Masterpieces: The Spring and Autumn Annals of Confucius and The Book of Songs.

Mencius' Mencius

Xunzi's Xunzi

Ideological proposition

Confucius

1, Confucius advocated rule by courtesy and opposed the rule of law. The meaning of ceremony is very extensive in ancient times, which refers to the etiquette of international communication, the coronation, marriage, funeral and sacrifice of nobles, including political system and moral norms. Confucius said, "You know the gains and losses of Yin; Because of Zhou, its gains and losses are also known; Its successors have been known for hundreds of generations. " ("The Analects of Confucius Learn and Learn") It seems that Zhou Zhili is the unchangeable principle from generation to generation. When the State of Jin cast a tripod, he sharply opposed it, saying, "If the State of Jin dies, it will lose its degree. "

2. Economically, he opposed the feudal land tax system and tried his best to maintain the land tax system since the Western Zhou Dynasty. Eleven years of mourning for the public by Zuo Zhuan: "Ji's family wants to make Ranyou travel with land tax ... Zhong Ni ... will be private one day:' A gentleman's trip is also a courtesy. Take what is thick, what is thick, and what is thin. In that case, hills are enough. If you don't pay attention to etiquette, but you are insatiable, it is not enough to use land tax. And if the son Ji Sun wants to follow the law, the code of the Duke of Zhou is there; If you want to do it, why not? "

3. Confucius advocated the idea of maintaining hierarchy. He advocated the hierarchical system of "Jun Jun, minister, father and son", which was in line with the "ceremony". Confucius said, "If the name is irregular, it won't work. If you don't succeed, you will be in danger. If you are in danger, you won't be punished. The punishment is not correct and the people are at a loss. " (The Analects of Confucius Lutz)

4. Confucius advocated self-denial. "The Analects of Confucius Yan Yuan" records: "Yan Yuan asked benevolence. Zi Ri:' Self-denial and courtesy are benevolence. A day of self-denial and self-denial, the world will return to benevolence. Yan Yuan asked what the specific content of "self-denial" was, and Confucius said, "see no evil, don't listen to evil, don't say evil, and don't move if you are evil."

5. In ethics, Confucius advocated benevolence. The basic spirit of Confucius' "benevolence" is to teach people to adjust the contradictions within the ruling class according to Zhou Li. His "benevolence" generally does not include laborers. Confucius said, "A gentleman who is not kind has a husband, and a benevolent person has no villain." (The Analects of Confucius) Ceng Zi summed up the meaning of "benevolence" with the word loyalty and forgiveness, which is closer to the original intention. The way of loyalty and forgiveness is "Don't do to others what you don't want others to do to you".

6. In philosophy, Confucius advocated the concept of destiny. Confucius advocated destiny. On one occasion, he was besieged by Kuang people. He said: "Heaven will lose its grace, and the deceased will not be gentle." If the sky does not fall, what will the people do? Confucius said, "What does heaven say?" When you are at four o'clock, everything is born. What is the sky? "(The Analects of Confucius Yang Huo) According to Confucius," Heaven "is the master of all things in the universe. Confucius thought that he was acting according to his own destiny. Confucius said, "I am determined to learn five out of ten, stand at thirty, be puzzled at forty, know my destiny at fifty, listen at sixty, and act at seventy without overstepping the bounds." ("The Analects of Confucius for Politics") He took the restoration of the rites of Zhou as his historical mission and said, "I am a widower until the phoenix bird comes, and the river does not draw!" ("The Analects of Confucius Zi Han")

7. In education, Confucius advocated the spirit of "teaching without distinction", "teaching students in accordance with their aptitude" and "never tire of learning and never tire of teaching".

8. In moral character, he advocates "forbearance, shame, sincerity, sensitivity, kindness, softness, kindness, courtesy, frugality and tolerance".

Mencius

(1) People-oriented: People-oriented thought is the essence of Mencius' thought.

(1) He made it clear that only "protecting people" can "rule" the world.

"Protecting the people is king, irresistible." ("Mencius Hui Liang Wang Shang")

(2) He proposed that "the people are the most important, the country is the second, and the monarch is the light."

