The dynasty in which Confucius lived was called the Eastern Zhou Dynasty in China, which began in Zhou Pingwang and ended in Zhou Nanwang, from 770 BC to 256 BC. Formerly known as the Western Zhou Dynasty, it started in Zhou Wuwang and ended in Zhou Youwang, and the period was about1/century BC to 77 1 year BC. At the end of the Western Zhou Dynasty, Zhou Youwang was corrupt, and various vassal states rose up in succession. Therefore, after the Emperor of Zhou moved from Pingtung to Wangdong, the King of Zhou was just a figurehead, unable to control the vassal state. It is precisely for this reason that the Eastern Zhou Dynasty is often divided into two periods by historians: the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. At present, 770 BC to 476 BC is generally divided into the Spring and Autumn Period, with a hundred schools of thought contending as its social feature. The Warring States period was from 475 BC to 22 BC1year, and China was unified by Qin, which was characterized by the annexation war of vassal states.
Confucius is a Miao descendant of Yin Shang. He himself said in the Book of Rites on Bows: "And Qiu is also a Yin person."
Zhou Wuwang destroyed the Shang Dynasty and sealed the word Wei in the Song Dynasty. Jia, the ancestor of Confucius and his father, was an imperial clan in the Song Dynasty. Because it has been more than five generations since the ancestor of the Song Dynasty, it was changed to Confucius'. According to the records of the first and second years of Huan Gong in Zuo Zhuan, Kong was killed by his father. Confucius' descendants fled to Lu for fear of persecution by Fahrenheit (Historical Records of Confucius' House in Search of Seclusion). Fang Shusheng, Sheng Gan, the father of Confucius, Kong Ge, Lu Daxia, a local official. Thus, Confucius became a Lu native.
Confucius' hometown, Song State, is the fief of descendants of Shang Dynasty. Lu is the place where Confucius lived since childhood and the fief of the son of the Duke of Zhou. Duke Zhou was the main maker of various rules and regulations in the Zhou Dynasty-Zhou Li. At the end of the Spring and Autumn Period, the rites and music (that is, the political system and culture) of various vassal States all perished, while Lu specially raised a group of "Confucianism" to teach the etiquette of the Western Zhou Dynasty and study the documents of laws and regulations. Therefore, Lu has the title of "the country of rites and music", and ministers and nobles of various countries often come to Lu to "watch the ceremony". Han of Jin State was hired to go to Lu State. Seeing that Lu State has rich ancient books and ancient social customs, he once exclaimed: "The ceremony of Zhou Dynasty is in Lu State!" ("Zuo Zhuan" Zhao Gong two years). Therefore, Confucius was deeply influenced by Zhou Li in his youth. There is a saying in Historical Records Confucius Family: "Confucius is a child's play, and the military is forbidden as a gift."
(Well, beans are vessels used to hold sacrifices during sacrifices. )
When Confucius was three years old, his father died and his family went into further decline. Therefore, in his youth, Confucius did something he thought was "humble": he was a drummer, a "field official" who looked after cattle and sheep, and a "commission official" who kept accounts. In The Analects of Confucius Zi Han, he said, "I can't be meaner, so I can be contemptuous."
At the age of 30, Confucius began to collect disciples to promote learning, which lasted for more than ten years. During this period, Confucius vigorously engaged in educational activities, and the Confucius Institute appeared "many disciples came from afar, and it was inevitable to leave their jobs" ("Historical Records Confucius Family"). This stage is the heyday of Confucius' private study.
At the age of 50, Confucius was appointed by Lu as Zhongduzai (local governor), promoted to (Minister of Industry) in the third year, became a great scout (Minister of Justice) in the fourth year, and once represented Lu Xiang.
Around these years, Confucius was politically proud.
Just three months after Confucius took the photo of Luxiang, the political situation in Lu changed dramatically, and Confucius was ousted by autocratic Ji and others. From then on, Confucius took his disciples to Wei, Chen, Song, Cai, Chu and other countries to preach the political system and culture of the Western Zhou Dynasty to officials and doctors from all over the world.
