that "benevolence" is the consistent way.