Chapter 7 8th third -1

Ritual Clothes First of all, let’s give a simple explanation of the title of this article: Bayi——“佾” is the same as “Yi”, and now the feathers are held in the Confucius Temple, and the dance in the ceremony of worshiping Confucius is called the dance of Bayi.With a modern name, it can be said to be a "cultural dance", which represents a dance of ancient culture.At that time, the central government was Zhou Tianzi, and the emperor held a national ceremony to represent the spirit of the country. It was used as an after-show dance and ritual music at the beginning of the ceremony.Bayi is a row of eight people, and there are eight rows in total; in a state of princes, a row of six people is called Liuyi.The doctor under the princes - the minister's house, with four people in a row, a total of four rows, called Siyi.This is a fixed form, and the rites and music, clothing, cultural relics, etc. of the Zhou Dynasty are all carefully regulated.

So, why did Confucius teach dancing in this article?no.The whole point of this book, in modern terms, is to represent the cultural spirit.His content talks about "ritual".The foundation of etiquette is where Confucius spent his whole life in learning.It was just because of the habit of writing articles at that time that the name "Bayi" was used as the title of the article. "Li" is the most important part of Chinese culture, so if we want to understand Chinese culture, we must study the book "Li" in the Five Classics, especially because it is biased towards the root of Chinese philosophy and includes metaphysical religious philosophy The problem.But this article is based on the concept of the past. Of course, the term "culture" we are talking about now is different from the concept of the past.In the past, culture emphasized humanism—the principle of human relations, that is, ethical morality, political ethics, and social ethics.The meaning of the term "culture" now includes politics, economy, military affairs, society, education, philosophy, religion, etc., and is summed up to become the totality of culture.Therefore, as for "culture" as a noun, there are differences in definitions between ancient and modern times. For the convenience of teaching, we should first have an understanding.We say that the spirit of the entire chapter of "Bayi" lies in culture, which is in line with the definition of the so-called "culture" in ancient times.The first chapter, "Xue Er", is the purpose of one's study; the second chapter, "For Politics", is for the external use of learning; the third chapter is a synthesis of personal internal sages for learning, and even external use for government. The cultural spirit of this book is placed in the "Bayi", which starts with a story.

Confucius said to the Ji family: "It's tolerable to dance in the court, which one can't be tolerated!"The Ji family is the Ji family. In the time of Confucius, there were three powerful ministers in the state of Lu, the so-called powerful families, and they were not ordinary powerful families, but powerful families that could shake the political power.These three great masters are Mengsun, Zhongsun, and Jisun. Even the king had nothing to do with them, and the entire political power was in their hands. The king of Lu at that time was so pitiful. Ji, a power minister, became happy one day and held a family dance at home. As a result, he played like an emperor.According to the regulations, he could only appreciate the dance in a row of four, but he actually performed a dance in a row of eight, which was completely like the emperor. He wanted to compete with the central government, and he no longer took the imperial court seriously.Someone told Confucius about this, and Confucius said, "It is tolerable, which is unbearable." According to the explanations of later scholars, it seems that Confucius lost his temper when he heard this, clenched his fists, and knocked on the table. , reprimanded sharply: If we can endure this matter and allow him to do it, then what else can't be tolerated by Ji Mou?In fact, it is not as explained by post-Confucians. If it is the same as explained by post-Confucians, then in the "Xue Er" chapter: "Wen, Liang, Gong, Jian, Let" describe Confucius in the five words " The word "warm" needs to be marked with a red pen, and Confucius' self-cultivation will not work.

It's very simple. Didn't the "Weizheng" chapter just mentioned the question of whether Confucius could be a prophet?In fact, Confucius had already seen the movements of the Ji family, so someone told him that the Ji family danced in the court and put on the emperor's pomp at home, Confucius said, pay attention!The Ji family's ambition is not small. The Ji family has the heart to do things like this. What else can he not bear to do?Rebellion, rebellion, he will do it.Confucius concluded from this incident that the Ji family could do anything in the future, so "it is tolerable, which one cannot be tolerated." It means that the Ji family had the heart to do these things.It's not that Confucius lost his temper and scolded people there. There is no need to deliberately turn around to interpret these obvious words.

Not only that, but society was in great chaos at that time, just like the cultural degradation we talk about now.Now look again: Those of the three schools are Yongche.The master said: "Xiangwei Pigong, the emperor Mumu." Xi took it from the hall of the three families? Which three?It is the powerful officials of the three families of the Ji family, not only do they not pay attention to Lu Jun, who is their immediate superior, but also the emperor Zhou in the central government. When the guests were done and the seats were withdrawn, the Chinese music used by the emperor was played. "Che" means to withdraw from the banquet, and "Yong" is the national music used by the emperor.The three rich families actually played the music used by the emperor at home in the banquet.So Confucius quoted an ancient poem and said: "Xiangwei Bigong, the emperor Mumu." What he meant was that when the emperor of the central government played the national music "Yong", the emperor stood in the center and Pigong (that is, at that time princes) stood on both sides to support the emperor, and then the emperor walked through the middle.Because the emperor himself represents the spirit of the country, his attitude is also very solemn, and he will never look left and right.And now these three power officials have brought the solemn Chinese music used by the central emperor to a dance party at home. I really don't know what their intention is?In other words, the social ethos of an era begins to deteriorate, led by powerful people.So Confucius was very sentimental, and then sighed.

