Confucius information

[Vernacular] In the past, when Mencius was a child, his father died and his mother kept a festival. Living near the cemetery, Mencius learned something, such as funerals and crying. Mother thought, "This place is not suitable for children to live in." He left and moved his family to the street, close to where the pigs and sheep were slaughtered. Mencius knew something about business and slaughter. The mother thought again, "This place is still not suitable for children to live in." His family moved to Gong Xue. On the first day of each month in the summer calendar, officials enter the Confucian Temple, bow down and bow down, and retreat from the DPRK. Mencius saw it and recorded it one by one. Meng Mu thought, "This is where children live." Settle here.

Mencius was taught not to divorce his wife.

Mencius' wife was alone in the house, squatting on the ground. When Mencius entered the room and saw his wife like this, he said to his mother, "This woman is rude. Please allow me to divorce her. " Meng Mu said, "What is the reason?" Mencius said, "She squatted on the ground." Meng Mu asked, "How do you know?" Mencius said, "I saw it with my own eyes." Meng Mu said, "This is because you are impolite, not because women are impolite. The Book of Rites doesn't say that when you want to enter the door, you should first ask who is in the room; When you are about to enter the hall, you should first announce it loudly to let the people inside know; When you enter the room, you must look down. "The Book of Rites" said this in order not to catch people off guard. Now you go to your wife's resting place, and there is no noise when you enter the house, and people don't know it, so you can see her squatting on the ground. This is because you are not polite, not because your wife is not polite. " After listening to Meng Mu's teaching, Mencius realized that he was wrong, and never dared to mention the divorce again.

Mencius thought

Political thought: Mencius inherited and developed Confucius' thought of ruling by virtue, developed into the theory of benevolent governance and became the core of his political thought. He applied the principles of "pro" and "long" to politics, eased class contradictions and safeguarded the long-term interests of the feudal ruling class.

On the one hand, Mencius strictly distinguished the class status of the ruler and the ruled, and thought that "those who do things rule their people, and those who do things rule their people", and imitated the Zhou system to draw up a hierarchy from emperor to ruler; On the other hand, the relationship between the ruler and the ruled is compared to the relationship between parents and children, and it is advocated that the ruler should care about the sufferings of the people like parents, and the people should be close to and serve the ruler like parents.

Mencius believes that this is the most ideal politics, and the rulers can win the heartfelt support of the people if they implement benevolent policies; On the other hand, if people's lives are ignored, they will lose people's hearts, become solitary thieves and be overthrown by the people. The specific content of benevolent government is very extensive, including economy, politics, education and ways to unify the world, among which there is a clue of people-oriented thought. This thought developed from the idea of valuing the people over the gods in the Spring and Autumn Period.

Based on the experience of the Warring States period, Mencius summed up the laws governing the rise and fall of chaos in various countries and put forward a famous proposition rich in the essence of democracy: "The people are the most important, the country is the second, and the monarch is the light." People think that how to treat people is extremely important to the rise and fall of a country. Mencius attached great importance to the opposition between people's hearts, and repeatedly expounded through a large number of historical examples that this is a key issue related to winning or losing in the world. Mencius said: "Benevolence must go through first". The so-called "well boundary" means dividing and sorting out the field boundary and implementing the well field system. The well-field system conceived by Mencius is a feudal natural economy, which is based on small farmers of one household and takes the form of exploiting labor force for rent. Every farmer has a five-acre house and a hundred-acre field and is self-sufficient. Mencius believes that "people are the way, those who have constant production have perseverance, and those who have no constant production have no perseverance." Only when people have "permanent property" and settle down on the land can they not violate the criminal law and do evil. Mencius believes that when people's material life is guaranteed, rulers can re-establish schools, educate them on the principle of filial piety and guide them to be kind, which can create a good moral trend of "kissing" and "growing up", that is, "everyone kisses and grows up, and the world is peaceful." Mencius believed that the benevolent government of the ruler could win the heartfelt support of the people all over the world, thus being invincible. Mencius' benevolent policy should be based on the ruler's "unbearable heart". Mencius said: "The former king had an unbearable heart and Sri Lanka had an unbearable policy." "Unable to bear the heart of others" is a kind of pity and kindness. But this kind of sympathy and kindness is different from Mozi's "universal love", but comes from the feelings of blood. Mencius advocated that "Kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss is the political embodiment of this unbearable heart.

