As a kind of personality ideal and political ideal, "sage inside and king outside" emphasizes self-cultivation under the established social system, and does not require the construction and perfection of the external social system, that is, it requires the improvement of its spiritual level, but does not require the external system to protect the body. Compared with the western democratic, constitutional and liberal systems, the role of "inner sage and outer king" is to help the world through inner cultivation, so as to realize personal ideals and help the society, and then realize the traditional political ideal of China's kingly society. In the feudal society of China, due to the autocratic imperial power leading to the rule of man but not the rule of law, and the lack of checks and balances and the injustice of social system construction, it is difficult to implement it, and it often appears that "the sage inside is not king, and the king outside is not king".

"The sage outside is the king inside", that is, Confucianism is the foundation of the country, Legalism is the way to govern the country, and Huang Lao's learning is supplemented. According to Volume 27 of Zi Tong Zhi Jian, the Crown Prince (Emperor Han Yuan) is kind-hearted and good at moral codes. Seeing that there are many grammarians in the world, he took the punishment rope and tasted Shi Yan's leisurely words: "Your majesty's punishment is too deep, it is better to use Confucian scholars." Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty (Xuan Di) said: "The Han family has its own system, which is based on dominating others. Why do you only teach morality and use Zhou Zheng? Moreover, vulgar Confucianism is out of date, and it is not today, which makes people dazzled by name and reality. I don't know what to keep, so why use it! " But he sighed and said, "The prince is also a troublemaker in my family!

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1, "The sage inside and the king outside" originated from the Taoist saying that "the sage's life and the king's success all come from one (Tao)", which was later adopted by Confucianism and endowed with new connotations. The so-called "sage inside and king outside" means the virtue of being sage inside and king outside.

2. From the perspective of Confucian teaching thought and system, we should start from the "three programs" of life (showing morality, being close to the people, and stopping at perfection) and take the "eight items" (respecting things, knowing things, being honest, being upright, cultivating oneself, keeping the family in order, governing the country, and leveling the world) as the learning ladder. In short, "inner holiness" means self-cultivation, which is the spiritual pursuit of self-cultivation and self-cultivation; "Being a foreign king", that is, managing the family, governing the country and leveling the world, is the life ambition to achieve great things. Among them, self-cultivation is the foundation and governing the country is the purpose.

3. Only through continuous learning and seeking knowledge can people understand the laws of all things and the truth of being a man. Only by understanding the truth can they standardize their behavior in the moral category, thus establishing a correct outlook on life and world, stopping selfish greed, curbing nausea and delusion, and making them surrender to goodness and reach the highest state of perfection. Once you take morality as the foundation of self-cultivation, take Xiu De as your pleasure, take morality first, and take morality, morality, morality and tiredness as your religion, your heart will be quiet, keep pace with the times and let nature take its course, and you will have great freedom in your heart. When you are calm, you can think carefully. When you think carefully, you will be neither aggressive nor timid, and you will be impeccable.

At the same time, if people have a deep understanding of everything, they will have a clear understanding of physical attributes and body and mind, so as to have a correct understanding of their psychological state and make targeted compensation for the deficiencies in innate nature and acquired habits. Knowing everything, we can look at everything in the world with a clear mind and a wide vision, and we will not be confused by secular thoughts, nor will we do stupid and ignorant behaviors.