In the Analects of Confucius, Confucius said in two places that "don't do to others what you don't want others to do to you". First, when answering Zhong Gong's question, he said, "When you go out, you should meet a big guest, for the people's congress. Do as you would be done by. You have no complaints in the country and no complaints at home (The Analects of Confucius Yan Yuan); Secondly, when answering Zi Gong's question "There is a person who can live for life", he said: "Don't do to others what you don't want others to do to you" (The Analects of Confucius, Wei Linggong), which is the proposition put forward by Confucius when answering what is "benevolence" and "forgiveness". The basic meaning of "benevolence" is "love", including kissing, loving and loving. In other words, it is the general summary of all good virtues. In Shuo Wen Jie Zi, forgiveness is also kind. Forgiveness belongs to the category of benevolence, its basic meaning is to push one's inner love to love others. Therefore, the proposition of "don't do to others what you don't want others to do to you" is based on the assumption that human nature is good. Need your own benevolence. Proceed from kindness and deal with the emotional relationship and material interests between people. In this proposition, we should distinguish two opposing concepts, namely "what we want" and "what we hate", both of which are experienced from the individual subject. All human spiritual activities and behavioral pursuits are nothing more than these two things, which can also be realized by the whole human subject. "We don't want" and "give", that is, "If you want to establish yourself, you can achieve it". "Don't do to others what you don't want them to do to you" (Guan Ziwen). On the contrary, "taking what is used" in Mencius Li Lou is also kind. Therefore, in Confucius' proposition, "Don't do to others what you don't want others to do to you."
The establishment of people's subjective consciousness is that people realize the difference between themselves and the outside world, the difference between soul and body, and then pursue the relationship between soul and body, think about their origin and destination, think about the ultimate explanation of the outside world and their relationship with the outside world. People realize that they are different from the existence of nature, so human beings gradually establish the concept of "group". People's subjective consciousness is established. The subject consciousness of human individual appears in the further development of human civilization. What kind of relationship should we have between ourselves and others, and between ourselves and the whole, in order to achieve social harmony? The sages of China made a long-term exploration. Confucius summed up the achievements of predecessors' exploration and established the philosophy of "benevolence", which not only affirmed the subjective consciousness of human beings, but also emphasized the importance of individual subjective consciousness. Confucius' thoughts of "don't do to others what you don't want others to do to you" and "establish yourself by establishing people, and achieve great things by achieving things" show Confucius' profound understanding of individual subjective consciousness. This is relative to the group. Because the individual's subjective consciousness, if separated from the group, becomes an isolated individual, and any individual is an individual in the group. Individuals who leave the group may lose some rules of humanity. The inevitable logic of "don't do to others what you don't want others to do to you" is that don't do to others what you don't want others to do to you. No matter what you want to do to others or what you don't do to others, you should consider it from the perspective of mankind as a whole. What you want, you should consciously give it to others. This personal desire and evil is the reference of the group. In Confucianism's view, a perfect person can only be considered if he melts himself into the group. As human nature, "benevolence" is determined by the interaction between people. If you leave the group, you are not a person. "Don't do to others what you don't want others to do to you" means.
In human society, individuals exist as members of the class, and their survival safety, material interests and spiritual life are interdependent. People should love each other and do whatever they want. However, in any society, there are differences between those in power and the people, leaders and the led, managers and the managed. The subjects of giving and not giving are the authorities, leaders and managers, who should be convinced by virtue. Give wealth to the people. Ordinary people should also establish and implement the idea of giving and not giving, and everyone should be kind to others, which reflects the love between people and the harmony of society.
two
Confucius' thoughts of "don't do evil" and "learn from others" are based on good human nature. Although Confucius only put forward the vague proposition that "the nature is similar and the learning is far away", Confucius insisted on the goodness of human nature in essence. Confucius defined human nature as "benevolence", that is, people are kind, and at the same time defined "benevolence" as "love", which shows that people are human beings. The heart of shame and evil, the end of righteousness; The words of the heart are the end of the ceremony; The heart of right and wrong is also the end of wisdom, which contains the germination of "four virtues" of benevolence, courtesy and wisdom. Compassion begets benevolence, shame begets righteousness, resignation begets righteousness, and right and wrong begets wisdom. These "four virtues" are inherent in everyone. Because everyone has this kind of kindness, so don't go against people's kind nature. The rashness of the ruling party's popularity lies in "being happy with the situation and not doing evil." People will love it if they do whatever they want, and a regime will exist if people love it. On the other hand, if you "do it for evil", the people will resent it, and the people will "die for evil" ("Da Dai Li Zhang Zi Wen"). If you hate hard work, you will know that the world needs peace; If you are evil and lack enthusiasm, you will know that the world wants to be rich. "(Korean poetry biography) In this way, people will find the inspiration point of the soul. As rulers, they want "different people have different opinions, and the wise have different opinions"; As ordinary people, we should be kind to others. Everyone can become Yao and Shun by giving virtue to others according to their own environment and status. Starting from the good nature, everyone cares about each other and implements the principle of "loyalty and forgiveness", so it is easy to communicate between people's hearts, because everyone has the same desires and needs, or as the American psychologist Ma Si Noel did.