Confucius spent more than ten years in different countries, trying to practice his theory. However, due to the existence of the Zhou Dynasty in name only, the vassal states were busy developing and consolidating their spheres of influence. Confucius' efforts were fruitless after all, and his situation was just as Sima Qian said: "Rejecting Qi, chasing Song and Wei, and being trapped between Chen and Cai." (Historical Records Confucius Family)
In his later years, Confucius had to say disappointedly: "Before the wind birds arrived, the river didn't draw pictures, so I got married!" " (The Analects of Confucius Zi Han). At the age of sixty-eight, Confucius returned to Lu. On the one hand, he wrote a book, on the other hand, he continued to interfere in the political situation in Shandong. At the age of 72, Confucius passed away quietly.
The Analects of Confucius is a Confucian classic handed down from ancient times in China, and it is also a classic of traditional culture in China. Record the words and deeds of Confucius and his disciples in the form of quotations. Han Yi Wen Zhi said: "In The Analects of Confucius, Confucius responded to his disciples, talked with people and disciples, and heard Confucius' words. At that time, the master had his own notes. Because the master was a pawn and the disciples compiled it, it was called The Analects. "
The Analects of Confucius was written in the early Warring States period. By the early years of the Western Han Dynasty, there were three copies of The Analects. One is the Analects of Confucius, an ancient prose found by Wang on the wall of Confucius' former residence when Emperor Han Jing was emperor. I wrote 21 articles, and Yao Yuezhong Zhang Wen scored another one. The second is The Analects of Confucius, written in this article, with 22 articles, including Ask Your Know. The third is The Analects of Lu, which is also written by this article, with 20 articles.
At the end of the Western Han Dynasty, Zhang Yuxian, an Changhou, studied The Analects of Confucius, and later gave lectures on The Analects of Confucius, combining the two books into one. This is the first time to sort out and revise the Analects of Confucius, and two articles, Ask Your Knowledge, were deleted, numbered as Zhang Houlun. Because yu zhang was the master of Emperor Han, his position was prominent, and this book was highly praised by Confucian scholars at that time.
At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Zheng Xuan, a great scholar, took Zhang Houlun as the basis and made comments with reference to The Analects of Confucius and The Analects of Confucius. This is the second revision of The Analects of Confucius and the ancestor of the current edition.
Han people regard The Analects of Confucius as a biography, and Emperor Wen of Han set up a doctor of biography to teach The Analects of Confucius, which became a specialized subject. Like the Book of Filial Piety, it is a must-read enlightenment book for scholars. In the Eastern Han Dynasty, it was listed as one of the "Seven Classics". After Wei and Jin Dynasties, The Analects of Confucius was also listed as a scholar and was taught by a doctor. The Analects of Confucius, Mencius, Daxue and The Doctrine of the Mean are four books of Zhu Ji in the Southern Song Dynasty, and their chapters and sentences are annotated. After Zhu's death, the imperial court listed his Notes on Four Books and Sentences as a scholar in parallel with the Five Classics. From Yuan Renzong to the Ming and Qing Dynasties, it was officially designated as a compulsory textbook for imperial examinations. In order to gain fame, literati satirize and recite day after day, which has far-reaching influence.
From ancient times to the present, there are many people who study and annotate The Analects. According to statistics, there are more than 3,000 kinds of Analects of Confucius, mainly including Yan's Analects, Liang's Lun Shu, Song and Xing Bing's Analects, Zhu's Analects, Qing and Liu Baonan's Analects, and modern and Qian Mu's Analects.
China's traditional culture is dominated by Confucianism. For more than 2,500 years, Confucius and The Analects of Confucius have been infiltrating and influencing China people's moral quality, outlook on life, psychological structure and customs, but this is not the beginning of China's traditional culture.
