2022.06.29 Wednesday Qing D179
"Zhidao Lexue·Chinese Classics" D679
"Cai Gen Tan" Encouraging Learning Chapter
36 A small mind cannot make a big plan, and a humble taste cannot be compared with a high one.
Original text: A wren occupies a branch, but laughs at the extravagant heart of a peng; a rabbit camp has three caves, but turns to a crane camp to be in high danger. People with small intelligence cannot seek great things, and people with low taste cannot talk about high things. Believe it or not!
Translation: The wren occupied a branch and mocked the roc for its ambition to fly high into the sky as too grand and extravagant; the rabbit built three nests and mocked the crane for its nest that was too high and dangerous. People who are not smart enough cannot plan big projects with them, and people who have low taste cannot talk about elegant things with them. This is indeed the case!
Interpretation: During the reign of Emperor Zhenzong of the Song Dynasty, Sheng Du served as Shangshu Youcheng. He was a very steady man, reticent, and rarely praised something or someone. Once when he was the magistrate of Yangzhou, Xia Youzhang passed by Yangzhou, hosted a grand banquet for Xia Youzhang, and praised his talents. Xia Youzhang was very moved by this and wrote a poem to thank Sheng Du. Who knew that after Sheng Du saw Xia Youzhang's poem, his attitude became cold, and later he asked someone to return Xia Youzhang's letter to him, unwilling to meet Xia Youzhang again. Xia Youzhang felt very embarrassed and didn't understand why Sheng Du did this. He went to visit Tongpan Caiyi and told Caiyi all these things. Cai Yi guessed that Xia Youzhang's poem went against Sheng Du's wishes. Someone asked Sheng Du why his attitude toward Xia Youzhang changed from hot to cold. Sheng Du said: "There is no other reason. It's because when I first came into contact with him, I saw his refined temperament and demeanor, and thought he was a person who could become a great person. But I saw in his poem that he actually claimed to be 'a person who develops new worlds. ', he was so frivolous after only being appointed as an official. You see, he will only reach his current position as an official, and he will not be satisfied. " Later, Xia Youzhang got the position of collation. Because of old affairs, he was reassigned as the Registrar of the Imperial College, but he still retained his original official position. He died in the capital soon after. Xia Youzhang was despised by Sheng Du because he revealed his short-term ambitions in his poems.
People with short-term ambitions cannot understand people with lofty ambitions. Similarly, a person with low taste cannot understand a person with high taste. As the saying goes, "People flock together, birds of a feather flock together", and it is indeed true. There is no need to talk to people who have different aspirations than your own. With people who cannot understand you, no matter how many words you say or how many times you explain, you cannot gain their understanding. Therefore, it is better to remain silent or not talk to them about ambitions and interesting topics. At the same time, you need to be aware that you may be short-sighted and have low taste in the eyes of others. Therefore, we need to cultivate lofty aspirations, cultivate noble taste, and not ridicule others' grand ideals.
37 If you want to do things on the road, don’t meddle with it, and if you want to do things on the road, don’t back down.
Original text: If you want to do things on the road, don’t just let it happen. Worried about the difficulty, he steps back a little. Once he steps back, he is thousands of miles away.
Translation: When it comes to matters of desire, don’t just take part in it just for the sake of convenience. Once you get involved, you will fall into the abyss; when it comes to matters of truth, don’t stop moving forward or retreat just because you are afraid of difficulties. will be far away from the truth.
Interpretation: Between obeying your own desires and resisting your own desires, it is often more convenient and easier to obey your own desires. A drunkard who is ready to quit drinking will have to go through a difficult mental struggle every time someone invites him to drink. Of course it is very happy to go drinking with everyone, but he can't control himself as soon as he picks up the wine glass. The result of his excessive drinking was stomach bleeding and a splitting headache. Temporary convenience and happiness often come at a higher price. Obeying one's own desires can only bring temporary happiness, but it will bring more pain and regret to people. The pursuit of truth, although the road is tortuous and difficult, can ultimately bring us freedom and light. Marx said: "There is no smooth road on the road of science. Only those who are not afraid of difficulties and obstacles and work hard to climb along the steep and rugged mountain roads can hope to reach the glorious peak." Although the road to truth is difficult, it can It will ultimately lead us to the light, so we need to have the spirit of not being afraid of hardships and obstacles and constantly pursuing the truth.
