The Explanation of Childlike Innocence (Ming) Li Zhi, a native of Longdong Mountain, narrates "The West Chamber" [1]. The last sentence goes: "Those who know should not say that I still have a childlike innocence." If it is impossible to be childish, then it is impossible to do it with sincerity. The heart of a child is absolutely pure and pure, it is the original intention of the first thought. If you lose your childlike innocence, you will lose your true heart; if you lose your true heart, you will lose your true nature. People are not real, and they no longer have their beginnings. A child is the beginning of a person; a childlike heart is the beginning of a heart. At the beginning of your husband's love, can you lose it? However, the childlike innocence was suddenly lost. In the beginning, hearing and seeing came in through the ears and eyes, and they thought that the Lord was within them, and they lost their childlike innocence. Its length is that the truth comes in through hearing and seeing, but one thinks that the Lord is within it and loses one's childlike innocence. As time goes by, the truth becomes more and more heard and heard, and the knowledge and awareness become wider and wider. So I know how good a good name is, and I want to promote it, but my childlike innocence is lost. I know that a name that is not beautiful can be ugly, but I want to cover it up and lose my childlike innocence. Everything you hear and see about the truth comes from reading a lot and understanding its principles. The ancient saints never studied. However, even if you don't read, your child's mind is still at ease; even if you read a lot, you should protect your child's mind and keep it from losing your ears, unlike scholars who read more to understand the meaning and principles and hinder it. If a scholar hinders his childlike innocence by reading too much to understand the meaning, why should a saint hinder the scholar by writing too many books and establishing opinions? If the childlike innocence is blocked, it will be expressed in words, but the words will not come from the heart; if it is expressed in political affairs[2], then the political affairs will have no foundation; if it is expressed in words, the words will not be able to express it. If it is not inherent in the beauty of the chapter, if it is not sincere and sincere, it will produce brilliance. If you want to say a virtuous word, you will not get it, so what is it? Since the childlike innocence is hindered, it is also based on the desire to hear and see the truth from outside. Since you have heard and seen the truth as your heart, then those who speak are all words that have heard and seen the truth. They are not words that come from a child's heart. Although the words are work, what do they mean to me? Isn’t it true that false people speak false words, deeds are false, and writings are false? Since he is false, everything is false. Therefore, if you talk to false people with false words, the false people will be happy; if you talk to false people with false things, the false people will be happy; if you talk to false people with false words, the false people will be happy. If nothing is false, nothing is unfavorable. The place is full of lies, how can a dwarf argue [3]. However, even though there are some of the best literature in the world, it is not uncommon for them to be annihilated by fake people and not be fully seen in future generations! Why? There is no best literary work in the world that does not come from the heart of a child. If the childlike mind always exists, the principles will not work, the hearing and seeing will not be established, there will be no writing at all times, no one will not write, and there will be no one who creates physical writing without writing. Why should poetry be ancient "Selected"[4], why should literature be pre-Qin? It was reduced to the Six Dynasties, changed to modern style[5], changed to legend[6], changed to courtyard version[7], became Zaju, and "Song of the Western Chamber" is "Water Margin" and is the work of today's Zhu Ziye [8]. They are all ancient and modern texts. They are not available and can be discussed in sequence. Therefore, I feel the childlike innocence in my own writing. Talk about the Six Classics[9], let alone Yu and Mencius[10]! The Six Classics of Fu, "Yu", and "Mencius" were not praised by the historians, but they were extremely praised by the officials. Otherwise, they were ignorant and ignorant disciples. The memory master said that there is a beginning and no tail, so the legacy is left behind. , follow what you see and put pen to paper. If you don't pay attention to it after learning, you just think it comes from the mouth of a sage and decide it as a sutra. Who knows that most of it is not the words of a sage? Even if it comes from a saint, it must be done for a purpose, but it is just a matter of illness, and medicines are prescribed at any time to save this class of ignorant disciples and make the disciples Yun Er. It is difficult to determine whether medical treatment can fake a disease. How can we suddenly think that it is the last resort for all generations? However, the Six Classics, Yu, and Mencius are the oral truth of Taoism [11], and they are also the source of fake people. It is absolutely clear that they cannot speak to children's hearts. Alas! I have found a true great sage who has never lost his childlike innocence and can speak to him! Notes: [1] Longdong Shannong: It may be considered to be Li Zhi’s alias, or Yan Jun’s nickname is Shannong. "West Chamber" refers to "The Romance of the West Chamber" written by Wang Shifu of the Yuan Dynasty. [2] See: pass "present". [3] How can the dwarves argue: This is a metaphor for acting. The dwarves cannot see it at all, so they cannot tell the difference. [4] "Selected Works": refers to "Selected Works" compiled by Xiao Tong, also known as "Selected Works of Zhaoming". [5] Modern style: refers to modern style poetry, including rhymed verses and quatrains. [6] Legend: refers to the legendary novels of the Tang Dynasty. [7]Yuanben: The drama script performed by Jin Dynasty. [8] Juziye: refers to the articles for the imperial examination, that is, the eight-legged essay. [9] Six Classics: refers to the Confucian classics "Poetry", "Book", "Li", "Yue", "Yi" and "Spring and Autumn". [10] "Yu" and "Mencius": refer to "The Analects" and "Mencius", two of the "Four Books". [11] Taoism: refers to Taoists. Translated by Longdong Shannong at the end of the preface he wrote for "The Romance of the West Chamber": "If a knowledgeable person does not think that I still have a childlike innocence, I will be satisfied." Childlike innocence is essentially sincerity. If you think that you should not have a childlike innocence, you think that you should not You should be sincere. The so-called childlike innocence is actually a person's unpretentious and absolutely sincere heart when he is not subject to any interference from the outside world. If you lose your childlike innocence, you lose your sincerity; if you lose your sincerity, you lose the qualification to be a real person. Once a person does not base himself on sincerity, he will forever lose the complete personality he should have. Children are the beginning of life; childlike innocence is the source of water for the soul. How can the origin of the soul be lost! So why does childlike innocence suddenly disappear? During the enlightenment period, people will acquire a large amount of perceptual knowledge through hearing, hearing, and seeing. When they grow up, they will learn more rational knowledge. Once these acquired perceptual hearings, hearings, and rational principles enter the owner's mind, The childlike innocence is also lost.
