What is the practical significance of Confucianism?

Confucianism has been the object of study since Confucius was founded. The purpose of Confucianism has a far-reaching influence on China and even the whole world, and Confucianism has also become the mainstream of traditional culture in China. Its profound culture has made outstanding contributions. Let me show you the practical significance of Confucianism.

What is the practical significance of Confucianism? First, Confucianism and today's rule of virtue

China has an ideological tradition of governing the country by virtue since ancient times. After Duke Zhou, Confucius clearly put forward the idea of rule by virtue for the first time, which is the first example of Confucian rule by virtue. Emphasize the important role of morality in human social life, and regard morality as the basis and starting point for governing the country, coordinating interpersonal relationships and improving personal moral accomplishment and realm. Through the systematic development of Mencius and Xunzi, the theories of "great learning" and "golden mean" have been sublimated, forming a set of strict and complete strategies for governing the country, which has become an extremely important part of China's traditional political culture. Later Confucianism, whether it is Dong Zhongshu's cosmology or the ontology of Neo-Confucianism in Song and Ming Dynasties, only demonstrated the importance and inevitability of rule by virtue in theory.

In today's society, although the ancient thought of ruling the country by virtue can't be directly used by us as the way to govern the country, its ideological essence and reasonable core still have great value significance, which provides the necessary ideological resources for implementing the general plan of governing the country by virtue today.

(A) People-oriented

People-oriented is the foundation of Confucian thought of ruling by virtue. The so-called people-oriented is to realize the people and their important position in the country. If the rulers deviate from the people's hearts and do not get the support of the people, the state power will not be consolidated, or even overthrown by the people by force. Mencius' theory of benevolent governance is people-oriented. He said: the people are the most important, the country is the second, and the monarch is the least important. In Mencius' view, people are precious, and their interests and sufferings cannot be ignored. Xunzi quoted an old saying: Jun can sail, Shu Ren can swim, and water can carry a boat and overturn it. The Confucian thought of ruling by virtue with people-oriented thought as its core value shows its great progress and popularization. Although people-oriented is not democracy in the modern sense, it has great practical significance.

To develop socialist democracy, we must first establish the sacred idea that the people are masters of their own affairs and regard it as the most essential feature and requirement of socialist democracy. In order to make people truly become the masters and core of social and political life, people control power rather than power control or even dominate people. In the ruling position, China's * * * production party must build the party for the public and govern for the people to handle all party affairs and government affairs. It regards the people as the masters of the country as the essence of its governance, actively organizes and leads the people to exercise their power, so that the people can gradually master the ability to manage themselves and state affairs and realize the democratization of the power system.

At the same time, people's opposition is the fundamental factor that determines the rise and fall of a political party and a political power. To truly win the hearts and minds of the people, that is, to win their sincere support and support, we must always keep the safety and well-being of the people in mind, and do everything for the people, rely on the people and serve the people. And these must not just stay on the surface of empty talk and rhetoric, not just as slogans, but should and must be translated into concrete actions, which show that our party, our government and our leading cadres are truly serving the people wholeheartedly with practical actions and tangible results. Such a party is based on honesty and pursues the road of being close to the people.

(2) The benevolent loves others.

Kindness is the core of Confucius' thought. Confucius said: the benevolent loves others, and the benevolent loves others. (Yan Yuan) Obviously, the essence of benevolence is love. People should not only love their parents and children, but also love ordinary people. The benevolent spirit of Confucianism (The Analects of Confucius Yan Yuan) pays special attention to those who are in a weak or difficult position in society, such as the widowed, the widowed and the disabled. This fine tradition deserves to be vigorously promoted today. In the process of socialist modernization, leading cadres at all levels should persist in going deep into the grass roots, the masses, listening to their voices, caring about their sufferings, always keeping the people's safety in mind, so as to make the power work for the people, the feelings of the people and the interests of the people. In particular, we should care about the people who encounter difficulties in production and life, go deep into poor areas and enterprises, go deep into the poor people such as laid-off workers, rural poor people and urban poor residents, and do everything possible to help them solve practical difficulties. Through solid and effective work, we will truly benefit the masses and lead them to create their own happy lives. (Hu Jintao: "Persist in carrying forward the fine style of hard work and strive for the grand goal of building a well-off society in an all-round way")

