This is Xunzi's negation of physiognomy
Physiognomy is a kind of science in the five Chinese arts, which mainly judges a person's character and health from the characteristics and behavior of a person's face or body, so as to speculate on a person's fate.
Nowadays, physiognomy integrates Western anatomy, which is basically divided into three qualities, heart nature, muscle and bone quality, and nutritional quality.
It is absolutely not a single theory, it must be coordinated with the whole, otherwise it will be taken out of context and judged wrongly.
Physiognomy is recorded very early. "The Book of Rites" contains: "Whoever looks at the top is proud, and if he is lower than the belt, he is worried, and if he is tilted, he is treacherous." Another example is that after Gou Jian Ping Wu, Fan Li knew that Gou Jian was a "long-necked bird beak, which can be shared with hardships, not with joy", so he and Xi Shi sailed together in Qi and changed his name to Ouyi Zipi. Others, such as Su Qin, are "bone nose sword spine"; Xiang Yu is "eyes with heavy pupils"; Zhou Yafu is the "longitudinal entrance", the longitudinal reason is the law, and the physiognomy is said to be the longitudinal lip as the phase of starvation; Liu Xiu is "Long Zhun Sun Angle".
Among the traditional physiognomy, the earliest books are, "Xu Negative Physiognomy", "Mai Physiognomy", and later "Renlun Datongfu" and "Liuzhuang Physiognomy".
Xunzi believes that face reading is not really a science
Speculating on good and bad things by observing people's physiognomy did not have such things in ancient times, and learned people did not talk about such things.
In ancient times, there was a Gu Bu Ziqing, and in today's world, there is a Tang Ju in the Wei State.
They can know the good fortune and evil of a man by looking at his countenance and countenance, and the worldly people praise them. There was no such thing in ancient times, and no learned man talked about it.
It is better to observe a person's physiognomy than to examine his thoughts, and it is better to examine his thoughts than to identify his way of living in the world.
Appearance is not as important as thought, and thought is not as important as the way of living in the world.
If the way of living in the world is correct and the thinking conforms to it, then even if the physical appearance is ugly and the thinking and the way of living in the world are good, it will not prevent him from becoming a gentleman; even if the physical appearance is good-looking, but the thoughts and methods of living in the world are ugly, it cannot hide that he has become a villain. A gentleman can be said to be auspicious, and a villain can be said to be fierce.
Therefore, the physical characteristics such as height, size, beauty and ugliness are not signs of good luck and evil. There was no such thing in ancient times, and no learned man talked about it.
Let's talk about well-known figures in history
It is said that Emperor Yao was tall, Emperor Shun was short, King Wen of Zhou was tall, Gongdan of Zhou was short, Confucius was tall, and Ran Yong was short.
Once upon a time, Wei Linggong had a courtier named Gongsun Lu, who was seven feet tall, with a face three feet long and a forehead width of three inches, but he had a nose, eyes, and ears, and his reputation shook the world.
Sun Shu Ao of the Chu State, a countryman from the place of Qisi, with short hair and bald hair, long left hand, standing on the Xuan chariot and still under the crossbar of the carriage, but he made the Chu State dominate the princes.
Ye Gongzi was tall, weak, short and thin, as if he couldn't hold his clothes when he walked, but when Bai Gongsheng was in turmoil, Yin Zixi and Sima Ziqi died in the hands of Bai Gong, but Ye Gongzi Gao led his troops into Chu, killed Bai Gong, and stabilized the Chu State, as easy as turning his palm over, and his benevolence and righteousness were praised by later generations.
Therefore, for scholars, it is not to measure the height of the person, not to measure the size of the body, not to weigh the weight of the body, but only to look at his ambition.
How can height, size, beauty and ugliness be used to judge people?
In addition, the shape of King Xu Yan, whose eyes can be seen upwards to the forehead, the shape of Confucius, whose face seems to be covered with an ugly and ugly mask of exorcism, the shape of Zhou Gongdan, whose body resembles a broken dead tree, the shape of Gaotao, whose face is as green as a peeled melon, the shape of Hong Yao, which has so many sideburns on his face that he cannot see the skin, the shape of Fu Shuo, whose body is like a vertical pillar, and the shape of Yi Yin, whose face has no beard and eyebrows. Yu was lame, jumping and jumping when he walked, the soup was half dry, and there were two juxtaposed pupils in Shun's eyes.
