Confucian self-cultivation: Scholars start from Daqin

The climate inside is relatively warmer. Even though spring has just started, the vegetation in the valley has grown a lot, and it looks a bit lush at a glance.

And amidst the lush greenery, stands a taupe wooden house, obviously, this is Bei Mingzi's seclusion.

When Gao Jing walked into the house, he saw Xiao Baimao, who should be called Xiaomeng now, sitting cross-legged in meditation. When he saw Gao Jing, his face showed joy.

It seemed that Xiaomeng was the only one in the house, but Gao Jing always felt a little weird.

Close your eyes, take a deep breath, and open your eyes...

"As light as it is, as dust as it is, it's as bright as it is!"

Gao Jing admired, bowed to the empty place, and said: "Confucian Gao Jing, I have seen Master Beimingzi."

With white beard, white eyebrows and white hair, the Taoist robe with a stand-up collar behind his head slowly emerged from scratch.

Not hiding, but blending in!

Bei Mingzi is almost integrated with the surrounding environment. He is like a stone in the corner, grass on the ground, or a table and chairs in the house. He has become a real existence, but he will not be noticed by others at all. thing.

"sit down."

Bei Mingzi's voice was quiet and quiet, neither likes nor dislikes, nor joys and sorrows could be heard.

Gao Jing saluted and knelt down on the opposite side.

Bei Mingzi also poured tea, one cup for each.

Gao Jing picked up the teacup, didn't drink it, but asked, "Uncle Master called me, but what's the matter?"

"Ah!"

There was obviously no smile on Bei Mingzi's face, but he let out a clear smile: "You taught Xiaomeng's "Heaven and Earth", and you taught it well."

Gao Jing frowned slightly, are you here to ask for trouble?still……

Bei Mingzi continued: "Zhuangzi has three chapters of "Heaven", namely "Heaven and Earth", "Tian Dao", and "Tian Yun". Finish "Tian Dao" and "Tian Yun."

Gao Jing drank his tea in silence, put down his teacup after a while, and said, "The so-called three chapters of "Heaven" are for disciples to have a general understanding of the meaning of "Heaven", the meaning of "Tao", and the so-called "Luck".

He was too lazy to speculate on Bei Mingzi's intentions.

Since he let him teach, then Gao Jing will teach!

"The so-called "Tian Dao" refers to the law of natural changes, which will not be changed according to people's preferences, and there is no so-called concept of "good or evil".

What people have to do is to follow the way of heaven.

For example, the ancients formulated the four solar terms of mid-spring, mid-summer, mid-autumn, and mid-winter, and later added the vernal equinox, summer solstice, autumnal equinox, winter solstice (bhdj), etc. This is not only a reflection of human beings exploring the laws of nature.

Relying on these natural laws, people in the world came up with the farming method of "spring plowing and autumn harvest", which has gradually become common sense.

The Dao of Heaven itself has no concept of "good" or "evil".

For example, "Tigers eat people, and people kill tigers." From a human point of view, tigers eating people is evil and a disaster that must be killed. But from a tiger's point of view, they eat people just to fill their stomachs. For example, eating grains and eating animals is in line with the balance of the law of heaven - the law of heaven will not favor any side. "

After saying "The Way of Heaven", before Gao Jing could continue, Bei Mingzi stopped him.

Put a roll of bamboo slips in front of Gao Jing.

Gao Jing opened it suspiciously, couldn't help smiling, and read: "There is a fish in the North, and its name is Kun. The Kun is so big, I don't know how many thousands of miles away it is. It turns into a bird, and its name is Peng. Back, I don’t know how many thousands of miles away it is. Flying in anger, its wings are like clouds hanging from the sky. It is a bird, and the sea will migrate to Nanming. The one in Nanming, Tianchi also..."

"... Fuliezi walks against the wind, calm and kind, and then turns back after five days in ten days. He is not counted among those who bring blessings. Although this is free from walking, there are still people to be treated. If you take advantage of the sky and the earth Righteousness, but guard against the argument of the six qi, and those who want to swim infinitely, he will be evil! Therefore, it is said: The ultimate man has no self, the gods and men have no merit, and the sage has no name..."

After Gao Jing finished reading, Bei Mingzi asked lightly: "Maybe you understand the meaning of Xiaoyao?"

