home Pipes Philosopher Confucius and his teachings. The teachings of Confucius. The Meaning and Significance of Confucianism in the East

Philosopher Confucius and his teachings. The teachings of Confucius. The Meaning and Significance of Confucianism in the East

Confucianism takes its name from the Latin "wise teacher Kun". It is considered the teaching of well-bred and enlightened people. It is also often referred to as " the religion of scholars».

Confucianism became China's main ideology. Its influence can be compared with that of Catholicism in Europe.

Founder of the doctrine Confucius lived in the VI-V century. BC. The country at that time suffered from internecine wars and fragmentation. Confucianism can be briefly called the doctrine of the desire for stability and order. Confucius was fond of music and ancient rituals. It is through them that a person must achieve harmony with the Universe. The philosopher managed to establish his own school and become teachers of the history of China. Most of the important political figures were alumni of this school.

Lun Yu is the main book of Confucianism. It was released by the students of the deceased philosopher. The book describes the fifteen-year long life experience of Confucius:

15 years of planning to study;
30 years of becoming independent;
40 years of freedom from doubt;
50 years of mastery of the heavenly will;
60 years of art to distinguish lies from truth;
70 years to observe rituals and listen to your heart.

Harmony is subject only to a well-mannered and highly moral person. Only after the right education of people in the country will there be order in everything. One should feel the soul of the people when taking managerial measures. Time has confirmed the correctness of Confucius. The most difficult philosopher considered to force a person to follow the principles of morality and ethics. For some, this takes many years, while others are simply too lazy to work on themselves. Confucius skillfully used in his teaching the cult of ancestors, honored by the Chinese for many centuries. Legendary ancestors became role models.

Confucius called for the love of the people around him, to be responsible for his own actions, to honor the elders and take care of the younger ones, to remain faithful and sincere.

Family norms were transferred to the state level. China began to prosper due to the fact that each person had his place and fulfilled his duties - the basic principle of human relations.

To become philanthropic, you should cultivate the following qualities in yourself:

achieve success through your ingenuity;
to show mercy in management;
the ability to inspire confidence in oneself;
to conquer the crowd with the breadth of horizons;
be respectful and avoid embarrassing situations.

The principles of Confucianism are broad. For example, philanthropy means not only love for people, but also responsibility, reading traditions, heritage, etc. Humanity - honoring the elders, brotherly love, patronage and help of the younger ones. But above humanity, Confucius considered a clear implementation of instructions, principles and dogmas. There was a case in the life of the philosopher when he ordered the execution of actors for non-compliance with the script.

Every person should be noble and cultured. People should think about higher matters, not earthly pleasures.

Man is the highest being in the animal world. He is able to control his actions and knows a sense of proportion. The golden mean should be in everything: food, pleasures, etc.

A noble Chinese must pass all three roads:

military;
official;
hermit.

He must be aware of what is happening around him, think logically and briefly, master the main principles for the development of his field of activity.

Confucius was the first to open free schools. Lessons were conducted not in the form of lectures, but in the form of conversations. The teacher was distinguished by indulgence, but demanded a lot from smart and soulful students.

Today, Confucianism is a lifestyle with a thousand-year history. The actions of people are based on the heritage of their ancestors and their life experience. Confucianism plays a big role in the life of the Celestial Empire and its inhabitants.

The culture of China attracts many with its mystery and originality. A huge eastern power, which has been developing in isolation from other countries of the world for a long time, beckons with its unpredictability and the ability to preserve cultural values and maintain traditions.

One of the main achievements of Chinese spiritual culture can rightly be considered a philosophical and religious teaching - Confucianism.

The founder and founder of this doctrine is a Chinese scientist of the fifth century BC. e. Kung Fuzi. His name is literally translated from Chinese as "wise teacher Kun", and in European transcription it is rendered as Confucius. It was under this name that the sage went down in history, who based his philosophy on ethical and moral principles of behavior that have not lost their relevance to this day.

The doctrine was based on the relationship between people and the state, between people belonging to different strata of society and between all citizens of the country as a whole.

The philosophy of Confucius cannot be considered a religion in the strict sense of the word, although it was adopted during the life of the sage and became the state religion. In fact, it should be viewed as an incentive to act to normalize relations within the state, relations between the ruling forces and the people. This is a special worldview that allows you to harmonize your vision of nature and man, and society.

The life of the great sage Confucius

The 6th-5th centuries BC were a difficult time for the Chinese empire: it was a period of civil strife and a fierce struggle for power. The feudal lords, in their desire to seize lands and increase their power and influence, did not pay attention to the needs and sorrows of ordinary people. The peasants were impoverished and ruined. The future scientist Kung Fuzi was born into a noble family that had lost all its wealth, he became an orphan early and had no means of subsistence. He lived very modestly, so he knew firsthand about the difficulties of the life of poor people, so in his early sermons he tried to open his eyes to the injustice of what was happening around him.

At a young age, he was lucky: fate gave him a chance to get to the state of Zhou, where he was hired in an old book depository, where he met the scientist, the founder of the doctrine. Of course, no one in our time knows about the essence of their conversations, but they clearly contributed to the development of a scientist and philosopher. Upon returning to his hometown of Qufu, Confucius founded his own school. An interesting fact is that almost all of his students became prominent political figures.

What is at the core of relationships between people?

There is an ancient parable about Confucius and his disciples. Once the most inquisitive student asked the wise teacher if there is such a concept, relying on which you can live your whole life without coming into conflict with others.

The sage did not think for a long time, he immediately answered: “Yes, such a concept exists. This is condescension. No matter how high you stand, be more condescending to others. No matter how low you fall, be even more indulgent to those who now laugh and dishonor you. Understand that all people equally possess both noble and low qualities, and in order not to be disappointed in others, we must be indulgent to their weaknesses.

The wisdom of the book "Lun Yu"

The book written by Confucius contains all his sayings and teachings. It cannot be said that he himself collected and kept his teachings, no, his students collected them bit by bit and after the death of the scientist they placed them in a collection. But in this collection you can find answers to all questions concerning the administration of the state and the rules of conduct for any person in society.

It was the life path of the sage himself that became the basis and model for each subsequent young generation. Based on his vision of the gradual formation of an independent person, more than one noble man corrected his life.

15 years - the desire for learning and education;
30 years - the acquisition of independence;
40 years - obtaining firm convictions, the formation of a worldview,
50 years - awareness of yourself as a person and understanding of what goals the sky sets for you,
60 years old - you acquire the ability to read in the hearts and minds of people, no one can deceive you;
70 years - understanding the harmony of the Universe, following the rituals sent down by heaven.

The teachings of the great Confucius are still a model for the behavior of the citizens of the Republic of China.

Ethical principles of Confucianism

The doctrine is based on the rules of conduct for every person and citizen of a great power. Confucius understood that the very first task facing the reformer is the education of a person. That is, the human factor comes to the fore in the formation of a strong state.

The most difficult thing in this was to make people act as they should, since every person is lazy by nature and, even realizing that he lives and acts incorrectly, does not want to re-educate himself. In addition, it is difficult to change already established views and look at the world in a different way.

In the matter of re-educating his compatriots, the great philosopher relied on the cult of ancestors. In China, the cult of ancestors was preserved for a very long time, and in every family one could find an altar on which incense was smoked and in difficult times they turned to the help of ancestors, wise and understanding. The long-dead were a role model, a kind of standard of correct behavior, which is why Confucius turned to the original national religion in the matter of becoming a new citizen.

Briefly about the basic principles of Confucian teachings

The fundamental principles of the philosophy of Confucius are: love for one's neighbor, humanism and noble thinking, based on the internal and external culture of man.

What does the concept of "philanthropy" according to Confucius include? This is the ability to behave with dignity in any circumstances, the ability to manage people, mercy and respect for all people without exception, the ability to inspire confidence and make quick decisions in difficult situations.

Confucius himself did not consider himself completely philanthropic and often told his students that throughout their lives one should strive to improve one's inner world.

The second principle, humanism, includes respect and respect for the elders, patronage and assistance to the younger ones. The main thing for a person is not education and position, not power and nobility, but the ability to properly build relationships with people around.

The great teacher himself will best say about nobility: “A noble husband thinks first of all about duty, and a petty person about his own benefit.” The philosopher believed that a person endowed with a noble soul should not think about food and money, but about the state and society.

The teacher often told his students that only an animal obeys instincts, and a person is a higher being and must be able to control his desires and instincts. The teaching itself is based on the spiritual side of human existence, leaving all physiology aside. Confucius believed that the brain and soul should control a noble person, but not the stomach.

The teachings of the great philosopher pushed everyone to choose their own path and not to deviate from it under any circumstances.

And today the teachings of the great Confucius have not lost their significance in the Celestial Empire. This is not just a symbol of China, it is a special ritual of life that affects the worldview and development of every citizen of the PRC.

The answer of the reference service of the Russian language

Chinese personal names consisting of three parts (such as Deng Xiaoping) are written in two words. See: Rules of Russian spelling and punctuation. Complete academic reference book / Ed. V. V. Lopatina. M., 2006 (and later editions).

Celestial.

