The true meaning of the term "floating clouds"

For the "floating clouds" in the Analects of Shuer, "unrighteous and rich and expensive, and like a floating cloud to me", the predecessors have different understandings and interpretations. To sum up, there are three main opinions. First, it is believed that "floating clouds are in the sky, not their own", so "floating clouds" refer to those that have nothing to do with themselves. Second, it is believed that it is a metaphor that is scattered and impermanent, and it is easy to pass away. Huang Kan's "On Semantic Neglect" also said: "Floating clouds gather and scatter, can not be normal, such as unrighteous, rich and noble gathered and scattered in Russia, such as floating clouds also." Third, think that it is a metaphor that is not worthy of attention. The "Floating Clouds" of cihai (sixth edition) explains the clouds: "Metaphors are not worthy of attention. The "Floating Clouds" article of the Etymology (Third Edition) explains the clouds: "Metaphors are things that are not worthy of happiness and attention." ”

We believe that "floating clouds" should be a metaphor for unrighteous things.

First of all, from the pre-Qin literature to see the meaning of "floating clouds". "Floating clouds" are used as a metaphor for unrighteous people or things. "The sun and the moon want to be bright, and the floating clouds cover it; the rivers want to be clear, and the sand and soil are dirty." (Wenzi Shangde) The "floating clouds" and "sand" in it are used as metaphors for unrighteous things. The earliest person to compare "floating clouds" to a treacherous villain was Song Yu of the Chu state at the end of the Warring States period. "He flooded with floating clouds, and the sun was shining brightly." (Chu Ci Nine Debates) The "floating clouds" here refer to unrighteous people, that is, villains who commit adultery and evil and harm the sages.

Second, look at the meaning of "floating clouds" from the analects. Confucius always advocated "righteousness" and opposed "unrighteousness." The Analects mention "righteousness" many times. According to Yang Bojun's statistics, "righteousness" appears 24 times in the Analects. Liu Xi's "Interpretation of names" explains: "Righteousness, Yiye. Sanctioning things makes it appropriate also. Hanyu Da Zidian: "Righteousness, appropriateness." "Hanyu Da Dictionary": "Righteousness is said to conform to justice or moral norms." The Analects of Shuer: 'Unrighteousness is rich and expensive, and to me is like a floating cloud.' Judging from the verses of the Analects, "righteousness" is a lofty moral standard and the basic norm for a gentleman's behavior. Confucius was extremely respectful of "righteousness", believing that when a gentleman acts, "righteousness is taken as a hostage", "righteousness is superior", and "righteousness is compared with it", and the fundamental way to cultivate personality and improve moral cultivation is to "migrate righteousness". The opposite of "righteousness" is "profit." Confucius spoke of gentlemen and villains, and there was a distinction between righteousness and profit. According to Li Zero's statistics, in the Analects, Confucius said that "profit" is indeed relatively small, a total of 6 places. It can be seen from this that in most cases, Confucius regarded "profit" as a negative thing. For example: "Let go of profit, and complain." ("Li Ren") "Seeing small profits is not a big thing." (Zi Lu) "Zi Han yan li and fate and benevolence." (Zihan) or to put "profit" under the limit of "righteousness.") For example: "A gentleman is a righteous person, and a villain is a profit." (Li Ren) "Why is it inevitable that the adult today is?" Seeing the righteousness of Li Siyi, seeing the danger of giving orders, and not forgetting the words of life for a long time, you can also become an adult. It can be seen from this that Confucius believed that the standard for a gentleman to act is "righteousness", and those who violate the principle of "righteousness" and only know how to take profit are "villains".

