A Study Of Confucius’ Concept Of Gentleman

Confucius’ concept of gentleman(a man of both virtue and position)was formed in the turbulent period when the disintegration of the Chou dynasty and the old system was about to collapse.Under the influence of duke chou’s thought of "respecting morality" and "protecting the people" and the exploration of the moral significance of gentleman by various sages in the Spring-autumn period(between the seventh and fourth centuries B.C.),Confucius made a creative interpretation of the gentleman,converting a gentleman from a simple aristocratic identity to a person of both virtue and position.Confucius’ gentleman has two meanings: self-cultivation and cultivation of others.Self-cultivation is dedicated to moral cultivation,which is the responsibility for one’s own personality.Cultivation of others is dedicated to political practice,which is the state in which a gentleman pushes his own demands to others.Self-cultivation to cultivation of others is Confucius’ remolding and interpretation of the gentleman.In the moral cultivation of self-cultivation,Confucius endowed the gentleman with jen(human-heartedness),yi(righteousness)and li [rituals,ceremonies,proper conduct],making him the "leader quality" cultivated by the gentleman.Jen is a high moral emotion contained in the heart of a gentleman,and its essence is love.Yi is the externalization of jen,and it is the practice of jen.Li is the form of jen and the external ceremony of jen.Among them,the jen of "leader quality" becomes the core of gentleman’s accomplislishment quality with its spirit of self-love and loving other.In order to cultivate the "leader quality" of his disciples,Confucius put forward the "To cultivate oneself and conform to the li" and "To study extensively into the Liu Yi(ancient literature)" gentleman cultivation effort."To cultivate oneself and conform to the li" is moral cultivation,"To study extensively into the Liu Yi " is ceremonial cultivation.After the double efforts of moral cultivation and ceremonial cultivation,Confucian gentleman were able to cultivate,and the most important presentation after cultivation is "knowing Ming".In the political practice of cultivation of others,Confucius regarded the rule of virtue as the principle of gentleman’s governing.Ruling by virtue means that a gentleman pursues politics according to moral power,and in the course of his political career,he turns his "leadership quality" into the people,thus realizing the moral education of the people.In order to ensure the smooth development of the principle of rule of virtue,Confucius put forward three measures,namely,rectification behaviors,recommending the man of ability and worth,and loving people.Among them,rectification behaviors is in the core position.Confucius believed that only when the ruler first rectificate himself and the people below him can they follow him,and the ideal of cultivation of others can be completed smoothly.In this way,self-cultivation and cultivation of others have formed a complete system,and self-cultivation has become the logical starting point of Confucius’ concept of a gentleman.Under the guidance of the principle of rule by virtue and the implementation of the measures of rectification behaviors,recommending the man of ability and worth,and loving people,the gentleman is in charge of politics with the goal of restoring political order and " stabilizing the people ".The goal of a gentleman as a politician is the goal of the connotation of a gentleman as cultivation of others.At this point,the gentleman of Confucius has established and completed his system with self-cultivation to cultivation of others.Although Confucius’ concept of gentleman has been formed for 2500 years,it contains eternal value that does not contain the times,such as the value of gentleman as personality,the value of gentleman as "political subject" to the spirit of political criticism.These values have important reference significance for the personality cultivation and political construction of later scholars.