Biography

Confucius was the son of a 63-year-old military man, Shuliang He (叔梁纥, Shūliáng Hé) and a seventeen-year-old concubine named Yan Zhengzai (颜征在 Yán Zhēngzài). The father of the future philosopher died when his son was only one and a half years old. Relations between the mother of Confucius, Yan Zhengzai, and the two older wives were tense, the reason for which was the anger of the older wife, who could not give birth to a son, which is very important for the Chinese of that period. The second wife, who gave birth to Shuliang He, a weak, sickly boy (who was named Bo Ni), also did not like the young concubine. Therefore, the mother of Confucius, together with her son, left the house in which he was born and returned to her homeland, in the city of Qufu, but did not return to her parents and began to live independently.

From early childhood, Confucius worked hard, because the small family lived in poverty. However, his mother, Yan Zhengzai, while offering prayers to her ancestors (this was a necessary part of the ancestor cult, widespread in China), told her son about the great deeds of his father and his ancestors. So Confucius grew stronger in the realization that he needed to take a worthy place of his kind, so he began to engage in self-education, first of all, to study the arts necessary for every aristocrat of China at that time. Diligent training paid off and Confucius was first appointed a barn manager (an official responsible for receiving and issuing grain) in the Ji clan of the Lu kingdom (Eastern China, modern Shandong province), and then an official in charge of livestock. The future philosopher then turned - according to various researchers - from 20 to 25 years old, he was already married (from the age of 19) and had a son (named Li, also known under the nickname Bo Yu).

It was the time of the decline of the Zhou empire, when the power of the emperor became nominal, the patriarchal society collapsed, and the rulers of individual kingdoms, surrounded by ignorant officials, took the place of the tribal nobility. The collapse of the ancient foundations of family and clan life, internecine strife, the venality and greed of officials, the disasters and sufferings of the common people - all this caused sharp criticism of the zealots of antiquity.

Realizing the impossibility of influencing the policy of the state, Confucius resigned and went, accompanied by his students, on a trip to China, during which he tried to convey his ideas to the rulers of various regions. At the age of about 60, Confucius returned home and spent the last years of his life teaching new students, as well as systematizing the literary heritage of the past. Shih ching(Book of Songs), i ching(Book of Changes), etc.

The students of Confucius, based on the materials of the statements and conversations of the teacher, compiled the book “Lun Yu” (“Conversations and Judgments”), which became a particularly revered book of Confucianism (among many details from the life of Confucius, it recalls Bo Yu 伯魚, his son - also called Li 鯉; the rest of the details of the biography are concentrated for the most part in Sima Qian's Historical Notes).

Of the classical books, only Chunqiu (Spring and Autumn, annals of the Lu domain from 722 to 481 BC) can undoubtedly be considered a work of Confucius; then it is highly probable that he edited the Shi-ching ("Book of Poems"). Although the number of disciples of Confucius is determined by Chinese scholars to 3000, including about 70 closest ones, in reality we can count only 26 undoubted disciples known by name; the favorite of them was Yan-yuan. Other close students of his were Zengzi and Yu Ruo (see en:Disciples of Confucius).

Doctrine

Although Confucianism is often referred to as a religion, it does not have the institution of a church, and issues of theology are not important to it. Confucian ethics is not religious. The ideal of Confucianism is the creation of a harmonious society according to the ancient model, in which every person has his own function. A harmonious society is built on the idea of devotion ( zhong, 忠) - loyalty between a superior and a subordinate, aimed at maintaining harmony and this society itself. Confucius formulated the golden rule of ethics: "Do not do to a person what you do not wish for yourself."

The Five Constancy of a Righteous Man

Moral duties, insofar as they are materialized in ritual, become a matter of upbringing, education, and culture. These concepts were not separated by Confucius. They are all included in the category. "wen"(originally, this word meant a person with a painted torso, a tattoo). "Wen" can be interpreted as the cultural meaning of human existence, as education. This is not a secondary artificial formation in a person and not his primary natural layer, not bookishness and not naturalness, but their organic fusion.

Spread of Confucianism in Western Europe

In the middle of the 17th century, a fashion arose in Western Europe for everything Chinese, and in general for oriental exoticism. This fashion was accompanied by attempts to master the Chinese philosophy, which was often spoken about sometimes in lofty and admiring tones. For example, the Englishman Robert Boyle compared the Chinese and Indians with the Greeks and Romans.

In 1687, a Latin translation of Lun Yu by Confucius was published. The translation was prepared by a group of Jesuit scholars. During this time, the Jesuits had numerous missions in China. One of the publishers, Philippe Couplet, returned to Europe accompanied by a young Chinese man, baptized under the name Michel. The visit of this guest from China to Versailles in 1684 added to the interest in Chinese culture in Europe.

One of China's most famous Jesuit scholars, Matteo Ricci, tried to find a conceptual connection between Chinese spiritual teachings and Christianity. Perhaps his research program suffered from Eurocentrism, but the researcher was not ready to give up the idea that China could successfully develop outside of Christian values. At the same time, Ricci said that "Confucius is the key to the Sino-Christian synthesis." Moreover, he believed that every religion should have its founder, who received the first revelation or who came so he called Confucius the founder of the "Confucian religion".

The popularity of Confucius is confirmed in din. Han: in the literature of this era, he is no longer only a teacher and politician, but also a legislator, a prophet and a demigod. The interpreters of the comments on Chunqiu come to the conclusion that Confucius was honored to receive a "heavenly mandate", and therefore they call him "uncrowned wang". In 1 AD e. he becomes an object of state veneration (title 褒成宣尼公); from 59 a.d. e. it is followed by regular offerings at the local level; in 241 (Three Kingdoms) the title of van was fixed in the aristocratic pantheon, and in 739 (Din. Tang) the title of van was also fixed. In 1530 (Ding. Ming), Confucius receives the nickname 至聖先師, "the supreme sage [among] the teachers of the past."

This growing popularity should be compared with the historical processes that took place around the texts from which information about Confucius and attitudes towards him are drawn. Thus, the “uncrowned king” could serve to legitimize the restored Han dynasty after the crisis associated with the usurpation of the throne by Wang Mang (at the same time, the first Buddhist temple was founded in the new capital).

The variety of historical guises that Confucius has been given throughout Chinese history prompted Gu Jiegang's tongue-in-cheek commentary to "take one Confucius at a time."

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Notes

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An excerpt characterizing Confucius

The road they were on was paved on both sides with dead horses; ragged people, lagging behind different teams, constantly changing, then joined, then again lagged behind the marching column.
Several times during the campaign there were false alarms, and the soldiers of the convoy raised their guns, fired and ran headlong, crushing each other, but then again gathered and scolded each other for vain fear.
These three gatherings, marching together - the cavalry depot, the depot of prisoners and Junot's convoy - still constituted something separate and integral, although both, and the other, and the third quickly melted away.
In the depot, which had at first been one hundred and twenty wagons, now there were no more than sixty; the rest were repulsed or abandoned. Junot's convoy was also abandoned and several wagons were recaptured. Three wagons were plundered by backward soldiers from Davout's corps who came running. From the conversations of the Germans, Pierre heard that more guards were placed on this convoy than on prisoners, and that one of their comrades, a German soldier, was shot on the orders of the marshal himself because a silver spoon that belonged to the marshal was found on the soldier.
Most of these three gatherings melted the depot of prisoners. Of the three hundred and thirty people who left Moscow, now there were less than a hundred. The prisoners, even more than the saddles of the cavalry depot and than Junot's convoy, burdened the escorting soldiers. Junot's saddles and spoons, they understood that they could be useful for something, but why were the hungry and cold soldiers of the convoy standing guard and guarding the same cold and hungry Russians, who were dying and lagging behind the road, whom they were ordered to shoot - it was not only incomprehensible, but also disgusting. And the escorts, as if afraid in the sad situation in which they themselves were, not to give in to the feeling of pity for the prisoners that was in them and thereby worsen their situation, treated them especially gloomily and strictly.
In Dorogobuzh, while, having locked the prisoners in the stable, the escort soldiers left to rob their own shops, several captured soldiers dug under the wall and ran away, but were captured by the French and shot.
The former order, introduced at the exit from Moscow, that the captured officers should go separately from the soldiers, had long been destroyed; all those who could walk walked together, and from the third passage Pierre had already connected again with Karataev and the lilac bow-legged dog, which had chosen Karataev as its master.
With Karataev, on the third day of leaving Moscow, there was that fever from which he lay in the Moscow hospital, and as Karataev weakened, Pierre moved away from him. Pierre did not know why, but since Karataev began to weaken, Pierre had to make an effort on himself in order to approach him. And going up to him and listening to those quiet groans with which Karataev usually lay down at rest, and feeling the now intensified smell that Karataev emitted from himself, Pierre moved away from him and did not think about him.
In captivity, in a booth, Pierre learned not with his mind, but with his whole being, with his life, that man was created for happiness, that happiness is in himself, in satisfying natural human needs, and that all misfortune comes not from lack, but from excess; but now, in these last three weeks of the campaign, he learned another new, comforting truth - he learned that there is nothing terrible in the world. He learned that just as there is no position in which a person would be happy and completely free, so there is no position in which he would be unhappy and not free. He learned that there is a limit to suffering and a limit to freedom, and that this limit is very close; that the man who suffered because one leaf was wrapped in his pink bed, suffered in the same way as he suffered now, falling asleep on the bare, damp earth, cooling one side and warming the other; that when he used to put on his narrow ballroom shoes, he suffered in exactly the same way as now, when he was completely barefoot (his shoes had long been disheveled), his feet covered with sores. He learned that when he, as it seemed to him, of his own free will married his wife, he was no more free than now, when he was locked up at night in the stable. Of all that he later called suffering, but which he then hardly felt, the main thing was his bare, worn, scabbed feet. (Horse meat was tasty and nutritious, the nitrate bouquet of gunpowder used instead of salt was even pleasant, there was not much cold, and it was always hot during the day on the move, and at night there were fires; the lice that ate the body warmed pleasantly.) One thing was hard. First, it's the legs.
On the second day of the march, having examined his sores by the fire, Pierre thought it impossible to step on them; but when everyone got up, he walked limping, and then, when warmed up, he walked without pain, although in the evening it was still more terrible to look at his feet. But he did not look at them and thought about something else.
Now only Pierre understood the whole force of human vitality and the saving power of shifting attention invested in a person, similar to that saving valve in steam engines that releases excess steam as soon as its density exceeds a certain norm.
He did not see or hear how backward prisoners were shot, although more than a hundred of them had already died in this way. He did not think about Karataev, who was weakening every day and, obviously, was soon to undergo the same fate. Even less did Pierre think of himself. The more difficult his position became, the more terrible the future was, the more independent of the position in which he was, joyful and soothing thoughts, memories and ideas came to him.

