On The Doctrine Of Cultivating Person In The Collected Sayings Of Confucius

The Collected Sayings of Confucius there are plentiful and systematic thoughts on the "cultivating of person". The concept of the "cultivating of person" has double meanings respectively concerning the "Dao of Heaven" and the "Dao of Human", and in the "Dao of Heaven" sense connects to Dao and in the "Dao of Human" sense is represented as categories such as "humanity", "righteousness", "ritual", "music", which are defined presupposing the communicating with Dao. The "cultivating of person" is described as not only the state of the ideal personality but also the changing dynamic process. In order to highlight the thought on the "cultivating of person", and depending on the characters of the book, the following three points would be the center of this paper:"learning", namely, the process mechanism of the "cultivating of person"; "filial piety", namely, the field where the "cultivating of person" is spread out; "virtue", namely, the connotation that the "cultivating of person" has. In the aspect of "learning", Confucius thinks that the unremitting learning is necessary in order that "cultivating of person" could be realized. In addition, he puts forward the special way of learning by which man could improve herself by having an insight into facts. In the aspect of "filial piety", Confucius emphasizes that we should have a consciousness of doing our best to respect our own parents, handle the relationship with them wisely and avoid blinding to them. He also thinks that we could experience Tao by means of "filial piety". In the aspect of "virtue", the "cultivating of person" is the unity of moral practice and moral connotation and while "virtue" represents the staged achievements of "cultivating of person". Furthermore, by discussing the problem of virtue and happiness, we could understand the spirit of generosity which "cultivating of person" should have. The thesis is to explore the possibility and value of "cultivating of person" in The Collected Sayings of Confucius which could help us enrich the understanding of multifarious Confucius’thoughts and realize the ideal personality on different levels in real life.