First, we attach great importance to moral education, set a clear goal of moral education, and regard moral education as a complete system consisting of family education, school education, social education and religious education.
As early as in the Book of Rites, there was a view that "building the people, teaching first". In other words, education is very important for establishing a political power and leading the people of a country. As for "the teacher, be kind and save his loss" (Book of Rites). Learn to remember), the purpose of education is "good for good", even if people's mistakes are saved, kindness will continue to grow. It can be seen that moral education is the core content of ancient education. Moral education must begin with self-cultivation, that is, to achieve physical and mental harmony, and then deal with the ethical relations between good people and good people, between people and society, between people and nature and even the country. Therefore, only when education is well done, people's experience is cured and ethical relations are coordinated can people's truly long-term happy life be fundamentally guaranteed.
The ancient moral education in China was effective because it was a complete system consisting of family education, school education, social education and religious education. In this system, special attention is paid to the importance of family education, emphasizing that family education is the beginning of moral education, social education is the expansion of family education, and social education should inherit the concept of "innocence in thought" put forward by Confucius. Therefore, China's ancient literary works all follow this idea of Confucius and Old Master Q Ah Q, regardless of music, song and dance, drama, poetry and so on. The main content is to promote morality and righteousness. Only in this way can social righteousness rise and evil spirits fall. With the rapid development of science today, the Internet has penetrated into all aspects of people's lives, so social education has a far-reaching impact on people's values. So our cultural department, news media, Internet, etc. We should shoulder the responsibility of promoting social integrity and create a good social atmosphere for advocating and establishing correct moral values.
In addition, religious education plays a very important role in China's traditional moral education. Buddhism, in particular, is essentially an education. Buddha's education teaches people "don't do all evil, but pursue all good", which is essentially consistent with the Confucian thought of attaching importance to moral education. Since Buddhism was introduced to China in 67 AD, it has been welcomed by the ruling and opposition parties in China, and it has become a highly artistic education. This kind of art education embodied in Buddhist architecture, sculpture, music and painting has become an important part of traditional moral education in China, and has played an important role in forming simple and kind folk customs and realizing social stability and harmony.
Secondly, adopt effective moral education methods and emphasize the leading role of leading cadres.
Shuowen Jiezi interprets "teaching" as "applying it from above, and applying it from below". Confucianism sees that the effective way of moral education is personal influence rather than empty preaching, and it is to open people's love and shame rather than force them to instill an idea. Therefore, they put special emphasis on "correcting others first" and "teaching by example", and emphasized the moral demonstration role of * * as a manager of state and social affairs. In this regard, Confucius repeatedly stressed: "the virtue of a gentleman, the virtue of a villain, the wind on the grass will be suppressed." (The Analects of Confucius Yan Yuan) means that the virtue of * * * is like the wind, and the virtue of ordinary people is like grass. Where the wind blows, the grass falls. He also said: "Politicians are also right. Zi Shuai is right, who dares to be wrong? " "It is vital qi, nor is it an order; Its body is not straight, although it is disobedient. Practice has proved that "upward behavior has downward effect": "There is forbearance in the world, and there is indisputable custom in the world", "There is no desire in the world, and there is no desire in the world", "There is righteousness in the world, and there is justice in the world", "Ministers are not cheap, and small officials are not dirty; Small officials are not cheap, and customs will be abolished. Therefore, as a leader in managing state and social affairs, moral cultivation is very important for forming good social customs.
Mencius inherited Confucius' moral demonstration role of attaching importance to leaders' setting an example. He said: "Only the benevolent should occupy high positions. Being unkind and in a high position is to spread its evil to the public. " (Mencius on Li Lou) Only the benevolent should be in the leading position. When an unkind person is in a dominant position, he will spread his sins to the masses. Tracing back to history, in the process of realizing the political ideal of "self-cultivation, keeping the family in order, governing the country and leveling the world", special attention was paid to the level and strength of personal personality, and good personal moral cultivation became the primary and basic condition for being an official. Bao Zheng's official character of being honest and not afraid of power; Harry's pleading for the people and upright demeanor are admired by rulers and ordinary people.
Third, regard moral construction as a complex systematic project, and ensure the implementation of moral education through various system constructions.