Confucius said: "People are not benevolent, what is it like to be polite?"People are not benevolent, how happy are they? Ren is the center of Confucian learning. The fourth chapter below will focus on benevolence and will not be discussed here for the time being.The meaning of the above few sentences is that a person has no central idea, "How about etiquette?" What use is culture to him?Culture depends on everyone's self-consciousness, self-examination and self-realization; culture is not a law, and cannot be managed by others.So, "If people are not benevolent, how about etiquette? If people are not benevolent, what is it like to be happy?" If a person does not realize it himself, what use is culture and art to him?This is the exclamation of Confucius.

Because of Confucius' exclamation on "ritual" and "music", we turn to: Lin Fang asked "the foundation of ritual".Confucius said: Great question!Ritual, rather than extravagance, is better than frugality.Mourning, rather than easy, is better. Lin Fang asked Confucius, what is the essence of ritual?This problem is too big. As we have said, the word "ritual" in Chinese culture, if we talk about the fundamentals, is the highest issue in philosophy, and it is also the highest issue in religious philosophy.How did everything in the universe come about?What day did it start?This ontology is the root of ritual.So Lin Fang asked what the essence of ritual was, and Confucius said that his question was too big.Confucius did not talk to him about philosophy or the spirit of culture, but only answered his questions about etiquette.Confucius said that the extravagance of etiquette is unreasonable, and he would rather be simple and grand.It's not good to hold a funeral too lightly, it's better to take a sad attitude.Looking at our current situation, if Confucius is still alive and in our society, he does not know how much he would be moved.Now our etiquette is exactly the opposite of what Confucius said. The etiquette should not be simple but extravagant. The more extravagant the more pompous, the funeral should not be sad but easy. When a family member dies, he will be sent to the funeral home. Three days after the cremation, there will be a dance at home. Confucius was at that time Lamented very much at the decline of culture, so his conclusion:

The Master said: It is not as good as the death of the Xias to have rulers in Yi and Di. In the past, the so-called Yidi meant the frontier areas with backward culture. Confucius’ thought centered on culture, and those without culture were called Yidi, because the four races of Dongyi, Xirong, Nanman, and Beidi were uneducated and very barbaric at that time.China is called Zhongxia and Central Plains, and they are cultured.Confucius said that those in the barbarian backward areas also had leaders, monarchs, and chiefs.But there is only form, no culture, so what's the use? It's not as good as Xia Dynasty and Yin Shang. Although the country died, the spirit of history will last forever because it has culture.

So we know a very serious problem. The country is not afraid of subjugation. If the country is subjugated, there are ways to restore the country. If the culture is subdued, it will never recover from it.Looking at the history of ancient and modern China and foreign countries, it is unprecedented for a nation with a dead culture to recover.Therefore, for the work of cultural reconstruction, the responsibility of our generation is too great, and we must not let it be interrupted by our generation.This is very important, as Confucius said here: "It is not as good as the death of the Xias to have a king in the barbarians." Although the Xia Dynasty died and became a historical term, the culture of the Xia Dynasty has been handed down. Now we Also accepted.For example, during Chinese New Year, do we prefer to celebrate the solar year or the lunar year?In all fairness, I still like celebrating the Lunar New Year.For the Gregorian calendar year, it has to be passed.The lunar calendar year is the Xia calendar, which is the culture left over from the Xia Dynasty.Much of our current culture is still the culture of the Xia Dynasty.So the meaning of Confucius’ words is that there is political power but no cultural spirit, so what’s the use?Therefore, the cultural spirit must be established.

Tarzan Journey Looking at the following, Ji's ambition is becoming more and more obvious: The Ji family was traveling on Mount Tai, and the son called Ran You and said, "Can the daughter be saved?"Confrontation: no.Confucius said: Woohoo!Ever said that Mount Tai is not as good as Lin Fang? This incident is recorded so simply, but wonderfully. Ran You was a student of Confucius, and later became a literati and the commander in chief of the army.Confucius was poor because he was poor. Many of the students he taught were successful later on. He trained these young people and made great achievements in education.At this time, Ran You is the prime minister of Ji's family, equal to the manager.