It must be explained first: the culture to be discussed here refers to the world outlook, outlook on life, values and the political, marriage and moral principles determined by them. No matter what the content of these principles is, their formation is the fundamental symbol of human beings entering the civilized era from the era of ignorance and barbarism. At the same time, the era of civilization is a process in which culture is constantly approaching the ultimate perfection.
The age of human ignorance is the sleeping period of human culture. Its mode of production mainly depends on nature, the marriage form is mainly group marriage between the two sexes, and the lineage is divided according to matriarchal system. Sexual relations gradually exclude sexual intercourse between parents and children, and between sisters and brothers. The primitive religious sprout of respecting heaven.
The barbaric era of human beings is a period of human cultural recovery. Its mode of production is mainly the use of nature, the form of marriage is mainly polygamy, and the lineage is divided according to the paternal system. Family entities began to form. The totem of religious belief appeared.
The era of human civilization is the period of the formation and development of human culture. Its mode of production is mainly to transform nature and deepen it, and its marriage form is mainly monogamy. Coexisting polygamy is the privilege of the rich and powerful, and the lineage division continues to follow the paternal system. Family entities began to consolidate. Religious activities of worshipping heaven have further developed, and public power organizations and codes of conduct have begun to take shape. At the same time, the emergence of art, the gestation of love and the germination of ideas are a new starting point for the development of civilization.
The formation of every nation in the world has generally experienced such a development process in culture, but the duration of each stage is different.
The history of Chinese civilization can be traced back to around 2600 BC, and the Yellow Emperor established an authoritative tribe in the Central Plains. However, this stage is only the beginning of the people in this area from the blood clan society to the tribal ethnic society. The Yellow Emperor is called the humanistic ancestor of the Chinese nation, which only means the germination of the nation and culture. After that, it passed through Zhuan Xu, Yao and Shun, and ended around 2200 BC and began at 2 100 BC. The situation in these 400 years was basically the same, and it was still in the transitional stage from barbarism to civilization. The organs of power are composed of clan leaders who are respected by nature, so they are collectively called the Five Emperors era in China. In the cultural stage, it can be called the initial stage of China traditional culture.
The Xia Dynasty lasted about 400 years from the end of 2200 BC to the beginning of 2 100 BC. Known as the first dynasty of China because of its true national characteristics, it has the title of country name for the first time. The state is not a force imposed on the society from the outside, but a force that comes into being at a certain stage in order to coordinate the conflicts and interests of various social relations, but is above the society and increasingly divorced from it. The difference between the state and the old clan and tribal organizations is that citizens are divided according to regions, public power and armed forces are established, and citizens pay taxes. As the Xia Dynasty was the first time that China was founded, the political system was still in the stage of gradual improvement. Although it is an autocratic system in essence, the hereditary system of power has not yet been formed because it is the product of a society naturally elected by clans and tribes. In addition, people's primitive worship of heaven is still very strong, and people's worship of state power has not yet reached its peak. On the cultural stage, it can be called the growth period of China traditional culture.
The Shang Dynasty lasted about 600 years from about 1700 BC to about 1 100 BC. This stage is a period in which China's state machine is gradually improved, power worship is rising day by day, and patrilineal hereditary autocracy is finally consolidated. Because officials hold the power of public and taxation, they are above the society as social organs. In the past, people's free and voluntary respect for the organs of the clan system, even if they could get it, could not satisfy them; As power representatives who are increasingly divorced from society, they must use special laws to gain respect.
But at this time, the most powerful princes may also envy the indisputable respect enjoyed by the most ordinary clan leaders, which is not obtained by coercive means. The latter is standing in the society, while the former should strive to become something outside and above the society. So at this time, the imposed ideology of worshipping the king began to transcend the original religious consciousness of respecting heaven, and the king was promoted to the lofty position of the son of heaven. In the cultural stage, it can be called the maturity of China traditional culture.
