Interpretation refers to the talent and virtue of saints, and it is king to the outside world. This is the political thought of Taoism.
Zhuang Zhou's "The World in Zhuangzi" in the pre-Qin Dynasty: "The sage inside and the king outside are the Tao. It is dark and unknown, and it is depressed and does not do it. People in the world do whatever they want and take themselves as their own side. "
Comprehensive application of law; As objects and attributes; Refers to the highest ideal of self-cultivation in ancient times.
Give an example of Li Zhi's four major book review universities: "Practical learning, practical classics, ~, with a book."
Confucius' Theory of "Being Saint Inside and Being King Outside" and Its Political Thought
The doctrine of "being sage inside and being king outside" was invariably attributed to the main idea of Confucianism by later scholars, but it was not initiated by Confucianism. The word "sage inside and king outside" originated from Zhuangzi Tianxia. However, this does not prevent the use of "inner saints and outer kings" to explain Confucianism, because since the Song Dynasty, with the confluence of Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism, new Confucianism has emerged, and then "inner saints and outer kings" have been used to explain Confucianism. Confucius' Confucianism is profound and rich in content, which is not only reflected in morality and personality, but also in his political thought. The following is a brief analysis of Confucius' theory of "being sage inside and being king outside" and his political thought.
The first is the emergence of the word "sage inside and king outside"
"The sage inside and the king outside" first appeared in The World of Zhuangzi. The author of "The World" said: "The birth of a saint and the success of a king all originate from one (Tao). This is "the way to be a saint inside and a king outside". Tianxiapian holds that "being sage inside and being king outside" is the pursuit of Taoist practitioners in the world, and "being sage inside" is the author's personality ideal, which is manifested as: "Being inseparable from sects is called heaven and man, and being inseparable from essence is called god man; If you don't leave the truth, you are the most human. Taking heaven as the Sect, taking morality as the foundation, taking Tao as the door, foretelling change, calling it a saint, benevolence as the grace, righteousness as the principle, propriety as the line, joy as the harmony, benevolence as the draw, and calling it a gentleman "; The author's political ideal is "to be the king outside", which is manifested as follows: "Take the law as the point, the name as the table, the examination as the reference, the record as the decision, and count one, two, three and four, which makes the officials look at each other; Taking things as usual, putting food and clothing first, caring for animals and caring for the elderly, the weak and the widowed all have the principle of supporting the people. "It can be seen that the author's way of" being a saint inside and being a king outside "is the product of the combination of Confucianism, Taoism and France. Generally speaking, the connotation of "inner sage" is self-cultivation and requires that you are a virtuous person; The "foreign king" means managing the house, governing the country and leveling the world. The unity of "inner sage and outer king" is the highest realm pursued by Confucian scholars.
Although the word "sage inside and king outside" does not directly come from Confucianism and Confucius' theory, the way of "sage inside and king outside" expounded by the author of Tianxiapian has something in common with Confucius' Confucianism, which provides a theoretical basis for Confucianism to adopt this term.
Second, Confucius said "the sage inside is the king outside".
In the aspect of "inner sage", Confucius advocated "benevolence for one's own use". Confucius said, "Self-denial and courtesy are benevolence. A day of self-denial and self-denial, the world will return to benevolence. For benevolence, for yourself, for people? " [1] Whether a person can become a noble and caring person depends on himself. As the saying goes, "I am benevolent, and I am benevolent." [2] In the aspect of "external king", Confucianism takes "self-cultivation" as the starting point and "governing the people" as the end point. Confucius said, "cultivate one's morality to respect", "cultivate one's morality to protect people" and "cultivate one's morality to protect people". [3] In Confucius' thought, the inner sage and the outer king are unified with each other, the inner sage is the foundation and the outer king is the purpose. Only by inner cultivation can we become "benevolent" and "gentleman" and achieve inner sainthood, and only on the basis of inner sainthood can we manage the country and achieve the goal of foreign kings. Similarly, it is meaningful to achieve the goal of the outer king only if the inner saint is realized and finally completed. For example, Confucius said, "A benevolent man wants to stand and succeed." [4] [4] If you stand and understand yourself, don't forget to let others stand and understand. In other words, while meeting your own needs, you should also meet the needs of others. Only when both are satisfied can we be a true "benevolent" and truly achieve the "way of being sage inside and king outside." Self-cultivation and family planning are the foundation, and self-cultivation and family planning are the destination.
Third, Confucius' political thought of "sage inside and king outside"
Confucius' political thought of "sage inside and king outside" embodies the direct unity of morality and politics. Confucianism does not talk about morality or politics. It believes that politics can only be guided by morality and has the right direction. Only when morality is implemented in politics can it have a universal influence. Politics without moral guidance is bullying and tyranny, unpopular and unsustainable.
Confucius said, "Governing the country by virtue is like Beichen, living in its place and surrounded by stars." [v][5] Politicians are required to come from moralists first, and rulers can only become "saints" if they first devote themselves to the way of saints and become "benevolent people". How can we become a moralist? According to Confucius, only the "benevolent" and "courteous" can become a qualified ruler if they achieve inner holiness. In Confucius' thought, politics and moral education are inseparable. Confucius said: "If the Tao is political, it will be punished, and the people will avoid it, shameless; Tao is virtue, courtesy, shame and dignity. " [vi][6] Confucius aimed at the lower class, taking music as the main tool, supplemented by criminal politics, trying to achieve the goal of "celebrities discussing the world" to stabilize the people's hearts and stabilize the rule.
