Smart and eccentric, the right path cannot be followed
Mr. Nan Huaijin said: When a person is knowledgeable, he who is truly knowledgeable is very ordinary, very plain and ordinary. A person who is knowledgeable, knowledgeable, talented, and smart must be eccentric. Such people "will be mentioned in future generations." Later generations will be famous in history, literature, and art, but this is not the right path. This is character education. Confucius said: "I can't do this." I will never do this. This is called Confucius.
In people’s minds, ordinary literary talents, or artists such as painters, always seem to have some quirks. Their words and deeds are always a little different from ordinary people. Because of their talents, people also find them cute.
When Mr. Nan talked about the eccentricities of literati, he gave such an example:
Ni Yunlin in the Ming Dynasty loved cleanliness so much that he became a mysophobia, and he loved it so much. Strange. There is nothing in his garden that must not be touched. It’s not very easy to keep friends here.
Finally one day, a friend who was very close to him after all, let him stay overnight. That night, this friend slept until midnight and coughed, "Cough!" He heard it, and he didn't sleep all night, wondering where the phlegm was spitting out! After his friend left early in the morning, he asked the servant to look for it from his friend's bed and searched everywhere, but the spittle could not be found anywhere. Find the window - oh, the beautiful plum blossoms are blooming. I search along the leaves of the plum blossoms one by one, but finally I can't find them. "Master, I can't find this phlegm." "Pluck all the leaves of the plum blossoms in the garden." Come down and forget it!" Polish all the leaves - I don't know where this spit is coming from, everyone is suspicious (audience laughs). cut! Ni Yunlin is so strange. Later, he met a very powerful person who knew him and asked him to paint a picture. He would not paint it; otherwise he would behead him, so he ran away. After escaping, he later encountered the great chaos in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. As a result, he was caught and beaten, and they said, "Do you admit that you are Ni Yunlin? As long as you admit that you are Ni Yunlin, I will let you go!" He kept silent and was beaten to death. Then, having no choice but to look at him, he let him go again. Others asked him: Why didn't you scream? He said that it would be tacky and inelegant if he shouted it (audience laughed)! This is weird! If you gather together these kinds of people who behaved strangely in history, there will be many of them. Although, this type of people, you say...
Ji Kang during the Three Kingdoms period was one of the "Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove". He was able to write poems and essays, was proficient in rhythm, advocated a free life of inaction, and despised A powerful man, his personal lifestyle is very different from ordinary people, and he is also a eccentric scholar.
Ji Kang did not like being an official, and he usually enjoyed blacksmithing. General Sima Zhao wanted to hire him as his servant, but Ji Kang was unwilling to serve. In order to escape Sima Zhao, he hid in Hedong.
Zhong Hui, the captain of Sili School, always wanted to make friends with Ji Kang. Once, he led the crowd there in light clothes and a well-dressed vehicle. Ji Kang and Xiang Xiu were forging iron under the shade of a tree. When they saw him coming, they turned a blind eye and ignored him.
Zhong Hui then had to wait, but after waiting for a long time, there was no response. In desperation, Zhong Hui had no choice but to prepare to leave.
At this time, Ji Kang spoke up and asked: "Why do you come here when you hear something, and go away when you see something?" Zhong Hui replied: "You come here when you hear something, and leave after seeing something."
The two developed a feud from then on.
In the second year of Jingyuan, Shantao, who was also one of the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Forest, was moved from the position of Zhonglang of the General to the position of Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, and recommended Ji Kang to take his place. Ji Kang therefore wrote the famous "Book of Severing Diplomacy with Shan Juyuan" to clarify his aspirations.
Ji Kang was friends with the brothers Lu Xun and Lu An from Dongping. Lu An's wife was raped by his brother Lu Xun. Lu An originally planned to divorce his wife and sue Lu Xun. Lu Xun asked Ji Kang to persuade him and vowed not to complain first, so Ji Kang persuaded Lu An to calm down the matter.
