Confucius also attached importance to drawing happiness from the sublimation of human feelings. The era of Confucius was the Warring States period in which Zhuangzi lived, and there was less suffering for individual survival. At that time, it was mainly "the ceremony collapsed and the music was bad" and abandoning politics and forgetting politics, which paved the way for the ethical crisis of "benevolence and righteousness are not applied". The whole scholar class lamented the lack of discipline in the country with its sense of urgency. Therefore, Confucius planned the social mission of life mainly from the social moral crisis. Confucius' experience of individual life may not be as good as Zhuangzi's. Focusing on the social environment that brought order out of chaos, he realized that it was necessary to save the world by adjusting individual lives. It can be said that what Zhuangzi wants to solve is the problem of individual settling down, while Confucius entrusts himself with the social responsibility of "a long way to go", and he links the value of self with the value of society. He believes that if life is to be meaningful, it is necessary to practice Taoism and transform society. In this regard, he said: "Knowing is not as good as being good, and being good is not as good as being happy." (The Analects of Confucius Yongye) This kind of "happiness" is the victory of the value of life.
Zhuangzi's outlook on life can be seen from his conversation with Hui Shi watching fish on the city. In Zhuangzi Autumn Water, Zhuangzi and Hui Shi once visited the upper reaches of Haoliang River. Zhuangzi, seeing things and thinking about people, said, "Fish swim leisurely and have fun." Zhuangzi believes that "the pleasure of fish" has internal reasons. Zhuangzi's outlook on life inherited the view of natural heaven, and his painful life experience made Zhuangzi look for the pleasure of life outside the society, while the natural aesthetic feeling can just enrich the emptiness formed by his living experience. In a sense, Zhuangzi's philosophy originated from natural aesthetics, from the beauty of nature to the beauty of existence, and then thought about the relationship between nature and society, forming his philosophy of natural humanity. The difference among heaven, nature and human beings is the source of Zhuangzi's happiness in life and his nihilistic philosophy. Zhuangzi regards fish as Tao and water as Tao. Fish has no greed, no disputes, selfless hiding, simplicity, self-sufficiency, "yes, it is the opposite"; Without wisdom, getting along with others, such as selflessness and carefree, is almost consistent with Zhuangzi's secular attitude towards life. Fish can be said to be the object of Zhuangzi's intention for a better life, and "the pleasure of fish" can be said to fully present Zhuangzi's philosophy of life. So we can say that Zhuangzi is a "fish" image.
We illustrate the meaning of Confucius' life by combining Yan Hui's "Stop eating and stop drinking" in The Analects of Confucius with Confucius' "Stop eating and stop drinking, even in a mean alley, one can't stand it, and you can't change the pleasure of another when you go back" and Confucius' "Stop eating, forget your worries, and be happy without knowing that your old age is coming". "Kong Yanle" refers to the greatness of human beings and the solemn and lofty beauty of morality. It includes. Confucius affirmed the sense of mission of people's survival needs, social needs, social existence, forbearing to save the world and thinking about change if they are poor, regardless of secular utility. The disaster originated from the moral consciousness of benevolence and righteousness, respecting the status of the subject and the ability to transform society. In short, it can be said that on the balance of life, the weight used by Confucius to measure his own life value is a social value with lofty beauty and eternal name, Confucius said; "The benevolent Leshan" just reflects that Confucius pursues a straight life and a solemn moral pursuit that conforms to the lofty aesthetic feeling of mountains.
The field of secular life is the first place to live, from which all life encounters, and the first meaning of life comes into being. The unreasonable existence of a secular society or individual can easily lead to all kinds of social consciousness, such as cynicism, pessimism, anxiety and a sense of mission to improve society. What should be the value relationship between secularism and life?