As time goes by, the principles and knowledge of what we do are increasing day by day, and the scope of perception and awareness is also expanding day by day. Then we understand that a good reputation is good, so we do everything we can to promote it; we know that a bad reputation is ugly, so we go to great lengths to cover it up. , in this way, childlike innocence no longer exists. People's knowledge, knowledge, and principles are all acquired through reading more and understanding more principles. However, the ancient sages were not people who read and understood things! The key is that when saints don't study, their childish innocence naturally remains but does not lose it. Even if they study more, they can protect their childlike innocence and not lose it. He is definitely not like that group of scholars, who would stifle their childlike innocence just because they read more and know more than others. Since a scholar can overshadow his childlike innocence by reading too much, why should a saint be so keen on writing books that he can enchant his mind? Once a child's innocence is blocked, what he says will not be sincere; when he participates in political affairs, there is no sincere starting point; when he writes an article, he will not be clear and smooth. In fact, if a person does not have a beautiful mind and express it in words, and has true talent and learning that is naturally revealed, then he will not be able to hear even a single moral truth from his mouth. Why? It is because the innocence of childishness has been lost, and the principles acquired after hearing and seeing have entered the soul. Since the basic intention is to hear and see the truth, then what you say becomes a replica of the truth, rather than the heartfelt words from a childish heart. Even if he talks nonsense, it has nothing to do with me. Isn’t this using a fake person to tell lies, do fake things, and write fake articles? Because once a person is based on falsehood, every move he makes will be false. Therefore, telling lies to false people is just to suit his liking. If you tell false things to false people, you will definitely believe them to be true. If you tell false people about false articles, you will definitely believe them. It will definitely be appreciated. This is really true everywhere, and I am happy about everything! The world is full of falsehoods, how can ordinary people distinguish the true from the false? Even if there are excellent articles in the world, there are countless of them that have been ignored and buried by fake people and future generations have no way of knowing about them. Why? Because there is no good article in the world that does not come from a childlike heart. If the childlike innocence is always present, those so-called hearings and principles will lose their foothold. Then, anyone in any era and in any genre can write excellent works. For poetry, why must we admire "Selected Works"; for prose, why must we value the Pre-Qin Dynasty. In addition to the poetry of the Six Dynasties, the ancient prose also developed into the legends of the Tang Dynasty, the imperial editions of the Jin Dynasty, the dramas of the Yuan Dynasty, "The Romance of the West Chamber", "Water Margin", and the eight-part essays that are subject to the imperial examination today. Taoists are all outstanding writers of ancient and modern times, and we must not use the order of times as the criterion, focusing on the past and ignoring the present. Therefore, I have the deepest experience with those articles that come from the heart. It is really not necessary to refer to the Six Classics, the Analects of Confucius and Mencius. The Six Classics, the Analects of Confucius, and Mencius are either the praises of historians or the flattery of ministers. Otherwise, they are also those confused disciples who recall the teacher's words, either with a beginning but no end, or with a tail but no beginning, or with a tail but no beginning. Based on the fragments of words I heard, I wrote them down and compiled them into a book. Later generations of scholars did not understand this, so they thought they were all incisive theories of saints and regarded them as classics. How do you know that most of these are not the essence of saints at all! Even if there is a sage who really speaks, it is targeted, but it is just a random response to a temporary incident to enlighten those disciples who are not enlightened. Prescribing the right medicine for the situation and not sticking to one pattern, how can it be regarded as the eternal truth! It is obvious that the Six Classics, the Analects of Confucius, and Mencius have long been used as tools for Taoists to bluff people, and as a shield for hypocrites to hide. They are absolutely incomparable with heartfelt words from a childlike heart.
Alas! Where can I go to find a true saint with a childlike innocence, and discuss the foundation of composition with him?