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Why is Confucianism called "the way of Confucius and Mencius"?

Confucianism, founded by Confucius, was gradually called "the way of Confucius and Mencius" in the Song Dynasty. The hometown of Confucius and Mencius is called "the hometown of Confucius and Mencius" because of its proximity, and even the whole Shandong Province is called "the hometown of Confucius and Mencius" because of the generosity, kindness and hospitality of Shandong people.

In the Confucian system in history, in addition to Mencius, there were other Confucian celebrities such as Yan Zi, Zi Si, Xun Zi, and later Dong Zhongshu, Zhu and Wang Yangming. Why are only Mencius and Confucius called together?

First, there are "Kong Zhou's Way" and "Kong Yan's Way" in history.

Because the Han Dynasty attached importance to Confucianism, the official of the Han Dynasty established the Duke of Zhou as the "Yuan Saint" and Confucius as the "Master". "The Way of Kong Zhou" is another name for Confucian education before the Tang Dynasty, and Duke Zhou and Confucius were collectively called "Kong Zhou". Duke Zhou was an outstanding politician, strategist, thinker, educator and founder of Confucianism in the Western Zhou Dynasty, and was honored as "Yuan Sheng" by later generations. Confucius was an outstanding thinker and educator in the Spring and Autumn Period, the founder of the Confucian school, and was honored as "the most holy" by later generations.

Duke Zhou created rites and music, and was the humanistic ancestor of Chinese civilization. Confucius is a master of China's outstanding civilization tradition after Duke Zhou. The combination of Zhou Gong's way and Confucius' thought, that is, Kong Zhou's way, is the main vein of China's civilization for thousands of years. Kong Zhou's way is the world outlook, and the civilization of rites and music is the concrete expression of his social practice.

Two weeks (Western Zhou Dynasty, Eastern Zhou Dynasty) and Eastern Han Dynasty (Han Dynasty) were the periods of the emergence, development and maturity of Kong Zhou's Taoism and ritual and music civilization, and there were two active scenes in the history of ancient China civilization in which a hundred schools of thought contended. China's political unity is intermittent, but the ideological unity is determined by the affinity, centripetal force and cohesion formed by Kong Zhou's way.

Since the Han Dynasty, Yan Hui has been listed as the head of Confucius' seventy-two sages. For a long time, when people offered sacrifices to Confucius, they arranged Yan Hui alone beside him and enjoyed the courtesy of "elegance and holiness". Mi Fei, a famous scholar at the end of the Han Dynasty, wrote an inscription for Yan Zi, which was praised as "the elegance and virtue of dancing on the high track". According to Tang Yao Hui, Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty particularly emphasized in his imperial edict: "Yan Zi is a saint, and he must surpass his rank." Zhou Dunyi, a great scholar in Song Dynasty, also admitted that Yan Hui was a Confucian "Asian sage". In Zhou Dunyi's anthology, there is such a sentence: "Yan Zi is a saint in Asia". This is the origin of "the way of Confucius and Yan".

Second, how did Confucius and Mencius come into being?

Even the Analects of Confucius, which recorded Confucius' words and deeds, failed to enter the list of classics in the early Tang Dynasty, let alone Mencius. At the time of Zhenguan, Duke Zhou was regarded as a saint and Confucius as a mentor. Only two people were qualified as mentors, one was Yan Yuan and the other was Zuo Qiuming. In the early Song Dynasty, imperial academy inherited the Tang system and still offered sacrifices to Confucius and Yan.

In the middle Tang Dynasty, Han Yu put forward the theory of orthodoxy out of the realistic need to resist the growing prosperity of Buddhism, and placed Mencius in the main position of Confucian orthodoxy, and Mencius' position in the cultural circle began to stand out. After Han Yu, Zhu, a great scholar in the Southern Song Dynasty, made a crucial historical judgment on Mencius. Zhu praised Mencius in his Notes on Four Books and Sentences, and once again realized that Mencius was "really a talented person living on earth".

Under the influence of Zhu, Mencius gradually established the status of "elegant sage" in the folk and academic circles. In the first year of Yuan Dynasty (1330), Yuan Wenzong chose four priests for Confucius on behalf of the imperial court, namely Yan Hui, the Prince of Yan and Song Huizong. Guo Zong once participated, Shu Sheng Gongzi thought, Zou Guoya Mencius. Since then, Mencius has officially replaced Yan Hui as the "Asian sage", and Yan Hui has a new honorific title-"Fu Sheng".

