"The three are in harmony(三合)and then there is life":Kang Youwei on the superiority of Confu-cius'humanitarianism
According to the Gu Liang Zhuan:The Third Year of Zhuang Gong(《谷梁传·庄公三年》),"A single yin does not give birth,a single yang does not give birth,a single heaven does not give birth,and a trio is then born".Kang Youwei often quotes this sentence to explain the characteristics and superiority of Confucianism.The fact that human beings acre born from heaven determines that they should honour and worship heaven.The soul of human beings also comes from heaven.Cultivating one's mind,nurturing one's character,purif-ying the soul,is also an important part of"doing things for heaven".Heaven has the virtue of kindness and love,which also determines that human beings should have the spirit of fraternity.Being born from yin and yang,i.e.,from parents,determines that one should honour one's parents and sacrifice to one's ancestors.Love begins with parents,and benevolence has to be based on filial piety as its foundation and birth point.Ac-cording to Kang Youwei,Christianity,Buddhism,Islam and other religions are all Shintoism,which focuses only on the heavenly or soul aspect,ignores the physical nature of human beings,and does not pay enough respect to parents and ancestors,i.e.,there is only the dimension of benevolence,and the dimension of"filial piety"is weaker.On the other hand,Confucius'Confucianism is comprehensive,with"Three Harmonies and Life",equal emphasis on benevolence and filial piety,equal emphasis on sacrificing to heaven and ancestors,equal emphasis on love and reason,and unity of wisdom,benevolence and courage.In his later years,Kang Youwei believed that Confucianism was a kind of humanistic religion,which took in both the divine and humanistic ways,but was mainly humanistic,with strong wholeness,neutrality and inclusiveness.As a humanistic religion,Confucianism is essentially a civilized religion that can dialogue and integrate with all divine religions and resolve religious conflicts.Confucius'humanism has a strong Chinese character and is the soul of the Chinese nation.Kang Youwei's interpretation of Confucius'humanism is an important inspiration for us to re-concep-tualise Confucianism and to explore Confucianism and the spiritual construction of contemporary Chinese society.
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