Mencius closely combined ethics with politics, emphasizing that moral cultivation is the basis of doing politics well. He said: "The foundation of the world is in the country, the foundation of the country is at home, and the foundation of the home is in the body." Later, the idea of "nourishing qi and calming the world" put forward by University was developed according to this idea of Mencius.

Mencius summarized moral norms into four categories, namely, benevolence, righteousness, courtesy and wisdom. At the same time, the human relations are summarized into five kinds, namely, "father and son are close, monarch and minister are righteous, husband and wife are different, old and young are orderly, and friends are trustworthy". Mencius believed that benevolence, righteousness, propriety and wisdom were the most important. Benevolence is based on filial piety and filial piety, and it is the basic moral standard to deal with the blood relationship between father and son. He believes that if every member of society uses benevolence and righteousness to deal with all kinds of interpersonal relationships, the stability of feudal order and the unity of the world will be reliably guaranteed.

In order to explain the origin of these moral norms, Mencius put forward the view that human nature is good. He believes that although there are differences in division of labor and class among members of society, their human nature is the same. He said, "So, people of the same kind are all similar, so why doubt others?" A saint is like me. Here, Mencius put the ruler and the ruled in an equal position and discussed their universal humanity. This discussion adapted to the historical trend of slave liberation and social change at that time, marked the deepening of human understanding and greatly promoted the development of ethical thought.

Mencius believes that the morality of benevolence, righteousness, propriety and wisdom is innate. It is inherent in human heart, is human's "conscience and good ability", and is the essential feature that distinguishes human from animals. He said: "Benevolence, courtesy and wisdom are rooted in the heart", "Benevolence, courtesy and wisdom are not from the outside, but also from me". The reason is that everyone has a "good end", that is, compassion, shame, resignation and right and wrong, which is called "four ends"; Some people can expand and strengthen their moral cultivation, while others give up on themselves and are submerged by the environment, leading to personality differences. Therefore, Mencius attached great importance to the consciousness of moral cultivation. Mencius was strict with the gentry. He believed that no matter how bad the environment was, he should constantly strive for self-improvement and take the bad environment as a means to hone himself. You should be a real gentleman with "wealth can't be lewd, poverty can't be moved, and power can't be bent". In the face of severe tests, we must "sacrifice our lives for righteousness" and would rather sacrifice our lives than give up moral principles. He believes that through long-term moral practice, we can cultivate a firm and fearless psychological state, which is the so-called "noble spirit." This kind of qi is "extreme" and can actively expand and fill between heaven and earth.

Mencius' theory of good nature is a kind of moral transcendentalism. After the Song Dynasty, it was generally accepted by Neo-Confucianism and became an orthodox theory of human nature with far-reaching influence.

The highest category of Mencius' philosophical thought is heaven. Mencius inherited Confucius' thought of destiny, removed the residual meaning of personality god, and imagined heaven as a spiritual entity with moral attributes. He said: "Honest people, heaven is also." Mencius defined the moral concept of honesty as the essential attribute of heaven, and believed that heaven was the origin of the inherent moral concept of human nature. Mencius' ideological system, including his political thoughts and ethical thoughts, takes heaven as the category.

On the relationship between heaven and man, Mencius believed that heaven and man were interlinked. From the aspect of heaven, heaven is the master of all things, and everything about personnel is decided by heaven. From the human aspect, not only does human goodness come from talent, but also the thinking function of human heart is endowed by heaven. The human heart has the essential attribute of heaven, so we can know heaven as long as we try our best to play and expand our original heart.

Mencius tried his best to pursue the spiritual realm of dedication, intellectuality and knowledge of heaven. In order to achieve this state, he put forward a set of moral cultivation methods and epistemological thoughts, emphasizing the subject's self-awareness and internal pursuit, and believed that if this state was achieved, great spiritual strength would be generated.

Confucius' life experience

According to textual research, Confucius' sixth ancestor was Kong, a doctor in the Song Dynasty. He worked as a Fu and was killed in the civil strife in the imperial court. His son Mu fled to Lu to avoid genocide. From then on, Kong settled down in this city and became a Lu native.

Confucius' father is called Ge (a word, and Ge is a name), and his mother is called Yan Zhizai. Shu Lianggan was a famous warrior in Lu at that time. He made two military exploits and worked as a doctor in Qiaoyi. Shu married Shi first, gave birth to nine daughters and no children. He married another concubine and gave birth to a son named Bernie, also named Meng Pi. There was something wrong with Meng Pi's foot, and Shu was very dissatisfied, so he married Yan Zhizai again. At that time, Shu was 66 years old and Yan Zhizai was less than 20 years old.