After the Zhou Dynasty destroyed the merchants and unified China, Duke Zhou engaged in rites and music, hoping that different nationalities could live in harmony through the culture of rites and music. In addition, Duke Zhou also emphasized two spirits: "pro" and "respect". "Pro" means loving the people we love, attaching importance to filial piety, family and marriage. "Respect" means to respect people who deserve our respect, and at the same time, it also derives a special concept of class. All these are reflected in the Book of Rites written by Duke Zhou, which is a book that records official positions and laws and regulations. At the end of the Western Han Dynasty, it was listed as a classic and belonged to the ceremony, so it was named The Book of Rites, which was divided into Tianguan, Diguan, Guan Chun, Xiaguan, Qiu Guan and Dongguan.
After the Western Zhou Dynasty, the power of the Zhou Emperor failed to unify all ethnic groups, and China's political system fell apart. The local forces annexed each other and attacked each other, which led to the chaos in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, and the social and political unity and harmony were completely lost. In this case, various ideals and philosophical thoughts of self-cultivation and governing the country will follow.
Confucianism represented by Confucius first appeared under this background, and its ideological structure can be summarized by loyalty, filial piety and benevolence. Among them, "filial piety" is fundamental and maintains the basic ethics of the family; Loyalty is the upward expansion of filial piety, and the monarch is the parents of the whole country; "Righteousness" is the horizontal expansion of family ethics; "Benevolence" is the responsibility and obligation of monarch officials or family elders. In the final analysis, these four behaviors are "rites", which originated from "Zhou Li". Confucius constantly emphasized this point in the whole Analects. So it is not accurate to say that Confucius founded the traditional culture of China. What Confucius did was to systematically sort out and summarize the social outlook on life represented by Zhou Li on the basis of advocating Liv.
Therefore, the traditional culture of China should start from the Duke of Zhou and be marked by "Zhou Li". Confucius and The Analects of Confucius are just their renovations.
In essence, the traditional culture of China, like the early cultures of other nationalities in the world, is the inevitable result of the natural development of human beings. It marks that human beings have entered an orderly society with the definition of good and evil from a barbaric society without the concept of good and evil. The so-called barbarian state without the concept of good and evil refers to the behavior state in which human beings only consider the survival of individuals and have no constraints on any human behavior; The so-called orderly society with the definition of good and evil refers to the behavior state of human beings to maintain the self-survival of groups. Human behavior is constrained, constrained behavior is defined as evil behavior, and advocated behavior is defined as good behavior. This is the first civilization. The characteristic of the first civilization is that the standards and norms of relative good and evil formulated to safeguard the interests of rulers and social stability exceeded the absolute definition of good and evil by human nature itself. When the relative standard of good and evil is consistent with the absolute definition of good and evil, the society is harmonious; When the relative standard of good and evil is far from the absolute definition of good and evil, society is disorderly. This is the primary stage that human beings need to go through from barbarians to advanced civilizations.
Of course, Confucius' contribution to the formation of traditional culture in China, the primary stage of China society, is undeniable, but it should be pointed out that it was not Confucius and his theory that led to this change in China society.
In the Western Zhou Dynasty before Confucius, China's traditional culture and corresponding political system had been perfected. The social unrest at the end of the Western Zhou Dynasty only resulted in the temporary collapse of rites and music, with no order and culture, because of the separatist regime of the Zhou Dynasty and the struggle of local forces. Faced with this chaotic situation, Confucius began to think and explore the way of governing the country. However, Confucius did not fundamentally explore the cultural reasons for the social chaos in the late Western Zhou Dynasty at first. On the contrary, he put forward his own understanding of various problems on the premise of taking the Western Zhou Dynasty as an ideal society. There is no new breakthrough in these understandings, so there are only two words "Fu Li"-Fu Li! In the Analects of Confucius, he made no secret of this. Confucius' labor is only his high generalization of China's traditional culture, which is also the reason why The Analects surpassed Zhou Li to become a classic of China's traditional culture.