Do those who believe in each other examine their aspirations and thoughts, and compare their learning?
Or do you only distinguish between their height and their beauty and ugliness, so as to deceive each other and look down on each other?
In ancient times, Xia Wei and Shang were burly and handsome, and they were outstanding figures in the world, and their bodies were agile and strong, enough to fight hundreds of people. But when they die, their country dies, and they become the most shameful people in the world, and when future generations talk about bad people, they will definitely use them as examples.
It's not a curse caused by appearance. People who believe in each other don't see or hear much, so it's not clever to talk about it.
Now there is no one in the world who commits trouble, and there is no one in the village who is not beautiful and charming, they wear strange clothes, decorate themselves like women, and their expressions and attitudes are similar to those of women; there is no woman who does not want such a person as a husband, and there is no girl who does not want such a person as a fiancé, and there is no woman who abandons her relatives and family and wants to elope with them.
But the average king is ashamed to regard such a person as a courtier, the average father is ashamed to regard such a person as a son, the average elder brother is ashamed to regard such a person as a younger brother, and the average person is ashamed to regard such a person as a friend.
Soon, such people will be kidnapped by the officials and beheaded in the streets, and they will all cry and cry, and they will all regret their original actions because of their fate today. It's not a curse caused by appearance. People who believe in each other don't see or hear much, so it's not clever to talk about it.
Having said that, which opinion would be agreed between the physiognomy and the thought?
There are three kinds of unlucky things for people: the young refuse to serve the elderly, the lowly refuse to serve the noble, and the virtuous refuse to serve the virtuous.
There are three kinds of things that people will inevitably fall into distress: being a ruler but not being able to love their subjects, and being a subject but liking to criticize the monarch, this is the first situation in which a person will inevitably fall into distress; disobedience to the face and slandering behind his back is the second situation in which a person will inevitably fall into distress; shallow knowledge, lack of virtue, and the ability to distinguish between right and wrong are very different from others, but he cannot respect the loving and the wise, and this is the third situation in which he will inevitably fall into distress.
If a person has these three ominous and three impoverished behaviors, he will inevitably be dangerous if he becomes a monarch, and he will inevitably perish as a subject.
"Poem" cloud: "The snow is all over the sky, and the sun is brilliant and melts." But people refuse to retire themselves, and they are often proud in their reigns. "That's exactly what happened.
What is it about people who are human?
I say: Because people have different boundaries of all kinds of things. When you are hungry, you want to eat, when you are cold, you want to be warm, when you are tired, you want to rest, you like to gain and hate to be victimized, this is the nature of human beings, it does not need to rely on learning to be like this, it is the same as Yu and Ji.
However, people are not human just because they have no hair on their feet, but because they have different boundaries about things. Now the orangutan was similar in shape to that of a man, and had two legs, but it was hairy, but the gentleman tasted its soup and ate its flesh.
So people become human not just because they have no hair on their feet, but because they have different boundaries about things. The beast had a father and a son, but there was no affection between father and son, a female and a male, but there was no boundary between a male and a female.
As the moral norm of human society, it must be different from all the boundaries of things.
There is nothing more important to distinguish the boundaries of things than to determine the name, there is nothing more important to determine the name than to follow the rites, and there is nothing more important to follow the rites than to imitate the emperors of the sage. There are hundreds of emperors of the Holy Ming, which one should we imitate?
Then I will say that the system of etiquette has been lost because of age, the rhythm of music has been lost because of age, and the officials in charge of the provisions of the ritual law have also been disconnected from the time when the ritual law was formulated.
Therefore, if you want to observe the deeds of Emperor Shengming, you must observe the characters who are clearly understood, and the emperors of future generations are. The so-called emperor of future generations is the king who rules the world now, and the emperor who has abandoned his descendants to praise the emperor of the ancients, for example, is like giving up his own monarch to serve the monarch of another country.