Confucius was born in Changping Township (now southeast of Qufu City, Shandong Province) in 55 1 year BC (the 22nd year of Duke Xiang of Lu). Because my parents prayed for the birth of a child on Niqiu Mountain, they named it Qiuzi. When Confucius was three years old, he died, and the Confucius family became the world of historians. Historians are evil. Meng Pi's biological mother was abused by historians and died one year before her death in Shu. Confucius and his mother were not tolerated by historians, so Yan Zhizai, the mother of Confucius, had to move to Qufu Que with Confucius and Meng Pi, and her life was difficult. Confucius/kloc-died when he was 0/7 years old. Confucius/kloc-married the daughter of an official in the song dynasty at the age of 0/9. A year later, the official gave birth to a son. Zhao Gong sent someone to congratulate him. Confucius felt very honored and named his son carp, the word "Bo fish".

Confucius himself

In China's 5,000-year history, Confucius has the greatest influence on the Chinese nation's character and temperament. Confucius was an educator, thinker and half politician, but most importantly, he was a noble intellectual. He is upright, optimistic and enterprising, pursuing truth, goodness and beauty all his life and pursuing an ideal society all his life. His success and failure are related to his personality. His character has influenced China people for thousands of years, especially the intellectuals in China.

Angry and forgetful, happy and forgetful.

When Confucius was 63 years old, he once described himself like this: "You forget to eat when you are angry, but forget your worries when you are happy. I don't know that my old age is coming. " At that time, Confucius had led his disciples around the world for nine years and had gone through all the hardships. Not only did he not get the appointment of the governor, but he almost died. But Confucius was not discouraged, still optimistic, stuck to his ideals, and even knew that he could not do it.

Be content with poverty

Confucius said, "Being unjust and rich is like a cloud to me". In Confucius' mind, upholding justice is the highest value of life. When there is a contradiction between rich and poor and morality, he would rather be poor than give up morality. But we can't regard his peace and happiness as not seeking wealth, but seeking to maintain Tao, which is not in line with historical facts. Confucius once said: "Rich and expensive, people want what they want; You can't go anywhere unless you take the main road. Poverty and meanness are disgusting to people; If you don't take the main road, you won't go. " "Money is available, although there are many whips, I can do it. If you can't get it, just do as I say. "

Never tire of learning and never tire of teaching.

Confucius was famous for his eagerness to learn and showed great interest in all kinds of knowledge, so he was versatile and knowledgeable. He was very famous at that time, and was almost regarded as an omniscient saint, but Confucius himself didn't think so. Confucius said, "A saint cannot learn, but never tires of teaching." Confucius learned that there was no teacher. Whoever has knowledge and who doesn't understand will worship him as a teacher. So he said, "A threesome must have a teacher."

Follow the path of integrity-conduct integrity.

Confucius was upright in nature and advocated going straight. He once said, "I treat others, who will ruin my reputation?" If you are famous, you have to try. Simin also, the reason why the three generations went straight. "Historical Records records that Confucius asked Lao Tzu to be polite when he was in his thirties. When he left, Laozi gave a sentence: "Smart and thorough, near death, considerate. Those who argue the broad masses are in danger, and those who are evil are also. A son should not have his own, and a minister should not have his own. "This is Lao Tzu's kind reminder to Confucius, and it also points out some shortcomings of Confucius, that is, he looks at the problem too deeply and speaks too sharply, hurting some people with positions and bringing great danger to himself.

help others

Confucius founded the moral theory with benevolence as the core. He is also a kind person, compassionate, helpful, sincere and generous. "Don't do to others what you don't want others to do to you", "A gentleman's beauty as an adult is not evil" and "Do your best until you die" are all his life principles. Confucius said, "Five out of ten, I am determined to learn; I am thirty years old; Forty without confusion; At the age of fifty, I knew my destiny; I am obedient at the age of sixty; I am still obedient at the age of seventy; I didn't cross the line. " This is Confucius' summary of all stages of his life.

Laozi

On February15th of the lunar calendar, a great man, Lao Zi, was born in Qurenli, Li Xiang Township, an ancient county of Chu in the east of the world, which is now Taiqinggong Town, Lu Yi City, Henan Province. He was a great philosopher, thinker and founder of Taoist school in ancient China, and was rated as one of the top 100 celebrities in the world today. As we all know, before Laozi, there were only some philosophical viewpoints in the society, and a systematic philosophical theory was formed from Laozi. Therefore, Lu Yi is not only a sacred fairyland, but also the birthplace of oriental philosophy.

