But this kind of fear is not "fear" but a psychological state of shock, respect and self-control after clear cognition, and it is a kind of "shock-respect-trust" integrated with respect;
The respect in "awe" is also the psychological state of facing the inner world of human beings.
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"Writing on the Edge of Chinese" and "Being Awed"
This post was last edited by Yuan at 2012-12-1312: 35.
Introduction defines awe.
Kant, an epoch-making philosopher in the history of modern western philosophy, has a famous saying:
"There are two things, and the more we think about them regularly and persistently, the more they can fill our hearts with ever-changing admiration and awe: the starry sky above me and the moral law that lives in my heart."
This sentence has crossed the barrier between the East and the West and the long river of time, and remains the motto of people's spiritual life.
In this sentence, we need to grasp a key word: awe.
What is "awe"? It means "respect and fear". This is people's emotional attitude towards things, which contains double emotional connotations of "respect" and "fear": "respect" means respect, respect and politeness, and "fear" means fear, timidity and trembling. Here, "respect" embodies a life attitude, a pursuit of value, and a respect for the individuality of things; "Fear" is the warning limit of behavior, the self-discipline of one's words and deeds, and the self-discipline of irregular behavior. Awe is an attitude, an idea, a moral character, a realm, a self-examination, a constraint, a worry, a wisdom, a keen sense, a principle and a consciousness. In short, it is the natural externalization of inner spiritual realm and value pursuit.
When we turn over the 5,000-year history of Chinese civilization, people will understand that awe is the essence of Chinese ethics, the foundation of being a man, the way to succeed, the virtue of being in politics and the foundation of governing the country. In our country, the ancients had an incisive exposition on "awe": there is a saying that "a gentleman saves it with panic"; There is a famous saying that "those who are good and fearful must be upright, speak according to the rules, stop when things happen, occasionally go beyond the rules and don't make big mistakes"; If there is a "fear", the family will be neat; Warning that fearless people will do nothing; There is a philosophical view that "those who fear the law are the happiest"; There are "gentlemen who are afraid of thunder, but are afraid of self-study." "A gentleman is afraid of the power of heaven, and he must be right, think about it and change it. There is an exhortation that "if you are afraid, you dare not succeed, if you are fearless, you will get into trouble"; There are "gentlemen have three fears; Fear of destiny, fear of adults, fear of the words of saints; There is a boundary that "a gentleman is big and respects the sky, cautious and restrained", "a villain is not right, big but slow and violent, cautious and lewd and oblique"; Have the habit of "a gentleman's heart is always in awe" ...
In the context of China, "awe" is often associated with "moral model". Confucius once said: "a gentleman has three fears: fear of fate, fear of adults, fear of the words of saints;" I don't know my fate, but I'm not afraid. I am afraid of adults and saints. " "Destiny is sacred to people and cannot be easily realized;" "Adult" is the bearer of "destiny" and the representative of social and political order; "Sage" is the interpreter of "fate" and the expresser of human order discourse. From the reverence for "Heaven" to the reverence for "adults" and "saints" in reality, China people revere moral models, which are realistic and concrete. People think that as long as they express their reverence for adults and saints, they will inevitably express their reverence for heaven, because adults and saints are their spokesmen in reality. "Fear" here has initiative, and "fear" is born of "respect". Between "respect" and "fear", "respect" is the cause and "fear" is the result. "Fear" is not only a kind of fear and obedience here, but also an active restriction and reflection on one's behavior in order to realize one's life ideals and beliefs. It is a kind of moral self-discipline and expresses a spirit of doing something.
In the western context, "fear" often begins with "fear of God". The English version of King James's proverb says: "The fear of Jehovah is the beginning of wisdom"; The Hebrews in the Bible said, "Therefore, since we have an unshakable country, we should be grateful and serve God with reverence as God pleases." God, God and Jehovah are secret, which makes fear have no specific and considerable intention. Because the intended object is not considerable, it can't be the value orientation of worshippers. Fear of God is not the hope of becoming God, but the restraint of words and deeds according to God's requirements for fear of God's punishment. Of course, this fear is associated with respect. If it is not associated with respect, then this fear is no different from the instinctive fear of animals. In the western context, between "respect" and "fear", "fear" is the cause, "respect" is the result, and the order is irreversible.
However, whether in the East or the West, science and technology have advanced by leaps and bounds since mankind entered the industrial society. As a highly creative factor of production, science and technology have made people's lives embark on the road of modernization. At the same time, influenced by scientific and technological progress, people's spiritual world has also undergone some fundamental changes. Obviously, the concepts of "science and technology first" and "self first" gradually occupy people's hearts, and people blindly regard conquering nature and transforming society as their only value pursuit. Under the guidance of this value concept, people become narrow and selfish, and instrumental ways of thinking are rampant. At first, they only pay attention to themselves and what they can control and master, but ignore the inner examination, the pursuit of emotional value and the listening and attention to others outside themselves. People began to appear "unscrupulous" and could not adhere to the inner value order. The influence of this on individual psychological growth and moral and emotional development is manifested in the weakness and lack of awe.
Once upon a time, there was an old saying that everyone knew. It says, "Raise your head three feet, and there will be a clear sky." There is also: "There are gods three feet above your head, and you are not afraid of what others know or what you know." Further, the words will be more serious. Tao means "people can be bullied, but the sky can't be bullied", or "people are doing, and the sky is watching". So many aphorisms and aphorisms all have the same meaning, which means to do things with awe. We can not believe in the god of heaven and earth, but we must believe in moral laws. We should fear life. Life is the greatest miracle in the universe. The greatest sin in the world is to take life innocently.
We should respect nature. Man is the son of nature and can only conform to nature as a whole, but can't conquer and dominate nature. No matter how great a civilization human beings have created, nature is always greater than human beings.
We should respect laws and regulations. Laws and regulations are the basic guarantee for the development of human society. Without them, our society is like an uncontrolled flood, which will drown everything.
We should respect social morality. Social morality is a concentrated expression of moral norms, cultural concepts and ideological traditions accumulated by a country, a nation or a group in long-term social practice. The decline of its binding force on people's behavior will lead to the chaos of the basic social order.
We should respect traditional culture. Apart from the differences in natural environment and race, the differences between countries and places in the world are mainly the differences in tradition and culture. We should respect our traditions and culture, because they constitute the characteristics of China people.
We should respect history. History refers to the whole development process of nature and human society, and also refers to the development and personal experience of something. In other words, history is a fact of the past. Fear of history is fear of the present. If you are afraid of history, you will be responsible for the present, you will be responsible for history, and history will be responsible for you.
We should be afraid of public opinion. Public opinion is the people's wishes, needs, judgments, voices, opinions and trust. Public opinion is not a plaything in the hands of officials. Public opinion is not water. It changes with its container. It can't be molded or deceived.
We should fear faith. Faith is an extreme belief and respect for a certain thought, doctrine, religion or someone, which can be used as a guide or example for one's own actions. In this world, there is always a belief that makes us full of strength, and there is always a force that makes us forge ahead.
In short, the times need our awe.