"Forget things and self, reach the realm of no self, no merit, no name, swim in infinity without anything to rely on."

Gao Jing said calmly: "I can understand, but I can't do it!"

The so-called "no-self" means transcending all the limitations of nature and society spiritually, annihilating the opposition between things and self, melting oneself into the world and all things to achieve the unity of Tao and self, and the state of communicating with the spirit of heaven and earth alone .

Bei Mingzi asked, "Why can't it be done?"

Gao Jing smiled and said, "Because I am a Confucian!"

Bei Mingzi said: "Confucianism and Taoism are just different schools, just like right and strange, good and bad, hard and soft, strong and weak, more and less, up and down, first and last, real and empty, glorious And humiliation, wisdom and clumsiness, cleverness and foolishness...

Existence and non-existence, difficulty and difficulty complement each other, long and short complement each other, high and low complement each other! "

"Don't blame the sky, don't favor others, go to school and go up to the top, the one who knows me is the sky."

Gao Jing smiled and said: "Confucians do not fall from poverty, do not indulge in wealth, do not confuse kings, do not tire superiors, do not mingle and have divisions, so they are called Confucianism."

Chapter Two Hundred and Waiting for Yao and Shun

In "Book of Rites. Confucianism", Duke Ai of Lu asked Confucius: "Dare to ask about Confucianism".

Confucius said, there is no end to this sentence.

Duke Ai orders the table, sir, please sit down.

Confucius talked about sixteen kinds of Confucianism, which can be summed up as follows:

The first is to strengthen learning and practice, which refers to the self-reliance of Confucianism. Before entering the official career, he studied very hard, waiting for the opportunity to be asked by others, and his knowledge can answer the king's questions.

Cultivate one's own moral character and show one's own virtue in practice.

The second appearance is vigilant, which means that Ru’s daily life, appearance, behavior, walking and speaking are all "respectful". Respect is a state of being very cautious, not presumptuous, and always very correct.

The third is "self-cultivation in residence, integrity in words and deeds".

Fourth, "no treasure and wealth", Confucianism does not value wealth and "six to five zero" wealth.Many people become officials in order to get promoted and make money, but Confucianism is not like this, wealth is not important, the most important thing is to realize one's own ambition and contribute to society.

Fifthly, "Think of what is right when you see profit, act decisively", always put ideals and morality first, even under any pressure, you can stick to your integrity and don't follow the trend.

Sixth, "fortitude and restraint", Confucianism attaches great importance to one's own dignity, which is inviolable and can persist under any pressure.

The seventh is "benevolence, righteousness, loyalty and trustworthiness". Confucians have firm moral beliefs. Even under tyranny, Confucian beliefs will not change.

The eighth "safety and poverty and keeping the way" means that even if life is poor and poor, one can protect one's own values ​​and ideals and not follow the trend.

Ninth, "If you are poor, you will have ambitions." "Poor" means frustration in politics and lack of ambition in governance.At this time, you can still stick to your ambitions, and you won't compromise your original ambitions just because you have to.

The tenth is "yu polite", "yu" refers to a generous mind.It is very polite, generous and tolerant to lead people.

No.11 "Promoting the virtuous and aiding the capable", as long as it is beneficial to the country, "Do not avoid relatives if you call it internally, and do not avoid resentment if you promote it externally", Confucianists can recommend it without asking for anything in return.

No.12 "Be kind to others", the attitude of dealing with the world, being kind to others.

No.13 "Independence of the mean", Confucianism stands up and acts, grasps the way of the mean, is impartial, has no faults and no faults.

No.14 "Ao Yi Qing Qing", this is a kind of relatively noble Confucianism, for the king who looks down on, "the superiors will not be ministers to the emperor, and the subordinates will not serve the princes", they will not be officials, and they will not serve the monarch.

No.15 "There is righteousness in making friends", the Confucian way of making friends pays great attention to friendship.

No.16 is the Confucian personality as Mencius said, "the poor and the humble cannot be moved, and the rich and the noble cannot be bent."

And the real Confucianism establishes its own three views from these "Sixteen Confucianisms"!

……

Of course, Bei Mingzi understood the meaning of Gao Jinghua. Confucianism and Taoism not only have different ideas, but also behave differently in the world.

