The joy of Confucius is a topic that has been talked about by Confucian scholars since the Song and Ming dynasties, and it has a rare continuity characteristic. In the past, Zhou Dunyi taught "every order to find Yanzi, Zhongni Happy, what is the pleasure" ("Ercheng Collection"), "Seeking Confucius and Beauty" has become the spiritual realm pursued by those who are interested in becoming saints and sages. This kind of realm is not born, but is achieved by the acquired self-cultivation. In fact, judging from the text of the Analects and the historical reality it reflects, the joy of Confucius is related to the spirit of being studious and happy to teach: Confucius focused on teaching all his life, and Confucius's teaching focused on learning.
"Looking for a place of beauty" and self-cultivation
Zhou Zi only said that Yan Zi did not change his pleasure because he "saw the big and forgot the small one" (Tongshu Yanzi XXIII), but did not elaborate; Cheng Zi also did not induce it, but only suggested that the word "it" in "not changing its pleasure" was the key to understanding Yan Zi's pleasure, allowing scholars to play with its profound meaning (Annotations to the Analects, vol. 3). Zhou Cheng did not answer directly, which left a rich space for future generations to interpret "Finding Confucius and Happiness".
Along the direction of Zhou Cheng's opening, Zhu Xi injected a new connotation into the theory of work for the joy of Kong Yan: "Yan Zi does not change his pleasure, it is that it has its own pleasure after the effort, and it has nothing to do with the rich and poor, so it cannot be changed." Renzhi Shoule is also working here, and naturally has this effect. (Zhu Ziquanshu, Vol. 23) The so-called gongfu is a kind of self-seeking learning, which takes itself as the object of practice, and through advanced practice, from naughty to proficient, in order to achieve the ultimate goal of becoming a sage. The joy of Confucius is the realm after mastery, "If you can respect and reason, then the principles of heaven will be self-evident, and people's desires will disappear" ("Zhu Ziquanshu", vol. 22). Happiness is the result of following the principles of heaven, thus forming a closed-loop structure of the ontology of heavenly principles, the work of reverence, and the realm of music.
Zhu Zi's influence on the science of science in the early Ming Dynasty was dominant, and the topic of "the joy of Confucius and Yan" was no exception. Ming Confucianism Cao Duan inherited Zhu Zi's theory of respect, advocating "seeking pleasure in respect": "Those who are happy with Confucius and Yan are benevolent." It is not the benevolence of happiness, but the benevolence has its own joy. And Confucius is benevolent and happy, and Yanzi does not violate benevolence and does not change his happiness. Those who are benevolent have their own benevolence, and those who enjoy it have their own happiness. Those who do not violate benevolence will be benevolent, and those who do not change their pleasure will be happy to keep it. It is worth noting that Cao Duan explained that the reason why Zhou, Cheng, and Zhu did not positively interpret the joy of Confucius was because music was not an objective object about a specific object, and that there was happiness in benevolence, and music was a kind of reflexive and sincere work.
In the middle and late Ming Dynasty, Cheng Zhu's theory of science became increasingly ossified, and the idea of "respecting and seeking pleasure" no longer had charisma. For example, in the view of Wang Gen, who studied after Yangming, respectful work seemed unnecessary. Because according to Wang Yangming's statement that "music is the ontology of the heart", "people's hearts are happy by themselves", "music is to learn from music, and learning is to learn from this" ("Music and Song"). "The saints are studious, they don't need to make any effort, and they have boundless happiness. If you put some effort into it, you will not be a sage's learning, and you will not be happy" ("The Case of Ming Confucianism"). The connection between hard work and happiness that Zhu Xi repeatedly emphasized was easily erased by Wang Gen.
