Confucius (September 28th, 55 BC1year-April, 479 BC 1 1 year) [1-2] was born in Lu (now Qufu, Shandong), and his ancestral home was Song (now). Confucius initiated the atmosphere of private lectures and was the founder of Confucian school. Confucius' thought of "teaching without class" has created a brand-new educational concept, which is of epoch-making significance in the history of educational development. It advocates that regardless of national boundaries, everyone can enter school to receive education as long as they have the heart to study, which has created a precedent for the popularization of education.

Confucius famously said:

Confucius said, "It's better to keep pace with the times, isn't it? Is it not delightful to have friends coming from distant quarters? Ignorance and dissatisfaction are not gentlemen? " Confucius said, "Clever words make the color so fresh."

Confucius said, "A gentleman does not want to eat enough, he is prepared for danger in times of peace, and he is sensitive to things, but he wants to be cautious in his words and deeds, so he knows the right way and is eager to learn."

Confucius said, "If you don't know yourself, you won't know others."

Confucius said, "There are 300 poems. In a word, it says' thinking naively'. "

Confucius said, "I am determined to learn five out of ten, stand up at thirty, not be confused at forty, know my destiny at fifty, listen to my ears at sixty, and follow my heart at seventy without overstepping the rules."

Confucius said, "Reviewing the past and learning the new can be a teacher."

Confucius said, "The week of gentlemen is incomparable, and the week of villains is incomparable."

Confucius said, "Learning without thinking is useless, and thinking without learning is dangerous."

Confucius said, "Why not teach your daughter to read? Knowing is knowing, not knowing is not knowing, but knowing. "

Confucius said, "People without faith don't know what they can do."

Confucius called Ji's family: "Bashu dances in court, how can you bear it?" Why not? "

Confucius said, "Guan Yu, be happy but not lewd, be sad but not hurt."

Confucius said, "If you don't say what you do, if you don't remonstrate, let bygones be bygones."

Confucius said, "Listen in the morning and die at night."

Confucius said, "A gentleman is righteous, but a villain is profitable."

Confucius said, "Seeing the sage Si Qi, but not seeing the sage, you should reflect on yourself."

Confucius said, "Rotten wood can't be carved, nor can the wall of dung be carved. What is the punishment? "

political thought

Its core is "courtesy" and "benevolence". In the general plan of governing the country, he advocated "governing the country by virtue", which is the noblest way to govern the country. This strategy is also called "rule by virtue" or "rule by courtesy". This master plan applies virtue and courtesy to the people. In fact, it breaks the traditional creed of Shu Ren and the original creed between nobles and ordinary people. That is, the order and system in the modern sense. Humanism is the eternal theme of mankind, which is applicable to any society, any era and any government, and order and institutional society are the basic requirements for establishing a civilized human society. This humanism and order spirit of Confucius is the essence of China's ancient social and political thought.

Economic thought

The most important economic thoughts of Confucius are "emphasizing righteousness over profit" and "enriching the people". This is also the main content of Confucian economic thought, which has a great influence on later generations. Confucius' so-called "righteousness" is a social moral standard, and "profit" refers to people's pursuit of material interests. On the relationship between "righteousness" and "benefit", Confucius put "how to conform to" righteousness "first. He believes that "righteousness is taken", that is, it can be obtained only if it conforms to "righteousness". Confucius even advocated "talking less and benefiting" in The Analects of Confucius Zi Han, that is, talking less about "benefit" and not avoiding "benefit". According to the two-year record of Zuozhuan, Confucius thought: "righteousness leads to life." The same is true of the sum of righteousness. "This is the unity of opposing" righteousness "and" benefit ". This kind of thinking is very consistent with Confucius' proposition. Yan Ying said in Zuo Zhuan's Ten Years of Zhao Gong: "Righteousness is also the foundation of benefit." Righteousness is the basis of benefit, which is also consistent with Confucius' proposition. Confucius opposed the one-sided pursuit of utility. He believes that in the face of "interests", we must be consistent. In this way, people will not hate his achievements. On the contrary, "doing things for the benefit will lead to more resentment." One-sided pursuit of personal self-interest as the guiding ideology of action will cause a lot of resentment. Therefore, Confucius believes that getting rich by doing immoral things is just a cloud. He disdains to get rich by dishonest means. Confucius also believes that the attitude towards "righteousness" and "benefit" is the same. It is easy to understand the importance of "righteousness", while "little people" who lack moral cultivation only know "profit" and don't know "righteousness" This is what Confucius said in the Analects of Confucius: "a gentleman is righteous and a villain is beneficial." Since Confucius valued "righteousness", he must despise manual labor. He was very dissatisfied with Fan Chi, a disciple who wanted to study agriculture, and called him "Li". A scholar can be an official and enjoy a salary. Because of Confucius' conservative political attitude, the reform of economic system also reflects conservative thoughts. In the fifteenth year of Rulu (594 BC), the implementation of "initial tax mu" legally recognized the legal status of private land, which was a major economic reform in the Spring and Autumn Period; However, according to Zuo Zhuan, Confucius recorded the "first tax mu" when compiling Spring and Autumn Annals, with the purpose of criticizing its "indecent assault". In the twelfth year (483 BC), Lu also "used land tax", that is, an acre of military tax was levied, and Confucius also expressed opposition. But Confucius advocated "enriching the people". He believes that it is important for the people to proceed from the long-term interests of the ruling class. He said, "If you are generous, you will win many people." He talked about politics with his disciple Ran in Weiguo and put forward the idea of "enriching the country" for the people. People are not rich, and you are not rich. It is also recorded in the Analects of Confucius that Confucius advocated "benefiting people", that is, doing things that are beneficial to the people. On the other hand, he advocated that taxes should be light, and the sharing of corvees should not delay the farming season. According to the Analects of Confucius, Confucius also preached to politicians at that time and asked them to become politicians.

Educational thought

Confucius first put forward "education without class", believing that everyone in the world has the right to education. In educational practice, Confucius emphasized on his aesthetics.

Good suggestions are put forward: in the process of teaching and educating people, teachers should be "tireless in teaching people", "persuasive" and "teaching students in accordance with their aptitude". He believes that students should have good learning methods, such as "drawing inferences from others" and "learning new things by reviewing old ones". Learning should also be combined with thinking that "learning without thinking is useless, thinking without learning is dangerous" and learning that "three people must have a teacher"; The attitude of learning should be correct. Confucius' educational thought still has important enlightenment and educational significance.

Aesthetic ideology

The core of Confucius' aesthetic thought is the unity of "beauty" and "goodness", as well as the unity of form and content. Confucius advocated "poetry teaching", that is, combining literature and art with political morality, and taking literature and art as an important way to change social politics and cultivate sentiment. In addition, Confucius believes that a perfect person should be cultivated in three aspects: poetry, ceremony and music. Confucius' aesthetic thought has a great influence on later literary theories.