Confucianism has always regarded "gentleman" as the ideal personality of entering the world, and Confucius himself has sincerely practiced the way of a gentleman throughout his life. Confucius attached great importance to "benevolence and etiquette", and the reason why a gentleman can be called a gentleman is because the gentleman naturally and spontaneously personifies and visualizes benevolence and etiquette, "people can promote the Tao, not the Tao", "benevolence and etiquette" and "gentleman" are not the relationship between the "two" outside and the inside, but the relationship of harmony into "one". "Benevolence and etiquette" means a gentleman, and Confucius said: "Quality is better than literature is wild, and literature is better than quality." Polite and then gentlemanly. ”
So which of the members of Confucianism can assume the name of a gentleman? The best choice that most later generations have come up with is none other than Confucius. But if Confucius himself is allowed to answer this question, Confucius should be humble and give way, and then cite one of his disciples, and the listener thinks about it, and really, the more he thinks about it, the more he thinks that this person is Yan Hui.
Yan Hui, name Hui, Zi Yuan. Yan Hui was confucius's most proud disciple, and he practiced and carried forward Confucius's teachings throughout his life. Confucius's feelings for Yan Hui also went beyond the ordinary master-apprentice relationship, treating Yan Hui like a son, and even jokingly said, "Make Er more wealthy, I am Erzai", calling them unforgettable friends.
Yan Hui
Why did Confucius favor Yan Hui so much?
From the point of view of the harmony of literature and quality, first of all, Yan Hui is extremely talented, and there is no doubt that professor Confucius's theory can be understood and understood, so he never asks questions, and even this sensitivity causes Confucius to doubt whether Yan Hui is very stupid. But after observation, Confucius dispelled his doubts. Zi Yue: "I will not contradict my words all the time, like foolishness." It is enough to withdraw and save its selfishness, and it is not foolish to return. ”
"Enough hair" means being able to apply the knowledge you have learned and being able to give an example. There is a record in the Analects of Gongyechang that Zigong's learning cultivation is quite high, and Confucius refers to it as "Hu Lian". One day Confucius asked Zigong, "Who is the female and the hui?" ZiGong replied, "How dare You look back?" Back also smell one to know ten, give also smell one to know two. After hearing this, Confucius said, "FuRuye, I and the female Furuye." ”
Song Ru Hu Yin explained: "Smell one knows ten, the superior knows the capital, and the life knows the Yaya." Smell one knows two, the middle people above the capital, the learning and knowledge of the talent also. Confucius also divided the qualifications of those who studied: "Those who are born to know are also on the top, those who learn and know are secondary, and those who are sleepy and learn are also secondary." The first type of person is "born to know", and the understanding is extremely high after birth, and it is understood as soon as it is heard, as if it is known at birth. From Confucius's evaluation of Yan Hui, it is probably that Yan Hui is such a person. The second is "learning and knowing", which is worse than the first type of people, but through learning, you can also reach the level of sages, and Zigong is probably this level. The third kind of person is "sleepy and know", this kind of person has poor initiative, encounters difficulties, and only goes to study, only to solve the problem at hand to learn. There is also a kind of "sleepy and not learning, the people are inferior", even if they encounter difficulties, they do not study, they belong to the foolish people, not to the people who study.
In addition, Yan Hui studied hard and never slackened. Zi Yue: "He who speaks without being lazy, his return is also with!" ”
Kong Qiu
Most importantly, Yan Hui truly achieved the unity of knowledge and action. The so-called "earnest place of knowledge is to do", Lu Aigong asked Confucius: "Who is a disciple who is eager to learn?" Confucius said: "Those who have a face are eager to learn, do not move their anger, do not pass the test, unfortunately die for a short time, and now they are dead, and they have not heard of good scholars."
Eager to learn, not to anger others in everything, not to commit the same mistake a second time, this virtue embodies the most earnest knowledge. Because Yan Hui practiced Confucius's theory as his own code of conduct and then confirmed it, from Confucius's evaluation of him, "Hui Ye, his heart does not violate benevolence in March, and the rest is only a matter of days and days", it can be seen that among the disciples, only Yan Hui can practice benevolence and righteousness for a long time.
Confucius once said: "A gentleman is worried about the way not to be poor", this word can be a panoramic embodiment of Yan Hui, Yan Hui is very poor in his real life, "a poor food, a scoop of drink, people in the dark alley, people are overwhelmed by worries", food, clothing, shelter and travel are sloppy, others look at him and worry about him. However, what is Yan Hui's attitude towards such a difficult situation? Answer: "I will not change my pleasure when I go back." Hui did not change his happiness, and said in peace and happiness, which was the result of Yan Hui's action of the idea of "benevolence and etiquette" as virtue.
Born sensitive and wise, learning is hard work, behavior can stop at etiquette, and the knowledge in the long-term noble habits are completely constructed into the morality and instinct of the self, "do not move anger, do not pass", and live in poverty. Polite and polite, knowledge and action are one, Yan Hui is a rare but real gentleman who lives under the strict sense, which is why Confucius liked Yan Hui the most.