"Oral and Ear Learning" originally means that after hearing something with the ears, one just talks about it without really benefiting from it. Nowadays it is often used to refer to half-understood knowledge gained from hearsay.
"Xunzi Encouraging Learning": "The little man's learning ears go into the ears and come out of the mouth; between the mouth and the ears are four inches of ears, which is enough to beautify a seven-foot body?" " "Encouraging Learning" is an article by Xunzi expressing his educational thoughts. Xunzi believed that human knowledge is not innate, but acquired through acquired learning, education and environmental influences. There is no end to learning. You must be "perseverant" and "single-minded." You can't just study hard, nor can you just dabble in it and be miscellaneous without specialization.
Xunzi wrote: A gentleman listens to his ears, remembers it in his heart, and expresses it in every move. Therefore, even the smallest words and deeds have the meaning. May become an example for others to follow. When it comes to learning, a villain listens with his ears and speaks with his mouth. The distance between the mouth and the ears is only four inches. How can listening to the words in the ears and speaking with the mouth help improve one's moral character?
Those ancient people studied to improve themselves; but people today study to show others. Gentlemen study in order to cultivate their own sentiments; villains study in order to show off and please others. Therefore, telling others without asking is called impatience, and asking one question but telling others two questions is wordy.
Therefore, a gentleman should answer questions appropriately.