Chapter 4 Section III Ren
.This is the result of his reflection in the practice of promoting rites and music after his middle age, and the result of his research on the new changes and new trends of thought in the society at that time.
During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, wars were frequent and society was in turmoil, and the people showed their strength politically.Some advanced politicians put forward the idea of "people-oriented", believing that the people are the foundation of the country, the emperor is set up for the people, and gods also depend on the people.Confucius further reflected on this basis and realized that the problem of the people is actually a problem of people. To solve the problem of emphasizing the people in politics, we must first establish the concept of loving human beings and others, that is, the concept of benevolence.The idea of benevolence appeared in the Spring and Autumn Period, but before Confucius, people only talked about it in general.Confucius keenly grasped the pulse of the times, endowed benevolence with a profound meaning, and spared no effort to promote it, making it an extremely important social political and ethical concept that is increasingly valued.The disciple asked what is benevolence?Confucius replied: "Love people." ("Yan Yuan") Loving people means not only loving one's own family, relatives, elders, etc., but also loving others other than this.Confucius advocated "safety for the common people" ("Xian Wen"), advocated "universal love for all" ("Xueer"), and appreciated "giving a lot to the public".The common people are not just one family and one surname, it includes many families other than their own.The public is not just nobles, but the public including slaves.That is to say, the objects of Confucius' benevolence go far beyond the boundaries of family and rank, and are all human beings.In his view, man is not only a member of family, caste, but also a member of humanity.People should treat others as their own kind, and give them sympathy and care.Zixia, a disciple of Confucius, said: "All within the four seas are brothers." ("Yan Yuan") clearly shows that benevolence is a kind of human love.
Of course, Confucius' benevolence is not, and cannot be, the love of human beings without distinction.He advocates kissing, so there must be differences in benevolence.What I love the most are immediate family members, then collateral relatives, and then other people outside the Nine Clans.Mencius said: "Being kind to the people is benevolent to the people, and benevolent to the people is to love things." ("Mencius Dedication") The depth of love is gradually decreasing from being close to the people to things.Therefore, Confucianism resolutely opposes the universal love of Mohism. Mencius believes that Mohism's universal love means "fatherless", that is, denies patriarchal law and patriarchal authority, and "fatherless" means "beasts" (see "Mencius Teng Wengong 2") .According to Confucianism, benevolence and love are not very strong for ordinary people, but they still exist after all. Compared with the "mean and ungrateful" Legalists, it is quite different.
Another connotation of benevolence is related to human self-cultivation.When Confucius answered Yan Yuan’s question about benevolence, he said: “Self-restraint and rites are benevolence. One day, self-restraint and rites will return to benevolence. The world will be benevolent. Benevolence depends on oneself, but on others!” ("Yan Yuan") The so-called self-restraint means restraining oneself , the restoration of the ritual is the practice of the Zhou ritual.What is the specific content of the revival?Confucius said: "Do not see anything that is not in accordance with propriety, do not hear anything that is not in accordance with propriety, do not speak anything that is contrary to propriety, and do not move anything that is contrary to propriety."However, it should be pointed out that "being benevolent" is a conscious action "by oneself", not a forced action "by others".Therefore, benevolence is a kind of moral self-awareness.It is not out of the fear of external forces such as the punishment of the criminal law or the criticism of public opinion, but out of the consciousness of personality.When a person realizes that morality makes him different from animals, and when he fulfills the morality, he feels at ease, and when he does not feel guilty, he is a benevolent person.If the first meaning of benevolence (love others) is to treat others as human beings, the second meaning of benevolence (restraining oneself and returning to the courtesy) is to treat oneself as human beings.Therefore, benevolence is human self-awareness.Confucius said: "He who is benevolent is also human." ("The Doctrine of the Mean") Mencius said: "He who is benevolent is also human."
From a social and political perspective, ritual is undoubtedly important because it defines the basic structure of society, which is the social organization of patriarchal clan hierarchy or patriarchal monarchy, the social organization of the combination of family organization and political organization.And Ren's status is also very important.As an important political concept, it has become the mediator and glue between various interest groups in this society, and plays an irreplaceable role in maintaining the normal operation of society.
According to the concept of benevolence, since the state manages not animals but people who must be cared for and loved, it is necessary to replace tyrannical government with benevolent government.Virtuous governance is the application of benevolence in politics. What should it be like?A conversation between Confucius and his disciple Ran You answered this question.When Confucius went to the state of Wei, Ran You drove the chariot for him.Seeing the large number of people in the state of Wei, Confucius exclaimed: "It's so common!" Ran You asked, what should we do when there are too many people?Confucius said: "Get rich." Then he asked, what should I do after I get rich?Confucius said: "Teach it." It can be seen from this that Confucius's virtuous government is first of all the politics of enriching the people, which is to implement a series of policies to benefit the people, such as the state must use the power of the people in moderation, do not violate the farming season, and cannot collect excessive taxes, etc. So as to make the people rich economically; the second is to educate the people in politics, that is, to let the common people receive education in moral concepts, etiquette rituals, military skills, etc., and become civilized people.
