There are usually two rough views on "what is good". One is that goodness is external and objective, that is, as long as a person's behavior conforms to certain established norms, from ignorance of parents to desire for public interests and kindness to society, it can be regarded as the representative of goodness. The difficulty of this view is that some good deeds may be covered up and even become a means of gaining fame. For example, some good people who build bridges and roads are actually villains who harm the village. Another view is that goodness is intrinsic and subjective, that is, as long as a person has a kind heart, even if his actions lead to various disasters, he can still be regarded as a good person. However, in the case of "I didn't kill Boren, Boren died because of me", who can not feel guilty? Who can consider himself an upright person?
The above two viewpoints can be called effect theory and motivation theory respectively, which are obviously biased and different. What about the Confucian position? The golden mean. Good must give consideration to both effect and motivation, covering external norms and internal requirements. According to the situation faced by Confucius at that time, "bad collapse of rites and music" refers to the collapse of external norms, so how to maintain and rebuild it? Only through the strong consciousness of inner requirements, and inner requirements are "benevolence" and "if people are ruthless, what about courtesy?" This is a clear appeal that people are heartless if they are happy. But there is no need to overcorrect here, thinking that Confucius entered the inner world and became a pure motivation theorist. Because Confucius said that he was "standing at the age of 30" and "standing at the ceremony", it shows that the combination of internal requirements and external norms, "being gentle before being a gentleman" is the true Confucian view of "goodness".
Simply put, "goodness" is the perfection of the proper relationship between two or more subjects, which implies three meanings: first, when you are alone, there is no goodness at all; Kindness can only be shown when people treat each other, and the word "benevolence" is really profound. How can a person be filial without parents? People have no country, how to be loyal? How can you make friends without friends? Filial piety, filial piety, loyalty, of course, good, but how can you do these requirements on a desert island alone? Secondly, there must be some proper relationship between people "in hypothesis", so we can't know it from birth. Learn to know, even get sleepy. At the same time, the so-called "appropriateness" is slightly different because of the time and space of ancient and modern China and foreign countries. How can you rely on wishful thinking if you want to do good deeds? This is the main reason why Confucianism attaches importance to learning and education, that is, not only for making a living, but also for safety. Third, the motivation of "full" relationship is undoubtedly innate. The so-called "filial piety is naturally known when you meet your parents, and filial piety is naturally known when you meet your older brother (the same as Xun)". After seeing it, there is naturally a motivation to demand perfection. Therefore, kindness can be said to be "good" on the one hand, and on the other hand, it must be rewarded by kindness, which has both internal foundation and external actions.
There is only one indicator in real life, that is, "choosing goodness and being stubborn", otherwise it will be abandoned, forgotten or deviated from the fundamental requirements of human nature for goodness. Of course, there are still some immoral potentials in life, such as knowledge and art, which Confucianism fully affirms and exerts. However, if you ask everyone what is their foothold? Then the answer is not that you need wisdom and environmental knowledge, nor that you need sensitivity and talent to taste art, but that as long as you live in the world and live in peace with others, moral goodness can be achieved. This is the human reality? Or the human ideal? I fully believe in the Confucian method of shooting reality and ideals.