Although the Book of Changes is known as the first of all the classics, because of the long history of the present day, the hexagrams and epigrams of its 64 hexagrams are often difficult for modern people to understand. In order to let everyone better share the wisdom left by the sages, the author tries to use historical stories to interpret the I Ching, please listen to the following:
"Humility Hexagram" epigram
After listening to these two historical stories, why is the 62 lines of "Qian Hexagram" easy to understand?
1. Literal interpretation of "Humility Hexagram" 62 Yao
This line is the second line of the I Ching "Humility Hexagram", and its words are very concise: "Sixty-two: Ming Qian, Zhenji." "The Legend of the Elephant" says this: "Ming Qian Zhenji, the center is also." Among them, "Ming" is connected with the name and refers to fame. This is to say that after a person has a reputation, he is more modest, so he is upright and auspicious. And this humility comes from the heart.
The connotation of "Ming Humility" in the proverb refers to the fact that people who know how to be modest advocate the virtue of modesty to each other and resonate with each other, so they keep the right path and are auspicious. This admonishes people that humility should be the principle of dealing with others, and if you are humble to others, they will respond to your humility. You will also be able to achieve your wishes smoothly.
In order to vividly interpret the 62 lines of the I Ching's "Hexagram of Qian", the following tells the story of Meng Weijun, the head of the four princes of the Warring States Period, and Zeng Guofan, an important minister of the Qing Dynasty, so that readers can better understand the philosophy of this line.
Meng Yunjun image
Second, Meng Weijun Mingqian got Zhenji
During the Warring States period on the mainland, Tian Wen of Qi State, known as Meng Weijun, was the head of the four princes of the Warring States Period, and his reputation spread all over the country. The greater Meng Weijun's fame, the more humble and polite he is to people. As a result, many celebrities and celebrities voluntarily went to his door, willingly serving as his diners.
Under his door, there are thousands of diners. The best ones can go in and out of the car and eat meat often, the medium ones can often eat fish and meat, but they don't have a car to sit on, and the lower class can only eat three meals a day, without a car and no meat. These people all worked hard for Meng Weijun, and they all had their own skills.
When the king of Qin heard about Meng Weijun's fame, he tried every means to deceive Meng Weijun to Qin. The king of Qin originally wanted to make him the prime minister, but some ministers said that Meng Weijun was a native of the Qi state, and appointing him as the prime minister might harm the Qin state. The matter was put down.
Meng Weijun wanted to return to China, but the king of Qin was not allowed, fearing that he would go back to serve the state of Qi and threaten the state of Qin, so he put him under house arrest. Meng Weijun summoned the disciples and asked them to find a way to save themselves and return to the Qi Kingdom.
Meng Weijun, the head of the four princes of the Warring States Period
A doorman said that King Qin likes Yan Ji, and it would be easy if Yan Ji could come forward to speak. Meng Weijun asked someone to beg Yan Ji. Yan Ji proposed to ask Meng Weijun to dedicate the pure white fox Qiu to King Qin. But Meng Weijun only had one thing, and he was locked in the warehouse of the palace after he was placed under house arrest by King Qin.
At this time, a person who specializes in learning dog barking and is accustomed to petty theft among the doormen deceived the doorman with a vivid dog barking that night, and stole the white fox Qiu from the big inside. Meng Weijun offered the white fox Qiu to Yan Ji. When King Qin was happy to get the white fox Qiu, Yan Ji took the opportunity to persuade King Qin to let Meng Weijun return to China, and King Qin was happy for a while and agreed.
Meng Weijun hurriedly took a few doormen, and rushed to Hangu Pass in disguise and starry night. At this time, it was the middle of the night. Meng Weijun knew that King Qin was happy to let him go for a while, and he must regret it afterwards, and now maybe the pursuers have already set off. Therefore, I am very anxious to get out. But there is a rule at the gate that it will only be switched on and off every morning when the rooster crows, so you have to wait four hours. This made Meng Weijun anxious like an ant on a hot pot.