He believes that the political basis that determines the ruling position of the ruler is the opposition of the people's hearts, and the obedience of the people's hearts is the decisive factor for unifying the world. "If you lose the world, you will lose your people." If you lose the people, you lose your heart. "("Mencius Li Lou ")

In a sense, the people are more important than the monarch. From this point of view,

(3) He proposed that "the weather is not as good as the geographical position, and the geographical position is not as good as people." ("Mencius Gongsun Chou")

(2) Benevolence:

Benevolence is the core of Mencius' political thought.

Mencius' thought of benevolent governance is mainly manifested in two aspects: nurturing the people and teaching them.

1. Support the people:

First of all, we must control people's property.

"Therefore, a wise gentleman will manage the wealth of the people, and he will make his back enough to serve his parents and wives, and he will be happy for life and avoid death in a fierce year." ("Mencius Hui Liang Wang Shang")

"What people do, those who have constant wealth have perseverance, and those who have no constant wealth have no perseverance. Without perseverance and letting go of evil, you have done everything for yourself. " ("Mencius Teng Wengong")

Mencius' benevolent policy is to reasonably solve basic problems such as land, food, clothing and education, the most important of which is the land problem. "Benevolence must start from the economic boundary." (Mencius Teng Wengong)

Second, we must enable the people to recuperate in time.

Mencius believed that rulers should take "not violating the farming season" as the premise when collecting labor, and at the same time oppose indiscriminate fishing and logging.

"If you don't go against the farming season, the valley can't take food; If you don't count, neither fish nor turtle can be eaten. ..... "("Mencius Liang Wang Hui ")

At that time, there were constant wars and agricultural production was seasonal, so frequent wars would inevitably delay agricultural time and affect agricultural production. His thoughts of "keeping a few grains out of the pool" and "keeping pace with the times" reflect the valuable thought of attaching importance to the protection of natural resources.

Third, we must take ownership from the people.

He advocates thin taxes and light taxes, and "take the people and have the system."

"Save punishment and collect taxes thinly." Just don't levy taxes indiscriminately, and don't levy exorbitant taxes.

He regards this as the way to enrich the people, saying: "It is easy to (govern) its territory, its tax revenue is thin, and the people can make it rich."

He described the "tithe tax" as the most ideal tax system, and thought that this very one-off tax rate could not be raised and must be reduced or postponed according to the actual harvest situation.

He listed many taxes at that time and said, "There are signs of cloth, millet and labor."

Collecting cloth and grain, but also collecting labor, the triple burden together, the people can not bear: "with two, the people will die, with three, the father and son will be separated."

He demanded that this heavy tax be reduced. "Gentlemen use one, and slow down the other."

2. Educate the people: educate the people.

He has said many times: "I would like to take teaching as the order and filial piety as the righteousness."

He believes that education is an important measure to ensure social harmony, and education can make people "understand human relations."

3. Faxian King

Mencius advocated benevolent governance, and it was necessary to follow the example of the previous kings (Yu, Tang, Wen, Wu,,) to govern politics in order to implement benevolent governance in the world.

3 Wang Dao:

"King" is the highest ideal of national politics put forward by Mencius.

Mencius believes that whether people-oriented and benevolent policies can be realized is related to whether the goal of "king" can be realized.

Mencius' so-called "kingly way" means "ruling the country by virtue". He cited the example of Shang Tang and Zhou Wenwang's kingly way: "If you bully the weak and pretend to be benevolent, you will have a big country;" The king of Deren, the king is not big, the soup is 70 miles, and the king of Wen is 100 miles. Those who persuade others by force are not persuaded and unable to support them; Those who serve others with virtue are happy and sincere. "

In Mencius' view, the rule of kingship is to "protect the people as kings", that is, "enjoy the world and worry about it". ("Mencius Hui Liang Wang Xia")

It is precisely because Mencius regards the realization of kingship as the highest political ideal that anyone who does not govern the country by kingship is regarded as a "sinner" and a "lonely thief" by him and severely criticized by him.

(4) Good nature: At the beginning of life, good nature. The same nature varies from upbringing to upbringing.

In Mencius' thought, the theory of good nature is the basis of his ethical and political thought.

