Chapter 16 Thirteen. Yan Hui Enrolls

A pair of longing eyes looked around, and finally saw this long-admired saint...Yan Hui's eyes lit up, as if suddenly seeing candlelight in the dark night... A notice was posted in Qufu City, which read: Confucius officially founded the school, and implemented the teaching without discrimination, that is, no matter whether rich or poor, students can enter the school. The teaching content is mainly based on the Six Classics, including: "Poetry", "Li", "Yi", "Yue" and Li, Music, archery, royal, book, counting six arts, etc.Tuition fee, no matter the size, just ten sticks...

After the explosive news came out, Qufu exploded like a pot, and people rushed to tell each other... The people around the notice were discussing... A few nobles in luxurious clothes standing behind were saying: "It's unreasonable! The poor can still get an education, so what is the difference between the poor and the rich? Didn't Confucius understand?" Rituals? How can we talk about etiquette regardless of rank?" "Yes! Yes! Confucius is fooling around." And the poor and civilians crowded in front smiled openly: "Great, my grandparents haven't gone to school for generations, now, my child can go to school."

"Confucius is too great." In early summer, the weather was fine, with a few white clouds floating in the blue sky. Under a century-old ginkgo tree in the courtyard of the school, a high altar was built. Confucius sat on the altar, holding bamboo slips and books in his hand, and was giving lectures to his disciples. The pavilion was full of disciples who came to listen to the lecture. The sun seeped thousands of rays of golden light from the trees, the breeze barked, and the leaves rustled. The sound of reciting poems came from outside the fence... Not far away, came a young man about fourteen or fifteen years old. Although his clothes were ragged, he had a dignified expression and peaceful eyes.He stood silently behind.

A pair of longing eyes looked around, and finally saw this saint whom he had admired for a long time. He saw that he had black beard and hair, a full sky, and a wide forehead, with a pair of deep eyes shining everywhere... Yan Hui was especially surprised by this man. Saints wear commoner clothes... what!Clothed saint. Yan Hui's eyes lit up, as if suddenly seeing candlelight in the dark night... "Do not do to others what you do not do to yourself." Confucius said. Yan Hui listened intently... On the way home, Yan Hui was thinking silently: Don't give it to others if you don't want it...

For three days in a row, Yan Hui stood quietly at the end, listening intently. He didn't dare to sit, because he knew he wasn't a formal student, so he only dared to stand and listen... One day, a man named Zi Gong came to visit Confucius as a teacher. He was dressed luxuriously, brocade and fur, and handsome. When he came, he happened to catch up with Confucius who had just finished his lecture. Yan Hui saw this luxuriously dressed young man bowing down to Confucius.Seeing his square face, fair skin and handsome appearance, Confucius liked him very much, so he helped him up with a smile.And asked the disciples around him to accept the ten cantaloupe he brought.

Yan Hui heard the student next to him say that Zigong is the son of the richest merchant in Qufu, Yan Hui's eyes dimmed suddenly, and he thought: I am the opposite of him, I am the poorest person in Qufu, he can use ten pieces of preserved preserved fruit to make Tuition fees, and my family doesn't even have rice to eat, where can I find meat!Or go home!Yan Hui turned around and walked away.Resentful, he heard a voice like Confucius calling him. "The boy stays." Yan Hui turned his head and saw that it was indeed Confucius calling him, so he stood there in panic, his eyes looking at his toes.

Confucius came over and looked at this young man who had been standing behind him listening to his lectures for several days. His clothes were worn out and his shoulders were patched, but he was cleaned very cleanly. He was not tall and his face was slightly yellow. The two cheekbones are high and thinner, and a pair of big black eyes make people feel like an abyss... Confucius looked at him and thought, strange, it looks like he has seen this young man somewhere before...Yan Hui looked at Confucius, kindly like a father, just like a fairy descending from a dream, the two stood silently, looking at each other ...Yan Huijing forgot to salute Confucius.

After a while, Confucius asked, "What's your name and where do you live?" Yan replied: "The descendant's surname is Yan, his name is Hui, and his courtesy name is Yuan. He lives in a back alley in Qufu. There is only his father in the family." Confucius nodded and asked again, "Why did you come to listen to the lecture?" Yan replied: "Just like what you said yesterday, it's not inappropriate to learn from time to time. I feel happy listening to your lecture, and you don't reject me. Isn't this a joy?" Yan Hui said: "My father, Yan Lu, is also your disciple. He taught me what he learned from you when he returned home, but I wanted to receive your teaching directly so that I could understand it better, so I came here secretly. listen."