Here, we can't help but mention a viewpoint about human nature in China's traditional culture, that is, Confucius has always been implied in The Analects of Confucius, which was later clearly expressed by Mencius and written into the first sentence of Sanzijing, a textbook for ancient children in China, that is, the theory of good nature. The theory of good nature does not fully affirm the evil side of human nature, which leads everyone to think that they are good, and evil is influenced by the outside world, thus forming a hypocrite interpersonal relationship in which everyone blames each other.
More importantly, the theory of "human nature is good" does not admit its own malignant elements and tries its best to eliminate external constraints, so there will be no system of checks and balances in politics after all. Pyramid-shaped authoritarian politics must be the product of this culture, and entrusting all-powerful and all-good people to take charge of this politics will inevitably become the only way for this kind of politics to run well. Confucius' thought of "filial piety, loyalty, benevolence and righteousness" and his call for a virtuous monarch can be said to be the theoretical weapon for establishing and maintaining this political system.
However, there is no omnipotent and all-good person, and there are good and evil in human nature. This is not difficult to know as long as you really face yourself and think. When a person's power reaches an unfettered position, his malice will expand and show. This is the human reason for the periodic fluctuation of political entities that govern the country simply by virtue.
At the end of the Western Zhou Dynasty, the separatist regime of Zhou Dynasty and the struggle of local forces, as well as the previous dynasty changes, could not escape such cultural reasons. Confucius' thought didn't go deep into this point, and he didn't stand at the height of philosophy and history, discussing the laws of nature, reflecting on social phenomena, understanding the meaning of life and understanding the way of life, which was related to the cultural background of his family and his ambition to change the declining situation and return to the nobility.
Maybe we can't look at and ask Confucius from the present perspective? This reminds us of Laozi, who lived roughly at the same time as Confucius, earlier than Confucius. Facing the same social reality, he established a brand-new ideological system more profoundly than Confucius.
Lao Zi, Lao Dan, mentioned in Historical Records, was from Yunxian County, Chu at the end of the Spring and Autumn Period. He used to be a historian of Zhou royal management books. His knowledge was "self-improvement through inaction, purity and self-correction", which had a high reputation at that time. Later, because he was dissatisfied with the reality of social unrest, he didn't know what to do and quietly retired. He was the founder of Taoism, which was one of the main ideas in the pre-Qin period. Tao Te Ching is the main carrier of his theory.
All of Laozi's thoughts and theories can be summarized by the words "Tao" and "Morality". "Tao" exists before matter and is higher than matter. It is not only the general source of all things in the world, but also the general law that restricts the movement and development of all things in the universe. It is eternal, infinite, indescribable, imperceptible to the senses and has the supreme status. This fundamental attribute of Tao determines that human social activities are only the evolution and extension of Tao. "Virtue" is the basic feature and external expression of "Tao". Excellent virtue goes with the flow and does not deliberately show its "virtue"; Take the virtue of hitchhiking, make a difference, and deliberately show its "virtue." The superior benevolent did something, but he didn't consciously show his "benevolence". The superior benevolent did something, consciously showing his "righteousness" and good manners, but when he didn't get a response, he rolled up his sleeves and stretched out his arms to force people to obey. Therefore, there is virtue after the loss of Tao, benevolence after the loss of virtue, righteousness after the loss of benevolence, and courtesy after the loss of righteousness. The so-called "ceremony" is the lack of loyalty and the beginning of disaster. The so-called foresight is nothing but the vanity of Tao and the beginning of ignorance.
Therefore, the gentleman stands firm and upright, not thin, and pursues the simplicity of content and the vanity of form. Therefore, we should abandon the frivolous "ceremony" and adopt honest and simple "Tao" and "virtue" (See Chapters 1 and 38 of Tao Te Ching)
Laozi put forward an ideal political model from his own social and political view. He said: The best way to govern is to make people vaguely aware of its looming existence. The second kind of rule is that people praise it.