He just paused for a moment, then continued: "In a world of bad luck, why not treat Yao and Shun the same way?"

The so-called "world of Dao loss" means that the world is declining, people's hearts are not old, the morals of the world are gradually getting worse, and people's minds are no longer as simple and kind as the ancients, but full of treachery and hypocrisy.

Therefore, Taoism in this period advocated "returning the morals of the world to the era of the ancient sages", persuading to abandon superfluous things such as "intelligence" and "scheming".

As for "waiting for Yao and Shun"...it means that Confucianism is most looking forward to a monarch like Yao and Shun, and has been waiting for such a monarch, which is the so-called "waiting for the virtuous to rule the country"!

Why is there such a saying?

I have to say, it was Han Fei's fault again!

At that time, Shen Dao of the Legalist school had a debate with Confucianism.

Shenzi said: The flying dragon flies on the clouds, and the snake swims on the mist. However, once the clouds clear, they are like ants and earthworms, because they have lost the support to fly in the air.

The reason why the sage submits to the unworthy is because the sage has little power and low status, and the reason why the unworthy can subdue the sage is because the unworthy has great power and high status.

If Yao was just a commoner, he couldn't even manage three people well, while Jie, as the emperor, could mess up the whole world. From this we can see that power and status are enough to rely on, but talents and talents are not worthy of envy.

When the crossbow is shot lightly and the arrow flies high, it is because of the propulsion of the wind, and the order is carried out because of the help of the people...  …

When Yao was a commoner, the people did not listen to him, but when he ruled the world, he could order and prohibit. From this we can see that virtuous talents and wisdom are not enough to convince the people, but power and status are enough to make the sages submit.

Some Confucianists retorted Shenzi and said: With the support of clouds and mists, they can fly because dragons and snakes are born with high aptitude. In the same thick cloud, earthworms and ants cannot fly in the clouds because earthworms and ants are born with low aptitude.

When Jie and Zhou ruled the world, the power of the emperor was like a cloud, and the world was in chaos, which just shows that Jie and Zhou had low qualifications.

When Yao and Shun ruled the world, there was no difference in power. It can be seen that a wise man can govern the world well if he controls power, while an unworthy man can only cholera the world if he controls power.

So the "Book of Zhou" said: Don't add wings to the tiger, otherwise it will fly into the city and eat people at will.

Allowing unworthy people to gain power is like adding wings to a tiger. The reason why Jie and Zhou were able to run amok is precisely because power has become their wings.

Han Fei quoted this debate and summarized it out of context. Confucianism believes that the king is either "Jie and Zhou" or "Yao and Shun", so they have to wait for "Yao and Shun".

Therefore, the Confucian idea of ​​"treating Yao and Shun with respect" is wrong, because most of the kings are only middle-class people, not as wise as Yao and Shun, but the middle-class kings can implement laws very well...

The funny thing is that, as the influence of Korean and African rule of law expanded in later generations, Confucianism itself has increasingly recognized the concept of "government by waiting for the virtuous".

So that after the kings of later generations won the throne, they would always brag about how wise they were, and the Confucians who obeyed the king would also brag...

It was not until modern times that "putting power in a cage" was advocated, and it returned to the original intention of Confucianism.

……

When Bei Mingzi said "why not treat Yao and Shun the same way", Gao Jing really felt dumbfounded.

During this period, all schools of thought agreed that "a wise man governs the country," but Confucianism was not so extreme that "non-Yao and Shun cannot govern a country."

Gao Jing didn't refute, but just said indifferently: "The "world of loss" in the mouth of my uncle is actually not caused by the way of heaven?".

-------------Chapter Dividing Line---------------

Bei Mingzi frowned slightly: "The way of heaven?"

Gao Jing smiled and said: "Once upon a time, two people went to Jixia Academy of Qi State to study, and one of them was from Lu State. Because his family was poor, he ate pickles and porridge to satisfy his hunger every day.

In the Song Dynasty, Yin Fu lived in a rich family, and there was constant drinking and food every day.Because the two had a good relationship on weekdays, one day the Song people saw that the Lu people ate pickles and cold porridge every day, so they asked their servants to prepare a basket of wine and vegetables, and ordered them to give them to the Lu people.

The Lu people thanked the Song people for their kindness, but politely declined the food and drinks.