It means cultivating oneself, managing one’s family, governing the country, and bringing peace to the world.
1. Source
"Three Character Classic" Southern Song Dynasty? Wang Yinglin
2. Original text:
The author of Zhongyong is Kong Ji. It's not easy to be average.
It was Zengzi who taught the university. Self-cultivation leads to peace and prosperity.
3. Interpretation:
It was Zeng Shen who wrote the book "The Great Learning" (Spring and Autumn Period? Zeng Shen). He put forward the idea of ??"cultivate oneself, harmonize one's family, govern the country and bring peace to the world".
The person who wrote the book "Zhongyong" (written by Kong Ji during the Warring States Period) is Kong Ji. "Zhong" means impartiality, and "Yong" means unchangeable.
Extended information
Wang Yinglin was from the Southern Song Dynasty, and the historical part of the original "Three Character Classic" only covers the Song Dynasty. With the development of history, in order to reflect the changes of the times, people in each dynasty continued to add to the "Three Character Classic". During the Daoguang period of the Qing Dynasty, He Xingsi added a total of 24 sentences about the history of the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties.
The "Three Character Classic" draws on allusions and examples, including literature, history, philosophy, astronomy and geography, human ethics, loyalty, filial piety, justice, etc. of traditional Chinese culture, and its core ideas include "benevolence, righteousness, sincerity, Respect and filial piety." While reciting the "Three Character Classic", you can understand common sense, traditional Chinese studies and historical stories, as well as the principles of life and work contained in the stories.