Again, from the literature of later generations, we can see the meaning of "floating clouds". From the above, it can be seen that in the pre-Qin era, "floating clouds" can be metaphorically referred to as "unrighteous things". We searched the BCC Ancient Chinese Corpus of Peking University and found that the "floating clouds" in the descendants of the literature can also be used as a metaphor for "unrighteous things" or "unrighteous people". During the Two Han Dynasties, the metaphor of "floating clouds" was used. For example: "The evil lord's shadow, the obstacle of the floating clouds, the sun and the moon." (Lu Jia's "New Language, Cautious Micro Chapter") "Floating clouds cover the day, and the wanderer does not care about returning." After the Tang Dynasty, there were also many examples of using "floating clouds" as a metaphor. For example: "There are always floating clouds that can cover the sun, and Chang'an is not seen to make people sad." (Li Bai, "Dengjin Ling Phoenix Platform") "Betraying grace and shame on the day, injustice is like a floating cloud." (Cui Zhi, "Liu Zhanxia Judge's Greeting with a Poem") Floating clouds obscuring the sun and moon are natural phenomena. Because "floating clouds" and "daytime" are often used together, they have become a metaphorical mode of the ancients. The ancients often used "floating clouds to cover the sun" as a metaphor for treachery and evil to deceive the holy king, and the magi were snubbed by the monarch. Here, "floating clouds" refers to "unrighteous people." It is also sometimes used as a metaphor for "unrighteousness", as described above. It can be seen that the metaphor of "floating clouds" refers to the meaning of unrighteous things, which has appeared in the pre-Qin dynasty and has been used in future generations.

Finally, look at the meaning of "floating clouds" from the examination of the above three interpretations. The first interpretation holds that "floating clouds are in the sky, not in their own existence", so "floating clouds" refers to the fact that they have nothing to do with themselves. This interpretation begins with Zheng Xuan. The interpretation captures the boundless characteristics of "floating clouds". Because the floating clouds are high and boundless, they think that they have nothing to do with themselves. If we interpret it in this sense, we can't help but ask: "floating clouds" are high above, can we think that it has nothing to do with ourselves? There are also suns, moons and stars hanging high in the sky, why are they not interpreted as "irrelevant to oneself"? Besides, did Confucius refuse to accept it because the "unrighteous riches" were so lofty and boundless? According to Confucius' thought, this is not the case. In addition, in the pre-Qin era, we have not yet found that "floating clouds" refers to the meaning of "having nothing to do with oneself". It can be seen that Zheng Xuan's interpretation is inaccurate and fails to reasonably explain the meaning of "floating clouds".

The second interpretation holds that "floating clouds" are scattered and easy to pass away. This explanation captures the fickle character of "floating clouds." Because the floating clouds are constantly changing in the air, it gives people a feeling of nothingness. According to this understanding, Confucius was "unjustly rich" because it passed away in an instant like a "floating cloud" and could not be grasped. Let us suppose: If the "floating clouds" could be grasped, would Confucius accept even unjust riches? Obviously, such an explanation is contrary to Confucius's thought. Because Confucius's criterion for resignation is "righteousness." In addition, when we comb through the interpretations of our predecessors, we find that huang Kan's "On Semantic Neglect" adopted the above two interpretations (that is, the first interpretation and the second interpretation), which made us even more suspicious of the interpretation of "floating clouds" and "scattered and impermanent, easy to pass away".

The third interpretation holds that "floating clouds" are metaphors for "things that are not worthy of attention." This term is derived from the fleeting characteristics of "floating clouds". "Floating clouds" have the characteristics of fleeting and illusory, which causes people to feel that the world is impermanent, and to look at the glory and wealth as thin as a floating cloud, which in turn is not worthy of attention. This term appeared later. According to our investigation, the earliest use case is the Southern Dynasty river flooding "rich as a floating cloud, gold and jade are not treasures" ("The Poetry of The Duke of Ruan"). In the Tang Dynasty, Du Shi lit up Jiang Wengong's poems, including Du Zhenyan's "The wine is full of months, and the outside is a floating cloud" ("Autumn Night Feast Linjin Zhengming Mansion"), Du Fu's "Danqing does not know that the old man is coming, and the rich is like a floating cloud" ("Danqing Introduces General Cao to Hegemony"). Both sentences compare "riches" to "floating clouds", which means that "riches" are like "floating clouds", which are things outside the body. Because of the ethereal nature of the floating clouds, it is extended to "not worthy of attention". In terms of the age of production, the metaphor of "floating clouds" is "something that is not worthy of attention", which was first seen in the Southern Dynasty, not in the pre-Qin period. Therefore, it is inappropriate to think that the metaphor of "floating clouds" in the Analects is "something that does not deserve attention."

The three interpretations of the predecessors are difficult to understand, whether from the interpretation of "floating clouds" in the pre-Qin dynasty or in combination with the ideas of Confucius. As for "unrighteous riches," it cannot be said that it is "irrelevant to oneself," nor that it is "fleeting," nor that it is "not worthy of attention."