0 1. "Those who have perseverance without constant production can only be competent."
There is a record about "wealth and faith" in the sentence of section 8 of Mencius Liang:
Those who have perseverance without constant production can only be talented. If people, there is no constant production, because there is no perseverance. If you don't persevere, let yourself go and do evil, everything you do is for yourself. It is a waste of people to be caught committing a crime and then punished. Why should people be abolished when benevolent people are in power? Therefore, if a wise monarch controls the people's property, he can support his parents and wife, he can be satisfied with life in happy years, and he can avoid death in fierce years. Then drive away the good ones, and the people will be lenient.
The main content of this passage is probably: ordinary people should serve their parents, support their wives and children, and ensure that they can eat enough in good years and not starve to death in bad years. Therefore, ordinary people need a fixed industry to have a firm mind.
So: What exactly does "permanent production" mean? What does "perseverance" mean? Who are those "scholars" who have no constant production but perseverance?
02. "Continuous Production" and "Persistence"
First of all, Mencius had the idea of "no perseverance, no perseverance" before. It can also be proved that there is a saying that "the granary knows the ceremony" in Guanzi in the Spring and Autumn Period. Many people who don't understand Confucianism think that Confucianism is just a moral sermon by the ruling class that confuses the people to be loyal and respectful, or a rogue excuse for business owners to expect employees to work overtime for free. But as can be seen from the above, Mencius, who can put forward the secular sense that "the economic base determines the superstructure", is definitely not a pedantic scholar who stresses benevolence and righteousness. On the contrary, he is very clear about what people's desires are and what they should do after satisfying them.
"Constant production" generally has two explanations: one is stable income; The second is a stable industry. It looks the same, but it's actually different. Land-based agriculture is a long-term stable industry. Unless it is a rare natural disaster or a violent man-made disaster, some food can still be harvested every year. The agricultural income is low, so-called "no agriculture is unstable, no business is not rich", and the profit of business is much higher than that of agriculture. It's just that the business that values profit over righteousness has been unpopular since ancient times, and Mencius of Confucianism will not look at it. So whether the "constant production" here is agriculture or commerce has always been controversial.
The follow-up of the same article "Chapter 8 of Mencius Liang Wang Hui" said: "A house of five acres, a tree for mulberry, fifty clothes; Chickens, dolphins and dogs are all domestic animals, so there is no time to waste. Seventy people can eat meat; One hundred acres of land, if you don't hurry, a family of eight can be hungry; I am willing to give an order and give it with filial piety. The giver can't bear to wear it on the road ... but if it is not the king, it won't be there. " It can be seen that the industry that Mencius talked about must be agriculture.
Throughout Mencius, there is not a word about business and businessmen. But how can agriculture achieve sustainable production? The answers given by Mencius are "don't lose time" and "don't seize time", and don't interfere in agricultural production-that is, Mencius' political core thought "benevolence".
In the pre-Qin period, the common people mainly had to bear taxes (pay) and corvee (contribute and do hard work, such as repairing the Great Wall and palaces), and in the Warring States period, they also had to undertake military service on a large scale (be a soldier, work hard and fight). These burdens will affect the normal production of agriculture. Once taxes are too heavy and heavy labor (corvee and military service, etc.). ) too complicated, it will be a terrible "man-made disaster"; If we encounter "natural disasters" such as floods and droughts again, fragile agriculture and farmers will certainly not be able to withstand such torture and blows. If people don't live well, there will be no perseverance, which will inevitably lead to chaos in the country.
Therefore, the significance of "constant production" is not only to ensure that people have enough arable land, but also to avoid excessive labor and occupation of farming time by the state, and to avoid excessive financial taxes by the state, thus inhibiting the enthusiasm of farming.
On this basis, we can see that from the perspective of national management, "perseverance" does not mean "eternal ambition" or "firm mind" and so on As can be seen from the above, "perseverance" refers to "eternal belief in propriety and benevolence". In the current words, it is the recognition of the core values of this country's society and the observance of laws and regulations.
