"Study is valuable but doubtful" directly reflects that one must be good at discovering problems, often question problems, and be able to put forward one's own opinions, which requires a critical spirit and the courage to question. The key to learning is to ask questions. "Xuegui has doubts" comes from a saying by Chen Xianzhang in the Ming Dynasty to persuade students. The whole sentence is: Seniors say that learning is valuable, but there is doubt. A small doubt will lead to small progress, and a big doubt will lead to great progress. Doubts are the opportunity for enlightenment. A moment of enlightenment, a moment of progress.
The background of Xuegui’s doubtful sayings
In the 12th year of Zhengtong in the Ming Dynasty (1447), Chen Xianzhang participated in the provincial examination and won the ninth place. He was 20 years old. The following year, he went to Beijing to take part in the examination of the Ministry of Etiquette, passed the deputy list, and was selected to study in the Imperial College. In the second year of Jingtai (1451), he took part in the examination again and failed again. But Chen Xianzhang always persevered in the pursuit of knowledge.
When he was 27 years old, he heard that there was a famous scholar named Mr. Kang Zhai (formerly known as Wu Yubi) in Linchuan County, Fuzhou. He was very knowledgeable and had thoroughly read "Yiluozhou" edited by Zhu Xi. After "Yuanlu", he also studied the origins of Neo-Confucianism in Song and Ming Dynasties, understood the way of saints, and reviewed the biographies of Confucius and Mencius.
In order to visit famous teachers, Chen Xianzhang was not afraid of traveling long distances, crossing the Geng Mountains, crossing Meiguan, and arriving in Ganzhou (today's Jiangxi Province). He first went up the Gan River, passed through the Jishui River to the Qingjiang River, landed on the shore, and then came to Chongren County by land. Finally, he found Mr. Wu Yubi who had given up his official career and preferred to give lectures at home.
Wu Yubi is very strict in his studies. He requires students to be attentive and consistent in their learning attitude and not to be distracted. They must concentrate their thoughts, cultivate themselves in silence, and reflect when they are active, so as to make their hearts clear and clear. Chen Xianzhang was very inspired by the meeting and benefited a lot. However, Chen Xianzhang was not satisfied with Wu Yubi's analysis of the "Book of Changes".
The next year, he bid farewell to Mr. Wu and returned to Baisha Village in Jiangmen. He built a large-scale bookstore in the south of the foothills of Xiaolu Mountain and named it "Spring Terrace". From then on, Chen Xianzhang lived in seclusion and concentrated on studying without leaving home. In order to reduce the disturbance to him, the family dug a hole in the wall, through which food, food and clothing were put.
Chen Xianzhang lived in seclusion on the Spring Terrace, studying classics and exploring the philosophies of his ancestors. After ten years of hard study, he sat in meditation, abandoned the complex and made common sense, and grasped the key to the harmony between heart and reason. He achieved a leap forward in knowledge and cultivation. progress. In the spring of 1465 (the first year of Chenghua in the Ming Dynasty), Chen Xianzhang decided to set up a teaching hall in Chunyang, and students from neighboring villages came here.
A brief introduction to the author of Xuegui Youyu
Chen Xianzhang (November 27, 1428 - March 9, 1500), courtesy name Gongfu, alias Shizhai, was born in Fuxin, Guangzhou, Guangdong He was born in Baishali, Huixian County (now Xinhui District, Jiangmen City), so he was also called Mr. Baisha, and in the world he was known as Chen Baisha.
Thinker, philosopher, educator, calligrapher, poet, and guqin player of the Ming Dynasty. The only great Confucian in Guangdong who worshiped Confucius in the temple was the founder of the Ming Dynasty's philosophy of mind. He was called "the true Confucian of the Holy Dynasty", "the one from Lingnan" and "the Confucian school of Lingnan" by later generations.
Chen Xianzhang was born in Metropolis Village, Xinhui, Guangdong, and moved to Baisha Village with his grandfather when he was 10 years old. In the spring of the year when he was twenty, he passed the examination to become a scholar, and in the autumn of the same year he passed the ninth place in the examination. In April of the 13th year of Orthodoxy, he passed the imperial examination and entered the Imperial Academy to study.
After failing the examination in the second year of Jingtai, he became a disciple of Wu Yubi of Jiangxi Province. In the second year of Chenghua, he returned to Taixue and went to Beijing to the Imperial Academy. He became famous in the capital with his poem "He Yanggui Mountain will no longer have rhyme today". Xing Rang was surprised that the true Confucian came back, and he asked Chen Xianzhang to write the anthology of the Ministry of Personnel and the history of the Ministry of Personnel. Later, he resigned and returned to Baisha, Xinhui, where he gathered disciples to give lectures. Scholars from all over the world came here.
In the 19th year of Chenghua, Emperor Xianzong of the Ming Dynasty ordered him to be reviewed by the Hanlin Academy and released. Chen Xianzhang has been living in his hometown to give lectures since then, but he has been repeatedly recommended. At the beginning of Wanli period, he worshiped Confucius Temple and was given the posthumous title Wengong. The works were later compiled into "The Complete Works of Bai Shasha".