Confucianism is the mainstream of traditional culture in China, and it is also the theoretical basis for maintaining the autocratic rule of feudal monarchs. Confucianism has influenced many countries in the world, especially East Asia and Southeast Asia, and Singapore even uses Confucianism to govern the country. Therefore, it is of far-reaching significance to inherit and carry forward the traditional culture of China.

(1) The background, formation, evolution and function of Confucianism.

① background

During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, China society was in the period of the collapse of slavery and the establishment of feudalism, and the history was undergoing epoch-making changes. With the decline of Zhou royal family and the hegemony of princes, Zhou Li, which maintained the patriarchal clan system of slave owners, was greatly destroyed. In the social turmoil. All walks of life have put forward their own views and opinions on social change, and put forward solutions to social practical problems, forming a situation in which a hundred schools of thought contend. Among them, Confucianism, France, Taoism and Mohism have the greatest influence. They each designed a set of plans for the class they represented to end the separatist regime and realize the unified rule of the country, which not only prospered the culture, but also laid the foundation for the choice of rule of the feudal society after Qin and Han Dynasties.

② Formation and development process

A. Spring and Autumn Period: Confucius was the founder of Confucianism. He put forward "benevolence" and advocated mediating harmonious social interpersonal relationships with kindness. It is a conservative part of Confucius' political thought to maintain the "ceremony" and advocate the "order" of nobility and inferiority. It is advocated that the people should be governed by virtue, and the rulers should cherish the people's strength, win the trust of the people, and be honest and clean. Politically, it advocates gradual improvement and "profit and loss" of the old law. Confucianism later developed into orthodoxy in China's ancient feudal culture.

B. Warring States Period: Mencius was a representative figure of Confucianism in the Warring States Period. He advocated benevolent government and put forward the idea of "valuing the people and despising the monarch"; Advocate "politics depends on the people" and oppose tyranny; It advocates giving farmers a certain amount of land, not infringing on farmers' working hours, and lenient punishment and thin taxes.

C. Western Han Dynasty: Dong Zhongshu established Neo-Confucianism on the basis of Confucianism, taking Yin-Yang and Five Elements as the framework and adopting a hundred schools of thought to contend. Its core is "the unity of heaven and man" and "the divine right of monarchy".

D. Song Dynasty: Neo-Confucianism, based on Confucianism, absorbed Buddhism and Taoism, and became the main philosophical thought in Song Dynasty. In the Southern Song Dynasty, Zhu was a master of the development of the theory of reason, and he put forward the idea of "preserving the principles of nature and eliminating human desires". This is actually defending the feudal hierarchical order.

E. Ming Dynasty: Neo-Confucianism evolved from objective idealism to subjective idealism, indicating that it went to extremes.

The Modern Value of Confucianism

The rational part of Confucianism: educational theory: teaching without distinction, combining learning with thinking, teaching students in accordance with their aptitude, etc. Ethics: filial piety, benevolence, honesty, etc. Socialist concept of honor and disgrace; Maintaining social stability: benevolence, rule by virtue, people-oriented thought, etc. (abolition of agricultural tax); Maintaining national unity: the idea of great unity (unifying the motherland); Personal cultivation: introspection and self-discipline, don't do to others what you don't want (8); Modern values: Confucian thought of great unity, people-oriented thought, enterprising spirit, sense of hardship, sense of historical mission, moral consciousness, sense of harmony, etc. Can be given a new era. It will play an important role in safeguarding the unity of the Chinese nation, establishing harmonious interpersonal relationships, enhancing the sense of historical mission and responsibility, seeking social harmony, developing and protecting the ecological environment. The concept of justice and benefit is conducive to improving the socialist market economic order. For example, I ching's vigorous spirit of "Heaven is powerful, and gentlemen strive for self-improvement", the quality of "The Three Armies can seize the position of commander in chief, but the ordinary man can't seize the ambition" advocated by The Analects of Confucius, and the historical mission of "A scholar should not be unfaithful and have a long way to go" put forward by Mencius, "The rich and the poor can't be moved, and the powerful and powerful can't be strong". In particular, it is more practical to emphasize the ideological tradition of unity. Another example is Mencius's "people are more valuable than the monarch" and Xunzi's "the monarch, the boat is also; Shu Ren, water also. The people-oriented thought that water can carry a boat and overturn it constitutes an important part of ancient Chinese political thought. Although the real connotation of "people-oriented" in ancient times is not and cannot be the interests of the people. Today, we can get rid of its feudal core, transform the ancient people-oriented thought from the perspective of the people being the masters of the country, and develop into a socialist concept in which the interests of the people are above everything else. The propositions of "self-cultivation" and "cultivation" put forward by Confucianism are still of practical significance in today's socialist market economy. Today, we still need to improve our self-cultivation and dedication to socialism. The dross in traditional culture must be denied and abandoned. For example, the female view of "three obedience and four virtues" and the feudal hierarchy view of "don't be condescending, be noble and humble".

The influence of Confucianism in the world: Confucianism has had a wide influence in the world and has become a symbol of China culture. Confucianism has a great influence in Japan, South Korea, Southeast Asia and even Europe. Voltaire, an enlightenment thinker, praised him greatly. Southeast Asia absorbed nutrition from the eastern and western cultures, rationally handled the cultural relations between the east and the west, and established an enviable "oriental industrial model" and "Confucian capitalism", which proved the modern value of Confucianism.