On the 22nd, at noon, Pierre walked uphill along a muddy, slippery road, looking at his feet and at the unevenness of the road. From time to time he glanced at the familiar crowd surrounding him, and again at his feet. Both were equally his own and familiar to him. The lilac, bow-legged Gray ran merrily along the side of the road, occasionally, as proof of his agility and contentment, tucking his hind paw and jumping on three and then again on all four, rushing barking at the crows that were sitting on the carrion. Gray was more cheerful and smoother than in Moscow. On all sides lay the meat of various animals - from human to horse, in various degrees of decomposition; and the walking people kept the wolves away, so that Gray could eat as much as he wanted.
It had been raining since morning, and it seemed that it was about to pass and clear the sky, as after a short stop it started to rain even more. The road, soaked with rain, no longer accepted water, and streams flowed along the ruts.
Pierre walked, looking around, counting steps in three, and bending on his fingers. Turning to the rain, he inwardly said: come on, come on, give more, give more.
It seemed to him that he was thinking of nothing; but far and deep somewhere his soul thought something important and comforting. It was something of the finest spiritual extract from his yesterday's conversation with Karataev.
Yesterday, at a night's halt, chilled by an extinct fire, Pierre got up and went to the nearest, better burning fire. By the fire, to which he approached, Plato sat, hiding himself, like a robe, with his head in an overcoat, and told the soldiers with his argumentative, pleasant, but weak, painful voice, a story familiar to Pierre. It was past midnight. This was the time at which Karataev usually revived from a feverish fit and was especially animated. Approaching the fire and hearing Plato's weak, painful voice and seeing his miserable face brightly lit by fire, something unpleasantly pricked Pierre in his heart. He was afraid of his pity for this man and wanted to leave, but there was no other fire, and Pierre, trying not to look at Plato, sat down by the fire.
- What, how is your health? - he asked.
- What is health? Crying at an illness - God will not let death, - said Karataev and immediately returned to the story he had begun.
“... And now, my brother,” Plato continued with a smile on his thin, pale face and with a special, joyful gleam in his eyes, “here, you are my brother ...
Pierre knew this story for a long time, Karataev told this story to him alone six times, and always with a special, joyful feeling. But no matter how well Pierre knew this story, he now listened to it as to something new, and that quiet delight that Karataev apparently felt while telling, was communicated to Pierre. This story was about an old merchant who lived decently and God-fearing with his family and who once went with a friend, a wealthy merchant, to Macarius.
Stopping at the inn, both merchants fell asleep, and the next day the merchant's friend was found stabbed to death and robbed. The bloodied knife was found under the old merchant's pillow. The merchant was judged, punished with a whip, and, pulling out his nostrils, - as follows in order, said Karataev, - they were exiled to hard labor.
- And now, my brother (at this place Pierre found Karataev's story), the case has been going on for ten years or more. The old man lives in hard labor. As it should, he submits, he does no harm. Only the god of death asks. - Good. And they get together, at night, hard labor then, just like you and me, and the old man with them. And the conversation turned, who suffers for what, what God is to blame for. They began to say that he ruined the soul, that two, that set it on fire, that fugitive, so for nothing. They began to ask the old man: why, they say, grandfather, are you suffering? I, my dear brothers, say, I suffer for my own and for human sins. And I didn’t destroy souls, I didn’t take someone else’s, except that I clothed the poor brethren. I, my dear brothers, are a merchant; and had great wealth. So and so, he says. And he told them, then, how the whole thing was, in order. I, he says, do not grieve about myself. It means that God found me. One thing, he says, I feel sorry for my old woman and children. And so the old man cried. If the same person happened in their company, it means that the merchant was killed. Where, says grandfather, was it? When, what month? asked everyone. His heart ached. Suitable in this manner to the old man - clap at the feet. For me, you, he says, old man, disappear. The truth is true; innocently in vain, he says, guys, this man is tormented. I, he says, did the same thing and put a knife under your sleepy head. Forgive me, says grandfather, you are me for the sake of Christ.
Karataev fell silent, smiling joyfully, looking at the fire, and straightened the logs.
- The old man says: God, they say, will forgive you, and we all, he says, are sinners to God, I suffer for my sins. He burst into tears himself. What do you think, falcon, - Karataev said, beaming brighter and brighter with an enthusiastic smile, as if what he had now to tell contained the main charm and the whole meaning of the story, - what do you think, falcon, this killer showed up most according to his superiors . I, he says, ruined six souls (there was a big villain), but all I feel sorry for this old man. Let him not cry at me. Showed up: written off, sent the paper, as it should. The place is far away, while the court and the case, while all the papers have been written off as they should, according to the authorities, that means. It came to the king. So far, the royal decree has come: to release the merchant, to give him rewards, how many were awarded there. The paper came, they began to look for the old man. Where did such an old man suffer innocently in vain? The paper came out from the king. They began to search. - Karataev's lower jaw trembled. “God forgave him—he died.” So, falcon, - finished Karataev and for a long time, silently smiling, looked in front of him.
Not the story itself, but its mysterious meaning, that enthusiastic joy that shone in Karataev’s face at this story, the mysterious meaning of this joy, now vaguely and joyfully filled Pierre’s soul.

– A vos places! [In places!] – suddenly shouted a voice.
Between the prisoners and the escorts there was a joyful confusion and the expectation of something happy and solemn. The cries of the command were heard from all sides, and from the left side, trotting around the prisoners, cavalrymen appeared, well-dressed, on good horses. On all faces there was an expression of tension, which people have in the vicinity of higher authorities. The prisoners huddled together, they were pushed off the road; the convoys lined up.
- L "Empereur! L" Empereur! Le marechal! Le duc! [Emperor! Emperor! Marshal! Duke!] - and the well-fed escorts had just passed, when the carriage thundered in a train, on gray horses. Pierre caught a glimpse of the calm, handsome, fat and white face of a man in a three-cornered hat. It was one of the marshals. The marshal's gaze turned to the large, conspicuous figure of Pierre, and in the expression with which this marshal frowned and turned his face away, compassion and a desire to hide it seemed to Pierre.
The general who led the depot, with a red, frightened face, urged on his thin horse, galloped behind the carriage. Several officers came together, the soldiers surrounded them. Everyone had excited faces.
- Qu "est ce qu" il a dit? Qu "est ce qu" il a dit? .. [What did he say? What? What?..] – heard Pierre.
During the passage of the marshal, the prisoners huddled together, and Pierre saw Karataev, whom he had not seen this morning. Karataev was sitting in his overcoat, leaning against a birch. In his face, in addition to the expression of yesterday's joyful tenderness at the story of the innocent suffering of the merchant, there was also an expression of quiet solemnity.
Karataev looked at Pierre with his kind, round eyes, now covered with tears, and, apparently, called him to him, wanted to say something. But Pierre was too scared for himself. He acted as if he hadn't seen his eyes and hurried away.
When the prisoners started off again, Pierre looked back. Karataev was sitting on the edge of the road, by a birch; and two Frenchmen said something over him. Pierre did not look back anymore. He walked limping up the hill.
Behind, from the place where Karataev was sitting, a shot was heard. Pierre clearly heard this shot, but at the same moment he heard it, Pierre remembered that he had not finished the calculation he had begun before the marshal's passage about how many crossings were left to Smolensk. And he began to count. Two French soldiers, one of whom held a shot, smoking gun in his hand, ran past Pierre. They were both pale, and in the expression of their faces - one of them looked timidly at Pierre - there was something similar to what he saw in a young soldier at an execution. Pierre looked at the soldier and remembered how this soldier of the third day burned his shirt while drying at the stake and how they laughed at him.
The dog howled from behind, from the place where Karataev was sitting. “What a fool, what is she howling about?” thought Pierre.
The comrade soldiers, walking next to Pierre, did not look back, just like he did, at the place from which a shot was heard and then the howling of a dog; but a stern expression lay on all faces.