The second kind of rule is that people are afraid of it. The worst way to govern is that people despise it. If there is something unbelievable, something unbelievable will happen. The best ruler is carefree. He never gives orders easily. Therefore, the cause is successful, and the people say, "We used to be like this." (See Chapter 17 of Tao Te Ching)
Comparing Confucius with Laozi, Confucius only established some social regulations and clauses, and eventually became a moral norm, while Laozi naturally came to the proper state of society from the root of everything, so Confucius was called a thinker and Laozi was called a philosopher. In this regard, China people's view so far is that Confucius' Confucianism emphasizes "joining the WTO" and Laozi's Taoism emphasizes "being born", so Confucius' advocacy of people's confident participation in social life is positive, while Laozi's helplessness in leading people out of social life is negative. This view is too superficial! As long as we pay attention to people's expectations of "human rights, democracy, equality, freedom and fraternity", we will understand what kind of world Confucius wants to enter, what kind of world Laozi wants to enter, and what kind of world Confucius didn't expect and Laozi wants to enter.
However, the two thoughts produced at the same time have resulted in the following results: Confucius' Confucianism has become the mainstream of China's traditional culture, while Laozi's Taoist thought is just a feeling of masturbation that most people in China feel lost.
This also formed the attitude of China people towards life (or escaped into the door of Buddhism introduced to China in the later period), that is, learn Confucianism from the world first, or return to the world if it fails. This is natural. It seems too early for people to further accept Laozi's thought in such a distant era that mankind has just got rid of barbarians and entered the first civilization. Laozi's thought has only really realized its value so far.
However, the initial fate of Confucius' Confucianism was not very good. The situation is as Sima Qian said: "Rejected by Qi, driven by Song and Wei, trapped between Chen and Cai." (Historical Records Confucius Family). This situation is not what is usually said: Confucius lived in China at a historical turning point when slavery collapsed and feudalism flourished. In order to revive the ruined slave country, Confucius ran around all his life, so he was abandoned by the so-called emerging feudal lords at that time. In fact, Confucius mainly emphasized China's mature traditional cultural concept, which he wanted to use to deal with the chaotic political situation. However, at the end of the Western Zhou Dynasty, the vassal states were busy striving for hegemony, and Confucius did not directly help their political and military struggle, so Confucius was ignored by the rulers at that time.
In 22 1 BC, Qin Shihuang unified China, ending the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, which lasted for 550 years. However, the fate of Confucius and Confucianism has not been improved, and the incident of "burning books to bury Confucianism" by Qin Shihuang made Confucian scholars suffer the first disaster in history. Those who affirmed this incident said that Qin Shihuang was a progressive feudal politician and Confucianism was a backward reactionary force; Those who deny this incident say that Qin Shihuang practiced ignorance and tyranny and cracked down on knowledgeable scholars. The former holds Qin Shihuang high, while the latter holds Confucian scholars high. The background of this disaster is actually very simple: after Qin Shihuang unified China, Confucian scholars strongly advocated the implementation of the "enfeoffment system" of the Zhou Dynasty in order to gain the hereditary power of the nobility, while Qin Shihuang wanted to strengthen centralization and weaken local independence, so as not to repeat the mistakes of the demise of the Zhou Dynasty, so he implemented the "county system" which historians called progress in China, and Confucian scholars also suffered greatly because of Qin Shihuang's cruelty. Qin Shihuang thought that this extremely autocratic high-pressure centralized political structure was absolutely stable and the imperial power could be passed on to future generations. But he didn't expect that Chen Sheng, who shouted "princes would rather have seeds" in the field, shattered his dream and made the Qin Dynasty perish after only 15 years, becoming one of the few short-lived dynasties in the history of China. But it is precisely because of this that Confucius' Confucianism ushered in the opportunity of resurrection.
