Keywords: Confucius' view of destiny is practical and moral
In the Analects of Confucius, the word "destiny" appears in two chapters and three sections: "Confucius said:' I am determined to learn five out of ten, stand up at thirty, not be confused at forty, know destiny at fifty, obey at sixty, and do what I want at seventy, without exceeding the rules.' "("Politics ")" A gentleman has three fears: fear of fate, fear of adults, and fear of the words of saints. "(Yongye) One says" knowledge "and the other says" fear ".Only two words will show Confucius' view of destiny. Although Confucius didn't understand Heaven, he particularly emphasized respecting and legalizing Heaven. He talked about "heaven" and never left "people". This concept of "respecting heaven and valuing people" has become the basis for later generations of literati to settle down with its basic characteristics of reality, morality and practicality.
First, the reality of Confucius' concept of destiny
The reality of Confucius' view of destiny is the real reason for answering "Confucius' nature of speech and nature of heaven is not to be heard" (Gongye Chang), and it is also the starting point for understanding his attitude of "staying outside the Liuhe River". Confucius didn't talk about heaven, because in his view, "If you can't convince people, how can you convince ghosts?" "If you don't know life, how can you know death?" (advanced), he agrees that "Heaven is far away and humane" and thinks that Heaven serves humanity relative to humanity. Therefore, he is people-oriented everywhere, not only attaches importance to personnel, but also serves personnel based on personnel.
In the late Spring and Autumn Period, countries competed for hegemony, and the social order of Zhou Gong's ritual and music culture education fell apart. Confucius focused on reality, took Anping as his responsibility and actively devoted himself to reality. In the face of ridicule, siege and misunderstanding, he remained steadfast with the spirit of saving the world by "forgetting food in anger and forgetting worries in joy", and took the responsibility of the world, the country and the king as his own responsibility, trudging hard and realizing benevolent governance. It is this realistic character of Confucius that makes him "reticent", "afraid of knowledge" and "happy with peace" on the issue of fate. This attitude, on the one hand, weakens the absolute authority of the personified God who dominates all things, and on the other hand, transforms it into a knowable righteous heaven.
However, Confucius did not deny the dominance of heaven. He understood destiny as a natural responsibility and an inevitable responsibility, such as Confucius' emphasis on sacrifice. But his sacrifice to ghosts and gods is entirely for the emotional needs and psychological comfort of real people, and it is where his relatives are. "Worship the gods as if they were near the gods" ("Bashu") "Worship them without ghosts, and flatter them" ("Governing the country"). He worships heaven to respect it and fulfill his natural duty. Therefore, Confucius emphasized "be prepared for danger in times of peace", saying that a gentleman should face the reality bravely, shoulder the heavy responsibility, and strive to save the reality and benefit the society. This realistic character of Confucius' view of destiny is a superb wisdom, and his genius lies in acknowledging reality and surpassing it step by step on the basis of reality in order to look forward to new ideals. This complacency is by no means equal to complacency. Confucius did not lack the consciousness of transcendence, nor did he pay attention to ultimate concern, but he paid great attention to reality after relying on heaven as the ultimate support. He understands that once you leave reality, everything can only be nothingness. A truly sanctified person must also be self-satisfied, not only achieving his own virtue, but also taking it as a matter of the world. Although "Man proposes, God disposes", if you don't succeed, you won't live on yourself, because destiny is awesome, but as long as you are based on reality and proactive, you can expect to let nature take its course, so you should understand destiny.
Second, the morality of Confucius' concept of destiny
The morality of Confucius' view of destiny is enough to show that "returning is also ordinary and empty." Don't give orders, and Huo Zhi, hundreds of millions of times "("advanced "). Generally speaking, "destiny" is interpreted as "God is like this", which can be divided into "moral destiny" and "destiny". Moral life refers to the cultivation of good deeds; Luck refers to longevity, good luck, wealth and poverty. Yan Zi's virtue can be described as the first in Confucius' family, but he is often poor in the mean lane. Zi Gong's virtue is not as good as Yan Hui's, but his wealth is the highest among Confucius. The master said "give or not", but praised Yan Hui, so "life" naturally refers to moral life. Here, morality and happiness seem to be contradictory. Confucius' solution is to cancel the destiny and return to the moral destiny, emphasizing the morality of the destiny. "I don't know my life, I don't think a gentleman; If you don't know the etiquette, you can't stand (Yao Yue) and "a scholar is in danger and knows everything" (Xianwen). The "destiny" here is called "ceremony" and "righteousness", which obviously refers to moral destiny; But "it's a pity to die short", "Life is a husband, and everyone has his own diseases" (Eternal Night) and "Life is life, and wealth is in the sky" (Yan Yuan) mainly refer to life.
