On The Thought Of Courage Of Pre-Qin Confucian

In the history of ancient China, pre-Qin Confucian presented the most completeand typical courage thought, that not only had laid the basic standard of value fordescendants, but also had molded a great spiritual example for the Chinese nation. Inthe system of Confucian ethical thought, the virtue of courage plays important roles inmaintaining public order and realizing the ideal about Rendao of Confucian. Chinesecontemporary society urgently need to absorb and learn from the pre-Qin Confucianto maintain social order, purify social atmosphere, enhance the level of personalmorality.By literatures and the view of history, this paper traces various social conditionsand background of the pre-Qin Dynasty which had given birth to Confucian courageideology; systematically sums up the basic connotation of courage thoughts;thoroughly discusses the interrelation among various categories of courage; draws thebasic characteristics of the pre-Qin Confucian on the basis of comparison with othercourage thoughts from different schools and digs out contemporary value by analysisof these characteristics.The first part is mainly on the social background of the pre-Qin Confucian.War-prone was the foremost political situation of the pre-Qin Dynasty. The prevalenceof chivalrous spirit was an inevitable result of wars, but also paved the way for thebirth of the pre-Qin Confucian courage thought. On economic background, people’sprivate consciousness strengthened by land privatization and commercializingpromoted penetration of the fortitude ideals from aristocracy to civil so that civilianvalues was corroded by egoism. On socio-cultural, the whole society fell into chaoticsituation at one time, so to establish a harmonious and orderly social became theprimary proposition.The second part is about the basic contents of the pre-Qin Confucian courage thought. Firstly, code of ethics, ideal personality and the spirit of practice are threemain dimensions of the Confucian discourse. Secondly, benevolence, righteousness,manners, wisdom and Zhongyong all form interactive relationships with courage.Thirdly, hard-bitten willpower and majestic verve to stabilizing the world constitutethe basic characteristic of the ideal of Confucian Saint and Emperor, which is themain clue throughout the Confucian courage thought and become the sublimation ofthe spirit of the entire pre-Qin Confucian courage thought. Finally, the sense of shameas the cognitive conditions of accomplishment, Duzhi as the foundation of will, Jiyi asthe method of practice, which complement each other and together form the basicways of realization of Confucianism.The third part mainly summarizes the basic characteristics of the thought ofcourage of pre-Qin Confucian. With the contrast between Confucian and the otherschools about the theory of courage, we can summarize the following conclusions ofpre-Qin Confucian: taking human relations as standard and maintaining patriarchalhierarchical order; advocating a flexible and positive attitude toward life; emphasizingthe absolute nature of moral obligation and respecting inner moral intuition; takingself-cultivation in center and paying attention to political function.The last part discusses the challenges of courage in contemporary society andprompts the transformation methods. Into contemporary society, fortitude itself facedwith many challenges. After the value analysis to the ideological characteristicsincluding its advantages and disadvantages, this part make a few reform andtransformation methods. Firstly, don’t be brave without manners and legitimate. Thethinking of the Confucian using external norms as an objective standard for behavioris worth learning, and today’s society need legal awareness. Secondly, do it bravely ifencountering good deeds. The thought of courageous will be significance formaintaining social stability, promoting social justice and enhancing the level of theentire social. Third, be clean and honest in personality temper. Confucian personalitytheory inspires us that we should put the nurture of moral character on the politiciansas one of important initiatives of national anti-corruption.