In ancient China, the emphasis on moral education was not empty moral preaching, but strengthened through various social systems. Simply put, what society advocates must be encouraged by the system; Everything we oppose must be bound by the system. Mill, the representative figure of British utilitarianism, put it well, "When society is not conducive to people's frequent use of noble emotions, such emotions will die because of lack of training." In this sense, it is also necessary to guarantee and promote moral education from the perfection of law, supervision mechanism and incentive mechanism. The ancients in China attached importance to moral education, but it never meant ignoring the perfection and perfection of the system. In ancient China, moral education and system construction were not either/or contradictory, but promoted and supplemented each other.
For example, in order to carry out Confucius' proposition of "promoting talents" and "straightening people by law can make unjust people straight", Mencius further put forward: "Respecting sages and enabling them, being in the position of Jie Jun, all the people in the world are happy and willing to set up their courts." This view has also been accepted by enlightened rulers of past dynasties, so they attach importance to the selection, assessment, supervision, reward, training and implementation of the management system of officials (Hanshu, Volume VI, page 167, Zhonghua Book Company Press 1962).
Fourth, focus on cultivating people's ability to "do something wrong, but ask others"
All conflicts and disharmonies in the world are rooted in the conflict between self-interest and altruism. Therefore, to solve contradictions, we should first reflect on our own shortcomings, rather than blaming each other. Mencius elaborated this point in particular. He said: "if a lover doesn't kiss, it is against his kindness;" There is no medicine to save people, which is contrary to wisdom; Courtesy people don't answer, respect people. Those who have done wrong are all found by themselves, and the world belongs to themselves. "
The Doctrine of the Mean also says, "Shooting like a gentleman is wrong." This means that if our work is unsuccessful, we should go back immediately and find our own shortcomings. This is like an archer. If his archery deviates from the bull's-eye, he doesn't look for objective reasons, but looks back and reflects on his poor skills. Ancient sages, such as Tang praised by Confucius and Mencius, are all examples of this kind of "doing nothing for yourself and doing something for yourself". In the Shang Dynasty, the Tang King carved a paragraph on the basin for washing his face, "New is new, new is new" (the university said: "The dish of soup says: new is new, new is new." ) always urge yourself to make continuous progress. When Tang Wang asked for rain in the drought, he mentioned: "I am guilty and have no way; Wan Fang guilty, sin in my bow "("The Analects of Confucius Yao Yue "). It means that as long as I am guilty, I don't want to hurt people all over the world because of my fault. It's my own fault that the people in the world are guilty, and I'm responsible for it.
China ancients said, "Every man is responsible for the rise and fall of the world.". The quality of social atmosphere is closely related to everyone in society, and everyone in society has an unshirkable responsibility for improving social atmosphere. Therefore, not only every leader, but also every ordinary person should have such an attitude of "not doing what you can, but doing what you can". Chen Yinque said: it is a national shame for a scholar-bureaucrat to be shameless. As a scholar and an intellectual, we should have such introspection ability. It should be said that it is the moral responsibility of each of us to start from ourselves and establish a correct outlook on honor and disgrace and morality.
The ancients said: Do your duty and reverse right and wrong; Blame yourself, the sky is high and the clouds are light, and the ground is flat. Nowadays, from the contradiction between husband and wife in the family to the contradiction between ethnic countries, they only know how to blame each other, but they don't reflect on themselves. Only when everyone can "do evil for himself" can conflicts and contradictions be finally solved and social harmony and world peace be maintained.
The Modern Significance of Filial Piety Concept
Abstract: "Filial piety" is the core content of traditional Confucian culture, which has been regarded as the basis of ethics and the first code of conduct for thousands of years. With the change of modern family and lifestyle, the pursuit of personal freedom and the spread of right consciousness, the concept of filial piety has been ignored more and more. As a result, many social problems have emerged, such as the imbalance of interpersonal relationship and family relationship. There are many ways to solve these problems, and it is of great significance to re-recognize and advocate the idea of filial piety in Confucian ethics for fundamentally solving these social problems.
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Keywords: Confucian ethics, family virtues, filial piety and respect for the elderly
For the discussion of modern family relations, pen and ink pay more and more attention to the handling and coordination of husband and wife relations. Does this mean that children in modern families pay less and less attention to their parents' support and filial piety? In other words, what is the position and role of the strong concept of filial piety in traditional society in modern families? With this question, the author interviewed and investigated the filial piety of children to their parents in contemporary families.
