In modern China, there have been several ideological emancipation movements, the New Culture Movement, and the great discussion on the ideological emancipation on the eve of reform and opening up. Chinese society has ushered in a great discussion on the emancipation of the mind of the whole society, and after the ideological emancipation movement, earth-shaking changes have taken place in Chinese society, and it seems that all this has a great relationship with the emancipation of people's minds.
In these several ideological emancipation movements, has China's mind really been emancipated, why is it mentioned again now, will the results be consistent with the previous ideological emancipation movements, and will it lead to tremendous social changes?
The times are bound to change, and even if the mind is not emancipated, the times are changing all the time. When people try to let go of their minds, then they must perceive that their minds are imprisoned, and only by breaking the cage of imprisoned minds can they emancipate their minds. People kept looking for that cage, and in the new cultural period, people thought that the cage of thought was Confucius. On the eve of reform and opening up, people thought that the ideological cage was unrealistic. In short, if we fail to correctly understand what is the cage of thought, we cannot talk about emancipating the mind.
So what is the real cage that imprisons the mind, and how can we break it?
There is some truth to the idea that the mind is in a cage to be liberated. Confucianism believes that human nature is self-sufficient, and the human heart is reason. Reason is thought, human heart is thought, and human nature is thought. However, the human heart and humanity are not imprisoned, so it needs to be emancipated, and the emancipation of the mind is secretly in line with the Confucian way.
No matter what era human beings are born in, there will inevitably be a set of mainstream value systems in this era, and this set of value systems is the foundation for maintaining human society. If human society does not have a set of value systems to maintain, then human society will inevitably become a world of animals, naked robbery and killing are no longer condemned by people, then such a society obeys the law of survival of beasts.
The value system of the times allows human beings to live their lives in accordance with their value system in this era. If most people follow such a value system, how can it not be a harmonious society? The importance of value systems and ideologies is self-evident.
However, it is precisely the value system and ideology of this era that have created people's ideological cages, and whether people can transcend these changing values and ideologies has become a symbol of ideological emancipation. The ancient Chinese were imprisoned by the ancient social ideology, so why are the modern Chinese people not imprisoned by the modern ideology?
The era of change will not bring people the emancipation of their minds, and people are in a world of flux, and it is difficult to distinguish between truth and falsehood. Therefore, people need to seek knowledge, to know the truth of this world, to know the truth of mankind. In the ever-changing world, people seek unchanging truths, and the process of pursuing this is the process of seeking the Tao, which is the process of transcending existing values and ideologies.
Therefore, Confucius said: "The people can make it, but they can't know it." "People need a value system to maintain society, but to emancipate the mind, it is a painstaking process of seeking enlightenment, which many people cannot complete. Therefore, what a gentleman should pursue, he should pursue Wendao. Zi said: "When I heard the truth, I can die at night." "Hearing the Tao transcends life and death.
Therefore, a gentleman cultivates himself in order to seek the Tao, and seeking the Tao lies in overcoming human desires, which are the cages that cover people's hearts, human nature, and heavenly principles. Therefore, the Confucian sages of the Song and Ming dynasties advocated the destruction of human desire to preserve the principle of heaven, and the destruction of human desire is to break the prison of thought. Therefore, in the view of Confucianism, there is only one cage of thought, and that is human desire, and the way to break this cage is to cultivate oneself with sincerity and integrity.
In addition, the so-called prison cage is a product of the times, and if man wants to be the prison of heavenly principles, this principle will not change in the slightest until the end of time. If we fail to understand what the cage of thought really is, and do not discuss this matter clearly, emancipating the mind is nothing more than looking at flowers in the fog and fishing for the moon in the water.
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