Chapter 18 common sense

As mentioned above, Confucius and Mencius had no choice but to advocate the way of kingship, that is, the government of the wise, because they never imagined that society could be formed and people could live without using the form of kings, princes, officials, and scholars.It is very difficult for people to think of a way of life based on certain principles, beyond the fashion and tradition, in the closed-door era.Confucianism has social ideals, and of course there are reasons behind the ideals, but these principles are established on the premise of acknowledging the actual situation, and its path will inevitably be pitifully narrow.This is because ideals cannot match reality.In fact, one, from a close look, the king can hang his clothes when he conducts benevolent government, and the rule of the world is just an illusion, which is not the case in reality; two, from a distance, when the king ascends the throne, there will be all kinds of people.In various ways, speaking, shouting, writing, printing, and praising him as a sage, and this sage, under the cover of singing, can do whatever he wants.In this way, the ideal of virtuous politics further helps the autocratic monarch, because it does not oppose it, and actively advocates, "If the world has the way, then the rituals and music will come from the emperor."

Are there no sages, or sages?The question is complex.Holy, there are more ideal ingredients, and let it go.I only talk about the virtuous, mainly in terms of character.Essence plus self-cultivation constitute character, to what extent can one be called a virtuous person, and below that is not a virtuous one?The vast majority of people are in the middle, with ideals and emotions, so even if they hear the chicken dancing in the morning, they may walk into the casino with great interest when the lights are red at night.Or using the standards of moralists, speaking of the way of life, those who benefit others are virtuous, and those who are self-interested are not virtuous. In this way, there are not many virtuous people in the group, right?If this is the case, an insurmountable difficulty arises, that is, is there any way to get the sage to the throne.Confucius and Mencius had no choice, nor did they feel that there was still a problem, so they never talked about what happened before they ascended the throne, but accepted the fait accompli and then figured out a solution.Naturally, the only solution is to hope to kowtow.This is pitiful again, because hope does not hope.Kowtow or not, although it's up to you, whether you accept it or not is completely up to him.To accept, there must be conditions, it is his sage, so it is best to be able to figure out a way to ensure that only sages can ascend to the throne.The problem is that such a guarantee cannot be obtained, because: first, if you can use the lottery method, there are still probability theory, and the chances of a sage ascending to the throne must not be many; Well, a sage is unlikely to be able to mount a horse, and then the father and son, and this son, who grew up among the brocades, how many sages are there?

In fact, there is a far-reaching reason for the impediment of sage politics. That is, politics is a matter for the masses in the streets and alleys, and the masses are ordinary people.Ordinary people have common feelings.What this normal situation looks like is also a matter of benevolence and wisdom.Mencius said that everyone has a hidden heart, and the hidden heart is benevolence. Zen monks imagined that the self-nature is pure, and that one can become a Buddha by seeing one's nature. Not only requested, but respected.But to manage the affairs of everyone, we have to be more practical.What is it actually?That's what Xunzi said:

People are born with desires.If you want something but don’t get it, you can’t be without demand, if you want it without measure and boundaries, you can’t do without contention, contention will lead to chaos, and chaos will lead to poverty.The former kings hated chaos, so they established etiquette and righteousness to divide them, to nourish people's desires, and to make people's demands, so that desires will not be exhausted by things, and things will not be subdued by desires. and also. ("Xunzi? On Rites") The origin of this passage about etiquette is viewed with both pragmatic and fantasy eyes, so the appearances seen are different before and after.What we see in the first half is common sense, people are all stained with mud, or simply say that they are worthless.In the second half, a promising former king suddenly came to make rituals, in order to change the unpromising into chaos.This confusion of thinking comes from the consistent superstition of Confucianism that there is a so-called sage king, so in the eyes of Confucius and Mencius, people can be divided into two categories with distance, good and bad, because of their similar nature.Xi Xiangyuan also.This distance was widened by Xunzi, and he became rebellious. Ordinary people fight with desires, but the sage king probably has no desires and does not fight, so he can make rituals to save the world.The question here is whether the sage king is a person who is "born with desires".You can't ask about Xunzi; in order to get what you need, it is decided to give up the second half and take the first half. "People are born with desires", and then there are demands and struggles.What are you looking for? The ancients saw it simply as "eating and drinking men and women, people's great desires exist."This is a good starting point, and it can even be said to grasp the vital point.The desire of diet is to prolong life, and the desire of men and women is still to prolong life, so it is said that the great virtue of heaven and earth is life.But ask, you have what you have and you can't.It must be accompanied by emotional pleasure and pain, so the power of desire increases.This big, it is easy to go beyond the starting point and expand beyond eating and drinking men and women, such as Zhang Xianzhong, who wanted to kill people, and Hitler, who wanted to conquer the world.It was an unstoppable blow.Novelty?Not at all, because it is normal for ordinary people.