The first is the basic problem of survival desire. No one can get rid of the secular situation, because it is a necessary part of a complete life. Confucius affirmed people's needs in this respect. Confucius thought that "the sex is similar, but the learning is far away", that is to say, the human nature is similar. Confucius said, "A benevolent man wants to be a man, and he wants to be successful." If we can make a closer analogy, we can say that benevolence is enough. "Yong Ye Lun" Confucius believes that "the side of benevolence" is to push yourself and others. This method of knowing yourself and yourself naturally enabled Confucius to affirm the * * * nature of people's desire for survival. He said: "I see goodness and like goodness." "Being rich and expensive is what people want ... being poor and cheap is what people hate." He fully affirmed the basic survival needs of the people. He said, "People believe in grain and soldiers. "It is the most important thing to have enough to eat." The Analects of Confucius, Luz, said: "Wei Shi has a servant. Confucius said,' it's plain!' Ran said one day,' What's the point of being ordinary? It can be seen that Confucius believes that enriching the people, benefiting the people and helping the people are the basic political purposes. Therefore, Confucius emphasized: "The country has a way, and it is shameful to be extremely vicious." ("The Analects of Confucius Taber")
However, the content of secular life is not only to solve the basic survival problem. Confucius' era was one of rampant private ownership. Oppression, extortion and coercion are almost legal means. Especially the rulers, influenced by the concept of private ownership, the relationship between people has evolved into naked means and interests, leading to the problem of greed. In addition, merit, fame, wealth and official positions. Both contain private ownership, which is determined by social reality. Confucius deserves to be called "a saint at the right time", and he has an objective attitude towards social existence. He said, "For the world, gentlemen are at a loss, and there is no Mo Ye." Greed is the easiest way to turn society into a means target. Confucius opposed living only for greed, accusing "the villain is a metaphor for interests." (ditto) But he also directly affirmed Tao's personal satisfaction: "Learning is among them!" Take Wei Linggong's The Analects of Confucius as an example. (The Analects of Confucius Yao Ri) It is Confucius' genius to give conditional recognition to the secularism of private ownership at that time.
Zhuangzi's attitude towards secular life is quite different from that of Confucius. Zhuangzi didn't like that era. "Take the world as the heavy turbidity and don't talk to Zhuang." ("Zhuangzi Tianxia") and realized that "Fang is only exempt from punishment at this time." (Zhuangzi on earth) is to ignore the socialization process of life and pursue liberation from the secular. How to get rid of it? That is the pursuit of "rivers and lakes forget each other" ("Zhuangzi") and "the pleasure of fish". Zhuangzi ingeniously denied the existence of human society and all worldly things with an attitude of "no". Zhuangzi is a bystander, neither affirming the secular nor denying it. Regarding material desires, Zhuangzi also said: "People who lose their lives in things and lose their sex in vulgarity are called inverted people." (Zhuangzi and Xing Shan) He accused the laity of being "enslaved by all", and (Zhuangzi's theory of everything) taught them: "A saint does not do business properly, does not violate harm, and does not like seeking. Bak Yan said that it is meaningless to have music, and it is meaningless to have music. You should swim outside the dirt. " The so-called "earth" in Zhuangzi's theory of everything is earthly. In Zhuangzi's view, it is a tragedy that people live in the secular world and lose their true heart. He even called secular life "Fang Qi's dream, but I don't know its dream" (Homogeneous Things Theory). But Zhuangzi is not a negative pessimist. He saw that in the private ownership society, desire used society as a means to pursue its own satisfaction greedily and desperately, thus resulting in sin. Laozi said: "Heaven can make up for more losses; People's way is not like this, and the damage is not enough. " ("Lao Zi" Chapter 77) Zhuangzi hopes to replace the way of man with the way of heaven. However, as soon as we meet the huge monster of society, the implementation of Heaven will be in the foreseeable future. It is impossible for society to regress to the era of "the people are in dire straits". Zhuangzi thinks that hindering social progress is like praying mantis "thinking that its arm is a rut and I don't know its incompetence." Moreover, "easy to eliminate, difficult to do" ("Zhuangzi on earth"). Individuals who leave or deny society can only be lonely: "It is small, so it belongs to people. "("Zhuangzi Dechong Fu ") In fact, the great furnace of heaven and earth created man, which did not give him a special position. Therefore, he advocates that life in society does not have to be serious. "It's because saints don't (right and wrong) but shine in the sky. ""Harmony with right and wrong depends on Jabbar, which is called two lines. In this way, in the field of secular life, we have seen a "double-line" Zhuangzi who pursues "between things and non-things", (Zhuangzi Miki) and even "nothing" (Zhuangzi people).
