What historical contribution and value did Confucius bring to us?

Confucius used to have many documents. On the one hand, Confucius studied them, on the other hand, he sorted them out and taught them to his disciples. The Analects of Confucius involves Yi, Shu and Shi. Although there are "gifts", they are not simplified books (books). According to the Book of Rites Miscellanies, "the loss of officials, the loss of Confucius, and the loss of scholars are books", then all kinds of articles in the Book of Rites appeared after Confucius, but they were spread by Confucius. This person, such as Ai, is also found in The Analects. He once asked to see Confucius, but Confucius refused to see him because he was ill. He also deliberately played the piano to let him know that Tao was refusing to accept the illness, but he was not sick. (17.20) However, it is hard for Confucius to refuse if Confucianism comes to study at the expense of public service. The Analects of Confucius didn't talk about Chunqiu. However, from the author of Zuo Zhuan, some people said that Chunqiu was written by Confucius, and Mencius even said that Chunqiu was written by Confucius. The Spring and Autumn Annals of Ram and the Spring and Autumn Annals of Gu Liang recorded the date of Confucius' birth, and the Spring and Autumn Annals of Zuo also recorded the date of Confucius' death. Ram Spring and Autumn Annals and Gu Liang Spring and Autumn Annals ended in the 14th year of Aigong, and Zuo Chunqiu ended in April of 16th year of Aigong. There are three kinds of Spring and Autumn Annals, two of which record the birth of Confucius and one records the death of Confucius. Can it be said that Chunqiu has nothing to do with Confucius? I don't think Confucius edited Chunqiu, and I don't believe Confucius wrote Chunqiu. I think the Spring and Autumn Annals, which is circulating now, is still the original text of Shandong history. Although Wang Anshi vilified Chunqiu as a ruined newspaper (first seen in Su Zhe's Preface to Chunqiu Ji Jie, then recorded in Zhou Lin Zhi, Lu Dian and Wang Anshi's History of Song Dynasty). However, the outline of historical events in the Spring and Autumn Period of 240 years depends on this. More importantly, if there were no Spring and Autumn Annals, no one would write Zuo Zhuan. We can only dig more than 200 years of historical materials in the Spring and Autumn Period underground. In a word, there are at least five kinds of ancient documents related to Confucius and Confucius' younger brother: poems, books, the Book of Changes, rites and the Spring and Autumn Period.

There are only more than 70 disciples of Confucius. The Confucian family in historical records said that "disciple Gai 3,000 yuan", and the word Gai showed that Tai Shigong himself didn't believe it when he said this. According to Zhao Gong's Twenty Years of Zuo Zhuan, Confucius stopped the death of Hong Zonglu in zhangqin. Zhangqin, a disciple of Confucius, was thirty years old at this time. Since then, disciples have been recruited continuously, so there are several groups of Confucius disciples, and their ages are also very different. According to Records of the Biography of Disciples of Zhong Ni in Historical Records, Luz is older than Confucius Xiao Jiu and may be the oldest student. ("Historical Records" quoted Confucius' Family Language as saying that Yan Wu Yu was only six years younger than Confucius. I don't know if it's reliable, because I don't count. ) The youngest son, Zhuan Xu Shi, is probably younger than Confucius, who was born at the age of 48. Suppose he studied under Confucius at the age of eighteen, and Confucius was 66 years old. Confucius was interested in stabilizing the world in the first half of his life, and his disciples followed. Therefore, a group of students before Confucius were engaged in politics, so Zuo Zhuan contains many words and deeds of Luz, You Ran and Zi Gong. The younger generation of students may be famous for Factor Tour, Xia Zi and Zeng Shen. They are not officials, and most of them are engaged in teaching. Xia Zi once lived in Xihe and was treated by Wei Wenhou. Zeng Shen once accused him of "retreating from Xihe, making Xihe people doubt the Lord" ("Book of Rites on Bow"), which shows that he was famous at that time. Confucius has four subjects, including Ziyou and Xia Zi (1 1.3), and Zhang Zi is also among the younger generations, and of course he also sets up accounts to teach. Therefore, whether Xunzi Fei's Twelve Chapters is "base Confucianism" or not, there are "Zhang Zi base Confucianism", "Xia Zi base Confucianism" and "Ziyou base Confucianism". But what they taught was literature, which made the ancient culture in China not extinct, but also developed and changed. This contribution originated from Confucius and belongs to Confucius. According to Han Feizi's Distinguished Learning, Confucianism is divided into eight schools. In the early Warring States period, Wei Wenhou treated Confucian scholars with courtesy and appointed talented people. The proprietors, that is, the so-called "monarch is the teacher" (see the biography of Han Shi Shuo Yuan), include Bu, Tian Zifang (Lv Chunqiu said he was a Zigong student, of course) and Duan Ganmu (Lv Chunqiu said he was a student). The person who has the credit is Wei, that is, the person who recommended three people; And Huang Zhai recommended Wuqi, Yang Le, Ximen Bao, Li Ke and Qu Houtuo (Zhao Cang, Biography of Korean Poetry). Originally a Confucian, Wu later became a legalist and strategist. Li is a summer student, but he devoted himself to cultivating and improving agricultural productivity. He also became a legalist by writing the Classic of Law (Records of the Book of Jin Criminal Law). The leaders of the emerging landlord class, who adhere to the teachings of Confucius and do not change, only respect them, but do not hire them. The emerging leaders of major classes accepted the culture and education advocated by Confucius, adapted to the situation and appointed them to work for the prosperity and strength of the country. After Wei Hou Wen Li County, there was millet of Qi State. The south gate to the west of Qidu (now Linzi Town, Shandong Province) is called Jimen. There are many study rooms outside the thistle gate, which generously support scholars from all over the world to debate and write books. At that time, they were called Mr. Xia Ji. It probably began in Tian, flourished in, and experienced Wang Min, Wang Jian, which lasted for more than a hundred years. Xunzi attached great importance to etiquette, which was close to Legalism, and Han Fei and Li Si both came from his family. But he still hasn't been appointed, because he still adheres to Confucius' theory to a great extent. But his lectures and works have a great influence on later generations. Han Fei is a student in Xun Qing. He doesn't take teachers for granted. "Sun Shi Confucianism" in "Idle Learning" is "Xunshi Confucianism". However, without Confucius and Confucius' braids and later Confucianism, especially Xun Qing, not only could there be a hundred schools of thought contending during the Warring States Period, but it would also be impossible for Shang Yang to help Qin Xiaogong's political reform (Records of Criminal Law in the Book of Jin said: "[That is, Li Ke] wrote the Six Laws Classics, and Shang Yang was influenced by it." ), laid the foundation for the unification of Qin Shihuang; In particular, Reese could not help Qin Shihuang unify the world. Looking back on several classics, Confucius' academic and cultural contribution and its influence on later generations are indelible.