"Ah, you are Yan Lu's son?" "yes." "Where's your father? Then why didn't he bring you here?" "He went to work. Because our family is poor and has no money to pay tuition, my father can't bear to trouble you anymore." Confucius said excitedly: "I accept you as a student, and it's free." "Yan Hui, hurry up and salute the teacher!" the disciples beside Confucius shouted. Only then did Yan Hui come to his senses, he quickly patted his clothes, straightened his clothes, knelt down to Confucius and kowtowed three times.

"Teacher, please be respected by the students." Confucius quickly helped him up. Confucius said again: "Yan Hui, from now on, you are my disciple." Then he said to the left and right: "Arrange a seat for Yan Hui tomorrow." "yes." Someone asked in puzzlement, "Teacher, why did such a poor person accept him as a disciple?" Confucius replied: "This means that there is no discrimination in education, that is to say, education is not divided into levels, and the rich and the poor should be the same." "Father." Yan Hui called before entering the house.

Father just came back from chopping firewood. He put a large bundle of firewood on the ground on his shoulders, greeted him and asked: "Hui'er, I'm so happy, what happy event is there?" "Father, Confucius has accepted me as a student, and I am exempted from paying the ten testimonials." "Ah! The teacher is so kind. We sold the firewood and bought a few eggs. Let's send them to the teacher." "Very well, father, we father and son have nothing to repay the teacher. I can only work hard to understand the way of a good teacher." "What's more, Hui'er now has the guidance of the high teacher, and your wish to learn the Dao can come true." "Yes, father, we moved to Qufu to join Confucius, and today we finally got our wish." The father looked at his son lovingly, full of hope in his heart, he nodded and said: "Go back, go eat quickly, you must be very hungry, I have already eaten." "Okay, father." Yan Hui looked at his father, whose temples were showing silver threads, and his waist was almost bent from exhaustion. He knew that his father must have left half of yesterday's pancake for himself, and he must not have eaten it himself. Alas, father, you are too Bitter. The news of Confucius accepting Yan Hui as a student quickly spread throughout Qufu, shaking the whole state of Lu, ah! "There is no discrimination in teaching", and the poor can actually receive education.Since then, children from far and near, rich or poor, have come to worship Confucius as their teacher.Confucius' students soon increased to hundreds and thousands, and Confucius became famous. This morning, Confucius saw from a distance under the apricot altar, there was already a student sitting upright and reading bamboo slips.He knew that this student was Yan Hui. Since accepting this student, Confucius felt a sense of mission that he had never had before when giving lectures. It was as if God sent me to give lectures and asked him to come to learn. Confucius felt the sacredness of lectures even more. After a while, all the students came together, and Confucius began to give lectures again. Confucius noticed that since Yan Hui came, the students were no longer late, and they were more attentive when listening to lectures. Confucius looked at Yan Hui, he was still wearing the patched clothes on the shoulders, and they were still perfectly washed... Seeing the teacher watching him, Yan Hui felt uneasy, and he subconsciously pulled the front of his shirt... Confucius glanced at all the disciples, and then began to give lectures again. "Disciples enter with filial piety, leave with fraternity, be conscientious and trustworthy, love everyone, and be kind to others. If you have spare capacity, you should study literature." Confucius was about to explain, but saw Zilu respectfully came to Confucius, and then sat down. Confucius said with a smile: "Zi Lu, you finally understand etiquette, but you are late again." Zilu bowed his head and replied: "Student Zilu, once bumped into the teacher, but the teacher not only did not blame me, but also gave me a good word: 'Don't worry about people who don't know you, and people who don't know you." It shows the teacher's mind, go back and think about it, The teacher is really good, and I would like to take my husband as my teacher for the rest of my life." Confucius heard this and said: "It is rare for you to be so sincere. Sincerity can change a person's disposition. You are naturally brave, but as long as you are brave for righteousness, you are brave enough. If you are brave for betraying righteousness, you are doing evil." Zilu hurriedly said, "Students will remember it in their hearts." Yan Huixin, who was standing aside, felt great