The Ji family traveled on Mount Tai, and "travel" according to the current interpretation means travel.From our modern point of view, it is a pretty good thing. What's wrong with developing tourism?Why did Confucius object?When we read books, we should pay attention to the relationship between time and space, the era at that time and the region where the event happened, so that we can understand the truth better.Mount Tai was the concentration point of the cultural spirit at that time. It was also because ancient China believed in the way of heaven and the country’s politics was peaceful. It was called "Feng Chan" when going to Mount Tai to pray to heaven and earth. It is like Qin Shihuang who went to Mount Tai to enshrine Zen and erected a monument. He died of illness on the way back. .In ancient times, there was a lot of superstition about the matter of "enshrining Zen". Emperors did not dare to enshrine Zen casually.According to the ancient concept, there is a god in Mount Tai, so only the leaders of the country can go to Mount Tai to pray to heaven and earth.Proclamation is prayer, and Ji’s family traveled to Mount Tai and brought some troops to say that they would go to Mount Tai to hunt. Know.So he called his student Ran You and said to him: "Can Nufu be saved?"——Can't you save Ji's family?If they do this, they will definitely fail, and if they fail, the whole family will die.How could he do such an arrogant thing!Ran You's answer was that he couldn't be saved, because they didn't listen to what Ran You said, so Ran You couldn't do it.Confucius sighed at this time and said: "Whoa! Was it ever said that Mount Tai is not as good as Lin Fang?" He said, is Mount Tai not as good as Lin Fang?What does this sentence mean?Because as mentioned above, Lin Fang asked about the foundation of etiquette, which means that Lin Fang also knows the essence of etiquette.And why is it said that Mount Tai is not as good as Lin Fang?Because in ancient times it was believed that there was a god in Mount Tai, the so-called "God of Dongyue", the Ji family wanted to worship the god of Dongyue, which is equivalent to worshiping the god now.My feelings for any religion are the same, but we saw the situation of worship: three sticks of incense, five yuan of bananas, ten yuan of cakes, a few kowtows, and then asked for riches, father-in-law wants to live to be eighty years old, son wants Admitted to the university, fame and wealth, the future is boundless.After asking for everything, I still have to take five yuan of bananas back. Such a small price, but such a big reward.If God has a spirit, and this kind of God asks me to do it, I don't want to do it.When the two families had enmity, they also went to worship the Bodhisattva, begging God to bring down each other, and both sides asked the same thing. I don't know which side to bring down, so it's hard to be a god. Ji's family is also like ordinary people. He wants to rebel and go to Mount Tai to worship the gods.So if there is a god, wouldn't it be better than Lin Fang?Lin Fang is an ordinary person, he knows how to ask rituals, a god—how do Chinese people talk about gods? "Smart and upright, die to become a god." These eight characters are the qualifications of a god. Anyone, whoever is smart and upright, can cultivate until they die to become a god.Since the God of Dongyue is smart and upright, how could he help the Ji family if the Ji family went to worship him and flatter him?Could it be that the God of Mount Tai is not as good as Lin Fang?This is the reasoning of the above section. There are many people who resort to superstition for their power and future, and pin their hopes on religion in a narrow sense.We are based on humanistic culture, regardless of God, Bodhisattva, or God, if you worship him because you are willing to worship him, he will bless you, and if you don’t believe in him, you don’t care—if that’s the case, I can’t believe the first one He, because he is too selfish and too impulsive, is not as good as an ordinary person.If there is no distinction between good and evil, and one can respond to one’s request, then being a human being is easy. Even if I do bad things, I can worship him every day, or I can just repent after doing bad things. Is this the will of God? Aim for Spring and Autumn Ji's trip to this section of Mount Tai shows the chaos of the social atmosphere in the Spring and Autumn Period.Where is the mess?Chaos in the Spring and Autumn Period was all about "power" and "skill". Later, everyone used these words together.The so-called "quan" refers to political rule, that is, hegemony.At the end of the Spring and Autumn Period, the kingly way declined, and the overbearing rose because of it.The second is "skills", which is what most people call using means.Not talking about the morality and rationality of traditional culture is just using tricks.Taking the world by means is "power tricks".Therefore, if we want to understand the political turmoil at that time, we must first understand a book-"Spring and Autumn". "Spring and Autumn" was written by Confucius, and it is like a key record of major events at home and abroad in modern newspapers.This big title is also Confucius' definition of one thing. How does his definition work out?The focus is on "minor words and great