Xunzi believes that human nature is evil. "Human nature is evil, and it is false for good" (Xunzi's Theory of Evil Nature), "Human nature is natural", and human nature is evil to nature. "Emotion is the content of human nature." Desire is the response of emotion. Passion belongs to everyone. People's etiquette and morality are artificial and the result of acquired education. People hate the struggles and riots caused by greed and lust, and the social situation of "bending the law, roll with the punches". Pursue harmonious and balanced interpersonal relationships and a just and peaceful social environment. From the emperor to the common people, everyone has desires, because desires are part of human nature. People's desires are endless. What they want doesn't mean that others don't want it. What should I do if everyone has a desire and Shenshi has tried his best? Xunzi thought: "Although the desire is inexhaustible, it can be nearly exhausted; You don't have to go if you want, but you can be frugal. You can't leave if you want to, but you haven't gone far enough. Although you can't want to go, you can't ask for it. People who worry should be frugal. " (Xun Zi Zheng Ming) In order to achieve the goal of "approaching perfection" and "frugality", it is necessary to formulate "etiquette and righteousness" and "nurturing people's desires and getting what they want". People's greatest desires are "precious to life", "happiness" and "keeping healthy and happy", and doing what they want is only conditional satisfaction. Generally speaking, it is impossible for ordinary people to do what they want. "What people want, what heaven wants" refers to the whole human group's desire for survival and development. So Xunzi's "near desire" and "frugality" are very practical.
In order to better realize the moral practice principle of "don't do to others what you don't want others to do to you", Confucius also stressed that as leaders and managers of governments at all levels in the country, we must understand and study human nature. Without understanding human nature, it is impossible to effectively govern and manage. "Therefore, a gentleman can't reach the people's feelings without knowing the people's nature, and learn from them. Then people do what they are told. " (Da Dai Guan) "Spontaneous" refers to people's innate goodness, and "having habits" refers to the bad habits formed by people's loss of goodness. Human goodness requires "love" and "being loved". Push others' hearts with your own heart, achieve success and establish yourself as a person. At the same time, giving others things that meet the needs of human nature makes the relationship between people and even the whole harmonious and harmonious, and the good nature of people can be carried forward. Otherwise, people's evil (whether innate nature or acquired habits) will grow, spread and flood, destroy the peace and stability of society, make people lose the basic guarantee of life, and society will not be a society.
Studying human nature, understanding human nature, and everyone's correct understanding of themselves are important foundations for practicing benevolence. The purpose of exploring human nature is to understand "human love", "the so-called love is creation; The so-called creation is to find yourself in the object. " "If you know yourself, you will know others". "People who are at a loss and ignorant see the same gray world. Only in front of people who can stare at their souls with flashing eyes will everything unfold in a dazzling crisscross. " "People who can thoroughly understand their own personality can find all kinds of personalities even among the most ordinary people." "Personality can't be given, only gained", "Only love can understand other people's personality. Only by abandoning differences, choosing reason and holding tender affection can we understand the personality of others. We can grasp our personality with persistent love and nuanced insight, instead of impromptu impressions and capricious intuition. ""You must love your neighbor as yourself "(Mikaki, Japan: Life Notes) Only with love can we understand others. Now some people, seemingly absorbed in learning Buddhism, seem to be confessing their mistakes or sins, and seem to be kind, but in fact they are full of evil thoughts and greed, and often impose what they don't want on others; Some people are overweight, self-expanding, scheming, rejecting everyone and trying to monopolize their fame and fortune. Such a person can never succeed in his career. This kind of person has no minimum human kindness, let alone Buddha nature. Because there is no self-nature, he can't know himself, know others, and find himself from the object. So he doesn't understand, and he can't understand. "
three
Liu Baonan, a famous scholar in Qing Dynasty, quoted the words in Biography of Chinese Poetry when commenting on "Don't do to others what you don't want others to do to you", saying "Don't do to others what you don't want others to do to you" (see The Analects of Confucius, Justice Yan Yuan 12), "Don't do to others what you don't want others to do to you", which all reflected Confucius' kindness. Can you call it a benevolent person? When asked a question, he said, "What is kind must be sacred! Yao Shun is still sick! Benevolent people want to stand and be human, and they want to be successful. If he can make a closer analogy, it can be said that the benevolent side already exists. " (The Analects of Confucius, Yongye) Confucius made a strict distinction between the two concepts of benevolence and holiness, and thought that holiness was higher than benevolence. Liu Baonan explained that benevolence and holiness *. For the initial friendship, it means no stagnation and obstacles. It means to be connected with the rigid and soft way of yin and yang in heaven and earth, and then to observe in heaven and earth, and then to achieve on their own. If I fail to understand principles and justice, I will be hindered by my doubts and stagnation, which will be unreasonable. If I am so independent, I will behave rudely; Governing people with it will offend many people. "Give to the masses, and no one will get what he wants", "Give to the masses, be selfless and spread virtue widely" and "achieve great success in benevolence" is called "holiness", so "holiness" is higher than "benevolence". It can be seen that "giving alms to the masses" is the great virtue of Deze.