Zhuangzi's denial of secular phenomena is quite thorough, which can be seen from his view of life and death. However, it is worth noting that Zhuangzi is essentially different from the populists who advocate that life is better than death. He constantly used negative thinking to improve the realm of life, that is to say, Zhuangzi got the sublimation of spiritual experience from transcending life and death, and was born from salvation instead of falling into contradiction. However, he broke through the concept of life and death, revived the inner spirit and developed into the spirit of "doing whatever you want". On the one hand, Zhuangzi's view of life and death advocates that "death is the only way to live" (Zhuangzi's theory of everything), "life and death are the law, and whether it is possible is the consistent law" (Zhuangzi Defoe), that is, it is not easy to be confused in the secular world. On the other hand, Zhuangzi thought that "when you become sleepy, you will feel sleepy" (Master Zhuangzi), that is, life is ignorance and death is awareness. "Master of Health" talks about the feeling brought by the death of Laozi: "At that time, the master was right; Appropriate, the master is also suitable. " When peace prevails, sadness and joy cannot be shared by others. In ancient times, it was called emperor hanging. "As can be seen from the contact, Zhuangzi's life and death now is to let the other party experience a new life and ultimate liberation when he dies, and this new life is beyond the secular life phenomenon circle. Zhuangzi's negation of secularism is "different and inhuman". "(Zhuangzi's Carefree Travel) But as far as Zhuangzi is concerned, he is actually challenging life and death with the dignity of life, striving for a new life. It can be said that the breakthrough of the concept of life and death is an important step for Zhuangzi's spirit to move towards the second level of "the mind never dies".
If we go up to a higher level, we can see the similarities and differences between Confucius and Zhuangzi in the meaning of life morality. Here, there are not only the common goal of finishing fashion, but also different ways of methods and development.
Confucius further distinguished people's moral civilization on the basis of affirming people's secular ideas. He said: "Birds and beasts cannot be in the same group. If I am not a Sri Lankan, who will be with me? " At the same time, it established the dominant position of human beings in the universe: "The nature of heaven and earth is precious." (The Book of Filial Piety) Zhuangzi mainly put the humanity of the whole universe in the first place, obeyed the order of heaven, rejected the general social, moral and cultural outlook of human beings, and denied "human ears! Human ears! " (Master Zhuangzi) denied the supremacy of man in the universe and set the connotation of man from the overall needs of heaven.
The similarity lies in that both Confucius and Zhuangzi realized the importance of their inner world, and in fact both pursued "inner sage". Confucius said "Benevolence depends on oneself" and attached importance to the moral ability of the subject. Zhuangzi talked about "internalized" self and "immortal mind". Confucius attached importance to the consciousness of moral subject, which is easily recognized by people. However, when introducing Zhuangzi's works, he mainly introduced Zhuangzi's "dying heart" (Zhuangzi's Theory of Everything) and "his heart is dying". He can't combine the hierarchical development of Zhuangzi's "Tao" thought with Zhuangzi's real moral self-existence to evaluate Zhuangzi, and often talks about Zhuangzi to death. In fact, on the moral level, Zhuangzi advocated that "mourning is greater than the death of the heart, followed by the death of the person" and opposed "it is natural for the heart to succeed". On the second level, Confucius and Zhuangzi emphasized the intersection of inner spiritual consciousness, but their moral paradigms were different.
Confucius affirmed the cultural function of morality from the perspective of social ontology, and thought that morality is the foundation of society, and all social life can eventually be restored to moral life. Confucius said: "If the Tao is political, it will be punished, and the people will avoid it, shameless; Virtue is the virtue of Tao, the qi of courtesy, and the power of shame (The Analects of Confucius for Politics). Therefore, life should be based on Taoism, morality, benevolence and art, and a country cannot live without moral order. "It is shameful to be rich and expensive without virtue" (The Analects of Confucius Taber). If people lose their moral heart, that kind of life can't have profound social and historical significance, but a life of "little people".
