The abundance and depth of Confucius�� thought or Confucianism
make it a hot topic talked by people all the time.
So, the historical image of Confucius
is known by generations of Chinese people
in continuous explanation and interpretation.
In a sense,
Confucius is living in the interpretations.
While these historical interpretations constitute
the ��starting point�� to understand Confucius today.
To sum up, Confucius possesses three main images.
First, we regard Confucius as
��The loveliest man in China ��.
Confucius and the cultural connotation he represents
are rich and profound.
When deeply realizing the original charm of Confucius�� thought
and his great personality,
people regard him as cultural icon with
absolute worship and unconditional conversion
and the can��t help joining
the large number of star chasers.
It just like what Sima Qian said ��behold a great man with admiration
Although we can not reach the noble character and virtue, we are pursuing it in our heart.��
And anonym said
��If Confucius had not been born, people would have lived in the dark through the ages.��
Though in a strict sense China does not
has religion as the West,
in worshipers�� mind,
Confucius is the?greatest?sage?and?teacher,
even the hierarch of Confucianism.
So, in worshiper��s mind,
Confucius becomes the loveliest man in China.
The second historical image is that
Confucius is the most malleable man in China.
Feeling the broad and profound Confucius�� thought,
but the subtlety of Confucianism
can not be fully explained.
Hence, we uphold
the spirit of �� helping previous sages to sustain their immortal doctrines��,
and reconstruct Confucius by using the hermeneutics spirit of
��I annotate the Six Classics; and the Six Classics annotate me��.
And these historical reinterpretation
also constitute the pedigree of Confucianism.
like Mencius and Xuncius in pre-Qin Period,
Dong Zhongshu in Han Dynasty, Hanyu in Tang Dynasty,
Neo Confucianism in Song Dynasty,
the philosophy of mind in Ming Dynasty and the New Confucianism in the twentieth century,
which are all the development milestones of Confucianism
and have played a great role in
the field of Chinese ideology and culture.
Therefore, in re-interpreters�� mind,
Confucius becomes the most malleable people in China.
Well, the third historical image is that
Confucius is the poorest people in China.
Having felt the profound Confucianism,
but we cannot interpret the subtlety of Confucianism,
and let Confucius to interpret his thought.
So, what shall we do?
We can only be a critic
to negate and criticize Confucius.
People like Li Zhi in the Late Ming Dynasty and
Wu Yu in the May the 4th Period all did this way.
Li Zhi not only marked the way of heresy,
but also was regarded as the heresy by the people of the time.
He once said ��The mundane today and
all the hypocrites treat me as the heresy.
I said, I��d rather be a heresy
so as not to be added a bubble reputation by them.��
For this reason, he spoke out heretical comments,
��Dressing and eating is the basic moral life,
without them, there is no morality.��
Besides, he put forward the theory that ��Confucianism is not the only truth��.
He said, ��There must be a use for everyone��s talent,
and there is no need to follow Confucius.
If one really wants to be a sage like Confucius,
then, there was no Confucius thousand years ago,
Were the people at that time not be a man all along?��
In consequence, he used this absurd deduction
to point out that it should not judge what wrong from right only by Confucianism,
and rebuked the follow of
��People have the same idea and cannot be broken;
And they have not known it since they all repeat each other.��
In essence, it pointed out that
��It may not be right as usual.��
Moreover, Wu Yu in the era of the Republic of China
was called by Hu Shi
as the veteran who ��fighting down the Confucianism with one hand��.
So, the old gentleman Wu Yu
made a name for himself in the period of May the 4th by
intensively criticizing Confucius and Confucianism,
and became the veteran in the epoch-making
and vigorous New Culture Movement.
Eventually, in critics�� mind,
Confucius becomes
the undertaker of fault and backwardness of Chinese culture.
Thereupon, Confucius becomes
the poorest people in China.
In a word, Confucius in history
was either worshipped, interpreted or criticized.
Yet, either Confucius�� supporters
or opponents,
they all acknowledge a basic fact that
Confucius represents Chinese culture.
Whitehead studied western philosophy at one time,
and he considered it as the footnote of Plato.
Thus, Confucius is the biggest
charisma in Chinese ideology and culture.
Chinese ideology and culture is the footnote of Confucius�� footnote, so to speak.