Confucius is a strong man who constantly strives for self-improvement. He was born in troubled times when the ceremony broke down and the music broke down, but he never gave up his pursuit and gave his life for the ideal of life. Confucius was also a sage. He didn't go with the flow because of his humble position, but constantly reflected on himself to discard the false and retain the true, reminding himself to do evil and good all his life. Confucius is also a wise sage, which is by no means a personal cleverness, but a great wisdom rooted in national culture and based on personal creation. No matter the dignitaries, literati and ordinary people in the past dynasties, they all draw spiritual milk from Confucius thought and Confucianism and cultivate the flowers of the soul.
The reason why Confucius thought and Confucianism can become the intangible soul of the cultural spirit of the Chinese nation is that he has a classic heirloom-The Analects of Confucius, which is also the treasure of the town house.
The Analects of Confucius is a book with rich content and flexible form, which involves many aspects of social life besides literature, history, philosophy, life and education. Because it is a transcript, it is convenient to read at any time and enlightening. Because it is rich in content, reading it is like mining a complex rich mine, which not only gains a lot, but also makes unexpected discoveries; Because of its flexible form, readers can savor and skim, not to mention "system" and "level". This is why this book has been widely read.
Of course, there are still several problems to be paid attention to when reading The Analects: First, its "benevolent politics" thought. The core of Confucius thought is "benevolence", which is manifested as "moral politics" in social politics, which is the high-level content of Confucianism in the ideological realm; The second is Confucius' pursuit of personality ideal. In line with the thought of benevolent governance, Confucius put forward a series of arguments and opinions on life cultivation, which is the personality guarantee to realize benevolent governance. In Confucius' view, the realization of "benevolence" should be realized through "courtesy". "Self-denial is benevolence" and "self-denial is benevolence in the world". "Self-denial" is not only a process of self-cultivation and noble morality, but also a way to realize benevolence. Third, Confucius' progressive educational thought. As a great educator, Confucius made outstanding contributions to China's education. Of course, he doesn't have a systematic and complete theory, but the pedagogy and educational methods shown in The Analects of Confucius are still the most glorious page in human education theory. In terms of educational content, Confucius attached importance to both book knowledge and social practice, and advocated applying what he had learned. In terms of educational attitude, Confucius advocated "never tire of learning and never tire of teaching", and he should have his own attitude to learn from predecessors, discard the false and retain the true, change its shortcomings and learn from its strengths. In terms of educational methods, Confucius is good at teaching students in accordance with their aptitude, and adopts heuristic education of "no resentment, no joy" and "no sorrow, no hair" instead of cramming. In the style of study, Confucius advocated "knowing is knowing, not knowing is not knowing", "listening more and asking more questions" and "not ashamed to ask questions", and opposed fraud and being divorced from reality. All this, even in today's most advanced educational theory, is still the most important bright spot. It should be emphasized that Confucius' educational thought is not only aimed at school education or family education, but also a theory of self-education, a theory of continuous self-learning and progress in life.
The Analects of Confucius, as a classic of sages, has brought endless enlightenment and value to future generations. With the development of society and the progress of civilization, the charm of Confucius and his theories is truly displayed. The more human beings develop, the more prominent the essential characteristics of human beings as cultural symbols, and the more irreplaceable the cultural inheritance of sages. As for The Analects, it can only be said that it is an indispensable life textbook for all China people.
-Excerpted from The Analects of Confucius, with some changes.