Confucius' learning attitude and teaching methods also have some merits. Although Confucius said that "those who are born with knowledge are above", (16.9) himself said that "I am not born with knowledge, and I love the past and seek it." (July 20th) It seems that Confucius didn't really admit that there are "people who were born to know". When Confucius first arrived at Zhougong Temple, he asked people for advice on everything, and some people laughed at him for being rude. Confucius replied, if you don't understand, ask. It's a gift. (3. 15) Confucius also said: "When three people walk together, there must be a teacher; Choose good and follow it, but change it if it is not good. " (July 22nd) In other words, there are always my positive teachers and my negative teachers among those who pay. Zi Gong said that Confucius didn't have a teacher and went everywhere to study. (19.22) We now say that it is never too late to learn. According to Confucius' self-report, "You forget to eat when you are angry, but forget to worry when you are happy, and you are old and don't know" (7. 19), that is, you are old and don't know. No matter how different the times are and how they develop, this learning spirit is admirable.

Confucius himself said that "teaching people never tires" (July 2, 34) has nothing to hide. (7.24) Yuan Haowen's poem "On Poetry" said: "From the perspective of teaching, don't praise people with gold." In the past, many craft and boxing teachers always left their students with one hand, unwilling to pass on all the skills, especially the most crucial one, which is the "last hand" and "housekeeping skills" as the saying goes. On the other hand, Confucius had no reservations about his students, thus winning their infinite respect and admiration for him. After the death of Confucius, the students lived in the house next to the tomb of Confucius, as if their parents were dead. Three years later, Zi Gong continued to live next to the tomb for three years (On Mencius Teng Wengong). Only with such "tireless teachers" can such students stay in Shandong for three or six years. Of course, we are opposed to silence, but we can make the relationship between teachers and students closer than that between father and son, and there is always something worth learning.

Confucius knew every student very well and evaluated some students. When answering students' questions, even if the same question is asked by different people, the answers are different. Yan Yuan recorded that Yan Yuan, Zhong Gong and Sima Niu "asked about benevolence", and Confucius had three answers. Even Lutz and You Ran asked "Steven Zhu Xing", but Confucius' answer was completely opposite, which aroused the suspicion of Gong Xihua. (1 1.22) Is it necessary to teach students in accordance with their aptitude? I thought it was still usable, just to see how to adapt to today's situation. Different times will inevitably lead to different specific requirements and practices. However, even today, Confucius' attitude towards students and some teaching methods, such as "don't get angry, don't start work, don't worry, don't make mistakes" and (7.8), still have some merits.

Before Confucius, he studied in the government. "Zuo Zhuan" contains Zheng's rural studies, so only people with doctoral degrees or above and their children can enter school. Private schools, open doors to recruit students, tuition is not cheap, just ten pieces of dried meat, (7 7) from ancient times to the Spring and Autumn Period, I am afraid Confucius was the first person. Some people say that at the same time, Shao Zhengmao also recruited apprentices, which may not be credible. Nevertheless, the research of Shao Zhengmao and his students has no influence on future generations.

Confucius recruited students, except Jingshu, Lu and Sima Niu from Nangong. If Huan Xuan's younger brother, only two of them were from noble families, and the rest were mostly from poor families. According to the biography of the disciple of the historian Zhong Ni, Luz is like a rogue. According to Records of Historical Records Biography of Rangers, Yuan Zhen "lived in an empty room all his life and ate brown clothes", and he was even poorer. The Analects of Confucius said that Gongye Chang was innocent and imprisoned. Assuming that his family has status, he is not necessarily in prison if he is guilty, let alone innocent. It serves to show that he is also a cheap cousin. According to Disciples' Rules of Justice Biography and Hanshu's Biography of Poetry, Zeng Shen was once a small official, and he took pleasure in fighting for money to support his parents. It can be seen that Ceng Dian and Zeng Shen's father and son are both poor. According to Lu Chunqiu Respecting Teachers, it is a "despicable family of Lu". Yan Hui lived in a mean alley, ate and drank, and died with a coffin, all of which can be found in The Analects. It can be inferred from this that many of Confucius' students are from poor families, and only two people can know the well-off families. Then, how can Confucius' contribution to spreading culture to the lower classes be denied? "A Brief Introduction to Huainan Zi" said: "Mozi learned the skills of Confucianism and was influenced by Confucius." This is not to say that Mozi came from Confucianism, but that Confucius is indispensable for learning culture and literature. Han Feizi said: "Confucianism and Mohism are the outstanding figures today", and a hundred schools of thought contend behind Confucianism and Mohism, so I said that the spread and development of China culture can not be separated from Confucius' collation of ancient documents and the establishment of private schools.