The survey was conducted in a residential area in Yantai Development Zone. Because it is located in the development zone, there are many young and middle-aged couples, which is related to the characteristics of the development zone. The young people gathered here have high academic qualifications and good cultural quality. Our interviewees focus on the elderly people who live with their children and understand their views on filial piety. These answers seem to reflect the attitude of urban youth (or middle-aged people) of a certain age (25-35 years old) and a certain educational level (college or above) towards filial piety.
When talking about whether children are "filial" to their parents, most of these old people's answers are yes. However, these affirmative answers sound to us with a kind of helplessness of "contentment." In their view, it is very satisfying to live with children and be taken care of by them. And this kind of satisfaction seems to come from the comparison with those children who discriminate against, scold, eat, want and take care of their parents. From their conversation, I also learned that they are also willing to undertake housework such as washing clothes, cooking and looking after children, so as not to become a burden to children when they can work. As for those elephant children who are unhappy, don't care about their parents' feelings, and even have a reprimand tone, they are also accepted with the mentality of "not reaching the top, not going to the end". Their spiritual life comes more from emotional communication with their grandchildren than from their children. Children are not well aware that they should care about their parents' spiritual life, and only understand filial piety as supporting their parents. This is far from China's traditional understanding of filial piety.
"Filial piety" is the core content of traditional Confucian culture, which has been regarded as the basis of ethics and the first code of conduct for thousands of years. For example, Confucius said, "A gentleman's business is based on morality." Filial piety is also the foundation of benevolence! "(Learning the Analects of Confucius), Mencius'" Benevolence is the truth, being as close as brothers "(Mencius Li Lou) and" Filial piety is the foundation of virtue, and what is born of teaching "in the Book of Filial Piety all regard filial piety as the foundation of benevolence and righteousness, and the" axiom of human relations "is also regarded by later thinkers and rulers as an important means to safeguard social ethical relations and political rule, and is comprehensively expounded from different angles.
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Why was filial piety so valued by the ancients?
In the view of Confucian thinkers, filial piety is a kind of sexual virtue, that is, an essential moral character. Confucianism emphasizes that human nature is good. The goodness of human nature is embodied in compassion, right and wrong, resignation and shame. Filial piety, which is based on the natural ethical relationship between father and son, is the easiest to reflect the compassion of life. Therefore, filial piety is the easiest to develop nature, so the nature of primitive morality is obvious. Confucian benevolence thought is based on filial piety. Therefore, this word must not be ignored. Understanding this word means understanding the essence of Confucianism. Judging from the composition of filial piety, filial piety is a knowing word, with an old word above and a sub-word below. The word filial piety means that the previous generation and the next generation are one, not two. If there are two such ideas, it is not filial piety. The previous generation has the previous generation, and the past has no beginning; The next generation has the next generation, and the future has no end, no beginning and no end. Abroad, China people still maintain the tradition of offering sacrifices to their ancestors. Foreigners don't understand. They asked: why don't you recognize your ancestors hundreds or thousands of years ago and sacrifice them? However, they don't understand the truth that "people are virtuous". China people worship their ancestors, which has profound implications! How can you be ungrateful to your immediate parents when your distant ancestors are obsessed with it? Confucianism stresses filial piety education in the vertical direction and brotherhood in the horizontal direction, which is extended to "all men are brothers within the four seas". It can be seen that if filial piety education is done well, the interpersonal relationship of the whole society will naturally be orderly.
It is the teacher who has a great responsibility to be filial. Therefore, filial piety and respect for teachers are closely linked. Confucianism especially emphasizes the importance of respecting teachers and stressing the kindness of teachers and parents. This is particularly evident in ancient rituals. According to the Book of Rites, a man was crowned at the age of 20. From then on, his grandparents, brothers, sisters and other relatives no longer called him by his first name, but called him, even the emperor, in their own words to show their respect for him. Only parents can use their first names all their lives, and even teachers can use their first names. Obviously, the goodwill of teachers and parents is equal. When parents die, they will mourn for three years; When the teacher dies, he has to keep his heart for three years. When the emperor accepts teachers, he will be demoted. He should not be received with the ceremony of monarch and minister, but with the ceremony of host and guest, that is, the emperor stands in the east and the teacher stands in the west. It can be seen that Confucianism attaches great importance to the dignity of teachers' morality and regards filial piety and teachers' morality as the foundation of education.
