The original text of "Xunzi·Cultivation of the Self" is as follows:
When you see good things, you must cultivate yourself for self-preservation; when you see bad things, you are stunned and must reflect on yourself. If goodness exists in the body, it will be good for oneself; if evil exists in the body, it will harm oneself. Therefore, anyone who is not me is my teacher; anyone who is me is my friend; anyone who flatters me is my thief. Therefore, a superior man has his disciples and relatives and friends, so that he hates his thieves. He loves good and is insatiable, he is admonished and able to command. Although he has no desire to make progress, he has achieved success!
The villain is like this: he causes chaos and is evil to others who are not his own; he is unkind and desires others to be virtuous to himself; his heart is like a tiger or wolf, and he acts like an animal, but he is also a thief to others. Those who flatter will be close, those who admonish and argue will be sparse, those who correct will become smiles, and those who are most loyal will become thieves. Even if you wish, you will not perish, so what! The poem says: "The buzzing and buzzing are also the sorrow of Confucius. If you plan for Zang, you will have the opposite; if you don't plan for Zang, you will have the support." This is what it means.
The way of Bian Shan is to regulate Qi and maintain health, and then you will be like Peng Zu; if you cultivate your own self-cultivation, you will be worthy of Yao and Yu. It is suitable to be able to communicate with the times, and to benefit people who are in poverty. This is etiquette and trustworthiness. Wherever the blood, energy, will and knowledge are used, if the propriety is followed, it will be cured, and if it is not propriety, it will be disordered. Food and drink, clothing, residence, movement and stillness, if propriety is not followed, it will be harmonious, and if it is not propriety, it will cause depression and disease; appearance, Attitudes, advances and retreats, and trends. If you follow the etiquette, you will be elegant. If you don't follow the etiquette, you will be stubborn, secluded, and unruly. If friends are rude, there will be no life, if things are rude, they will not be successful, and if the country is rude, there will be no peace.
The poem says: "The etiquette is fulfilled, and the laughter is rewarded." This is what it means. Those who follow others well are called teaching, those who are kind to others are called obedience; those who are not good to others are called flattery, and those who are not good to others are called flattery. Knowledge of right and wrong is ignorance, and ignorance of right and wrong. Those who hurt good people are called slanderers, and those who harm good people are called thieves. Yes means yes, non means non means straight. Stealing goods is called stealing, hiding things is called fraud, and changing things is called birth. The indeterminacy of interests is called impermanence. He who abandons his righteousness is called a thief. If you hear more, it is called "Bo"; if you hear less, it is called "Qian". It is often called leisure, but rarely it is called shabby. If it is difficult to enter, it is called 卍, and if it is easy to forget, it is called leakage.
If there are few and regulations, it is called governance; if there are many and there is chaos, it is called governance. Techniques for regulating qi and nourishing the heart: if the blood qi is strong, then it can be softened and harmonized; if one knows and worries gradually, then it can be easy to be good; if one is brave and violent, it can be assisted by smoothness; if it is facilitated together, it can be restrained and stopped by movement. If you are narrow and small, you will be broad; if you are humble and greedy for profit, you will fight against it with high ambition; if you are mediocre and slaves, you will be robbed by your teachers and friends; if you are negligent and abandoned, you will suffer disaster; if you are stupid, you will lose all your money. , then combine it with ritual and music, and connect it with thinking. Any way to cure qi and nourish the heart should not rely on etiquette, nor should it be obtained from a teacher, nor should it be a good idea.
This is what is called the art of regulating qi and nourishing the heart. If you cultivate your will, you will be arrogant and wealthy; if you are moral and righteous, you will despise the prince; if you look inward, you will despise external things. It is said: "A gentleman serves things, and a villain serves things." This is what it means. If the body is tired but the mind is at ease, do it; if the benefits are small but the righteousness is many, do it; if things are troubled and the king is in trouble, it is better to work with the poor king and be smooth. Therefore, a good farmer will not plow because of floods and droughts, a good businessman will not do business if he is not doing business, and a gentleman will not neglect the Tao because of poverty.
Respectful in body but loyal in heart, skilled in etiquette and righteousness but loving towards others; he is rampant in the world, even though he is trapped in barbarians, all people are precious. He strives to be the first in hard work, and he can make things happen in leisurely things. He is strict with integrity, strict and detailed, and he runs rampant in the world. His body is arrogant but his heart is deceitful. His skills are smooth but refined. He is popular all over the world. Even though he reaches all directions, everyone is humble. When it comes to hard work, you will steal from Confucianism and turn away from it; when it comes to leisurely work, you will follow it but not crookedly; when it comes to overcoming violations, it will not be timid; when it comes to service, it will not be recorded; it is rampant in the world, and although it reaches all directions, no one will abandon it.
Walking and offering hope is not a sign of flooding; walking and bowing one's neck is not attacking someone with violence; looking at it and bowing first is not fearful. However, if a gentleman wants to cultivate himself alone, he will not offend others who are better than the common people.
