Shibusawa Eiichi, born in 1840, studied Chinese studies and fencing since childhood, but the Meiji Restoration changed his fate. From 65438 to 0867, he participated in the World Expo held in Paris, France as a member of the Japanese diplomatic corps, and then traveled in Europe for nearly two years. At that time, he was deeply impressed by the industrial development and economic system in Europe, which laid the foundation for his future activities. After returning to China, he was hired by the new Meiji government to work in the Ministry of Finance and was promoted to finance minister. However, he quickly resigned and entered the business, and was involved in many fields such as finance, railway, shipping, mining, textile, steel, shipbuilding, electromechanical, insurance, construction, etc., and was called the "father of industry" in modern Japan.

The Analects of Confucius represents benevolence, ethics and morality, and the abacus is of course a symbol of "being cautious" and "haggling over every ounce". Shibusawa Eiichi believes that traditional ideas always put "righteousness" and "benefit" in opposition, which has been debated from ancient China to ancient western countries. For example, Confucian scholars in China said that "the rich are heartless", and Aristotle in ancient Greece also said that "the business of all evils". Of course, the formation of these concepts is related to the improper profits of some unscrupulous businessmen, and even formed the view that "no business is dishonest". However, when this concept is absolute, it will do great harm to the development of the country and society. Therefore, he believes that his job is to improve the morality of businessmen through the Analects of Confucius and let them understand the truth of "taking the right way"; At the same time, let others know that "seeking profit" does not violate the old saying of "the most holy teacher", and you can pursue "the interests under the sun" without thinking that you are losing money with morality. He said: "The abacus depends on the Analects of Confucius; At the same time, the Analects of Confucius also relies on abacus to make real enrichment activities. Therefore, it can be said that the relationship between the Analects of Confucius and the abacus is far away and close at hand. " He believes that "narrowing the distance between the Analects of Confucius and the abacus is the most urgent task today." Because we do not pursue material progress and interests, people, countries and society will not be rich, which is undoubtedly a disaster; The fundamental way to get rich is to rely on "benevolence and morality" and "correct truth", so as to ensure its continuous wealth. To this end, he put forward the concept of "the soul of a scholar, the talent of a businessman". In other words, a person should not only have the integrity, morality and ideals of scholars, but also have the talent and pragmatism of businessmen. "If you are partial to the scholar's spirit and have no business talent, you will also incur self-destruction economically. Therefore, you must have the soul of a scholar and the talent of business. " But "only the Analects of Confucius is the foundation of cultivating the soul of scholars", because "the so-called business talents are originally based on morality. Business talents without morality, that is, immoral, deceptive, flashy and frivolous business talents, the so-called cleverness is by no means a real business talent. "

In his view, the most prominent misunderstanding of Confucius by post-Confucianists is the concept of wealth and financial management. They wrongly put "the right path of benevolence and righteousness" in complete opposition to "the wealth of Huo Zhi". Therefore, Sezer demonstrated and explained Confucius' view of wealth. His analysis of The Analects of Confucius and The University shows that Confucius did not despise wealth, but only advised people not to forget righteousness and get ill-gotten wealth, that is, the Analects said that "the country is well known, vicious and shameful; The country has no choice but to be rich and expensive, which is shameful. " The most serious misunderstanding of Confucius' view of justice and benefit is that "benefit" and "righteousness" are completely opposite. As a result, "the ruling class of the agricultural, industrial and commercial class is placed outside the moral norms, and at the same time, the agricultural, industrial and commercial class feels that it is unnecessary to be bound by morality" and "the spirit of industrialists engaged in production has almost become egoism. In their minds, there is neither benevolence nor morality, and they even want to exploit the loopholes of the law as much as possible to achieve the purpose of making money. " But this kind of egoism will send the country to the point of no return, just as the "University" said: "One person is greedy and one country is chaotic." In other words, the trivial matter of personal greed will lead to the earth-shattering event of national turmoil. Therefore, self-cultivation and moral promotion can not be ignored. On the other hand, he also believes that empty talk and contempt for industry are also important reasons why the country is weak and the people are poor. Therefore, he stressed: "Only the theory of benevolence and righteousness is empty, which also dampens the vitality of the country, weakens the material productivity, and finally leads to national subjugation." Therefore, he advocated that "benefits and morality go hand in hand, the country can develop healthily, and individuals can go their own way and get rich." He also used his own experience to explain that The Analects of Confucius and the abacus can go hand in hand, and made it clear that The Analects of Confucius must be regarded as a "classic" in business. His work "depends on benevolence and morality to promote production, and must establish the belief of the unity of righteousness and benefit."

Now, no one will deny that "righteousness" and "profit" should be as indispensable as the two wheels of a car and the wings of a bird; Only by "combining justice with benefit" can human society be happy and have hope. When a society is in a period of transition, and all kinds of rules and regulations, laws and regulations are extremely imperfect, society has left a huge space for individuals to make huge profits illegally, but in this case, moral self-discipline is even more important. Today's market economy itself is based on contract and honesty. Without the support of morality, the structure of market economy will not be established in the end. Therefore, even today, the Analects of Confucius and abacus should be combined without distinction. If you combine, you will have two benefits, and if you divide, you will have two injuries. (