The content of Confucian filial piety is very rich, not only the body of adoptive parents, but also the heart and ambition of adoptive parents, so we can't always worry about it. If you often worry your parents, then you are sorry for your parents and you are unfilial. For example, it is unfilial to be naughty in school and have poor homework, which worries my mother; It is unfilial to be disrespectful to teachers, unable to get along with classmates and worrying parents; It is unfilial to step into the society, not be serious and responsible in your work, and not do your best to worry your parents; It is unfilial to be unfaithful to an officer, unable to cooperate with colleagues and worrying parents. Therefore, according to the Analects of Confucius, filial piety means that parents only worry about their own illness, that is, parents only worry about their own illness and nothing else at all. It can be seen that a person who is often filial is almost a perfect person. Therefore, there is a saying in ancient times that "loyal ministers should be at the door of dutiful sons", which is not unreasonable.
Two.
Some ancient expositions and demands on filial piety not only played a progressive role at that time, but also have reference significance for the harmony of our family life today. Starting from the concept of modern society and modern civilization, the reasonable content of "filial piety" mentioned by Confucianism is mainly reflected in the following three aspects:
First, support parents. As early as "Shangshu Jiugao", it was put forward that "I am a thigh arm, pure in art, and too good at running things." Zhao Yinniu attended Jia far away and was filial to his adoptive parents. "This means that the subjects are trying to grow all kinds of grains to serve their fathers and brothers. When the farm work was finished, they used ox carts to transport the grain to distant places for trading, also to support their parents. Here, the moral problem of supporting parents is raised. There are also many chapters in the Book of Songs, which repeatedly emphasize that children should repay their parents' kindness in raising. For example, The Book of Songs Xiaoya said, "My father gave birth to me, and my mother humbled me, teased me, raised me and gave me a belly." My father gave birth to me and my mother raised me. Touch me, love me, support me, educate me, take care of me, miss me, go out and hug me. Therefore, children support their parents in order to repay their kindness. The Book of Filial Piety, as a Confucian classic, regards supporting parents as Shu Ren's main filial piety, and points out: "It is also Shu Ren's filial piety to use the way of heaven, divide the benefits of land and adopt parents carefully." It can be seen that traditional Confucian ethics attaches great importance to supporting parents. Sometimes it even goes beyond the scope of morality and is guaranteed by law, stipulating that unfilial behavior will be punished by law. In the chapter of the Five Elements of Filial Piety, it is said that "the five elements belong to three thousand, and the crime is greater than unfilial", which stipulates that those who are unfilial will be beheaded. The law of Northern Qi initiated the "Ten Major Crimes", among which unfilial crime is one of the ten major crimes. According to the laws of the Tang Dynasty, those who scold grandparents and parents should be hanged, and those who beat them should be beheaded, thus making more specific punishments for all kinds of unfilial crimes.
Second, respect parents. It is generally believed that supporting parents is filial piety. In response to this view, Confucius said: "Today's filial piety is to raise dogs and horses. Everyone is pampered. Why not? " ("The Analects of Confucius for Politics"). In other words, it is not enough to take "fostering" as the standard of "filial piety". Because for a Malay with a dog, it is also "raising". If you don't respect your parents, you can't tell the difference from a horse with a dog. "Book of Rites" also said: "If a dutiful son has deep love, he must be kind, and if he is kind, he will be happy, and if he is happy, he will be kind." To serve parents, it is important for children to show sincere respect to their parents from the heart, to ensure that their parents are mentally gratified and happy. So Confucius said, "color is difficult." If something happens, the disciple will handle it; There is wine and food, sir. Have you ever thought that this is filial piety? "("The Analects of Confucius governing "). It means it's the hardest thing to be nice to serve your parents. Children have something to do, and fathers and brothers eat wine first. Is it filial piety? Be kind to your parents, especially when they make mistakes. Don't be angry: "Let your parents advise you. Do not follow his will, do not violate his will, and strive not to complain "("The Analects of Confucius "). It means that if you serve your parents, if they are wrong, you should gently persuade them to work hard and not complain. It can be seen that Confucian filial piety is a high-level requirement of filial piety. Respect is more fundamental than respect. Therefore, Ceng Zi said: "There are three kinds of filial piety: filial piety, followed by humiliation, which can be cited below" (Rites of Sacrifice), and Mencius also said: "Filial piety is the greatest respect for relatives" (Mencius Zhang Wan).
