"Scholar" is one of the important classes in ancient Chinese society, and is regarded as the first of the "four people". The origin of the scholar class is very early. It should have appeared in Xia and Shang Dynasties. The spring and Autumn period and the Warring States period are the most active period of the scholar class. In Shuowen Jiezi, the explanation of "Shi" is as follows: "Shi, things also start from one, and finally ten, from the eleventh. Confucius said: to promote the integration of ten into one as a scholar, Duan Yucai noted that: extended, all who can do their own things are called scholars. "White tiger" said: the scholar is also the matter, the name of any matter. Therefore, "biography" said: through ancient and modern, distinguish whether or not, that is, the scholar. " From this we can see that "Shi" refers to people who can accomplish things, but this is not comprehensive and accurate enough.

Confucius took the lead in generalizing the spiritual connotation of "Shi", that is, "Shi is determined by Tao", the core of which is the core of Confucianism - "Ren". According to statistics, the Analects of Confucius mentions "Scholar" 15 times, Confucianism 2 times, gentleman 107 times, sage 4 times. In fact, most of the contents of the Analects are about the "Tao" of "scholars". Mencius inherited Confucius' Thoughts on "scholars", and supplemented and expanded them. In Mencius, he talked about "scholars" 64 times, "Confucianism" 2 times, "official" 29 times, "gentleman" 82 times, "Saint" 47 times. Although these appellations are different, they all refer to the same and can be regarded as "scholars".

The spiritual connotation of "scholars" in the study of Confucius and Mencius is very rich, which can be roughly attributed to the following aspects.

1 The spirit of seeking Tao and promoting Tao

This is the core of the spirit of "Scholar", the root of scholar, and the greatest contribution of Confucianism to Chinese traditional society. "If a man is determined to be a man of the way, he will be ashamed of those who are ill dressed and ill fed." "A gentleman will not seek food. Plowing is also discouraged in it; learning is also in it. A gentleman worries about the way but not about poverty. " These two sentences distinguish the scholars from the general public, which shows the difference between the two pursuits: the pursuit of the scholars is "Tao", which is spiritual; the pursuit of the general public is food, clothing, housing and transportation, which is material. So what is the "Tao" pursued by scholars?

The "Tao" here should be Confucius' emphasis on "benevolence" and Mencius' emphasis on "righteousness". Confucius emphasized rites and music, but he lived in an era of bad rites and music collapse, "the decline of King's way, the abolition of rites, the loss of politics and education, the different policies of the country, the different customs of the family", the system of rites and music was trampled on arbitrarily. Facing the "eight Yi dance in court" of Ji's family, Confucius also shouted "it is tolerable, which is not tolerable.". In such a social background, Confucius began to think about the nature of rites and music, and finally realized that "people are not benevolent, such as rites? How happy is it to be human without kindness? " That is to say, rites and music are only external forms that play a normative role, and their essence lies in "benevolence", that is, the "Tao" of people. Mencius' righteousness is often connected with benevolence, which is the development of Confucius' thought of benevolence.

The pursuit of Tao is not only to spread and enjoy Tao in ordinary times, but also to become Tao in times of crisis. "Zengzi said: a scholar can't be a man of great determination, but he has a long way to go. Is it not a heavy responsibility, which is to practice benevolence? Is it not far to die? " As a scholar, he should be ambitious and firm-minded. He should take it as his duty to spread the Tao and practice benevolence and morality, and rest until death. In addition, it is necessary to live in peace and contentment, such as Yan Hui's "one spoon of food, one spoon of drink, in the poor lane, people can't afford to worry about it, and return can't change its joy.". In the time of crisis, a scholar should have the consciousness of martyrdom. Confucius said: "people with lofty ideals and benevolence do not survive to harm benevolence, but kill themselves to become benevolence." Mencius also said, "life is what I want, and righteousness is what I want. You can't have both. You can't give up life and take righteousness." In the choice of life and death and Tao, scholars should not hesitate to choose to complete their own Tao, which is a kind of spirit willing to sacrifice for faith. For thousands of years, countless people with lofty ideals have been inspired to go through fire and water in order to realize their ideals and uphold their morality. For example, Wen Tianxiang of the Southern Song Dynasty, Dong Lin Party of the Ming Dynasty and Tan Sitong of the late Qing Dynasty, all of them have killed themselves to be benevolent and gave up their lives to take A good example of a righteous taxi.

2 Have a sense of social responsibility in mind

In the Analects of Confucius, there are many chapters about politics, which reflects the concern of scholars for national affairs. As the backbone of a society, a scholar should "live widely in the world, establish the right position in the world, and walk the road of the world.". If you are successful, you should follow the principle of the people; if you are not successful, you should go your own way. " Mencius' idea of "to be happy and to worry about the world" is a clear reflection of scholars' responsibility to the world, which has a profound impact on later generations, such as Fan Zhongyan's "worry about the world first, and then be happy", Donglin's "family affairs, state affairs and world affairs care about everything", Gu Yanwu's "everyone is responsible for the rise and fall of the world", Lin Zexu's "to benefit the life and death of the country, whether to avoid misfortunes and blessings" All of them are the embodiment of the spirit of cherishing the world. In the face of social injustice and national crisis, a scholar should stand up and shout out, have the courage of "though there are thousands of people, I will go", and the tenacity of "making a mistake, making a move".

Another expression of scholar's sense of social responsibility is the feelings of the people. Confucius has been carrying out his "benevolence" all his life, and benevolent people want to "love others", to achieve "the old are safe, the friends believe, the few cherish" and "the old I am old, and the old of people; the young I am young, and the young of people". Zhang Zai of Song Dynasty explained the relationship between the people and the things in this way: "people, my compatriots; things, I and also." As a scholar, he should be "benevolent to the people, benevolent to the people, benevolent to the people, and benevolent to the people