After the death of Confucius, many changes have taken place in Confucianism: "Han Feizi Xianxue" says that "Confucianism is divided into eight"; After the Qin fire, the loss of Confucian classics was serious. However, there are not many records in Hanshu Yiwenzhi, and most of them were lost later. With the impact of the ideological trend of suspecting the ancient times in the late Qing Dynasty, some remaining classics were doubted and denied, so "the early Confucian tradition was in ignorance" [1], especially between Confucius and Mencius.
In fact, Confucius was from the second half of the 6th century BC to the early 5th century BC (-55 1 year -479). His disciples, that is, seventy sons, lasted until the first half of the 5th century, such as Ceng Zi (-505-436). Its re-transmission, namely seventy disciples, was in the middle and late 5th century, such as Zi Si (-483-402). Mencius and his seventy disciples were separated by another world, such as Zi Shang (the son of Zi Si)-429-383 in the middle and late 4th century. Mencius was born in -390-305. Many people in the Han Dynasty mistakenly thought that Mencius was a disciple of Zisi, which was wrong. Historical Records says that Mencius is a disciple of Zi Si, which is correct [2].
Mr. Li Xueqin, the chief scientist expert group leader of the national "Xia, Shang and Zhou Dynasties Dating Project" and "Chinese Civilization Traceability Project", pointed out that the so-called "Confucianism is divided into eight" in Han Feizi's Xianxue, "it is not eight contemporary families, but eight scholars of different generations, each with its own trend." [1] Not only that, Han Feizi did not involve Confucius' Yi-ology at all.
Ideological inheritance
Confucius is old and easy to pass on (Yi Chuan). In the words of Mr. Li Xueqin, "Confucius loved Zhouyi very much in his later years, and he himself wrote the Book of Changes (at least part of it)."
Mencius inherited and developed Confucius' thought of Yi-ology. "The' benevolence' that Confucius talked about before writing the Book of Changes is not a ritual preaching that will understand the way of heaven and earth. The' humanity' mentioned in Yi Zhuan refers to the humanity realized after understanding the talents of heaven and earth. " [4] Confucius created the category of benevolence and righteousness in his Philosophy of Zhouyi. Lectures on Confucius' Benevolence and Mencius. Benevolence and righteousness are a pair of contradictions, and righteousness is the restraint of benevolence. This is the theoretical basis for Mencius to denounce Mozi's "universal love". First of all; Mencius' theory of "goodness of nature" comes from Yi Zhuan's assertion that "one yin and one yang are the Tao, and the winner is also good, and the winner is also human". Hang Xinzhai has a unique understanding of the origin of Mencius and Yi-ology. He said: "Mencius, after Confucius, is the first of seven articles, that is, revealing the great purpose of benevolence and righteousness and returning to goodness." Confucius' way of establishing people, that is, benevolence and righteousness, is the direct line of inheriting goodness. See Mencius doesn't know "Yi"! "[5] second; "Meng Si School" created Confucius' thought of Yi-ology. The Book of Changes is famous for studying emperors. The Book of Changes has solved the problem of governing the country, and Huangdi Neijing has solved the problem of treating diseases. It is the theory of "Five Elements of Virtue" of Meng Si School and has solved the problem of treating diseases. The appearance of Five Elements in Mawangdui silk script and Five Elements in Guodian bamboo slips just made up for the missing theoretical connection between Confucius and Mencius. This link is Xunzi's theory of five elements of virtue, which is called "according to the old", "eccentric without class" and "closed without solution" Meng Si School summarized the five elements of virtue theory as benevolence, righteousness, courtesy, wisdom and faith. Righteousness and wisdom are festivals of benevolence and propriety. "Saint" refers to the ability to understand Heaven. "Meng Si School tried to introduce numerology into Confucianism and held high the banner of' humanitarianism', which proved that it tried to philosophize Confucian moral projects with natural philosophy and life philosophy. Its theoretical courage is enormous, and its influence on the way of thinking of China people is far-reaching, even its influence on the development process of ancient China society is far-reaching. From then on, I really embarked on a glorious course of treating diseases for the country and the people. Mencius once said that' there must be a king in five hundred years', which implied the meaning of alternating the beginning and the end. From this perspective, it should be the first time that the Meng Si School opened the' Five Virtues General Theory'. "
Mencius' people-oriented thought is the development of Confucius' revolutionary thought in the Book of Changes. People can change the life of a ruthless emperor. Mencius' thought of "valuing the people over the monarch" is the theoretical basis of Locke's thought of "natural human rights". "Locke's theory of natural rights is a variant of Mencius' theory of revolutionary rights. "