时间：2022-09-15 02:39:48
Abstract. Confucius is the thinker， educator， statesman， and founder of the Confucian school in the spring and autumn period. Confucius thought has exerted a far-reaching influence on the development of philosophy， pedagogy and literature. This paper will focus on the relationship between the literary thoughts of Confucius and the Chinese ancient literature.
Key words： Chinese ancient literature， literary thoughts of Confucius
1. Objective
In the pre Qin period， our country has not formed a system of literature thought and literature theory， with only some literature views involved in the literature related to "philosophy" or "history". The spring and autumn period in our country was the period of unprecedented prosperity of the development of ideology， when all schools of thoughts contended for attention， and the Confucian thought with the Confucius as the representative is most prominent. Confucius thought have played a founding role in the formation and development of our country's education thought， philosophy and literature thought. The author carries on the simple analysis on the relationship between the Confucius's thought and the literature thought in ancient China. There was no system of literature theory in Confucius books and statements， but there are some scattered literary thoughts in his writings， which laid the foundation for the concept of the Chinese traditional literary theory. This paper will discuss the relationship between Confucius literature thought and Chinese ancient literature concepts， text creation styles， aesthetic appreciation of literature and literature thoughts.
2. Influence of Confucius literary thoughts of "literature serves the politics" on the Chinese ancient literature
"The Analects of Confucius" recorded words and deeds of Confucius and his disciples， which was the quotation work compiled by his disciples and followers. "The Analects of Confucius--eight discoveries" says， "what the Confucius calls "Shao" is not only the perfect beauty but also the perfect goodness. What he calls Wu is the perfect beauty but not perfect goodness. To understand from the literal meaning， it refers to the "Shao" beauty in the music sounds， and the perfect goodness in the content； "Wu" is beautiful enough， but not perfect. However， our literal interpretation has divorced from the Confucius expression of the original intention. We can deeply analyze the connotation of the word "beauty" and "goodness" through the notes of Han Zhengxuan. "Shao" is the name of the music of Emperor Shun. The beauty of Shun started from his passing his crown to Yao， which was very good and led to peace of that period. "Wu" is the name of the music of King Wu of Zhou. The beauty of King Wu came to constant power of the world which is not good and didn’t result in peace." We translated into the vernacular referring to that the music praises the Emperor Shun passed his crown to Yao according to the virtues of instantaneous emperor， which was indeed a good fact； and the music praises that the King Wu of Zhou overthrew the corrupt Shang Dynasty to ensure the people the etheric level， but the fact that the war caused damage to the people is not properly handled. From this， we can analyze that what the Confucius calls "beauty" refers to the truth of art， namely the praise of the author to the person or things； and the "good" refers to the reality of the life， that is， the better arrangement of the reality. Confucius's political view is the "policy of benevolence". Confucius expressed his political point of view that "the people are more important than the ruler". It is because of Confucius "benevolence" thought that led him to think that through the war King Wu crusaded against King Zhou of Shang. Although he has brought peace to the world people， it cannot be denied that the war brought the disaster to the people. So he said that King Wu crusaded against King Zhou of Shang is "not perfect". In the "Analects of Confucius—learning it" there is a word called "pan loving public"， meaning while following the division system of social classes， respect every person， and should absolutely not kill as the private property. Through the analysis of Confucius "benevolence" thought， we can determine the "beauty" and "goodness" is the specific disclosure of the social ideal "the rule lies in the people". In the evaluation of the two songs "Shao" and "Wu"， Confucius gave recognition of its form of music， and at the same time he paid more attention to the contents. As can be seen， in the evaluation of the literature and art， Confucius considered from the angle of utilitarian view. In order to prove Confucius literature utilitarian concept， the author lists several examples. Confucius said， "three hundred poems". To sum up， it says， "The thinking is pure." Confucius said， "The cricket knows the difficulty". These views reflected the literary point of view in the Confucius literature.
Confucius’ utilitarian of "beauty and kindness" has far-reaching influence on the later literary creation and literary evaluation， and thus forming the tradition of literary creation and evaluation with the ancient Chinese political utility. Mencius is the master of the Confucian school after Confucius. He has inherited and developed the Confucius thought， including the aspects of the concept of literary thoughts. The Mencius further expanded the Confucius "beauty and goodness". He thought that the reader should deliberate the writer’s feeling through their own understanding of the works. It can be said that the Mencius further enriches the content of the Confucius utilitarian literary concept.