In 206 BC, Liu Bang established the Han Dynasty in China. The history of the Han Dynasty is divided into the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC-25 AD) and the Eastern Han Dynasty (25 AD-220 AD). In the early years of the Western Han Dynasty, when Emperor Han Jing was in power, Wang Liuyu of the Principality of Lu discovered the ancient Analects of Confucius in the wall of Confucius' former residence, and Confucius' Confucian thoughts began to receive official attention. At the end of the Western Han Dynasty, Zhang Yuxian, an Changhou, studied The Analects of Confucius, and later gave lectures on The Analects of Confucius, combining the two books into one. This is the first time to sort out and revise the Analects of Confucius, and two articles, Ask Your Knowledge, were deleted, numbered as Zhang Houlun. Because yu zhang was the master of Emperor Han, his position was prominent, and this book was highly praised by Confucian scholars at that time. At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Zheng Xuan, a great scholar, took Zhang Houlun as the basis and made comments with reference to The Analects of Confucius and The Analects of Confucius. This is the second revision of The Analects of Confucius and the ancestor of the current edition. Han people regard The Analects of Confucius as a biography, and Emperor Wen of Han set up a doctor of biography to teach The Analects of Confucius, which became a specialized subject. Like the Book of Filial Piety, it is a must-read enlightenment book for scholars. In the Eastern Han Dynasty, it was listed as one of the "Seven Classics".
The Han Dynasty attached so much importance to Confucianism that Confucius left "benevolence" as the source of "morality", which was undoubtedly the evil result of Qin tyranny.
Be affirmed. More importantly, Confucius' ideological system of "filial piety, loyalty, benevolence and righteousness" is essentially a cultural weapon to establish and maintain the political system in which a few people rule the majority. It also shows that the neglect of Confucius' travel in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty and the tragic experience of Confucian students in the Qin Dynasty are purely political rather than cultural reasons. It can only be said that Confucius was born at a bad time and did not meet a good master. But Confucius should be able to predict that his ideal will be realized by future generations, because human nature is not good, everyone wants to monopolize and rule others, and his theory is far better than knives, guns and sticks. Therefore, the history of China since then is that no matter how the China dynasty changed and how the emperors changed, it was only a political and military struggle between the rulers and the ruled, and between the local and foreign countries, and the culture has not changed. Confucius' tablet of sages has always been enshrined in temples filled with incense. Let's see, after the Han Dynasty entered the Wei and Jin Dynasties through the Three Kingdoms, The Analects of Confucius was listed as a scholar and was taught by a doctor. The Analects of Confucius, Mencius, Daxue and The Doctrine of the Mean are four books of Zhu Ji in the Southern Song Dynasty, and their chapters and sentences are annotated. After Zhu's death, the imperial court listed his Notes on Four Books and Sentences as a scholar in parallel with the Five Classics. From Yuan Renzong to the Ming and Qing Dynasties, it was officially designated as a compulsory textbook for imperial examinations. In order to gain fame, literati satirize and recite day after day, which has far-reaching influence.
On this basis, some people think that the formation of China's traditional culture should be counted from the Han Dynasty, not only because of the vigorous rise of Confucius and Confucianism, but also because of the appellation of the Han nationality. This view is too superficial. There is no essential difference between China dynasty before Confucius and China dynasty after Confucius in people's world outlook, outlook on life, values and principles of politics, marriage and morality. It belongs to the three cardinal principles (the way of monarch and minister, the way of father and son, and the way of husband and wife), and it comes down in one continuous line. The only difference is the constant change of country names and emperors. The law of this change is mostly "the prosperity of benevolence and honesty, the decline of violence and corruption" For example, Xia Xing was a neutral country in Dayu's benevolent policy, and eventually declined in the rebellion and returned to his old job. For example, Shang Yang founded the country with benevolence, and finally declined in violence and returned to Zhou. This period of Han Dynasty in China can be regarded as the traditional culture of China, that is, the heyday of the first civilization in China society, which also promoted the development of all aspects of society to some extent. At the same time, its internal contradictions were exposed and appeared repeatedly in similar dynasties in the later period, resulting in a vicious circle and stagnation of society.
