Confucianism came into being in the violent turbulent period of the transition from slavery to feudalism during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. Confucius hoped to restore the social system based on etiquette in Zhou Dynasty and put forward a set of theories with "benevolence" as the core. Only by realizing the five virtues of "courtesy, tolerance, faithfulness, sensitivity and benefit" can benevolence be realized. Subsequently, Mencius put forward the "people-oriented thought", advocating "controlling people's wealth", advocating kingliness, opposing hegemony, and emphasizing righteousness over profit. Later, Xunzi developed Confucianism of Confucius and Mencius. In his view, "heaven will always be there, not for Yao's survival, nor for Jie's death." It advocates giving full play to people's subjective initiative and emphasizing acquired learning, so that everyone can become a saint ... The ideas put forward by the representatives of pre-Qin Confucianism laid the embryonic form of China's traditional culture. Since then, Dong Zhongshu in Han Dynasty put forward the idea of "ousting a hundred schools of thought and respecting Confucianism alone", emphasizing Confucianism as the foundation of the country and putting an end to other ideological systems. Since then, Confucian Classics has become a prominent school, and Confucianism has become the orthodox thought of China's ancient feudal culture. Since then, Confucianism has developed to varying degrees, and its thoughts have penetrated into all fields of social life.
First, the educational significance of Confucianism
Confucius is not only a great politician and thinker, but also a great educator. There are 3000 disciples of Confucius. In his educational practice, he summed up many effective educational methods, such as "reviewing the past and learning the new", "listening more and asking more questions", "knowing is knowing, not knowing is not knowing", "learning without thinking is useless, thinking without learning is lazy" and so on. The following three aspects are selected to talk about the educational significance of Confucian culture to future generations.
1, "teach without class". Confucius first put forward the idea of "teaching without class". Confucius' students don't have to worry about family background. Anyone who is interested in learning can serve the monarch by learning and mastering knowledge. From this chapter, we can get a glimpse of Confucius' social ideal and his teachings to his disciples. Because of this, many poor but knowledgeable disciples have been created.
2. Teach students in accordance with their aptitude. The ancients said that "sex is similar, learning is far away." Confucius understands the personal and family situation of each student, and then gives different education according to the characteristics of each student. Confucius said, "Follow the fruit, follow the ceremony, follow the art", "Learn from the teacher, business is not as good as it is", "Chai is stupid, learn from the teacher and follow the proverb". Confucius was able to familiarize himself with 3,000 disciples and educate them, which really made future generations admire him.
3. Heuristic teaching. Confucius put forward heuristic teaching for the first time in the history of education in China. Confucius said, "If you don't get angry, you won't get angry. No three turns,no. " From the Analects of Confucius, we can see that he is humble and kind to students, and is good at enlightening and inducing students from the simple to the deep, making them easy to understand and benefiting a lot.
Second, the influence of Confucianism on later generations.
1, "golden mean culture". The doctrine of the mean mainly emphasizes "goodness". "Being moderate" is suitable, and "being brave" is doing things in a suitable way. "The Doctrine of the Mean" refers to grasping moderation, doing things in moderation, and striving to stay within a reasonable range. This is still of great reference value to our modern society.
2. Emphasize the combination of knowledge and practice. Emphasizing the unity of knowing and doing is a prominent feature of Confucian educational thought. Confucius asked people to "match words with deeds", emphasized "practice", and insisted that "there will be results if words and deeds are consistent". Confucius said that "a gentleman knows his way by learning", "he knows his way by doing" and "he is close to benevolence by doing". Zhu also attached great importance to "practice". Zhu Xi said: "Therefore, sages must put poverty first and practice to the end." What he said is to emphasize practice on the basis of understanding.
3. "Suicide, die for righteousness". Confucianism emphasizes the correct view of justice and benefit. When life and morality can't have both, Confucianism chooses to sacrifice his life for righteousness. Mencius said, "Fish is what I want; Bear's paw is also what I want; You can't have your cake and eat it. You can't have your cake and eat it. Life is what I want; Righteousness is also what I want; You can't have your cake and eat it. Life is what I want. I want it more than the living, so I don't want it. Death is also what I hate. It is more evil than the dead, so I have nothing to lose. " Confucius said, "A benevolent person is a benevolent person, who has nothing but harms benevolence, but kills himself and becomes a benevolent person."