The depot, and the prisoners, and the convoy of the marshal stopped in the village of Shamshev. Everything was huddled around the fires. Pierre went up to the fire, ate roasted horse meat, lay down with his back to the fire and immediately fell asleep. He slept again in the same dream as he slept in Mozhaisk after Borodin.
Again the events of reality were combined with dreams, and again someone, whether he himself or someone else, spoke to him thoughts, and even the same thoughts that were spoken to him in Mozhaisk.
“Life is everything. Life is God. Everything moves and moves, and this movement is God. And as long as there is life, there is the enjoyment of the self-consciousness of the deity. Love life, love God. It is most difficult and most blessed to love this life in one's suffering, in the innocence of suffering.
"Karataev" - Pierre remembered.
And suddenly Pierre introduced himself as a living, long-forgotten, meek old man who taught geography to Pierre in Switzerland. "Wait," said the old man. And he showed Pierre the globe. This globe was a living, oscillating ball, without dimensions. The entire surface of the sphere consisted of drops tightly compressed together. And these drops all moved, moved, and then merged from several into one, then from one they were divided into many. Each drop strove to spill out, to capture the greatest space, but others, striving for the same, squeezed it, sometimes destroyed it, sometimes merged with it.
“This is life,” said the old teacher.
“How simple and clear it is,” thought Pierre. How could I not have known this before?
- In the middle is God, and each drop tends to expand in order to reflect him in the largest size. And it grows, merges, and shrinks, and is destroyed on the surface, goes into the depths and emerges again. Here he is, Karataev, here he spilled and disappeared. - Vous avez compris, mon enfant, [You understand.] - said the teacher.
- Vous avez compris, sacre nom, [You understand, damn you.] - shouted a voice, and Pierre woke up.
He got up and sat down. By the fire, squatting on his haunches, sat a Frenchman, who had just pushed a Russian soldier away, and fried the meat put on the ramrod. Wiry, tucked up, overgrown with hair, red hands with short fingers deftly turned the ramrod. A brown, gloomy face with furrowed brows was clearly visible in the glow of the coals.
“Ca lui est bien egal,” he grumbled, quickly addressing the soldier behind him. - ... brigand. Va! [He doesn't care... Rogue, right!]
And the soldier, turning the ramrod, looked gloomily at Pierre. Pierre turned away, peering into the shadows. One Russian soldier, a prisoner, the one who was pushed away by the Frenchman, sat by the fire and ruffled something with his hand. Peering closer, Pierre recognized a purple dog, which, wagging its tail, was sitting next to the soldier.
- Did you come? Pierre said. “Ah, Pla…” he began and did not finish. In his imagination, suddenly, at the same time, connecting with each other, there arose a memory of the look with which Plato looked at him, sitting under a tree, of a shot heard in that place, of a dog howling, of the criminal faces of two Frenchmen who ran past him, of smoking gun, about the absence of Karataev at this halt, and he was ready to understand that Karataev had been killed, but at the same moment in his soul, coming from God knows where, there arose a memory of the evening he spent with the beautiful Polish woman, in the summer, on balcony of his Kyiv house. And yet, without connecting the memories of the current day and not drawing a conclusion about them, Pierre closed his eyes, and the picture of summer nature mingled with the memory of bathing, of a liquid oscillating ball, and he sank somewhere into the water, so that the water converged over his head.
Before sunrise, he was awakened by loud, frequent shots and screams. The French ran past Pierre.
- Les cosaques! [Cossacks!] - shouted one of them, and a minute later a crowd of Russian faces surrounded Pierre.
For a long time Pierre could not understand what happened to him. From all sides he heard the cries of joy of his comrades.
- Brothers! My darlings, doves! - crying, shouted the old soldiers, hugging the Cossacks and hussars. Hussars and Cossacks surrounded the prisoners and hurriedly offered some dresses, some boots, some bread. Pierre sobbed, sitting in the middle of them, and could not utter a word; he embraced the first soldier who approached him and, weeping, kissed him.
Dolokhov stood at the gates of a ruined house, letting a crowd of disarmed French pass him by. The French, excited by everything that had happened, spoke loudly among themselves; but when they passed Dolokhov, who lightly lashed his boots with a whip and looked at them with his cold, glassy look, promising nothing good, their speech fell silent. On the other side stood the Cossack Dolokhova and counted the prisoners, marking hundreds with a line of chalk on the gate.
- How? Dolokhov asked the Cossack, who was counting the prisoners.
“On the second hundred,” answered the Cossack.
- Filez, filez, [Come in, come in.] - Dolokhov said, having learned this expression from the French, and, meeting the eyes of the passing prisoners, his eyes flashed with a cruel brilliance.
Denisov, with a gloomy face, took off his hat, walked behind the Cossacks, who were carrying the body of Petya Rostov to a hole dug in the garden.

Since October 28, when the frosts began, the flight of the French only acquired the more tragic character of people freezing and roasting to death at the fires and continuing to ride in fur coats and carriages with the stolen goods of the emperor, kings and dukes; but in essence the process of flight and disintegration of the French army has not changed at all since the departure from Moscow.
From Moscow to Vyazma, out of the seventy-three thousand French army, not counting the guards (who did nothing during the whole war except robbery), out of seventy-three thousand, thirty-six thousand remained (of this number, no more than five thousand were eliminated in battles). Here is the first member of the progression, which mathematically correctly determines the subsequent ones.
The French army was melting and destroyed in the same proportion from Moscow to Vyazma, from Vyazma to Smolensk, from Smolensk to Berezina, from Berezina to Vilna, regardless of a greater or lesser degree of cold, persecution, blocking the path and all other conditions taken separately. After Vyazma, the French troops, instead of three columns, huddled together and so went to the end. Berthier wrote to his sovereign (it is known how remotely from the truth the chiefs allow themselves to describe the state of the army). He wrote:
“Je crois devoir faire connaitre a Votre Majeste l"etat de ses troupes dans les differents corps d"annee que j"ai ete a meme d"observer depuis deux ou trois jours dans differents passages. Elles sont presque debandees. Le nombre des soldats qui suivent les drapeaux est en proportion du quart au plus dans presque tous les regiments, les autres marchent isolement dans differentes directions et pour leur compte, dans l "esperance de trouver des subsistances et pour se debarrasser de la discipline. En general ils regardent Smolensk comme le point ou ils doivent se refaire. Ces derniers jours on a remarque que beaucoup de soldats jettent leurs cartouches et leurs armes. Dans cet etat de choses, l "interet du service de Votre Majeste exige, quelles que soient ses vues ulterieures qu "on rallie l" armee a Smolensk en commencant a la debarrasser des non combattans, tels que hommes demontes et des bagages inutiles et du materiel de l "artillerie qui n" est plus en proportion avec les forces actuelles. En outre les jours de repos, des subsistances sont necessaires aux soldats qui sont extenues par la faim et la fatigue; beaucoup sont morts ces derniers jours sur la route et dans les bivacs. Cet etat de choses va toujours en augmentant et donne lieu de craindre que si l "on n" y prete un prompt remede, on ne soit plus maitre des troupes dans un combat. Le 9 November, a 30 verstes de Smolensk.
[It takes me a long time to report to Your Majesty about the condition of the corps that I examined on the march in the last three days. They are almost in complete disarray. Only a quarter of the soldiers remain with the banners, the rest go on their own in different directions, trying to find food and get rid of the service. Everyone thinks only of Smolensk, where they hope to have a rest. In recent days, many soldiers have abandoned their cartridges and guns. Whatever your further intentions, but the benefit of Your Majesty's service requires gathering corps in Smolensk and separating from them dismounted cavalrymen, unarmed, extra carts and part of the artillery, because now it is not in proportion to the number of troops. Need food and a few days of rest; the soldiers are exhausted by hunger and fatigue; in recent days many have died on the road and in the bivouacs. This calamity is incessantly increasing, and makes one fear that, unless swift measures are taken to prevent evil, we shall soon have no troops in our power in the event of a battle. November 9, 30 versts from Smolenka.]
Having burst into Smolensk, which seemed to them the promised land, the French killed each other for provisions, robbed their own shops and, when everything was looted, they ran on.
Everyone was walking, not knowing where and why they were going. Even less than others, the genius of Napoleon knew this, since no one ordered him. But all the same, he and those around him observed their old habits: orders, letters, reports, ordre du jour [daily routine] were written; called each other:
“Sire, Mon Cousin, Prince d" Ekmuhl, roi de Naples "[Your Majesty, my brother, Prince Ekmul, King of Naples.], etc. But orders and reports were only on paper, nothing was executed on them, therefore which could not be done, and despite calling each other majesties, highnesses and cousins, they all felt that they were miserable and nasty people who had done a lot of evil, for which they now had to pay. as if they were taking care of the army, they only thought about themselves and about how to leave as soon as possible and be saved.