We noticed that the Han Dynasty in China spanned the special era of the first year of AD. At this time, because of the birth of Jesus Christ, the west began a new era of Christianity's comprehensive influence on western culture, marking the beginning of the first civilization and the second civilization in western society. The characteristics of the second civilization are: cultural repentance and corresponding political structure thinking based on the profound understanding of human evil; Establish the concept that the definition of absolute good and evil is higher than the standard of relative good and evil; Pursuing natural human rights, equality, freedom and fraternity; Practice monogamy that embodies equality between men and women.
Western culture based on Christianity has greatly promoted the revival of Europe and America. At the same time, with the increasing globalization of Christianity, western science and rationality, democracy and human rights culture have also entered every corner of the world.
1840, when the Opium War broke out, when the people of China faced the western gunboats with braids, foot-binding, broadswords and spears, the people of China suddenly woke up from the stable sleep of the first civilization. With the large-scale introduction of Christianity and its western culture, the traditional Confucian culture in China has been fundamentally shaken. Finally, in 19 12, Sun Yat-sen, who advocated "democracy, civil rights and people's livelihood", led the China revolution to victory, overthrew the Qing Dynasty and established the Republic of China. China's traditional political system, which lasted for more than two thousand years, officially ended. This regime change is a political revolution based on the Cultural Revolution.
However, men's braids are easy to cut and women's foot-binding is easy to put, but the long-term precipitation of China traditional culture in people's hearts is not easy to remove. Therefore, Yuan Shikai's restoration, warlords' scuffle and constant foreign invasion made China fall into troubled times again, and its situation was by no means inferior to that of Confucius in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty.
Under such a special historical situation, the May 4th New Culture Movement rose. The May 4th New Culture Movement was a cultural enlightenment movement centered on New Youth magazine from 19 15 to 1923, and its basic slogan was "democracy and science". It destroyed the traditional culture of China, which was still dominant in China society at that time, and at the same time, it grew and spread many new ideas, new cultures and new ethics. "Down with Kongjiadian" and "All evils and filial piety" are radical slogans in this movement. As the enlightenment movement in China, the May 4th New Culture Movement was the most prosperous sturm und drang era in modern China, and it was the starting point for China's first civilization to move towards the second civilization.
The outstanding representative of this cultural and ideological movement is Lu Xun. Lu Xun chose literature career, devoted himself to the ideological enlightenment work of transforming society and improving life, and put the pursuit of human personality liberation and the exploration of the root of national ignorance and weakness on the fundamental way of "founding the country" in order to enlighten people's awakening. The profundity of Lu Xun's thought lies in that while many revolutionaries are keen on narrow racial revolution and lay particular stress on political revolution, which has caused the disease of "parliamentary fans", Lu Xun attaches great importance to human values and social functions. He not only stopped at the political revolution, but also emphasized the ideological revolution.
Lu Xun's ideal of "establishing a people's country" is a theoretical program against China's traditional culture's long-term imprisonment of people's thoughts and suppression of the healthy development of human nature. The ultimate goal of this program is to transform China into a country with the most ideal human nature. Lu Xun pointed out that "China now has many dual morals, master and slave, male and female, all with different morals, and there is no unification yet" (On the Grave, Foyi should go slow), which can be said to be a profound summary of China's traditional culture. The appearance of Lu Xun, his lofty position and outstanding contribution in the revolutionary history of modern China, marked that the long history of cultural development in China entered a "new historical era".
However, China's modernization process did not develop on this basis, because the upsurge of nationalism caused by the crisis of foreign aggression made China people avoid reflecting on the inferiority of their traditional culture.
In the autumn of national survival, striving for national independence has naturally become a political slogan with great appeal. At the same time, because Russian Lenin turned Marxism into the ideology of non-western colonies resisting the western suzerain, it was introduced to China after the October Revolution in Russia, which fascinated some May 4th elites, such as Chen Duxiu. Because it is the latest "science" from the west,