the three cardinal guides and the five constant virtues as specified in the feudal ethical code(sān gāng wǔ cháng)

the three cardinal guides and the five constant virtues as specified in the feudal ethical code

Three cardinal guides: the king is the minister, the father is the son, and the husband is the wife. Wuchang: benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom and faith.

"Gang" here means to set an example.

The three cardinal guides and the five constant guides (the three cardinal guides and the five constant Guides) is an important thought in Chinese Confucian ethical culture, which is respected by the Confucians of all ages. Confucianism maintains the social ethics and political system through the Enlightenment of the three cardinal guides and the five constant guides.

It attaches importance to subjective will power, integrity, moral character, self-control, determination, social responsibility and historical mission. It is equivalent to Confucius' theory of "monarch, minister, father, son, husband, wife".

The "three cardinal guides" refers to the "monarch is the minister guide", "father is the son guide" and "husband is the wife guide" in Liwei · hanwenjia, which is also the so-called "monarch is the minister guide", "father is the son guide", "husband is the wife Guide".

The "benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom and faith" advocated by Wuchang are all positive energy.

Word formation and development

The formation and development of "three cardinal guides and five constant rules" the words "three cardinal guides and five constant rules" came from Dong Zhongshu's Chunqiu Fanlu in the Western Han Dynasty. But as a moral principle, it originated from Confucius in the pre Qin period. Confucius once put forward such ethical and moral concepts as monarch and minister, father and son, benevolence, righteousness, propriety and wisdom. Mencius further put forward the "Five Ethics" moral standard of "father and son have relatives, monarch and minister have righteousness, husband and wife are different, parents and children are orderly, friends have faith". According to his theory that "Guiyang is inferior to Yin", Dong Zhongshu further developed the concept of five ethics and put forward the three cardinal principles and the five constant principles. In Dong Zhongshu's view, in the relationship of human relations, there is a master-slave relationship between the monarch and the minister, the father and the son, and the husband and wife: the monarch is the principal and the minister is the subordinate; the father is the principal and the son is the subordinate; the husband is the principal and the wife is the subordinate. That is, the so-called "monarch as minister, father as son, husband as wife". Dong Zhongshu also believes that the five principles of benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom and faith are the basic rules for dealing with the relationship between monarch and minister, father and son, husband and wife, and superior and inferior, and the statesman should pay enough attention to them. The theory of "three cardinal guides and five constant principles" originated from Dong Zhongshu and was completed by Zhu Xi. However, Dong Zhongshu didn't mention the "three cardinal guides" and "five constant rules" together. It was Ma Rong, a Confucian scholar in the late Eastern Han Dynasty, who mentioned them together for the first time. It means that the feudal thinkers finally combined the feudal code of ethics with the moral principles to deal with it, forming a complete political and ethical system. In the Song Dynasty, "Zhu Xi developed the theory of heavenly principle, connecting" three cardinal guides and five constant principles "with" heavenly principle ". He believed that the three cardinal guides and five constant principles were the development of heavenly principle, the natural product of" heavenly principle "embodied in social norms, and the elixir of eternal coordination of social relations." so far, Zhu Xi's theory of "one principle and one difference" became the norm of social life order.

Meaning of words

As for the meaning of the three cardinal guides, Zhu Xi pointed out that "among the three cardinal guides, the monarch is the minister's guide, the father is the son's guide, and the husband is the wife's Guide". Among the three cardinal guides, "father is son" is the foundation, and the social norm it requires is filial piety. Filial piety here refers to children's absolute obedience to their parents. If parents are at fault, children can only remonstrate with soft voice, not offend their parents. "According to the principle of" father and son are hidden, directly in it ", it is in line with the natural and human nature that children conceal their parents' guilt and fault. In front of parents, filial piety is the only clear thing for children. The right and wrong in social norms and the standards of good and evil can be ignored. ". The extension of filial piety to parents is the fraternity between brother and brother. Filial piety and fraternity are the behavior norms of son and brother. Filial piety is the responsibility and mission of children and younger brothers. Zhu Xi regarded filial piety as the core and link of "father as son". Among the three cardinal guides, Zhu Xi thought that "the monarch is the minister" should be the first, and the corresponding code of conduct is "loyalty". The so-called "loyalty" is to do our best to the monarch, wholeheartedly, without concealing. In Zhu Xi's view, if the monarch treats his ministers with courtesy and the ministers treat him with loyalty, and each plays his own role, the world will be peaceful and stable. Loyalty is the concept of social norms from the bottom to the top, while "forgiveness" is to maintain social balance and reflect the concept of social norms from the top to the bottom. Forgiveness means understanding, understanding and consideration for others. Forgiveness plays an important role in social interaction. It is a social attitude to predict the behavior of others and maintain a good social order. Zhu Xi also attached great importance to "husband is wife". The family relationship formed by husband and wife is the basis for the emergence of the family relationship, and the corresponding code of conduct is "chastity". Zhu Xi's approval of "starvation is small, dishonesty is big" is the embodiment of this code of conduct. He strongly praised the local filial son, filial grandson, righteous husband and chaste wife, and denounced the practice of husband's funeral and remarriage. Zhu Xi not only advocated the "three cardinal guides", but also advocated the "five constant" as the criterion between various social relations. In Zhu Xi's view, the core of benevolence, righteousness, reason, wisdom and faith is benevolence. The so-called "benevolence" is the inner love, "benevolent, love also", but "Confucian benevolence is not undifferentiated universal love, but emphasizes the difference and difference of love. First, it is manifested as playing the basic role in the family, performing filial piety, and then it is to be loyal to the superior and responsible to others. Here is the implementation of the Confucian "pro" and "respect" principle. What are benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom and faith in behavior? Zhu Xi pointed out that "benevolence" means "love" and "humanity"; righteousness means to bear reasonable responsibility; propriety means moral restraint, which plays a preventive role in achieving "righteousness"; wisdom means knowledge, especially in the era of modern knowledge economy, which we need more; faith means trust and honesty. "Benevolence is shown in compassion; courtesy is shown in respect; righteousness is shown in shame; wisdom is the reason to distinguish right from wrong, and faith is shown in loyalty. In Zhu Xi's view, if people can truly master the principles of heaven, abide by the three cardinal guides, and have the "five constant", in people's lives, they can have compassion, respect, know shame, distinguish right from wrong, and abide by faithfulness, society will be stable and harmonious, which is the purpose of Zhu Xi's "three cardinal guides and five constant". three cardinal principles: justice between monarch and minister, father and son, and obedience between husband and wife. "Liwei · hanwenjia" says: the three cardinal guides are that the king is the minister, the father is the son, and the husband is the wife.