4. "Smelling the Road" and "Walking". Confucius said, "Listen in the morning and die at night." Confucian scholars believe that the value of life can only be reflected in the streets. Confucian scholars regard "benevolence" and "propriety" as the most basic scope and highest criterion of moral behavior, and become the ultimate pursuit goal of life. From "self-cultivation" to "governing the country and leveling the world", people with lofty ideals are required to "smell the Tao" and "walk the road" and realize their own value.
5. "loyalty and filial piety." Filial piety to parents and loyalty to the imperial court are the principles that our feudal society has always followed. Confucianism requires filial piety to parents, loyalty to the monarch and patriotism. Confucius emphasized that "filial piety" is the "root" of "benevolence". We advocate "filial piety when we enter, filial piety when we leave", filial piety for parents, love for brothers and orderly growth. Extending the principle of "filial piety" to the country is loyalty to the monarch and patriotism. At the same time, treating people around you with "loyalty and forgiveness" is the way of "benevolence" To "stand up for yourself, stand up for yourself and reach out for others." "Don't do to others what you don't want them to do to you."
6. "No equipment". Confucius said, "A gentleman is useless." This means that a gentleman can only play one role, instead of focusing on one skill and one ability like an implement. Confucianism believes that a gentleman should pursue the avenue, rather than sticking to the "Tao" with one skill and one skill. Although there are considerable people in the road, a gentleman does not do things. "A gentleman is not a tool" requires people to "swim in the art" and "be good at the art" and rise from "tool" to "non-tool" so as to achieve the truth.
7. "Cautious independence" and honesty. The word "cautious independence" comes from the Confucian golden mean. "Tao, a moment cannot leave the Tao. Therefore, a gentleman who is cautious and ignorant is afraid to ignore it and is invisible and insignificant. Therefore, gentlemen are cautious and independent. " Zheng Xuan in the Eastern Han Dynasty explained: "It is prudent to be alone." In fact, "cautious independence" means being cautious about what you say and do, keeping moral integrity and independence at all times when you live alone. Xunzi linked "cautious independence" with "sincerity". If you are dishonest, you won't be lonely. This puts forward the requirement of honesty. Honesty is the moral premise of perfect personality, and it is also the link to communicate interpersonal relationships and promote mutual respect and trust between people. The Confucian concept of "honesty" is the foundation of the country as well as the country.
In a word, Confucianism is indeed a rare and precious resource in China's traditional culture. Today, mankind is in an era of transition from industrial civilization to ecological civilization. In order to create a lifestyle suitable for the new civilization, we should not only sum up the lessons of the industrial civilization era, but also learn the wisdom of human survival from the classical agricultural civilization. Although Confucianism has its limitations, we should take its essence, make rational use of it in today's society and give play to its reasonable educational guiding significance.
The core of Confucianism
The core of Confucianism is "the moral thought of fraternity, kindness, fairness, justice, honesty, trustworthiness, innovation, civilization, harmony and rule of law". It is of great significance for us to seek theoretical support from traditional culture to consolidate and build a higher public opinion position, for the society to establish core values to seek long-term stability, for the modernization and internationalization of Chinese traditional culture, and for us to build a harmonious world of Baohe Taihe Xianning.
The content of Confucianism
Confucianism is very rich. Personally, I think there are thoughts of benevolence, righteousness, courtesy, wisdom, holiness (faith), forgiveness, loyalty, filial piety and so on. According to the theory of elements, the ancients wrote three virtues, five elements, Liu De and other virtues. Confucius and Mencius talked about the "holy" side; Dong Zhongshu changed it to "letter"
Benevolence: kindness. The theoretical core of Confucius' ideological system. It is the highest ideal and standard of Confucius' social politics, ethics and morality, and also reflects his philosophical views, which has a far-reaching impact on later generations. "'Benevolence treats people in an orderly and harmonious way' is the origin of Confucius' thought and the core of Confucianism." (Chen Zhisui's Tang Jingji) Benevolence is embodied in the educational thought and practice of "teaching without distinction". In the Spring and Autumn Period, learning was in official schools, and Confucius first opened private schools. Disciples can come to be taught regardless of their origins. Benevolence embodied in politics is to emphasize "rule by virtue", and the basic spirit of rule by virtue is to love the people and help others. Confucius introduced benevolence into the ceremony and changed the traditional "rule by virtue" into "rule by virtue". He did not deny "rule by virtue", and his "rule by virtue" is undoubtedly the inheritance and transformation of "rule by virtue". Love is the essence and basic content of benevolence, and this kind of love is pushing yourself and others, from kissing to being popular.
