Mencius 189: a gentleman eats without plowing.

Get up early and read Mencius aloud. One heart at a time ",among which" a gentleman eats without plowing "put forward by Gong Sunchou deeply touched me, reminding me of a social phenomenon. People always think that it is unfair for someone to just sit there and talk to make money instead of doing manual labor. Isn't this exploitation? Mencius put forward his own view on this issue: a gentleman lives in this country. If he is appointed, then the whole country will gain a kind of peace, wealth, honor and glory, and young people will learn from him and become more filial to their parents and love their brothers. Such people have brought such great changes and made such great contributions to the country? Is this a free meal? Because of different horizons, everyone's understanding of the same phenomenon is completely different.

The original text is as follows:

Sun Chou said, "Poetry says' no vegetarian', and a gentleman eats instead of plowing. Why? "

Mencius said: the gentleman's house is the country, and if it is used, it will be rich; If their children follow them, their filial brothers will be loyal. No vegetarian meal', which is greater? "

The general idea is:

Sun Chou said, "The Book of Songs says' eat for nothing'." A gentleman can eat without plowing. Why? "

? Mencius said: "A gentleman lives in a country, and if you appoint him, the country will be peaceful, prosperous, noble and glorious;" When children follow him, they will be filial to their parents, love their brothers and be faithful and trustworthy. Don't eat for free', is there a greater contribution than this? "

Personal opinion:

Human labor is divided into manual labor and mental labor;

Social division of labor of ancient people: scholar, agriculture, industry and commerce;

Literati are literati, demanding fame, and the so-called scholar-bureaucrat class is the upper-middle class in society, second only to the aristocratic class, and is the highest ruling class;

? Followed by agriculture, that is, farmers, because of underdeveloped productivity, farmers' arable land is very important. When there is a good harvest in agriculture, there will be enough food in the whole country, and there will be no panic if there is food in hand. The status of farmers is only that of literati.

? After farmers, there are manual workers and businessmen engaged in trade circulation. Therefore, during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, people paid more attention to "farming" and eating;

? If we only pay attention to farming and eating, we can't see that the whole society is actually the result of countless people's division of labor and cooperation. No matter how good a farmer's physical labor is, it can't compare with Yuan Longping's contribution to the invention of hybrid rice. The contribution of the same hard-working person to the harvest is certainly not as good as that of a gentleman who has a positive impact on the whole country!

? Therefore, the so-called "gentlemen eat without plowing" is only the result of people's narrow view of the problem! In a society of "all for one, all for one", the benefits of difficult intelligent work are definitely much greater than those of simple manual labor!

Read Mencius in the early days (189): a gentleman eats without plowing.

Shanghai 2018-11-29