Chapter 11 second quarter

Just now everyone spoke enthusiastically around the themes of Zilu, Yanhui, and Zigong. The atmosphere was very lively, but because I talked about the migration of migratory birds to the East, the discussion was out of shape. I am sorry. Now let me talk frankly about my views on these three Confucian disciples. In the third year of Duke Ai of Lu (492 BC), when Confucius was wandering in the Central Plains, I joined him and gradually became his disciple, serving him until he returned to Lu and died.Therefore, I have been friends with Yan Hui who died shortly after returning to Lu State for twelve years, and with Zilu who died in Wei State for eleven years.I heard that after Confucius died, Zi Gong lived for 21 years, but after I mourned at Confucius’ tomb for three years, I never saw him again. I have known him for about 16 or 7 years.

As I said before, I was just a handyman under the disciples of Confucius, and I dare not pretend to be a disciple of Confucianism.But Zilu and Yan Hui have passed away for more than 30 years. If I propose to them today to treat each other as brothers, I think they will only feel very cordial, and they will never stare at each other. Zilu, Yanhui, and Zigong are known as the "first-stage students" of Confucius. They are the "those who came from Chen and Cai" as Confucius said, that is, those who shared hardships with Confucius in the fields of Chen and Cai.Let me talk about Yan Hui who is the most disappointing.

When I first met Yan Hui, he was thirty and I was twenty-five.Although they are only five years apart in age, there is an ocean-like gap between them in terms of personality and upbringing.From then on, until Yan Hui passed away at the age of 41 for 11 years, I looked down on him like a deep sea, and looked up like a mountain reaching into the clouds.In short, Yan Hui is intelligent, pure in heart, open-minded and magnificent, he is a natural hero. Yan Hui respected Confucius as a loving father, respected and worshiped him, pursued his life diligently, devoted himself to learning and self-cultivation, and made unremitting efforts.In his short life, he always immersed himself in learning and worked hard, in order to understand more about the essence of Confucius' thought.This spirit is unmatched by others.

Yan Hui melted his feelings of respecting his teacher into the hymn to Confucius. The woman had already recited it just now, so I will recite it again.Every time at this time, the moving image of Yan Hui nervously studying emerges in front of my eyes. ——When you look up, you get higher, when you drill, you get stronger.Looking ahead, suddenly behind.The master is good at seducing people, he is so good at me, he invites me to be courteous, he can't stop, he exhausts his talents, if he has something to stand for, even if he wants to follow it, he can't help it. How beautiful and heroic the spirit of Confucian Yicai Yanhui is.Admiring the teacher should be such sincerity.As long as he is awake, he will study hard tirelessly, practice the teacher's teachings, and never be afraid of suffering.He strictly demands himself with the correct and pure state of mind at all times.

Unfortunately, I know almost nothing about what Confucius said about Yan Hui.I just remember hearing someone say that shortly after Yan Hui's death, Duke Ai of Lu once asked Confucius who was the best student among his disciples?Confucius replied: "There was Yan Hui, who was eager to learn. He did not vent his anger and did not make mistakes. Unfortunately, he died of a short life. He will die now. I have never heard of a good scholar." If Yan Hui heard this sentence, he would die in peace. There is another matter, which I heard from Zilu after Yan Hui's death.Once, Zilu and Yan Hui were beside Confucius, and Confucius asked them to talk about their ambitions.Zilu said: "May the chariots and horses be light and fur, and share them with friends without regret." Yan Hui replied: "May there be no evil and no hard work." Confucius was very satisfied with their answers, and also discussed his own Ideal: "The old are safe, the friends trust, and the young cherish it."

Among the many stories about Yan Hui, the one that moved me the most: I did not serve Confucius at that time.Confucius was attacked by mobs in Kuang, and he wandered away alone. Everyone was very anxious.After waiting for a long time, Confucius found everyone.Confucius said to Yan Hui, "I think you are dead." (Yan Hui, I thought you were dead. I didn't expect to see you again.) Yan Hui replied, "How dare you die when you are here?" (Teacher, you Still alive, how dare I die?) Whenever I think of this story, there seems to be a picture of Confucius and Yan Hui greeting each other and caring for each other.It can be said that they are not only teachers and students, but also father and son, and the content of their dialogue is unparalleled and beautiful and profound.Now I seem to see Confucius and Yan Hui having a wonderful dialogue.