Third, "respect the elderly." Confucianism extends filial piety not only to the relationship between father and son, but also to family members. For example, The Book of Rites, Ji Fang, puts forward that "one who is close to one's parents can be said to be filial", and advocates that "one who is filial is filial, and the other who is filial is filial", that is, to honor one's parents at home, to respect the elderly when going out, and to promote the concept of family respect for the elderly to the society. Since the Han Dynasty, the Confucian ethics of respecting, loving and supporting the elderly has been firmly rooted in the family and has become popular in society. "Caring for the elderly and caring for others" has become the code of conduct that people pursue, requiring people not only to honor their parents, but also to love other people's parents with the same feelings.
According to Confucianism, at least the above points can be called "filial piety". By this standard, I'm afraid many people are hard to live up to their names. Some basic requirements and necessary etiquette of filial piety to parents in the eyes of the ancients are tantamount to "Arabian Nights" in the eyes of many young people in modern times. The results of field interviews show that it is difficult for children to be "kind" to their parents all the time. As for children who are occasionally unhappy and angry with their parents, it has become a "common practice" in some families. However, these old people just silently endure, always feeling that their children have done well compared with those "unworthy" offspring.
The concept of filial piety of urban children with higher education is still the same, and the attitude of the general public, especially rural children, towards the elderly can be imagined. Although no special investigation has been made on this point, we can see that our children (daughters-in-law) beat their fathers and scolded their mothers, abandoned and insulted their parents, and regarded their parents as burdens or nannies. Many old people's miserable lives are vividly displayed in front of us, which is unbearable to look back on. This is in sharp contrast with the traditional virtues of caring for and respecting relatives and the elderly advocated by Confucian ethics in China.
Three.
What caused the decline of filial piety that has influenced China people for thousands of years?
First, the fierce criticism of traditional filial piety ignores the reasonable elements in the traditional concept of filial piety. Since the May 4th New Culture Movement in China, especially in the ten-year Cultural Revolution after the establishment of socialist society, filial piety, together with all feudal morals, has been severely criticized, and people have exposed the disadvantages and harms of feudal filial piety from different angles and aspects. Undeniably, the traditional concept of filial piety was gradually formed and developed in the agricultural society that attached importance to experience and experience, and was deeply influenced by the patriarchal hierarchy in the long slave society and feudal society. The content of "filial piety" inevitably has a strong patriarchal hierarchy, and there are many ignorant contents about loyalty and filial piety and factors that hinder the development of modern society. For example, "if you don't change your father's ways for three years, it can be said that you are filial" (The Analects of Confucius), "If your parents are there, you can do well without traveling far" (The Analects of Confucius), "There are three kinds of unfilial deeds, and there is no great virtue afterwards", "The father hides his son and the son hides it for his father, and it is straight in it" (The Analects of Lutz). At the same time, these expositions in Confucian classics cannot be taken out of context. Due to some people's criticism of traditional filial piety, people's thoughts are confused and have bad social consequences in contemporary society.
Secondly, the influence of western extreme individualism weakens children's sense of obligation to support and respect their loved ones. With the change of social life, especially the erosion of decadent western values, some people's ideologies such as individualism and utilitarianism have rapidly expanded, and they are self-centered and selfish. For example, under the influence of utilitarianism, some people think that the elderly only consume without production, which is a burden and a burden. The concept of respecting the elderly is getting weaker and weaker, and even one's own flesh and blood doesn't like living with elderly people who need care at any time. Only a few people who need the help of their old mothers to look after the house, cook, wash clothes and take care of their children are willing to live with the elderly. Then the parents themselves have money, which does not pose a burden to their children, and the children are willing to live with them and support themselves. These people only have self, or expanded self, that is, wife and children. They have no parents, do not fulfill their responsibilities as sons of men, do not support and help their parents, and even discriminate against and abuse their parents. This not only destroyed the friendship and harmony of the family, but also caused great economic difficulties and mental pain to parents, and ruined the moral atmosphere and the tradition of respecting the elderly in the whole society. In this way, people unconsciously simplify the Confucian filial son standard of "must be pampered" to "must be raised" Ironically, when there are a lot of "outrageous" phenomena in society, such as beating dad and scolding mom and ignoring parents' support, those who can still support their parents become "dutiful sons", so it is not difficult to understand the "contentment" mood of the elderly who can get support and care from their children.
