What was the ancient view of destiny like?

First, the Confucian concept of the Mandate of Heaven is "Heaven is strong, and the gentleman is constantly striving for self-improvement". That is to say, there is a constant way in heaven, and people should learn this spirit of endless life and strive for self-improvement.

Whether it is Confucius, Mencius, or Xunzi, it is this positive spirit of life.

Second, Confucius said that "life is unknown and death is known" and "people can be ghosts", and he was reluctant to discuss the proposition of death and ghosts and gods, because this kind of proposition is very illusory, and everyone's views are imagined by themselves, without strong evidence, and without positive significance, it is not of much help to life and society. Therefore, Confucianism attaches great importance to life, the actions of life, and the significance of life to society.

Third, Confucius did say that "fifty knows the mandate of heaven", which means that individuals are very knowledgeable about things and can realize the meaning of their own life, the social situation, and the general trend of the world. Because Confucianism pays attention to internal cultivation, honesty is clear, clarity is sincerity, and sincerity can reach heaven and earth! Knowing the Mandate of Heaven means that one's own internal cultivation has reached a very high level, and one has clearly understood the situation, and has done one's best to obey the Mandate of Heaven, so success or failure will not cause personal gains or losses.

Fourth, Confucianism worships ghosts and gods, but does not believe in ghosts and gods, and Mozi seized on this view to attack Confucianism. However, in fact, the purpose of Confucian sacrifice to ghosts and gods is not to believe in it, but to educate the people in a way of moral education, so that the people pay attention to etiquette and know filial piety. Zengzi said:

Be cautious and chase the distance, and the people's morality will be thick! That is to say, funeral rites and sacrificial rites have an edifying effect on society.

Fifth, the Taoist concept of the Mandate of Heaven is mainly born, and Lao Tzu emphasizes the "Tao", repeatedly embellishing and praising it; Zhuangzi emphasizes the mandate of heaven, believing that what people are born with is the best, and should not change it through the day after tomorrow, advocating being content with the mandate of heaven and obeying nature. Xunzi criticized him and said that he "hides from the sky and does not know people", only knows that the mandate of heaven cannot be violated, but does not know that "the mandate of heaven is used for it".

In addition, for the concept of the Mandate of Heaven, please refer to part of the Analects, Xunzi's Treatise on Heaven

The pre-Qin is: worship ghosts and gods and stay away, which means not denying the existence of ghosts and gods, but to pay attention to real life problems, "Zi Bu Silent Strange Force Chaos", refers to the main solution to the problems of people's lives, however, he supports the previous hierarchy, that is, the Western Zhou Dynasty sub-feudal system, indicating that its concept of destiny is to say: people are originally hierarchical.

Taoism's is: ruling by inaction and conforming to the mandate of heaven is excessive idealism.

The concept of Destiny has three main aspects: First, it is the belief that the gods are constantly concerned with and intervene in the affairs of the world, including natural processes and social affairs. Second, the belief that the gods have the necessary wisdom to know how to manifest their will.

Third, the belief that the gods have supernatural powers and powers to fulfill their arrangements and intentions.

Religion believes that God's domination and manipulation of the natural world and human life by his own will and command is the power of God's spirits, and it is also the fundamental attribute of gods. The deity is the creation of man, and the divinity is the alienation of man's character. Man always constructs the divinity of the gods according to his own attributes and characteristics, and generally conceives the power of the gods according to the needs of man himself to dominate and manipulate the natural world and human life.

Therefore, things that man can control and manipulate are often considered to be subject to man's will and commands. Transplanting this situation to the religious world alienates the will and command of man into the so-called divine will or mandate of heaven, and believes that the natural world and human life of Shiqinggao are subject to the domination and manipulation of the gods in accordance with this divine will and destiny.

The idea of divine will and the belief in the destiny of heaven are prevalent in various religious systems, but they are expressed in different forms. The concept of Destiny in the same religious system often contains different manifestations. The specific form of the concept of Manifest Destiny depends on the understanding of the divinity of the gods that various religions worship, that is, on their specific understanding of the morality, wisdom, and power contained in the concept of Manifest Destiny.

God's power and power can be big and small, strong and weak. As small as one thing and one thing, it can be inclusive of heaven and earth. Therefore, the performance and scope of the Mandate of Heaven promulgated by them are correspondingly large, small, wide, and narrow, and thus manifest themselves in two forms: the theory of limited destiny and the theory of infinite destiny.

The three divinities of morality, wisdom, and power, which are required and included in the belief in the Mandate of Heaven, are essentially the alienation of human characteristics. The pursuit of living conditions and a happy life is the natural instinct of human beings. When human beings still regard the power that governs their daily life as a mysterious force, they will regard the objective environment to which their existence is tied as the deliberate arrangement of the gods, and the acquisition of a happy life as the benevolence of the good gods; Regard suffering and misfortune as the work of evil gods or demons, or as punishment from heaven or gods for one's sins and immorality.

They tend to attribute their uncertain and uncertain future to the mysterious providence and to the incomprehensible phenomena of nature as manifestations of divine destiny. The various contents of the religious concept of destiny are everywhere flashing with the will and characteristics of human beings.