The original text and translation of Li Shimin's Hundred-Character Inscription are as follows:
If you have few desires, your spirit will be high, and if you think too much, your qi and blood will be weak.
Drink less to avoid disordering your sex life, and endure your anger to avoid damaging your wealth.
Wealth comes from diligence, and wealth comes from frugality.
Gentleness will eventually benefit oneself, violence will bring disaster.
A true gentleman is good at doing good things, but being a cunning and instigating person is a disaster.
Don’t shoot arrows in secret, and stay quiet for a while.
To cultivate one’s nature, one needs to practice good deeds, and to deceive one’s mind, do not eat fast.
No going in and out of the Yamen, and the township party must be harmonious.
There is no shame in being in peace, and there is no need to speak in silence.
People in the world follow this saying, and disasters will abate and good fortune will come.
Translation: Farmers work too hard and have no tomorrow after eating today; textile women work too hard and have no cotton clothes to wear. When we eat, we should think of the hard work of the farmers, when we dress, we should remember the hard work of the Weaver Girl, when we dress, we should care about the lives of millions of people, when we eat a spoonful of food, we should encourage ourselves a hundred times, and when we eat and sleep, we will feel uneasy even if we eat and sleep without receiving any reward.
Do not take improper wealth. A gentleman loves money and gets it in a wise way. Don't drink when you are invited to drink inappropriately, make friends in the right way, never make friends in the wrong way, always pay attention to overcoming your own shortcomings, and do not make trouble. If you follow these advices, you will surely gain long-lasting fame, wealth and status.
This is the famous "Hundred-Character Proverbs" written by Emperor Taizong Li Shimin of the Tang Dynasty. It is said that he gave it to the ministers of the court. The bobo in the article means the appearance of working hard. An inch of silk has a thousand lives, a spoonful of rice can be whipped with a hundred whips. This is a metaphor for every inch of silk clothing, and the efforts of thousands of silkworms. Each spoonful of rice grains must be produced, and the cattle must be whipped with hundreds of whips. It is hard-won!
Understanding Li Shimin
Li Shimin, Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, was a great politician in the history of our country and an outstanding figure who influenced the process of China and the world. In just one hundred words, it reflects Li Shimin's understanding of the people's sufferings and his concern for the lives of the masses: he should not be rewarded for his efforts, take his share of the wealth, and be neither greedy nor greedy; in dealing with the relationship between people, he can distinguish between good and bad, ugly and evil. , Right and Wrong: And be able to check and correct your shortcomings from time to time.
A hundred-character proverb, although short, has profound meaning and is of great educational significance to future generations. It is really rare for a feudal emperor who lived more than a thousand years ago to have such a state of mind. Through the "Hundred-Character Proverbs", it can be seen that Li Shimin's reputation as a wise king is not unfounded. The reason why the Tang Dynasty became a prosperous age in history is not unrelated to this.