The Thought of Benefiting the People in Pre Qin Confucianism
2024-04-22
The explanation of "Hui" in "Shuowen Jiezi" is: "Ren also, from the heart...". The fundamental meaning of benefiting the people is to treat them with a "benevolent" heart, and the manifestation is to benefit the people with practicality, so that they can obtain practical benefits and move towards prosperity. Throughout the classic literature of the pre Qin period, there are many ideas that benefit the people, such as the concept of loving and benefiting the people in the Book of Documents and the Book of Changes, Confucius' theory of benefiting the people in the Analects, and the ideas of promoting harmony and benefiting the people in the Guoyu and Zuo Zhuan. The idea of benefiting the people in the Book of Documents is mainly reflected in the idea of loving the people, such as "only benefiting the people from heaven, only cultivating the spirit of worshipping heaven", "understanding people is wise, capable of officials. Benefiting the people is beneficial, and the people cherish it.". On the basis of discussing the virtue of benevolence and benevolence that benefits the people, the Book of Changes further proposes the idea of "Fuhui", which means benefiting the people with integrity. The Nine Five Lines of the Yi hexagram in the Book of Changes state: "If you have a heart of blessings, do not ask about the auspicious yuan. If you have a heart of blessings, I will be virtuous." This means that if you have a heart of benevolence and honesty, then you do not need to use divination to know that it is a great fortune. To love the people of the world with integrity, then the people will also repay them with the greatest virtue of kindness. Yigua talks about gain, which is beneficial for action and migration, and emphasizes the principles of righteousness, integrity, and benevolence. To achieve great benefits, one should trust and benefit the people, and benefit from the interests of the people. This can achieve what Confucius later said, "benefits without cost.". Therefore, there is no need to ask and Yuanji has its own destiny. If you trust and benefit the people in this way, then the people will also benefit me (you). Fu Hui me is the ultimate virtue. The concept of benefiting the people in the Analects has the value orientation of a gentleman's path. Confucius highly praised Zichan, believing that he was a person who truly adhered to the legacy of ancient times (i.e. the spirit of benevolence and love), and well practiced the four virtues of a gentleman: "He is also respectful in his actions, respectful in his affairs, beneficial in nurturing the people, and righteous in his actions." Then someone asked Confucius, "What kind of person is Zichan?"? In one word, Confucius put it: "A child's birth is beneficial to others.". It can be seen that among the four paths, Confucius praised Zichan the most for his beneficial way of nurturing the people. "Hui" in Confucius has different meanings depending on the context. For example, he said, "A gentleman cherishes virtue and a petty person cherishes soil; a gentleman cherishes punishment and a petty person cherishes benefits.". Confucius believed that what a gentleman thinks in his heart is morality and law; But what the villain thinks in his heart is whether he can obtain tangible material benefits from his own one acre and three quarters of land. In the chapter "Yang Huo", Confucius said to Zhang Wenren, "If you are respectful, you will not be insulted; if you are lenient, you will gain others; if you believe, you will be responsible; if you are quick, you will make contributions; if you are kind, you will be able to benefit others." He advocated that those who can be respectful, lenient, trustworthy, quick, and beneficial to the world can be benevolent. In addition, Confucius also said, "If we benefit the people for their own benefit, why not benefit them without spending too much effort?" To benefit the people, we should guide them according to the situation and fully utilize their nature, so that they can benefit without much effort. It can be seen that Confucius' standard of praise and criticism for "benefit" is that if it benefits oneself, thinking about one's own benefit is not commendable; Benefiting people and benefiting the people is the path of a gentleman. Han Feizi has always been regarded as a representative of the ideology of neglecting the people. In fact, many of his authoritarian ideas are aimed at officials, not at the people. It is said that Han Feizi does not care about public opinion, and there are also some
Edit：GuoGuo Responsible editor：FangZhiYou
Source：gmw.cn
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