Chapter 13 Chapter Thirteen The Most Outstanding Confucian Disciple——Yan Hui

As the founder of Confucianism, the main idea of ​​China's feudal society for two thousand years, Confucius is the most important master in the Chinese cultural circle. If he can become a student of such a heavyweight master, he will naturally be famous forever.In addition to his long-lasting cultural influence, Confucius has also been praised by historians of all dynasties in terms of scholarship. He is "full of peaches and plums", and has more than 3,000 disciples, including 72 outstanding ones, known as "72 sages". Among the 72 sages, if you ask which person is most admired by future generations of Confucian scholars, the answer is probably one person—Yan Hui.

Yan Hui, courtesy name Ziyuan, was born in Lu during the Spring and Autumn Period. He was born in 521 BC and died of illness in 481 BC.Among the disciples of Confucius, he neither made a lot of money like Zigong, nor was he a rich man like Zilu, nor did he engage in politics like Zilu, helping his teacher make money.But among Confucius' disciples, he was the person Confucius admired the most, and his death made Confucius very sad.And among the literati of later generations, he is also a figure who has attracted great attention. For example, among the sages of the past sages who are entitled to the Confucian Temple, Yan Hui's status is the most honored and favored, and the emperors of all dynasties have given him lofty titles.Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty once named him "the first teacher", Song Taizu once named him "Yan Gong", and Ming Taizu also named him "Yan Guogong".However, comparing his short life, it makes people feel strange. This person did not have any great achievements, nor did he have outstanding academic achievements. Why is his reputation among feudal historians far higher than those of his juniors at the same time? Live with history?

Yan Hui's background was very bad, his family was very poor, he followed Confucius at the age of 13, and then traveled around the world with Confucius, and spent a period of the most difficult time, and he was a teacher and student in adversity with Confucius.The record of Confucius' words and deeds is full of praises for Yan Hui, and Confucius once made a comprehensive ranking of his disciples according to their standards. As a result, Yan Hui's "virtue" ranked first , Confucius once praised Yan Hui and said: "Hui has the four ways of a gentleman, which are stronger than doing righteousness, weaker than receiving remonstrance, fearful of waiting for salary, and cautious in governing oneself." That is to say, Yan Hui is a moral model in the eyes of Confucius.

And Yan Hui's early study and life under Confucius' school was also good at morality.He was only 13 years old when he joined the disciples of Confucius. He was so young and so taciturn that most people thought he was stupid.Zilu's cleverness is exposed, and Yan Hui's silence is in stark contrast.But later Confucius discovered the benefits of Yan Hui. He believed that Yan Hui was a talent who was as wise as a fool, and recorded Confucius' evaluation of Yan Hui's IQ: "Hui is not stupid." In one sentence, he pointed out the essence of Yan Hui's intelligence. Even Zi Gong, who was the best at debating under Confucius' sect, praised Yan Hui very much. He thought that his talent could not be compared with Yan Hui's.

Not only is he smart, but Yan Hui is also a very hardworking person.Confucius talked a lot about Yan Hui's learning spirit.When he didn't know Yan Hui's talent in his early years, Confucius once praised Yan Hui for "making up for his weakness with diligence". Later, Duke Ai of Lu once asked Confucius: "Who is the best student to learn from?" Confucius replied, "There is Yan Hui. Those who are eager to learn, do not vent their anger, do not make mistakes, unfortunately, they will die short-lived, and I have never heard of a good scholar." This means that since Yan Hui's unfortunate death, he has never seen a student who was as diligent and studious as Yan Hui. Hui is the only one who studies hard among his disciples.

