Mencius on benevolence, propriety, and righteousness, Mencius 8 benevolence and righteousness

Go to the woman's house, the woman's family is to tell her daughter, you come to your house, why the woman's family, after the woman marries, that is her own home, that is called Guining, in ancient times it was called Guining, Guining is to marry to her husband. Husband and wife, this family is the husband and wife's own, and this daughter marries there is the daughter's own home, so to the daughter's home, that is, after going to your home, you must respect and abstain, for the in-laws, for the husband, for the in-laws, for the husband, the husband and wife must respect each other, must respect. You must be wary of those things, you must know them, and you must keep them in mind.

If you do not disobey the Master, the Master is the husband, and if you do not disobey, you must be obedient. Why should you be obedient, there is only one person in a family, not two people, two people can discuss with each other when they encounter something, and after discussion, it is still decided by one person, and one person is the master, so there is no disobedience to the Master. Those who regard obedience as righteousness, when this woman marries, pay attention to obedience, and take obedience as righteousness.

To be obedient, what is this, the way of concubines, women are called husband and wife, concubines are in ancient times, different from our current system, the current national law is monogamous, no concubines are allowed, in ancient times, you can, you can have concubines, and those who are obedient are the way of concubines. Mencius said that when a husband and a man were crowned, his father would tell him how to be a man, and his father would command him. When a woman gets married, her mother tells her to obey the way of obedience, and that the way of a concubine is to take obedience as righteousness and obedience as righteousness.

Mencius makes an article and speaks, and is the best at using metaphors, he talks about the facts of this paragraph, what is the metaphor, before Jingchun said that Gongsun Yan and Zhang Yi are the big husbands, Mencius first said that the big husbands you talked about, you can't be called big husbands. can't be called a big husband, this Jingchun may be difficult to accept, so Mencius cited this man and woman, the man crowned, the woman married, and the truth that his parents told him as a metaphor, comparing Gongsun Yan and Zhang Yi. The following is to combine the words of this metaphor and put it together with Gongsun Yan and Zhang Yi.

The first sentence says that when you go to see the woman's family, you must be respectful and respectful, and you can't go against the way of the master.

The second verse says that a woman should keep the way of a woman, bow down to her husband, and obey him. This is a bit disrespectful of women's rights today, which is not right, in fact, husband and wife should respect and understand each other.

The above excerpt is from "Mencius: Lilou", there is no translation below, all are essays.

Mencius's thought is buried at the core, and we can summarize it in one word: "benevolence". The monarch governs the country, and Mencius advises to implement benevolent government; The people lived and worked in peace and contentment, and Mencius taught to practice benevolence and righteousness.

The Chinese character is very special, the pronunciation of "benevolence" and "ren" is the same, and the side of "ren" is "single person", so that Mencius's thought "benevolence" can be interpreted as "people", that is, "the people are precious, the community is secondary, and the monarch is light", and the people's people-oriented thought is noble.

At the beginning of the above article, it was said, "There is a way in the world", and in combination with the following text, it can be seen that Mencius believed that the way in the world is "benevolence and righteousness". So what is righteousness? The truth of benevolence is also a matter of proximity.

The truth of righteousness is also from the brother. The main content of benevolence is to serve one's parents, and the main content of righteousness is to obey one's brother. Mencius believed that filial piety is the actual manifestation of a person's benevolence, and compassion is the actual manifestation of a person's righteousness.

If you think about it, it's quite logical: if a person is not filial to his parents, how can we think that this person can be kind to others? If a person turns against his own brother, how can we prove that the person will not betray his friend?

Everyone kisses their relatives, grows long, and the world is peaceful", which may be a more familiar expression: "the old and the old, the young and the young".

There are three unfilial pieties, and no descendants are great", this sentence should be interpreted as: "There are many manifestations of unfilial piety, and no descendants are the greatest." And Zhao Qi of the Eastern Han Dynasty explained in the "Commentary on the Thirteen Classics":

There are three things about unfilial piety in the ceremony, which is said to be obedient, unrighteous and unrighteous, and unfilial; The family is poor and old, not for Lu Shi, and the second is not filial; Don't marry and have no children, never worship ancestors, and don't be filial. Among the three, no queen is the greatest. In fact, Zhao Qi's interpretation of Mencius's chapters and verses is not an original restoration, but adds some of his own thoughts, which makes people ambiguous about some of Mencius's remarks.

In the classroom, the Chinese teacher will tell us that the "three" in classical Chinese is not the meaning of three, but the meaning of "many" and "complete", such as "Yongguan Sanjun" and so on. Maybe Zhao Qi doesn't have a Chinese teacher, so he thinks that "there are three unfilial pieties" means "there are three things about unfilial piety in Yu Li" - just kidding. What are the "unfilial piety" mentioned by Mencius?

The so-called unfilial piety of the world is five: lazy four branches, good gambling and drinking, good goods, private wives, from the desire of the ears and eyes, and brave and ruthless.

Mencius's view of benevolence and righteousness is that benevolence deals with social relations, and righteousness deals with blood relations.

Moral concept: During the time of Mencius, Yao, Shun, Yu, Yu, Wenwang, Wuwang, Zhou Gong, Confucius, etc., were regarded as the "Taoist system" (a continuous knowledge system) of Confucianism. Since then, the Confucian concept of Taoism and Confucianism have become an inseparable whole.

The influence of people-oriented thought Mencius's people-oriented thought, the idea of benevolent government, everything is based on the people's will and back. This set of revolutionary theories has become a creative idea in traditional Chinese political theory, and although it lacks the spirit of modern democracy, it has become a rational source of harmony and delay in the traditional system of governance, which inhibits the monarchy's power. Mencius's proposition of "producing for the people" has become the highest ideal of the economic system of previous dynasties, such as the Juntian system of the Sui and Tang dynasties.

Educational Proposition:

Mencius believed that it was necessary to "educate the world's talents" and advocated personality and moral education.

He said: "I would like to give you the teachings of the order, and apply for the righteousness of filial piety." Moreover, Mencius believed that self-cultivation is the basis of learning, but he also believed that human goodness cannot be cultivated from the outside, and ultimately must be achieved by one's own thinking.

In terms of self-cultivation methods, it advocates free development and adapts to the situation. Burning pie.

In addition, Mencius also attached great importance to the learning environment, placing students in a good environment and administering spontaneous education in order to succeed. The influence of Mencius's doctrine on later generations inspired the unclear theory Mencius proposed the "study of inner sage", which pointed out that human nature is good, as long as each person expands his good nature, suppresses his material nature, and reflects on himself. This method of introspective cultivation became the mainstream of Confucianism in later generations.

Cheng Hao, Cheng Yi, Lu Jiuyuan, Wang Yangming and other Song and Ming physicists all inherited Mencius's doctrine in this regard.

The idea of benevolence and propriety is the core idea of Confucius's political thought, and it is also the theoretical basis for the inheritance of Confucianism from generation to generation.

In Confucius's thought, benevolence exists in all aspects of social relations, and the embodiment of benevolence in social relations is to require benevolence to love others, and in the relationship between people, Confucius believes that benevolence should play a role in the existence of various rules or principles.

The Chinese advocate the idea of propriety, and the Chinese also attach importance to the education of propriety. The propriety proposed by Confucius is a generalized sense of propriety, and in social relations, he equates propriety with morality. Etiquette is regarded as a code of conduct and moral standards that bind people in society.

The viewpoint of policing in politics. The ruler should also follow the rules of etiquette for the rule of the people, so as to gain the respect and obedience of the people. The idea of Confucius's benevolence and propriety played an important role in promoting China's political and moral development.