To sum up, the Song and Ming Dynasty Confucianism's "search for Confucius and Happiness" mainly revolved around self-cultivation efforts, but with the passage of time and the succession of musicality experience, the stance gradually shifted from affirmative efforts to negative efforts. These affirmations and negations are superimposed on top of the joy of Confucius, so that the original meaning of Confucius's joy has become obscure. From the perspective of the source, the narrative of the joy of Confucius in the Analects is the source, and the interpretation of the Confucians of the Song and Ming dynasties is flow. Therefore, the crux of the matter is not how to interpret the joy of Confucius, but to return to the origin of the Analects to find the studious appearance of Confucius's happiness.
Find the true happiness of Confucius from the study of Confucius
The joy of Confucius comes from the Analects of Confucius: "Rice and water are sparse, and the humerus and pillow are bent, and the joy is also in it." Unrighteous wealth and nobility are like floating clouds to me. The joy of Yan Zi comes from "The Analects of Yongye": "Virtuous, Hui Ye! A spoonful of food, a scoop of drink, in the alley." People can't bear their worries, and they won't change their pleasures. Virtuous, Hui Ye!" These two chapters can be described as the textual basis for later generations on the joy of Confucius.
First of all, whether rich or poor, people in the world are mostly worried about material life. Eating and drinking water and eating and drinking reflect a kind of worry-free realm that has nothing to do with poverty and transcends material life, and those who are worry-free are happy. Historically, Buddhism starts from the suffering of all living beings, emphasizes the joy of suffering, seeks liberation from birth, and is based on the individual level and directly points to the human heart. The fact that Song Ming Theory responded to the challenges of Buddhism at the individual level and resolved suffering with happiness was not the result of taking the initiative, but the theoretical nature of Buddhism. This is the historical reason why the joy of Confucius tended to be a personal realization after the Song Dynasty, but it was not the original intention of the original experience of the joy of Confucius and Yan.
Secondly, from the perspective of original experience, Confucius begins with "virtuous and virtuous" and ends with "virtuous and virtuous", sandwiching the joy of Yanzi in the middle, implying that the joy of Yanzi is not just a matter of his own family, but worthy of admiration, praise and emulation. There are 3,000 disciples of Confucius, and there is no shortage of people who are called sages -- Zizhang, Zixia, and especially Zigong, but Confucius only called Yan Zi a virtuous, why? Because Yan Hui's sage is not happy with poverty, but happy with poverty, in the final analysis, it is studious. To understand the joy of Yanzi, we must start with the chapter "Yan Hui is eager to learn" to highlight the joy of learning.
As far as Yan Hui is concerned, not being angry, not being angry, not being angry, not being angry is not being angry, not being angry is not being angry, not being angry is not being angry with B, and not being angry is not about not making mistakes, and being vigilant and not changing after repeated teachings. Learning for oneself, but seeking oneself, people do not know and are not ashamed, it is said to be studious. As far as the gentleman himself is concerned, "if you have nothing to eat, you have no place to live, you have no choice but to be cautious in what you say, you have the way and righteousness, and you can be said to be studious" ("The Analects of Learning"). Among them, "there is a way and righteousness" is the most important of the five. Liu Baonan's training of "righteousness" is "asking about its right and wrong". In other words, the key to evaluating whether a person is studious or not is to see whether he can ask the right questions of the Taoist. To ask a correct question, one must be to the point, and the other is to cut oneself. In the Analects, Yan Hui asked Confucius a total of two questions, once for benevolence and once for the state. These two chapters seem to have little to do with the joy of Kong Yan, but in fact they reveal that the essence of Yan Hui's learning lies in learning benevolence and learning etiquette. Benevolence and etiquette are the original meaning of the joy of Confucius.
Kong Yan received the joy of Kong Yan
Qian Mu once pointed out that looking for it from the food and drink, the alleys of the bending humerus, and the ambition of Zeng Dian, I am afraid that I will not be able to find where the true happiness of Confucius is, and the teaching and acceptance of Confucius in the chapter of "Yan Yuan Asks Ren" is the real essence of the happiness of Confucius ("New Interpretation of the Analects"). This theory has a unique vision, and we can even add one more point on the basis of the money theory: the comprehensive two chapters of "Yan Yuan Asks Ren" and "Yan Yuan Asks for the State" is the real essence of a complete understanding of Kong Yan's music.
