Introduction:
The poem "Encouraging Learning" is an escape poem, and the specific writing date is unknown, which is about the last year of Shaoxing (1 162). This poem is widely circulated in Japan and now, thinking that it was written by Zhu, so it is reserved for reference. Its main purpose is to persuade young people to cherish time and study hard, which is both persuasion and self-warning.
Zhu version of the young easy to learn from the old, an inch of time is not light. Before the sweet spring grass grows in the pond, the plane leaves in front of the steps have rustled in the autumn wind. The general idea is that the days of youth are easy to pass, but learning is difficult to succeed, so cherish every inch of time and don't let it go easily. The dream of growing spring grass in the pond is still awake, and the leaves of plane trees rustle in the autumn wind in front of the steps.
About the author:
Xunzi was the last representative of Confucianism in the pre-Qin period, and Mencius, who was earlier than him, became two opposing factions in Confucianism. Xunzi believes that the existence of nature is independent of people's subjective will, but people can use subjective efforts to understand it, adapt to it and use it to avoid misfortune. He put forward the idea of "mastering fate and making use of it".
In epistemology, he believes that people's understanding of objective things should first contact with external things through sensory organs, and emphasizes the necessity of "doing" for "knowing" and the importance of acquired learning. Many of his formulations represented the interests of the emerging landlord class, reflected the demands of the people at that time, and had simple materialistic thoughts.
Politically, according to Confucius and Mencius, he put forward the idea that "the law is the king's obedience", and advocated adapting to the social situation at that time to govern, selecting talents and appointing people, distinguishing rewards and punishments, and governing with "ceremony", "law" and "skill" Many of his ideas were absorbed by legalists.
On the issue of human nature, he disagreed with Mencius' theory of good nature and advocated the theory of evil nature. He believes that the acquired environment can improve people's malignancy, so he advocates "courtesy and righteousness." He attached great importance to the role of education and emphasized the importance of educational function.