Xunzi， after years of study， conducted the in-depth research on the Confucius "beauty and goodness". He thought the Neo-Confucianism is reflected in the saints， and the words and deeds of emotions of the saints can be seen in the Confucian classics. He said： "The saints are the reflection of the Neo-Confucianism. The Neo-Confucianism of the world is similar， and the Neo-Confucianism of all the Kings is the same. So the Neo-Confucianism of the "poem"， "book"， "ritual"， "music" is also the same. "Poetry" is their ambition， "book" is the things， "Li" is the deeds， and “Le" is the emotions. "Spring and autumn" also is the micro...... The Neo-Confucianism is complete." Visibly， to a certain extent Xunzi developed Confucius "literature serves the penalty and civilized intercourse" concept.
The idea of "banning other different schools of philosophy and exclusively worshipping the Confucian ideology" is the orthodox ideas of Han dynasty rule， which can be said to be an ideology completely from politics. If we say Confucius promote his own "benevolent government" concept through the assessment of literature， music and poems， in the Han Dynasty， it changed to the political tool. Dong Zhongshu of the Han Dynasty is the representative to change the "beauty and kindness" into "literature absolute serves the politics and religion". He revered the Confucianism， and further strengthened the political utilitarianism of the literature. The mainstream consciousness with the "Ming Dao"， "Aesthetic"， and "Poetic Education" as the appeal runs throughout the ancient Chinese literature. Chinese ancient literature inherited and developed the utilitarian literary thoughts of Confucius. However， the lack of exploration of the literary connotation itself to some extent hindered the process of the development of Chinese literature.
3. Confucius literary thought "form and content" provides a standard for the Chinese ancient literary style
"The Analects of Confucius， Yong Ye" wrote， "Confucius said， if the content wins the form it is gloze， and if the appearance wins the content then it is the history. The ornamental is combined with the plain properties and then he is a gentleman." The central meaning of this sentence is that if the quality of a person is far better than his appearance， he is like a savage. If the outside appearance is far over his inner character words， he is just flashy without substance historiographer. And only people with the coexistence of simple and instrument can be called a gentleman. We can see that this is the views Confucius published on human culture. In the relationship between "form" and "content"， Confucius put forward his own views. He believed that the two are of complementary relationship. Confucius said， "Words without content will not reach far and wide." Confucius also said， "The speech will be enough to reach its meaning." The former expresses that Confucius thought our words should be of literary grace to be spread long； and the latter sentence expresses that our sentence is good to be smooth. If it is too "literary talent"， it will not be simple. From the above Confucius' words， we can summarize that Confucius did not advocate vigorously pursue "quality" or the pursuit of "form". He thought the two should coexist， and should be moderate， which can make a person with good manners. Through the analysis of Confucius thoughts， we think that the Confucius view of "form and content" is not related to the field of literature， but the future generations will dissolve the thoughts in the literary.
Based on summarization of Confucius "the ornamental and the combined plan properties" and his disciples thought， Mencius thought in the "Mencius， dedication" that "the gentleman rooted kindheartedness and righteousness in the heart， and the chromosphere is natural in the face， eyes， vigorous in the back， and is done by the arms and legs"， which summed up the relationship of "the form is produced by the content".
Xunzi after the Mencius thought that "If the liberal arts are complex， and the feeling is simple， it is courtesy of the lung. But on the contrary， it is the rite. "The liberal arts and the feeling should be as both inside and outside， parallel and mixed， they should be the courtesy of the stream." Although it is basically the same point of view as the Confucius "the ornamental and the combined plan properties"， Xunzi extended the idea "the introduction， quality" and things into the realms of social life.
In the Han Dynasty， Confucianism became the mainstream ideology. The Confucian scholars of the Han Dynasty studied the Confucius thought. They extended the Confucian ideas into every aspect of life， and nature， also introduced the Confucius ideas into literature. Confucius' "form and content" ideas have conversed from the initial self-cultivation in the field of literary creation. The famous politician and thinker Dong Zhongshu said， "poem represents wills， so it is better reflected in the content； "Rite" limits the section， so it is better reflected in the form； "Music" praises the manners， so it is better reflected in the appearance； "book" stresses the power， so it is better reflected in the deeds； "The Spring and Autumn" are a non， it is longer than the rule"， which positioned "form and content" in the literary criticism.
Wang Chong of the Han Dynasty wrote， "Honest is in the heart， and the writing is between the lines. The outer and the inner should be the same." "The writing should come from the inner heart and our inner feelings can be expressed from the lines." From the point of view that Han Dynasty scholars borrowed Confucius "form and content" thought to criticize literary， they refer to the content of literature with "quality"， and "form" to refer to the literary form， with "culture" and "quality" to discuss the relationship between content and form in literature， which had great impact on the Han Dynasty literature.