As far as moral paradigm is concerned, Confucius' moral theory mainly includes personality categories such as benevolence, righteousness, courtesy, wisdom and faithfulness, the method of introspection of the golden mean, the rule of moral education and the realm of gentlemen and saints.
The deepest foundation of benevolence, righteousness, propriety and wisdom is the horizontal interpersonal relationship and people's moral psychology. Of course, it also applies to the principle of vertical social structure. They are unified to clarify the actual contradiction of material interests.
The golden mean is a self-regulating tool to control moral cognition and behavior system. If there is no "golden mean", then the whole moral paradigm of Confucius will become a rigid structure, and every branch will become empty and harmful fragments. For example, once the norms of various ceremonies are divorced from the flexible application of the golden mean, they will become unreasonable commandments.
The method of introspection is the expression of moral rationality of the unity of benevolence and wisdom. It is not only an ethical cognitive method, but also a necessary means to learn and accept moral paradigm. Ceng Zi said, "I think about myself three times a day. Is it unfaithful to others? Don't believe in making friends? Can you get used to it? " ("The Analects of Confucius Learn") Introspection also includes knowledge. Confucius once said, "You know benevolence when you see it!" ("The Analects of Confucius") requires a gentleman to "live too much without fear of reform" ("The Analects of Confucius"). Only in this way can we be less outstanding and less regretful, and realize the great pleasure of life. The method of introspection also permeates the subjective consciousness of moral self: "I want benevolence and am ashamed of it." (The Analects of Confucius Shu Er) is consistent with Xia Zi's "erudite and determined, close to thinking, benevolence in it" (The Analects of Confucius Zhang Zi), and also with Jiu Si who knows himself in The Analects of Confucius Li. It is the method of introspection that turns moral heteronomy into happy self-discipline.
Education and moral politics are unified, education is the cause and moral politics is the result. Virtue politics means "to be constant", plus "to be rich" and "to teach", that is, to use education to achieve the main body of virtue, actively dredge political, economic and other social relations, and eliminate conflicts of interest. Therefore, it is the focus of Confucian moral practice to realize moral policy through enlightenment.
Kong Yan Yue Chu acknowledges the basic value needs of the secular, but does not recognize that all secular behaviors are justified. Confucianism holds a negative attitude towards secular utilitarianism. This attitude is supported by the theory of moral life, and the gentleman's personality in The Analects is the idol of moral life. The so-called gentleman is a person who practices, loves, learns, practices and devotes himself to the life of Tao: "A gentleman who doesn't end up eating is against humanity, but he wants to be extravagant." ("The Analects of Confucius"). Gentleman's personality is a natural model of the whole scholar class, balancing the gains and losses of secular utilitarianism with the value of moral life. Although the Confucian outlook on life of responsibility and obligation was only a lofty ideal at that time, Confucius saw its reality in the future. Therefore, the Confucian outlook on life was very open to the secular concepts at that time, such as wealth, dignity, bitterness, life and death. : "Eat vegetables and drink water, bend your arms and pillow it, have fun!" (The Analects of Confucius) Faced with a lonely life, Confucius said, "I don't want people to be unknown, and I don't know people." (The Analects of Confucius) "Virtue is not alone, but there must be neighbors." ("The Analects of Confucius") Regarding power, Confucius said: "If you don't suffer from nowhere, you will stand still. ..... "It is commendable," or Confucius said,' Isn't Zi Xi a politician?' Confucius said ...' If you are in politics, is it also politics, and ridicule is politics?' "("The Analects of Confucius ") Confucius thought that his education of propriety and righteousness was more valuable to politics.