There is another sentence that I am deeply moved and engraved in my heart. It fully expresses the pure and flawless teacher-student relationship between Confucius and Yan Huizhi.After Yan Hui died, Zilu and others held a grand funeral for him.Confucius said: "Hui also treats Yu Yu as his father, but I don't treat you as his son." (Although Yan Hui regards me as his father, I can't arrange his funeral like my own son. The funeral should be simple and not extravagant. ) This sentence permeates Confucius' great and deep sorrow for the death of his disciple Yan Hui.Yan Hui was born in a poor family, and treated his death like his own father, sending him to the wilderness unpretentiously and quietly.

Nevertheless, whether Confucius had the highest opinion of Yan Hui and whether he intended to entrust his affairs to him is another matter.If someone asked this question, I think Confucius would answer like this: "Of course I speak highly of Yan Hui. In this era, there are very few heroes like this. But when it comes to entrusting funeral affairs, that is another matter. I always I think Yan Hui is too 'too', too smart, too pure, too hardworking, too hardworking. So Yan Hui is not someone who can be trusted for future affairs, but a pioneer who walks a road that no one has gone before."

Confucius lamented the death of Yan Hui as "Heaven lost Yu". This is not pessimism and frustration at the loss of a successor, but an extraordinary educator, thinker, and philosopher who can manage the troubled times and clean up the mess after his death. Home's untimely death mourns the great despair. In the eyes of others, Yan Hui is always tenacious, diligent, studious, and hard-working, so they feel that he is sometimes painful, sometimes hard, and sometimes cautious, and lacks Zilu's natural straightforwardness, carefree, and undisguised joy and sorrow. Open-minded and hearty floating taste.

Not only me, but everyone else feels this way.In contrast, Zilu is easy-going, friendly, warm and thoughtful in his dealings with others.Zilu was twenty years older than Yan Hui. Some people thought it was difficult to compare the two, but when they met Zilu, there was no sense of age difference, nor did they have the airs of the earliest disciples of Confucianism.Zilu's way of standing in the world can be said to be exquisite and seamless. In my opinion, no matter how much pain is in his heart, Yan Hui will never show color.Although this is Yan Hui's brilliance, Zi Lu doesn't take it seriously.However, I did not hear a single word from Zilu belittling Yan Hui. This point of Zilu is also remarkable, and I appreciate it very much.On the other hand, Yan Hui's rigorous and solemn demeanor also makes others speechless.

