Abstract: Laozi's thought of benevolence and righteousness is based on Tao. All benign interactions between yin and yang are manifestations of "benevolence". All human value judgments converge on the suitability of "social welfare and ethical knowledge", which is the expression of "righteousness". Laozi believes that "benevolence and righteousness" is an artificial moral norm that appears after the road of human society is ignored. Therefore, only from the perspective of "Tao" can we discuss the grades of moral benevolence, righteousness, propriety and righteousness and the differences between them.
Keywords: Laozi, benevolence, Taoism, etiquette, morality
The second paragraph of Taiji Diagram of Zhou Lian Creek says: "Only people can get the greatest beauty. Metamorphosis, heaven knows, five sexual movements, good and evil. Everything comes out, the sage is defined as righteousness, and the Lord is quiet and makes people come out. So saints and heaven and earth and their virtues, sun and moon and their brightness, four seasons and their order, ghosts and gods and their good and bad luck. A gentleman's blessing is a villain's evil. Therefore, the way to establish heaven is yin and yang; The way to stand on one's feet, softness with rigidity; The way to establish a person lies in benevolence and righteousness. Again, primitive people are against the end point, so we know the statement of life and death. It is easy to be big, and it is the best! " Influenced by the Zhou family, the ethical central idea of Harmony is also benevolence and righteousness.
On the other hand, Laozi is the main source of China's philosophy; Buddhism is grafted on China's philosophy, and its root is Zhuangzi's philosophy; Western learning is grafted on China's philosophy, and its root is Laozi's philosophy. Dialectics was grafted on China's dialectics, all of which came from Laozi. Laozi's highest principle is that Tao is natural, which is based on a unique book, but it is not without * * * phase (that is, Tao). The mainstream of Neo-Confucianism is based on a unique * * * phase (namely Tao), but it is not without its unique phase. Therefore, it should be of new significance to look at the ethical center of benevolence and neo-Confucianism in the Book of Changes from Laozi's Tao Te Ching.
First, the meaning of benevolence and righteousness
Shuowen pointed out: "Benevolence, pro-also, from two people." Paragraph note: "Independence means no couple, and even is a blind date, so the word comes from the second person." It can be seen that benevolence refers to interpersonal ethical relations. Since Confucius, Confucianism has systematically expounded benevolence, taking people's blood feelings as a reasonable starting point, extending the principle of loyalty and forgiveness to social interpersonal relationships, and holding that benevolence is people's inner psychological feelings and conscious moral ideology. The nature and function of benevolence are twofold. On the one hand, benevolence is poor (belonging to Yang), and the ceremony of patriarchal clan system is the standard of benevolence; On the other hand, there is a tendency to attach importance to the people in terms of benevolence (belonging to yin), demanding pity and kindness for the people and opposing tyranny and abuse of the people.
There are thirty-nine meanings in Zhouyi and four meanings in Yi Zhuan: Yi Yi. Gan's ancient prose said: "the benefit is the sum of righteousness" and "the benefit is enough to be harmonious". "Zhouyi. Need "also says:" need, need, the risk is ahead. Strong but not sleepy, its meaning is not sleepy but poor! " This idea supports the author's view that human value judgment should converge to the suitability of social welfare in the neo-Confucian large-scale system theory. The second is meaning and meaning, which has nothing to do with the inference of this paper. The third is the truth and the right to speak, which have a shallow relationship with the inference of this paper. Fourth, moral norms are often used with Tao, benevolence and propriety. "Cohesion. "Upload" said: "Take the existence of nature (referring to everything in the universe and the' Yi' that reflects everything in the universe) as the moral door." "Cohesion. "Biography" said: "It is not right to ban the people." "Shuo Gua Zhuan" said: "The way to establish a person is benevolence and righteousness." "Preface hexagrams. "Biography" said: "There are ups and downs, and then there are problems with etiquette." This meaning can obviously be combined with "social ethics and social welfare".
According to the author's theory of neo-Confucianism (that is, Tai Chi is infinite, the initiative of Tai Chi gives birth to two instruments of heaven and earth, and the initiative of two instruments of heaven and earth gives birth to five elements and three talents). Since then, the initiative of the three talents of heaven and earth has continued to be maintained, which is the active system of the cosmic society; The positive position, negative position and active neutralization force of heaven and earth are transformed into an operating system; Yin-yang instrument itself is transformed into a passive system of open evolution and interactive divination; Wood position, fire position, soil position, gold position, water level and active neutralization force between heaven and earth are also transformed into operating system; The five elements of wood, fire, earth, gold and water are transformed into a closed, orderly and stable passive system. In this passive system of universal society with yin and yang and five elements, there is closure in opening, circulation in evolution, birth in interaction and stability in divination. or vice versa, Dallas to the auditorium "In a broad sense, all the benign interactions between Yin and Yang in human activities are human's' benevolence' behaviors, which are not limited by ethics; All the value judgments of human activities should converge to the appropriateness of taking "social welfare and ethical knowledge" as the code of conduct, which is the behavioral expression of human "righteousness".
