To tell the truth, there was a time when I was puzzled: the works of pre-Qin philosophers were very old, and the background of the times was completely different from now. Is their content still valuable today?
But if you think about it, these works can travel through history and spread to us after the waves wash away the sand and lead, which proves that they have strong vitality. And I should have more say after getting close to them and getting to know them.
Reciting the Tao Te Ching is one of my annual plans, so I naturally follow the plan. It has been completed so far.
As for the purpose of making this plan at that time, I think it was probably considered from the following three aspects.
When I was in college, I was afraid to get in touch with the Tao Te Ching, because I was worried that my experience was limited and I couldn't understand its true meaning. After all, this is the earliest ideological achievement about philosophy in China's classics.
But in recent years, I feel more and more that, as a China native, it really doesn't make sense for me not to read and appreciate the classic of pre-Qin Chinese studies like Tao Te Ching.
Besides, I haven't recited such a long literary work for a long time since I worked. It's time to find back the feeling of washing away and infiltrating the soul of ancient books, as well as the pleasure of reading with sonorous melody and harmonious rhyme. Because Tao Te Ching uses many antithetical sentences and parallelism sentences, it also conforms to the above characteristics. For example:
In addition, there are 8 1 chapters in the Tao Te Ching, because the content of each chapter is relatively independent and the length is not long, so I will break down the task of reciting into weeks to avoid being too heavy.
It is worth mentioning that there are three versions of Tao Te Ching, one is the popular version, the other is the silk version of Mawangdui, and the other is the Guodian Chu Bamboo Book with different contents (Sima Qian has never read Guodian Chu Bamboo Book). Therefore, the Tao Te Ching itself is full of mystery, and it will have a special feeling when recited.
I still remember every ancient poem my father taught me when I was a child. Therefore, I have always held the view that Chinese classics should accompany children to grow up.
Some people may think that it is useless for a child to read these things, but he can't understand them. It is better to give him a happy childhood and play freely.
It is true that the children of that year may not understand it, but it happened that this was the golden age in their memory. Then let them memorize it in the golden age of memory. When they grow up, are interested and understand, they will naturally study deeply. If their childhood life is not enriched by excellent culture, the inferior cartoons in the market will accompany them for too long, which will delay their intellectual development.
Even if they don't try to deeply understand these classics of Chinese studies, the incisive language is enough to provide material for their future writing. Like Tao Te Ching, many of them are still idioms, aphorisms or expressions of aphorisms. For example:
If parents want their children to like Chinese studies, they should first "lead by example", lead by example, and be familiar with those classic chapters in order to drive him to learn. In other words, parents must be familiar with the Tao Te Ching if they want their children to read it. So I have to recite it myself.
As a new mother, from the perspective of scientific parenting, we might as well let our children contact the classics of Chinese studies from prenatal education. Therefore, from the beginning of this year's pregnancy, the Tao Te Ching has also been regarded as prenatal education by me. Every morning or evening, I listen to the Chinese learning machine for 30 minutes. The first part is on odd days, and the second part is on even days. After a few months, I became familiar with it and naturally achieved the effect of blurting out.
Sometimes reading pre-Qin works, you don't have to trace back to the source, know the original code, and you don't have to understand the context of the history of thought. What we care about is "useful" to our life and work. I want to see if the wisdom of my ancestors can help me understand the world better.
For classic works, everyone will have differences in understanding.
For me, I really had an epiphany after reciting the Tao Te Ching and thinking in combination with the reality of my life and work. Especially some sentences I didn't feel at first. After experiencing some things, looking back, I found that I had already said it in the Tao Te Ching, but I didn't notice it myself, or it was not surprising at that time.
For example, knowledge sharing, some people will think at first, what I have worked so hard to sum up, why should I tell others for free, so that others can know, so that they will not run ahead of me.
On the surface, sharing knowledge seems to be a loss, but I don't know that only by sharing and transmitting knowledge can you prove that you have really learned this knowledge, and it is not enough to further improve your knowledge system and help you find more valuable friends and partners from others.
For example, if you see someone who is not pleasing to the eye in a * * * place, you always want to take the opportunity to argue with him. It seems that only in this way can I be Japanese.
So it's best not to make enemies with others. Once you turn your face for the first time, it's like a nail on a board. Even if the nail is pulled out, there are traces no matter how it is repaired. "
For example, in the process of starting a business, some people always feel that some small things and details do not need to be dealt with seriously. What is important is to do the big things well.
Sometimes trivial seemingly simple things often play a decisive role.
For example, you speak some important truths out of kindness, but some people don't try them themselves, and they also laugh at the absurdity of those theories, which makes people feel sad.
Therefore, we understand that different people have different cognitive levels, and there is no need to force everyone to share their own views. It is enough to be serious about yourself.
With these ancestors, many people can easily expel the psychological "devil" and live a normal and stable life, so as not to be confused all day, waste the beauty of life on troubles and "miss their own lives". That is to say, for people who cultivate self-cultivation, Tao Te Ching is a dose of chicken soup for the soul, which can help us find the back garden of the soul in this complicated society and not be troubled by the troubled world.
The above three points are my purpose of reciting the Tao Te Ching. I believe that with the growth of my age, it will bring me new horizons and lead me to discover an unexpected world.
If you don't take reciting as a chore, enjoy the process and experience the power of persistence.