Chapter 108 Can be square and round, invincible

"Fang", that is, square and upright, with edges and corners, refers to a person who has his own opinions and principles in doing things and is not influenced by external things. "Yuan", that is, tactful, sophistication, accommodating and sophisticated, refers to a person who pays attention to skills and methods in doing things, neither surpasses nor lags behind, and can clearly recognize current affairs, advance when he should advance, and retreat when he should retreat; make himself advance and retreat Free and easy. If a person is too square and angular, he will be beaten to death; but if a person is all-round and smooth, always trying to make others suffer, and he will take advantage of himself, he will definitely betray his relatives.Therefore, a person must have a circle outside the square, a square outside the circle, and a square inside the circle.

"Fang" is the foundation of being a person and the backbone of being an upright person.But it is not enough to rely only on "square" in dealing with people, and "circle" is also needed. "Circle" is the way to live in the world, and it is a kit for harmonious life.Whether in shopping malls, officialdoms, workplaces, or love (love, family, friendship), etc., you need to master the skills of "square and circle" in order to be invincible. Only those who are capable and round can be invincible. It is said in the book that for a restless person, it is like lightning in the clouds, flickering like a lamp in the wind, but for a person who especially likes quiet, it seems to have been extinguished. The ashes are also like lifeless dead wood.These two kinds of people are not in the middle way. In fact, people should be like a kite flying in a still cloud, and at the same time like a fish jumping in a still water.Only by observing everything through this mentality can we conform to the ideal state of Tao.

When Confucius took his disciples to travel around the world, it is said that once, their master and disciples were enjoying the shade under a big tree. After they left, people cut down the big tree.They pass through a certain country, and people shovel their footprints away.For this kind of insult, a staunch person would have already roared: "It's too much to bully people! It can be tolerated, but it can't be tolerated!" However, Confucius endured it.Although he is said to be a strong man in the legend, he can do everything he can. In his opinion, the time in his life is not much, and it is not worth wasting energy on these insulting incidents.Therefore, he endured or simply forgot about this insult, and devoted all his energy and efforts to the spread of ideas.As a result, he not only lived a long life, but also became a saint.Although Confucius had never achieved success in his life, and he was like a bereaved dog, his benevolence and righteousness opened up a major mainstream of Chinese traditional culture for more than two thousand years and became the backbone of Chinese intellectuals.

Although Zhuangzi wanders freely and seems to be indifferent, in fact he is also a person who can be round.He is extremely rich in spirit, but in real life he has to be accompanied by poverty.In this regard, Zhuangzi defended the square and insisted on his spiritual pursuit of being independent from the world; he kept the circle and held an optimistic attitude towards poverty.Although poverty follows him like a shadow, Zhuangzi wants to get rid of it very much. Zhuangzi once used the story of Confucius to laugh at himself: "If wealth can be obtained, I am willing to drive a car for others; if wealth cannot be obtained, then I have no choice but to do it." What you like to do." Chuang Tzu's efforts to get rid of poverty all failed in the end.But suddenly one day, he jokingly said that it was because he ate meat, so he became wise, leaning against a towering tree, leisurely and contented, even the shadow disappeared.He was very happy, and soon he had a dream under the tree, dreaming that the big tree told him that uselessness is the greatest use.No one thought that he never walked out of the dreamland.His thoughts flew to the North Sea, sometimes as Kun, sometimes as Peng.He dives into the water to communicate with fish, dances in the air to entangle with butterflies, without restraint.If he was in a good mood, he would also tease Confucius and make up some stories for a laugh.Is there anyone who is as poor as Zhuangzi and independent from the world?Yes, but not many.