Today I would like to share with you a story of Confucius sitting with his disciples and discussing their personal aspirations, which is the famous story of "sitting" in the Analects. I'll recapture this story in general, and then I'll talk about what it can teach us.
One day, Zilu, Zeng Hao, Ran You, and Gong Xihua sat next to Confucius.
Confucius said to the four, "I am old. I'm older than all of you, and no one is going to reuse me anymore. You complain all the time and no one knows your talents. What would you do if someone now knew you had talents and wanted to reuse them? ”
The Analects sit
Here Confucius asked the four disciples to talk about their political ideals. If they were allowed to govern a country, what would they do? Let's first see how Zilu answers:
Zilu took the lead in blurting out and replied: "A country with only a thousand military vehicles is besieged between several great powers, with strong enemies on the outside and famine on the inside." If I were to govern, it would only take three years for the people of this country to be full of courage and knowledge. ”
After listening to Zilu's words, Confucius did not comment and smiled slightly. Turning his head, he asked Ran You, "Ran Qiu, what will you do?" ”
Confucius was obviously not satisfied with Zilu's answer, and he felt that Zilu was somewhat exaggerated and did not have the humility to govern a country. So he asked Ran You again, and we came to see what Ran You had to say:
Ran You replied, "Let me govern a small country with a land area of sixty or seventy or fifty or sixty miles, and after three years, I will be able to make the people here well-fed." As for the teaching of liturgy, I am incapable of doing so, and I have to wait for the wise men and gentlemen who are more advanced than me to carry it out. ”
Confucius asked Gong Xihua again, "Chi, what will you do?" ”
Ran You saw that Zilu's answer was not pleasing, so he took a step back, saying only that he could make the people rich, but could not practice the teachings of liturgy. Confucius was not satisfied after listening to it, so he asked Gong Xihua again.
Gong Xihua replied to Confucius: "It is not that I already have such a skill, I am willing to engage in this kind of study." For the sacrificial work in the temple or the alliance with foreign countries, I would like to wear a dress and a top hat and make a small ceremonial ceremony. ”
Confucius finally asked Zeng Hao, "Zeng Dian, what are your plans?" ”
Gong Xihua's attitude was even more modest, he felt that he could only be a small emcee, and he needed to keep learning. Confucius was still not satisfied, and he asked Zeng Hao again.
Zeng Hao was bouncing, just near the end. With a "sonorous" sound, he put Ser down, stood up and replied, "My thoughts are not the same as the three of them." ”
Confucius said, "Then what is the obstacle?" I just want to hear what your ambitions are. ”
Zeng Hao here gave everyone a suspense, his ideas are different from others, Confucius told him but said it is okay, then what kind of answer will Zeng Hao give?
Zeng Hao then said: "In the late spring and March, put on the spring clothes, I accompanied five or six adults and six or seven children to the countryside to play." We bathed next to the Yishui and blew the wind on the dance stage. When the game was over, we sang all the way home. ”
Confucius sighed and said, "I agree with Zeng dian's idea!" ”
Zeng Hao's idea was approved by Confucius, who expressed his agreement with Zeng Hao's views, so why?
Zi Lu, Ran You, and Gong Xihua went out first, and Zeng Hao had not yet left. Zeng Hao asked Confucius: "What do you think of the answers of my three classmates?" ”
Confucius said, "They are just saying their own ambitions." ”
Zeng Hao asked again, "Then why did you smile at Zhongyu (Zilu)?" ”
Here Zeng Hao raised his own question: Why did Confucius make a slight smile on Zilu's answer? Why didn't he say no to the answers of the other two students?
Confucius replied, "Governing the country should be polite, and his words were not modest at all, so I smiled at him." ”
"Isn't what Ran Qiu said about a major affair of the country?" Zeng Hao asked.
"How can we see that a place with a land area of sixty or seventy or fifty or sixty miles is not a country?" Confucius replied.
"Isn't what Gong Xi chi is talking about a major affair of the princes?" Zeng Hao asked again.
"There are temple sacrifices, there are international leagues, what is not the great affair of the princes?" Gong Xi Chi is only willing to be a small emcee, so who will be the big emcee? ”
From this we can see that Confucius believed that Zilu was not humble enough, while ran you and Gong Xihua's political ideals were not ambitious enough. The reason why Confucius agreed with Zeng Hao's statement was not because Zeng Hao's answer was unique, but because it just represented the lofty ideal of The Confucian world.
Zeng Hao's answer seems to be just a spring amusement, but in fact, it depicts a scene of a peaceful and prosperous world that is in line with the Confucian ritual music culture, carrying songs and dancing. In this picture of the spring tour, adults and children enjoy themselves with the landscape, they sing and dance, and become one with nature, feeling the beauty of spring.
We can't help but think that the people who survive in such a scene must be politically clear-cut, and they must be young and nurtured, old and old, orderly, rich and courteous. More than once in Confucian writings, similar scenes have been depicted, and this is the ideal society that generations of Confucians have dreamed of.
Zeng's answer point hit the Confucian social ideal, which won the praise of Confucius. Let's change the perspective, from a personal point of view: in the spring tour map, everyone is happy and happy, isn't this a happy state of life? Confucianism also admires happiness, believing that "those who are good are not as good as those who are happy." As long as you truly enjoy your present life and feel happy about it, who can deprive you of the right to that happiness?