Chapter 120 Revisiting the View of Wealth in "The Analects of Confucius"

Confucius is a great thinker, educator, and founder of Confucianism in ancient China. At the same time, he is recognized as one of the world's top ten historical and cultural celebrities.What has been handed down to the present is the authoritative work that concentrates on Confucian thought and speech, and it is a classic representing Confucian thought.For a long time, the issue of wealth has been accompanied by the development of human society, and Confucianism has been regarded as the "spiritual standard" by the Eastern nations for thousands of years of history. We might as well get a glimpse of Confucius' view of wealth from it.

There is such a saying in the book: "If a country has the way, if it is poor and cheap, it is a shame; if the country has no way, if it is rich and noble, it is a shame." Some media scholars explain this sentence in this way, saying that if a country is "righteous", then at this time, you are "mixed" poorly, "have no money" and "no social status", then you should feel "shame" ", because it shows that you are either lazy or incompetent.Here, the "Tao" mentioned above can be understood as an "ideal social state" in which "social order is fair, distribution is truly based on ability, and officials are all honest and honest".

And if a country is "ruthless", but you "mix" well at this time, that is, you "not only have money", but also have "social status", then you should feel even more "ashamed", because This shows that the "wealth and status" you have obtained are "wrongly obtained", that is, these wealth and status are "unjust gains" in this "no way" society.The "no way" here refers to "the social order is severely unequal, wealth is distributed according to power, and officials are corrupt." Today, with the rapid development of China's economy, "everyone thinks about being rich and everyone is getting rich" is a matter of course throughout the country, and it should be the direction of our efforts.

In our opinion, Confucius held a pertinent, objective, scientific and rational attitude towards the issue of wealth. He gave his own unique insights, which have greatly surpassed the ideological category of his historical environment. This may be It can give us a lot of inspiration in modern society. In addition, regarding the means of obtaining wealth, he also has his own unique views in "The Analects of Confucius Liren": "Wealth and honor are what people want, and if you don't get it according to the way, you don't get it. Poverty and lowliness are what people hate. If you don't get it according to the way, you don't want to go. A gentleman loses benevolence, and he is evil to become famous." ? A gentleman will never end up violating benevolence, making mistakes will inevitably happen, and failures will inevitably happen."

The meaning of this sentence can be understood as: In society, it is common for everyone to acquire wealth and pursue wealth.In the process of seeking wealth, as long as the means and methods are appropriate, reasonable and legal, then we take it for granted. For those who obtain wealth through illegal channels and methods, the whole society should condemn them, and we should also alienate them. This is completely in line with the concept of wealth in the new era we advocate. At the same time, he also said: "Wealth can be sought, even if it is a man with a whip, I will do it; if you can't ask, then follow what I like." What he meant was, "If you can get rich, even if it is driving a car, I will If you can't, then do as I like." This sentence represents Confucius' idea of ​​seeking wealth through business.Confucius advocated that in order to get rich, humble jobs like whipping are not rejected. It can be seen that what Confucius opposed was unjust wealth and behaviors that did not conform to "morality" and "failing to keep promises". He did not object to wealth and value itself. .Yes, everyone has the desire to seek wealth, and everyone has the tiredness of digging for wealth.This is exactly the truth told by an ordinary person who has stepped onto the altar of a saint.

In addition, Confucius thought negatively about wealth. He said: "I am cheap when I am young, so I can despise many things. There are many gentlemen, but there are not many." The original text of the background context in which Confucius said this is as follows: Dazai asked Yu Zigong, saying: "Master, who is a sage? How can he be so capable?" Zigong said: "Because the heavens will make him a sage, he is so capable." Zigong heard about it, and said warmly: "The great minister knows Me? I am also cheap when I am young, so I can despise many things. Are there many gentlemen? Not many."

In the text, Tai (tai) Zai is an official name, also called "Tai Zai", whose duty is to assist the monarch in governing the country. This passage translates into today's words: Dazai asked Zigong: "Is Mr. Kong a saint? Why are you so versatile?" Zigong said: "Since God made him a saint, of course he will be versatile." Confucius said after hearing this: "Does Dazai understand me? I was poor when I was young, so I learned a lot of skills. Can ordinary gentlemen have so many skills? It is impossible." What Confucius meant was that he grew up in a poor family, endured a lot of hardships, and only after experiencing many hardships could he understand many truths in the world.The knowledge I have learned in the university of society is much more practical than the dogmas and rules of experience in those books. Do you know so many things in this way?Not many, no doubt.

As the saying goes: "Children of the poor are the first to be in charge of the family." When a person is young, he has hardships and hardships. He has to do everything by himself and work hard. Therefore, he is not only versatile and has a strong ability to live, but also understands the ways of the world. doing. We know that poverty can change a person's life and determine a person's destiny; poverty will bring a lot of misfortune to a person and make many people discouraged. But the old master told us that people are not afraid of being poor, but of being short-sighted.

Therefore, we have to express our feelings here: Poverty makes us better understand the value of setbacks and bitterness, and it is also the most precious wealth in our life. So far, under the background of "all people thinking about wealth" and "all people chasing wealth" in the whole country, attention, learning and research are gathering again. We have seen that whether it is Confucius as a mortal or "Confucius" as a sage, the issue of wealth occupies a special position in his spiritual world and thought system. We believe that the "confusion of wealth" that people encounter on the road to wealth seems to have found the answer here.