In all kinds of words of Confucius, it seems to be a habit to praise Yan Hui, even when talking to himself, he never forgets to praise Yan Hui.For example, he once said that Yan Hui was content with poverty, living in a shabby room, eating only one ladle of food and one ladle of water every day, and he could still maintain a happy attitude in his poor life.On the issue of learning, Confucius once said, "He who speaks without being lazy will return."Even Confucius, who thought highly of himself, sometimes compared Yan Hui with himself and put him in the same position.He said that Yan Hui "use it to do it, and discard it to hide it, but I have something to do with you", which is to put Yan Hui on the same level as himself.It is believed that only Yan Hui and him have reached the realm of "use it to do it, and discard it to hide it".It was precisely because Confucius loved Yan Hui so much that when Yan Hui passed away, Confucius was very sad and cried bitterly, saying, "Heaven mourns me, Heaven mourns me".The death of Yan Hui dealt a great blow to Confucius. Not only did he find it difficult to get out of his grief for a long time, but he often unknowingly compared Yan Hui with them when educating his disciples. Confucius sighed, "You are far behind Yan Hui".

Behind Yan Hui, Yan Hui was also highly praised by his classmates and many people at that time.Zi Gong once said, "How can I compare with Yan Hui?"When Zigong was doing business, he was invited to rank the disciples of Confucius. Among the 10 disciples, Yan Hui was ranked first.Although compared to other disciples of Confucius.Yan Hui never got any official position, but even among the princes, Yan Hui also had a high reputation. When Confucius traveled to Chu, the king of Chu wanted to give Confucius a piece of land, and his Ling Yin once Oppose, the reason for the objection is that if Confucius got the assistance of Yan Hui, he would definitely be able to govern this land very powerfully, and then the state of Chu would be a threat.It can be seen that among the princes at that time, Yan Hui had a very high reputation.

So what kind of path did Yan Hui, who is well-known, walk through in his life?He is a native of Lu. He began to follow Confucius when he was 13 years old. He spent 6 years as a teacher, and then married a wife and had children. But when his teacher was about to travel around the world and promote his Confucianism, Yan Hui resolutely abandoned his wife and children. follow.You must know that in order to marry his wife, Dai, a woman from the Song Dynasty, Yan Hui worked tirelessly to ask for a marriage in the Song Dynasty, and finally moved the elders of the Dai family to agree to this unmatched marriage: Yan Hui came home poor, The Dai family is a bureaucrat of the Song Dynasty.

But all these hard-earned things can't stop Yan Hui's determination to follow his teacher. In Yan Hui's heart, helping his teacher realize his Confucian ideal of governing the world is the most important thing in his life.For the next 14 years, he followed Confucius to travel around the world.Then, it was the most difficult time when Confucius traveled around the world, no matter where he went, he was not welcomed, he was often expelled, and he even encountered thieves many times, and his life and property were threatened.Facing all the blows and sufferings, Yan Hui not only never left his mentor, but also took the initiative to take responsibility. Everywhere he went, he took the initiative to undertake a lot of physical work and take care of Confucius' daily life.Until 484 BC, the 38-year-old Yan Hui followed the 68-year-old Confucius back to the State of Lu. In the last two years, he began to preach and lecture in the State of Lu, and practiced it himself. Le, with his academic spirit and hard-working character, became the model of Confucianism at that time.In addition to giving lectures, Yan Hui also helped Confucius sort out ancient books, especially the Book of Changes, which has been handed down for thousands of years, which was also written by him.Such a good student who worked hard and had great wisdom and stupidity, eventually became sick from overwork and died at home just after the age of 40. The Confucianism he left behind, such as "emphasizing morality" and "harmony between man and nature", has far-reaching influence to this day.

The primary reason why emperors of all dynasties frequently conferred on Yan Hui is because of the word "loyalty". Yan Hui's most touching thing is his loyalty.Yan Hui respected Confucius 100% from the bottom of his heart. He once praised Confucius as "looking up to make him taller, and drilling to make him stronger". His education is "to be persuasive and seductive, teach me with words, ask me to be polite, and I can't stop". The famous idiom derived from this is "to be persuasive and seductive". For this mentor who he has followed since he was 13 years old , This is a kind of gratitude from the heart.On the way Confucius traveled around the world, no matter how many winds, frosts and obstacles, he did not change his loyalty. He once told Confucius that he was willing to follow in the footsteps of Confucius, even if he spent his whole life.Later, Confucius himself said, "Hui Shi gave it to the father!" That is to say, Yan Hui not only had the loyalty between teachers and students, but also the filial piety between father and son.