Therefore, if we want to observe the past events of the millennium, we must carefully examine the present, if we want to know hundreds of millions of things, we must figure out one or two things, if we want to know the social situation in ancient times, we must examine the way of governing the country of the current Zhou Dynasty, and if we want to know the way of governing the country of the Zhou Dynasty, we must examine the gentlemen they respect. Therefore, it is said: "To understand the ancients according to the modern age, to understand ten thousand things from one thing, and to understand the obvious from the subtle things." That's what I'm talking about.
Those who are ignorant and talk nonsense say: "The situation is different in ancient and modern times, and the reason why those who control chaos in ancient and modern times is in different ways. ”
So the general masses were confused by them. The so-called ordinary people are people who are ignorant and unable to speak reason, and who are shallow and cannot judge right from wrong. What they saw with their own eyes could deceive them, let alone rumors that were thousands of years old! Those who were ignorant and talked nonsense, even between the gate and the courtyard, could deceive people, let alone thousands of years ago!
Why can't saints be deceived?
This is because a saint is a person who makes inferences about things based on his own personal experience.
Therefore, he deduced the ancient people according to the situation of modern people, inferred the ancient human feelings according to the modern human feelings, deduced the similar things of the ancient times according to a certain type of modern things, deduced the merits of the ancients according to the doctrines that have been handed down to the present, and observed everything in ancient times according to the general laws of things, because the situation in ancient and modern times is the same.
As long as they are of the same kind and do not contradict each other, then their basic nature is the same even after a long time apart, so that the saint will not be confused by heresy and fallacies, and he will not be confused by observing complex things, because he can measure them according to this reason. The celebrities who did not pass on to later generations before the five emperors of Fuxi, Shennong, Huangdi, Yao, and Shun were not because there were no virtuous people at that time, but because of the long time; among these five emperors, there were no political measures that were passed on to later generations, not because they did not have good political measures, but because they had been too long; although Xia Yu and Shang Tang had political measures that were passed down to later generations, they were not as clear as those of the Zhou Dynasty, not because they did not have good political measures, but because they had been too long.
After a long period of time, the things that have been circulated will be briefly discussed, and the things of modern times will be talked about in detail. If it is brief, it can only be enumerated, and if it is exhaustive, it can be enumerated in detail.
Foolish people who hear the brief exposition no longer know the details, and when they hear the details, they no longer know the general situation of it. Therefore, the ceremonial system has been lost because of age, and the rhythm of music has been lost because of age.
Anything that does not conform to the moral principles of the ancient holy kings and does not follow etiquette and righteousness is called heresy, and even if it is said beautifully and reasonably, the gentleman will not listen to it. If you follow the ancient holy kings, follow etiquette and righteousness, and get close to learned people, but you don't like to talk about holy kings and are not willing to promote etiquette and righteousness, then you must not be a sincere bachelor.
A gentleman likes the correct doctrine in his heart, follows it wholeheartedly in action, and is willing to propagate it.
Therefore, a gentleman must be able to speak well. There is no one who does not like to talk about what he thinks is good, and this is especially true of a gentleman.
Therefore, when a gentleman gives good words to others, he feels that it is more precious than giving them gold, stones, pearls, and jade, and when he shows them to others, he feels that they are more beautiful than letting people look at the colorful patterns on his dress, and he feels that he is happier when he tells good words to others than when he listens to bells, drums, and harps. Therefore, the gentleman never tires of the propaganda of good words.
Despicable villains, on the contrary, only focus on affordability, but do not care about literary brilliance, so they will inevitably be despicable and vulgar all their lives. So "Zhou Yi" said: "It's like a bag that pierces its mouth, with neither blame nor praise." "That's what kind of pedantic Confucianism is talking about.
The difficulty of persuasion is that it is impossible to achieve the goal directly by treating those who are extremely despicable with an extremely lofty ideological realm, and approaching those who can most mess up the country with the political measures that can best govern the country well.
Those who are good at persuasion must be able to cite ancient examples without making mistakes, and cite modern examples without appearing vulgar; the content of speech should change with the development of the times and be suppressed with the changes of the world; whether to speak softly or eagerly, whether to say more or less, can adapt to the situation, like a canal dam that blocks the flow of water, Correct the bamboo and wood tools to control themselves, and tactfully say everything you want to say to the other person, but do not hurt him.