Another doorman stood up at this time and said, don't be afraid, I will immediately make the chickens in Hanguguan crow. Everyone looked at him in disbelief: the chickens will listen to you. The doorman ran to a chicken coop and learned the crowing of a rooster, and it was impossible to tell whether it was true or false. When the other roosters heard this, they all crowed.
Corporal Meng Weijun Lixian
The guards were surprised that the rooster crowed so early today, but because of the harsh laws of the Qin State, they had to open the gate, and Meng Weijun and his gang took advantage of the night to leave the Qin State. Sure enough, the King of Qin repented and sent people to chase and kill Meng Weijun, but Meng Weijun had returned to Qi at this time. Soon after returning to the Qi Kingdom, Meng Weijun resumed his phase, and his reputation grew.
The above story is also the source of the idiom "Rooster and Dog Thief". Although the idiom "rooster cries and dog thieves" is mostly used in a derogatory sense, as a metaphor for trivial skills or sneaky behavior, it seems difficult to get into the elegant hall, but through in-depth study and interpretation of the idiom story, it makes people think about it and benefit a lot. The idiom story illustrates at least two philosophies:
First, broad-mindedness is not only a necessary trait for managers, but also a standard for everyone to behave in the world. This requires each of us, especially young students, to be good at communicating and accepting people and things around us with a broad mind, so as to win people's hearts and achieve personality charm.
"Rooster and Dog Thief" comic
Second, in organizational management, especially team management, we should be good at discovering the strengths of each member, not only to use their strengths, but also to tolerate their weaknesses. Meng Weijun has this kind of employment concept that is used by those who are big or small, and then creates a relaxed atmosphere, so that Anonymous, who only knows how to carve insects such as chickens and dogs, can play a role at a critical moment and help him. It can be said that there are no innate mediocrity in the world, only people who are misplaced.
3. Zeng Guofan modestly retreated to recruit talents
As we all know, Zeng Guofan was an important minister in the Qing Dynasty, and when he was fighting against the Taiping army, there was a city that could not be captured for a long time, so he thought about starting to recruit talents and ask for good strategies. A man who called himself Zou Bankong said that he had a good plan to sell him. Zeng Guofan sent his subordinates with sedan chairs to greet him. After meeting, it was discovered that he was a down-and-out literati.
Zeng Guofan still met Zou Bankong with 100% respect, but after talking for a while, he found that this person was not a serious scholar, and his strategy was ridiculous. However, he still ordered his subordinates to take ten taels of silver, gave them to Zou Bankong, and said, "Good! Then he ordered someone to send Zou Bankong back.
His subordinates were very puzzled and asked, "My lord, this man surnamed Zou is either a fool or a liar, why do you want to give him ten taels of silver for nothing?" Zeng Guofan said earnestly: "Have you heard the story of the ancients who bought horse bones and built a platform from the beginning of Kui? I am still courteous to people like Zou Bankong today, and people who are really talented will definitely come with a long-term strategy." ”
Zeng Guo Domain Statue
As expected, the next day, more than a dozen people came to the Yamen of Zeng Guofan, and they offered their plans. Zeng Guofan weighed it repeatedly, chose a strategy, and put it into practice, and finally won the war.
Fourth, the image interpretation of the two historical stories
To sum up, the two historical stories not only vividly interpret the 62 lines of the I Ching "Hexagram of Qian", but also give people the following enlightenment:
First of all, the story of "Meng Weijun Ming is humble and Zhenji" confirms that after a person has status and fame, if he can still be humble and courteous, he will definitely be able to get the help of various talents, and Meng Yanjun is an example. Therefore, after people become famous, remember to be humble, so that they will win the respect of more people and do things more and more smoothly. This is the revelation that "Naruken Sadayoshi" gives us.
The wisdom of "Zeng Guofan's modest concession to recruit talents" tells us: use modesty to retreat to promote yourself, even if you suffer a little loss and suffer some grievances, if you can spread the reputation of modesty, you will definitely gain something.
Statue of Tsang Kwok-fan
This article was originally written by "Ruri Zhongtian 54", welcome to pay attention, learn together, and make progress together!