Second, benevolence is based on Tao.
To understand Laozi's thought of benevolence and righteousness, we must first understand the total source of Tao Te Ching-Tao. There are as many as 76 places about Tao in Laozi's Tao Te Ching. Tao is the foundation and noumenon of the universe and the general principle of the universe. Although man is the spirit of all things, man is the law of the earth, the law of heaven, the law of heaven and the law of nature.
The fifth chapter of Tao Te Ching says: "Heaven and earth are ruthless, and everything is regarded as a grass dog; Saints are ruthless and treat people like pigs. " This means that there is no preference between heaven and earth, and everything grows naturally according to its nature, that is, it does not do anything, nor does it deliberately create it, nor does it show mercy to anything, especially giving it some benefits. Therefore, just like the sacrificial straw dogs, it is naturally dismantled and abandoned after use, leaving it to fend for itself and not cherishing it. In the same way, saints follow the way of heaven and earth and treat people like pigs without bias. They show no mercy to any kind of people, give them special benefits, and let the people develop with their temperament and govern themselves.
"heartless" here means "no preference" and "sentimental" From the perspective of Tao, any benign interaction between Yin and Yang is an act of benevolence. Since there is a benign interaction, why should heaven and earth be particularly partial and sensitive to a certain kind of things? Why do saints have a special preference and sensibility for a certain kind of people? Since Yin and Yang have interacted with each other, the "unkindness" of "no preference" and "no emotion" is actually the behavior of "benevolence". This is a ...
If yin and yang fail to interact positively, the ninth chapter of Tao Te Ching puts forward: "If you speculate and explore, you can't remain keen for a long time;" Happy from now on, can't keep it; Being rich and arrogant is self-defeating (disaster). " In other words, you often show your spirit, which can't last long; Because it is too strong and easy to break, and people who are used to pushing people are also easy to be hit; The same is true for tempering metals to make them sharp, and they cannot remain sharp for a long time; Although the people in Happiness are rich, they can't keep their wealth forever. Either the descendants are extravagant and wasteful, or the bandits want to use his brain; And those who are rich, expensive and proud will eventually bring shame or disaster to themselves.
Chapter 12 of the Tao Te Ching says: "Five colors lead to blindness; Five tones are not deaf; Five flavors are refreshing; Galloping and hunting is maddening; Rare goods are an obstacle. " In other words, the excessive pursuit of color enjoyment eventually leads to dazzling, slow vision and blindness; Excessive pursuit of sound enjoyment eventually leads to deafening, hearing failure, listening but not hearing; Excessive pursuit of taste enjoyment eventually leads to taste damage, loss of taste, eating without knowing its taste; Excessive indulgence in riding and hunting, chasing birds and animals, and finally leading to psychological madness, anxiety and madness; The excessive pursuit of rare items such as gold and silver treasures eventually led to theft prevention, hindered free behavior, and ruined morality and reputation.
The thirteenth chapter of the Tao Te Ching also said: "If you are humiliated, if you are surprised, it will be very difficult; What is being humiliated and surprised? Pet is the most important thing, humiliation is the most important thing, surprise is surprise, shame is surprise; What does it mean to be in danger? I have a big patient because I have a body; And I have no body, what's wrong with me? " In other words, the world attaches importance to foreign humiliation and has no cultivation, so it is inevitable to be humiliated, so it is surprised and afraid; If you are spoiled, you will be jealous, if you are humiliated, you will be hit, and you may be in big trouble. Because you can't ignore life and death, you miss yourself, and you are afraid of catastrophe, so you should be surprised and afraid. Being spoiled and humiliated, why are you surprised and scared? Because in the eyes of the world, pets are generally superior, humiliation is inferior and pets respect humiliation; I feel honored when I am honored, and I feel ashamed when I lose face. Therefore, whether favored or humiliated, I was surprised when I got it, even when I fell out of favor and lost it. Why do you want to be surprised when you are nostalgic for yourself and afraid of catastrophe? Because when we miss ourselves, we often only think of ourselves. If we can selflessly ignore our bodies and forget ourselves, what harm is there to worry about?
This is some cases where yin and yang can't interact positively. Therefore, the real "unkindness" is that Yin and Yang fail to interact positively. Yin and Yang fail to interact, how can heaven and earth show benevolence? How can a saint be kind? Although there is a thin line between "benevolence" based on "Tao" and "inhumanity" based on secular likes and dislikes, the difference is far from perfect. The second is.
The benign interaction between yin and yang is the behavior of "benevolence" The eighth chapter of the Tao Te Ching says: "Be kind, be kind to others, keep your word, be good at politics, do good deeds and be good at times." In other words, I am happy to get along with humble people, feel very calm, and make friends and love each other sincerely; Help others out of kindness; The words are faithful and reliable; For the safety of the country and the people, doing things according to one's own ability is of course the best, and the move is of course timely. These "benevolence" behaviors are bound to be a benign interaction between yin and yang. Third.
for reference only