An Exploration Of The Pre-Qin Confucian View Of Animals

The view of animals is a window through which we can understand the ideological world of ancient China.At present,the academic research on the animal view of the pre-Qin period is mainly focused on the history of zoology,animal culture and animal ethics,but there is still a lack of systematic research on the pre-Qin Confucian animal view.The purpose of the pre-Qin Confucian animal view is to explore how the pre-Qin Confucianists understand animals and how to deal with the relationship between human beings and animals,not only to examine human's basic understanding of animals,but also to explore the role and status of animals in the fields of human social life,politics,economy,morality and belief,and to investigate relationship between animals and human beings.The pre-Qin Confucian understanding of animals is mainly manifested in two aspects,namely,the origin of animals and the characteristics of animals.The pre-Qin Confucianists investigated the origin of animals from the point of view of the cosmological model of heaven and earth,animal reproduction and metaplasia.Animals and human beings share the same mode of origin and reproduction,and both coexist in a unified cosmic system.Animals,like human beings,are the products of heaven and earth,both of which are "the genus of blood and gas".Both are zoetic,perceptual,emotional and verbal creatures.However,there is an essential difference between animals and human beings,which is mainly manifested in that animals are creatures with no benevolence,no social organization and no ability to create labor,and they can only live by instinct,while human beings have the ability of reason and morality as well as establish a state and society with human relations.On the one hand,the differences between human beings and birds in pre-Qin Confucianism affirmed the similarities between animals and human beings in biological characteristics,and on the other hand,established the differences between them in the field of morality,which had a profound impact on their status and relationship.The relationship between animals and human beings is mainly manifested in social life,moral world and belief world.In terms of the life connection between the two,animals can be widely used in food,clothing and ornaments,commodity trade,transportation of livestock,gift exchange,sacrifice and other activities,which is the basic material conditions to ensure the order of human society.Animal management is an important condition for rational use of animals.From Confucius' thought of rectifying names to the establishment of the animal official system of "Zhou Li",animal management has been gradually integrated into the human social system,so that animal management and human social management complement each other.In terms of specific governance methods,pre-Qin Confucianism advocated that human's management of animals should follow the constraints of ritual system and the requirements of morality,which may have some resonance with the western theory of animal welfare.In terms of the legal status of animals,pre-Qin Confucianism did not give animals an independent legal status,but the relevant legal provisions stipulated the duties and obligations of human beings to animals.The conflict between man and beast is essentially a difference of etiquette and law,and a political management problem.Human beings are also the protectors of animals.The pre-Qin Confucianists put forward the idea of protecting animals from the aspects of interest demand,kingship politics,etiquette norms,benevolence,righteousness and morality.The rational use,orderly management and proper protection of animals are not only an important manifestation of Confucian kingdoms in the pre-Qin Dynasty,but also the necessary needs of the sage-emperors to realize the prosperity of the country and the well-being of the people.There is also a close moral relationship between animals and human beings.This is mainly reflected in the moral image,moral status and moral enlightenment of animals.In the aspect of moral image,animals are the symbol of no benevolence and no righteousness,but some animals can be sublimated into benevolence and righteousness because of their living habits and emotional characteristics,which has special cultural implication and moral meaning.This change has opened up the moral realm for animals.In terms of moral status,the pre-Qin Confucian thought of "the nature of all things" and "benevolence for people and love for things" emphasized that people should care for animals.On the one hand,it broadened the moral horizon and made animals play an important role in the expansion of benevolence and moral cultivation of Confucianism.On the other hand,it established the moral ladder between people and animals.Different from the western philosophy of animal liberation,animal rights and reverence for life,benevolence for the people and love for things is actually a kind of extended ethics,which is still a kind of anthropocentrism in essence.The pre-Qin Confucian thought that the sage king should not only care for animals,but also tame them with benevolence and morality.The Confucian theory of music education can realize the scene where all animals dance together and fish listen to each other,which can not only effectively curb the cruelty of animals,but also achieve the harmony between humans and animals.Superficially,this is to restrain the animalistic nature of animals,but in essence,it reflects the educational effect of Confucian benevolence,justice and morality.Animals can also enter people's belief system,which mainly focus on animal spirits,animal sacrifices and animal divination.Animal spirits is an important part of human spirit system.The pre-qin Confucianism rejected the supernatural,excluded the sacrificial,concentrated the animal spirits in the range of agricultural animal gods,spirits,birds and animals,and expressed the concern for agriculture and the importance of human morality.The pre-qin confucianists insisted on the ritual of animal sacrifice,suspended the relationship between man and god,and made changes in the object of sacrifice,the style of sacrifice,the ritual of sacrifice,etc.Animal sacrifice evolved from a medium to communicate the gods into a symbol of ritual order.The relationship between animals and divination mainly involves tortoisesh-shell divination,dream-horoscope,astrology and so on.Pre-Qin Confucianism criticized the mysterious elements of divination,but inherited the way of thinking of divination.Through this transformation,animals changed from the tool of communication between man and god to the bearer of heaven.Although the pre-Qin Confucianism was deeply influenced by primitive witchcraft,it emphasized the belief of humanity and advocated the establishment of Shinto.Animals play a very important role in the pre-Qin Confucian politics,economy,morality,religion and other fields,andand are an important element in the construction of Confucian ideology.The animal view of Confucianism in the pre-Qin period basically determined the appearance of the animal view of Confucianism,even to some extent,it can be said to determine the basic situation of the animal view of ancient China.Through thinking about animals,we can not only see through the ideological system of pre-Qin Confucianism,but also deeply understand the pre-Qin Confucianism's thinking about the ethical relationship between human and animals.