In modern times, a Freudian school, also known as the psychoanalytic school, emerged in the West. It studied the common sense of ordinary people in depth, and wrote many books with considerable influence.Compared with the middle-earth people who talk about human nature in order to improve their moral education, they use less imagination and more use of scalpels.Although the results of the anatomy may not be the same for different people, and psychologists outside the field may not all agree, some arguments that are similar in small differences are worth thinking twice for human beings.The argument is that humans, like other animals, are governed by powerful desires. If the desires cannot be satisfied, they will use various methods (including writing poems, dreaming, and even going crazy) to satisfy them.This view is unsatisfactory, because we will sort out these contents from it: First, such ordinary people are far away from saints and sages, and close to beasts. For example, thinking deeply at night, I am also an animal full of desires. ?Second, desire is irresistible, not letting it go will bring pain, letting it go will cause harm (to others, or to yourself), which is terrible.Thirdly, one should accept the lessons of Confucianism and exercise restraint, but the power of desire is too great, and it is not easy to achieve results.Fourth, it becomes more difficult to deal with and manage the world.

Whether it is difficult or not, whether it is desirable or not is one thing; since we have life, we must strive for a happy life, or at least it is tolerable, which is another matter.This means that we need to know what to do.The truth is, we've done it, perhaps since the age of what can be called "human beings."The desire to eat has not changed, but I believe, at least to say, that we should not underestimate the root of vegetables.The great desires of men and women have not changed, but the request is more about estrus than etiquette.In this combination of ideals and hard work, we create an important part of our culture.Or an important part of civilization, or simply moral concepts and behaviors.All in all, although it is common sense that "the reason why human beings are different from beasts is how much", it is not that the disease is in the womb and cannot be cured.

Salvation is the bright side.But don't forget, common sense is common sense after all, saving is not easy.Specifically, the abstinence valued by Taoism and the abstinence valued by Confucianism are both high standards, requiring harmony at all times and everywhere, which is very difficult for individuals and impossible for the whole society.Therefore, when talking about cultivating Qi Zhiping, we must always remember that what we are dealing with is ordinary people, and ordinary people have common feelings.Looking at it this way, no matter whether we stand in the world or govern the world, the theory and method should be quite different from the belief that "everyone can be Yao and Shun".

Let me talk about standing first.I remember that there is a seemingly elegant but honest curse saying, "find a mirror and look at it".In fact, you should find a mirror to look at it.It is best to use the Freudian method, as soon as you see it, you can see that you are an ordinary person and have common feelings, so it is easy to go downstream.What to do? Of course it's not right to break the can and smash it.One should be humble, because you are driven by desires, ask for this and that, and worry if you don’t get what you ask for, and you are just like others, or even worse; Be cautious at all times so as not to get sick; third, know what you can’t do, and not only yearn for few desires and temperance, but also strive to get closer; fourth, it’s best to be more active, "If you want to establish yourself, build others Daredevil."

Let's talk about life.This includes dealing with people and things outside of oneself, which are too complicated, so I have to say a principle.The basis of the principle is also the mirror, and the people it sees are ordinary people with common feelings.Therefore, for such a person, first, don’t have too high hopes, because people are not sages, and no one can do anything wrong; second, you can forgive Xiaode’s mistakes, because he is also born with desires. According to Schopenhauer, he is also a bitter friend and deserves sympathy. Finally, let's talk about governance.This is the business of all.Everyone can also use that mirror to reflect, and they should also use that mirror to reflect.Naturally, with just one photo, you can see ordinary people.As usual.Will this make a difference?Not only that, but quite large.Generally speaking, the politics of the wise should be replaced by the politics of ordinary people: the managers are ordinary people, and the people under management are also ordinary people.As far as the manager is concerned, because he is an ordinary person, he is not necessarily (and should not be required to be) a sage, so first, his thoughts and actions may be right or wrong; Academies), the possibility of doing bad things is small, the power is unlimited (such as the emperor), the possibility of doing bad things is high; third, to prevent bad things, it is impossible to rely solely on ordinary people with common sense, and there must be a mechanism or system that does not allow bad things to happen; Fourth, the essence or method of impermissibility is power restriction, which means that managers manage affairs according to the division of labor, not the savior who leads everyone.As far as the people under management are concerned, because they are ordinary people and have common sense, not only can there be disputes, but chaos can also occur.To deal with rent disputes and chaos, the law is important.Especially important is virtue. Virtue is the power to control oneself and take into account others. The result is less contention and less chaos.Therefore, in governing the world, improving the cultural education of the people should be regarded as the most important thing.

To sum up the above, ordinary people with common feelings have two sides: on the one hand, they are "normal" in terms of destiny, which is not unusual or noble; Humanism is different from beasts (in a secular sense).