This chapter is the text of Confucius in "The Mean", which praises the virtues of his grandfather Confucius.
1. A brief description of the life of Confucius.
Confucius (551 BC-479 BC), known as Qiu, was a native of Lu State (now Qufu City, Shandong Province) during the Spring and Autumn Period, and his ancestral home was Liyi of the Song Kingdom (now Xiayi County, Henan Province). Father and uncle Liang Su, mother Yan. He was an ancient Chinese thinker, politician, educator, and founder of Confucianism.
1. After the famous family.
Confucius's ancestors were nobles in Liyi (present-day Xiayi County, Henan Province) in the Song Kingdom, and Shang Tang, the founding monarch of the Shang Dynasty. After the rebellion of the three prisons at the beginning of the Zhou Dynasty, in order to appease the nobles and descendants of the Shang Dynasty, the Duke of Zhou was ordered by King Cheng of Zhou to seal the brother of the King of Shang, Weiziqi, to establish the Song State in Shangqiu, and worship the Shang Dynasty. After Wei Ziqi's death, his younger brother Wei Zhong, who was the fourteenth ancestor of Confucius, ascended the throne. Confucius's father, Liang Su, fled to settle in Shanyi (now Qufu City, Shandong Province) in Lu to avoid the war of the Song Kingdom, and his official position was that of a doctor in Shanyi.
2. Birth is embarrassing.
Confucius's father's uncle, Liang Su's wife, Shi, gave birth to nine daughters but no sons, and the concubine gave birth to his eldest son, Meng Pi. Meng Pi had a foot disease, and Shu Liang Su was very dissatisfied, so he asked Nayan's daughter to be a concubine. The Yan family has three daughters, and only the youngest daughter, Yan Zheng, is willing to marry her uncle Liang Su. Yan Zheng was less than 20 years old at the time, and Shu Liang Su was 66 years old, the age difference was huge, the two were married in a ceremony and did not agree, and the husband and wife lived in Nishan and were pregnant, so it was called "wild combination".
3. Poor at an early age.
When Confucius was three years old, his uncle Liang Su died of illness. After the death of Shu Liang Su, Yan Zheng was expelled by Shi Shi, the wife of Shu Liang Su, so he took Confucius's brothers Meng Pi and Confucius to Qufu Que and lived a poor life. At the age of fifteen, Confucius was determined to be a scholar and worked hard to learn Xi skills of life and life ("Analects for Politics": "I am determined to learn five out of ten, and I am determined to stand at thirty"). At the age of 17, his mother died, and in the same year, the Ji family invited a first-class nobleman to a banquet, and Confucius went to the banquet, but was rejected by the Ji retainer Yang Hu.
4. Young people are determined to enter the office.
When Confucius was in his twenties, he wanted to pursue a career in public office, so he was very concerned about the major events in the world, and he often thought about various problems in governing the country, and often expressed some opinions. In this year, Confucius began to be a commissioner, managing the warehouse.
At the age of 23, he opened a private school.
5. Thirty and standing.
At the age of thirty, Confucius was already famous, so he claimed to be thirty. In the same year, when Qi Jinggong and Yan Ying came to visit the Lu State, they summoned Confucius and discussed with him the issue of Qin Mugong's hegemony, and Confucius became acquainted with Qi Jinggong.
At the age of thirty-five (517 BC), civil strife broke out in the state of Lu. Lu Zhaogong was forced to flee to the state of Qi. Confucius also left the state of Lu and went to the state of Qi, where he was appreciated and treated favorably by the Duke of Qi.
6. Forty is not confused.
Confucius was forty years old, and after decades of training, he had a relatively clear understanding of various problems in life, so he claimed to be forty and not confused.
In 504 BC, Confucius was forty-eight years old, and Yang Hu, a retainer of the Ji family, became increasingly powerful. Confucius called it the retainer in charge. Therefore, Confucius did not take office, retired and practiced "poems", "books", "rites" and "music", and many ** followed Confucius all over the world and followed him to learn and Xi.
7. Fifty knows the destiny of heaven.
In 500 B.C., at the age of fifty-two, Confucius was promoted to the great secretary of the Lu State, and he took pictures of things, punished Shao Zhengmao for seven days, exposed the corpse for three days, and ruled the Lu State.
In 498 B.C., Confucius weakened the three families of Sanhuan (Jisun, Shusun, and Mengsun, because they were the descendants of the three sons of Lu Huan, so they were called Sanhuan. At that time, the power of the Lu State was actually in their hands, and some of Sanhuan's retainers controlled Sanhuan to varying degrees) took measures to demolish the castle built by Sanhuan. Later, the action of Sandu was abandoned halfway, and the contradiction between Confucius and Sanhuan was also exposed.