Wuchang

As for Wuchang, the benevolence of love, the righteousness of righteousness, the courtesy of monarch, the wisdom of philosophy, the faith of emotion, the benevolence of spring, the righteousness of autumn, the form of propriety, the thought of wisdom, and the assurance of faith. (1) Wuchang: benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom and faith. Wuchang, also known as "wudian", refers to five rules of conduct. It is said in the book of history, Tai Shi Xia, that "you humiliate Wuchang". Kong Yingda said: "the five constant is the Five Canons, which means the righteousness of father, the kindness of mother, the friendship of brother, the courtesy of brother and the filial piety of son." (2) Wuchang: it is said to refer to "Wulun". The ancients called five kinds of human relations: monarch and minister, father and son, brother, husband and wife, and friend. Loyalty, filial piety, fraternity, forbearance and kindness are the norms of the relationship. Mencius believes that: there is a way of courtesy between monarchs and ministers, so loyalty; there is an order between father and son, so filial piety; brothers and brothers are close relatives, so fraternity; the love between husband and wife is different from inside and outside, so forbearance; there is a virtue of honesty between friends, so kindness; these are the principles and codes of conduct to deal with the ethical relationship between people.

evolution

Dong Zhongshu's "Wu Lun" San gang and Wu Chang are derived from his book Chun Qiu fan Lu in the Western Han Dynasty. But as a moral principle, it originated from Confucius in the pre Qin period. Confucius once put forward such ethical and moral concepts as monarch and minister, father and son, benevolence, righteousness, propriety and wisdom. Mencius further put forward the "Five Ethics" moral standard of "father and son have relatives, monarch and minister have righteousness, husband and wife are different, parents and children are orderly, friends have faith". Dong Zhongshu further developed the concept of five ethics according to his theory of "Yang is superior to Yin and Yin is inferior" and put forward the three cardinal principles and the five constant principles. Dong Zhongshu believes that in the human relations, the three relationships of monarch and minister, father and son, husband and wife are the most important, and these three relationships have a god determined and eternal master-slave relationship: monarch is the main, minister is the subordinate; father is the main, son is the subordinate; husband is the main, wife is the subordinate. That is to say, the so-called "monarch as minister, father as son, husband as wife". The three cardinal principles are all based on the principle of yin and Yang. Specifically, the monarch, father and husband embody the "Yang" side of heaven, while the minister, son and wife embody the "Yin" side of heaven; Yang is always in the dominant and noble position, while Yin is always in the obedient and humble position. In this way, Dong Zhongshu established the dominant position of monarchy, patriarchy and husband power, and sanctified the feudal hierarchy and political order as the fundamental law of the universe. In fact, the "Five Principles" is the embodiment of the "three principles". Dong Zhongshu also believes that the five principles of benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom and faith are the basic rules for dealing with the relationship between monarch and minister, father and son, husband and wife, and superior and inferior, and the statesman should pay enough attention to them. In his opinion, one of the important characteristics that distinguishes human beings from other creatures is that human beings are born with the five constant principles. Adhering to the five constant principles can maintain social stability and interpersonal harmony. Han Ban Gu (32-92) wrote an important book on the similarities and differences of the five classics and the unification of the meanings of the modern classics in the Han Dynasty. Baihu Tongyi summarizes the achievements of the study of Confucian classics in the Han Dynasty. It is a masterpiece of the study of Confucian classics in the Han Dynasty. The main content of Baihu Tongyi is to record the discussion of the study of Confucian classics in the Baihu Temple meeting. Most of it is to retell Dong Zhongshu's Theory and basic viewpoints, and to some extent, it has played a role. It also puts forward the ethical gold bar of "three cardinal guides" and "Six Disciplines". The father is the son. Husband is his wife's principle, and "Six Disciplines" are "fathers, brothers, clansmen, uncles, teachers, and friends". He thinks that "three disciplines follow heaven, earth, and man, and six disciplines follow six harmonies." Six Disciplines "comes from" three disciplines ", which is the principle of" three disciplines ", and describes the ethical relationship of feudal society as conforming to the law

Chinese PinYin : sān gāng wǔ cháng