According to Sima Qian's Historical Records (Volume 63) and Lao Zi Han Fei Biography, "Lao Zi was born in Qurenli, Chuku County, and his surname is Li. His name is Bai Yang, posthumous title Yong and Zhou Shoucang in history. Confucius must ask Laozi when he is suitable for the week. " Sima Zhen's "Historical Records" says: "The bitter history is also. Confucius must ask Laozi when he is suitable for the week. " Sima Zhen's Historical Records says: "The bitter county belongs to Chen, and Chu destroyed Chen in the Spring and Autumn Period, and the bitterness belongs to Chu, so it is a bitter county." Li Daoyuan's Notes on Water Classics said: "I remember Lao Tzu's tablet on the edge of Shao, saying that Lao Tzu is Chu-like, empty and barren. Now, after all the hardships, the city still exists. It is in the east of the hometown, and the vortex water is in the sun "(the Wohe River was diverted from the south of Taiqing Palace to the north of Taiqing Palace in the early Yuan Dynasty). Looking through the national history of past dynasties, all kinds of ci books and famous works, as well as the annals of Henan Province, Moral Guidance, Luyi County Annals, Jiangnan Annals, Anhui Annals and Mizhou Zhi Zhi, it is clearly recorded that Laozi was born in Taiqinggong Town, Luyi County, Henan Province. Historians, philosophers, religious figures and experts on the elderly have all written books or published papers on the ancient evidence that Laozi was born in Taiqinggong Town, Lu Yi. According to the Records of Haozhou, "Taiqing Palace is forty-five miles west of the city, and now it belongs to Lu Yi, the birthplace of Laozi". There are 200 volumes in Jiangnan Tongzhi (Anhui and Jiangsu are now collectively referred to as jiangnan province during the reign of Shunzhi in Qing Dynasty), and there is a Mistaken Mirror, which specifically researches the mistakes in the old records, including the research on Li Er. The conclusion is: "Li Er was born in Lu Yi, not Jiangnan. During the Tang and Song Dynasties, Mizhou was adjacent to six counties. Now only Qiaocheng and Chengfu counties are in the south of the Yangtze River, and the rest belong to Henan. The old record of Fengyang characters in Li Er is wrong. " . In the reconstruction of Annals of Anhui Province, there are two records: "The Taiqing Palace is forty-five miles west of Bozhou, where I was pregnant, and the base address still exists. The old name was Amethyst Palace, and Tang Tianbao changed it in two years. " The other paragraph is: "Bozhou, Shiyuan, Chen Tuan, now Luyi County, Guide House, Henan Province, the old record was collected in Yingzhou, and it was mistaken for Laozi. I will break it." Write clearly and automatically correct past mistakes. 199 1 year, Xinhua News Agency reported in Hefei in May 10 that Bozhou, Anhui Province decided to hold the world symposium on Laozi, saying: "Laozi, also known as Yong, is an ancient thinker of the same age as Confucius and the founder of the Taoist school in China. His hometown is in Luyi County, Henan Province, which is adjacent to Bozhou." Seeking truth from facts is our traditional style of study and should be carried forward.

Laozi is an influential figure in the history of thought, culture and religion in China. Laozi is a man, but he is a god and a leader of Taoism. The masses all respect the old gentleman. Laozi has a historical evolution from man to god. In the Tang Dynasty, it was not sudden that I was named "Emperor Taizong Xuanyuan". Gai had already been named "Emperor Taizong Xuanyuan". From Sima Qian's point of view, "Gai Laozi is over 60 years old, or over 200 years old, to cultivate Buddhism and support his life." It shows that it has been circulated in the Western Han Dynasty that Laozi is a living immortal who has lived for hundreds of years. The inscription of Laozi written by Bian Shao in the Eastern Han Dynasty said: "Laozi was born of nature", and also said: "Laozi was separated from the chaotic vitality and began with the three lights". In the post-Han period, Laozi was completely deified and became a god and leader. So Emperor Huan of the Han Dynasty made the Huang Lao Pagoda Hall in the palace, juxtaposing Huang Lao with the pagoda, the former being the first of Taoism and the latter being the first of Buddhism. The so-called "Huang Lao" here refers to Lao Zi. Thus, in the eighth year of Emperor Yan Xi (A.D. 165), Zuo Guan, a regular servant, was killed and went to Guxian to offer sacrifices to Lao Zi. In the ninth year of Yan Xi (166), Emperor Huan visited Lao Zi in the Dragon Palace. It can be seen that Lao Tzu has become a sacred leader at this time. Now there are Taoist temples all over the country. Taiqing Palace in Lu Yi was built in the eighth year of Han and Yan Xi, and Laojuntai was built in the early Tang Dynasty. The incense is enduring, and Laozi is honored by the masses as the old gentleman on the throne.

