Zi said: "The king, respect the matter and then eat." ”
The Master said, "Prince, first of all, you should be respectful of your ministry and put the money you have received at the back." ”
The chapter "Analects" of "The Analects" should have occurred during Confucius's time as an official. Confucius was an official in three periods: first, in 532 BC, Confucius began to be a commissioner and manage warehouses. In 531 B.C., Confucius changed to Chengtian and managed animal husbandry; the second time was 501 B.C., Confucius was the ruler of the central capital, and governed the central capital; the third period was 500 B.C., Confucius was promoted from the middle capital to the small Sikong, and then promoted to the great Sikou, and took pictures.
The original meaning of "thing" is an official position. The explanation given in the "Sayings" is: "Things, jobs." It is used here as a verb to serve, to offer.
"Jun" is a general term for rulers at all levels above the ancient doctor who owned land. "Xunzi Treatise on Etiquette" records: "The monarch is the master of governance (through "doing"). "Ancient emperors advocated the rule of inaction, and specific matters were handled by their subordinates, and these people who presided over specific affairs were "kings". In the Western Zhou Dynasty, the king of the Zhou Dynasty was called the Son of Heaven, and "Jun" referred to the monarch of the vassal states, such as the monarch of the Qi State, the Duke of Qi Huan, the monarch of the Lu State, the Duke of Lu Zhao, the Duke of Lu Ding, the Duke of Lu Ai, etc., who were the rulers of a vassal state, and later, "Jun" also became an honorific title.
At the end of the Spring and Autumn Period, the society was already the status quo of "the king is not the king, and the minister is not the minister". In the state of Lu, the power of the monarch has been out of the control of the monarch since the beginning of Lu Huan, and the real power is the "Ji's Sanhuan". But Confucius, who was an official in the Lu State, emphasized the social order of "monarchs, ministers, fathers, and sons", so he did not talk about "Ji's three huans", but "things for the king". "Shijun" means that a person is doing things for the vassal state and the country, not for the people in power, which is another example of Confucius's "correct name".
The way of "Shijun" is to pay attention to loyalty. The Analects of Taber records: "If you are not in your position, you will not seek your own government." "A person should respect the profession he is engaged in, do his best to do his own thing, do his job well, and do things for the country "to the best of his ability", even if he sacrifices his own life.
At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Liu Bei visited the thatched cottage three times and invited Zhuge Liang from Xiangyang Longzhong to be his military advisor. In order to repay Liu Bei's kindness, Zhuge Liang worked hard and conscientiously all his life, working hard for the country and the people. Zhuge Liang attaches great importance to the selection and promotion of talented people and appoints people on the basis of merit; rewards and punishments are clearly distinguished; he humbly solicits opinions from all quarters; and he strictly demands that officials at all levels punish corrupt and illegal acts in order to establish an atmosphere in which officials are honest and honest in performing their official duties. Zhuge Liang can be said to be a model of the ancient "Shijun".
Some people understand "Shijun" as only the decision of the supreme ruler of the country, and do not take the interests of the country and the nation to heart; this is not the real "Shijun", this is the servility of a person, and this understanding is obviously not in line with the original meaning of Confucius's words.
With the basic condition of "the king of things", there will be a saying of "respecting things and then eating".
In ancient times, the word "respect" had its own emphasis, "respect" was the inner cultivation, and "respect" was the external reflection or manifestation of this cultivation.
"The Book of Rites: Qu Li" records: "Don't be disrespectful. Don't be disrespectful, but be respectful of all people and things. The essence of "etiquette" is "respect", and everything must be done with "respect" in the heart.
In the Analects, the word "respect" appears in 22 places. The Analects of the Analects of the Ninth Road records: "The dwelling is respectful, the deacon is respectful, and the people are loyal." When doing things, we must have a "respectful" heart and not be careless. Therefore, "respect" has the meaning of concentration and seriousness. "Respect" also has the meaning of self-cultivation. The Analects of the Analects of the Constitution records: "Cultivate oneself with respect." It means cultivating oneself to respect others and things. The Analects of Ji records that "things are respectful" and so on.
Zhu Xi, a great Confucian in the Southern Song Dynasty, said: "Respectful, the Lord is unsuitable." "The Lord is one" means to concentrate on one thing, and "no fit" means to be free from distractions, distractions, and distractions. A person treats things as one thing and does it seriously, which is "respect".
