The full text is as follows:
When Confucius traveled eastward, he saw two children arguing and asked them why.
A child said, "I think the sun is close to the sky at sunrise and far from the sky at noon." . "
A Confucius said, "I am far away at the beginning of the day, and I am near in Japan."
A child said, "When the sun just came out, the hood of the car was as big as noon and the plate was as small as usual. Is this the reason why it is not far from the big one?" ? "
Another child said, "The sun just came out to cool down, and it was as hot as putting your hand in hot water at noon. Isn't that why you feel hot when you are near and cool when you are far away?" ? "
Hearing this, Confucius could not judge who was right or wrong.
The two children smiled and said to Confucius, "Who said you were smart?" ? "
Full text translation:
When Confucius traveled eastward, he saw two children arguing and asked why.
A child said, "I think the sun is closer to people when it first comes out, and it is farther away at noon."
Another child thinks that the sun is farther away from people when it first comes out, and closer to people at noon.
A child said, "The sun was as big as a hood when it first came out, and it was as small as a plate at noon. Isn't it far small and near big? "
Another child said, "It was cold when the sun first came out, and it was as hot as putting your hand into hot water at noon. Isn't it cool to feel hot near and far? "
Confucius can't judge (who is right and who is wrong).
The two children smiled and said, "Who said you were learned?"
Full text appreciation:
By describing two children arguing about the distance between the sun and man in the morning and noon, it reflects the precious spirit of people in ancient China in exploring natural phenomena, thinking independently, questioning boldly and pursuing truth.
This short story runs through dialogue. Based on Confucius' view that it is impossible to decide, the full text describes the process of two children arguing about Japan in an orderly way.
First, write two children to clearly put forward their views on the distance between the sun and people, which makes people think.
Then take out the basis separately. To outdo each other, they both used rhetorical questions, and put the word "debate" in the topic, which enhanced the debate.
Both children use vivid metaphors in the dialogue to prove their point of view through comparison. Compared with the size of the area, the first child is intuitive and seems reasonable. The second child compared people's feelings about the hot and cold sun in different periods, which seems reasonable. It can be seen that they are diligent in thinking and have rich imagination; From their tit-for-tat arguments, we can also feel the angry and smiling faces of the interlocutors. However, their understanding is superficial after all, and they can only hold their own opinions and can't get the correct answer.
In the last two sections, two children laughed at Confucius, who was noncommittal, in front of their argument.
From the story itself, the two children dare to explore difficult problems, no matter how naive and superficial, but it reflects the strong desire of the ancients to understand natural phenomena, and this spirit of exploration is commendable. As a great scholar, Confucius was not familiar with all subjects. At that time, the level of human understanding of natural phenomena was still very low. Confucius' attitude of "never admitting his ignorance" is correct and should not be laughed at.