It is precisely because of this loyalty that Yan Hui's affection for Confucius remained unswerving.Today, people say that Confucius has many disciples, but they always ignore the inconsistency of the world in the most difficult period of Confucius, the most difficult stage of Confucius' life. At that time, according to the statement in "Lunheng", his disciples were "three surpluses and three deficiencies", that is to say Once Confucius was in a good situation, he would immediately be full of students, but if the situation changed suddenly, he would go to the house immediately, but only "Yan Yuan would not go."In other words, no matter who goes or who stays, Yan Hui always insists on following Confucius.Such a loyal disciple is not only a role model, but also a "living advertisement" for Confucius to recruit students at that time, so Confucius himself once said "I have Yan Hui, and my disciples benefit relatives", that is to say, since Yan Hui After this role model, not only more and more students, but also more and more students have learned Yan Hui's loyalty. Yan Hui's kind of loyalty and filial piety, whether it is the scholar-bureaucrats who insisted on the way of monarchs and ministers in the feudal society, or the emperors of all dynasties who have monopolized power, all lamented it, and even after thousands of years, they still yearn for it.For example, when discussing Confucianism, Liu Xiu, Emperor Guangwu of the Han Dynasty, once asked the Confucian scholars around him, "Yan Hui followed the sage, went through hardships, and never gave up, why?"Zhao Pu, a famous Prime Minister of the Song Dynasty, claimed that "half of the Analects ruled the world". When talking about the significance of canonizing Yan Hui to Zhao Kuangyin, he also lamented that "Yan Hui's loyalty is enough to educate the world!" Even the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, who had a deep and suspicious personality, Zhu Yuanzhang once discussed the principles of selecting officials with his prince Zhu Biao, and he also used Yan Hui as an example, "A loyal person like Yan Hui is hard to come by!" Loyal courtiers are what they dream of, and for scholar-officials, it is also what they look forward to day and night to be able to leave a reputation of "loyal ministers" like Yan Hui. Yan Hui is not only loyal, his knowledge and ability are quite outstanding, although his theories remain very limited, and his performance is also not high, but throughout his short life, he is indeed a man with noble conduct and lofty ideals. In Confucius's advocacy of "gentleman Confucianism", Yan Hui is the most suitable model for his thinking. Speaking of this, I have to talk about Confucius' Confucianism's understanding of the gentleman. The gentleman in Confucius' eyes should be the kind of person who sticks to his integrity and does not change his principles even in difficult and difficult circumstances.In the Analects of Confucius, Confucius once clearly put forward the viewpoint that "a gentleman solidifies poverty".Regarding this point of view, Yan Hui is undoubtedly the best person.First, his learning goals are very pure.Among the many disciples of Confucius, many of them studied Confucius with different purposes, some to become officials, and some to make a fortune, but Yan Hui was different. He came to study with Confucius for the purpose of learning. The attitude of learning is very pure.Confucius commented on Yan Hui as "Three years of study will not lead to valleys, and it will not be easy to obtain."In other words, Yan Hui studied for three years, not for money or food, but just for learning. Such a person is not easy to find at all.Later, Yan Hui lived in a shabby house, insisted on living a poor life, and enjoyed happiness in the poor life. This spirit was even more lamented by Confucius. In Confucius' eyes, Yan Hui was not only a gentleman, but also a man A gentleman who has been educated and polished by himself, to a teacher, Yan Hui is a rough jade carefully carved by him.It is worth mentioning that the last two years of Yan Hui's life coincided with the period when the Sanhuan of Lu State seized power. The "Three Huans" who were in power at that time admired Yan Hui very much. In the eyes of Sanhuan, this kind of behavior of Sanhuan is a serious "rebellion and immorality", and he naturally refuses to join forces with it.Therefore, Yan Hui would rather live in a dilapidated house and live a life of teaching and educating people than change his beliefs and accept the prosperity and wealth that can be obtained at his fingertips. I am like a floating cloud" thought.Even a series of Daoist works full of ridicule for Confucian