During the Northern and Southern Dynasties， some thinkers and writers evolved the "form and content" thought as "strength of character "， which became the criteria of criticism of literary style， and also provided a standard for the later literary creation.
4. "Innocent" and "middlebrow" in the Confucius thought of literature guidelines the road for the Chinese ancient literature aesthetics
"The Analects of Confucius， politics" said， "Confucius said "three hundred poems"， and to sum up， it says the thinking is pure." "Si" is the modal particle， with no real significance. Then what is the meaning of "innocent"？ Kong Anguo notes， "Words are not beyond the middlebrow." "Demerit" is more than the "middlebrow"， while the "inferior" does not reach "middlebrow". It seems that Confucius put the "middlebrow" to the "positive"， and the "innocent". Here the "middlebrow" is what we usually call "the doctrine of the mean". The so-called "a middle course" refers to a higher moral standard， but in the evaluation of "three hundred poems"， Confucius used "innocence" to describe it， which is also a kind of publicity for his own "doctrine of the mean". Because the philosophy idea "middlebrow" is with aesthetic factor， and in the comments "three hundred poems" Confucius reflected it in the form of "innocence"， very naturally it is borrowed as an aesthetic concept of literature and art.
Xunzi said， "The poem is in the sound of the stop." Xunzi also said， "The music is also the middlebrow." Xunzi's two "middlebrow" words refer to "poetry and etiquette". "Poetry" and "music" in our opinion belongs to the category of literature and art today， but Xunzi viewed them as Confucian classics. Therefore， with the principle that Xunzi assessment poetry music still lacks the consciousness of literary criticism， it is also with a strong religious color.
In the "Book of rites， the solution" Confucius said， "The man must be placid. The poems teach him to be"， which refers to a person's character cultivation reaching just the realm. The scholars of the feudal society mostly grid defend "placid" beauty "thorn" principle. To understand this point， we can objectively understand the scholars and literature in ancient times. With the continuous development of Confucianism， "placid" has become a kind of humanistic spirit， and the development of literary creation principle. Under the effect of this principle， there appeared the subtle and aesthetic style of literary creation. Song Yanyu said， "Poetry is to express the emotions. Almost all the gentlemen in the Tang Dynasty were in interest， and avoid dangers without trace， so the beauty is thoroughly exquisite， just like the voice of the air， phase of the color， the water of the month and the image in the mirror. The words do have an end but the meaning is endless." Visibly， the implicit of this "innocence" writing techniques and style of Chinese literature plays a very large and positive role in the development of the literature.
5. Confucius literature thoughts of "association， observation， gregarious， resentment" laid the ideological foundation for the Chinese ancient literature "accept"
"The Analects of Confucius， Yang Huo" said， "The odes serve to stimulate the mind. They may be used for purposes of self-contemplation. They teach the art of sociability. They show how to regulate feelings of resentment." From them you learn the more immediate duty of serving one's father， the remoter one serves his Prince. From them we become largely acquainted with the names of birds， beasts， and plants." This section of Confucius sayings from the purpose of "poetry teaching" expounds the aesthetic function， cognitive function， information function， harmonious role of the expression of literary works， and the role of knowledge and learning effect. It is a comprehensive literary interpretation earlier in the history of ancient literary criticism， and reflected the literary thoughts of Confucianism， which has profound influence on the later literary reception theory.
Confucius suggested "association， observation， gregarious， resentment" this significance of the act of state， guiding the problem to the reader， which is to guide readers to what to read， how to read， how to think， and how to recreate the problem. This view of Confucius provided guidance for the evaluation of Chinese ancient literary works， and provides evaluation criteria and direction for the literary aesthetics. At the same time， it provides a good idea and a way for readers to read literary， so they can more accurately grasp the idea， and try to figure out the emotions.
6. Conclusion
In conclusion， the Confucius' thought of literature not only plays a positive role in promoting the development of Chinese ancient literature， but also lays a foundation for the later literary creation， style and aesthetic standards. The ancient Chinese literary thought， pattern and style largely inherited and developed the thought of Confucius. It can be said that Confucius literary thought is the foundation of Chinese ancient literature， and the ancient Chinese literature inherited and developed the literary thoughts of Confucius.
References
[1] He Yan. "Collected explanations of the Analects of Confucius"， "The Analects of Confucius annotation"， Li Xueqin editor （punctuation）， Peking University Press， 1999 edition， page 227
[2] Quoted from Cai Xianjin， "Study on Confucius Poetics"， Qilu Press， published in 2006， page 256
[3] "The Book of Rites · University"， "The book of rites of Justice" Li Xueqin editor in chief， He Yan "Collected explanations of the Analects of Confucius"， "The Analects of Confucius annotation"， Li Xueqin.