The 5,000-word Tao Te Ching left by Laozi is extensive and profound, which is a great treasure of Chinese culture-and the first masterpiece of China's philosophical ontology. Its contents involve philosophy, literature, military science, aesthetics, medicine, sociology, ethics, astronomy, and health preservation, and it is known as an encyclopedia. His theory of inaction, the dialectical theory of the transformation rate of one thing and two things, and the profound philosophy of "harmony between man and nature" have influenced China people's thoughts and behaviors for 2,500 years. As a cultural gene, it permeates people's lifestyles, lifestyles and ways of thinking. It affects China people's world outlook, outlook on life, values, aesthetics, outlook on life and death and other cultural concepts. Tao Te Ching has not only influenced the history of thought for 2,000 years since the Han Dynasty, but also attracted the attention of western thinkers and became one of the world's philosophical treasures. Since ancient times, there have been more than 3,000 critics, and the publishing circulation ranks second in the world. Nowadays, the global "Laozi" is hot, and the study of old learning is unprecedentedly high. In recent years, international Lao Tzu academic seminars have been held in various places. 1993, Germany held an international symposium on Laozi; 1994, Lu Yi held an international symposium on Laozi; 1995, China Academy of Social Sciences held an international symposium on Taoist culture in Xi 'an. Such frequent international activities to study the elderly are unprecedented in history, pushing the study of the elderly to a new stage and reaching a new level.

On the one hand, Laozi's thought has a profound ideological and cultural foundation because it systematically summarizes the cultural traditions since ancient times; On the other hand, on the basis of inheritance, Laozi opened up a new direction of cultural development, and established a philosophical system with Tao as its ontology for the first time in the history of China, which laid a philosophical foundation for the cultural development of China. Laozi's thought has exerted an all-round influence on China culture and has a very positive significance for the development of modern culture. Laozi's greatest contribution in the history of China's philosophy is to point out that the metaphysical Tao is the origin and basis of all things in the universe, and to establish a systematic philosophical thought system with Tao as the core, including ontology, dialectical method, epistemology and philosophy of life. Laozi's ontological thinking and methodological thinking make "Tao" truly become the noblest concept and the most basic motive force in China's thought. From the following aspects, we can see that Laozi's philosophy is the basis of China's traditional philosophy: Taoism in pre-Qin, Taoism in Han Dynasty, metaphysics in Wei and Jin Dynasties, Buddhism in Sui and Tang Dynasties, Neo-Confucianism in Song and Ming Dynasties, and the introduction of Taoism, morality, being, nothingness, movement, quietness and infinity. Because Laozi's thought is an ideological system with rich concepts and has many in-depth and accurate views on nature, society and people, it has gained some special theoretical qualities, including many theoretical growth points and different ideological systems. Therefore, the development of modern China philosophy and China culture still needs to learn from Laozi's philosophy. Laozi's wisdom has guiding significance for solving various problems faced by modern human beings. He put forward the category of "Tao" as the root and foundation of life value. Laozi's "Tao" is not only the foundation of all things in the universe, but also the foundation of all things' existence and development. Metaphysical "Tao" has become a way of human behavior and life when it is implemented in the relationship between man and nature, man and society, and man and himself. In the relationship between man and nature, Lao Tzu emphasized the subjectivity of man and the objectivity of natural laws, and advocated that man should obey nature and oppose its plunder. In the relationship between individuals and others, and with groups, Laozi put forward the principle of "indisputable", and advocated solving disputes through setbacks, sharing weal and woe, and opposing fame and gain, so as to achieve harmonious coexistence between people and society. On the self-improvement of individual life, Laozi put forward "the way of long life and long vision". Laozi's thoughts not only have a great influence on the formation and development of China's traditional culture, but also provide positive wisdom for the current and future culture and life of mankind. We should carry forward the excellent traditional culture of the motherland, open up a harmonious world and create a beautiful world.