righteousness".The so-called "weiyan" is a word that seems irrelevant on the surface. If it is not important, if you look at it from a literary point of view, you can add or delete it; but in the spirit of "Spring and Autumn", a word cannot be changed easily ;Because every word of it has great meaning and profound meaning contained in it.So later generations said, "Confucius wrote "Spring and Autumn", and disorderly officials and thieves are afraid." Why are you afraid?A bad name will be left in history.There is great meaning in the small words, which is why "Spring and Autumn" is difficult to read. The "Spring and Autumn" written by Confucius has some titles and some outlines.So what's in the outline?What book do you want to read?It depends on the three biographies-"Zuo Zhuan", "Gongyang Biography", and "Pu Liang Biography".This is the interpretation of "Spring and Autumn" by three people. Among them, "Zuo Zhuan" was written by Zuo Qiuming, and Zuo Qiuming and Confucius are between teachers and friends.He described the historical facts in "Spring and Autumn" written by Confucius in more detail, and called it "Zuo Zhuan".Because he was blind at the time, he dictated and the students recorded it. "Gongyang" and "Yuliang" each form a family.When we study the spirit of "Spring and Autumn", there is a saying of "three generations".Especially after the end of the Qing Dynasty, the study of "Spring and Autumn" and "Gongyang" became quite popular in our Chinese revolutionary thinking.For example, scholars of the school of Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao praised the ideas of "Gongyang", among which they mentioned the "three generations" of "Spring and Autumn".The so-called "Spring and Autumn" III refers to the three classifications of world political culture.One is "declined times", that is, troubled times, and human history is full of declining times.In the study of Chinese history, there are no incidents and wars in the past twenty or thirty years, and it is almost impossible to find them. There is only the difference between major wars and small wars, and small wars can occur anytime, anywhere.So in terms of human history, in terms of politics, what is the "future world" like?This is a very big problem.Those who study political philosophy should study such issues. Such as the political thought of Plato in the West - the so-called "Utopia".We know that many political ideas in the West are based on Plato's "Utopia".Is there a similar ideal in China?Of course, the first one: the idea of ​​Datong in "Li Yun Datong Chapter" in "Book of Rites" is.The Great Harmony Thought that we see on a daily basis is only a section of the "Li Yun Chapter", so if we want to understand the Great Harmonious Thought, we should study the entire "Li Yun Chapter".The second is the "Hua Xu Kingdom" of Taoism. The so-called "Hua Xu Dream" of the Yellow Emperor is also an ideal country. Compared with Plato's thinking, it can be said that our Chinese culture is even worse.But from another perspective, will the entire human race really reach that age of thought?This is a big question in political science, and it is difficult to have an absolutely satisfactory answer.Therefore, we turn back to the "Three Ages" in "Spring and Autumn", which tells us that there have been many declines in human history, and the progress of the decline to the point where there is no chaos is called the "Shengping" age.The highest is to progress to "Taiping", which is what we Chinese call "Taiping and Prosperity".According to the historical observation of Chinese culture, the real peace and prosperity is tantamount to an "Utopia", which is almost difficult to realize. The idea of ​​Great Harmony in our "Liyun Chapter" is the idea of ​​a peaceful and prosperous age, that is, the idea of ​​an ideal country, and the true highest humanistic and political purpose.The so-called peaceful and prosperous times in history, in the concept of "Spring and Autumn and Three Dynasties", are just a kind of peaceful era. In China, the most remarkable times of the Han and Tang dynasties can only barely be called a peaceful era.The peace and prosperity advertised in history can only be said to be a flaunt, and since it is a flaunt, let him flaunt it.For example, in terms of the righteousness of "Spring and Autumn", it can only achieve ascending and leveling, and cannot be said to be peaceful.After waiting, it is the decline of the world.The ultimate goal of the Three People's Principles revealed in the thought of the father of the country is world harmony, which is also the ideal that the righteousness of "Spring and Autumn" wants to achieve. straight book sin evil evil And how can we see its "small words and great meaning" from the Spring and Autumn "Zuo Zhuan"?If you understand "Zheng Boke Duan Yuyan" in the first chapter of "Zuo Zhuan", you can probably know the brushwork of "Spring and Autumn". Zheng Bo was a feudal vassal. (During the Spring and Autumn Period, the kingship declined and the five tyrants rose. Among the five tyrants, Zheng Zhuanggong was the first to dominate, followed by Qi Huangong, Jin Wengong, Qin Mugong, Song Xianggong, etc.) In this article, Confucius Where is the word "Wei Yan" in it?That is the word "gram". "Duan" is Zheng Zhuanggong's brother - uncle