Confucius and Mencius were in that dynasty respectively. What contribution did they make? Detailed ~!

Confucius was, King Jing of Zhou, and a native of Zhou. Everyone says it's the Spring and Autumn Period, but if you ask about the "dynasty", it should be the Zhou Dynasty, which is the so-called "Eastern Zhou" in history. Mencius was also a member of the Zhou Dynasty. According to the dating, it is indeed the Warring States period after the Spring and Autumn Period, and it also belongs to the Eastern Zhou Dynasty. Five tenths, determined to learn, standing at thirty, not confused at forty, knowing destiny at fifty, listening at sixty, and not overstepping the mark at seventy. This is Confucius' summary of his life's knowledge, cultivation and life experience. Confucius is a studious and enterprising person. He once said: "In a city with ten rooms, there must be people who are faithful as hills. It is better to learn as hills." Confucius is a great thinker, educator, politician and founder of Confucianism in China. On June 3rd, 65438+ 10/kloc-0, Popular Forum invited Mr. Ding Guanzhi, a Confucian scholar, to give a report on The Great Confucius.

Confucius and His "Three firsts"

Confucius was born in 55 1 year BC and died in 479 BC. At that time, the content of aristocratic learning was generally "six arts". Six arts are divided into two levels. The main ones are: ceremony, music, shooting, empire, writing and counting. The higher levels are: poetry, calligraphy, Yi, ceremony, music, spring and autumn. Confucius is about 30 years old, and has laid a solid foundation of six arts and two levels. Confucius was active in Shandong from 30 to 5 1 year-old, giving lectures, which was probably about this time. 5 1 year-old, once a county magistrate. In less than a year, Zhongdu (today's Wenshang) succeeded Xiao Sikou and Da Sikou (Da Sikou is equivalent to the Minister of Public Security and Justice) and took photos. Confucius held this position until he left Shandong at the age of 55, about four years.

Confucius was a great thinker, educator and founder of Confucianism in the history of our country, and made outstanding contributions. Kuang Yaming put forward two aspects in his comments on Confucius. One is "the first great educator in the history of China"; The second is "the first great document collator in the history of China". I think there is a third "first", that is, on the basis of inheriting predecessors, he systematically expounded "benevolence" for the first time, making it a "benevolence study".

From Yin Zhou to Confucius' time, culture and education were monopolized by aristocrats, and "learning was in the official". The private school founded by Confucius was a historical symbol from "learning was in the official" to "learning emigrated", which was of epoch-making significance in the history of education in China. In addition, Confucius advocated "teaching without class" and created a precedent for civilian education. According to historical records, Confucius never stopped his education except for a few years in politics. The students he teaches are called three thousand disciples, and 72 people are proficient in six arts. Geographically, there are not only Qi and Lu, but also Chu, Jin, Qin, Chen and Wu. Most of the students are children of the lower class people, such as Yan Hui (who lives in a mean alley and is poor enough to eat and drink), Zhong Gong (whose father is a bitch), Zeng Shen (who lives in poverty and defends his country) and Min Ziqian (a civilian). In other words, the students accepted by Confucius, regardless of region, grade, age and age, are all eclectic, provided that a piece of dry meat is paid as a tribute.

As the "largest document collator", whether Confucius collated Yi, Shu, Shi, Li, Yue and Chunqiu has been controversial in academic circles. According to Sima Qian's Historical Records Confucius Family, Confucius has a close relationship with the Six Classics. This problem is very complicated to discuss. I agree with Mr. Kuang Yaming's evaluation of Confucius: "Although the Six Classics were not all written by Confucius, they were all arranged by Confucius, but the degree of arrangement was different. Among them, whether it is doing, saying, deleting or deciding, the situation is different and needs to be evaluated. The poems, books, rites, changes and the Spring and Autumn Period that we see today, though not the original appearance at that time, largely retain the traces of Confucius' revision, compilation, increase and decrease, and their contents should be important historical materials for studying Confucius. "Here I want to introduce the editing evolution of Confucian classics by the way. The relationship between Confucius and the Six Classics mentioned earlier is the Book of Changes, Book of Songs, Book of Songs, Rites, Music and Spring and Autumn Annals mentioned earlier. By the time of the Western Han Dynasty, Yue had lost his classics. He only said the Five Classics and established a doctor of the Five Classics. After changes, we established the name of "Thirteen Classics" in the Song Dynasty. The Thirteen Classics include Yi, Shi, Shu, Zhou Li, Yi Li, Book of Rites, Spring and Autumn Annals (Zuo Zhuan, Yang Gongzhuan and Gu Liangzhuan), Analects of Confucius, Mencius, Er Ya and Xiao Jing. There are also the so-called "Four Books and Five Classics". The name of "Four Books" began with Zhu in the Southern Song Dynasty. Zhu extracted The Great Learning and The Doctrine of the Mean from The Book of Rites, combined them with The Analects of Confucius and Mencius, and compiled four books. Combined with the above five classics, they were called the Four Books and Five Classics. These classics have a direct and indirect relationship with Confucius, and most of them are indispensable books for studying Confucius and Confucianism.

Confucius systematically expounded "benevolence" for the first time, making it a "benevolence study". He also initiated the golden mean and put forward a series of moral norms with benevolence and the golden mean as the core, which laid an ideological and moral foundation for China's feudal society for more than 2,000 years.

