History and Culture (7) The Popularization of Confucianism and the Great Thinker Zhu

The Five Classics (Poetry, Calligraphy, Rite, Book of Changes, Spring and Autumn) has become the theme of Confucian Classics in the Han and Tang Dynasties since Emperor Wu established the Doctor of Five Classics. In the Ming Dynasty, Zhu changed the Five Classics into four books, and shifted his research focus from the Five Classics to four books, namely, The Analects of Confucius, The University, The Doctrine of the Mean and Mencius.

Born in the Southern Song Dynasty, Zhu is the greatest thinker and master of Neo-Confucianism in China history after Confucius and Mencius. He mainly studied and taught Confucianism in his early years, and later studied under Dong Li, who later called it Neo-Confucianism. Zhu's Neo-Confucianism had a far-reaching impact on many countries, including Korea, Japan and Europe. Western sinologists believe that Zhu's influence on the Confucian world can be compared with that of Thomas Aquinas on the Christian world.

Zhu Yisheng wrote a book and said that his works are also extremely rich. More than a dozen works, such as Notes on Four Books, have been handed down from generation to generation. He also founded Bailudong Academy and Yuelu Academy, and trained a large number of Neo-Confucianists. Zhu's greatest influence on society is not his profound philosophical thought, but the popular Confucian enlightenment thought. He made a concrete and popular exposition of the famous saying "Learn from the times, be sincere-oriented, cultivate one's morality, and rule the country and level the world" in "University". It can be said that he translated the profound and abstract Confucian culture into a standard and acceptable Confucian culture, and reinterpreted The Analects of Confucius, Mencius, Daxue and The Doctrine of the Mean with Neo-Confucianism. The popularity of Confucian culture has had a far-reaching impact on China's later and today's China culture.

His Neo-Confucianism even standardized people's daily behaviors, including speech, reading and etiquette. According to Zhu's logic, people who can't even cultivate good habits in daily life are not qualified to rule the country and rule the world.

In the history of China, the influence of Confucian culture and ethics is far-reaching. At the same time, the ruling government set a social model in various dynasties. Since the Song Dynasty, "Yimen" with the spirit of benevolence and filial piety and charity style has become increasingly popular, and people are full of respect for the Yimen family. During the war at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, the insurgents entered Pujiang County many times and were told that Zheng was the Yimen family at that time, so the insurgents also protected Zheng from infringement.

In contemporary China culture and traditional ethics, a large part of them are integrated with Confucianism, among which the great thinker Zhu played a vital role in the popularization of Confucianism.