Merits and Demerits

Merits and Demerits

The above two stories seemly have no connection with each other, but there is a profound intrinsic association.

What is the human pursuit of the universal values in the 21 century? It is the “Home, Country, World”, which is the encounter and amalgamation between the Confucianism and the Christian’s culture. The country is from the home, and the world is from the country, which is in line with the biosphere and the natural evolution of human society.

Culture includes the values, lifestyle, language, religion, art, political system, and knowledge skills. If we see the Chinese culture and western culture from different ways, we recognize both are reasonable and nice. They are two social structure produced in specific environment .What are the differences between Chinese culture and western culture?

In china, long and vivid Chinese civilization contains the spirit of cosmopolitanism and pursing peace. Chinese society is a typical family structure, and the social structure produces a unique value system of kindness, righteousness, etiquette, wisdom, honesty and so on. It is the humane principle that we put the benevolence as the highest principle of governing a country. Home is a microcosm of the country; the country is the expanded home. In that way, the love among the relatives can became the love in big social family.

However, there is a social structure of interest group in western countries. Justice is limited by the power of each interest group. Various interest groups will achieve the regime by war or competition, and then set up the laws to protect their own interest. Similarly, the social structure will produce the courage, wisdom, freedom, democracy, individualism’s social system, western countries has seven important values: care, courage, temperance, justice, honest, hope and kindness.

Compare the collectivism of china with the individualism of west, the former is superior to the latter. Because of different social structure, china and the west have different views on the law.

Chinese government may be thought as the result of etiquette and the state government is the result of fight of interest groups. The former emphasizes the moral education, but the latter emphasizes the law.

Christian philosophy insists that people have original sin and human nature is evil, so it advocates the legal system to restrain people. There is a good system, but bad guys will do well; there is a bad system, good guys will do harm.

Chinese believe that people can be as good as Yao and Shun through the moral education. There is no use of the legal system, because the strictest legal system is produced by people. If a person is astray, the legal system is only a piece of paper. Actually, Chinese tend to ethical enlighten and deal with problems by using the will of people fundamentally. Confucianism is to teach how to behave, do a good man.

That human nature is good, of course, we pay more attention to moral education; then that we hold the evil of human, we tend to the control of punishment. There is no doubt that China focus more on moral education, although China develops detailed legal system since ancient times. Western pay more attention to legal punishment, in depth bone marrow is legal consciousness -----for a basic understanding of human nature, resulting in two different social system and cultural concepts.

The legal consciousness in western people’s mind gives me deep impression. For example, in the end of 1940s, Truman campaign the 33rd president of the United States. Public opinion was not optimistic about him, but he suggested protecting the rights of blacks. In his speech, he said,” This is our constitution. If getting the presidential position needs to sacrifice the constitution and ignore the principle, I won’t be the president.” As the president of the powerful country, his behavior should take the national interest as the criterion, and take anchored of protecting and promoting their values. As for Americans, he is reliable. He unswervingly safeguards the sate constitution and maintains the rights of the weak. People can not help respecting such a person. America became stronger and stronger, because it not only have the Washington, Jefferson ,Hamilton ,a number of national builders and system designers, but also Lincoln ,Roosevelt of the outstanding figures to guard the constitution of united states. The constitution is neither a rubber stamp, nor a vote in voter’s hand. It is the responsibility of the state, people must try their best to protect. We can get the inspiration from Truman.

The key point of the problem is the difference of basic attributes between the possession of freedom and the use of freedom ender two different systems.

In the premise of evil human nature, the Western legal system for humanity "evil" has done a lot of prevention and containment; in humanity "good” side is no guarantee, at least to curb the "evil” side. But also because of a legally binding confirmation and assurance, permitted by law within the rules, individuals can enjoy the maximum from the state and society’s trust, and thus more freedom. However, the laws of the United States deep into the minutiae of daily life, penetration, replacing the moral sense of life and even lifestyle areas and functions, involved extensive staggering. U.S. law generalization, trivial and complicated, and sometimes make the law ineffective and complicated to ordinary people simply do not understand the point, everything had to consult a lawyer, so 80% of the world practicing lawyers in the United States. Aristotle in "Politics”, said: "The law is no emotional intelligence." Legal dominate society, to bring people into one courtesy isolation, freedom and lonely individual, the law became icy tool.

Suppose that human is born with kindness，society pays more attention to the individual morality education than structure of social institution, and society’s long period of stability is put on individual virtue. On the other hand, in the eyes of the Confucians, ritual to human, ritual can be adapted. When people carry out regulations, they can consider the situations, which can make people feel warm, in this way, everyone can be more intimate in the Chinese human relationship. However, humanity is not just easy like good and evil, on the cognition basis of human’s kindness, they pay more attention well, but evil  can not be contained as it should be. Thus, on one hand, Chinese can deal with matters nimbly, and get rid of fetters in form or details of  promise or norm, but because Chinese culture is lack of clear legality, what should be done or not be done are short of clear regulations. People are not afraid of doing bad things, or hesitate to think whether they are wrong, which makes people reckless, then this kind of freedom becomes limitless self-indulgent far from the morality and regulation. What be criticized in human society is that good can not be guaranteed while evil can not be contained.
Analects of Confucius, the law of governing points out: Governing people in forms of policy, controlling people in forms of punishment, as a result, the people are ignorant and cheeky; however, governing people in forms of moral, controlling people in forms of polite, the  people are aware of shame. And other ancients have ever said: law can punish people, while can’t make people honest and upright; law can kill people, but  can’t make people kind. The author ShenCongwen  also pointed that law aims at warning people not to do evil; nevertheless, moral enables people to be  genial and kind. These words will be the length of the two cultures and reveal them be clear at a glance. Law’s cold and sharp can’t replace  humanity’s soft and warmth; the rigidity of the tedious rules also will inevitably lead to human nature. In general, in society of legal principle, although law cause people to be indifferent to each other, bring them suppleness and easiness; in moral society, people are in nimble and friendly, but cunning and complicated.

The highest pursuit of human culture

The famous English scholar Toynbee said the core to integrate the people all over the world is the Chinese culture.

All human-beings should be one family.Because the sincere love between family members, family members of intimacy and selfless dedication spirit, there is no doubt that the relationships are the best. Therefore, the family social structure is the most natural and ideal values. Logically speaking, the inevitable conclusion is: family social structure will produce the most ideal value system. In such a structure, the justice can have the most effective power.

In a word, we should integrate the Chinese culture and western culture (especially the Marxism), stick to the principle of scientific development, and perfect the system of “Home, Country, and World”.

We all look forward to living in this kind of country and society, in which nation and the people share their trusts, the people share their beliefs together, life is liberal and simple, warm and happy.

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