Who can be regarded as intellectuals in ancient times?

This is a false proposition, and the concept of intellectuals is only modern.

For example, officials and officials are two distinct types of "intellectuals" with different personalities.

Roughly speaking, "I am good at cultivating my noble spirit", or "I am determined to be peaceful for heaven and earth, for people's livelihood, for the past and the future, for all" written by Zhang Zai in the Song Dynasty.

In fact, the purpose of each era is very different. For example, the "intellectuals" in the Warring States period, although they have their own descriptions, mainly serve the theoretical construction of the country. The southern "intellectuals" in the Northern and Southern Dynasties sought transcendence through criticism, while the Buddhist "intellectuals" in the North sought reconstruction after liberation. The Tang Dynasty was a diversified content, but it tended to be concentrated in the Song Dynasty. The Ming Dynasty was both critical and transcendental, while the Qing Dynasty was both enlightening and so-called going to the end.

In ancient China, the concept of "scholar" or "scholar-bureaucrat" was similar to that of modern western "intellectuals". "Scholar" occupies a central position in the traditional social structure of China, ranking first among the laity, agriculture, industry and commerce. Xunzi said that "Confucianism is the beauty of politics in the dynasty and vulgarity in the lower dynasty", which shows the political and social and cultural functions of "scholar". In the history of China, from the Qin and Han Dynasties, in a relatively stable period, maintaining political and cultural order fell on the "scholars"; In dark or chaotic times, scholars often undertake the task of political criticism or social criticism. Through the rural elections in Han Dynasty and the imperial examination system since Sui and Tang Dynasties, scholars can enter the bureaucratic group through examinations, that is, the so-called "learning to be excellent is to be an official", and the whole bureaucratic system is generally manipulated by scholars. Through clan, school, village association, guild hall and other social organizations, "scholar" has become the leading class of civil society. Therefore, in general social psychology, "scholar" is a person who can read; Their moral and knowledge training (mainly Confucian classics) makes them the only qualified candidates to govern the country and lead the society.

Yu Yingshi pointed out that China intellectuals came from a completely different cultural source from the West. Since Confucius, intellectuals have taken "Tao" as their responsibility, and this "Tao" is unique to China. Confucianism, Mohism and Taoism, the three schools of thought in the pre-Qin period, have their own ways, but speaking on behalf of Taoism is no exception. Western intellectuals in modern times are basically "secular" people who are divorced from medieval religions. Although they have more or less religious backgrounds, they don't have to criticize society on the basis of religious beliefs or theological theories. On the contrary, their dependence is often only personal "rationality" or "intellectual conscience". On the other hand, the "Tao" in the Western Middle Ages was pinned on Christianity. This is the "Tao" revealed by God; Its agents are church monks and theologians-spiritual authority and secular political authority stand side by side. Therefore, modern western intellectuals refuse to inherit this religious tradition, because they no longer adhere to the principle that Caesar's affairs belong to Caesar and God's affairs belong to God, and they are in charge of Caesar's affairs. The ancient intellectuals in China directly inherited the tradition of three generations. The Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period is an era of "the ritual collapses and the music is bad"; Rites and music no longer come from emperors, but from princes, so Confucius denounced them as "there is no way in the world." Since the ruling class can't bear the "Tao", the burden of "Tao" falls on the "scholar" who really understands "etiquette". In this sense, Confucius was the first intellectual in the history of China. Before Confucius, "scholar" was only a fixed class in ancient aristocratic society. After Confucius, the situation of scholars began to change. Confucius first redefined "scholar". He said: "It is not enough to discuss that a scholar is single-minded and ashamed of eating bad clothes and food." ("The Analects of Confucius") said: "It is not enough to think that a scholar is a scholar." This new "scholar" is the prototype of what we call intellectuals. In ancient times, "Tao" was religious ("heaven"), but this tradition did not go in the direction of "heaven" when it came to Confucius, but turned into the field of "benevolence". After Confucius, a hundred schools of thought contend. Although they hold different "Tao", most of them take rebuilding political and social order as their final destination. Therefore, the historical character of China intellectuals is defined by the cultural tradition they inherited: as far as Caesar affairs are concerned, they are closely related to modern western intellectuals; But in terms of representing "Tao", it is close to the monks and theologians in the Middle Ages in the West.

China's intellectuals in the modern sense appeared after the Opium War, under the influence of western civilization, accompanied by the abolition of the imperial examination and the promotion of new learning, and were born out of feudal literati in the process of China's transformation from a feudal society to a semi-colonial and semi-feudal society. They either spread new ideas and knowledge, or engage in modern academic research, or set up modern enterprises, or devote themselves to modernization. Yan Fu, Liang Qichao, Zhang Jian, Zhan Tianyou and others can be regarded as representatives of the first generation of intellectuals in China. Today, we use the word "intellectual", whose meaning has already gone far beyond the word "scholar" in ancient China, and its usage is not exactly the same as that in the West. Usually refers to a certain degree of specialized education, professional knowledge, engaged in professional and technical work and has the corresponding title of mental workers.

