In ancient times, if you want to carry forward the aboveboard morality in the world, you must first manage your own country; To govern the country well, we must first govern the family and clan; If you want to manage your family and family well, you must first cultivate your own character; If you want to cultivate your own character, you must first correct your own thoughts; To correct your thoughts, you must first make your thoughts sincere; If you want to make your thoughts sincere, you must first acquire knowledge. The way to acquire knowledge lies in the cognitive learning of everything. Knowledge can only be acquired through the understanding and research of everything; After acquiring knowledge, the idea can be sincere; Only after the idea is sincere can the mind be correct; Only with a correct attitude can we cultivate our own character; Only through the cultivation of character can we run a good family; Only by managing the family well can we manage the country well; Only by governing the country well can the world be peaceful.
In ancient times, people who wanted to spread the aboveboard character to the whole world had to govern the whole country first. People who want to govern the whole country must first implement equality in the family; People who want to implement equality in the family must first cultivate themselves; If you want to cultivate yourself, you must first correct your mentality; If you want to correct your heart, you must first make your heart sincere; People who want to make their ideas sincere must first have a clear understanding; The way to achieve sober understanding is to explore the principle of things.
Zhang's explanation of this section is an entry in the University, which is arranged in this order. Sincerity is reality; To, is to push and; Knowledge is knowledge; Case, is to; Things are things. Confucius said, "Mindfulness and new people are the responsibilities of adults, and martial arts is the first. In ancient times, the monarch was responsible for teaching. In order to make all people in the world have a clear understanding of their own virtue, we must first teach and rule the people of a country, and then from near to far. The foundation of building the world is in the country, and those who want to know the world well should rule their country first. However, to govern the country, we must first tidy up our possessions, thinking that a country's legal concept is based on the country, so we must first tidy up our possessions. However, if you want to be a family, you must first cultivate your body, thinking that a family view is based on the body, so if you want to be a family, you must first cultivate your body. The body is difficult to repair, and the mind is the master of the body. If you want to cultivate yourself, you must first keep a clear head and be unbiased, and then what you do can be reasonable. Therefore, people who want to repair their bodies must first correct their own hearts. The heart is not easy to be right, but the meaning is the activation of the heart. If the heart is right, it must be true first, and many of its ideas are related to deception, and then the ontology of the heart can be right. Therefore, if you want to be right, you must be sincere first. As for the knowledge of the heart, if you want to be honest with it, you must first push the knowledge of my heart, and then you will understand the truth, and then the meaning will be true or false, and you will not be confused. Therefore, if you want to be sincere, you must first know. Rational scattered views exist in things. If we want to push our knowledge, we must study the reasons of things until we reach the extreme, and then we can know everything. Therefore, knowledge lies in things. " This discipline, knowledge, honesty, honesty and self-cultivation are the items of obvious virtue; Putting the family in order, governing the country, and knowing the world are the items of new people; People can know the order, the order is the work, then the morality is bright, the people's morality is new, and the perfection is in it. The way of "university" is nothing more than this!
Today's comments on "style", "knowledge", "sincerity", "integrity", "self-cultivation", "keeping the family in order", "governing the country" and "leveling the world" are the eight major goals of the university, and they are the core concepts of the university, because the chapters behind the university are all.
Home is the smallest cell in a country, and home is the basic unit for individuals to settle down. Without home, people will wander; Without home, China will become unstable, so people always expect "home and everything will flourish". Therefore, Confucianism regards "housekeeping" as a process that a person must go through when he becomes an adult. The first step towards society is to standardize words and deeds in the family, which can keep the family United. People are individuals and social people. He wants to participate in a group, which is the family first, then the country, and the implementation of self-cultivation or responsibility is also from "keeping the house in order" to "governing the country". China has a saying that "every man is responsible for the rise and fall of the world" (Gu), which just shows that state affairs are not irrelevant to individuals. This is the basic view of Confucianism. If the country is not a country, what is it and where are the people? In this sense, the relationship between family and individual is closely linked. People should start from themselves, strive to improve their moral cultivation and quality, and set an example, so as to teach by example.