These two poems are from the prodigy poems of Wang Zhu in the Northern Song Dynasty, which mean that "Wang Zhu thinks that all industries are humble except studying and being an official". Wang Zhu's thought can be said to be related to the background of the Northern Song Dynasty.
"Wan Wan" refers to "all kinds of industries in society", and Han Yu defined this concept in Shi Shuo in the Tang Dynasty: "People who are witch doctors and musicians." Needless to say, "witch doctors" began to decline during the Warring States Period. By the Northern Song Dynasty, the revival of Confucianism had just happened, religious enthusiasm had ebbed, and the social status of witches was getting lower and lower. In ancient times, "musicians" used to go in and out of princes' mansions with strong privacy, or all kinds of flowers and entertainment places, which were also despised by "literati"; Although the commodity economy was prosperous in the Song Dynasty, the Song government still implemented the policy of "emphasizing agriculture and restraining commerce", and the industrialists and businessmen still belonged to "small producers". The concept of "everything is inferior" should come from this.
In addition, in the social environment of the Song Dynasty, literature was more important than martial arts, speech was relatively free, and people's intellectual thoughts were also very developed. Since the Sui Dynasty, the talent selection system has also adopted the imperial examination system, which shows that the atmosphere of "emphasizing learning" was very strong at that time. Wang Zhu himself was born in a small county with a poor family. It is not surprising that he was instilled with the concept of "learning can make a man" since he was a child, and he also loves learning.
His poems are still widely used, often used to educate "Xiong Haizi" who doesn't study.
Because today's China adopts the "exam-oriented education" mode and the "college entrance examination" system similar to the ancient imperial examination. In any case, the "College Entrance Examination" is indeed a shortcut for young people to have a better platform and the fairest examination system. Therefore, in order to make their children and students "take fewer detours", parents and teachers will educate the future of the motherland like this: "If you don't study, you will move bricks/sweep the streets/pick up junk in the future ..." and so on. This remark undoubtedly reflects a very serious "professional discrimination": any job with unstable salary/low threshold requirements is "unseemly" and "shameful".
But you only see that "those with high academic qualifications enjoy high salaries, and those with low academic qualifications are forced to make a living"; Have you noticed that there used to be an old saying: "360 lines, each goes its own way", which said that "people from all walks of life have developed their business ability to the top", and they can get along well, not much worse than those who take the "regular road".
Moreover, what the society needs now is "all-round talents", that is, people with good comprehensive quality. "Knowledge and insight" also need "managing chaos rationally", and the knowledge mastered is really admirable. However, if this person has only reached the extreme in theory, and can't really start to do things, or his mind is extremely distorted, and nothing he can do can achieve his goal, then he is not a talent who can really contribute to society and promote social development.
There are many ways to succeed, but you must know which one is really suitable for you. Find your own way, make a good life plan, and then work hard towards your ideal. In this process, we will continue to learn, explore the direction of progress and enrich ourselves. There is more than one way out, but when you don't have a clear goal or the ability to achieve it, it is really the safest way to study hard and take the college entrance examination.
Because of the above, I agree that "all things are equal, only learning is high". Learning means more than reading. People can not study, but they must not study to develop a sound personality.
Although I object to the theory that only reading is high, I still want to say a word for reading here: reading is of great help to improve people's cultural literacy and enrich people's spiritual world, and your inner knowledge will be externalized into the temperament emitted by words and deeds. When reading, you can put forward your own opinions, have your own analysis and judgment, cultivate critical and dialectical thinking, and read more books instead of "dead" books, which is only beneficial and not harmful.
To sum up, I think ideological and moral quality, health quality and scientific and cultural quality are equally important, thank you.