Since ancient times, a few people in China have basically dealt with words, that is, the so-called "scholars" or "scholars". They have a set of traditions under the influence of Confucianism. According to Qian Mu's view, Confucius is a typical representative of the early "scholars" from practicing etiquette to criticizing all indecent behaviors of the nobles at that time. The contention of a hundred schools of thought can be said to be the first time that scholars are dissatisfied with the society and the nobility. After the establishment of the imperial examination system, China's "scholar" was very weak under the temptation of institutionalized promotion channels and the high pressure of the monarchy. In this case, The Scholars is characterized by humanistic spirit as the guide, personal moral achievements as the basis, emphasizing personal cultivation to achieve universal moral and ethical norms, and then being interpreted as a political facility, rather than taking knowledge as the theme. Therefore, the "scholars" in ancient China never forgot politics in their spiritual pursuit. Even Laozi and Zhuangzi were interested in politics when they were writing books and giving lectures.

Generally speaking, there are two basic differences between China ancient literati and western modern intellectuals: First, China literati do not pursue knowledge like western intellectuals, but take Confucianism as the core, pay attention to ethics and morality, and pursue internalized moral power to restrain themselves and shape their personality. Through the way of "self-cultivation, keeping the family in order, governing the country and leveling the world", "second, capitalism is the product of modern western intellectuals. They take" civil society "as their living environment, can rely on their own knowledge and skills to establish themselves in the private sector, engage in freelance work and make a living independently, and wander relatively freely in this environment, which has little inherent and inevitable connection with the existing ruling system and class; China's ancient scholars attached to and served the existing system. They are the product of the existing system, which has been created and maintained. Only as a member of the ruling class or a reserve army can they have the value of existence. " Excellent learning is a typical sign of this dependence. Although China's "scholars" also emphasized "Hongyi" and "taking the world as their own responsibility", it was only in the prosperous times that they showed the positive and enterprising spirit of Confucianism. Once he was in adversity, he turned to Laozi and Zhuangzi and retired to the countryside. This is the so-called "Confucianism and Taoism complement each other".

Intellectuals are a historical and cultural category and play a role in a social class. They came into being at a certain historical stage of human development and under certain cultural conditions. In different historical periods and cultural backgrounds, people have different understandings and definitions of intellectuals. In China's specific historical and cultural background and political context, intellectuals are the targets of China's * * * production party's special policies, among which non-party people are also the targets of United front work. In addition to the general theoretical definition, there are specific operational definitions.

At present, domestic academic circles generally believe that intellectuals have a high level of education. They are mainly mental workers who create, accumulate, disseminate, manage and apply scientific and cultural knowledge. They are distributed in scientific research, education, engineering technology, culture and art, medical and health care and other fields, and are the main body of China's "middle-income class". As a political concept and a relatively independent social stratum, intellectuals will exist for a long time, and eventually disappear with the high development of productivity and the disappearance of differences between workers and peasants, between urban and rural areas, and between mental and physical labor.

With regard to the definition of intellectuals, the mainstream view abroad is that those who have received special training, mastered specialized knowledge, made a living from knowledge, took mental work as their profession and have a strong sense of social responsibility are the main body of the "middle class" abroad. (1) Intellectuals are one of the four major workers in China society: workers, peasants and soldiers and intellectuals, that is, intellectuals are mental workers and professional and technical workers. Teachers, doctors, engineers and scientists are all typical intellectuals.

(2) Intellectuals are ancient literati or the modern continuation of ancient literati. The ambition of ancient scholars was to take the world as their own responsibility, share their worries for the country (emperor) and petition for the people, and the emperor did treat them with courtesy and respect. From this perspective, there are no intellectuals in modern China society.

(3) In modern society, there are still people who like to pretend to be intellectuals, or regard intellectuals as honorifics, generally referring to people with higher academic qualifications and more reading.

(4) The name of intellectuals' contempt is smelly Laojiu, which is reflected in the low political and economic status of intellectuals in the Yuan Dynasty, the Cultural Revolution and later periods.

(5) Non-Party intellectuals refer to mental workers with high cultural expertise among contemporary social workers, whose special occupation is the creation, accumulation and dissemination of cultural expertise. Intellectuals are a historical category, and they are a class of social mental workers formed in a specific historical stage due to the lack of social division of labor and the popularization of culture, education and technology.