Analects 96: If a person is of good character, he may not need so many talents

#颜读论语 #

Yesterday I talked about GuodaYi, about a whole-person talent, which needs to be brave, open-minded and talented, but this is actually character and skill, not the root of benevolence. That is to say, a person can be good or bad, and Guodayi does not include values.

No matter how talented a person is, if he has bad intentions, he is a crooked talent; most of the people who are unforgiving are bold and fierce; and those who are adulterous are also well-trained and have a good temperament. Therefore, Guodayi is not the root of a person, on the contrary, if the values are not correct, the better Guodayi does, the more dangerous and destructive it is.

So what is the most important thing in reusing a person and making friends with a person? That is a person's character, that is, values, and thoughts. Today, let's learn about a person's character.

Ji Shi made Min Ziqian Fei Zai, and Min Zi said: "Good for me!" If there is anyone who restores me, then I will be in Wenshang!" Ji Shi, this bad guy, was thirsty for talents, and yesterday he went to ask Confucius for his most proud first-class student, and was sent off by Confucius in the way of Guodayi's lameness, saying that the three people he wanted were not all-round talents, so they could not be used.

Ji Shi was not dead-hearted, how clever he was, but he knew that Confucius did not want to see him. First-class students and teachers do not let go, then find someone who retreats from the second and asks for it. So I found someone to lobby one person: Min Ziqian.

Min Ziqian was Confucius's apprentice, a famous filial piety, 15 years younger than Confucius and older than other students. Among the Twenty-Four Filial Pieties, the story of Min Ziqian ranks third, which is that of a single-clothed shunmu or whipping Luhua.

It is said that Min Zi had a hard life, came from a poor background, and his mother died at a very young age, and his father married his stepmother and gave birth to two sons. This stepmother is the classic stepmother in Snow White, favoring the child over the other. As an older brother, Min Ziqian never complained, did not complain, and did not retaliate.

Winter is coming, and cotton clothes are to be made. At that time, it was all made by my mother by hand, unlike now I just buy it casually. Now think about the ancient women really handmade amazingly, from head to toe from the inside out to rely on the mother's hands, from spinning to weaving to cutting and sewing.

The stepmother was eccentric, and the cotton coat made for her two biological children was thin and warm, indicating that it was high-grade cotton, light and warm; the cotton coat for Min Ziqian was made of reed flowers, that is, the white, silky part. You say, can this withstand the cold?

One day, Dad took the three brothers out of the house and let his brother Min Ziqian drive as the driver to sit in the front. As a result, the weather was too cold, the front row was too windy, Min Ziqian couldn't stand it, he was frozen to death, his hands and feet were numb, and he drove the car into the ditch.

Dad was furious, he must have woken up from the fright and beat Min Ziqian fat. Say that you are a waste, dressed thicker than your brother, and frozen like this bear, and the whip that drives the cow and horse hit Min Ziqian hard.

Min Ziqian suffered silently, did not resist the mouth and did not fight back, as a result, his father became even more angry, and whipped him fiercely. For the child who does not ask for forgiveness, it is a fire, and as a result, the cotton coat is broken, the reed flowers inside are exposed, and the father suddenly realizes that he has blamed the child for the mistake and regrets it.

It is estimated that at that time, his heart was dripping blood and his eyes were in tears. A father who was most unable to see this kind of treatment from his stepmother returned home and angrily rebuked his stepmother's virtue, decided to divorce his wife, drove such a woman with a bad conscience out of the house, and gave Min Ziqian a fair trial.

As a result, Min Ziqian knelt down to beg for forgiveness for her stepmother, and begged her father to leave her stepmother. In ancient times, if a woman was suspended and her reputation was ruined, no one wanted it. Min Ziqian not only considered her stepmother's life, but also for her two younger brothers. He said to his father, "The mother is cold in one son, and the mother is in the third son." ”

This sentence is deafening and tear-inducing. What does that mean? Saying that my mother was there, I was alone in the woes of hunger; if my mother left, it would be our three brothers who suffered together. Weigh the pros and cons, the lesser of the two harms, or leave the mother, so that the two younger brothers will not suffer. I don't have a mother alone, and I can't let my two younger brothers not see my birth mother.

What kind of realm do you say, for the sake of others, preferring to suffer hunger yourself, is that everyone will be moved. So the stepmother had an epiphany and changed her mind. This is Min Ziqian's benevolent filial piety.

Of course, this story happened before he visited Confucius, and later he went to Confucius to study. This path of benevolence and filial piety is fundamental, the background of a person. In Kongmen, Min Ziqian's benevolence was on a par with Yan Hui's, and he was later included in the list of 72 Sages. Such a person will also be a good thinker. His words and deeds are exemplary, so he is also one of the ten great philosophers.

Ji Shi may not know much about Min Ziqian, and if he knew, he would not have asked people to lobby. Min Zi Qian Ren Yi respected the teacher, the teacher hated the person, how could he like it?

Ji Shi sent someone to say to Min Ziqian that only by following the right person can you do the right thing. You follow Confucius, poor and white; follow Lord Ji, glorious and rich, eating and drinking spicy. Go to fei this place to do a slaughter, that is, a magistrate, similar to the county chief or the current mayor and other positions, how good is it to have an official!

Min Ziqian smiled, I am not rare, I just want to follow the teacher for a lifetime, you still go back to talk to Lord Ji, don't bother me anymore. The good word "good for me" is good, and it also reflects the benevolence of Min Ziqian.

This lobbyist is not easy, and it is not easy for me to go back when I refuse to go back, and I will definitely be counted down by Ji Shi, saying that he is not doing a good job. At this time, he was also trying to find a way for the personnel director in front of him, so that he could find a reason to go back to the errands.

When you go back, you will say, I Min Ziqian did not want to be an official at all in my life, but only wanted to be by the teacher's side for life. Therefore, it is not that the official position is not good, nor is it that Ji Daren is not good, but that Min Ziqian did not have this ambition in his life, so he did not have to persuade me again. If you come to me again, I will leave the country of Lu and never come back.

"If there is anyone who restores me, then I will be in Wenshang!" Wen is the boundary river between Qilu and Lu. If you come back to persuade me, I will definitely run through Wenshui. Min Ziqian did what he said, did not go out to be an official in his life, until he died at the age of 50.

Today we have many places to learn Min Ziqian, benevolence and filial piety, right and wrong, wealth can not be moved, do what we say, are these more important than Guodayi? It is also the core idea of the Analects, that is, the way of being a man.

It's not easy to do. In today's society, materialism and utilitarian impetuosity are not bad. But these noble qualities can purify themselves and exalt themselves, so that they can feel at ease at any time and place, without complaint or regret.

One of the criteria for doing things well or badly is to be afraid of being afraid of someone knocking on the door in the middle of the night. In ancient times, it was knocking on the door in the middle of the night, and it must have been a ghost that had been wronged to collect debts and collect lives. To be a person and do things, peace of mind is the most important, can sleep, eat well, and the heart is the most comfortable. Like Min Ziqian, he thinks of others everywhere and adheres to the ideal of justice.

So, in addition to the temptation of wealth, what other challenges await the disciples of Confucius? Let's continue tomorrow and stop here today.