The Analects of Confucius 136 (Yan Yuan)

Confucius said: "I am the same as others in trying litigation cases." The important thing is that the situation of litigation must not happen! "

Confucius said, "When I heard the lawsuit, I was still alone." On the one hand, I feel inferior and say that my listening methods are the same as others. In fact, there is another meaning, that is, when "listening", you must not be preconceived and form your own subjective judgment, but put yourself in the other party's position to listen. Listen to the plaintiff, I will stand in the plaintiff's position, listen to the defendant, I will stand in the defendant's position. From a philosophical point of view, this is absolute objective justice.

However, we are often prone to make mistakes, and it is difficult to "listen to both" because we have our own prejudices first. There is a joke in Zen: an old monk had three disciples, and one day the old monk asked them to report their experiences. The old monk heard the big disciple's report and said you were right. The second disciple's report was just the opposite of the big disciple's, and the old monk also said that you were right. At this time, the third brother felt very strange, so he asked the old monk. The first brother said this, and you were right. The second brother said that, and you were right. Who is right? The old monk said to the young apprentice, you are more right.

"Listening to the complaint" means distinguishing right from wrong. Buddhism believes that there is no absolute right or wrong in the world, but only according to time and space. Confucianism believes that there is right and wrong, mainly to distinguish right from wrong. Taoism believes in reconciling right and wrong. This is because the three cultural views are different, each with its own merits and uses.

Confucius also said, "Yes, so there will be no lawsuit!" " Why should we be so objective? Because the purpose of judging right and wrong is to make everyone calm, feel at ease, solve it reasonably and not cause disputes.

Confucius was a great educator and emphasized the important role of education. He believes that there is a lawsuit because the folk customs have not been attributed to honesty, and the folk customs have not been attributed to honesty, and it is also because enlightenment has not swept the world. In Confucius' view, it is necessary to observe clearly and judge properly, but reducing litigation through education is the most important way to achieve social harmony.

? ? In order to make people live in harmony and reduce disputes, we must rely on education. This enlightenment is different from the education we are talking about now. In the context of the ancients, enlightenment focused on social education, with the aim of changing social customs and returning social atmosphere to goodness. In ancient times, the emphasis was on persuading people to be good. If this kind of education is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, everyone in society is kind and the public is eager for comity, it will naturally reduce social disputes, not to mention killing and setting fires. Education guides the public to pay attention to morality, which will make most people abide by basic moral standards and consciously restrain themselves from doing things that do not conform to "etiquette". Everyone will deny themselves, and contradictions will naturally be difficult to form. In this way, social contradictions will be correspondingly reduced, and litigation cases will be significantly reduced. After becoming an official, ancient literati generally attached importance to education, hoping to achieve the goal of social governance through education.