The Analects of Confucius says that "benevolence" is 58 chapters, and the word "benevolence" is seen in 105. Confucius talked about benevolence, taught students according to their aptitude, and would give guidance everywhere according to the temperament, ambition, and degree of the questioner. The chapter "Yan Yuan asks about benevolence" is one of the few positive answers that Confucius has about benevolence. Yan Yuan is known for being studious, knowing everything he knows, and his questions can hit the nail on the head. The more difficult questions there are, the more subtle the Master's answers will be, and the more subtle the answers will be, the more people will be able to pass on the Enlightenment. Yan Yuan asked Ren, after receiving the master's answer of "self-denial and retribution", he immediately "asked his eyes", and then there was the teaching of "do not look at incivility, do not listen to incivility, do not speak incivility, and do not move incivility", which can be described as students are good at learning, teachers are good at teaching, and from this gives birth to the fun of Confucius and Yan to teach and receive, and teachers and students to seal each other, and the so-called "to get the world's talents and educate" ("Mencius: Wholeheartedly") is nothing more than this.
Thematically, the relationship of benevolence and propriety expounded in this chapter is both a key point and a point of controversy. There have always been disputes over whether "self-denial" or "revenge" is the foundation. The choice of this position also involves the interpretation of the next sentence: "One day of self-denial and retribution, the world will return to benevolence". However, these controversies are secondary to understanding the relationship between benevolence and happiness. Because, whether it is "releasing rites with benevolence" or "becoming benevolent with propriety", they are all aimed at the current situation of the collapse of etiquette in the Spring and Autumn Period. The happiness of etiquette collapse is manifested in the dance of indecency, listening to the sound of indecency, and when speaking incivility, the indecent speech is either due to indulgence in desire, or from breaking the rules.
If the chapter "Yan Yuan asks for benevolence" embodies the learning of the inner sage taught by Kong Yan, then the chapter "Yan Yuan asks for the state" corresponds to the learning of the outer king taught by Kong Yan. Yan Yuan asked him about governing the country, and Confucius answered him with courtesy. When the summer is traveling, take the chariot of Yin, serve the crown of Zhou, the music is Shao dance, the gift of Yu Xia Yin Zhou is also, Zheng Sheng, the vulgar music is also. Etiquette has the difference between literary quality, and there is a difference between lewd and righteousness, and when the profit and loss are attacked, the changes of the past and the present. There must be a measure of profit and loss, and benevolence is the measure of etiquette. When a person walks with benevolence, rides, wears, and dances, does not violate benevolence, does not exceed etiquette, does not exceed the rules from the heart, and is not happy?
It can be seen that music, as an important part of the Analects, not only expresses the inner emotions of joy, anger, sorrow and joy (lè), but also includes the external norms of making rituals and making music (yuè), and it is not allowed to talk about joy in isolation from the context of ritual music. The Analects of Confucius can be seen as a process of ritual and benevolence, and the outward state of benevolence is expressed as happiness (lè). "Music Notes" says: "Those who are happy (yuè) are also happy (lè)." In the face of the reality of life in which etiquette collapses and all living beings suffer, Master and Disciple Confucius did not choose to indulge their desires in the face of the difficulties of reality, nor did they pursue other pleasures in addition to the Buddha's daily use, but practiced benevolence to enrich the rituals and joys, and realized the happiness of life in the midst of adversity. From this point of view, the joy of Kong Yan is indeed intrinsically related to the studious and musical teachings taught by Kong Yan, and it truly implements the "joy in the famous teaching".
(Author: Wang Jiangtao, Associate Professor, School of Marxism, East China University of Political Science and Law)