The speculative and theoretical nature of Mencius' thought met the needs of Confucianism to meet the challenges of Buddhism and Taoism after the Tang and Song Dynasties, and naturally more and more attention was paid to it. After the constant admiration and interpretation of Neo-Confucianism in Song and Ming Dynasties, the "Confucius and Mencius" is increasingly regarded as a whole. Second, there is indeed ideological consistency between Confucius and Mencius. Confucius' knowledge is all-encompassing, extensive and profound, and contains different development directions. Confucius' post-Confucianism often comes to an end, but in comparison, Mencius can get the main points of Confucianism better. Confucius' theory includes benevolence and courtesy, especially benevolence. Mencius inherited and developed Confucius' theory of benevolence, further theorized and systematized Confucius' theory, developed Confucianism in the depth of theoretical thought, and then put forward "benevolent government" from benevolence, holding high the banner of "good nature" in the theory of human nature. In addition, Mencius promoted and extended Confucianism in self-cultivation and personality realm. Although there are some differences between Mencius and Confucius in personality, temperament and even thought, this difference is not essential and does not hinder their close ideological connection. Historically, Confucius and Mencius should be the first in terms of their influence on Confucianism and even China's ideology and culture. Later generations of Confucius and Mencius said that referring to Confucianism by "the way of Confucius and Mencius" did not completely ignore the difference between the two. Zhu once bluntly said: "Mencius taught people to talk more and reason more, and Confucius taught people to do kung fu." It can be seen that even Zhu is looking at the differences in their theoretical styles. Besides, the value of thinkers lies in their originality. If Mencius and Confucius are exactly the same, then the value of Mencius' existence will be lost, and there will be no saying of "the way of Confucius and Mencius" in later generations (is Song Lilin's "collectively called the way of Confucius and Mencius" a historical misunderstanding? 》)。

Who is greater, Confucius or Mencius?

A famous scholar in Shandong said: Confucius is great, but Confucius is even greater because of Mencius. Without Confucius, Mencius would be great, but without Mencius, Confucius would not be so great. Historian Cheng Ziming did point out: "Just say the word' benevolence', and Mencius said' benevolence' as soon as he opened his mouth; Zhong Ni said only one "ambition", while Mencius said a lot about keeping healthy. These two words alone have done a lot. "

Third, the difference between Zou Lu and Confucianism.

While Zou Lu produces such great men and great men, it is also influenced, driven and promoted by great men from generation to generation. As early as the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the grand occasion of "respecting education and prospering literature" was formed here.

Zou Lu not only produced Confucius and Mencius in the pre-Qin period, Mozi, Zisi, Lu Ban and others, but also produced a series of prime ministers such as Kuang Heng and Wei Xian in the Han and Wei Dynasties. Confucian Classics in Han Dynasty also originated in Zou Lu, and Zou Lu inherited Confucian Classics. Sima Qian's "Historical Records" records: "Zou Lubin has thoughts and the legacy of the Duke of Zhou. He is good at Confucianism and prepares gifts. " Ban Gu's Biography of Han Weixian also said: "Help Zou Lu, be courteous, recite string songs, and be in a foreign country."

Liang Shuyang's Biography in the Northern and Southern Dynasties said: "Gao Zulan said:' Those who heard of benevolence early have courage, but now they see the brave have benevolence, which can be described as a legacy of Zou Lu and heroes come forth in large numbers. Confucius is from Shandong and Mencius is from Zou. Later, "the legacy of Zou Lu" was called Confucian ethos left by Confucius and Mencius.

Confucianism was born in Zou Lu, but Zou Lu can't replace Confucius and Mencius. Because Zou Lu has richer cultural connotations:

On the one hand, there are soil and social benign mechanisms that produce literati; On the other hand, there are not only Confucius and Mencius, but also Mozi and Mohism, as well as Lu Ban, a great man of science and technology. Later, Wang Shuhe appeared, the founder of metaphysics, and so on. It is suspected that only Confucius and Mencius point to something. From Fuxi's humanistic tradition to the Han and Wei Dynasties, it was always the most brilliant area of China culture at that time.

Nowadays, the revival of traditional culture is not to hold Confucius high all day, but not only to ask scholars to write academic articles, but also to raise the wind of learning to be an official among the people.

Zou Lu's style is a learning atmosphere, a soil that can produce great men, and a mechanism that can form cultural genes. Therefore, it is possible to produce saints like Confucius and Mencius, and it is possible to produce ideas that conform to the laws of social management, including Confucianism.

Therefore, Confucius and Mencius can't be regarded as Zou Lu, and Zou Lu can't be regarded as Confucianism. Reducing such a phenomenon to an idea is not the embodiment of this mechanism, but is taken out of context.

Fourth, it is inseparable from Confucius and Mencius, and it is inseparable from Zou and Lu.

It should be said that the relationship between Confucius and Qufu and Nishan has become the pride and superiority of Qufu. However, we have to admit that Confucius not only worships Duke Zhou, but also has a great influence on the development and leap of Lu culture, and his cultural genes are also the result of the integration of Yin Shang culture, Dongyi culture and Zhou Culture. The "Zou" culture living in Dongyi is actually the representative of Yin Shang culture and Dongyi culture, and it plays a role in Confucius.