In 497 B.C., when Confucius was fifty-five years old, the state of Lu held a suburban sacrifice, and after the sacrifice, he did not give it to Confucius when he gave sacrificial meat to the doctors according to the custom. This shows that Ji did not want to appoint him anymore, and Confucius left the state of Lu as a last resort, went to a foreign country to find a way out, and began a journey around the world.
In 496 BC, Confucius went to Weiguo, and Confucius met Nanzi, who was originally a princess of the Song Kingdom, and later married Wei Linggong, the monarch of Weiguo, as his wife. Nanzi was born promiscuous and had an affair with the prince of the Song Dynasty. Wei Linggong did not stop him, but connived at Nanzi and summoned Gongzi to meet him in Taodi.
Confucius went to Weiguo and stayed at Lu Boyu's house. Nanzi sent someone to Confucius and said: "If a gentleman of all countries wants to become a brother to our king at the cost of humiliation, he must first see the wife of our king." I would like to see you. Confucius excused himself and thanked him, and had no choice but to go to see Nanzi. Nanzi was in a tent made of fine arrowroot. When Confucius entered the door, he bowed respectfully to the north. Nanzi kowtowed in the tent and returned the salute, and the jade jewelry on his body made a crisp sound of clanging and clamming. Zilu, a student of Confucius, was very unhappy about this. Confucius pointed to heaven and swore an oath: "If I don't have to, God will reject me!"Heaven is disgusted with me!More than a month later, Wei Linggong and Nanzi sat in the same car, accompanied by the eunuch Yongqu, and went out of the palace gate, asking Confucius to sit in the second car and follow behind, swaggering past the market. Confucius said, "I have never seen a man who loves virtue as he loves beauty." So he was disgusted, so he left the country.
When Confucius arrived at Weiguo, Wei Linggong began to respect Confucius very much, and gave Confucius 60,000 yuan according to the standard of Lu State, but did not give him any official position and did not let him participate in political affairs. Confucius lived in Weiguo for about 10 months, because someone slandered in front of Wei Linggong, Wei Linggong became suspicious of Confucius and sent people to openly monitor Confucius's actions, so Confucius took ** out of Weiguo and planned to go to Chen. When passing through Kuangcheng, he was besieged for 5 days due to a misunderstanding, escaped from Kuangcheng, and when he arrived at Pudi, he encountered a rebellion launched by the noble uncle of the patriotic country, and was besieged again. After escaping, Confucius returned to the Patriotic State. When Wei Linggong heard that Confucius had returned from Pudi, he was very happy and went out of the city to greet him. After that, Confucius left Weiguo several times and returned to Weiguo several times, on the one hand, because Wei Linggong was good and bad for Confucius, and on the other hand, after Confucius left Weiguo, he had nowhere to go, so he had to return to Weiguo.
In 493 BC, at the age of fifty-nine, Confucius could not live in Weiguo and left Weiguo to go west. After passing through the state of Cao, Cao Boyang did not meet Confucius. After a short stop in Cao and arrived in the Song Kingdom, Song Sima Huan hated Confucius and threatened to harm Confucius, but Confucius obeyed. At the age of fifty-nine, Confucius left Wei Guo and passed through Cao, Song, and Zheng to Chen, and Chen sent people on labor to besiege Confucius's master and apprentice in the middle of the road, not relying on the village in front and not relying on the store in the back, and after eating the grain he carried, he was starved of food for seven days. In the end, Zigong found the Chu people, and the Chu State sent troops to meet Confucius, and Confucius's master and apprentice were spared death.
8. Sixty ears.
In 492 B.C., when Confucius was sixty years old, he said that at this time, he was able to deal with all kinds of remarks correctly and did not feel uncomfortable. Confucius passed Zheng to Chen State, and was separated from ** in the capital of Zheng Guo and waited alone at the East Gate ** to look for it, and was ridiculed, saying that he was depressed like a lost dog ("Historical Records, Forty-Seven, Confucius Family Seventeenth": There are people at the East Gate, whose cheeks are like Yao, and their items are like Gao Tao, and their shoulders are like children, but they want to be less than three inches below Yu, and they are tired like a lost dog. ）
In 484 BC, the sixty-eight-year-old Confucius was under the efforts of his ** Ranqiu, and Ji Kangzi sent people to welcome Confucius back to Lu with coins. This is the end of Confucius's fourteen years of travels around the world. Confucius still has the heart to enter politics, but he is still respected and not used. Ji Kangzi wanted to implement Tian Fu, but Confucius opposed it. said to Ran You that judging whether a person's behavior is a gentleman's behavior should be judged by his etiquette. When it comes to giving, it is done heavily;When doing things, they will do it in the mean;When you die, you will bury yourself. ("Historical Records, Forty-Seven, Confucius Family Seventeenth": The gentleman's trip is also courteous.) Take its thickness, take its example, and follow its thinness. If so, then the mound is sufficient. ）
After Confucius returned to Lu, he continued to engage in education and document collation.
