Translation: Diligent study is like a spring seedling, which does not appear to grow, but actually grows slowly every day; laziness and indolence in study are like a sharpening stone, which appears to have no wear and tear. It's actually decreasing every day.
There is an old Chinese proverb: "Studying diligently is like a seedling that rises in spring. If you don't see its growth, you will gain something every day. Dropping out of school is like a sharpening stone. If you don't see its loss, you will lose something every day." Loss and loss also explain the law of "quantitative change leads to qualitative change". The daily accumulated quantitative changes will eventually lead to the opposite of the learning effect.
This sentence begins with such a legend: Tao Yuanming of the Jin Dynasty resigned from office and retired to his countryside. One day, a young boy studying in the village asked him for advice on learning. Tao Yuanming did not answer directly, but took him to the rice field to observe the growth of the seedlings, and told him earnestly: "These seedlings are growing all the time! It's just that we can't detect it with the naked eye. . The same goes for reading and studying. Knowledge is accumulated bit by bit, and sometimes it is not easy to even notice it. But as long as you persist and study hard, you will change from knowing little to knowing a lot. ”
Extended information:
Tao Yuanming (about 365-427), named Yuanliang, (also named Qian, also named Yuanming), also known as Mr. Wuliu, privately named "Jingjie" , poet, writer, poet, and essayist in the late Eastern Jin Dynasty, the Southern Dynasty, and the early Song Dynasty. Han nationality, a native of Chaisang, Xunyang (now Jiujiang, Jiangxi) in the Eastern Jin Dynasty. He worked as a minor official for several years, then resigned and returned home, living in seclusion ever since. Pastoral life is the main theme of Tao Yuanming's poems. Related works include "Drinking", "Returning to the Garden and Living in the Fields", and "The Peach Blossom Spring" , "The Biography of Mr. Wu Liu", "Come Back and Come Back", etc.
Tao Yuanming, China is a great poet comparable to Qu Yuan, Li Bai, Du Fu and Su Shi in the history of Chinese literature. Tao Yuanming himself never said where he was from, nor even when and where he was born. Therefore, there are many versions of Tao Yuanming's birth year, such as 365 AD, 369 AD, 372 AD, etc. Tao Yuanming's life experience has also become a mystery.
Until the early 1980s, Yifeng scholar Ling Chengpei presided over the formation of the "Tao Yuanming's First Home in Yifeng" research group. After nearly 20 years of research and research, they confirmed that Tao Yuanming was born in 365 AD in Ancheng Ziran Village, Xin'an Village, Chengtang Town, Yifeng County, Jiangxi Province today.
In 393 AD, when Tao Yuanming was 29 years old, he left Taojiaping in Nanshan with his wife and son. Since then, Tao Yuanming's family has lived in Xunyang for 24 years. During this period, Tao Yuanming married the Zhai family of Xunyang because of the death of Wang's wife. In 416 AD, Tao Yuanming was 52 years old. He returned to his hometown of Yifeng with his wife Zhai and their young son Tong. They repaired the old Nanshan house and lived there. 11 years later, Tao Yuanming died in Xingzi Lili and was buried in Kangle. Qili Mountain in Yijun Township of the county is now Qili Mountain in Chengtang Town, Yifeng. The results of the above research gave for the first time a clear and complete impression of Tao Yuanming's life story.