students also expressed their respect for Yan Hui.The book records a conversation between Yan Hui and Confucius. Confucius asked Yan Hui why he didn’t become an official. Yan Hui said that our family has 50 mu of land, which is enough to feed myself. There is a river in front of our house, which is enough for me to drink. Water, there is land and water to drink, enough for me to enjoy happiness every day, so why do I have to be an official?In the Zhuangzi school of Taoism, which advocates nature, Yan Hui's thought of peace and happiness in peace and happiness in Taoism also received their deep respect. And this is another reason why Yan Hui has been revered by intellectuals of later generations for thousands of years, especially those feudal intellectuals who failed in the imperial examination or official career. Self-encouragement, handwriting "Yan Yuan my teacher", hanging on the wall at home for self-reflection.Gu Yanwu, a survivor of the late Ming Dynasty, repeatedly rejected the Qing Dynasty's "erudite learning and Confucianism" to win over Han intellectuals, and said to the Qing Dynasty officials who came to persuade them, "You are a scholar, don't you know Yan Hui's loyalty?"For most intellectuals in adversity, Yan Hui is a spiritual role model. In fact, Yan Hui, who refused Sanhuan's courtship for the sake of his ideals, was actually a person with political ideals. It is indeed his great ideal to become an official and build a career.Once Confucius once asked his disciples, "What is your ideal?"Zilu's answer was "I am willing to wear expensive clothes and ride in expensive cars and horses, and share them with my friends, so that I will have no regrets."Yan Hui's answer was "May there be no good deeds and no hard work".In other words, Yan Hui really wanted to use his own hands to create a prosperous world where everyone lived and worked in peace and contentment, without war.In the later "Mencius", it is also recorded that Yan Hui once lamented that "Who is Shun, who is Yu, and whoever is capable is also like that."That is to say, I compared myself with the ancient sage Shun, and dreamed that I could also become a "promising man", but under the situation of war and strife at that time, how could Yan Hui's ideal be easily realized? ?Among Confucius’ disciples, many people’s ideas are very realistic. For example, Zilu hoped to strengthen the country with force, Zigong hoped to use his eloquence to be reused, and Yan Hui thought that he could find a small country to be an official and educate the local people. , advocate benevolent governance, and then use the governance achievements of small countries to influence big countries, so that all countries can learn from each other, and there will be no wars in the world.This idea was seen as "stupid and naive" by later generations, but at the time, it was Yan Hui's true wish.Moreover, his political thought is also the closest to that of Confucius. Like Yan Hui, Confucius hoped to find a wise master who could assist him, and then he could advocate ritual and music, so that the country would cease to fight and there would be no more wars.For this ideal, Confucius traveled around the world and failed repeatedly. When he returned to the State of Lu 14 years later, he was already 68 years old, and his life span has been rare since ancient times. Confucius himself knew that this ideal would never be seen in his lifetime, but he did. There is a successor - Yan Hui.In the eyes of Confucius, this is a person who has completely inherited his ideals, but things backfired. Yan Hui died young, and Confucius sent a white-haired man to a black-haired man. How could he not be distraught. Yan Hui's ideals also resonated quite a lot in the later era, especially for those intellectuals who had no ambitions in their lives and had great ambitions, the story of Yan Hui resonated even more with them.Of course, most of this kind of resonance occurs when life is extremely gloomy and desperate.For example, Yang Zhen, a famous upright official in the Eastern Han Dynasty, once said to his disciples after repeated failures in rectifying the officialdom: "Yan Hui is in pain at the beginning of this day." , I'm going to carry on" spirit advocated reform, but failed miserably in his later years, and therefore wrote a large number of poems lamenting what happened to Yan Hui.The huge contrast between Yan Hui's beautiful ideals and reality has resonated with Chinese intellectuals for thousands of years. Yan Hui's life is not only manifested in Confucius' sorrow, nor is it manifested in all kinds of dialogues. In fact, through the few historical materials that remain, we can still see a real Yan