Chen Jingrun, a famous mathematician in our country, has conquered the "1+2" ??in the world-famous mathematical problem "Goldbach's conjecture", and is only one step away from picking up the crown jewel of mathematics, "1+1" far away. Deng Xiaoping once said: "China would be great if it had a thousand Chen Jingruns." Chen Jingrun spent countless efforts to create this mathematical miracle. He lives in a small house of less than 10 square meters, consumes several sacks of scratch paper, and uses a pen to solve the world's mathematical problems. He read a large number of mathematics monographs. In order to directly read foreign language materials, he learned English, French, German, Japanese, Russian and other languages. He was so engrossed in his research that he almost forgot to eat and sleep. He didn't even know the names of some products in daily life. After more than 10 years of hard research, he finally made brilliant achievements in the field of mathematics.
The road to truth does require people who are not afraid of hardship, but after hard work, we can often reap fruitful rewards.
38 Don’t act based on your will, don’t understand based on your emotions
Original text: Those who act based on their will will stop as they do. Isn’t it a wheel that never retreats? Those who understand from the emotional consciousness will be confused when they have enlightenment, and they will not be a bright candle in the end.
Translation: People who do things based on temporary interest will stop doing things when the interest disappears. Where is the practice of persisting in working hard in order to achieve something? People who understand the truth from the perspective of emotional consciousness may be enlightened and confused at times. After all, they cannot always be clear and clear like the long-lasting bright lamp of spiritual wisdom.
Interpretation: When we were young, perhaps many of us had lofty ideals. Some people want to be scientists, some want to be politicians, and some want to be artists... People's dreams are endless and varied. But when many people mature, they look back one day and realize that not many people put their wishes into practice. There are of course many reasons for this, some of which are due to the fact that objective conditions do not allow them to realize their ideals, and others because although they have tried hard, their goals are too ambitious and they have not achieved them. But there is another very important factor, which is that people do not have the patience and perseverance to persevere. Strong willpower and long-lasting patience are extremely important for ideal goals. When people set goals for themselves, they need to proceed from their own reality and consider multiple aspects, rather than starting from temporary interests. Goals set for oneself based on temporary interests often cannot be sustained for a long time.
There is a Chinese idiom called "Ye Gong loves dragons", which tells that there is a man named Ye Gong who likes dragons very much. The walls and corridors of his home are covered with various pictures of dragons. He draws dragons all day long and is obsessed with dragons. When the real dragon in the sky knew about this, he was very moved and came to Ye Gong's house. When Ye Gong saw the real dragon descending from the sky, his face turned pale with fright, and he turned around and ran away. In life, many of us are just like Ye Gong. We seem to like many things, but in fact we may not really like them. Therefore, we need to understand our true interests and hobbies, and we cannot decide to do something based on temporary interest or impulse.
39 The mouth is the door to the heart, and the mind is the foot of the heart
Original text: The mouth is the door to the heart, keeping it secret will reveal the true secret; the mind is the foot of the heart, guarding against If the intention is not strict, all evil will be done.
Translation: The mouth is the door to the human heart. If the door is not tightly guarded, all the secrets in the human heart will be leaked; the will is the legs and feet of the human heart. If the will is not firm, it will lead to evil paths.
Interpretation: As the saying goes, a person who speaks without scruples and without restraint is like having no gate on his mouth. In real life, although being outspoken is a manifestation of a person's straightforward personality, sometimes this outspoken approach can cause a lot of trouble to oneself or others. Many times, some things can be said and some things need to be kept secret. Using language to express one's thoughts often has limitations. The same words sometimes have different meanings when heard by different people in different environments. Just like what is described in many satirical works, the same thing, passed from person to person, eventually becomes beyond recognition.