But afterwards, Lu Xun was afraid that Lu An would regret it, so he accused Lu An of being unfilial. Ji Kangyi lived up to his wish and wrote a letter to break off relations with Lu Xun, and came forward to testify for Lu An, so he was also detained. Zhong Hui advised Sima Zhao to take this opportunity to get rid of Ji Kang.
Ji Kang's imprisonment aroused public dissatisfaction, and many heroes asked to be imprisoned together with Ji Kang. After being advised by the Secretary, everyone was temporarily dismissed. But in the end Ji Kang and Lu An were sentenced to death. On the day of execution, 3,000 Taixue students collectively petitioned for Ji Kang’s pardon and requested that Ji Kang be allowed to come to Taixue as a teacher. But in the end Sima Zhao sentenced him to death.
Before execution, Ji Kang's expression remained unchanged, as usual. Seeing that there was still some time before the execution, he asked for the piano he often played, and actually played "Guangling San" on the execution ground. Then, Ji Kang put down his qin and sighed: "In the past, Yuan Xiaoni tried to learn "Guangling San" from me. I always learned it, and "Guangling San" is now extinct!" After finishing speaking, Ji Kang calmly went to Died at the age of thirty-nine.
Although Ji Kang's behavior showed the integrity and backbone of an intellectual, it was a bit too aloof and arrogant, his words and deeds were out of tune with ordinary people, he did not pay attention to the feelings of others, and he did not pay attention to protecting himself. . Therefore, he was put to death early. He is indeed talented, but lacking in cultivation and wisdom. As a talented and ideal intellectual, if he hadn't been like this, he might have written more good articles, so his death was really not worth it.
What’s even more interesting is that in order to show that they are different, some so-called literati or artists make secrets, dress deliberately differently from ordinary people, and behave strangely in words and deeds. This is really A sign of lack of confidence.
In fact, as a truly pursuing and talented person increases in life experience, he must understand the ways of the world, no longer be arrogant about his talents, and then consciously cultivate himself, no longer be sharp, and learn to pay attention to others. Feel and learn to protect yourself. It is not about losing one's principles and integrity, nor is it about compromising to reality, but it is about learning to be a good person and doing things, and to learn to deal with wisdom and flexibility. Facing the world and limited life, he realizes the insignificance of human beings and the limitations of his abilities, so he learns to be reverent and humble; he realizes that the world and reality are imperfect, and there cannot be a gap between others and himself, so he does not need to be perfect and demanding of others. Learn to be tolerant. In this way, through continuous life, you can improve your cultivation, cultivate your talents and abilities, no longer be domineering, truly understand the world, gain real growth and maturity, and learn how to behave and do things, so that you can live more wisely.
Therefore, an intellectual who really wants to accomplish something will not show it outside even if he is talented; even if he wants to maintain his individuality and freedom, he does not necessarily have to show it outside. If this kind of performance makes people feel uncomfortable, or hurts others, harms themselves, or causes trouble or even disaster to themselves, it is really not worth it. Therefore, the real quality is a comprehensive index, rather than just a few talents.
Sages like Laozi, Confucius and Mencius are far superior to ordinary people in terms of talent and knowledge, right? Their achievements have long exceeded those of ordinary people, but they never show off their sharpness, but are open-minded. The more advanced a person is, the more he understands his own limitations, so he has more awe. This is the true understanding of human nature and the true knowledge.
Confucius would not have behaved like the above. Because he abides by the righteous ways of heaven and humanity, respects orthodox thoughts, walks the righteous path, and never goes astray, he can be upright, moderate, dignified, and upright, so he can achieve extraordinary careers, and his knowledge and thoughts can be spread. For generations. Here, it is a question of personality and cultivation. Confucius was a thinker and an educator, and his ambition was for the country and the world. He would never indulge his own personality, only pursue personal feelings, and show weird behaviors that were incompatible with his surroundings. . Therefore, he attaches great importance to the personality education and cultivation of individuals and others.