"Ceremony Disintegration" On Relationship Between Lao Tzu And Confucius

Ritual-musical civilization in the Western Zhou Dynasty was an all-encompassing political,educational and cultural system.The construction process of this " system" can be traced back to King Wen of Zhou,the Duke of Zhou in the middle,and then passed on to King Cheng of Zhou.This is a process from rough to fine and from simple to complicated.The core of ritual-musical system is the lineal primogeniture and patriarchal clan.The spirit of ritual-musical civilization is "morality",which makes the society hierarchical while achieving harmony and order.In the Spring and Autumn Period,ritual-musical system was gradually destroyed as the territory and military power of the Zhou Emperor greatly declined,the patriarchal clan system and the enfeoffment system disintegrated,and the land system changed.At this time,the country is already in chaos.People began to think about how to treat this disorganized society.Compared with the "sick body" of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty,the Western Zhou Dynasty ritual-musical civilization became their "reference".In this regard,there are defenders and reformers.These people have taken different paths,and their ultimate goal is to return the society to a stable state.Take Lao Tzu and Confucius as examples.The former broke through the worship of god and etiquette system,but inherited the core spirit of ritual-musical civilization.Although the latter takes reviving the ritual-music civilisation as its mission and praises the prosperity of ritual-music civilisation,but also makes some changes in the concepts of "heaven" and " morality" and education.Lao Tzu believes that the "loss" between "Tao","morality","benevolence","righteousness" and "ritual" is not a qualitative change,but a "transformation" relationship.The "ritual" that Lao Tzu opposed was the deformed "ritual" of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty.Lao Tzu agreed with the most primitive of "meaning of ritual".On the basis of the Western Zhou Dynasty ritual-musical civilization and the Spring and Autumn ritual study,he put forward ritual thoughts of love and tolerance,advocating simplicity,attaching importance to the fundamental,observing the doctrine of the golden mean and nature.The "Tao" advocated by Confucius can be understood as "the Tao of former kings",that is,the ritual-musical civilization in the Western Zhou Dynasty.This can also be understood as the golden mean,that is,the "ritual" is used to guide administration and handle specific affairs.This can also be understood as virtue and morality,that is,the practice system of combining benevolence and ritual.The "Tao" that "runs through it all the time" is actually the word "loyalty" and "tolerance"."Loyalty" refers to "respect" and "tolerance" refers to the cultivation of " benevolence and righteousness in the heart,and conduct behaviors conforming to ritual".Confucius' ritual-musical thought can be taken as a starting point from the angles of "truth","goodness" and "beauty".He attacked "new music" and praised "poetry music".He advocated "ritual" and "music" to complement each other and guide people to be good in subtle ways;In his opinion,Poetry is the basic element,"ritual" is to cultivate oneself,"music" is to cultivate one's mind.The progression of the three implies the unity of " truth","goodness" and "beauty".In Lao Tzu's ideal society,the people are attached to one's native land and unwilling to leave it.All people live and work in peace and contentment,do not think of anything immoral,and do not pursue excessive desires.People's nature is preserved and they live in harmony with nature.How can this ideal be achieved? Lao Tzu believes that if we do not pursue profound wisdom,do not advocate the morality of sages,do not frequently interfere with the people,and implement the principle of "governing by doing nothing",the world will be at peace in the end.Confucius' ideal society is to advocate people with morality and ability,honesty and harmony.The world is in the public interest,and people's words,deeds and thoughts will tend to be consistent,but this cannot be achieved in a very short period of time.Therefore,we should start with the lower-level of "immediate goal",that is,rebuilding ritual society.Through "rectification of name" to restore the patriarchal order of "intimacy" and "respect",by means of "governing the country by ritual",to realize the orderly governance of society,through "grace","equality" and "stability" to realize the prosperity of the people;With the help of "cultural power",realizing the attachment of neighboring countries to our own country,and finally to the world peace.Lao Tzu and Confucius have different thoughts.Their reaction to "Ceremony Disintegration" is also different,but their goal of pursuing an ideal society is the same.The society of Confucius called "There is Tao in the world" is similar to the principle of "Tao in the world" emphasized by Lao Tzu.their "Tao" is the same with the difference,and the difference has the same.In their political thoughts,one seems to advocate "doing nothing",but in fact it is "doing nothing with doing everything".The other seems to want "doing something",but the ultimate goal is "governing by doing nothing".In their ideal society,the "wonderful great harmony" in the world is the same as the "great harmony" in the world.They all have the feelings of "one family in the world" and pursue social harmony.They are all people-oriented,advocating "sage" politics that conforms to the nature of the people and virtually educates them.