Hui. , this is Yan Hui who is strong, loyal, optimistic and virtuous.Through those limited records, it may not be difficult for us to understand why Yan Hui was admired during his lifetime and after his death. When Confucius traveled around the world, the situation was very miserable. It is more famous that they were besieged in the Chencai area, without water and food for many days, and almost died as a foreigner.At the end of his life, Confucius, who had been loyal to his ideals all his life, also became depressed for a while, and doubted the "benevolent government" he was looking for.Therefore, he deliberately asked the disciples around him: "Our proposition is the right way, but not an evil way. Why did we fall into this situation?" He not only asked the disciples, but also asked himself.And the answer to this question unintentionally became a touchstone of Confucius' moral character for his disciples.To this question, Confucius' disciples answered differently, and many of them disappointed Confucius.For example, Zilu believes that it is because we are not benevolent enough or smart enough, so others don't trust us, so that we have fallen into such a situation.This is not just self-criticism, but doubts about the teacher's doctrine.Zi Gong's answer was that the theory of the teacher Confucius is great, but it is difficult to realize, and the standard should be lowered, so that the proposition may be realized.On the surface, this is to praise the greatness of Confucius' theory, but the real meaning is to say that Confucius' theory is unrealistic.From the answers of these two people, we can see that the situation at this time is really a dead end for Confucius, and there is no way out. Even his disciples have disagreements. Many disciples not only began to doubt the teacher's theory, but also He began to question the teacher's theory, and even Confucius himself began to waver.At this critical moment, it was still Yan Hui who stood up. Yan Hui's answer was impassioned. He believed that Confucius' thought was "the greatest", and it is precisely because of this that the world is currently "intolerable".The thought of Confucius itself is great, and we must not modify our thoughts just to cater to those "intolerant" people. Even if our thoughts cannot be realized, we are still great.The fact is true. Confucius' thought was not realized at the time, but Confucius himself was great. Yan Hui's concept still insisted on Confucius' point of view that "a gentleman can solidify poverty". Even if you cannot be accepted by the society, you must persist. Even if you get nothing, you must bravely go on this road.From this simple answer, it is not difficult to see that the strong Yan Hui is the true bosom friend of Confucius. Among many disciples, he not only truly understood the teachings of Confucius, but also has been using his own efforts to uphold the teachings of Confucius. Instead of dying young, he will probably become the best inheritor of Confucius' Confucianism. In addition to understanding Confucius' thoughts, Yan Hui also took care of Confucius' daily life during his travels around the world, and he didn't even care about being misunderstood.One of the incidents was that Confucius and the others were starving for several days and nights. Zilu managed to get a stone of rice and quickly cooked it for Confucius. Yan Hui was in charge of cooking. Zilu accidentally saw Yan Hui. He was actually stealing food. Among the Confucian disciples, this is a very rebellious behavior. He believed that Yan Hui was a rebellious and immoral act, so he quickly told Confucius about it. What happened.It turned out that when Yan Hui was cooking, some sand was accidentally blown into the rice. Yan Hui quickly scooped out the porridge mixed with sand with a spoon, but it was a pity to throw it away, so he ate it himself. Confucius was deeply moved by the incident. He sighed on the spot: "People say that seeing is believing. Sometimes we have to admit that what we see may be false." The disciples were even more convinced. In addition to being sincere and filial to Confucius, Yan Hui was also a very smart person, not as inflexible as many people think.After Yan Hui followed Confucius back to the State of Lu, there was a famous chariot driver named Dong Yebi in the State of Lu at that time, who was quite famous among the princes throughout the Spring and Autumn Period.But Yan Hui has a different view on Dong Yebi.Once Duke Ding of Lu asked Yan Hui if Dongyebi was suitable for driving. Yan Hui replied that he drove very fast, but within three days, the horses pulling his cart would run away.Facts have proved that Yan Hui's vision is outrageously