The Core of Confucius Thought: "Benevolence"

What is the core of Confucius' thought? There are different explanations in academic circles. I agree that "the benevolent loves others" and "harmony without difference" are the core of Confucius' thought. "Benevolence" is the highest value pursuit of Confucius, and "harmony" is the ideal realm of Confucius. Harmony with benevolence, harmony with benevolence, complement each other.

Say "benevolence" first. "Benevolence" did not exist in Oracle Bone Inscriptions and bronze inscriptions, but first appeared in Shangshu and Shijing, and was not widely used until the Spring and Autumn Period. What is "benevolence"? Confucius gave different answers when his disciples asked questions. But the core content is "love". Ask Ren. Confucius said "love" (The Analects of Yan Yuan). Confucius' love here means loving everyone, regardless of class, rank or even family. What are the methods and principles to realize love, that is, Confucius said "the way of loyalty and forgiveness". As Ceng Zi said, "Master's way is loyalty and forgiveness." (The Analects of Confucius "The Way of Loyalty and Forgiveness" means: "If you want to stand up, you want to succeed." ("The Analects of Confucius Yongye" "Don't do to others what you don't want others to do to you". The former is "loyalty" and the latter is "forgiveness". Loyalty is dedication to others; Forgiveness means caring about each other. Confucius's "loyalty and forgiveness" is known as the golden rule of world morality. In the Analects of Confucius, Confucius repeatedly emphasized that we should love and benefit others, and we should not cheat each other, intrigue each other, undermine each other and benefit others. "The beauty of a gentleman's adult is not the evil of an adult." Love and kindness to others are the basic principles of interpersonal communication and the fundamental guarantee of human common life. Man is not an isolated individual, he is a member of a social group. If a person wants to gain a foothold in society and achieve something, he can't do without the help of social groups. If you only take yourself as the center, only consider your own interests, not others, or even harm others' interests, you will only be alone in the end. The moral norms put forward by Confucius and Confucianism are not one-way efforts, but two-way reciprocity. Those who love will always love him, and those who love themselves will love themselves. This is the wisdom of life. Mencius said: "I am old, and people are old; Young people, young people, young people. The world can be transported in the palm of your hand ... so kindness is enough to protect the whole world. Without kindness, you can't protect your wife. " ("Mencius Hui Liang Wang Shang") "Pushing kindness" means pushing others by yourself and pushing one's love for parents and children to other parents and children. This is the concrete application and development of Confucius' thought of "establishing human beings". People often say that "it starts with hurting others and ends with hurting yourself" and "shooting yourself in the foot" is the truth.

The idea of "harmony" has different expressions in Confucian classics. Such as "neutralization" and "harmony". In the Analects of Confucius, the doctrine of the mean, harmony without difference, and harmony are the most important. Some of these expressions are in terms of the state of things, some are in terms of methods and principles, and some are in terms of their value and status. The general idea is that neutralization and harmony are the best conditions for the existence and development of things. In other words, nature and human society can only survive and develop in a balanced and coordinated state. Confucius' doctrine of the mean means balance and coordination. "The Doctrine of the Mean" said: "The winner is the foundation of the world; He who is harmonious achieves the way of the world. Neutral, the status of Heaven is awkward, and everything breeds. " This explanation accords with Confucius' original intention. Confucius objected to "going too far", which is a mistake. The reason why people make mistakes and deviations in understanding, judging and handling things lies in the one-sidedness, simplification and extremes of thinking methods, which are either excessive or insufficient and do not conform to the original appearance and development law of things. Therefore, the doctrine of the mean, neutrality and harmony are not created subjectively, but the objective laws of the development of things, which exist in all fields of nature and society. The destruction of natural ecology is lost, the gap between the rich and the poor is lost, the body is sick and lost, and so on. The study of natural science and humanities and social sciences is, in a certain sense, the "middle" of studying, discovering and mastering things, so as to make them develop harmoniously. Scientific Outlook on Development put forward by China is actually a coordinated and balanced development concept.

Confucius's "harmony but difference" also refers to the coordination and balance of things, and "harmony but difference" is the integration and unity of various components; "Same but not harmonious" is the "same" of a single component. Natural mountains and rivers, lakes and seas, birds and animals, plants, insects and fish; It is an objective law that human society with different colors, nationalities, social systems and cultures can only survive and develop in harmony. According to Confucius' thought of harmony but difference, we should not only admit differences, but also tolerate and live in harmony. Confucius was most opposed to the same. He said: "A gentleman is harmonious but different, and a villain is harmonious but different." (The Analects of Confucius Lutz) Measuring the world with a ruler and looking at people with one eye can only stifle the development of things.

Through the analysis of Confucius' thought of benevolence, we can see that he does have the ideal and vision of a harmonious (benevolent) society. He regards "the elderly are safe, friends believe in them, and the young are pregnant with them" (The Analects of Confucius Gongye Chang) as his ambition, and thinks that "giving to the people and helping the people" has not only reached the realm of benevolence, but also entered the realm of holiness. In the Book of Rites, Li Yun, Confucius also designed a blueprint for a desirable Datong society: "The trip to the Avenue is also a trip to the world, and the world is for the public, choosing talents and appointing talents, adhering to faith and repairing peace. An old friend is not only a relative, but also an only son. Let the old age end, be strong, be useful, be strong, and provide for the elderly, the sick and the disabled. Men get points and women get rewards. Goods, abandon it to the ground, don't hide it in yourself; Force, evil is not out of the body, not for yourself. Therefore, it is not prosperous to seek closure, and it is not prosperous to steal thieves, so it is not closed to the outside. It means Datong. "