The unity of morality and politics is from "inner saint" to "outer king" Here, "inner sage" is the premise and foundation of "outer king", and "outer king" is the natural extension and inevitable result of "inner sage". "Self-cultivation" can naturally "govern people", and "governing people" must first "cultivate one's morality".
summary
Although the theory of "inner sage and outer king" first appeared in Zhuangzi, it is a basic proposition of Confucianism, and even modern Confucianism holds the same view. From primitive Confucianism to political Confucianism in Han Dynasty, and then from Neo-Confucianism in Song and Ming Dynasties to modern neo-Confucianism, the times have changed and the interpretation of Confucianism has changed for more than two thousand years, but it has always been in the mode of "being sage inside and being king outside". Therefore, we must critically analyze the spiritual heritage of this traditional society.
The Civilization Mode of China Culture Unifying the World —— The Inner Sage and the Outer King
As we know, there were many subordinate countries in the Ming Dynasty, and the subordinate countries of the Ming Dynasty persuaded and "surrendered" many countries by their own strength and joined voluntarily. Many vassal states in the Ming Dynasty were models for China to unify the world in the future. Although it has enough force to conquer other countries, it relies on its own strength (morality) instead of force. Although the model of Ming dynasty is imperfect and flawed, it needs to be improved. According to China culture, "conquering the world" is by no means relying on force, but at a specific historical stage, it is impossible without force. When people's consciousness reaches a fairly high level, they only need to make some laws, so that the world can return to their hearts. When people are uncivilized or barbaric, they need a certain deterrent, such as Yu Wang's "Xingtian Dance". When they invade, we must make sure that we can defeat them, and then we need our own strength. If you are strong, everyone will give in, and you can't get rid of it; If you are backward and weak, everyone will leave you (national independence), and you can't stay, leaving only contradictions and wars. If China is now the largest country in the world, I don't think anyone wants to go out from China to be poor. If you are poor and backward, no one will follow you and others will be independent. You can't completely blame others. You should check whether you have done it first. Obviously, what to serve people and what form to unify the world is directly proportional to the degree of civilization of social people. The more civilized a society is, the more it needs moral unity. The more backward and barbaric the society is, the more it needs force to unify. This is the same as the relationship between morality and law. The worse the social morality is, the more important the law is. The more benign the society, the less important the law is. Everyone is not guilty, reasonable and unruly. What is the function of law? On the contrary, many people commit crimes, so what can we do without relying on legal punishment? Everyone commits a crime, don't law enforcement people commit a crime? If the morality of the whole society is not good, will the morality of law enforcers be good? When law enforcers are morally corrupt, corrupt officials come out, and what this society is like can be imagined. China's pattern of dominating the world is basically that of Ming Dynasty. It is powerful and "inner saint". Foreign countries and countries have followed suit and joined China voluntarily, or joined China voluntarily, instead of conquering by force. This is the "foreign king". But now it is clear in theory, because the theory of the Ming Dynasty is still quite chaotic. Although the Ming dynasty put forward the idea of governing by doing nothing, in fact, the society of the Ming dynasty did not have the social conditions of governing by doing nothing at all, because the moral quality of people at that time could not reach that level at all, and the development history of the Ming dynasty also proved this point. The Ming Dynasty worshiped Confucianism in form, but the ideology of the whole Ming Dynasty was still very chaotic. As far as the emperor is concerned, well-documented people believe in Confucianism, Buddhism, Christianity, Muslims, and perhaps nothing. Or influenced by materialism? I don't know. This shows that there was no real rule of inner saints and outer kings in the Ming Dynasty. A society governing by doing nothing requires a very high quality and moral level of social people. People don't commit crimes, of course, they don't need governance. Only in this way can we govern by doing nothing. A country with inner saints must be well managed, its people have noble moral qualities, and the whole country can be condensed into a whole from top to bottom, just like the kingdom of bees and ants (this is of course a low-level condensation), with only collectives, no individuals, only archduke and no selfishness. A country and a nation can be invincible, and no enemy can defeat them and enslave them. If the whole mankind can unite as a whole, can the whole human life be unhappy without insurmountable difficulties? China people used their own strength and moral sense to attract foreign kings, and China people's foreign kings did not plunder other countries and people, but shared wealth with me, and finally reached the same level as me. This is "one world". Westerners use robber logic to grab wherever they go, especially in the colonial era of Europe, to Indians in India, Africa and America, to aborigines in Australia and to aborigines in Southeast Asia. Even the bandits of the Ming Dynasty invaded China, but they were strongly countered by the Ming Dynasty. These robbers were either beheaded or defeated. Otherwise, China at that time might become the target of aggression. Even the so-called "European and American civilization" in modern times is too self-interested and cannot be compared with China. If China does well and abandons his wrong philosophy, he will be the first in the world in the near future (20-30 years). At that time, China did not need force, but only needed cultural and moral propaganda to unify the whole human world. Of course, at this particular historical stage, military strength is still needed. Let's assume that if the Ming Dynasty in China did not perish and develop normally, it would not necessarily follow the capitalist model, and China people would have their own model in China. Such as annexing the world, Britain, France and Germany followed the policy of colonial expansion and maritime aggression. China people are probably doing moral propaganda, and on the basis of China's development, let everyone voluntarily join China and accept Chinese civilization. In terms of mode of production, even the capitalist mode is relatively mild, and it will not be so cruel and inhuman to people like European countries. It is also possible to adopt public ownership, or part of it may move towards public ownership. Cruelty is not the essence of China culture. China has been very preferential to ethnic minorities in past dynasties, such as Han Dynasty, Tang Dynasty, Ming Dynasty, and other dynasties. Han nationality and Han dynasty taught them civilization and production technology, and gave them economic help, allowing them to enter and leave many passes (Han nationality is not allowed) for business, grazing, hunting and land reclamation. But when they learn the advanced productive labor technology of the Han nationality, why do they always raise butcher knives to the Han nationality again and again?