(3) Rule by virtue

Confucianism believes that morality is the basis of politics and has the significance of transcending the times. From the way of ruling by virtue, Confucianism emphasizes that politicians should play an exemplary role in morality, and especially advocates that you should inspire the world mainly with great personal strength, rather than conquer the world with torture or force. In the words of Confucius, this is: rule by virtue is like Beichen, where the stars live. ("The Analects of Confucius for Politics")

Today, we regard running the country by virtue as one of the basic strategies in the process of social modernization, which requires running the country by virtue as the main aspect of socialist political and metallurgical civilization construction. Of course, the most important thing to build the rule of virtue now should and must be to carry forward the moral spirit of socialism and production, but it also needs to absorb the essence of historical and cultural traditions. The two are not contradictory. For example, Confucianism emphasizes that the world is for the public and governing the country by virtue, and uses this excellent traditional resource to think about reality. It requires that the * * * production party in the ruling position must build the party for the public and govern for the people, and requires leading cadres to correctly establish the concept of power, truly serve the people wholeheartedly and be good public servants. As Hu Jintao said in his important speech on July 1st, leading cadres in party member must strengthen their ideals and beliefs, improve their ideological and political level, strengthen their moral cultivation, keep in mind the "two musts", and truly transform the objective world at the same time, so as to promote the transformation of the objective world with the effect of transforming the subjective world.

Second, Confucianism and sustainable development

In the long journey of pursuing civilization and prosperity, mankind has come to understand a truth more and more, that is, to develop the economy and develop it sustainably. Such a great change is bound to have a far-reaching impact on people's lifestyles, thinking habits and values, and it also makes people feel the need to re-recognize the value of Confucianism in China's traditional culture.

(A) the Confucian idea of harmony between man and nature conforms to the principle of sustainable development.

The rapid development of economy will inevitably improve human's ability to conquer nature. At the same time, it further strengthens the human desire to control, transform and dominate nature. The excessive expansion of this desire led to the global ecological crisis in the 20th century, such as land desertification, environmental pollution, energy shortage, sharp decline of forests, extinction of some species and so on, which has seriously threatened the survival and development of mankind. In order to solve the global ecological crisis, more and more countries have accepted the principle of sustainable development. The orientation of the principle of sustainable development in the relationship between man and nature is to emphasize the balance and harmony between man and nature. In fact, similar thoughts have been expressed in the Confucian thought of the unity of man and nature.

Confucianism believes that the whole universe is composed of heaven, earth and human beings, which together constitute the harmony of the universe, and the destruction of either side will destroy the life and perfection of the universe. Confucian theoretical resource package in this field contains a unique ecological ethics, that is, human progress should not only take from nature and strive for its benefits, but also love, love and protect nature and regard nature as its companion and friend. "Mencius Hui Liang Wang Shang" said: If you don't go against the farming season, you can't rob the grain of food. If you don't count, neither fish nor turtle can be eaten. Axe gold gets into the mountain in time, and mywood can't be used. Such as Song Zhu's note: there is not enough fish, porridge is not allowed in the city, people are not allowed to eat, mountains and rivers are in harmony with the people, but it is strictly forbidden, the vegetation is scattered, and then the axe is heavy. Because the natural benefits of heaven and earth are also things that love to raise. What I mean here is to care for nature, conform to the growth law of all things, inexhaustible, and point out the principle that man and nature live in harmony and maintain sustainable development. Confucianism does not take the conquest of nature as its own responsibility, but puts people and everything in nature on the same footing and regards them as flesh and blood; We don't regard all natural things as human resources, but pour human love into everything in the world. This is what the so-called "love the people, love the people and love things" means.

Because the Confucian thought of harmony between man and nature is consistent with the modern principle of sustainable development, its value has been paid more and more attention by contemporary thinkers.

(2) The Confucian idea of harmony but difference contributes to the diversity of sustainable development.

Different nations and countries have different understandings of sustainable economic development, which is caused by different history, systems, religions and cultures. With the advancement of globalization, the economy seems to have no national boundaries, which is followed by conflicts of interests and cultures. Countries should correctly understand this difference, pay attention to economic cooperation and cultural exchanges while pursuing their own interests, seek common ground in differences and seek development.

