The highest social ideal of Confucianism is world harmony. This great world is not purely conceptual, but concrete. The Confucian classic "Li Yun" describes the social scene of the Great Harmony World and says: "The trip to the Avenue is also a kind of public service. Choose talents, make friends and mend fences. Such an old friend is not only a relative, but also an only child, so that the old, the strong, the useful, the young, the strong, the lonely and the sick can all be supported. Men get points and women get rewards. If the goods are abandoned on the ground, there is no need to hide them on yourself; You don't have to do it for yourself. Therefore, seeking closure, thieves do not do it, and it is not prosperous, so it is said that Datong is not closed. "
According to Liu Yun's description, the ideal Datong society of Confucianism has the following characteristics:
1. A social system owned by the whole people. This social system owned by the whole people includes public ownership of power and property, first of all, public ownership of power. The slogan of public power is "the world is for the public", and the specific measures are to select talents and appoint people. It is the elected talents who manage the society, and the power to elect talents is in the "world", that is, the people of the whole society, so the power is public. The reason why it is clear that power is public is because people realize from practice that power can change everything and grab everything. Only by abolishing the monopoly of individuals on power can we ensure that other aspects of society are not monopolized; Only by insisting on public ownership of power can we ensure public ownership in other aspects of society. Therefore, the slogan "The world is for the public" is fundamentally opposed to kingship. "Book of Rites Justice" explains: "The world is public, which means that the son of heaven is in power. It's for the public to bestow virtue, and not to pass it on privately to future generations, that is, to abolish Zhu and use Shun and Yu. " Justice takes Datong as a five-chapter story, so let me give you an example. Yao didn't pass on his son Dan Zhu to Shun, and Shun didn't pass on his career to Yu. Although justice also admits that "the world is public" refers to the supreme ruling throne, from the examples cited, it is not all what Liu Yun said, because Yao and Shun did not pass on the throne to future generations, but ideologically "abdicated" the world as a private thing; And it is in the case of not yourself. Records of the Five Emperors wrote: "Yao's evil deeds are not enough to reward the world, so he has the right to shun." If granted smoothly, the world will benefit, and Danzhu disease will also occur. If Dani is awarded, the world will get sick and Dani will benefit. Yao said, "In the end, I won't benefit one person because of the diseases in the world, but grant Shun the world. The difference between "Yao Shun" and "Datong" lies in: Yao Shun's abdication is an expedient measure, and Datong's selection of talents and appointment is institutionalized; Yao and Shun were appointed by individuals, and Datong was elected by "the world"; Yao and Shun are lifelong, but Datong is not lifelong. In the Datong world, there are no emperors and kings at all.
The Book of Rites Justice written by Confucius in the Tang Dynasty is a collection of predecessors' opinions, mainly the views of Han Zheng Kangcheng. If the Han people still have the courage to say that they will not pass on their offspring privately for the public, then in the Tang Dynasty, they will only have the ability to praise them privately for the public. The most prestigious Liu Zongyuan's On Feudalism praised Qin Shihuang for abolishing feudalism, saying: "The reason why Qin reformed is that it is a system and public; Its affection is private, its prestige is private, and its private minister belongs to me. However, the end of the public world began in Qin. " Qin Shihuang took the world as the world of one person and one family, calling himself the first emperor, and wanted to be king forever and ever. He pays great attention to privacy. Why does he have this? Even Qin Shihuang can be called Gong. Is there a private person in this world? The so-called "the end of the world began in Qin" is not a public praise for Qin Shihuang and a deliberate desecration of the world? Of course, Liu Zongyuan praised Qin Shihuang as just a county and affirmed that his starting point was private. In Wang Chuanshan's later words, it is "a day off, private." The so-called "abolishing feudalism and governing counties" is actually just a question of whether the "world" is ruled by many descendants or one of them. At most, under the premise of one person's rule, give more soup to other members of the ruling class. Compared with the public in the Datong world, it is more than 108,000 miles away.
