The role of resentment among the masses in Confucian education

The theory of "Xing Guan Qun Yu" is Confucius' unique aesthetic understanding of the social function of poetry. It is also an important part of his poetic theory. It has had a great influence on the poetry creation of later generations. Many Later generations of literati expressed many important opinions on this theory of poetry.

[Keywords] Confucius; theory of poetry; social role; theory of "Xing Guan Qun Yuan"

"Xing Guan Qun Yuan". The theory of "watching the resentment of the masses" is Confucius's high-level summary of the social role of poetry, and it is also an important part of Confucius's theory of poetry.

Confucius attached great importance to the social role of literature and art. He attributed personal cultivation to "thriving for poetry" , established in etiquette, achieved in music. He believes that poetry, etiquette, and music can cultivate people's moral character. In "The Analects of Confucius·Zilu" he said: "Three hundred poems are recited, and they are taught how to govern, and they are used in all directions. They cannot be specific; even if there are many, they are also ridiculed . "This directly talks about the social function of poetry, which shows that poetry can improve people's ability to engage in practical work such as politics and diplomacy. The so-called "special dialogue" refers to the verbal questions and answers that were given to pedestrians and envoys when they went to other countries. That is to say, In various diplomatic situations, being good at quoting poems and songs according to the actual situation can bring great benefits to let the other party know your talents, make the tense atmosphere dissolve in the chanting of graceful and elegant poems, and turn conflicts into friendship. The great social role of poetry attracted the attention of many people at that time, especially the ruling class. Ordinary people can be inspired and guided by poetry (that is, the educational role of poetry). The upper class people can not only be inspired and guided by poetry, but also avoid being ridiculed by others. They can quote poetry according to circumstances and can even quote poetry to advise and admonish others. . It was in response to this situation that Confucius put forward the theory of "Xing, Guan, Qun, and Yu" based on the great role of poetry: "Why don't you learn from Fu's "Poetry"! "Poetry" can inspire, observe, group, and complain. Those who are nearby serve the father, and those who are far away serve the king. " ("The Analects of Confucius·Yang Huo")

"Xing" means that poetry can inspire and infect readers' thoughts and feelings. "Can Xing" shows that poetry can move people, inspire people, and has artistic Infection. Therefore, Zhu Xi explained it in "Annotations to the Four Books" as "inspiration of will". From the author's point of view, the reflection of external things arouses the creative impulse in the author's mind, thus expressing his inner feelings. Become a poem. That is, Kong Anguo explained it in "Jijie" as "drawing examples and connecting categories", that is, "from that to this".

"View" refers to the author's true and objective view through the work. It reproduces social life and reflects the reality of life, thereby helping readers understand and understand the rise and fall of customs, gains and losses in society, and the essence of historical features. It shows that poetry can not only cultivate people's hearts with aesthetic emotions, but also enlighten people to understand social life. "Can Guan" shows that poetry can examine gains and losses, observe the rise and fall of customs, and has a cognitive function.

"Qun" means that poetry can help people learn from each other and improve their ideological cultivation. "It shows that poetry can enable writers to exchange thoughts and feelings, writers and readers, enable people to learn from each other, improve understanding, improve literary standards, enable people to communicate and purify their souls, eliminate individualistic ideas, and focus on collective interests. , the individual submits to the collective, and ultimately achieves the goal of unity.

"Resentment" means that poetry can be used to complain about politics and express people's sentiments. Expose the ugliness and decadence of the ruling class and express critical opinions on current affairs and politics.

"Serve the father and serve the king", Confucius started from his political stance and explained that poetry should serve the ethics and education in "Xing and Xing". Among the four social functions of "viewing, grouping, and resentment", "Xing" is the basis and hub for realizing the latter three. "Viewing, grouping, and resentment" depend on "Xing". Only through the artistic influence of "Xing" can poetry Only in this way can we realize "viewing, grouping, and resentment". It can be seen that Confucius's explanation of the social function of literature highlighted that literature has aesthetic, cognitive and educational functions. Literary works have their own unique aesthetic characteristics. Emotional people cultivate people's feelings, improve people's ideological understanding, enable people to communicate their thoughts, deepen understanding, and enhance friendship, harmonious relationships, and unity among people.

Before the emergence of Confucius’ theory of “Xing, Guan, Qun, and Yu” about the social role of literature, some writers tried to elaborate on it in different works, but they were all fragmented. Found in some works, they are fragmented and relatively simple, without systematicity or profoundness. Confucius gathered the achievements of his predecessors and carefully summarized them on the basis of their predecessors, forming a more systematic, comprehensive and profound view of the function of literature.

It should be pointed out that Confucius’s theory of “Xing, Guan, Qun, Yu” also has its limitations. The social role of literature he expounded was completely subject to the thoughts and requirements of the ruling class at that time. , that is to say, serving the ruling class. The theory of "Xing, Guan, Qun, Yu" was put forward based on the ethics and morals of the Zhou Dynasty. Men are superior to women, etiquette and filial piety are valued. The king is the guide for the ministers, and the father is the guide for the son. "Those who are close to you should serve your father, and those who are far away should serve your king." This is the embodiment of this kind of ethics. This is a disadvantage in the development of literature. Literary creation must conform to the moral standards stipulated at the time, literature must bear political tasks, and during the creation process of literary works, the author's expression of emotions must be restricted by ethical and moral norms. This is detrimental to the development of literature, but it is definitely not the mainstream. It is extremely secondary and is caused by the limitations of the era and class at that time. It will not cover the theory of "Xing, Guan, Group, and Resentment" that happened later. Huge impact.

Confucius' "Xing, Guan, Group, and Resentment" had a huge impact on the social role of poetry. Later generations of literati often expressed many important opinions from different perspectives.

Wang Fuzhi, a literary theorist in the Qing Dynasty, inherited and developed Confucius's literary thoughts on "Xing, Guan, Qun and Yu". Starting from the idea that "poetry is based on Taoism", he further discussed the interrelationship between "excitement, appreciation, grouping, and resentment". He believed: "Poetry can be exciting, it can be appreciated, it can be grouped, and it can be resented." That's all. . This is the way to argue about the pros and cons of elegance and vulgarity in the Han, Wei, Tang, and Song dynasties. This is what anyone who reads "Three Hundred Chapters" must do. "...out of the four emotions, in order to give rise to the four emotions, you can swim among the four emotions without feeling suffocated." The "four emotions" mentioned here are "Xing, Guan, Qun, and Resentment", and the "Four Emotions" "Emotion" points out that the social role of poetry is to influence the readers' thoughts and feelings through the aesthetic emotions contained in the poem. This requires that when creating poetry, the poetic works must be out of the "four emotions" in order to generate the "four emotions". "Emotion", reaching this state, the aesthetic emotions contained in poetry can move and infect people, causing readers to have endless reveries and emotions. Only in this way can the appreciator repeatedly ponder and taste "swimming beyond the four emotions, without feeling suffocated," and gain more enjoyment of beauty.

He also discussed the interrelationship between the four, treating the four as an interrelated and complementary whole, and explained that the characteristics of poetry are that it highly reflects social life and expresses emotions. Poetry The play of social role can not only cultivate people's souls, inspire people to forge ahead, but also enlighten people to understand social reality. It is pointed out that in order for poetry to play a greater role in society, it must truly reflect life, express feelings, and deepen the emotional connection between people.