The actions of the Russian and French troops during the return campaign from Moscow to the Neman are like a game of blind man's blindfold, when two players are blindfolded and one occasionally rings a bell to notify the catcher of himself. At first, the one who is caught calls without fear of the enemy, but when he has a bad time, he, trying to walk silently, runs away from his enemy and often, thinking of running away, goes straight into his hands.
At first, the Napoleonic troops still made themselves felt - this was during the first period of movement along the Kaluga road, but then, having got out onto the Smolensk road, they ran, pressing the bell tongue with their hands, and often, thinking that they were leaving, they ran right into the Russians.
With the speed of the French and the Russians behind them, and due to the exhaustion of the horses, the main means of approximately recognizing the position in which the enemy is located - cavalry patrols - did not exist. In addition, due to the frequent and rapid changes in the positions of both armies, information, which was, could not keep up in time. If on the second day the news came that the enemy army was there on the first day, then on the third day, when something could be done, this army had already made two transitions and was in a completely different position.
One army fled, the other caught up. From Smolensk, the French had many different roads; and, it would seem, here, after standing for four days, the French could find out where the enemy was, figure out something profitable and undertake something new. But after a four-day halt, the crowd of them again ran not to the right, not to the left, but, without any maneuvers and considerations, along the old, worse road, to Krasnoe and Orsha - along the broken trail.
Expecting the enemy from behind, and not in front, the French fled, stretched out and separated from each other for twenty-four hours. The emperor ran ahead of them all, then the kings, then the dukes. The Russian army, thinking that Napoleon would take to the right beyond the Dnieper, which was the only reasonable thing, also leaned to the right and entered the high road to Krasnoe. And then, as in a game of hide and seek, the French stumbled upon our vanguard. Suddenly seeing the enemy, the French mixed up, stopped from the unexpectedness of fright, but then ran again, leaving behind their comrades who were following. Here, as if through the formation of Russian troops, three days passed, one after the other, separate parts of the French, first the Viceroy, then Davout, then Ney. All of them abandoned each other, abandoned all their burdens, artillery, half of the people and ran away, only at night bypassing the Russians on the right in semicircles.

Biography

Judging by the possession of aristocratic arts, Confucius was a descendant of a noble family. He was the son of a 63-year-old official Shu Lianghe (叔梁纥 Shū Liáng-hé) and a seventeen-year-old concubine named Yan Zhengzai (颜征在 Yán Zhēng-zài). The official soon died, and, fearing the wrath of his lawful wife, Confucius's mother, along with her son, left the house in which he was born. From early childhood, Confucius worked hard and lived in poverty. Later, the consciousness came that it was necessary to be a cultured person, so he began to engage in self-education. In his youth, he served as a minor official in the kingdom of Lu (Eastern China, modern Shandong province). It was the time of the decline of the Zhou empire, when the power of the emperor became nominal, the patriarchal society collapsed, and the rulers of individual kingdoms, surrounded by ignorant officials, took the place of the tribal nobility.

The collapse of the ancient foundations of family and clan life, internecine strife, the venality and greed of officials, the disasters and sufferings of the common people - all this caused sharp criticism of the zealots of antiquity.

Doctrine

The Five Constancy of a Righteous Man

Spread of Confucianism in Western Europe

In the middle of the 17th century, a fashion arose in Western Europe for everything Chinese, and in general for oriental exoticism. This fashion was accompanied by attempts to master the Chinese philosophy, which was often spoken about sometimes in lofty and admiring tones. For example, Robert Boyle compared the Chinese and Indians with the Greeks and Romans.

The popularity of Confucius is confirmed in din. Han: In literature, Confucius is sometimes referred to as "the uncrowned wang". In 1 AD e. he becomes an object of state veneration (title 褒成宣尼公); from 59 a.d. e. it is followed by regular offerings at the local level; in 241 (Three Kingdoms) the title of van was fixed in the aristocratic pantheon, and in 739 (Din. Tang) the title of van was also fixed. In 1530 (Ding. Ming), Confucius receives the nickname 至聖先師, "the supreme sage [among] the teachers of the past."

In the XX century in China there are several temples dedicated to Confucius: the Temple of Confucius in his homeland, in Qufu, in Shanghai, Beijing, Taichung.

Confucius in culture

Confucius is a 2010 film starring Chow Yun-fat.

Literature

The book "Conversations and judgments" of Confucius, five translations into Russian "on one page"
Confucius writings and related materials in 23 languages (Confucius Publishing Co.Ltd.)
Buranok S. O. The problem of interpretation and translation of the first judgment in "Lun Yu"
A. A. Maslov. Confucius. // Maslov A. A. China: bells in the dust. The wanderings of the magician and the intellectual. - M.: Aleteyya, 2003, p. 100-115
Vasiliev V. A. Confucius on virtue // Social and humanitarian knowledge. 2006. No. 6. P.132-146.
Golovacheva L. I. Confucius on overcoming deviations during enlightenment (abstracts) // XXXII scientific. conf. "Society and State in China" / RAS. Institute of Oriental Studies. M., 2002. S.155-160
Golovacheva L. I. Confucius on wholeness // XII All-Russian Conf. "Philosophy of the East Asian region and modern civilization". ... / RAN. Institute Dal. East. M., 2007. S.129-138. (Inform. materials. Ser. G; Issue 14)
Golovacheva L. I. Confucious Is Not Plain, Indeed// The modern mission of Confucianism - a collection of reports of the international. scientific conf. in memory of the 2560th anniversary of Confucius - Beijing, 2009. In 4 vols. pp. 405-415
Golovacheva L. I. Confucius is truly difficult / / XL scientific. conf. "Society and State in China" / RAS. Institute of Oriental Studies. M., 2010. S.323-332. (Scholar. zap. / Department of China; Issue 2)
Gusarov VF Inconsistency of Confucius and the dualism of Zhu Xi's philosophy // Third Scientific Conference "Society and State in China". T.1. M., 1972.
Kychanov E. I. Tangut apocrypha about the meeting of Confucius and Lao Tzu // XIX scientific conference on historiography and source study of the history of Asian and African countries. SPb., 1997. S.82-84.
Ilyushechkin V. P. Confucius and Shang Yang on the Ways of China's Unification // XVI Scientific Conference "Society and State in China". Part I, M., 1985. S.36-42.
Lukyanov A.E. Lao Tzu and Confucius: The Philosophy of Tao. M., 2001. 384 p.
Perelomov L. S. Confucius. Lun Yu. Study; translation of ancient Chinese, commentary. Facsimile text of Lun Yu with comments by Zhu Xi". M. Nauka. 1998. 590s
Popov PS Sayings of Confucius, his disciples and others. SPb., 1910.
Roseman Henry On Knowledge (zhi): a discourse guide to action in Confucius' Analects // Comparative Philosophy: Knowledge and Faith in the Context of Dialogue of Cultures. M.: Eastern Literature., 2008. S.20-28. ISBN 978-5-02-036338-0
Chepurkovsky E. M. Rival of Confucius (a bibliographic note on the philosopher Mo-tzu and on an objective study of China's popular beliefs). Harbin, 1928.
Yang Hing-shun, A. D. Donobaev. Ethical concepts of Confucius and Yang Zhu. // Tenth Scientific Conference "Society and State in China" Part I. M., 1979. C. 195-206.
Yu, Jiyuan "The Beginnings of Ethics: Confucius and Socrates." Asian Philosophy 15 (July 2005): 173-89.
Jiyuan Yu, The Ethics of Confucius and Aristotle: Mirrors of Virtue, Routledge, 2007, 276pp., ISBN 978-0-415-95647-5 .
Bonevac Daniel Introduction to world philosophy. - New York: Oxford University Press, 2009. - ISBN 978-0-19-515231-9
Creel Herrlee Glessner Confucius: The man and the myth. - New York: John Day Company, 1949.
Dubs, Homer H. (1946). "The political career of Confucius". 66 (4).
Hobson John M. The Eastern origins of Western civilization. - Reprinted. - Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004. - ISBN 0-521-54724-5
Chin Ann-ping The authentic Confucius: A life of thought and politics. - New York: Scribner, 2007. - ISBN 978-0-7432-4618-7
Kong Demao The house of Confucius. - translated. - London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1988. - ISBN 978-0-340-41279-4
Parker John Windows into China: The Jesuits and their books, 1580-1730. - Boston: Trustees of the Public Library of the City of Boston, 1977. - ISBN 0-89073-050-4
Phan Peter C. Catholicism and Confucianism: An intercultural and interreligious dialogue // Catholicism and interreligious dialogue. - New York: Oxford University Press, 2012. - ISBN 978-0-19-982787-9
Rainey Lee Dian Confucius & Confucianism: The essentials. - Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 2010. - ISBN 978-1-4051-8841-8
Riegel, Jeffrey K. (1986). Poetry and the legend of Confucius's exile. Journal of the American Oriental Society 106 (1).
Yao Xinzhong Confucianism and Christianity: A Comparative Study of Jen and Agape. - Brighton: Sussex Academic Press, 1997. - ISBN 1-898723-76-1
Yao Xinzhong An Introduction to Confucianism. - Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000. - ISBN 0-521-64430-5