In 483 BC, Confucius's son, Kong Li, died.
9. Seventy and do what you want, do not exceed the rules.
In 482 B.C., when Confucius was seventy years old, he said that he could do whatever he wanted at this time without breaking the rules. In the same year, Confucius's favorite ** Yan Hui died before him, Confucius was very sad, and sighed that the students who had followed him from Chen Guo to Cai Guo in the past were no longer around to be taught.
In 480 B.C., another of Confucius's protégés, Lu, died in the civil strife of the Wei Dynasty and was chopped into meat sauce. After this series of blows, Confucius knew that his time was short.
On April 4, 479 B.C., Zigong came to see Confucius, and Confucius's pillar staff leaned in front of the door and looked at each other from afar. He asked Zigong why he had come to see him so late. So he sighed that Mount Tai was about to collapse, the beams and pillars were about to rot and break, and the philosophers were going to wither and rot like grass and trees. Confucius shed tears and said, "There has been no way in the world for a long, long time, and no one is willing to adopt his own ideas." It is impossible to realize your own claims. The people of the Xia Dynasty died in the east step, the people of the Zhou Dynasty died in the west step, and the people of the Yin Shang Dynasty died between the two pillars. Yesterday evening, I dreamed that I was sitting between the two trees to pay respects, and my ancestors were Yin merchants. ”
On April 11, 479 B.C., Confucius died of illness at the age of 73 and was buried on the bank of Surabaya in the north of Lucheng.
2. A brief introduction to Confucius's thought.
Analects and Yang Goods: Zi Yue: Sex is similar, Xi is far away. The innocence of human beings is close to each other, while the acquired Xi nature that has been cultivated over a long period of time Xi is very different from each other. Adhere to the moral doctrine based on the theory of goodness and benevolence, "do not do to others what you do not want to be done to yourself", "the beauty of a gentleman, not the evil", "bow to oneself and take responsibility for others", etc., are his principles of life.
Was Confucius a successful man?Obviously, Confucius did not achieve his ideals until his death!
Confucius's highest political ideal was to establish a Datong society in which "the world is for the common good". The basic characteristics of the "Datong" society are: the avenue is unimpeded, "the world is for the public", so that it can "select the virtuous and capable, stress faith and cultivate harmony", "people do not have only their relatives, not only their sons, so that the old have their ends, the strong have their use, the young have their growth, and the widows, lonely and disabled people have all been supported."
In the world of Datong, people in the world not only regard their own families as relatives, not only their parents and children as love, but respect each other and love all people in the world. So that the old have their ends, the strong have their usefulness, the children can get warmth and care, the lonely and the disabled have something to rely on, the men have their own things, and the women have a satisfactory home. Conspiracy and fraud are not prosperous, theft and chaos cannot be afforded, the road is not forgotten, the door is not closed at night, everyone is trustworthy and harmonious, and the meritocracy is selected. This is an idealized and legendary primitive society scene of the Yao Shun era, and it is also the highest ideal society that Confucius envisioned.
Three, all of them are loaded, and all of them are covered.
The famous French thinker Romain Rolland once said: "There is only one true heroism in the world, and that is to love life after recognizing the truth of life." ”
In the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period in which Confucius lived, etiquette collapsed, but he still adhered to the theory of goodness and benevolence.
The virtues of Confucius are really all carried and all overwritten!
30 chapters original.
Zhong Ni Zu Shu Yao Shun, the charter of civil and military, the law of the sky, the water and soil. Pi (pì) is like heaven and earth, and nothing is overlaid (dào). Pi (pì) is like the wrong line of the four times, like the sun and the moon. All things nurture each other without harming each other, and the Tao goes hand in hand without contradicting each other. The small German river, the big German Dunhua, the reason why this world is big.
30 translations. Confucius followed the Taoism of Emperor Yao and Shun, and imitated the model customized by King Wen and King Wu, according to the law of change of heaven and time, and conformed to the geographical environment. For example, the world is vast and profound, and there is nothing that cannot be carried and nothing that cannot be covered. For example, the change of the seasons and the alternation of the sun and the moon shine. All things in heaven and earth grow at the same time and do not harm each other, and the ways of heaven and earth are parallel and do not conflict with each other. Small virtues flow like a river, and great virtues are simple and endless. This is the reason why heaven and earth are magnificent.