I lift my noble soul. Mencius believed that the difference between human nature and animal nature is that people have morality, that is, people are born with moral qualities such as benevolence, righteousness, courtesy and wisdom, and people have an innate ability to be kind, that is, "conscience" and "goodness":

"People who can do things that they don't learn are good at things; People who know what they don't care about have a conscience. All children love their relatives and respect their brothers. Dear, benevolent; Respect for elders, benevolence and righteousness. "

It means that people can do it without learning, which is their virtue; They don't need to think with their heads. This is their conscience. There are two or three-year-old children who don't know how to love their parents. When they grow up, there is no one who doesn't know how to respect their brothers. It is benevolence to love parents and righteousness to respect brothers.

Orientation is the orientation to goodness, and the orientation of human beings to goodness is rooted in human nature. Therefore, human nature should be good.

Mencius thought: "No compassion is inhuman; No shame, no humanity; It is inhuman to have no resignation; A heart without right and wrong is inhuman. Compassion is the purpose of benevolence; 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. People have four ends, but they still have four bodies. "

In Mencius' view, people who have no sympathy, shame, resignation and right and wrong are not individuals at all. It is natural for people to have this kind of mind, just as people have limbs. Therefore, "benevolence, righteousness, courtesy and wisdom are not foreign, but I am also inherent."

Benevolence, righteousness, courtesy and wisdom are not given or imposed by the outside world, but people are born with them, but they just don't think about them.

Mencius' theory of "good nature" mainly shows Confucius' concept of "benevolence" Confucius' "benevolence" lacks theoretical basis and has not explained the "root of moral value".

Therefore, Confucius should establish a kind of "conscious consciousness of the root of moral value", and think that goodness is the basic consciousness of human beings, which is manifested in compassion, shame, resignation and right and wrong. The "four ends" show that moral value consciousness is innate. This can supplement the deficiency of Confucius' theory of "benevolence"

xunzi

Xunzi's thought is biased towards experience and personnel, starting from social context, attaching importance to social order, opposing mysticism and attaching importance to human efforts. Confucius' central idea is benevolence, Mencius' central idea is righteousness, and Xunzi put forward "ceremony" after them, attaching importance to the norms of people's behavior in society. Confucius is a saint, but he opposes the philosophical thought of "Meng Si School" headed by Mencius and Zisi. Xunzi thinks that Zigong and himself are scholars who inherit Confucius' thoughts. Xunzi believes that people are born to satisfy their desires, and disputes will arise if their desires are not satisfied. Therefore, he advocates that human nature is evil, and needs the enlightenment of the holy king and etiquette to "turn nature into falsehood" to improve his personality.

Xun Kuang is a thinker of the emerging landlord class. He possessed a vast store of knowledge. On the basis of inheriting early Confucianism, he absorbed the strengths of various schools and comprehensively reformed them, established his own ideological system and developed the ancient materialism tradition. Most of the 32 existing Xunzi are his own works, involving philosophy, logic, politics, morality and many other aspects. In the view of nature, he is against believing in the ghosts and gods of destiny, which is certain. On the issue of human nature, he put forward the theory of "evil nature", which denied the innate moral concept and emphasized the influence of acquired environment and education on people. In political thought, he adhered to the Confucian principle of rule by courtesy, attached importance to people's material needs, and advocated the combination of economic development and rule by courtesy. In epistemology, he admits that human thinking can reflect reality, but he tends to despise the role of the senses. In the famous "Encouraging Learning", his views on learning are concentrated. In Chinese, he emphasized the importance of "learning", holding that only erudition can be "without help", and pointed out that learning attitude should be sincere, single-minded and persistent. He attaches great importance to the position and role of teachers in teaching. He believes that a country must attach importance to teachers if it wants to prosper, and at the same time put forward strict requirements for teachers. He thinks that students can't practice unless the teacher sets an example.

The article in Xunzi has clear theme, rigorous structure, thorough reasoning and strong logic. The language is rich and colorful, good at metaphor, and has its own unique style, which has a certain influence on later reasoning articles. The five short poems in Xunzi created the literary genre of Fu. He wrote Xiang Xiang pian in the form of folk songs at that time, and the lyrics were easy to understand. He used rap to express his political and academic thoughts, which also had a certain influence on later generations. Xun Kuang deserves to be regarded as a great thinker, outstanding writer and educator in ancient China.

In addition, Xunzi is one of the representatives of Yin and Yang.