Just now the supervisor told me that the Yanhui Research Association and the "Yanhui faction" raised some questions, and I would be happy to answer them, but I will continue to talk about my views on Zilu and Zigong according to the original plan. Now let's talk about Zilu.As soon as Zilu was mentioned, I immediately remembered the scene of wandering in the Chencai field, dizzy with hunger, dragging our tired legs and staggering into a small village in the border area of ​​Chen State.It was forty-three or four years ago.At that time, the state of Chen, where Confucius lived for three years, suddenly became a battlefield between Wu and Chu for hegemony, and Confucius had no choice but to leave in a hurry and head for the distant land of Chu. Confucius and his party endured hunger and trekked hard, and finally reached a small village on the border of Chen State.They lay in disorder by the edge of a pond, surrounded by tung flowers in full bloom.Confucius sat alone not far away, playing the piano.At this moment, Zilu stood up suddenly, staggered to the side of Confucius, and asked abruptly: "A gentleman is also poor?" Seemingly holding back his anger, Zilu asked again. Confucius stopped playing the qin, turned his face to Zilu, and said in a loud and powerful voice: "A gentleman is always poor." Then he added: "A villain is too poor!" Everyone couldn't help being in awe, but the one who was most moved was Suan Zilu. The powerful vitality of these two sentences of Confucius shocked his heart.He excitedly ran to the middle of the square, opened his hands, and danced slowly and rhythmically.Other than that, he felt that there was no more appropriate way to express it. I like Zilu at this time.It is precisely because Zilu has this kind of time that Zilu will have his future.He is handsome and intelligent, full of passion, and regards innocence as the most precious thing in his life. Zilu made many mistakes in his affairs, and many of them reflected his unique thinking. It is difficult to judge for a while.Some of Confucius's severe criticisms and some of his soft admonitions always contained his care and love for his disciples.The missteps can also be described as happy comedy. When Zilu was young, he was a rascal in the market. He came to argue with Confucius, but he was conquered by Confucius' great personality and high education.Zilu's failure is not simply a lesson of failure, but it contains many valuable things such as the profound teacher-student friendship between Confucius and Zilu, as well as their different thoughts and outlook on life. I think you have collected a lot of information from various sources, please share it sometime, I hope to get advice from it. So, among the three first-stage students of Confucianism, Zilu, Zigong, and Yanhui, who did Confucius like the most?Whether wandering in the Central Plains or living in Chencai, I often think about this question, even now sometimes.After several years of thinking, I think Confucius's favorite is not Yan Hui, nor Zi Gong, but Zi Lu. If you ask Confucius why, he will definitely answer like this: "This man Zilu, he doesn't know when he will die, so he has to be taken care of at any time." Also, who did Confucius entrust with his funeral?If it wasn't Yan Hui, it could only be Zilu.Confucius will definitely say this: "I have thought about it repeatedly, and I cannot entrust Zilu with the funeral. Maybe he will not live to that time. For the cause of justice, he will sacrifice his life anytime and anywhere. For him, there is A few lives are not enough." It is precisely because Zilu is a disciple of Confucius that he has lived so long. If he had not been protected by Confucius, he would have lived alone in the society, and his few lives would not be enough. This is not only my opinion, but also Confucius' Zilu view.In fact, if Confucius was not paying attention, Zilu bravely sacrificed his life for the "just cause" in a foreign country.How could Confucius entrust his funeral affairs to such a person?Not only could he not entrust him, but in order to protect Zilu's life, Confucius paid close attention to his every move. It seems that Confucius liked Zilu very much, and I like Zilu too.In the later period of wandering in the Central Plains, when I lived in Weiguo, I started to get in touch with Zilu because of work. He was very kind to me and regarded me as a disciple of Confucianism. Confucius said that he failed to protect Zilu. If I were to parrot him, I would say: I failed to protect Zilu, the best disciple of Confucianism, so that he survived. As I said before, when Confucius heard that there was a civil strife in the state of Wei where Zilu and Zigao served, he said: "Chai came here, and you died." As Confucius expected, Zigao returned to Lu safely, and Zilu Never survived.Even with the power of Confucius, Zilu's life could not be protected.From then on, Confucius began the loneliest stage of his life.When he lost his most beloved disciple, all that was left was loneliness, and in the second year, he followed his disciple. Let's talk about Zigong's views.There were indeed only two "Zigong sects" attending today's gathering. Among the first disciples of Confucianism, perhaps because Zigong was the most unpretentious, he seemed silent and unobtrusive.In fact, among the three, I know Zigong best.We spent three years in mourning at the tomb of Confucius together, and listened to him talk about Confucius' moral articles several times, which is plain and simple. Thirty years have passed.Although Zigong lived the longest, he is already dead now. In recent years, I have become more and more partial to Zigong.Why is this so?Now it is almost dusk, and the twilight is getting darker. I will talk about it in detail next time. Today, I will talk about my view of Zigong. I don't know when, Zigong abandoned his hard work and cultivation, and re-established a great belief in the meaning and mission of life is to serve Confucius.He combined the meaning of life for decades with Confucius. I don't know if this life path should be affirmed.I'm afraid Zilu himself may not be clear about it. In the last five or six years, I started to discover Zigong.I often sit alone by the stove, recalling the many past events of Zi Gong who dedicated everything to his teacher Confucius, and I am awed by his consistent and unwavering sternness in his belief. Zi Gong single-handedly managed all the finances of Confucianism.He is good at making money. Some people may not think so, but I don't think anyone has a better financial talent than him.Zigong held a grand funeral for Confucius and was responsible for all the living expenses of more than 70 people who spent three years in mourning. All these are facts I have seen and felt personally. I hope that everyone will collect information and vigorously carry out research on Zigong.The information about Zigong can be said to be the most reliable information for studying Confucius.It just so happens that I have some information about Zigong at hand. It can be seen that when he asked Confucius for advice, he never mixed personal elements, did not have his own ideas, and only faithfully recorded Confucius' remarks. "What is a gentleman" "How can you be called a gentleman?" "What is a scholar" "What is benevolence" Here, there are only Zigong's questions, not his own thoughts.Occasionally he seems to hide his own point of view, but in fact it is to elicit Confucius' words, so he is faithful to the ancestors and teachers.