"Reading without thinking is tantamount to a waste of effort;If you don't read, you can also get into danger. Confucius, as the "most holy teacher" in the eyes of Chinese and the head of the internationally recognized "Top Ten Cultural Celebrities in the World", his Confucian doctrine has a far-reaching influence on Chinese culture, which can be said to be half of the traditional culture.
So far, every word and deed of the Chinese, as well as the internal culture of the country or organization, all reveal the imprint of Confucian culture. Therefore, it is an unavoidable pity that some people imagine that without Confucius, Chinese civilization might have regressed.
Confucius was an important influencer on the development of human civilization, and although it is generally believed that Confucius and Confucian culture played an indispensable role in the formation of traditional Chinese culture, their importance to the development of human society is not well known.
The Confucian culture is so vast that most people are unable to fully comprehend its essence throughout their lives. However, with regard to morality, the earliest concepts of morality in China can be traced back to antiquity, when people revered Yao, Shun, Yu, Zhou Gong and others as moral models.
However, it is the credit of Confucius that truly constructs a complete ideological system of "virtue and Taoism". It can be said that before Confucius, there was no systematic moral code in Chinese society, and Confucius's Confucianism laid the foundation for this.
Order and system are the cornerstones of building a civilized society, and humanitarianism is the eternal theme of all mankind. Based on the political proposition of benevolence and courtesy, Confucius put forward the concept of "the world is for the public", advocating the social ideal of "selecting the virtuous and capable, stressing faith and cultivating harmony", and "people do not have only their relatives, not only their sons, so that the old can have their end, the strong have their usefulness, the young have their growth, and the widows, lonely and disabled people have all been supported".
In such a society, where there is nowhere to hide from the scourge of conspiracy and theft, everyone can be treated with full respect and care. This kind of idealized society is the highest goal of the development of human society, and it is the "Datong" society envisioned by Confucius.
China's "moderately prosperous" society is based on the concept of "the world is home" and "each one is his own family, each son is his own son, and the goods are his own", and has formed a series of rules and regulations and ethics.
In this society, everyone is fighting for their own family, and at the same time, there are various moral concepts and systems to restrain the society, so that the society forms an orderly state.
Although the "moderately prosperous" society has not reached the perfect state of "Datong", it has a normal order and is supported by the five constants such as "benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom and faith", so it is called "moderately prosperous".
Confucius's ideals of a "great harmony" society and a "moderately prosperous" society have had a profound impact on later generations of China, which not only inspired the visions and goals put forward by thinkers in different historical periods, but also inspired modern progressive thinkers and reformers.
In addition to moral ideals and political ideas, Confucius had unique views in the fields of economics, education, aesthetics, historiography, life, and even tourism. These views are an important part of traditional Chinese culture and continue to this day.
If Confucius did not have these ideas, then Chinese traditional culture would have lost a part, and social civilization might have regressed. Among them, Confucius's idea of "education without class" has had a profound impact on China's education.
Without this idea, education in China could be monopolized. In addition, Confucius's educational standard of "having both ability and political integrity" also deeply influenced the development of society in later generations.
Therefore, if these ideas are missing, there will be serious consequences.
China's traditional culture has survived to this day, not only because this land has not been invaded by foreign enemies, but also because of the strong assimilation of Confucian culture, which makes Chinese traditional culture compatible with the culture of the Yuan and Qing dynasties.
Of course, there are also people who believe that without Confucius and Confucian culture, the ideological part of traditional Chinese culture is not only Confucianism, for example, the hundred schools of thought in the pre-Qin period were no worse than Confucianism.
But in any case, the reason why Confucian culture can stand alone is precisely because of its excellence. Compared to other doctrines, Confucian culture has no significant drawbacks in maintaining the functioning of society.
2. Although there are many ideas comparable to Confucianism, Taoism is undoubtedly the best among them in terms of influence in the true sense. The "great harmony" pursued by Taoism is diametrically opposed to the Confucian concept of "non-action" and "non-fighting", but it is a unique state of peace.
Taoism advocates the abandonment of tools instead of use, and this concept is reflected in the simple and primitive life of contemporary Taoist priests. However, the development of human society is inseparable from the use of tools, and the emergence of the industrial revolution has made tools undergo earth-shaking changes.
If we follow the Taoist concept of "rule by doing nothing", then China's modern history may be a different scene, and the decline of the Qing Dynasty and the humiliation of modern history may also be changed.
Mohist doctrine, as one of the two major schools of thought in the pre-Qin period, its core ideas include:"And love"、"Non-offensive"、"Shang Tong"with"Sanghyun"Wait. To some extent, Mohist doctrine advocates that all living beings should be treated equally, and that everyone should care for each other.
However, their political claims do not fully correspond to our modern democracies.
Mohist science has made outstanding contributions, including "limit theory", "force is the driving force", "small hole imaging", "geometric theory", etc., which are even thousands of years earlier than Western science.
However, this does not mean that Mohists can replace Confucianism. Because from the Mohist idea of "for the people", it can be seen that it is destined not to be adopted by the rulers.
During his reign, Wang Mang implemented a series of reform measures, the most notable of which was the idea of "strengthening the country and weakening the people". He argues that the collapse of a dynasty is often associated with an uprising, and that the Legalist theory of "a strong country and a weak people" is to concentrate wealth in the hands of the rulers by squeezing the peasants.
However, uprisings usually occur because of the hardships of the people, so these drawbacks are very obvious. Although these measures were controversial at the time, they had a profound impact on later generations.
There is no doctrine that can completely replace Confucius's Confucianism, and if Confucianism is completely abandoned, it will undoubtedly lead to the regression of social civilization. The current Confucian culture is different from that proposed by Confucius, and is formed through the fusion of many doctrines, including the advantages of other doctrines integrated by later generations.
Still, Confucius is indispensable. China's modern civilization is a fusion of the ideas of a hundred schools of thought, many of which, such as Confucian culture, are important components, but the absence of any one can lead to the regression of China's civilization as a whole.
Modern China is a society governed by the rule of law and a society of human feelings, and it is precisely because of these ideas that they have jointly promoted the glory of today's Chinese civilization.