The couplet in Zhuge Caolu: Indifferent, quiet and far-reaching, comes from the 37th visit to the Caolu. Liu, Guan and Zhang went to Zhuge Caolu with the boy, and when they reached the middle gate, Liu Bei saw a couplet on the door. If you don't pursue excitement, you can achieve your lofty goals with peace of mind. This couplet reveals Zhuge Liang's noble moral conduct. There are two sentences in Zhuge Liang's Book of Commandments: "You can't be clear-minded unless you are indifferent, and you can't be far away unless you are quiet." Originally, it was an exclusive sentence. The novelist replaced the original negative negative negative form with an affirmative sentence and used it as a couplet for Zhuge Caolu. But it is still an even sentence rather than an antithetical sentence. Quiet to cultivate one's morality, thrifty to cultivate morality. Not indifferent to one's ambition, not tranquil to be far away. A husband must be quiet to learn, but he must also learn. If he does not learn to have a wide range of talents, he will not succeed in learning. If he is slow, he will not be able to exert himself, and if he is dangerous, he will not be able to cure his nature. If the years go by, his intentions will fade away, and he will become withered, and he will be unable to meet the world. What will happen to him?
People with moral cultivation practice in this way. They make themselves perfect by meditation and self-reflection, and cultivate their noble moral character by frugality and saving money. If they are not clear-minded and want little, they cannot make their ambitions clear and firm, and if they are not stable and quiet, they cannot realize their lofty ideals and study hard for a long time. To learn true knowledge, they must study and discuss their body and mind in peace, and people's talents are accumulated from continuous learning. If you don't study hard, you can't grow and develop your talents; If you don't have a firm will, you can't succeed in your studies. Indulging in debauchery and negative neglect can't encourage your mind to cheer up. Hasty adventure and impatience can't make Tao Zhi's temperament noble. If the years and years are wasted and the volunteer time is wasted, they will eventually age day by day like dead leaves. Such people will not be used by the society but will benefit the society. They will only be trapped in their poor homes sadly, and it will be too late to regret at that time. (Zhuge Village, Lanxi) [Note: At the request of netizen Wu Chunsen.
"Unless they are indifferent, they will have no ambition." It's from the Book of Commandments written by Zhuge Liang to his 8-year-old son Zhuge Zhan at the age of 54. This is not only a summary of Zhuge Liang's life experience, but also a requirement for his son. Here, Zhuge Liang uses a "double negative" sentence pattern, which shows his teaching and infinite expectations for his son in a strong and euphemistic tone. In modern words, "If you don't look down on the fame and fortune in front of you, you won't have a clear ambition and you won't be able to concentrate peacefully." You can't achieve your lofty goals.
From the above analysis, we can see that Zhuge Liang used the Law of Negation in Logic to emphasize that he wanted to express "be indifferent to clear ambition, be quiet and reach for a lofty goal". This is a philosophical statement. It is the same as the truth that "if you want to take it, you must first follow it" and "if you want to achieve your goal, you must first make twists and turns". Instead, we should learn from "Ming Zhi", set up lofty aspirations, and when the time is ripe, we can "reach far" and do something vigorous.
"Indifference" is an ancient Taoist thought, and Laozi once said that "being indifferent is the best, but winning is not beautiful". Later generations have always inherited and appreciated this artistic conception of "being comfortable in mind", such as Bai Juyi's Ask Qiu Guang. Not limited to the long-term and broad realm of immediate gains and losses
admonition sub-article
Zhuge Liang
During the trip of a gentleman, one should be quiet to cultivate one's morality and frugality to cultivate morality. One should not be indifferent to one's ambition, nor be quiet and far-reaching. A husband must be quiet before he can learn, and he must not be learned without extensive talents, ambition and success. He can't be excited if he is reckless, and he can't be cured.
Comment
This article is excerpted from Zhuge Liang's Collection as a family instruction. The main purpose of the full text is to persuade my son to study hard and make up his mind, and to work hard from the quiet talk about berthing, and to avoid absurdity and rashness, that is, to force a fortress and fight to the death. These words seem to be commonplace, but out of the affection of father and son, they are different.