Duan.Brothers cannot be treated as enemies, the word "ke" has the connotation of hostility, and defeating the enemy means defeating the enemy. As a result, he treated his brothers in the same way as he treated the enemy-refusing to educate in advance, not only worse than the first, but also He also deliberately cultivated crimes, and finally pretended to be benevolent and righteous.Therefore, Chunqiu's brushwork, in this slight word of the word "ke", condemned him for thousands of years. How did Zuo Qiuming write this history?You may have read it, so we might as well review it. Uncle Zheng—Grand Duke Zheng Zhuang is the eldest, and his mother, Jiang Shi, gave birth to him when he was born in a coma—the mother was frightened and frightened, so psychological problems came. This time I was frightened, and since then I have no good impression of Zhuang Gong, and I am always unhappy.It can be seen from this that those who study the ideological problems of young people in modern times should pay attention to the fact that the thinking of many young people is mainly formed by the influence of the environment when they were young. Everything in the environment has a great impact on their psychology.For example, people who were poor since childhood, especially orphans, are mostly prone to extreme mentality. I have also cultivated several orphans and poor teenagers, and told them that people who were born in poverty and orphans only walked two paths in the end. Three paths: One is that he will be successful in the future, and he will be very sympathetic to the society. When he has the means, he will sympathize with others and the society.The other kind of people are successful, and they are very disgusted with society, and they have doubts and hatred for everything and everyone in society.Who did he think he had sympathized with back then?society?How can there be fairness in society?He was always disgusted.These two opposite psychology are also caused by the influence of the environment. As for why the same reason produces the opposite result, this involves the nature of heredity and education, etc. ..." This paragraph, I can think about half of it.So many people engaged in social work run orphanages, no matter how well they are run, the children still feel disgusted.After scolding my child, although the child is angry, he forgets after a while.If orphans and children with mental problems were scolded, he would not be offended, but he would never forget it, because he was naturally disgusted.Therefore, we must pay attention to studying society and studying politics. Speaking of this, we know that Zheng Zhuanggong's mother, Jiang Shi, has a psychological prejudice, and when the child grows up in this environment, he will develop abnormal psychology.Later, Jiang gave birth to another child, Duan, the second son.In ancient China, the eldest son inherited the official position, and of course Zheng Bo would inherit the princes in the future.There is an old saying in China: "The emperor loves the eldest son, but the common people love their children." It is because the eldest son is the heir, while the common people tend to like children born in old age.However, after Jiang gave birth to her second child, she told her husband that she hoped that the second son would inherit the throne in the future, but it was not allowed based on traditional habits, so Zheng Zhuanggong succeeded as a prince later.The Jiang family asked Zheng Zhuanggong to let his younger brother Duan go to the best place of "Zhi" to be the chief.But Zheng Zhuanggong said to his mother that the place of "restriction" is not good, it is a difficult place, there is no value for development, neither economic value nor political focus, it is not good to send his younger brother to such a place, he should change The place is good, so I asked my mother to choose another place, but my younger brother was sealed to the place "Yan".In fact, "Zheng" was an important military and political town in Zheng State at that time. He did not dare to raise carbuncles and cause trouble.Confucius wrote this paragraph, which means that Zheng Zhuanggong did not use morality, but used power. Later, mother Jiang and younger brother "Duan" wanted to rebel, recruited troops, bought horses, stockpiled grass and grain, and there were already obvious signs of rebellion. The left and right ministers reported to Zheng Zhuanggong, Zheng Zhuanggong clearly understood, but said there was no problem, let's wait and see Bar!It means that his fox tail has not been exposed yet, and he should be trained to expose the fox tail before dealing with him.This is one of the ancient villainous power tactics in politics. Moral politics must not be like this.That's the difference between the two.Especially for a brother, he should be influenced, and he should be dealt with by telling his mother frankly. He should not be cultivated like an enemy's crime. In the end, his mother and younger brother rebelled together, and Zheng Zhuanggong sent troops to destroy the younger brother.Therefore, some people in history said that Cao Cao trained Liu Bei and Sun Quan in order to coerce the emperor to make the princes. Why did Confucius start "Spring and Autumn" with this incident?This is to show that social turmoil cannot be guided by ordinary