Liu Yuchong, whose name is unknown, was from Cangzhou. The ancestor Houzhai Gongduo and Changhe ① were withdrawn by nature and liked to talk about ancient systems, but this was not feasible in practice. Changqian ②Dong Tianshi painted, Qian Houzhai published the title. There is a poem in "Qiulin Reading" that says: "I am standing at the root of an autumn tree, but I have no companion. I don't know what book to read? But I see that my eyebrows are ancient. I only worry about what I hold in my hand, or the well field genealogy ③." It is also a rule.
Occasionally I got an ancient military book and read it for many years. I thought I could command a hundred thousand soldiers. There will be local bandits who train local soldiers to fight against them. The whole team will be defeated and almost captured. He also obtained ancient water conservancy books and read them for years, claiming that he could turn thousands of miles into fertile soil. Drawing columns ④ state officials. The state official also did good things, so he tried it in a village. The ditch has just been formed, and the water is so strong that when it pours in along the ditch, people are almost like fish.
As a result, he was depressed and unsatisfied. He walked alone on the court steps, shook his head and said to himself: "How could the ancients deceive me?" This happened a thousand times a day, but only these six words. Soon, he fell ill and died.
Later, on a clear and moonlit evening, I would see his soul walking alone under the pines and cypresses in front of the tomb, shaking his head. Listen carefully and recite these six words. Or if you laugh at it, you will hide it. Wait for it the next day and come back again.
Those who stick to the past are stupid, how can they be stupid or even stupid? He Wenqin, Gongchang Jiaoyun ⑦ said: "A belly full of books can harm things, but not a single book in the belly can also harm things. The game of state does not waste old records, but does not cling to old records; Chinese medicine does not rely on ancient prescriptions, but does not depart from ancient prescriptions." Therefore, it is said: "God is wise, and it depends on the person." It is also said: "If you can behave with others, you cannot make others clever." (Selected from Ji Yun's "Yuewei Caotang Notes")
[Overview] There was a scholar named Liu Yuchong, who was withdrawn and liked to talk about ancient systems. Once he accidentally got an ancient military book, and after studying it for a year, he claimed that he could command an army of 100,000 people. At this time, someone gathered to rebel, so Liu Yuchong trained a team of rural soldiers to suppress it. As a result, the whole team was defeated, and he himself was almost captured. Later, he obtained an ancient water conservancy work, read it for a year, and claimed that he could transform thousands of miles of barren soil into fertile farmland. The state official asked him to test it in a village. As a result, the ditch had just been dug, and it rained heavily. The flood flowed into the village along the ditch, and almost all the people in the village were drowned. From then on, Liu Yuchong was depressed. He always walked alone in the courtyard every day, shaking his head a thousand times and muttering to himself: "How could the ancients deceive me?" Soon he died of depression.
〔Notes〕①Xian Gaozu: The deceased Gaozu. Sing harmoniously: respond to each other with poems. ②Qian: Please. ③Jingtian genealogy: It is said that the well-field system was implemented in the Western Zhou Dynasty. In order to solve the real land problem, some scholar-officials in later generations tried to restore the well-field system and draw maps. This was a foolish act of retrospect. ④ Qian: seek. ⑤ ditch: ditch. 洫: Field waterway. ⑥歘: Same as "欻(xū)", the appearance of a flash of fire. ⑦ Yun: The author himself, Ji Yun. ⑧Two sentences of "神儿": The words come from "Book of Changes". It means that having the highest wisdom and being able to see through things can only exist in certain people. ⑨
The two sentences "Neng Yu": the words come from "Mencius". This means that carpenters can teach others the principles of making, but they may not necessarily make others highly skilled. That needs to be sought by oneself.
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