2. Management system for selecting talents and abilities. This system includes central and local governments. Since the world belongs to everyone, that place is the place of local people. Local affairs are managed by local talents. The election here refers to the civil movement, not the official movement. The nature of official recruitment and civilian recruitment is different, but the post-Confucianism confused the boundary between them and even deliberately changed the civilian recruitment into official recruitment. Han Confucianism explained: "Those who choose talents will not pass on their bounden duty to the Ming Dynasty, and this Ming Dynasty will not be a vassal. The country is not passed down from generation to generation, and talents are selected, and four evils are cited, and sixteen phases are also cited. " Although Han Confucianism also refers to the central and local governments as "the world is for the public" and "selecting talents and appointing talents", it still uses the allusions of Yao and Shun. On the one hand, Yao Shun abdicated, and on the other hand, he chose talents and did all the good things, but the people didn't hear about it, so it was not an election in the original sense of the Great Harmony World. With the passage of time, the nature of elections has changed again and again. Since the Sui and Tang Dynasties, it has become a special reference for the court to select scholars. From Tang Shu to Ming Shi, there is a chronicle of elections, which records the imperial examinations in previous dynasties, and elections are completely isolated from the people.
3. Communication fosters interpersonal relationships. Trust and harmony are the core of good interpersonal relationships, and "the world is public" is the premise and foundation of establishing good interpersonal relationships. "The world is public", everyone is a member of society, and society has everyone's share. Food and clothing, equal status, there is no possibility of coercion, and there is no need for attachment. This is a summary of interpersonal relationships in the Great Harmony World. This interpersonal relationship based on the premise that "the world is public" has also been tampered with by post-Confucianism. "Book of Rites Justice" explains: "Those who believe in repairing relationships must talk about it; Believe, do not bully; Practice; Harmony and intimacy. There is no deception this spring. He has confidence in what he said. Therefore, the funeral of the public asked Zhou Fengyun, and he did not believe in the people at home, and the people believed it. " Through the interpretation of justice, it is only a superficial phenomenon of oral communication, and this phenomenon is the result of Wang Hua's influence, and the essence of the Great World has been castrated.
Social security allows people to get what they want. The society depicted in Datong World is an ideal society where everyone respects the old and loves the young, and it is uneven and not warm enough. Here, people regard other people's parents as their own parents and their own children as their own children. "The old, the strong, the useful, the young, the strong, the lonely and the sick must be supported." Anyone can get the care of society, and anyone takes the initiative to care about society. Men have houses, women have homes, society is harmonious, and people are isolated. Post-Confucianism also tampered with this most practical social security, such as interpreting the social security system as the social atmosphere under the influence of kings. As the saying goes, "You are selfless, loyal and good-natured, so you should learn from others, not only your own relatives, but also your own son." Everyone has a "strong and useful" labor right, which is interpreted as "not cherishing one's own strength to serve young people", and men have the distinction of "those who have no talents plow and those who have the ability to work", and "women have the right to repay" is interpreted as "the monarch has the means, so he does not delay time, so he has to repay." Especially from the opposite side of the argument, intentionally or unintentionally vilify women, saying: "If I lose time, the poem will protect my daughter and hope me to enter the palace." "Men have their share, women have their share" actually means that both men and women have their own rights and opportunities to get married, and they will not be dissatisfied with their husbands and women because of war and unreasonable social system. This is a basic social security.
5. Social morality of serving the public. Here, people have a high sense of responsibility, cherish social wealth, hate all waste and oppose any selfish behavior. "goods are abandoned to the ground, so you don't have to hide them in yourself." It is shameful to throw the goods on the ground, and it is equally shameful to hide the goods on yourself.
6. Try your best to work. Here, labor has become a highly conscious and accustomed activity. "If you hate it, you don't have to do it for yourself." It is shameful not to work hard, and it is also shameful not to work hard. It is also shameful to work only for yourself. What supports the ideal society of Datong world is people's free and highly conscious labor attitude, and the highly democratic political system and practical and reliable social security in Datong world are the premise and foundation of this labor attitude. Society provides people with harmonious and superior living conditions, and people repay society with highly conscious labor. They are mutually conditional, causal and progressive.
As a social ideal, the Great Harmony World can be said to be far-reaching and long-term. In addition to unclear attribution, it is almost not much different from contemporary socialist society. But what kind of phenomenon is this? Is the author of Li Yun a genius? Is it an accidental leap of cultural phenomenon or the sacred heart of traditional saying? Actually, it is not. It has its origins. This origin is the long history and rich ancient culture of the Chinese nation, as well as the splendid Yijing thought, which we will discuss in detail later.