Confucius said, "Fifty people know the destiny". Does Confucius also believe in "destiny"?

"Stand at thirty, don't be confused at forty, know your destiny at fifty, listen at sixty, and do whatever you want at seventy." This is a sentence that everyone in China comes with their mouths open. However, there are not many correct ones. The source of this sentence is very clear to everyone. From The Analects of Confucius, which is the second chapter of The Analects of Confucius, Confucius said something about himself.

This means that when people reach the age of 30, even if they have not made achievements, they must find the direction of life; From the age of 30 to 40, after ten years of hard work, by the time I was 40, I was basically comfortable in my own field without confusion; 50 years old, know how to conform to the laws of nature. At the age of 60, I don't care what others say, I will listen to everything. At the age of 70, you can do whatever you want, but you don't follow the rules everywhere. In other words, subjective consciousness and being a man have reached the stage of integration. "

What does the phrase "knowing destiny" often mean? It is generally understood as "destiny cannot be violated", which means destiny takes a hand. In fact, this is the most superficial understanding and misunderstanding of Confucius' sentence.

"Knowing the destiny" is the category of Confucius' concept of destiny and the important content of Confucius' ideological system. "Destiny" is a big category, and everything in the world is under its control. "Fate" often refers to people's life span and destiny. That is to say, Confucius said that the length of human life is determined by its natural laws, that is, "life and death have life."

Know life, the edge of bosom friend; Know life, the mission of bosom friend; Know life, the duty of a bosom friend, is the unity of knowledge and action, which is easy to be called "a gentleman will not give up his life".

The key to this sentence of Confucius lies in how to understand the word "destiny". Zhu's explanation is: "Destiny, that is, the popularity of heaven gives things, which is why things are natural."

Zhu's Annotations on the Analects of Confucius is recognized as relatively objective, and Zhu's explanation is closer to the original intention of ancient Chinese. From Zhu's explanation, it is not difficult to see that Confucius's "destiny" is not superstitious, nor does it mean that fate is doomed and manpower is useless.

The "destiny" here refers to the natural law of everything in the world, that is, "things are so natural." For example, when spring comes, everything is to revive and start the growth of the new year. When winter comes, everything is mainly about hiding, resting and preparing for the coming year. This is the natural law of everything itself, irreversible and irreversible.

Confucius said that "knowing the destiny at fifty" means that when a person reaches a certain age with the growth of age and experience, he will have a certain understanding and grasp of the laws of the natural development of all things, and he will naturally know to conform to such natural laws when doing things. This is "knowing the destiny". It is not that people know their fate when they are 50 years old. This is a misunderstanding of Confucius.