A husband can cover a thousand miles in a day, and a horse can reach it with ten horses. Will we use the infinite to chase the infinite? He has broken bones and muscles, and will never be able to live with him for the rest of his life. When there is a stop, even though it is thousands of miles away, it may be late, fast, early, or late, because it is incomparable! Those who don’t know the path will chase the infinite with the endless? Is there any way to stop it? The husband's observation of "hard and white", "similarity and difference", and "thickness and lack of thickness" is not undetectable, but a gentleman will not argue and stop it. The journey of relying on Kui is not easy, but if a gentleman cannot do it, he will stop it.
So learning is said to be late. If he stops and waits for me, and I go to meet him, he may be late, or quickly, or first, or later, because they cannot arrive at the same time! Therefore, if you keep walking without stopping, you will be like a lame turtle thousands of miles away; if you keep walking until you are tired of soil, you will be able to build mountains and hills. If we despise its source and open up its source, the river will be exhausted. One step forward, one step back, one left and one right, six degrees are not the same. That person's talent and talent are comparable to those of a lame turtle and Liu Ji! However, the lame turtle causes it, and the six conditions do not cause it. There is no other reason for it. It may be done for you, or it may not be done for you!
Although the road is far away, it cannot be done if it is not done; although the thing is small, it cannot be accomplished if it is not done. He is a person who has a lot of free time, so he can go in and out not far. A person who loves the Dharma and practices it is a scholar; a person who is determined and dedicated to the body is a gentleman; a person who is clear and unyielding is a saint. If a person is unable to do so, he will be helpless; if there is a law but no intention of its meaning, then things will go smoothly; if he relies on the law and is deep in his kind, then he will be warm and gentle.
Etiquette is the reason for correct conduct, and teachers are the reason for correct etiquette. How to behave rudely? Without a teacher, how can I know what etiquette is? If the etiquette is true, it means that you are in peace with the etiquette; if you follow the teacher's instructions, you will know as if you were a teacher. If you are affectionate and courteous, and know how to be a teacher, then you are a saint. Therefore, if you are not polite, you are lawless; if you are not a teacher, you are without a teacher. It is not a matter of following the Dharma, but it is good for one's own use. For example, it is like using blindness to distinguish colors, using deafness to distinguish sounds, and abandoning chaos and inaction. Therefore, learning is also about etiquette. Master, you are the one who respects the integrity of your body and values ??your own safety.
The poem goes: "If you don't know what you don't know, follow the emperor's rules." This is what it means. If you are obedient and obedient to your younger brothers, you can be said to be a good person; if you are more eager to learn and smart, you will be a gentleman. Those who steal Confucianism and worry about things, have no shame and are addicted to food and drink can be said to be a bad person; if they are fierce and disobedient, and are dangerous thieves but not brothers, they can be said to be an unknown person, even if they are punished and killed.
Those who are old and strong will return home, those who are not poor but have wisdom will accumulate, those who live in darkness will receive no reward, and those who are virtuous will not be worthy of one. Although people have these three behaviors, even if they have great faults, God will not allow them to happen!
A gentleman is cautious when seeking benefits, he is quick to do harm far away, he is afraid of avoiding humiliation, and he is courageous in pursuing principles. A gentleman is poor but has a broad ambition, is rich and honorable but has a respectful body, is peaceful but his blood is not lazy, is tired but his appearance is not withered, is angry but cannot take away, and is happy but cannot give. A gentleman who is poor but has a broad ambition is a person who is benevolent; a man who is rich but has a respectful body is a killer; a man who is in peace but has vitality that does not fade is a sign of justice; a man who is tired but has an appearance that is not withered is a person who is easy to make friends with; when he is angry, he cannot take away from him; when he is happy, he cannot give away; this is the way to overcome selfishness. also. The book says: "If you don't do good, you follow the king's way. If you don't do evil, you follow the king's way."
This means that a gentleman can overcome selfish desires with justice.
Introduction to the author of "Xunzi: Self-cultivation"
Xunzi (about 313 BC - 238 BC), whose surname was Kuang and courtesy name Qing, was of Han nationality. He avoided the taboo of Liu Xun, Emperor Xuan of the Western Han Dynasty, because " The two characters "Xun" and "Sun" have similar ancient sounds, so they are also called Sun Qing. A native of Zhao at the end of the Zhou Dynasty and the Warring States Period. A famous thinker, writer, politician, and one of the representatives of Confucianism, he was respectfully called "Xun Qing" by people at the time. He served three times as a sacrificial wine drinker at the Jixia Academy of the State of Qi, and later became the order of Chu Lanling (today's Lanling, Shandong).
Xunzi developed Confucianism and advocated the theory of evil nature, which is often compared with Mencius' theory of good nature. He also made considerable contributions to the reconstruction of Confucian classics.
For the above content, refer to Baidu Encyclopedia-Xunzi · Self-cultivation