On the moral level, Zhuangzi also attaches importance to the consciousness of the subject's inner spirit: "Being a human being, interacting with things, and protecting oneself for pleasure" (Zhuangzi Ze Yang), "Only being a human being can ... conform to people without losing oneself" (Zhuangzi Foreign Things). The "self" here, together with the "internalization" and "immortal heart" mentioned above, refers to the inner self and is the moral subject. According to Zhuangzi Tianzifang, Confucius asked Laozi, "Confucius matched heaven and earth with virtue, but he was so vain as to say something about cultivating the mind?" Lao Tzu replied, "If the sky is high and the earth is thick, the sun and the moon speak for themselves, how can I fix it?" It sounds as if Taoism denies moral cultivation. In fact, this is Zhuangzi's misinterpretation of Zhuangzi. In fact, there is indeed a link of moral consciousness in the process of Taoism. The so-called "not frustrated by things" (Zhuangzi Heaven and Earth), "trying to rely on heaven without knowing it, but empty" (Zhuangzi should be emperor), "things are not in things", (Zhuangzi Miki) and so on, refer to the moral cultivation link.
What is Zhuangzi's moral method? Laozi asked people to be "simple and simple, with few selfish desires" (Laozi XIX). Zhuangzi's moral orientation is also an imitation of natural inaction: "moving without doing anything" (Zhuangzi deliberately), "obeying the principles of heaven" and (Zhuangzi deliberately) talking about "heaven has no personnel", which is essentially the internal connection of the essence of personal law. One premise of nourishing the heart is to eliminate distractions. "Clear but not miscellaneous, static and unchanged, indifferent and inaction, moving and promising, this way of nourishing the heart is also." ("Zhuangzi Deliberately") The inaction mentioned here is actually a kind of moral promising. With this, Zhuangzi can travel around the world without being in the same world, denying the customs at that time. "The pleasure of fish" is due to the simplicity of nature, and the greatest pleasure of human beings should also be to get rid of sociality and return to natural affection. It is worth pointing out that Zhuangzi's moral theory, whose ultimate motivation is to deny the greed of private ownership society, objectively plays a role in emphasizing individual-oriented morality and balancing social order.
Although the objective effects of different moral paradigms of Confucius and Zhuangzi are the same, the opposition contained in them has not been eliminated. Confucius advocated guiding and regulating people's behavior through social moral tools, while Zhuangzi essentially denied the function of morality as a social tool. Although Zhuangzi affirmed the value of human purpose, he rejected the social tools to realize this value. Because, in his view, moral tools will alienate people into instrumental people and become victims of nominal benevolence, and moral tools will eventually lead people to lose their true nature. Zhuangzi advocated returning to the natural humanity before the appearance of benevolence and righteousness through self. Zhuangzi couldn't see that the occurrence of benevolence and morality was a natural social and historical process, and thought that the formation of Confucian morality was "to lose morality first, then to lose morality, first to lose six, first to lose benevolence, then to lose righteousness, then to lose funeral." ("Laozi 38") This is equivalent to saying that Confucianism is book-based. Like Laozi, Zhuangzi believes that the process of returning to the truth is to lift the veil of Confucian benevolence and righteousness: "Learning is getting worse and worse for Taoism, and its harm is even worse than inaction." ("Forty-eight Laozi") For Confucianism, the conscience of "all people are United" is qualitative, and benevolence and righteousness are real. Comparatively speaking, Taoist morality has a guiding function, but its social norm function is not obvious.
Zhuangzi put forward "the most human" life on the basis of criticizing the life value of Confucian holy way. This is different from the Confucian moral theory in method, but it is similar in essence, and both of them are pursuing "inner holiness". The characteristics of human beings are nameless, selfless, egoless, lustless, reactive, confusing the false with the true, and so on. In short, it is "human form, no one's feelings" (Zhuangzi de Chongfu). This is a self-denial of someone's appearance and desire. Zhuangzi said: "When I talk about heartless people, you say that people don't like them, and if you don't like them, you will hurt them in your heart (Zhuangzi Dechong Fu).
Kong Zhuang's metaphysical theory of the meaning of life is the highest part of "the joy of Confucius and Yan" and "the joy of fish", and it is the understanding of the meaning of life in spiritual perfection.