Online publications

Ahmad, Mirza Tahir Confucianism. Ahmadiyya Muslim Community (???). Archived from the original on 15 October 2012. Retrieved 7 November 2010.
Baxter-Sagart Old Chinese reconstruction (February 20, 2011). Archived
Confucius descendents say DNA testing plan lacks wisdom . Bandao (August 21, 2007). (unavailable link - story)
Confucius family tree to record female kin. China Daily (February 2, 2007). Archived
Confucius" Family Tree Recorded biggest . China Daily (24 September 2009). Archived from the original on 16 October 2012.
Confucius family tree revision ends with 2 mln descendants . China Economic Net (January 4, 2009). Archived from the original on October 15, 2012.
DNA Testing Adopted to Identify Confucius Descendants. China Internet Information Center (June 19, 2006). Archived from the original on October 15, 2012.
DNA test to clear up Confucius confusion . Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China (June 18, 2006). Archived from the original on October 15, 2012.
Riegel, Jeffrey Confucius. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Stanford University (2012). Archived from the original on October 15, 2012.
Qiu, Jane Inheriting Confucius. Seed Magazine (August 13, 2008). Archived from the original on October 15, 2012.
Yan, Liang

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INTRODUCTION

1. Biography of Confucius

2. Teachings of Confucius

a) The doctrine of man

b) The doctrine of society

CONCLUSION

LIST OF USED SOURCES

INTRODUCTION

Confucianism is a philosophical doctrine that originated in ancient China. The creator of Confucianism was Kong - Qiu (Confucius).

The greatest scientist of his time, he was one of the first to become interested in human essence, the meaning of human life, the origins of human aspirations and desires. Trying to explain them, he, guided by his own experience, offered a number of interesting ideas. The whole life of Confucius was spent in search of that main thing for which a person lives.

Confucianism is one of the leading ideological currents in ancient China. A number of publications give a "compromise" definition of Confucianism both as a religion and as an ethical and political doctrine. Confucius, the creator of the moral and religious teachings, left the deepest imprint on the development of the spiritual culture of China, in all spheres of its social life - political, economic, social, moral, art and religion. According to the definition of L.S. Vasiliev: “Not being a religion, in the full sense of the word, Confucianism has become more than just a religion. Confucianism is also politics, and the administrative system, and the supreme regulator of economic and social processes - in a word, the basis of the entire Chinese way of life, the principle of organizing Chinese society, the quintessence of Chinese civilization. According to its world outlook, the way of explaining the world and the place of a person (“civilized”, and not “barbarian”) in this world, Confucianism acts more on the ethical and political than on the religious plane.

The ideology of Confucianism as a whole shared traditional ideas about the sky and heavenly destiny, in particular those set forth in the Shi Jing. However, in the context of widespread doubts about the sky in the VI century. before. AD Confucians and their main representative Confucius did not focus on preaching the greatness of heaven, but on fear of heaven, its punishing power and the inevitability of heavenly fate.

Confucius said that “everything was originally predetermined by fate, and here nothing can be added or subtracted” (“Mo-tzu”, “Against the Confucians”, part II). Confucius said that a noble husband should be afraid of heavenly fate, and even emphasized: "He who does not recognize fate cannot be considered a noble husband."

Confucius revered the sky as a formidable, universal and supernatural ruler, while possessing well-known anthropomorphic properties. The sky of Confucius determines for each person his place in society, rewards, punishes.

Confucius founded his school at the age of 50. He had many students. They wrote down the thoughts of both their teacher and their own. This is how the main Confucian work “Lun Yu” (“Conversations and Sayings”) arose - a completely unsystematic and often contradictory work, a collection of mainly moral teachings, in which, according to some authors, it is very difficult to see a philosophical essay. Every educated Chinese learned this book by heart in childhood, he was guided by it all his life. The main task of Confucius is to harmonize the life of the state, society, family, individual. The focus of Confucianism is the relationship between people, the problems of education. Idealizing antiquity, Confucius rationalizes the doctrine of morality - Confucian ethics. It is based on such concepts as "reciprocity", "golden mean", "philanthropy", which in general make up the "right way" - Tao.

1. Biography of Confucius

Confucius (Kung Tzu, 551-479 BC) was born and lived in an era of great social and political upheaval, when Zhou China was in a state of severe internal crisis. The power of the Chou ruler, the wang, had long since weakened. Patriarchal-tribal norms were destroyed, tribal aristocracy perished in civil strife. The collapse of the ancient foundations of family-planned life, internecine strife, the venality and greed of officials, the disasters and sufferings of the common people - all this caused sharp criticism of the zealots of antiquity. Having criticized his age and highly valuing the past centuries, Confucius, on the basis of this opposition, created his ideal of the perfect man Yijun Tzu. A highly moral jun-tzu had to have two of the most important virtues in his view: humanity and a sense of duty. Humanity (zhen) included modesty, restraint, dignity, disinterestedness, love for people, etc. Ren is an almost unattainable ideal, a set of perfections that only the ancients possessed. Of his contemporaries, he considered only himself and his beloved disciple Yan Hui to be humane. However, for a true Jun Tzu, humanity alone was not enough. He had to have another important quality - a sense of duty. Duty is a moral obligation that a humane person, by virtue of his virtues, imposes on himself.

A sense of duty, as a rule, is due to knowledge and higher principles, but not to calculation. “A noble person thinks about duty, a low person cares about profit,” taught Confucius. He also developed a number of other concepts, including fidelity and sincerity (zheng), decency, and observance of ceremonies and rituals (li).

Following all these principles was the duty of the noble Junzi, and thus the "noble man."

Confucius is a speculative social ideal, an instructive set of virtues. This ideal became mandatory for imitation, it was a matter of honor and social prestige to approach it, especially for those representatives of the upper class of scholar-officials, professional bureaucrats-administrators who from the Han era (III century BC) began to rule the Chinese confucial interior.

Confucius sought to create the ideal of a knight of virtue who fought for high morality against the injustice that reigned around. But with the transformation of his teaching into an official dogma, it was not the essence that came to the fore, but the external form, manifested in demonstrating devotion to antiquity, respect for the old, feigned modesty and virtue. In medieval China, certain norms and stereotypes of the behavior of each person gradually developed and were canonized, depending on their place in the social and bureaucratic hierarchy. At any moment of life, for any occasion, at birth and death, when entering school and when being appointed to the service - always and in everything there were strictly faxed and obligatory rules of conduct for all. In the Han era, a set of rules was compiled - the Lizi treatise, a compendium of Confucian norms. All the rules written in this ritual book should be known and put into practice, and the more diligently, the higher the position in society a person occupied.

Confucius, starting from the social ideal he constructed, formulated the foundations of the social order that he would like to see in the Middle Kingdom:

“Let a father be a father, a son a son, a sovereign a sovereign, an official an official”, i.e. everything will fall into place, everyone will know their rights and obligations and do what they are supposed to do. A society thus ordered should consist of two main categories, top and bottom - those who think and govern and those who work and obey. The criterion for dividing society into tops and bottoms should have been not the nobility of origin and not wealth, but the degree of closeness of a person to the Jun Tzu ideal. Formally, this criterion opened the way to the top for anyone much more difficult: the class of officials was separated from the common people by a “wall of hieroglyphs” - literacy. Already in Lizi, it was specifically stipulated that ceremonials and rituals were not related to the common people and that gross corporal punishment was not applied to the literate.

Confucius proclaimed the interests of the people as the ultimate and highest goal of government. At the same time, they were convinced that their interests were incomprehensible and inaccessible to the people themselves, and they could not do without the guardianship of educated Confucian rulers: “The people should be forced to go the right way, but there is no need to explain why.”

One of the important foundations of social order, according to Confucius, was strict obedience to elders. Blind obedience to his will, word, desire is an elementary norm for a junior, subordinate, subject both within the state as a whole and in the ranks of the clan, family. Confucius reminded that the state is a big family, and the family is a small state.

Confucianism gave the cult of ancestors a deep meaning of the special symbol. Order and turned it into the first duty of every Chinese. Confucius developed the doctrine of xiao, sons of honor. The meaning of xiao is to serve parents according to the rules of Li, to bury them according to the rules of Li, and to sacrifice them to them according to the rules of Li.

The Confucian ancestral cult and the Xiao norm contributed to the flourishing of the cult of the family and clan. The family was considered the core of society, the interests of the family far exceeded the interests of the individual. Hence the constant trend towards family growth. With favorable economic opportunities, the desire for close relatives to live together sharply prevailed over separatist inclinations. A powerful branched clan and relatives arose, holding on to each other and sometimes inhabiting an entire village.

And in the family and in society as a whole, anyone, including an influential head of the family, an important official of the emperor, was, first of all, a social unit, inscribed in the strict framework of Confucian traditions, beyond which it was impossible: this would mean "losing face" , and the loss of face for the Chinese is tantamount to civil death. Deviations from the norm were not allowed, and Chinese Confucianism did not encourage any extravagance, originality of mind or higher appearance: strict norms of the cult of ancestors and appropriate upbringing suppressed selfish inclinations from childhood.

