Early Confucian Thought

As the revival of traditional Chinese culture, people have a new understanding for early Confucianism represented by Confucius. The human characteristics of Confucianism concerned about "human" and emphasized "human" has been newly recognized by the people. Thus, in advocating a "human-oriented" society at present, re-thinking the thought of "human-oriented" of the early Confucianism and making Confucius as the core are very valuable.The early Confucianism represented by Confucius made human as a means to achieve social governance in the beginning. The "human" include all the people of society. We think that Confucius learned about the destiny thought since the Yin and Zhou Dynasties, inherited speech of emphasizing "human" of Duke Zhou and the Spring and Autumn Period, and recognized that the rites was the basis for people to human. The rites was not limited to its external form, but reflected on its content, which was ritual philosophy. In this way, Confucius and Confucianism had the human characteristics in the beginning. In order to make everyone can understand rites, Confucius designed ways to achieve this goal, which was to grasp the "human feelings" and "human nature". Because the nature of innate human was similar, but the environment impacted on the people led to people different. Besides, in order to make people to remove evil and tent to kindness, we needed to strengthen moral education that aimed to cultivate the character of a gentleman and made people truly to become "adults". So Confucius had builted his ideology.The thought of "human-oriented" of Confucius had a complete logical structure. Confucius endowed "benevolence" to new meaning, as the basis for human being to strengthen his morality, and emphasized the inner development. It was to cultivate capacity of governing for "ruling man by man", and put the concept of virtue primary punishment for govering into practice. At the same time, Confucius made "moderate" way as the guiding methodology into Confucianism practice, and it has been confirmed by "Bao Xun" collected by Tsinghua University. From Confucius, whether confucian discipies or Mencius, Xun Zi, they all developed in a approach designed by Confucius. Of course, at different periods the development of Confucianism focused on different aspects, especially in the period of Mencius and Xun Zi. Mencius stressed the internal development of Confucianism, and inherited "benevolence"of Confucius for development. Xun Zi stressed rites, seeking for the external development of Confucianism. However, the different development way of Confucianism did not affect the early Confucianism for emphsizing on "human", and their ultimate goal was to focus on "human". To achieve this goal, they were the same, but made different ways. So we can see the impact on early Confucianism by the thought of "human-oriented" of Confucius.In addition, the early Confucianism as the important school in the pre-Qin philosophers, in the rebuttal to taoism, mohist school, legalism and other pre-Qin philosophers, compared with the "inaction" of Taoist for human, "universal love" thought stressed by Mohist and emphsizing the role of law by Legalism, it was undoubtedly more powerful in confirming on "human" value. At the same time, the thought of "human-oriented" of early Confucianism abandoned deficiency of thought, which made people for the basis, overcomed shortcomings of Western humanism, and realized man-nature, person-person, person-society and manself harmony.The essay makes Confucius as the core, tries to investigate the origin of thought of "human-oriented" of early Confucianism and its content, logical structure, and explores the thoughts of Confucius impacted on early Confucianism. Contrast to philosophers in pre-Qin about "human" thought, especially taoism, mohist school, legalism, the essay tries to excavate the further meaning of the thought of "human-oriented" of early Confucianism. As a breakthrough, through chinese and foreign all times, the contemporary value of the thought of "human-oriented" of early Confucianism will be demonstrated.