Chapter 6 Section 5 Gentleman

In the first section of this chapter, we talked about Confucius’ awe and love for ancient culture. In his view, only the ancient Chinese culture can make us civilized Chinese people.That is to say, a person can only become a person if he is educated with the things of humanity, specifically, benevolence, righteousness, ritual and music.In the words of "Book of Changes", this is "the completion of human culture".In the mind of Confucius, a person with a high standard of benevolence, righteousness, ritual and music is a gentleman.Therefore, a gentleman is the concrete embodiment of Confucius' humanistic principles such as benevolence, courtesy, moderation, etc. One of his important teachings to his disciples is: "Women (ru) should be gentlemen and Confucians, not petty Confucianists!" ("Yong Ye") Confucius' ideal personality includes Among the many levels, the highest ones are of course the sages who are born with knowledge. They are the creators of Chinese civilization, so they can achieve it naturally without education; among those who learn and know, they are benevolent and gentlemen. of.

Confucius believes that a gentleman is a person who has been educated in Confucian culture and has worked hard in moral cultivation. He is a person who has both a high degree of cultural accomplishment and a good moral quality.He emphasized that a gentleman develops in a balanced manner in terms of culture and quality, and believes that "gentlemanship comes first, followed by a gentleman." ("Yong Ye") A gentleman can not only sit and talk about the Tao, but also act because he has practical knowledge and skills.Later, Neo Confucianists in the Song and Ming Dynasties especially emphasized the cultivation of mind and character while ignoring knowledge and skills, which violated Confucius' original intention and caused huge consequences.Those who usually only talk about their hearts and minds do not have any practical skills. When they are in crisis, they can only die to serve the country.

Confucius believed that the basic skills necessary for a gentleman include rites, music, archery, imperialism, calligraphy, and mathematics, that is, knowing etiquette and ceremonies, being able to sing, dance, play musical instruments, archery, driving, writing, and arithmetic.The basic knowledge necessary for a gentleman is book knowledge such as "Poetry", "Li", "Le", "Yi" and "Spring and Autumn"; A gentleman should also master the knowledge.Confucius was erudite, and he often answered some strange questions about natural history or cultural history. He even knew military affairs that he didn't want to talk about in public, and he taught his disciple Ran Qiu (that is, Ran You, Zi You).But he is not blogging for the sake of blogging. He seeks knowledge extensively in order to cultivate himself into a real gentleman.

Confucius also believed that to be a gentleman, it is important to seek knowledge extensively, but it is more important to strictly abide by moral norms and cultivate excellent moral qualities.The moral norms that a gentleman must abide by are not only the principles of benevolence, righteousness, propriety, and joy, but also a series of specific moral norms. First of all, a gentleman should have a deep understanding of the principle of benevolence and righteousness, regard it as his life, and be able to unswervingly adhere to benevolence and righteousness under any circumstances.Confucius said: "Does a gentleman become famous without being benevolent and evil? A gentleman has no end to violate benevolence, and if he makes mistakes, he will do so, and if he is in trouble, he will do so." ("Li Ren") A gentleman is not a gentleman without benevolence, so he will not eat a little If the meal time violates benevolence, it will still act according to benevolence in urgent situations or when people are displaced.Confucius also believed that righteousness is also very important to a gentleman, "a gentleman regards righteousness as the quality" ("Wei Linggong"), "a gentleman regards righteousness as the most important" ("Yanghuo").Righteousness is the foundation of a gentleman, the first principle.Righteousness is appropriateness, which is in line with moral principles, and resolutely refrain from doing things that are not in line with principles.How did Confucius treat profit and desire?Unlike some Confucians of later generations, he does not hold an attitude of total opposition, but emphasizes that righteousness comes first, and seeking profit must conform to righteousness.He believes that a gentleman should "desire but not be greedy" ("Yao Yue"), "see the benefits and think righteousness" ("Xianjianwen"), and "see the benefits and think righteousness" ("Ji Shi").He said that if being rich is in line with righteousness, he is willing to do it even if it is driving a car for others.This principle of valuing righteousness over profit is the precious spiritual wealth of our nation. It has nurtured thousands of people with lofty ideals in the past. Today, in the tide of commodity economy, its practical significance is even more obvious.

Confucius attached great importance to the patriarchal clan and the maintenance of order and harmony in the family, so he advocated the following two moral laws: the son's filial piety to his father and the younger brother's brotherly brotherhood.He believes that filial piety can not only bring harmony to the family, but also make the general relationship between people closer, because loving people starts with loving brothers and sisters.The filial piety of the gentleman can educate the people and make them understand the principle of benevolence.Confucius especially emphasized that filial piety is not just a ceremony, but the important thing is to have true feelings.For example, filial piety is not only about caring for the elderly according to the requirements of etiquette, but also having the emotion of respect.People raise their parents, and they also raise cattle and horses. If they can't respect their parents, what difference is there from raising cattle and horses!The parent-child relationship is a permanent fact of human survival and reproduction, and it is of great significance to the family and society to stipulate certain moral principles to maintain it.Regardless of the specific etiquette in ancient times, filial piety is not outdated today.