From childhood, a person got used to the fact that the personal, emotional, his own on the scale of values is incommensurable with the general, accepted, rationally conditioned and obligatory for everyone.

Confucianism was able to take a leading position in Chinese society, acquire structural strength and justify its extreme conservatism, which found its highest expression in the cult of unchanging form. To keep the form, at all costs to reduce the appearance, not to lose face - all this now began to play a particularly important role, because it was considered as a guarantee of stability. Finally, Confucianism also acted as a regulator in the relationship of the country with the sky and - on behalf of the sky - with various tribes and peoples that inhabited the world. Confucianism supported and exalted the cult of the ruler, created in the Yin-Chou period, the emperor of the "son of heaven" who controls the heavenly kingdom from the steppe of the great sky. From here there was only a step to the division of the whole world into civilized China and uncultured barbarians, who vegetated in warmth and ignorance and drew knowledge and culture from one source - from the center of the World, China.

Not being a religion in the full sense of the word, Confucianism became more than just a religion. Confucianism is also politics, and the administrative system, and the supreme regulator of economic and social processes - in a word, it is the basis of the entire Chinese way of life, the quintessence of Chinese civilization. For more than two thousand years, Confucianism has shaped the minds and feelings of the Chinese, influenced their beliefs, psychology, behavior, thinking, perception, their way of life and way of life.

2. Teachings of Confucius

Emphasizing his adherence to tradition, Confucius said: “I transmit, but do not create; I believe in antiquity and love it” (Lun Yu, 7.1). Confucius considered the first years of the Zhou dynasty (1027-256 BC) to be the golden age for China. One of his favorite heroes was, along with the founders of the Chou dynasty, Wen-wang and Wu-wang, their associate (Wu-wang's brother) Chou-gun. Once he even remarked: “Oh, how weakened [my virtue, if] I have not dreamed of Zhou Gong for a long time” (Lun Yu, 7.5). On the contrary, modernity was presented as a realm of chaos. Endless internecine wars, ever-increasing turmoil led Confucius to the conclusion about the need for a new moral philosophy, which would be based on the idea of \u200b\u200bprimordial good inherent in every person. Confucius saw the prototype of a normal social structure in good family relationships, when the elders love the younger ones and take care of them (jen, the principle of "humanity"), and the younger ones, in turn, respond with love and devotion (and, the principle of "justice"). The importance of fulfilling filial duty (xiao - "filial piety") was especially emphasized. A wise ruler must govern by instilling in his subjects a sense of reverence for the "ritual" (li), that is, the moral law, resorting to violence only as a last resort. Relations in the state in everything should be similar to relations in a good family: "The ruler should be the ruler, the subject - the subject, the father - the father, the son - the son" (Lun Yu, 12.11). Confucius encouraged the cult of ancestors, traditional for China, as a means of remaining faithful to parents, clan and state, which, as it were, included all the living and the dead. The duty of any "noble man" (junzi) Confucius considered the fearless and impartial denunciation of any abuse.

a) The doctrine of man

The teachings of Confucius can be divided into three closely related conditional parts, united by the idea of the centrality of man in all Confucianism. The first and most important thing in all three teachings is the Teaching about Man itself.

Confucius created his teachings on the basis of personal experience. On the basis of personal communication with people, he deduced a pattern that morals in society are falling over time. Divide people into three groups:

Dissolute.

Restrained.

Giving examples characterizing the behavior of people belonging to a certain group, he proved this statement and tried to find the causes of this phenomenon, and, as a result, the forces that move people in the process of life. Analyzing and drawing conclusions, Confucius came to the idea expressed in one saying: “Wealth and nobility - this is what all people strive for. If the Tao is not established for them in achieving this, they will not achieve it. Poverty and contempt - that's what all people hate. If the Tao is not established for them to get rid of it, they will not get rid of it.” Confucius considered these two basic aspirations to be inherent in a person from birth, that is, biologically predetermined. Therefore, these factors, according to Confucius, determine both the behavior of individual individuals and the behavior of large groups, that is, the ethnos as a whole. Confucius had a negative attitude towards natural factors, and his statements on this subject are very pessimistic: "I have never met a person who, having noticed his mistake, would have decided to condemn himself." Based on the far from ideal nature of natural factors, Confucius even came into conflict with the ancient Chinese teachings, which took the ideality of natural creations as an axiom.

The purpose of his teachings Confucius set the comprehension of the meaning of human life, the main thing for him was to understand the hidden nature of man, what drives him and his aspirations. According to the possession of certain qualities and partly the position in society, Confucius divided people into three categories:

Jun-tzu (noble man) - occupies one of the central places in all teachings. He is assigned the role of an ideal person, an example to follow for the other two categories.

Ren - ordinary people, crowd. Average between Jun Tzu and Slo Ren.

Slo Ren (an insignificant person) - in the teachings it is used mainly in combination with Jun-tzu, only in a negative sense.

Confucius expressed his thoughts on the ideal person by writing: “A noble husband thinks first of all of nine things—seeing clearly, listening clearly, having a friendly face, and speaking well. sincere, about acting with caution, about asking others when in doubt, about the need to remember, about the consequences of one's anger, about the need to remember, about justice when there is an opportunity to benefit.

The meaning of the life of a noble person is to achieve Tao, material well-being fades into the background: "A noble husband worries only about what he cannot comprehend Tao, he does not care about poverty." What qualities should Junzi have? Confucius distinguishes two factors: "ren" and "wen". The hieroglyph denoting the first factor can be translated as "benevolence". According to Confucius, a noble person should treat people very humanely, because humanity in relation to each other is one of the main provisions of the teachings of Confucius. The cosmogonic scheme compiled by him considers life as a feat of self-sacrifice, as a result of which an ethically full-fledged society arises. Another translation option is "humanity". A noble person is always truthful, does not adapt to others. "Humanity is rarely combined with skillful speeches and touching facial expressions."

To determine the presence of this factor in a person is very difficult, almost impossible from the outside. As Confucius believed, a person can strive to achieve "jen" only according to the sincere desire of the heart, and only he himself can determine whether he has achieved this or not.

"Wen" - "culture", "literature". A noble husband should have a rich inner culture. Without spiritual culture, a person cannot become noble, this is unrealistic. But at the same time, Confucius warned against excessive enthusiasm for "wen": "When the properties of nature prevail in a person, it turns out to be savagery, when education is only learning." Confucius understood that a society cannot consist of "jen" alone - it will lose viability, will not develop, and, in the end, regress. However, a society that includes only "wen" is also unrealistic - there will be no progress in this case either. According to Confucius, a person must combine natural passions (i.e., natural qualities) and acquired learning. This is not given to everyone and only an ideal person can achieve this.

How to find out, determine whether a person belongs to a certain category? The principle of “he” and its opposite “tun” is used here as an indicator. This principle can be called the principle of truthfulness, sincerity, independence in views.

“A noble man strives for he, but does not strive for tong, a small person, on the contrary, strives for tong, but does not strive for he.”

The nature of this principle can be more fully understood from the following sayings of Confucius: “A noble person is polite, but not flattering. The little man is flattering, but not polite."

The owner of the he is a person devoid of a hard heart, the owner of the tong is a person overwhelmed by flattering intentions.

A noble husband strives for harmony and harmony with others and with himself, it is alien to him to be with his company. A small person strives to be at one with his company, harmony and harmony are alien to him.

He is the most important value criterion of the Noble Husband. By acquiring he, he acquired everything that wen and ren could not give him: independent thinking, activity, etc. This is what made it an important, integral part of the theory of government.

At the same time, Confucius does not condemn the little man, he simply talks about the division of their spheres of activity. Slo ren, according to Confucius, should perform functions inappropriate for noble people, engage in rough work. At the same time, Confucius used the image of a little man for educational purposes. Giving him almost all the negative human properties, he made Slo Ren an example of what a person will slide into if he does not try to cope with his natural passions, an example that everyone should avoid imitating.

Tao appears in many sayings of Confucius. What it is? Tao is one of the main categories of ancient Chinese philosophy and ethical and political thought. The famous Russian orientalist Alekseev tried to reveal this concept best of all: “Tao is an essence, there is something statically absolute, it is the center of a circle, an eternal point beyond cognition and measurements, something the only right and true ... It is a spontaneous nature It is for the world of things, poet and inspiration is the True Lord... Heavenly machine, sculpting forms... Higher Harmony, Magnet, attracting the human soul that does not resist it. Such is Tao as the highest substance, the inert center of all ideas and all things.” Thus, Tao is the limit of human aspirations, but not everyone can achieve it. But Confucius did not believe that it was impossible to achieve the Tao. In his opinion, people can fulfill their aspirations and even get rid of hateful states if they steadily follow "the Tao established for them." Comparing Tao and man, Confucius emphasized that man is the center of all his teachings.

b) The doctrine of society

Confucius lived during the introduction of a system of denunciations into Chinese society. Wise by experience, he understood what danger the spread of denunciation carried, especially to close relatives - brothers, parents. Moreover, he understood that such a society simply had no future. Confucius grasped the need to urgently develop a framework that strengthens society on moral principles, and to ensure that society itself rejects denunciation.