There is such a story in Andersen's fairy tales. A little hen accidentally lost a few feathers. At this time, gossip spread. It was first said that a hen plucked out a few feathers because she wanted to become beautiful. Then the number of these feathers increased, and eventually the few feathers turned into all the feathers. Some chickens add insult to injury by saying that this feather-shedding chicken shaved off its hair in order to attract the attention of the opposite sex. Later, the protagonist in the story, the little hen that lost a few feathers, also participated in the story with great interest, without realizing that he was the protagonist in the story. Similarly, other chickens don't care who the protagonist of the story is, these chickens just enjoy gossiping. Although such a story sounds funny, there is no shortage of such examples in real life. So we need to be consciously aware that there are things we can say and there are things that are better kept in our hearts. A weak will and incorrect thinking will lead people to the wrong path. Therefore, we also need to pay attention to cultivating strong willpower and adhering to correct principles on issues of right and wrong, so as to avoid being led astray.
40 Although the body is involved in the matter, the mind should be above the matter
Original text: The waves are both in the sky, and there is no fear in the boat, but the people outside the boat are cold-hearted; the people at the table are not aware of the rage. Police, but those outside the table were speechless. Therefore, although a gentleman is involved in things, his mind should be above things.
Translation: The waves are rolling in the sky, and the people sitting in the boat don't know how to be afraid, but the people outside the boat are frightened; the arrogant people at the banquet abuse others, but the people at the banquet don't know how to be vigilant, and instead throw the banquet away The people outside were so frightened that they could not speak. Therefore, although a gentleman with good moral character is involved in something, his mind is detached from it.
Interpretation of the saying "Those who are in authority are confused, but those who are onlookers are clear". When you are involved in something, sometimes you may not see things more clearly than those who are bystanders.
Scholar Su Dongpo has a poem that says: "Viewed from the side, there are ridges and peaks, with different heights near and far. I don't know the true face of Mount Lu, just because I am in this mountain." Observing things from different angles, the understanding of things is also different. If you can stay out of things, sometimes you can learn the true face of things.
Xu Xuan of the Southern Tang Dynasty was knowledgeable and talented. Once, Xu Xuan came to the Northern Song Dynasty to pay tribute. All the civil and military ministers in the dynasty knew Xu Xuan's name. He was well-informed and eloquent. Therefore, everyone felt that they could not match Xu Xuan's eloquence and were unwilling to serve as envoys. Prime Minister Zhao Pu didn't know who to send, so he went to Song Taizu for advice. Taizu of the Song Dynasty said: "You all should step aside, and I will come and select them myself." After a while, Taizu asked the eunuchs to give an order and ask the palace clerk to write down the names of ten servants in the palace who did not know the alphabet and send them over. After the palace official wrote it, the eunuch gave it to Taizu. Song Taizu took it over, without looking at it, and casually clicked on one of the people's names with a wave of his pen. Taizu did this, which surprised the officials in the court. Zhao Pu urged the person who was selected to leave quickly. The named attendant in the palace had no idea why he was sent as an envoy, and no one gave him an explanation, so he had no choice but to carry out the order with doubts. As soon as the waiter in the palace saw Xu Xuan, Xu Xuan began to speak eloquently and eloquently. Everyone around him was moved by Xu Xuan's eloquence and admired him. The waiter in the palace was speechless and just nodded in agreement. Xu Xuan didn't know who the waiter in the palace was, nor how knowledgeable he was, so he talked to him more diligently. For several days, Xu Xuan's mouth was dry as he talked, and the waiters in the palace never argued with Xu Xuan. Xu Xuan was finally tired and stopped and refused to speak. This story talks about pitting a fool against a wise man, leaving the wise man with nothing to do. But looking at it from another angle, the waiters in the palace were not clear about why they were sent as envoys, so they could stay out of the matter and let Xu Xuan perform his eloquence without arguing with Xu Xuan, which ultimately made Xu Xuan's eloquence useless. The place of martial arts.