The original text is as follows:
The vines of Mencius were placed in the upper palace. If you have a career, you will get something.
Or ask, "What if it's because of the followers?" He said, "Why did you come here to steal?"
Yue: "Almost none." "Husband married also, the past does not chase, to the net. If you are sincere, you will only suffer from it. "
The general idea is:
? Mencius went to Tengguo and lived in Shangguan. A pair of unfinished straw sandals disappeared on the windowsill. People from the hotel came to look for them, but they couldn't find them. Someone asked Mencius, "So your entourage hid the sandals?"
Mencius replied, "Do you think they are here to steal straw sandals?"
The man replied, "Probably not. But, sir, you offer courses and recruit students. You won't ask questions when you leave and you won't refuse when you come. As long as you come with the heart of learning, accept them, which will inevitably lead to different moral standards. "
Personal opinion:
The "distance" in "if you don't pursue the past, those who come will not refuse" has gradually evolved into "refusal", that is, "if you don't pursue the past, those who come will not refuse". It is said that there is an old saying in Japan, "If you don't pursue in the past, you won't refuse if you come", which expresses a young girl's attitude towards personal feelings, meaning that she will not do anything to prevent others from leaving her, and accept all those who believe in herself wholeheartedly. I think it really makes sense. In fact, this sentence comes from Mencius in China.
Of course, this sentence is more used in the attitude of teachers towards students. For example, Feng Menglong quoted "I don't know how many disciples come, but the teachers refuse, and those who go don't chase." -Feng Ming's History of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, Meng Long, Chapter 87.
? In dealing with teaching problems, Confucius and Mencius have their own characteristics. Confucius emphasized that teaching was classless, and at the same time he was strict with students in morality, asking everyone to be gentlemen and not villains. Mencius certainly wanted his students to become sages, but as a teacher, he was helpless when he met such students. Therefore, from the very beginning, Mencius taught in a completely open way, "Anyone who doesn't pursue the former is welcome" and never refused anyone who wanted to leave. Mencius' teaching philosophy is also true. His conversations with his disciples were basically about discussing right and wrong and dealing with facts, and he rarely treated his disciples' own conduct differently.
?
? As a transcendental teaching style, "let bygones be bygones, whoever comes will not refuse" is actually the style that a master scholar should show. True master scholars all have a detached mentality of "let bygones be bygones, whoever comes will not refuse". If students don't want to learn and don't want to learn, they won't blindly ask students, let alone pray for those who don't want to learn to stay and study. Their purpose is to leave whenever they want. Sometimes when we start a business to find a partner, we must also have the mentality of "not pursuing in previous lives and not refusing in this life". When we fall in love and make friends, we must have the mentality of "not pursuing in the past, but not refusing by new people". Only in this way can we be open-minded, unrestrained, and will not force some people and things. Everything is just done with heart and let nature take its course.
Yu's "Mencius" Testimony Collection 248: The past is not forgotten, and the teacher of the future will not refuse.
20 19-2-2 in Shanghai