Chapter 486 What is the Peak of Humanity

one day ago.

The Li family, whose ancestral home is in the Tianli area of ​​East China, has a wealth so huge that it is hard for ordinary people to imagine.

Its wealth is enough to benefit future generations for thousands of years.

The ancestral home is built against the mountain, with buildings radiating outward. There are palaces and towers, with a strong ancient style.

All the land within a radius of 500 miles belongs to the Li family.

The Li family has many children, most of whom grew up here. They will go to school outside and enter society to hone their skills when they are old enough.

This is the holy place of the Li family and the core of their unity.

For the Li family, not being able to return to the ancestral home at any time meant exile and a decline in status.

A few days ago, Young Master Li, who had been traveling in the Huangquan Star Region, came back.

When talking about Li Daoming, everyone in the Li family, whether they are blood relatives or servants, has a lot to say.

The evaluation is not very good.

He is a dandy, willful, unselfish, unambitious and ignorant.

In the eyes of many people, he is probably just a spoiled but unmotivated young master who has spent countless resources but has achieved nothing.

The Li family passed down morality as their heritage, managed the family with poetry and books, and emphasized not losing anything in terms of humanity.

If one's moral conduct is not damaged, then one's inner and outer self will not be damaged. The first step in cultivating oneself and one's mind is to cultivate one's moral conduct.

This is the family motto established by the Green Emperor after he experienced the vicissitudes of life, comprehended the Tao Te Ching, and understood the way of humanity.

Therefore, the Li family, regardless of gender, age or status, attaches great importance to moral character, and their strictness is far beyond the imagination of outsiders.

Of course, no matter how well the Li family is managed, there is still an outlier.

That is Li Daoming.

“There aren’t so many rules. Asking you to cultivate morality does not mean turning morality into rules, nor does it mean that you will be moral if you follow the rules.

A bunch of idiots who only know how to inherit and have no thoughts of their own."

Li Daoming has never liked the Li family's layered class divisions, with each layer having its own rules and treatment.

He also did not like the Li family's tradition of passing down morality, because he believed that it was wrong to let a group of people with vulgar hearts abide by the virtues of gentlemen or even moral saints.

The ultimate result of the spirit not being possessed is to raise a group of hypocrites.

"Then how do you think you should manage such a big family?"

A middle-aged man walked out with the gait of a dragon and a tiger. It was Li Daoming's father.

"Take morality as a pursuit rather than a norm. If you practice it, you will be praised. If you don't practice it, you won't be blamed." Li Daoming said, "If there are rules and regulations everywhere, the people who are raised will definitely be machines."

"Are you scolding us for having the legacy of Neo-Confucianism of the Song and Ming dynasties?" Li's father asked, "Without moral education, what is the difference between us and beasts?"

In the eyes of most members of the Li family, the Li family style is very good, and there are not many in the world that can compare with it.

The entire Li family advocates morality, and everyone has a sense of morality that is difficult for outsiders to imagine. They follow the way of gentlemen and seek the way of sages.

In addition, the Li family is extremely wealthy and does not need to fight for life and death for profit or engage in intrigues with others, which naturally forms a large barrier to isolate people from moral damage.

Therefore, the Li family is extremely proud of their noble sentiments and character.

"It's not that serious, but it's still a remnant of the 21st century," Li Daoming said sarcastically.

"So what do you think is the problem with the Li family?" Li's father asked again.

Li Daoming stood with his hands behind his back: "The positioning is wrong. The law is the starting point for us to be human, and on the road to pursuing morality, every step forward is happiness and joy, and is a kind of self-improvement.

Living with this mentality, a moral person is like being in heaven.

Rather than directly positioning at the ceiling, because only very few people can and are willing to touch the ceiling.

If you set your sights on the ceiling, it will surely bring suffering and misfortune, because it will go against the highest goodness and morality at every turn.

One is an upward line, which is constantly rewarded, and the other is a smooth downward line, which is often criticized.

Just like one person in a garden admires the flowers everywhere, while another person in a swamp dares not take a wrong step. Is there a big difference between heaven and hell? "

"So, are you denying the family precepts set by our ancestors?" Father Li scolded.

Li Daoming raised the corner of his mouth slightly and shook his head: "It's not that I'm denying it, but you guys are going astray.

Our ancestors only told us that moral character is a good thing and that poetry and books can cultivate one's nature and mind, but they did not set any rules.

Morality is regarded as a treasure and should be used to restrain oneself and achieve self-transcendence.

If morality is only mentioned on the lips and used to restrain others, then it is fake morality. "

"Then what is the difference between the morality you speak of and the existing morality of the Li family?" Li's father asked again.

Li Daoming said: "On the surface, there is no difference, but the actual difference is beyond imagination.

One is from the inside out, regarding morality as a treasure, and it is beautiful when obtained, this is pure gold.

One is from the outside to the inside, regarding morality as law, not considering it beautiful if one obtains it, and being criticized and punished by everyone if one does not obtain it. This is gilding.

From the inside out, it is the self-righteousness. Taking morality as rules, taking it as the standard of interests and punishment, is nothing more than a shallow law. This kind of morality is not the true identity morality, and it hurts the real morality by mixing the genuine with the fake.

There is a world of difference between a track chaser and a repeater.

In my opinion, the repeater is an insult to morality! This kind of spiritual repeater has created a large number of sophisticated egoists who do not agree with morality but use morality as a disguise.

The biggest problem of the Li family is greed. They are greedy for the name of morality. This kind of greed is itself harmful to the pursuit of morality.

If you want to change, you need a tolerant environment.

Be strict with yourself and lenient with others. Morality cannot be used as law. Be lenient when it is necessary and strict when it is necessary.