accurate.Dong Yebi was called to pull a cart for Mr. Lu Ding. Within three days, all the horses ran away.Lu Dinggong, who was greatly surprised, asked Yan Hui how he could see it. Yan Hui replied that although Dong Yebi's driving skills were good, he didn't know how to love horses at all. Every time, he let the horse run with all his strength. , No matter how good the horse is, it can't stand it, either it will be exhausted, or it will run away.Yan Hui also cited the example of Shun whom he admired.He said that when Shun was driving, he never let the horse go all out. When the horse ran, he always had to spare some energy, so that the horse would serve him for a long time.In fact, the principle of governing the country is the same. A monarch should treat the common people like Shun driving a chariot. He should not exploit excessively, but take the initiative to rest with the people, so as to ensure the long-term stability of the country and the common people can live and work in peace and contentment. Run away like a horse runs away.This is actually using horses to talk about people and driving a car to explain the principles of governing the country, and what he promotes is the idea of ​​"benevolent governance".It can be seen from this that Yan Hui also has a wise and unique side. If he hadn't died young, he would very likely have shown his ambitions in the political arena in the Spring and Autumn Period. Among Confucius' disciples, apart from Yan Hui, those who received the most praise from Confucius included Min Sun, Ran Geng and Ran Yong.What they have in common is that they are all people of high virtue in Confucius' mind.Among the records of the three of them, there are many records of Min Sun. Like Yan Hui, he is a person who despises fame and fortune.Sima Qian's "Historical Records" also said that he "does not serve as a scholar-bureaucrat, and does not eat the salary of the emperor", and he is a person who regards fame and fortune as dung.Confucius' view of him was that Min Sun seldom spoke, but when he did speak, they were all wise sayings with a very high moral standard.And he, like Yan Hui, is a native of Lu, and they caught up with Sanhuan to seize power.At that time, Min Sun also resolutely refused to be courted by Sanhuan, especially the Ji clan in Sanhuan at that time, who wanted to recruit Min Sun as his retainer. This was the dream of many "scholars" at that time, but Min Sun scoffed at it. .At that time, the Ji family was very sincere and sent people to invite him over and over again, but Minsun didn't give him any face. He said to the envoy who came to invite him, "Resign me well. If you come to force me again, I will immediately escape".Judging from this incident, it seems that Min Sun was an extroverted and arrogant person.But in fact, among the disciples of Confucius at that time, Min Sun was famous for his modesty.When he was beside Confucius, he was kind to everyone, and even when discussing issues among his brothers and sisters, he had a very good temper and almost never lost his temper. Zilu and others who had a bad temper respected him very much .The contrast in character shows Min Sun's jealous character. In his eyes, San Huan emptied the monarch and disturbed the ancestral constitution. This is a great evil, and it is a shame to cooperate with such a person.Therefore, it is indeed reasonable for Confucius to list him and Yan Hui as the leaders of "virtue". As a "moral model" among Confucius' disciples, Min Sun himself was also very influential.Ruan Ji, a famous poet in the Three Kingdoms period, called him and Yan Hui "Yan Min" in his poems. It can be seen that in the hearts of later generations, he is a person who can be as famous as Yan Hui.Moreover, under Confucius' school, his qualifications were much older than other disciples. Min Sun was only 15 years younger than Confucius, but among Confucius' disciples at that time, he was famous for his filial piety.Zhong Yanhui was praised a lot by Confucius, but in terms of "filial piety", Confucius praised Min Sun the most.In China's famous "Twenty-Four Filial Piety", he is also on the list.When Min Sun was a child, he was abused by his stepmother. His clothes were thin and covered with reed flowers. When his father found out, his father wanted to drive away his stepmother, but Min Sun interceded for his stepmother, saying that when his stepmother was around, I was the only one who suffered. Suffering from the cold, if the stepmother leaves, even my younger brother will suffer from the cold, so it’s better for me to suffer from the cold alone.For thousands of years, he has been one of the models of Chinese Confucian "filial piety".