Confucius' emphasis on moral life and neglect of life is not to deny people's longevity, wealth and greatness, but to unilaterally ask people to accumulate good deeds. It's just that people's fate is not determined by manpower, and they can't rely entirely on themselves; And accumulating good deeds can be done by yourself. As a humanist thinker, Confucius emphasized "self-improvement", which is one aspect of the problem. On the other hand, if a gentleman practices his virtues, he will be able to live in peace. Therefore, only a gentleman can know the destiny and fear it.
Here we should separate "knowing destiny" from "fearing destiny". Speaking of "fear of destiny", the failure of Tao is uncertain. The so-called "what Tao wants, life is also; Tao must be abolished, and life is also "("Xian Wen "); As soon as I say "you know the fate of virtue", what I do is in line with the Tao, and I know what it is, so I will do it, otherwise I will not do it, so it is certain that "being rich and expensive is what people want, not what they want, but what they want" (establishing people). However, although Lu's fate and virtue's fate, and "knowledge" and "fear" are separated and seemingly opposite, they are actually the same. He who knows his fate will be satisfied with it. As long as they do what they should do, it is worth my heart. If you succeed, you will be happy; if you fail, you will be safe. For the antinomy that "a virtuous person should not always suffer", Kant gave people a beautiful world on the other side; Confucius, on the other hand, solved this contradiction by "being poor means happiness, being rich means courtesy" (Xue Ji) and "being poor means a gentleman" (Gongye Chang).
Third, the practicality of Confucius' view of destiny.
The overall spirit of Confucius' thought can be attributed to practical rationality, and practicality can also be said to be the characteristic of Confucius' view of destiny. The reality and morality of his outlook on fate can also be said to be practical. Practice is both a kind of freedom and a kind of practice. Confucius' transformation of the traditional view of destiny and his life course can be described as the best footnote. Confucius degraded "Heaven Emperor" and "Ghosts and Ghosts" from a kind of high-ranking and personality-dominated gods to the mortal world, making them the strong enemies of mankind and the reliance of mankind. The reverence for "God" was changed to the filial piety to the closest relatives, and the sacrifice to "God" was changed to the worship of ceremony, thus changing the bias of "quality is better than literature, and literature is better than history" (Ode to Leaves), and the gains and losses of three generations reached the middle way of "Wen Ya" with emotion and instrument.
Through this transformation, people's thoughts have not only been liberated, but also freed from the spiritual bondage of fate and gained some freedom; It also gives people some psychological and emotional balance and comfort. This change, to a certain extent, got rid of the severe shackles of superstitious "ghosts and gods", but retained the supreme dignity of the dominant position of "heaven", thus ensuring the implementation of Confucius' political view. The so-called "Tao is the government, Qi is the punishment, the people are free, shameless; The Tao is virtuous, the Qi is courteous, and the people are ashamed and qualified "("Being a Government ").
Duke Zhou "matched heaven with virtue" and made the son of heaven "respect virtue and protect the people". Confucius inherited and developed this idea, acknowledging that a gentleman is endowed by destiny and should govern the country by virtue. Calling the monarch "Tian" and "Tian Zi" is not only a sign and affirmation of supreme authority, but also a restriction on the infinity of authority. The practical significance of this idea lies in that it is conducive to maintaining social reality and maintaining its stability; Criticize social reality and realize the progress and innovation of social reality. Of course, the realization of this role requires all social individuals to know their own destiny, do their part and create harmony and progress. The practicality of Confucius' view of destiny provides the possibility for this. He regards man as an independent individual with independent dignity, not attached to "God" or "Jun". It is Confucius' emphasis on human subjectivity and independence that can "be born with nature and serve heaven the day after tomorrow" (Yi? 6? 1 dry classical Chinese "). Even though you know it's impossible, you still try to do it, and "forget your food when you are angry, forget your worries when you are happy, and don't know how to get old" (Shuo Wen), so as to "don't complain about the sky and treat others differently" (Xian Wen). The reason for this is that although Confucius knew that his ideal could not be realized immediately, it was his destiny to take the world as his own responsibility, so he was gladly ordered and went with joy. Thus, Confucius' view of destiny is full of positive and optimistic practical spirit, and it is a happy know life, not resigned to fate. This practicality of Confucius' view of destiny can make it truly realistic and moral.
In a word, Confucius' view of destiny takes "benevolence" as the core and has humanistic spirit. Its reality, morality and practicality are interrelated: based on reality; Taking morality as the core and value scale; Taking practice as a bridge and an intermediate link; The three are unified in people. Looking at Confucius' view of destiny is the theory of the unity of heaven and man. It has been deeply rooted in the hearts of China people, which has made the Chinese nation accumulate rich cultural heritage and become a powerful traditional force affecting future generations.
References:
Liu Baonan: The Analects of Justice, Zhonghua Book Company, 1990.
(Liu Jianru: Zhuozhou Branch of Baoding Teachers College, Hebei Province. )
(Xing Jingyi: Song History Research Center of Hebei University. )
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