The "Disciple Rules" recorded: "Holding the void is like holding the profit, and entering the void room, like a person." Even if you hold an empty container, you should be as careful as when it is full, and when you enter an empty house where no one is there, you should be as careful as your master is at home, and you should not be casual.
"Respecting its work" is about doing your own things and careers well, and the result will naturally be "its food".
The original meaning of "food" has two usages: verb and noun. When used as a verb, it means to eat, and when used as a noun, the meaning of the word is food, mainly referring to food, grain. It is extended from eating to enjoyment, and from metaphor to solar and lunar eclipses, and further extended to losses. "The Book of Rites: The Legend of the Fang": "A gentleman would rather make people float than make food float on people." This means that a gentleman would rather make his talent more than his own talents. The "food" here refers to the food.
This sentence of Confucius tells us that a person should do his duty first and eat food last, which is the true way of "the king". "The Analects of Yongye" records that the original thought was slaughtered, and it was nine hundred with Su and resigned. Zi said: "No, I want to be the party in the neighborhood and township!" This passage is to the effect that Yuan Si was the head of Confucius's family, and Confucius gave him 900 rice, but Yuan Si refused. Confucius said, "Don't shirk. If you feel that you are giving too much, give the excess to your folks. "What Confucius meant was to say, "Yuanxian, this is your deserved reward, and you should not refuse." You must take what you deserve, and you must not stretch out your hand if you don't deserve it, not only not to covet money, but also to fame and fortune that suddenly come. There is an idiom called "no merit without merit", which means that a person should not accept money without reason without establishing merit. Otherwise, in the words of Marshal Chen Yi, "don't stretch out your hand, you will be caught." ”
In the process of "Shijun", "respecting his things" can "eat after him". In today's terms, a person who has worked hard first is qualified to talk about remuneration.
The meaning of Confucius's sentence is not to say, "Do your work well, and then talk about getting money", if you understand it this way, the purpose of working is to get money. Isn't this not "a mother if you have milk, and a father if you have money"? A gentleman is not a gentleman who is a gentleman who does things for the sake of profit, but for the sake of the general interests of the country and the nation, and is in the realm of "seeking the right to do things but not for food." But if you talk about remuneration, official position and income in advance, and then do things, such a life realm is really too small. As for those who have nothing to do, use power for personal gain, and are embarrassed to get paid, we don't have to worry about him, because the ancients have come to the conclusion that this is called "corpse vegetarian meal". Redundant personnel of some organs, enterprises, and public institutions, relying on personnel or other special relationships, only know that they receive their salaries on time every month, eat, drink, and sit idly every day, but do not do any work.
This is talking about "the king", "business" is the same, business, you have to "respect the matter" first, this is a kind of business strategy.
If "respecting one's work" is labor, then "then eating one" is the income after labor, just like a point of hard work and a point of harvest. Only if you work hard will you give back. What needs to be explained here is that it is not that a person must be a "gentleman", so he does not talk about "his food", but only talks about which is more in line with the goal pursued by a gentleman, "respecting his affairs" or "eating later". People have basic needs for survival, but in addition to material needs, gentlemen also have higher-level needs, that is, in order to make a career and realize the value of their lives, they often put the pursuit of material treatment in the second place. If you are a gentleman, you will choose to "respect his things", and a villain puts "his food" in the first place in his life, which is what Confucius said.
Carefully studying the Analects, we gradually understand that in the relationship between "labor" and "gain", Confucius emphasized that "labor" is the first "labor", and only after the result is "gained". "The Analects of Yongye" records: "The benevolent person is difficult first and then obtained." (What a benevolent person does in front of others, when there is a harvest, he is willing to be behind others, which can be said to be benevolent.) Confucius's view, in today's words, is that work comes first, and enjoyment comes second.
Dedication is not only a concept, but also an ability.
"Shijun" is talking about "respect", which is the problem of "small self" and "big self" that we usually say. The "big self" person has the world in his heart, is conscientious, hard-working, and does not disappoint himself, nor will he be disappointed by the "king" he serves. And the "little self" people, everything is self-oriented, calculating, suffering from gains and losses.
When a person does what he should do well, he will have the next layer of meaning, which is "eating after it." On the contrary, to talk about "food" first and then "things" is in itself a violation of convention. If in the process of doing things, do you have a respectful heart, and the result can only annoy people, what salary will you have?