He believes that there are two different ways of governing the people, and two different results.One is "Tao (guidance) is governed by government, and punishment is used in order, and the people are free from shame" ("Wei Zheng"), that is, people are treated like animals, and only administrative orders and punishments are used to treat them. The result of this is that the people Although they are exempt from punishment, they have no basic moral awareness (no sense of shame). Once they lose external control, they will commit crimes.The other is "Tao (guidance) is based on virtue, uniformity is based on propriety, shame and integrity" ("Wei Zheng"), treats the common people as the same people as the nobles morally, educates them with morality, Using etiquette to restrain them, the result is that ordinary people have moral awareness and self-discipline ability, and can consciously meet the requirements of Confucian virtue and etiquette.Confucius said: "Government is based on virtue, such as Beichen, where the stars live together." ("Weizheng") The ruler will be loved by the people if he implements a virtuous government, and the people will guard the Polaris like the stars. them.Later, Mencius continued this tradition and put forward the idea of benevolent government, asking the rulers to restrain their greed and let the peasants have their own land, so that they can live and live better.
Thinkers always stand tall and look far. They think about the long-term stability of the whole system and society, but the emperors are not like this. They often covet the prosperity and wealth in front of them, keep increasing taxes, and cruelly extract the people's fat and anointing, which always leads to the government oppressing the people. Instead, the regime overthrows.But in any case, the Confucianism of benevolent government and moral rule limits their greed (usually the results of ministers with Confucianism citing the ancient teachings of Confucius and Mencius to fight against them), so to a certain extent, it adjusts social contradictions and prolongs their greed as much as possible. time for social stability and prosperity.On the other hand, the idea of benevolence and love, and later developed the idea of "the world is one family, China is one person", through the dissemination and teaching of Confucian scholars of all ages, it also has a huge impact on the people's thinking, cultivating the obedience and awe of the superior, Of course, it is easy to be dominated by the ruler; but at the same time, it has also cultivated humanitarian virtues such as respecting the old, loving the young, helping the poor and helping the poor.
From the perspective of ethics and morality, propriety and benevolence are also very important.Here, li represents external norms.Jen represents inner self-awareness.Only when there is a socially recognized moral standard can people's social life have order. If this standard is denied and the obligations stipulated by it are not recognized, everyone will go their own way, and chaos will inevitably occur.Confucianism emphasizes that everything should be done according to propriety, even if the motive is love, it cannot go beyond the rules of propriety.If a parent dies, the funeral stipulates that they will not eat water syrup for three days, and then they can barely stand up and walk. If the love is particularly strong, mourning exceeds the limit, and they will not eat water syrup for seven days and fall ill at that time, it is also an act of indecent behavior. There is a story in "Han Feizi", Jisun, who was in power in the state of Lu, mobilized the people to dig a long ditch, and Zilu, a disciple of Confucius, served as the county magistrate of Ji, and used his own Lumi to cook for the migrant workers.Confucius heard that he immediately sent another disciple to stop it. He said to Zilu: "Husband Li, the Son of Heaven loves the world, the princes love the territory, the great officials love their official positions, the scholars love their families, and those who exceed their love are called invaders. It’s not true that Zi’s good love is Zi’s trespass!” ("Wai Chu Shuo Upper Right") This may not be true, but it can reflect Confucius’ thought: Love cannot exceed the etiquette.On the other hand, only with the inner moral awareness can the moral norms stipulated by the rituals have inner strength, and the moral norms can be connected with human personality and life, and can be consciously observed under any circumstances.Confucius said: "People are not benevolent, what is it like to be polite? People are not benevolent, what is it like to be happy?" What?" ("Yang Huo") all say that moral self-awareness is the inner life of ritual, and formal things like bells, drums and jade are not considered ritual and music, so people who are not benevolent cannot talk about ritual and music.
Confucius' etiquette and benevolence are not only social and political concepts, but also ethical and moral concepts. They are complementary and inseparable.Only the combination of benevolence and courtesy is the ideal of Confucius: to establish a society with hierarchy but not excessive confrontation, to practice benevolence but still have differences, to form a moral life that consciously salutes from conscience and strives to practice benevolence based on duty.Benevolence is the benevolence of etiquette, and li is the etiquette of benevolence. Therefore, universal love is not the benevolence of Confucius, nor is it in line with the etiquette of Confucius.The essence or core of Confucius' thought is neither pure benevolence nor pure propriety, but the combination of benevolence and propriety.
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