In history, Confucianism has repeatedly encountered the problem of how to treat different cultures. Its general idea is that Taoism is parallel but not contradictory, and advocates cultural pluralism. Therefore, in history, Chinese culture is not a unitary pattern of Chinese culture, nor is it the dominance of Confucianism, but the pluralistic integration of Chinese culture and neighboring minority cultures, where Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism coexist. Based on the observation of social reality, Confucianism believes that people's needs in secular life are hierarchical and multifaceted, which cannot be met by a culture. Therefore, different multiculturalism has its own position and function. The resulting pattern of traditional culture in China is dominated by Confucianism, but it is pluralistic and complementary, even though there are disputes among various factions within Confucianism. Confucianism's openness and tolerance to cultural diversity is based on harmony but difference.

Confucian culture stresses harmony without difference, that is, it respects differences, advocates harmony, opposes single homogenization, and also opposes conflicts and confrontation between different things. Applying this concept to the development of today's human culture is to recognize differences, respect diversity, not only identify with one's own culture, but also treat other cultures with a broad and inclusive spirit, replace the clash of civilizations with civilized dialogue, produce differences in understanding and understanding in dialogue, and gradually move towards the harmony of human civilization. Only harmony but difference can promote the prosperity and development of human culture, which is harmony and reality. It is useless to engage in hegemonism of a certain culture or conflict or confrontation between different cultures. We believe that harmony without difference means that we must first admit differences and form harmony on different foundations before things can develop. If we blindly pursue sameness, we will not only fail to make things develop, but will make things decline. It will help to eliminate the so-called clash of civilizations to deal with the relationship between different national cultures in the era of economic globalization by drawing lessons from the Confucian thought of harmony but difference.

(3) The Confucian concept of justice and benefit is conducive to solving the contradictions between people and between people and groups.

Undeniably, while pursuing economic development and creating great material wealth, it has also caused human emotional indifference. Because in the face of huge material wealth, people tend to have greater greed for possession of these material wealth than before. As a result, we feel that the world is getting worse and worse, and people's hearts are not ancient. In order to satisfy their own greed, many people have harmed the interests of others and groups, and have become more and more indifferent to others and groups. This requires advocating transcending material interests, pursuing moral realm, transcending self and pursuing the interests of groups and even human beings in value orientation. In this respect, the Confucian thought of benevolent government is undoubtedly beneficial. Because Confucianism believes that when the self conflicts with others and groups in interests, only by balancing righteousness with morality can the contradiction be resolved. The Confucian law of justice is a universal principle to adjust the value standard of the relationship between righteousness and benefit and coordinate the value orientation of human society. There are two ways of behavior and two values in front of human beings.

The core of the Confucian concept of justice and benefit is: to put justice first, to see what benefits are, and to control benefits with justice. This may become the basis of building * * * values and * * * moral standards in the new century. Because the righteousness of Confucianism is often associated with the interests of the collective and others, and interests often refer to personal self-interest. Accordingly, Confucianism advocates the beauty of a gentleman as an adult (The Analects of Confucius, Yan Yuan). In social life, we should become friends, help each other in disease and health, and support each other (on Mencius Teng Wengong). This is also conducive to eliminating harm to others and forming a social atmosphere of unity and mutual assistance. In the era of economic globalization, the market economy is highly developed. With the increasing specialization of social division of labor and intensified market competition, people are increasingly busy pursuing economic interests. But more importantly, it is a spiritual existence. According to Confucianism, the latter can better reflect people's characteristics. If you take material interests as your only goal, it is equivalent to lowering yourself to the level of animals. Therefore, we should regard unjust material interests as floating clouds and pursue the moral realm of contributing to society and serving others.

As social people, people are different from animals. People are rational, moral and have social norms. Therefore, we should not only improve our moral cultivation and inner spirit, but also improve social morality and social order. In modern society, only by caring for others and assuming due social responsibilities can we achieve reasonable distribution and help each other, thus promoting the sustainable development of the economy.

Of course, we now reproduce Confucianism, even Confucius, which does not mean putting Confucius back to the original altar. Instead, we should strengthen the excavation, collation and research of Confucian culture with a scientific attitude and method, take its essence and discard its dross, closely combine Confucian research with the construction of advanced socialist culture, and truly serve the present and the reality.