However, the era of Confucius is very far away from today, and there are many outdated things in his concept of filial piety, such as the relationship between the love of parents to their children and the filial piety of children to their parents. Although the relationship is mutual, they are not equal; Confucius advocated that if parents are at fault, children can raise their opinions. If parents don't listen, children should still be respectful and obedient, and work hard without complaining.The filial piety he admires most is that after the father dies, the children still follow the rules of his life. "Meng Zhuangzi's filial piety is also possible. It is impossible not to change the father's ministers and father's politics." ("Zi Zhang") In that era, the interests of the patriarchal family were above all else. If the law and family interests In the event of a conflict, the interests of the family must be obeyed.Confucius believed that if a father stole someone else's sheep, a son should not come forward and report it. It is upright to hide it and not report it, but it is dishonest to expose it.Based on this idea, Mencius believed that Shun's father had broken the law, and Shun secretly took him to the seaside to hide, which was filial piety.Modern society is completely different from traditional society. It is maintained by the legal system. Filial piety that conflicts with the legal system is an outdated concept of the patriarchal clan era and should be abandoned.

Confucius advocated that a gentleman should pay attention to loyalty and forgiveness.Confucius gave lectures to his disciples Zeng Can and others, saying that his own way is "consistent".The students didn't understand it, so after class they asked Zeng Shen what it means to be consistent, and Zeng Shen said: "The Master's way is loyalty and forgiveness." ("Liren") Loyalty and forgiveness are the connotations of benevolence as moral concepts.Loyalty is to do one's best for others, which means to love others one must do one's best and be honest and responsible.Confucius' loyalty is universally applicable. Generally speaking, people should be loyal to others, which is different from the later autocratic monarchy system, which specifically requires ministers to be loyal to the monarch.He said: "The king envoys the ministers with propriety, and the ministers serve the king with loyalty." ("Ba Yi") this loyalty is only to do one's own will, and it is conditional on the emperor's propriety. A minister is not necessarily loyal to the king.The Duke of Lu and the Jisun family did not treat Confucius with courtesy, so he ceased to be their minister and went abroad to seek development.

Forgiveness is to push yourself and others, and to love others, you must compare your heart with your heart and use yourself as an example. From a positive perspective, it means "to establish others if you want to be established, and to achieve others if you want to achieve them" ("Yong Ye"). If you want to establish and achieve yourself, let others do the same Get Li and Da.On the negative side, it means "don't do to others what you don't want yourself to do to yourself" ("Yan Yuan"). What you don't want to accept, you can't impose on others.Of course, loyalty and forgiveness cannot be separated from everyone's status in the patriarchal society.How to fulfill oneself and how to push oneself should be determined according to one's status.Confucius believed that if you ask your son to treat yourself, you should treat your father like this; if you ask your father to treat yourself, you should treat your son like this.If you hate how your superiors treat you, don't treat your subordinates like this; if you hate how your subordinates treat you, don't treat your superiors like this.Abstractly speaking, these principles are also applicable today, but at the time, they all had hierarchical meanings.

A gentleman should have wisdom and courage, and they are the same moral qualities as benevolence.Confucius said: "There are three ways of a gentleman, and I am incompetent: the benevolent does not worry, the knowledge (wise) does not confuse, and the brave does not fear." ").Wisdom refers to the wisdom and ability in moral cognition and practice.Only when a gentleman has this kind of wisdom can he not be confused by the wrong path of injustice.A gentleman has a correct understanding of the essence of morality and the conditions of practice, so that his actions are always in line with benevolence, propriety, and the mean.Say and do what should be said and do, and do not say or do what should not be said and done.No matter how complicated the situation is, he can find the most appropriate way of behavior by relying on his wisdom, so as to achieve the right time.The so-called bravery is the courageous spirit of carrying out moral laws, which is born of a firm belief in Confucian ethics.With this kind of courage, one will be able to disregard personal gains, losses, honors and disgraces, and not be afraid of any difficulties and obstacles, to act bravely in righteousness, to correct past mistakes, and to implement moral laws.Confucius said, "If you don't seek to live, you will harm benevolence, and if you kill yourself, you will become benevolent" ("Wei Linggong"), and Mencius said, "Wealth and honor cannot be promiscuous, poverty and lowliness cannot be moved, and might cannot be subdued" ("Mencius·Teng Wengong 下"). It is brave.On the contrary, it is courageous not to do what is right and not to correct the past.Confucius emphasized that "courage without etiquette leads to chaos" ("Tabo") and "courage without righteousness leads to chaos" ("Yanghuo"). Therefore, courage is not reckless and reckless.In order to develop courage under the guidance of etiquette and righteousness, Confucius believed that one must learn, get rid of blindness, and enhance self-awareness.

In addition, Confucius also asked a gentleman to be "respectful" - solemn and solemn to himself, humble and obedient to others; "respect" - to be serious about his career; "lenient" - to be kind to others; "Min" - flexible and diligent; "Hui" - caring for others; "Wen" - gentle; "Liang" - kind; "thrifty" - frugal; "——have shame;These qualities that a gentleman should have are of course the Confucian virtues. Except for some content related to the patriarchal system, they are the common moral principles of human beings from ancient times to the present, and we can continue to carry them forward.