03. What is a "scholar"
(Four Sages of Confucianism)
Who is a scholar who has "perseverance" without "constant production"?
There is a proverb in Ceng Zi: Scholars have a long way to go to strive for self-improvement. There are many explanations for the single theory of "yes":
Under the system of enfeoffment, according to the hierarchical order of "Emperor-Minister-Qing-Scholar", "Scholar" is the bottom aristocrat, enjoying the privileges of fief, tax exemption, exemption from criminal law and education. In the seven years of Zuo Zhuan, Zhao Gong recorded that "there are ten days in the sky and ten people in the land, and ten people are kings, public servants, doctors, scholars, soaps, officials, servants and Taiwan", which can also be proved here. However, the concept of "scholar" does not meet the requirements of "no permanent production", so it was eliminated.
② According to Guan Zhong's four occupations of taxi, agriculture, industry and commerce, a scholar is an official. However, in the pre-Qin era, most of the officials were hereditary aristocrats (aristocratic descent) or rich children (rich and powerful), and these upper-class industries were rich. This concept is inconsistent with another reason. The most important thing is to treat an official as a "scholar", which is seriously inconsistent with Confucian benevolence and righteousness.
(3) The History of Hanshu Shihuo records that "learning to rank as a scholar", and the Biography of Hanshu Zhong Changtong also records that "those who use their talents are called scholars". In this way, scholars and officials have formed an internal relationship, that is, learning to be excellent is to be an official. The "scholars" of this concept are intellectuals.
In historical records and pre-Qin documents, there are more than 200 scholar-centered titles and special nouns. Such as bachelor, sage, wise man, counselor, hermit, debater, Chu Shi, upright man, national scholar, sharp man, doer, upright man, loyal man, Confucian, scholar, powerful man, tiger responsible man, etc. This paper expounds the moral quality, knowledge and skills, professional status and living conditions of scholars from many aspects.
There is a passage in the Analects of Confucius Lutz explaining "scholar":
Zi Gong asked, "Who is this?" Confucius said, "Shame on your behavior, make it extend in all directions, and do not disgrace your life. It can be said that you are a scholar. " He said, "Dare to ask again?" "The clan calls it filial piety, and the township party calls it brother." He said, "Dare to ask again?" He said, "You must keep your promise, and your actions will bear fruit. What a villain! " It can be the second time. "He said," today's politicians? Confucius said, "Hey! "What is enough for a fighter?"
It is clear to translate Confucius' meaning into vernacular Chinese and then summarize it in tables:
Analyzing Confucius' point of view, the minimum standards of Confucianism on "scholar" are: self-cultivation and integrity; To achieve "self-cultivation, self-correction", it is necessary to "learn from the times and know it; Sincerity, righteousness "; If you want to acquire this skill, you must be educated and learn the words and deeds of saints. Therefore, through the analysis, we can know that Confucius and Mencius defined "scholar" as "believer and practitioner of benevolence and righteousness".
It is precisely because the creed of benevolence, righteousness, propriety and righteousness has been deeply rooted in people's hearts that literati do not need external things, that is, continuous production, to maintain their morality and character, that is, perseverance. However, it is an indisputable fact that scholars are often poor. What should we do when beautiful and lofty ideas collide with ruthless reality? On this answer, Mencius has long said:
"Wealth can't be immoral, poverty can't move, and power can't bend. This is called a gentleman. " ("Mencius Teng Wengong" in the second quarter)
"Fish, what do I want; Bear's paw is what I want, and I can't have both. Give up the fish and take the bear's paw. Life is what I want; Righteousness is what I want, and I can't have both. Those who give up their lives for righteousness are also. " ("Mencius Gao Zi Zhang Sentence" Section 10)
Wealth can't make me abandon integrity, poverty can't make me change my character, and power can't make my beliefs yield. Even if I have to choose between life and justice, I will give up my life for justice! A real taxi can give up his life for his inner conscience (righteousness) and care about "continuous production"! This is the meaning of personality, and this is an unparalleled national talent.