Although doing so will produce a large number of people who appear vulgar but are actually more vulgar, it will not kill the roc that spreads its wings.

If morality is used as law, in this environment, it will only cultivate a group of hypocrites, villains and vulgar people who appear to be not vulgar, but are actually vulgar in private. "

Li Daoming's words sounded very arrogant to his father.

How can a person not bring harm to others? How can he not feel uneasy?
Act according to the rules, do not violate the law, be a person with high moral character and not be criticized by others.

That is, the person least likely to be excluded in the group.

The smoothest and most harmless path of humanity is virtue and character, that is, morality.

As long as one is a human being, he will not deny morality.

You, Li Daoming, are only in your thirties and a mere celestial being. What knowledge and status do you have that dares to comment on the word morality?
Father Li shouted, "The word morality has been integrated into the blood of the Li family. We have done countless moral deeds, and this cannot be denied.

Even though there are many members of the Li family, they regard morality as a rule, not a treasure to pursue.

But the vast majority of Li family members, influenced by their surroundings, have extremely high moral character, and morality comes naturally to them.

This kind of education is the key to improving the moral character of the entire Li family and enhancing collective interests.

The entire Li family, even if there are some problems, is hundreds of times better than other aristocratic families! The inheritance may also become the longest-lasting one.

It will not fall for thousands of years.

This is the result!
You can't deny the overall benefits because of a few minor disadvantages.

The Li family is not as strict with others as you say. Being strict with you is our hope, but have you ever seen us scolding ordinary people for not being gentlemen or sages?
What's more, without this kind of moral education and allowing a tolerant environment, do you think a large group of people pursuing morality will naturally emerge?

In that kind of environment, there is a high probability that morality as a whole will decline without people realizing it, and people will only care about the law and be indifferent.

You could say the Li family has too many rules, which is a problem.

But to simply call it worthless is stupid.

Just like the Neo-Confucianism of the Song and Ming Dynasties, do you know how serious the moral decline was caused by the turmoil in that era?

Neo-Confucianism of the Song and Ming dynasties is a product of its time. It addresses the problems of that time and is not a panacea for all times.

In times of chaos, severe punishments naturally seem to be an overreaction.

It does have many drawbacks and is against human nature in some ways.

But doesn’t it have benefits? Doesn’t it make a huge contribution?
To deny it is politically, culturally, ethically and morally correct, but to deny it blindly is as stupid as a parrot!

Just like the Li family, they managed their family in this way for the past five hundred years and achieved many results.

But if times have changed and you still use it, and directly deny it if it doesn't work, then isn't that your problem?
Inheritance and development, why inherit, why develop, do you really understand?

Denying the past from the perspective of the present does not mean that people in the past were stupid, but that people today are stupid.

Do you know how many things in the 26th century are inherited from the 21st century? Do you know how many things in the 21st century are inherited from the Middle Ages or even BC?
The simplest one is centralization and party strife, which will exist in every era as long as there are people!
Everyone is bragging about the new era, but so many things are just the same old things, so many things are just repeating history, and so many people are just repeating their lives.

Do you really think you understand life? Do you really think you see things clearly?
Do you know what is changing and what hasn't changed at all?
"You are just a kid, how arrogant you are!"

Li's father scolded him with a loud and clear voice, which was full of thought-provoking words and made Li Daoming ponder.

This seems to be dialectical thinking.

Respect its negative effects and deeply analyze its positive effects. Things have cause and effect, look at them rationally. Inherit the good, reform the bad, and adapt to the times.

Li Daoming frowned and suddenly remembered that he only said that there were problems with the Li family and did not deny the entire Li family. Why was he scolded by his father?
The older you get, the wiser you become. I am far from being good at debate.

Father Li added: "You are still young, so it is understandable that you are arrogant, but please don't say these things in front of others in the Li family.

Otherwise, no matter how big the Li family is, there will be no place for you."

As a son, at most he did not do enough moral things, but he did not do anything immoral, let alone break the law.

My son is just not good enough. Not being good enough is not a sin. Being bad is a sin.

If the Li family wishes him dead just because he is not good enough, then this Li family is truly crazy and is truly dominated by false morality.

"Is this a blow followed by two jujubes to appease them?"

Li Daoming took out two large green fairy dates, handed one to his father, and ate the other one himself.

"There are many people in the Li family who can abide by the rules and have the ability to do things even in a small way." Father Li wiped the green dates and took a bite.

After swallowing it, he continued, “Humanity is so complicated that people who are in it cannot figure it out at all. It can always be debated.

But the pinnacle of humanity is truly becoming a moral saint, and it is also the easiest path to understand.

People who have left their names in history and achieved great success basically have no major moral problems.

The people who live most comfortably in the social environment are also those who have no major moral flaws.

Therefore, even Lao Tzu, the Taoist saint, believed that human nature was insignificant and that humans were just straw dogs in the eyes of heaven.

But he also had to spend a lot of space writing about humanity in order to pass on and spread the Tao Te Ching. If he didn't write about humanity, not many people would read it.

Tao Te Ching is divided into Dao Jing and De Jing. The virtue of humanity actually occupies half of Tao Te Ching. Its importance is difficult to estimate.

Of course, writing about humanity is a form of self-analysis and an exploration of human self-cognition.

What's more, morality is the way of humanity, the core way.

If you follow human nature, the Tao Te Ching can be passed on; if you go against human nature, you will be criticized by thousands of people.

We are human beings, and as long as we deal with people, we must follow human nature, understand?"

　I originally wanted to write some fragments of the plot, but after thinking about it, I decided to give up so as not to affect the quality of this chapter.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)