That is why the decisive thought in the teaching is concern for elders, for relatives. Confucius believed that this was supposed to establish a connection between generations, ensure the complete connection of modern society with its previous stages, and therefore ensure the continuity of traditions, experience, etc. Also an important place in the teaching is a sense of respect and love for people living nearby. A society imbued with such a spirit is very cohesive, and therefore capable of rapid and effective development.

The views of Confucius were based on the moral categories and values of the then Chinese village community, in which the main role was played by the observance of traditions laid down in ancient times. Therefore, antiquity and everything connected with it was set by Confucius as an example for contemporaries. However, Confucius also introduced a lot of new things, for example, the cult of literacy and knowledge. He believed that every member of society is obliged to strive for knowledge, first of all, of his own country. Knowledge is an attribute of a healthy society.

All the criteria of morality were united by Confucius into a common behavioral block "li" (translated from Chinese - rule, ritual, etiquette). This block was firmly associated with jen. "Overcome yourself to return to li - jen." Thanks to "li" Confucius managed to tie together society and the state, connecting two important parts of his teaching.

Confucius believed that the prosperous material condition of society was unthinkable without educational preaching. He said that noble people should protect and spread moral values among the people. In this, Confucius saw one of the most important components of the health of society.

In the relationship of society with nature, Confucius was also guided by concerns about people. In order to prolong its existence, society must rationally treat nature.

Confucius derived four fundamental principles of the relationship between society and nature:

To become a worthy member of society, you need to deepen your knowledge of nature. This idea follows from the conclusion of Confucius about the need for an educated society, especially the development of knowledge about the surrounding world, and complements it.

Only nature can give man and society vitality and inspiration. This thesis directly echoes the ancient Chinese teachings that promote non-interference of man in natural processes and only contemplation of them in search of inner harmony.

Careful attitude, both to the living world and to natural resources. Already at that time, Confucius warned mankind against a thoughtless wasteful approach to the use of natural resources. He understood that in the event of a violation of the balances existing in nature, irreversible consequences could arise both for humanity and for the entire planet as a whole.

Regular Thanksgiving to Nature. This principle is rooted in ancient Chinese religious beliefs.

Confucius expressed several of his wishes about the structure and principles of leadership of an ideal state.

All state administration should be based on "li". The meaning of "li" here is very voluminous. Ren here includes love for relatives, honesty, sincerity, striving for self-improvement, courtesy, etc., and courtesy, according to Confucius, is an indispensable element for people performing public functions.

According to the scheme of Confucius, the ruler rises above the head of his family by only a few steps. Such a universal approach turned the state into an ordinary family, only a larger one. Consequently, the same principles should rule in the state as in society, that is, the attitudes of humanity, universal love and sincerity preached by Confucius. confucius china confucianism state

Proceeding from this, Confucius reacted negatively to the fixed laws introduced at that time in some kingdoms of China, believing that the equality of all before the law is based on violence against the individual and, in his opinion, violates the foundations of government. There was one more reason for Confucius's rejection of laws, he believed that everything forcibly imposed on a person from above would not reach the soul and heart of the latter, and therefore unable to function effectively. The frame of the model of government proposed by Confucius is the Rules. The principle that gives them viability is the principle of "he".

In addition, according to Confucius, all members of society took part in their creation. In conditions when the government of the state and the people was supposed to be based on "li", these Rules performed the role of law.

The ruler is obliged to monitor the implementation of the Rules, and also to see that the society does not deviate from the true path. The concept of givens with an orientation towards antiquity had a huge impact on the further course of development of Chinese political thought. Politicians looked for solutions to pressing problems in the "ideal" past.

Confucius divided people in relation to government into two groups:

Managers.

Managed.

The greatest attention in this part of the Teaching is given to the first group of people. According to Confucius, these should be people with the qualities of Jun Tzu. It is they who should exercise power in the state. Their high moral qualities should be an example for all others. Their role is to educate the people, to guide them on the right path. When compared with the family, a clear analogy is seen between Jun Tzu in the state and the father in the family. Managers are the fathers of the people.

For managers, Confucius deduced four Tao:

Feeling of self-respect. Confucius believed that only self-respecting people are able to show respect for the people when making any decisions. This is simply necessary, given the unquestioning obedience of the people to the ruler.

Sense of responsibility. The ruler must feel responsible for the people he rules. This quality is also inherent in Jun Tzu.

The feeling of kindness in the education of the people. A ruler with a sense of kindness is better able to educate the people, improve their moral qualities, education, and therefore ensure the progress of the whole society.

Sense of justice. This feeling should be developed especially in people on whose justice the well-being of society depends.

Even being a supporter of an authoritarian system, Confucius was opposed to the excessive absolutization of royal power, and in his model he limited the rights of the king, of great importance, attaching great importance to the fact that the main decisions were made not by one person, but by a group of people. According to Confucius, this ruled out the possibility of a subjective approach to the development of various problems.

Allocating the main place in his system to man, Confucius, nevertheless, recognized the will higher than people, the Will of Heaven. In his opinion, Jun Tzu is able to correctly interpret the earthly manifestations of this will.

Focusing on the ruling people, Confucius emphasized that the main factor in the stability of the state is the trust of the people. The government, which is not trusted by the people, is doomed to a distance from it, and therefore to the inefficiency of management, and in this case, the regress of society is inevitable.

CONCLUSION

The teachings of Confucius, having appeared on the basis of ancient Chinese religious and philosophical teachings, however, are very different from them, and on some issues even come into conflict with them. One of these contradictions is the opinion about the primacy of social relations and their priority over nature. If the ancient Chinese teachings consider the order established in nature to be perfect and, as a result, everything that was not created by human labor is ideal, then Confucius was the first to question this and proved his statements by far from being the ideal nature of the natural principle in man. The subject of paramount importance for Confucius is human society, and, as its integral part, a specific living person. One of the first Confucius gave his explanation of the forces that move a person. Giving this explanation, he introduced a number of completely new concepts, previously unknown. Some of them, such as Jun Tzu and Slo Ren, for a long time determined not only the parameters of the development of political culture, but in many respects the fate of the spiritual culture of the entire Chinese nation. For the first time in the history of culture, a real model of an ideal person was created, which had a huge impact on the shape of the national character and the spiritual life of the Chinese nation. In contradiction to his previous Eastern teachings, Confucius expressed the idea that the main thing in life, that is, what a person should strive for, is not limited to achieving personal harmony with nature, but includes, first of all, achieving harmony with oneself and harmony with society. It was Confucius who was the first in the East to express the idea that the main thing for a person is harmony with his own kind. Having expressed this assumption, he linked together completely different areas of human research activity before him - the state, society and, finally, the person himself. His three teachings are connected by common concepts, passing from one teaching to another and acquiring new properties in each teaching. One of the first Confucius created a real model of the state system, capable of being realized in the presence of a certain level of spiritual development of society.

Thus, having created his teaching, Confucius became the first person who expressed and confirmed the primacy of the human person for the whole society.

IV. Philosophical Dictionary

Philosophy (from Phil. and Greek sophia - wisdom), a form of social consciousness, worldview, a system of ideas, views on the world and on the place of man in it; explores the cognitive, socio-political, value, ethical and aesthetic attitude of man to the world. Historical Forms of Philosophy: The Philosophical Teachings of Dr. India, China, Egypt.

Confucius (Kung Tzu) (c. 551-479 BC), ancient Chinese thinker, founder of Confucianism. The main views of Confucius are set forth in the book "Lun Yu" ("Conversations and Judgments").

Confucianism is an ethical and philosophical doctrine developed into a religious complex in China, Korea, Japan and some other countries.

State, political organization of society with a certain form of government (monarchy, republic). According to the form of government, the state can be unitary or federation.

Society, in a broad sense - a set of historically established forms of joint activity of people; in the narrow sense - a historically specific type of social system, a certain form of social relations.

Man, a social being with consciousness, reason, the subject of socio-historical activity and culture.

LIST OF USED SOURCES

Alekseev V.M. Chinese Literature (Selected Works) / M. - 1978.

A. Chanyshev. Course of lectures on ancient philosophy. M: Higher School, 1981.

"Ancient Chinese Philosophy", vol. 1,2. M. - 1972.

Confucius. Sayings. - M.: - 1992.

L.S. Perelomov Confucianism and legalism in the political history of China, Moscow. - 1981.

Perelomov L.S. Confucius: life, teachings, fate, M. - 1989.

Ushkov A.M. Sino-Confucian cultural area. “West and East. Traditions and Modernity". M., 1993.

Encyclopedic Dictionary Brockhaus and Efron: Biographies. In 12 volumes: v. 6: Kleyrak-Lukyanov / Responsible. ed. V.M.Karev, M.N.Khitrov. - M.: Great Russian Encyclopedia, 1997.

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Philosopher Confucius and his teachings. The teachings of Confucius. The Meaning and Significance of Confucianism in the East

The life of the great sage Confucius

What is at the core of relationships between people?

The wisdom of the book "Lun Yu"

Ethical principles of Confucianism

Briefly about the basic principles of Confucian teachings

Biography

Doctrine

The Five Constancy of a Righteous Man

Spread of Confucianism in Western Europe

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