From Mencius in the Warring States Period, Born in Worry and Died in Happiness (selected from Mencius Gao Zixia), excerpts from the original text:
People are unchangeable, and then they can change; Trapped in the heart, balanced in consideration, and then made; Color label, sound hair, and then metaphor. A country, if there are no ministers and wise men who can assist the king, will often be in danger of the collapse of its neighboring countries and the misfortunes from abroad. In this way, you will know that sorrow is enough to make people live and pleasure is enough to make people die.
Translation:
A person often makes mistakes in order to correct them later; Confused in my heart, thinking about blocking, and then I can know what to do; The anger of others is shown on the face, and the resentment is spit between the lines, so you can know.
If a country does not have a minister who abides by the statutes and a sage who can assist the king at home, and there is no country with comparable strength abroad and disasters from abroad, such a country will often go to extinction.
Only in this way can we know that anxiety can make people (or countries) survive and develop, and comfort and enjoyment can make people (or countries) go to extinction.
Extended data
Creative background:
As the most important representative of Confucianism after Confucius, Mencius developed Confucius' theory of benevolence into the theory of benevolent governance, and put forward the idea that "the people value the monarch but despise him", and advocated that the monarch should implement benevolent governance and enjoy the people. Mencius' ideological theory is the book Mencius. Mencius recorded Mencius' words and deeds and was a dialogue work.
This article is selected from Mencius Gao Zi Xia. During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, there were wars and disputes. If a country wants to be in an invincible position, it must work hard and not be complacent. This article is written under this background.
Main idea of the article:
Firstly, the author lists six examples of people who were tempered by poverty and setbacks and finally took on great responsibilities, which proves that hardship can motivate people to work hard and achieve new achievements. Then, the author further demonstrates the truth that sorrow is greater than heart death from two different angles: the development of a person and the rise and fall of a country. Finally, let nature take its course and come to the conclusion that "born in sorrow, died in happiness".
The full text adopts the way of enumerating historical cases and reasoning, and deduces them layer by layer, making the article compact and meticulous. In addition, the article uses parallelism and antithesis, even if the tone is patchy, it also creates an unstoppable momentum and effectively enhances the persuasiveness of the argument.
Baidu Encyclopedia-Born in sorrow, died in happiness.