people. It is caused by powerful officials and people with status who have changed the atmosphere. The so-called chaos arises from the top. Therefore, the above mentioned the story of the Ji family traveling on Mount Tai. Confucius said: " Ever said that Mount Tai is not as good as Lin Fang?" That's what it means. Acceptance Now the following are the principles of Confucius: The Master said: If a gentleman does not fight, he must also shoot.Yi Yi yields to ascend, descends to drink, and fights to be a gentleman. This is to talk about the basic issues of human culture, and Confucius uses the educational method of "taking a corner" to talk about it.The so-called "gentleman" in Chinese culture is a name opposite to "little man". It is equal to a symbol. How can it be called a gentleman?What do you call a villain?It is difficult to define, which is the same as saying that good people and bad people are difficult to define.This is especially true from a philosophical point of view.A good person is good about a certain thing, and sometimes becomes bad in being good; a bad person is everything bad, but sometimes becomes good at a certain point.So it's hard to define good guys and bad guys.However, from a social and political standpoint, it cannot be discussed from a philosophical point of view. Good and bad are relative to merit.The gentleman mentioned by Confucius is speaking from a philosophical standpoint, and it is an abstract synonym. The gentleman in Chinese culture has nothing to contend with, not only with others, but also with matters. Everything is obtained through courtesy.Is it useless to fight for nothing?No, Confucius used the archery competition at that time to illustrate the demeanor of a gentleman.Archery is one of the six arts—ritual, music, archery, imperialism, calligraphy, and number—and this archery represents military training.He said that when the archery competition starts, the opponent salutes and expresses his apology—comity.Then start the game.After the game, no matter who wins or loses, drink a glass of wine with each other. The winner says: "Accept!" The loser says: "Learn!"The reason why human beings are different from other animals in the biological world is the spirit of human culture.In fact, what is so great about human beings is that they are human because they have thoughts and the spirit of culture.Confucius talked about this trivial matter, that is to say, should people fight?Regardless of people or affairs, one should fight, but the fight must be reasonable, so "the one who bows to the top, and the one who goes down to drink, is a gentleman when he fights." Even if he is fighting, he must always maintain the demeanor of a gentleman.In modern terms, it is similar to the so-called democratic thought of Greece.The Chinese also talked about democracy in the past, and this issue will be discussed in another topic in the future.In the democratic spirit of Chinese culture, a person's conduct, behavior, and everything must be democratic.The spirit of our democracy is based on comity; the spirit of Western democracy is based on the rule of law.There is a fundamental difference between comity and the rule of law. The rule of law has the meaning of management, and comity is the spontaneous and spontaneous moral spirit within the individual. Indifferent to Mingzhi Look at the following, and further talk about the spirit of Chinese culture: Zixia asked: "You are charming with a clever smile, and you are looking forward to your beautiful eyes. You always think that you are gorgeous." What does it mean?Confucius said: paint after the event.Said: After the ceremony?Confucius said: "The one who gives is also a businessman, and he can only talk about poetry." Zixia quoted the poems of the ancients to discuss, they are not a study of composition.Originally, the Chinese did not compose poems without complaints. Poetry contains human thoughts and feelings, so they discussed the meaning of this poem. Whether the ancient pronunciation of the word "Xi" in the poem is the same as the pronunciation of the current Xi pronunciation is not certain, because the rhyme and language will change every few decades. This word is like "Ah!" in today's songs. There is no real meaning.Let's talk about "Qiaoxiao", a smile is just a smile, why do we have to have a "Qiaoxiao"?We know that there are so-called wry smiles, big laughs, and many other laughing states. "Qiaoxiao" is like the smile of the girl in the advertisement, it looks like a smile but not a smile, isn't it a smile?It’s really a smile, the one who smiles charmingly is Qiao Xiao, it’s hard to describe Qiao Xiao, but there’s also a “Qian Xi”, what is “Qian”?It seems that the performance of the actress in the movie, with such a playful smile and a little seductive, is "Qiaoxiaoqianxi". "Beautiful eyes hope Xi", beautiful eyes are powerful enough, but there is still hope, the eyes reveal the meaning of "Tao is ruthless but affectionate". "I used to think it was gorgeous" used to be like a piece of white paper. "Being gorgeous" means that a very beautiful pattern was drawn on a white background. If we use the current literary techniques to deal with these three sentences, we can write several times. This is a very good novel. Zixia asked Confucius what these three sentences