Confucius' metaphysical theory is based on the understanding of human beings. From the beginning, Confucianism believed that man's position in the universe was the highest. Starting from the dynamic spirit of human society, it constructs a dynamic and infinite spiritual universe. In a word, it can be called the cosmic outlook on life. It is the expansion of Confucian subject's life consciousness and the connection and communication of cosmic evolution hologram. The metaphysical theory of Confucianism is incomplete in The Analects of Confucius, but it can be seen completely in Zhouyi, Daxue and The Doctrine of the Mean. This metaphysics includes the following basic principles:
(1) organic process. Confucianism believes that the universe is an organism, and its connotation is a dynamic circular distribution from the body. The movement of the universe is an endless torrent of life. "Big is dry, everything is expected to start, but the sky is unified" (Yi Chuan); "Life is Yi" and "Yi Zhuan").
(2) Harmonious order. Confucianism advocates the trinity of heaven, earth and man, and thinks that the whole structure is dynamic and static, and the dynamic and static are harmonious. This is the theory of harmony between yin and yang and the theory of coupling between man and nature. "One yin and one yang is the Tao, those who follow it are good, and those who succeed are also people". "Honesty is the way of heaven, and honesty is the way of man" (The Doctrine of the Mean).
(3) the dominant position of human settlement, Confucianism believes that man is the essence of the universe, in which the value of man is higher than that of animals and other things, and that the human body is a small universe, and there is identity between man and the universe, so that people can perceive and understand the sky, thus achieving a perfect situation. "Adults are in harmony with heaven and earth, with the sun and the moon, with the four seasons, with ghosts and gods, with good and bad luck, with nature and fate, and with the day after tomorrow." (Yi Chuan)
(4) These metaphysical principles endow life with profound meaning corresponding to heaven and man. As Song Ru played, the highest pleasure in life lies in knowing, doing, sharing and being happy. First, only people are qualified to be like the sky: "Push the sincerity of the world; If you can do your best, you can do your best; If you can do your best, you can praise the education of heaven and earth; If you can praise the cultivation of heaven and earth, you can ascend to heaven and earth "(The Doctrine of the Mean). Of the two, the highest purposeful value of human beings lies in the perfection of things, that is, the value contained in all value ontologies through practice. This is called self-cultivation, success, success, praise for heaven and education.
Zhuangzi's metaphysics is no longer a simple inheritance of Laozi's theory of heaven, but a negative development of it. Zhuangzi denied the value of social existence and social practice. Even though he realized his personal moral consciousness at the second level (that is, morality) in a limited way, he was finally disappointed. This feeling could not be balanced and enriched by the utility of transforming society, so his moral will could only be weak. He could only find another way to find the deep meaning of life, so he gave up the first two layers of consciousness. This abandonment made him go further in negative thinking, which led to another promotion of his subjective spirit. All the differences between beginning, existence, inside and outside, and between heaven and man have been forgotten and assimilated. "The universe is uneven outside, but the beginning is unknown inside" and "There is no past, no present, no beginning and no end" in Zhuangzi Geng Sangchu (Zhuangzi Geng Sangchu). This kind of forgetfulness is the highest living beauty state symbolized by "the joy of fish". The denial of the original nature of Tao is the second level of self-transcendence, that is, the return to simplicity in the moral sense. There is nothing, so that there is no way. "Tianmen, nothing. Everything comes out of nothing (Zhuangzi Geng Sang Chu). And there is nothing, and then there is no way: "I can't believe that you don't know, you sleep when there is peace, and you know when there is no way." ("Zhuangzi's Journey to the North") thus reached the extreme after layers of denial. Zhuangzi believes that it is the destination of life, but it is also a destination without a destination: "I don't know where to go, I don't know where to go." Relativism (Zhuangzi's theory of everything) is not only a cognitive bridge leading to this pole, but also embodies a special realm of the beauty of existence. This realm is an empty form without any content, and it is the deepest level that the spirit can reach, where people's spiritual needs can be released freely and unhindered. Although this realm of absolute freedom cannot be realized in reality, it is not realistic freedom in any sense, such as economy, politics and law. , but it is the highest freedom, is a kind of traction to enhance reality.