1, morality teaches the people. Confucius advocated "guiding it by courtesy and adjusting it by virtue" (The Analects of Confucius is politics) and opposed "guiding it by politics and adjusting it by punishment". He believes that only by educating people with courtesy and morality can we stimulate people's moral consciousness, make people know their own value and build up a sense of self-esteem. Some advanced mammals are ashamed and have some self-esteem. Man's self-esteem is based on his affirmation of his own value. "Don't do to others what you don't want others to do to you" shows that the basis of self-esteem is to respect others. If you do something you don't want to do to others, you lose your conscience and rules. People who are eager for pleasure are not only unwilling to do it. Of course, it is the labor paid by others. They don't want to work, others work. Such people have lost their moral qualities and become individualists. Extreme individualism often makes them lose their self-esteem. Individualism is not a harmonious and peaceful world. If each of us takes good care of ourselves and truly "don't do to others what you don't want others to do to you", then the friction between people in society will be reduced. People's moral and cultural qualities are very important. Therefore, it is a task that politicians can't ignore to teach people by virtue, improve their cultural knowledge and moral quality. In ancient times, people attached great importance to the education of "rites" and "music". The social function of "ceremony" and "music" is to make people harmonious and harmonious with them, to keep the inner balance of capable people, and to make people's spiritual life more in line with people's requirements.
2, benevolent government for the people. Bad politics and tyranny have always been hated by the people, and benevolent government is what the people want. Politicians should understand and observe the wishes of the general public, especially the wishes and demands of the lowest people, from their own perspective and from their own hearts. Shangshu No Escape requires politicians to "predict the suffering of crops" and then "know the dependence of villains". If people want to have permanent production, they must have the means of production engaged in the production of material wealth; Let the people live and work in peace and contentment, have ample food and clothing, and be neither hungry nor cold; We should pay less attention to it, send less corvees, and ease the burden on the people; Deal with the relations between countries well, reduce the number of battles, and fight a just war if you have to, so we must do it quickly. Politicians should pay attention to people's cultural and spiritual life while satisfying people's material life. No one should impose what he doesn't want to do on others, and politicians should not impose what they hate on others.
3. Rich in the people. Being rich and expensive is what people want, and what people want must follow heaven. Material life is the foundation of human existence. People come from nature, and their self-worth is certain, so they belong to society, so people are the existence of nature and society. As the existence of nature, it is bound to be restricted by the laws of nature. People artificially maintain the continuation of life. There must be a material exchange with nature. The way, means and essence of material exchange between man and nature are different from those of animals. Therefore, people's survival needs are still the first level of needs. Therefore, constantly improving and improving people's material living conditions and satisfying people's "desire" for material life are the primary and fundamental tasks of the rulers. Confucius advocated the policy of "enriching the people and benefiting the people" and emphasized "benefiting the people", which is a virtue. The symbol of Guanping City; Number of merchants in the province; Work hard; Without the policy of "seizing the farming season" (Xunzi Rich Country), the people can get rich. He also said: "We should be full of the way of the country, save the people, and be good at hiding the rest. Festival is a ceremony, enriching the people and governing. If you enrich the people, it will be redundant. If the people are rich, the land will be fertile and easy to cure, and the land will be a hundred times more fertile. " (same as above.
Building homes for people's souls is an aspect of benevolent governance. Material life is people's basic needs, but not all. After people's material life is satisfied, they need cultural and spiritual life. Cultural and spiritual life determines people's quality of life. If a person has a very rich material life, but his spirit is empty, his values are distorted, he loses his ideals and pursues the value of real life, he is likely to be decadent. Even go to crime. As far as human nature is concerned, everyone has a pursuit of beauty. Everyone hopes to have not only a rich material life, but also a beautiful cultural and spiritual life. They all want their souls to have a resting place. Some people like music, painting and literary works, and pin their souls on the art world. Some people like to explore the secrets of the universe and society and pin their souls in academic gardens; Some people like flowers and birds and travel, and pin their spiritual life on leisure time and space; Some people believe in religion and pin their souls on the other side of the world. In short, in order to make people's life truly become people's life, politicians must create rich space for people's cultural and spiritual life to meet people's cultural and spiritual life.
In short, from the dialectical relationship between "doing whatever you want" and "doing nothing for evil", we have realized the value of giving and the true meaning of Confucius' "giving to the masses", that is, starting from the standpoint of loving the people and meeting the needs of the people in all aspects, we really love the people.