Persuasion by Xunzi
The relevant paragraphs in the original text are quoted as follows:
Accumulated soil becomes mountains, and the wind and rain are prosperous; The water drops merged into the ocean and the dragon was born; Accumulate goodness into virtue, the gods are complacent, and the sacred heart is prepared. Therefore, you can't take Wan Li Road without accumulating steps; If you don't accumulate small streams, you won't be a river. Leap, not ten steps; This is a great contribution to the success of Ma Xu. Perseverance, rotten wood can't be carved; Perseverance, the stone can be carved. Earthworms do not have the advantages of minions, and their bones and muscles are strong. They eat the earth and drink the yellow land with their hearts. The crab kneels six times and pinches twice. It's not that the snake hole has no sustenance, it's also impetuous.
"Encouraging Learning" is the first article in Xunzi. Also known as persuasion. Persuasion is to encourage learning. This paper systematically discusses the theory and method of learning. The first part (the first paragraph) discusses the importance of learning; The second half (the second and third paragraphs) discusses the steps, contents and methods of learning.
The central idea of the full text of "Encouraging Learning" is as follows: 1. Learning is not enough; Second, the heart, and third, people who learn will learn. Xunzi believes that learning first needs to cultivate moral temperament, maintain the quality of single-mindedness, specialize in learning a technology to achieve a crash (learning a crash), and then maintain perseverance and perseverance is the correct learning direction; Only by starting from the beginning to the end and never giving up halfway can we achieve a complete and pure spiritual realm.
Xunzi was one of the greatest educators in ancient times. His best students were Han Feizi, a jurist, Li Si, the prime minister of Qin Dynasty, and Zhang Cang, the prime minister of Han Dynasty. It can be seen that Xunzi's learning is practical.
Author Xunzi's brief introduction is as follows:
Xunzi is the most important work of Confucianism at the end of the Warring States Period. Xunzi (about 3 13 ~ 238 BC), a native of Zhao at the end of the warring States period, was honorific at that time and was nicknamed Emperor Hanzhao. At the age of 50, he began to study in Qi, and served as a wine festival in Gong Xue, the capital of Qi (now Zibo). Because he was slandered, he was suitable for Chu, and he was appointed as our ambassador in Lanling (now Lanling County, Shandong Province). After returning home, he wrote a book saying that he was buried in Lanling after his death (there is Xunzi Mausoleum in Lanling County). Famous scholars Han Fei and Li Si are all his students. There are 32 books in Xunzi, which were written by him and his disciples to sort out or record the words and deeds of others, but their views are consistent with Xunzi's consistent views. Among the first 27 articles, there are still a few articles, such as "On Soldiers" and "Outline", which may be compiled by his students.
Xunzi is a master of Confucianism. He developed Confucianism while absorbing the legalist theory. He respects the king and also dominates power; Advocating etiquette and justice, but also stressing the rule of law; At the same time, it advocates that "the law is king." Mencius founded the theory of "good nature", emphasizing the cultivation of nature; Xunzi advocated "the theory of evil nature" and emphasized learning the day after tomorrow. All these show that he is different from the direct Confucianism. He also put forward some simple materialistic views, such as man can conquer nature, oppose fatalism, and everything changes according to the laws of nature. [ 1]?
There are thirty-two articles in Xunzi today, except for a few chapters, most of which were written by him. His articles are good at reasoning, clear-cut, thorough analysis, good at giving examples, and often use parallelism to enhance the momentum of discussion. Language is full of warning, strong persuasion and appeal.
Xunzi Annotation is not only the Annotation of Xunzi in Tang Dynasty, but also the Collection of Xunzi in Qing Dynasty, which brings together the exegetical achievements of scholars in Qing Dynasty. Liang Qixiong's A Brief Interpretation of Xunzi synthesizes the interpretation results of various schools, with special emphasis on conciseness, clarity and conciseness. In addition, there are Xun Zhu, Xiong Jin Xun Zhu and Jin Shi.