Meaning: the original meaning is "ceremony", that is, the behavior is suitable for "ceremony". Confucius regards "righteousness" as a moral principle to judge people's thoughts and behaviors. "Righteousness (friendship) suits people. Duan Yucai commented on Shuo Wen Yan Wen Bu, saying: "Righteousness and benefit, ancient and modern characters, Zhou Zhiyi and Han Yi are all words of benevolence and righteousness today." Righteousness consists of gentleman's righteousness and villain's righteousness. A gentleman is more righteous than me, and a villain is less righteous than me. Big self, for the public, for society; The ego is partial to the party, and so is the so-called' buddy loyalty' today. "(Chen Zhisui's Collection of People in Beijing and Tang Dynasties")
Rite: the political and ethical category of Confucius and Confucianism. In the long-term historical development, "Li", as the moral norm and living standard of China feudal society, played an important role in cultivating the spiritual quality of the Chinese nation. However, with the reform and development of society, especially in the late feudal society, it has increasingly become a rope that binds people's thoughts and behaviors and affects the progress and development of society.
Wisdom: the same as "knowledge", the basic category of Confucius' epistemology and ethics. Refers to knowing, understanding, opinions, knowledge, intelligence, wisdom, etc. The connotation mainly involves the nature, source, content and function of knowledge. Regarding the nature of knowledge, Confucius thinks that knowledge is a moral category and a knowledge about human behavior norms.
Faith: refers to the attitude of being honest and not deceiving, and being consistent in words and deeds. As one of the "five permanents" of Confucianism. Confucius regards "faith" as an important embodiment of "benevolence", and "benevolence" is an essential moral character of sages. Anyone who is honest in words and actions can gain the trust of others, those in power will keep their promises, and the people will treat them with truth and will not bully them [3].
In addition, there is forgiveness: don't do to others what you don't want others to do to you. This is forgiveness and tolerance.
Loyalty: I want to stand up, stand up, and I want to achieve it. Confucius believes that loyalty is manifested in loyalty and honesty in dealing with people.
Filial piety: Confucius believes that filial piety is the foundation of benevolence. Filial piety is not limited to supporting parents, but should focus on respecting parents and elders. It is considered that without filial piety, supporting parents will be regarded as raising dogs, which is a big violation and unfilial. Confucius also believes that parents may be at fault, and children should politely persuade and try to correct them, rather than obey their parents absolutely. These thoughts are the embodiment of China's ancient moral civilization. However, when Confucius talked about filial piety, he also said that "parents are here and don't travel far" and "it is filial piety if you don't change your father's way for three years", which shows the limitations of his time. Filial piety was defined as a complex ceremony by later Confucianism. It is stipulated in the Book of Rites that after the death of parents, "water slurry is not allowed to enter, and fire does not rise for three days", "crying countless times" and even "dying of illness" have become self-destruction of spirit and body. During the Song and Ming Dynasties, filial piety was regarded as one of the most important categories in moral theory, and philosopher Zhu advocated the absoluteness of patriarchy. In the evolution of different historical periods, the concept of filial piety has some reasonable factors besides advocating feudalism. It advocates children's "respect", "respect" and "providing for the elderly" to their parents, combines filial piety with loyalty to the country's righteousness, and advocates thin burial after death.
Praise: refers to feelings for my brother. Confucius attached great importance to filial piety. According to his thoughts, his disciples called filial piety and filial piety "the foundation of benevolence".
Confucianism has made great contributions to China's science and technology and world civilization. According to the chronology of natural science events in the world, there were about 300 major scientific and technological inventions that affected human life before16th century, of which 175 was invented by China people. It is these great inventions (including discoveries) that have kept China's farming, textile, metallurgy and manual manufacturing technologies at the advanced level in the world for a long time. Confucianism also left behind a large number of world-famous scientific works, such as Kao Gong Ji and Tiangong Wu Kai. China was able to maintain the world-class level before the end of the Ming Dynasty, which was not unrelated to mohists, who was famous for his cartoon novels. So don't mention that China's first impression in ancient times was, of course, backward science and technology, Eight-Nation Alliance, or mohists, which was very popular in animation and had long since disappeared in Qin and Han Dynasties. This is not in line with historical facts.