Life is the retrograde ship, virtue is the rudder, and intelligence is the sail
-- Compulsory education for the whole people is important, but it is still the second
Reading Mr. Zhang Zhongxing's "Miscellaneous Talks on the World", the "Commentary on the Moon and Dan" section records some celebrities, such as Zhang Taiyan and Qi Gong, but there are also images of ordinary people, such as Wang Da Niang.
When I saw in the catalog, Wang Da Niang was juxtaposed with Zhang Taiyan, Hu Shi and other masters, and I felt relieved. There is no high or low in life, and Mr. Zhongxing, who is well versed in Buddhism, has the consciousness of the equality of all sentient beings.
It is natural to be sought after by people who have knowledge to become masters, but the ordinary people who are virtuous and illiterate are also respected.
Wang Da Niang is a flag man, and the owner of mr. Wang's former residence, Li Jia, is just a maid in charge of cooking, in his forties, thin, simple, "not a little clever and lean, rarely laughing, but there is a lot of gentleness hidden in the weight." She was diligent and never wasted food. As long as it is a rule, whether it is her or the master's determination, she will never be scrupulous, and her jade-like virtue has won the trust and respect of dozens of people in the entire compound.
Later, when Wang Da Niang was seventy years old, she was dismissed for age reasons, and experienced the Cultural Revolution in the middle, and has not been heard from since. The last sentence of the article: "But her honest, simple, generous image, only caring for others, not caring about her own rare image, always lingers in our hearts, and often makes me think of a question, is: how much credibility does the so-called reading of books that are often said to be reasonable be?" ”
This is indeed a thought-provoking question, can reading really make people understand? So now that more than nine million college students are graduated a year, are the college students and graduate students on campus all reasonable? Are more people not rational, just learning to look down on knowledge and readers?
I came up with a metaphor that life is a retrograde boat, virtue is the rudder, and intelligence is the sail.
The rudder that can set the direction is more important, and the sail can only save people some energy when there is wind, so that the ship can go faster. Therefore, although compulsory education for the whole people is important, it is still the second.
Those who govern, educate the people, and put virtue first, will make people know good and evil, honor and shame, noble filial piety, benevolence and righteousness, and light wealth and profit. Confucius said: "The Tao is based on government, qi is punished, and the people are exempt and shameless; the Tao is moral, and the Qi is courteous, shameful and virtuous." (Analects for Government)
Modern people are desperate to pursue their fortunes — master's degrees in chemistry have found ways to improve methamphetamine; some university professors have plagiarized papers, which are shameful; how many corrupt officials have graduate degrees, and they have neither "qualifications" nor "shame". Without the rudder of virtue, the evil winds will only send them into the abyss faster.
Knowledge can make people's minds bright, but they can't let the upside-down mind come straight, so reading books is reasonable, and if there is no moral basis, I am afraid it is just an empty word.