really mean—"What do you mean?" Of course Zixia didn't understand, he meant that these three sentences were too much, so he asked Confucius what they meant.Confucius told him to "plain after the painting", he said that the value of plain color can only be seen after the painting is completed.The meaning of this sentence, in terms of the current concept of life philosophy, is that a person returns from splendor to mediocrity.From the point of view of art, it is like a painting, if the whole picture is full, most of it has no artistic value; it is also like furnishing a house, you must leave a proper space, which is the reason.This is the enlightenment education of Confucius. With Zixia's intelligence, he can understand it as soon as he hears it, so he put forward a report on his experience: "Is it after the ritual?" Is there a spirit of "ritual" behind the etiquette?In other words, is the connotation of etiquette more important than the etiquette on the outside?Speaking of this, it is no wonder that Mencius has the feeling of "getting the best talents in the world and educating them, and it is a joy." Teachers in later generations should also learn from Confucius' way of encouraging students. He said: "The one who gives is the one who does business." I think Zixia is not only right, but also inspired himself.As a supervisor, you must emulate the spirit of Confucius. When your subordinates have good opinions, you should say "Yes! You are absolutely right." Such a supervisor is a successful leader.Confucius continued to praise Zixia for "beginning to talk about poetry", and he really understood poetry. The teaching of poetry does not teach people to be a poet. What is the meaning of "close the door and cover the firewood" in a sour way?To understand poetry, to cultivate a mind to stand in the world through the emotion of poetry, and to truly understand the life and the realm of the universe behind poetry, this is the truth of poetry.In other words, people should pay more attention to the word "su", which means plain.That's why Confucius mentioned later that "if you are rich and honored, you will be rich, and if you are poor and humble, you will be poor and humble." True color, ordinary, the most extraordinary person in the world is the most ordinary, and the most ordinary is also the most extraordinary.In other words: an extremely intelligent person who looks stupid is actually the most stupid, extremely stupid, and really extremely intelligent.This is a fundamental question in philosophy.There is no one who is considered smart and who is considered stupid. The difference between being stupid and being smart is only a difference in time.The so-called smart people understand it in a second of reaction, and stupid people understand it after thinking about it for fifty years. There is only a slight difference between fifty years and one second, so greatness is ordinary.Only a great hero can be his true colors - plain.This is the case when you step up, and it is the same when you step down.Therefore, Zeng Guofan advocated that when employing people, there should always be a little rustic style-that is, rustic style.What is Rustic?I come from the folk countryside, and if you look like a countryman, you will always be like a countryman, nothing special.Therefore, people like Peng Yulin and Zuo Zongtang have always maintained their true qualities of countrymen. No matter how powerful they are or how great they are in political achievements, I am still me.The other sentence "it's true celebrity's self-love", has the same meaning and will not be repeated here. This paragraph explains that "painting the essence after the event" means that a person should not be fascinated by the splendor, and should not go too far, which is what ordinary people say that there is no need to "add icing on the cake", but to be plain.After that, he quoted Confucius' words to explain the position of Chinese cultural tradition. Tracing back to the source The Master said: "Xia Li, I can say that Qi is not enough to sign."Yin etiquette, I can say it, Song Dynasty is not enough to levy.The literature is insufficient.If it is sufficient, then I can conquer it. Confucius said that Chinese traditional culture is based on history, and history and culture are inseparable. The tradition we are talking about has a long history.Yesterday, a student who came back from the United States talked about the newly published book "The Course of Civilization" he had read. He told me that a certain point of view discussed in this book is the same as what I told them before. The history of human culture has been handed down since the last ice age.For example, religious thoughts and philosophical thoughts, in the last ice age, when human beings were destroyed, were handed down by a very small number of people who did not die, and did not arise newly in this ice age.Our Chinese culture has always said this, so we want the Chinese to talk about their own traditional history. Look at the records of the ancients. There are 1.2 million years, or at least 120,000 years. Now we talk about five Millennium culture, that is a polite word.But it's very pitiful. Now I dare not talk about five thousand years of culture, but only three thousand years of culture, because Western culture talks about