Give a few examples to prove:

1, Confucius was called "the son of Zou people". "The Analects of Confucius Eight Shu" "When you enter the ancestral hall, you can ask everything. Or ask:' Who is Zou Ren's son? Into the ancestral temple, ask everything. Hearing this, Zi said,' This is a gift. "。 The ancestral hall is the ancestral hall of the monarch. Confucius went to the ancestral temple to attend the ancestor worship ceremony of King Lu. As soon as he entered the ancestral temple, he asked people everything. At that time, someone laughed at him: "Who said that' the son of Zou people knows etiquette? When you come to the ancestral temple, you have to ask everything. Zou, then the county name and the birthplace of Confucius, was in Zouji, ten miles southeast of Qufu, Shandong. Shu, the father of Confucius, was the magistrate of Zou County, so some people called Confucius "the son of Zou Ren" at that time, which means the son of the magistrate of Zou County. When Confucius heard people talking about him, he replied, "I always ask things I don't understand." This is precisely my expression of politeness requirements! "

2. The earliest "Duke Zou" was Confucius. In the second year of the Northern Zhou Dynasty (AD 580), Confucius was named "Duke Zou" in posthumous title, and "Duke Zou" was the country name and the country name. Later, Mencius was also named "Zou Guogong".

3. Zou County established the Confucius Temple before the Tang Dynasty. "Shu Liangge Temple, also known as Nishan Temple, is located in the Shandong site of Wulini in surabaya county, Yanzhou" recorded in Kudizhi in the Tang Dynasty. It can be inferred that the Nishan Confucius Temple complex should have been built during the Northern Wei Dynasty. At this time, the Nishan building complex mainly commemorates Confucius' father. The "Nishan" of this era still belongs to Zou County. It was not until the middle of the 20th century that nishan reservoir was included in Qufu because of its convenient management.

4. In the cultural system of Confucius, "Li" comes from the Duke of Zhou, and "Ren" comes from the "three meanings" culture, which represents the Dongyi culture (this article is discussed separately).

5. Confucius' home country should be Guo. Confucius' mother is Yan. The descendants of Yan surname take Zhu Wugong's surname Yan as their surname. This is the origin of China Yan surname. The Yan family was quite famous at that time, and Confucius was eight feet tall. China's Yan family (Tang Yan Zhenqing has "Confucius, colorful, all?" Also "). Zhu Wugong died in 796 BC and Confucius was born in 55 BC1year. At this time, Mu Yan's surname was only 200 years old. Yanmuzhuang, Zou County, where he lived at that time, should belong to the land of Yue (the land of Yue, Lu "can hear the knocking"), and the education of his children was influenced by both the culture of Lu and the culture of his home country.

In addition, it seems that Confucius was buried next to the water of Guo's mother river after his death, which also has some of the above meanings.

6. Confucius yearned for the "country of gentlemen" and "wind of gentlemen" in Dongyi. Confucius said, "If the road is impassable, then you want it." ? Floating on the sea. When someone pointed out to him that Dongyi was despicable, he said, "Where a gentleman lives, how can it be despicable?" (The Analects of Confucius) That is, the residence of a gentleman. What's the point? Confucius has great respect for Dongyi people and their culture. There should be a sincere and peaceful folk custom in Dongyi area. This kind of folkway is not found in China, where "the ceremony breaks down and the music breaks down, which is sought after all over the world", but it is still desired by people and is called the wind of gentlemen.

Compared with Confucius and Guo, Mencius has the gene of Lu.

Some experts have verified that Mencius is a descendant of Lu's "Three Huan", which can also prove that Mencius' mother died and Mencius was buried in Lu. In the inscription of Mencius, it is said that Mencius is a descendant of the Duke of Lu, so he buried his mother in Lu. Mr. Yang Xiangkui thinks this statement is more credible.

Therefore, the place called "Holy Land of Zou Lu" because of the achievements of Confucius and Mencius was originally an inseparable cultural holy land, but there were many phenomena of "dark under the lights" because of administrative divisions. Confucius is not a patent of Qufu, but also a resource enjoyed by culture. Mencius is not a specialty of Zoucheng, but also a descendant of Lu nobles. "The Way of Confucius and Mencius" shows the integration of cultures and links the past with the future, and "the hometown of Confucius and Mencius" has become the pride of "cultural holy land" because of its integration.

About the author:

Feng Bin, the initiator of the cultural concept of "Zou Lu Civilization", is the hometown of Confucius and Mencius, the holy land of Zou Lu, 1982 graduated from the Chinese Department of Jining Normal University, the first lecturer of Shandong Nishan College, and a lecturer of rural Confucianism in Jining City.