Therefore, a gentleman is like a carpenter who straightens with an ink line, and treats others like a public boat to pick up customers. Discipline oneself with the principle of ink line, so that oneself can become an example for the people of the world to follow, and treat others with a mind like a boat, so that one can be tolerant of others, and can also rely on others to achieve the great cause of governing the world.
A gentleman who is virtuous and can accommodate the incompetent, intelligent and ignorant, well-informed and ignorant, and morally pure and capable of accommodating the misdemeanor is called the method of inclusiveness. "Poem" cloud: "Xu Guo has come to obey, this is the great work of the Son of Heaven." That's exactly what I'm talking about.
The method of conversation and persuasion is to face him with a serious and solemn attitude, treat him with a correct and sincere heart, support him with a firm and strong will, use the method of metaphor to make him understand, use the method of analysis to make him understand, and instill in him with enthusiasm and kindness, so that his words appear precious, precious, important, and wonderful.
In this way, persuasion is often not unacceptable, and even if it is not to please others, there is nothing disrespectful to others. This is called being able to value what is dear to oneself.
It is said in an ancient book: "Only a gentleman can make what he holds dear." "That's exactly what happened.
A gentleman must be able to speak well. There is no one who does not like to talk about what he thinks is good, and a gentleman is better than the average person. If a villain can speak the way, he preaches the art of sinisterness, while a gentleman can speak the way and preaches the way of benevolence.
If he does not speak in accordance with the way of charity, then it is better for him to be silent when he speaks, and it is better for him to be clumsy than to be able to speak, and if he is not able to speak in accordance with the way of charity, then he who likes to talk is superior, and he who does not like to talk is inferior. So it's important to speak in the way of charity.
Policies and orders are what arise from the monarch and are used to guide the subjects, and what arises from the subjects and are used to be loyal to the monarch are advice and dissuasion. Therefore, a gentleman never gets tired of pursuing the way of benevolence, loves it in his heart, follows it wholeheartedly in action, and is willing to talk about it, so a gentleman must be able to speak the way.
It is better to debate the details than to reveal the clues, and to reveal the clues is not as good as to reveal the inherent names. If the details of the debate can be discerned, the clues can be clearly revealed, and the inherent name can be governed well, then the identity of a saint and a scholar and gentleman will be possessed.
There are villain-style arguments, scholar-gentleman-style arguments, and saint-style arguments.
Without thinking in advance, without planning in advance, as soon as he speaks, he is very appropriate, both literary and legal, and can adapt to changes in words and topics without being exhausted in answers, which is a sage-style argument.
Considered well in advance, planned well in advance, and a moment's speech is also worth listening to, which is both literary and meticulous, both profound and fair, this is a gentleman's argument. Listening to him speak, his words are beautiful and unsystematic, and appointing him to do things is treacherous and ineffective; he cannot obey the wise emperor at the top, and cannot make the common people harmonious; but he speaks in a measured manner, or he is exaggerated, or submissive, and moderately adjusted; such a person is enough to boast and boast by virtue of eloquence, and can be called a traitor among the bad people.
As soon as the emperor of the Holy Ming came to power, such people were the first to be killed, and then the thieves were placed behind them to be punished. For thieves can be converted, and it is impossible for such a person to repent and rehabilitate.
To sum up:
There are no people in the ancients, and scholars are not Taoist.
People have three ominous things: young and unwilling to be long, cheap and unwilling to be expensive, unscrupulous and unwilling to be virtuous, are the three ominous people also.
People have three must be poor: for the top, they can't love the bottom, for the bottom, they are not the top, one of the people must be poor; the countryside is not as good, and the two people must be poor; knowledge and action are shallow, and there is a county for the straight, but the benevolent people can't push, and the people can't understand, and the three people must be poor.
Distinguishing is greater than the score, the score is greater than the ceremony, and the ceremony is greater than the holy king
Therefore, it is said: to know the distance with the near, to know the ten thousand, to know the micro to know, this is also said.
Therefore, Yi said: "There is no blame and no reputation." Confucianism is also said.
Whatever is difficult to say, the highest meets the lowest, and the rule leads to chaos.
A gentleman must argue.