history and often only mentions more than two thousand years. We talk too much, and it doesn't seem quite right.In the history of ancient China, it is easy to talk about more than one million years.Now Confucius said here that no matter how old it is, culture comes from historical traditions, so I can study and discuss the culture of the Xia Dynasty, but "Qi is not enough to conquer." Qi is a country granted by the Zhou Dynasty and a descendant of the Xia Dynasty , Sealed to Qi State.We know that the phrase "alarmists" is an allusion to this country. Here we need to understand the feudal system in China.When King Wu of Zhou unified China, the so-called feudalism did not mean enfeoffing only the people in his own family. The descendants of Yao, Shun, Yu, and Tang all enfeoffed princes, so the feudalism of the Zhou Dynasty was not the feudalism of the West. It is wrong to confuse the feudal system with the so-called feudalism in the West. ——Confucius said here that if we look at the culture of the Xia Dynasty with the culture of the Qi State, it is not accurate and incomplete. The ancestral culture of the ancestors is gone-here, we must pay special attention to it. If the descendants of any nation do not pay attention to their own cultural history, they will destroy themselves, and future generations will not be able to verify it.Confucius said, if they don't destroy themselves and preserve the cultural materials of their ancestors, I can sort them out. The words of Confucius are included here to illustrate the importance of preserving culture, so we will continue to talk about the relationship between culture and rituals below: 子曰：禘自既灌而往者，吾不欲观之矣。 讲到这里，又是一个问题了，是由中国文化中“礼”而来。所谓“禘”，是中国古代的一种礼。中国文化和西方一样，有狭义的宗教。“禘”象征宗教的精神，祭天地祖宗之礼。讲到这里，要认识“禘”字的来源了，至少要拿《康熙字典》来研究。过去读书，五、六岁以后，先研究“小学”，就是研究作人道德行为，等于现在学校的公民课程——洒扫应对。“洒扫”从文字上看很简单，洒洒水、扫扫地而已；“应对”可就麻烦了，对老前辈行什么礼，到了客厅坐什么位置，送一封信给叔叔伯伯，讲话的态度该怎样等等，作人处世都包括在应对当中。除此之外，研究“小学”之学，就是后来所谓的说文、训诂等的文字学，探讨文字的来源。中国文字不同于西方文字的拼音而成，中国文字有所谓六书——象形、指事、会意、形声、转注、假借的法则。 心香一瓣诚则灵 我们知道中国字的部首是从“一”字开始。“一”就画分了上下，所谓一画分天地；再在上面加一画“二”（上），就是上，下面加一画就成“”（下），是为下。宇宙本来是圆的，无法分别，现在分了以后，“人”在“”的下面，即成为“”，这个字就代表了天。我们看到了“示”这个字，就是表示上天垂下来许多象征，显示给人们看，太阳、月亮、风云、雷雨都是上天的垂示，所以这个字，就代表了与上天的关系。圆圈中间加个十字，就代表了土地的“田”字，这土地上面出了一点苗芽便是“由”，再向下伸展成为上下通的便为“申”，在申旁再加上“示”；表示由天上来的，而上下左右都能通达，便谓之神。只能下行旁通而上面长了一根象征性的毛毛“”就是鬼。那帝的篆文“”也是表示上天垂示下来的征象，代表形而上的，不可知，不可说，也无法形容他，有这样一个力量，这样一个东西在，就叫作帝，再加上示，就成了一个宗教性的哲学观念。中国古礼称祭天地的礼为“禘”。至于形而上，到底有没有？又是怎么样一个东西？暂时不谈，到此为止，如再向上讨论，就牵涉到哲学与科学的问题了。 禘，古代国家举办禘礼，皇帝代表全民祭祀大典，仪式非常隆重。皇帝在此期内，不回内官，必须清心寡欲，反省自己。在中国古文中所谓的斋戒沐浴，便是如此。“斋”是内心的反省。（后来中国人对佛教的吃素也叫吃斋，那是有不同的意义，由于佛教戒律中一种“八关斋戒”而来。）斋是中国文化中心理的净化，用现代的话来讲，就是清理思想、排除人欲，真正的作到肃庄叫作斋戒。沐浴也不止是洗澡，而是孔子在上所讲“洗心退藏于密”的意义。所以古代禘礼，是国家的大典，全民的大典，领导者皇帝斋戒沐浴七天或三天以后，才代表全民出来主祭，要全副精神，诚心诚意，很郑重的，等于是一个宗教家的大祈祷，绝对不可马虎。在这里，孔子指出当时文化的衰败，大家参加禘礼，都只是在真戏假做而已。这等于现代有许多人吊亲友乃至长辈的丧事匆匆忙忙，叫一辆计程车，赶到市立殡仪馆，签一个名，行三鞠躬礼，好像去缴一百元什么税似的，缴完了，赶紧就跑，没有一点肃庄悲戚之感。今日社会这种风气，也是文化精神一个重大的问题。 孔子对春秋时代的情形怎样说的呢？ 子曰：“禘，自既灌而往者。”就是说禘礼开始以后，主祭者端上一爵奉献神禘的酒以后，心里就想赶快走了，接着祈祷等等隆重的祭礼，都在那里应付了事。孔子看到这种情形感叹的说：“吾不欲观之矣！”我实在不想看下去了，为什么不想看？就是认为何必勉强做假，而丧失了这件事的实际精神呢！ 孔子这几句话，有很多意义。譬如现在社会上举办许多事情，内心没有真正的诚意。无论是宗教仪式或任何社会的宣誓，只要举起手来表示一下，心里完全没有肃庄恭敬的诚意。冷眼旁观者看来，不得不油然而兴“禘自既灌而往者，吾不欲观之矣”的感慨。这就是中国文化告诉我们，事事要发自内心的诚恳，而不完全在于形式，一切形式，都必须配合内心的诚恳，才有意义。 由此再进一层，便引出下面一段话。 或问禘之说。子曰：不知也。知其说者之于天下也，譬如示诸斯乎？指其掌。 有人问孔子，关于“禘”这个礼仪的说法，和这一套学术思想的理论，它的基本精神又在哪里？孔子怎么答复呢？他说：“不知也”——我不知道。孔子真的不知道吗？当然，这是他幽默的话，换句话说，是一种“反教育”，用现代术语来说，是“反激式的教育”。他的意思是说，这一种基本的文化精神，大家应该知道的。既然大家都不知道，那么我也不知道了。且看他说了不知道以后又怎么说下去，就可明白他真的知道不知道了，“……'知其说者之于天下也，譬如示诸斯乎？'指其掌。”孔子指自己的手掌说，真正懂得禘这个文化精神的人，看天下国家事事物物的道理，就好像是呈现在这掌心上，这么清楚明白了。他指着他的掌心，用动作来表示天下的事理，就像指顾之间，如在目前那样的容易。由此你说他懂不懂禘之礼？当然懂。 为什么要拜天地呢？这就代表了中国文化基本精神所在之处。我们以前过年，正月初一早上起来，家长带领全家的人，先要祭天地、拜祖宗，虽然仪式简单，但却很严肃，而慎重。春秋二季要祭祖，也就是实行“祖宗虽远，祭祀不可不诚”的尊敬传统的精神。现代一般家庭，就从来不祭祖，连跪拜的礼都不会行，这就是教育的问题，值得重新研究、重新修整。保持这一点传统，这一点习惯，使后代知道源远流长的民族传统，这也是我们的责任。 刚才讲到禘礼与中国文化精神的关系，跟着便提到孔子几句有名的话，后世一般人们都流行而变为成语的： 祭如在，祭神如神在。子曰：吾不与祭，如不祭。 这是孔子所说祭祀祖宗和祈祷时心仪的原则，当我们祭祖宗的时候要以“如在”目前相对的诚心，犹如祖宗尚在面前一样的诚敬。假使是祭神，神就在此。要表里如一，才是肃斋庄敬的道理。所以他又说：“吾不与祭，如不祭。”假使说我因为没有时间，没有亲自参与这个祭典，只是象征式由别人去代表一番，这样就等于不祭，又何必故作排场呢？这种精神，不但告诉我们对于任何祭典要如此，同时也间接地告诉我们作人的道理，无论对生者或死者，由明里到暗里，都要由衷一贯。 我们现在讲民族精神。热爱国家民族的人，为什么到了国外，看到自己的国旗便肃然起敬？我们在国外看到国旗的那种心情，与在国内看到国旗的心情绝对不同。在某一个时候甚至会为之掉下眼泪。其中道理，就是这种精神的流露。所以一个人的修养，对人对事，都要有这种“祭神如神在”的心理。否则，表面上非常恭敬，内心里又是另一回事，那是没有用的。所以由于孔子的这番话，了解了祭礼，依此来讲作人的道理，也就可以触类旁通了。 拍灶君的马屁 王孙贾问曰：“与其媚于奥，宁媚于灶。”何谓也？子曰：不然。获罪于天，无所祷也。王孙贾是卫国的大夫，孔子在卫国很多年，卫灵公对他非常好，但卫灵公又偏宠有名的美人——南子。卫灵公实在很想起用孔子，卫国的权臣王孙贾有一天就对孔子说出：“与其媚于奥，宁媚于灶”的问题。这也是中国古代宗教思想中很有趣的历史性问题。凡是中年以上的人，都见过我们在大陆上家庭中供奉的灶神。每到夏历十二日二十三的晚上，家家户户都要送灶，小孩子们非常高兴，口袋里就可装糖果了。现在用电炉、瓦斯炉，没有灶了，当然也就没有灶神。为什么要祭灶神呢？以宗教思想来说，中国人信仰的是多神教，什么神都信。 十年前有一位外国的神父来和我研究中国宗教思想问题，他说中国人没有宗教信仰。我说中国绝对有宗教信仰。第一个是礼，第二个是诗。不像西方人将宗教错解成为“信我得救，不信我不得救”的狭义观念。我说这一点的误解，使我绝对不能信服，因为他非常自私嘛！对他好才救，对他不好便不救。Is it done?一个教主，应该是信我的要救，不信我的更要救；这才是宗教的精神，也就是中国文化的精神。其次，谈到中国“诗的精神”，所谓诗的文学境界，就是宗教的境界。所以懂了诗的人，纵使有一肚子的难过，有时候哼呀哈呀的念一首诗，或者作一首诗，便可自我安慰，心灵得到平安，那真是像给上帝来个见证。第三，中国信多神教，这代表了中国的大度宽容。出了一个老子，还是由东汉、北魏到唐代才被后人捧出来当上个教主——老子自己绝对没有想过要当教主的瘾。孔学后来被称为孔教，是明朝以后才捧的，孔子也不想当教主。总之，世界上的教主，自己开始都不想当教主，如果说为了想当教主而当上教主的话，这个教主就有点问题，实在难以教人心服。因为宗教的热忱是无所求，所以他伟大，所以他当了教主。我们中国，除了老子成为教主以外，孔子的儒家该不该把它称为宗教，还是一个问题。但是中国人的宗教，多是外来的，佛教是印度过来的，天主教、基督教也是外来的。我们中国人自古至今对于任何宗教都不反对，这也只有中华民族才如此的雍容大度。why?有如待客，只要来的是好人，都“请上坐，泡好茶”。一律以礼相待，诚恳的欢迎。所以我们的宗教信仰，能叫出五教合一的口号，而且这种风气，目前已经传到美国去了。现在纽约已经有教堂，仿照我们中国人的办法，耶稣、孔子、释迦牟尼、老子、穆罕默德，都“请上坐，泡好茶”了，凡是好人都值得恭敬。所以我最后告诉那位外国神父，不是因为我是中国人替中国的宗教辩护，而是外人没有研究深入而已。