Of course, the appearance of these phenomena can not be separated from the change of our social life and the disconnection between education. Under such social conditions, it is particularly important to vigorously carry forward traditional filial piety. To promote traditional filial piety, we must first solve the problem of ideological understanding. This is because China is now in the transition period from a traditional society to a modern society, and some radical people are skeptical or even negative about whether the concept of filial piety, which once played a feudal moral role, can play an active role in the coordination of modern family ethics.
Four.
So, what is the basis and value of promoting the traditional virtue of filial piety in contemporary China?
Judging from the development of morality, socialist morality did not come into being out of thin air, but inherited and developed all the excellent human morality in the past. Socialist morality must be rooted in national traditional morality. Socialist morality is not a simple affirmation or negation, but a rejection of the bad and a choice of the best. Although traditional morality contains the content of class limitations of its era, it also has its inheritable content that can not be ignored. For example, the virtue of supporting and respecting parents in traditional filial piety is conducive to maintaining human race reproduction and meeting the needs of social productivity development, which has its objective material basis; On the other hand, it is conducive to harmonious family ties and the maintenance of human families, which is a natural expression of blood ties and has a subjective psychological basis. Another example is the virtue of respecting relatives and the elderly in traditional filial piety, which emphasizes "providing for the elderly" and regards filial piety as the foundation of benevolence. "Love" begins with loving parents, and then loving their people, their elders, their nation and their country. This natural affection for others conforms to the law of people's understanding and emotional development and is easily accepted by people. Imagine a person who doesn't even love his parents. How can he sincerely love others, his own nation and his own country? It can be seen that carrying forward the virtue of respecting relatives and the elderly is helpful to maintain social order and form a good social morality. Therefore, Confucius said that "he is also filial, but few people are prone to make mistakes" (The Analects of Confucius), and the Book of Filial Piety also said that "all ages are governed". It can be seen that the education of filial piety concept is the basis of maintaining a good social ethical order. However, in contemporary western countries where material civilization is highly developed and the rule of law is relatively sound, there are still phenomena such as a sharp increase in crime rate and a decline in the age of juvenile offenders, which is undoubtedly related to the imbalance between husband and wife, the collapse of family and the lack of education between father and son.
It can be seen that the traditional virtue of filial piety still plays an important and positive role in contemporary society, and there are many reasonable elements in the concept and behavior of filial piety worth exploring. We can't completely deny it just because it has some shortcomings. In this regard, Dr. Sun Yat-sen said in 1924: "Generally, people who are obsessed with the new culture reject the old morality, thinking that with the new culture, they can get rid of the old morality and don't know what we have. If it is good, of course, it must be saved. If it is bad, you can give it up. " "When it comes to filial piety, we China people are particularly good at it, especially much more advanced than other countries." "Too filial piety. Deeply influenced by Confucian culture, Singapore, South Korea, Japan and other eastern countries have given full play to the positive aspects of Confucian filial piety in the process of modernization. While developing material civilization, they have also made remarkable achievements in spiritual civilization construction. In the face of the phenomenon that China society does not care for and respect the elderly, and the achievements made by Singaporean, Korean, Japanese and other eastern countries in spiritual civilization construction, Dr. Sun Yat-sen's words cannot but arouse our deep thoughts.
In a word, based on the experience of other countries and the present situation of China, it is of great significance to analyze and agree with the traditional Confucian filial piety, absorb valuable and reasonable ideas, emphasize the virtue of "filial piety" in the family, and advocate the social atmosphere of supporting the elderly and respecting the elderly in the whole society, which will improve the living conditions of the elderly, stabilize social order and interpersonal relationships, and improve the moral quality of the whole nation.