grief, ah!The sentence "If you don't suffer from others, you don't know yourself, if you suffer from others, you don't know others" moved Zilu. The meaning of this sentence is really deep! On the way home, Yan Hui had been thinking about these words of Confucius.This is the admonition to Zilu, when you collide when you don't understand each other, don't be afraid that others don't understand you, but worry that you don't understand each other. What a broad meaning!The teacher is too advanced. Confucius didn't give a lecture today, he went out to do errands, and when he came back, he passed by Yan Hui's residence, so he was going to visit him in the alley. The alley was too narrow for a carriage to enter, so Confucius had to get out of the cart and walk, followed by a few students. When he reached the bottom of the alley, he saw a firewood gate, and Confucius tapped on it lightly. When Confucius arrived, Yan Hui and his son were shocked, and they knelt at the door to greet him. Confucius lifted Yan Hui and his son and asked, "Yan Lu, you haven't gone to school for a long time." Yan Lu said: "Teacher Hui, the students have been going to the mountains to cut firewood every day recently, and they want to raise some money for the winter, so..." "Your life is really difficult. I will give you extra lessons when I have time." "Thank you teacher." Entering the house, Confucius saw it, my God!The narrow, dark thatched hut... Just as they were eating lunch, Confucius looked down and saw that there was only a bowl of rice and a ladle of soup on the table... Ah!This is Yan Hui's home, Confucius sighed endlessly, no wonder he worked so hard and worked so hard. "Teacher, please drink water." Yan Lu brought Confucius a bowl of water. Confucius took a few sips after taking the bowl, and sat down on the ground beside the table. Confucius looked at this father Yan, whose wife had long since died, and who worked so hard to bring up his son as a father and mother, as if he saw his own mother, ah!How Yan Hui's fate is so similar to mine. Confucius asked again: "Yan Hui is so smart and studious, you must have taught him at home!" Yan Lu said: "No! It's him who is eager to learn. This kid has loved reading since he was a child, and he has been studying everywhere. He has always taken learning as a pleasure." what!Confucius was heartbroken when he heard this. This student is 30 years younger than me, and his eagerness to learn is exactly the same as when I was a teenager. Could it be God's deliberate arrangement! Confucius sighed and said to the left and right students: "Xianzai, come back! A sack of food, a ladle of drink, in the alleys, people can't bear their worries, come back, don't change their joy." At night, Crescent Moon climbed up the treetops, the breeze blew, and the candles in the room flickered. Confucius sat at the table. He opened the bamboo slips and books, but today he couldn’t read them. He was thinking about Mrs. Yan Hui. Like myself, thinking about it, the scene of living a hard life with my mother in my teenage years appeared before my eyes again... "Mother, it's late at night, it's time for you to rest." "Okay, kid, you should go to bed too." The mother, Yan Zhengzai, was twenty-three years old at the time, wearing a cloth skirt and hairpins, her hair hanging down on her forehead, looking a little disheveled, but she couldn't hide her pretty eyes.Her husband had passed away four years ago, and she and her son Zhongni were struggling to survive in these two small huts. Seeing her son holding a letter in his hand and still reading, and the soybean oil lamp on the table still flickering, she stopped the loom, looked at the seven-year-old son with obviously tired eyes, He sighed in his heart: Zhong Ni has just turned seven years old, and he loves his mother so much, is his filial piety inborn? God...Yan Zheng touched his heart with both hands, and knelt down to the sky: Thank you for giving me such a talented boy, I didn't love him in vain. "Mother." Xiao Zhongni put down the letter and came over, saying: "Mother, if you don't rest, I'm going to blow out the lamp." The mother hugged Xiao Zhongni emotionally, tears welled up in her eyes... Confucius came back to his senses and remembered Yan Hui's father's words: "Yan Hui has loved his father since he was a child. He just wants me to eat a piece of pancake..." Confucius sighed: "Yan Hui knows filial piety so much, he is too much like me. Tomorrow when I talk about filial piety, I will use Yan Hui as an example." When the class was almost over, Confucius closed the bamboo slips.Why didn't Yan Hui come today? Confucius looked carefully at Yan Hui's seat in the back row and it was indeed empty.After school, Confucius walked down from the apricot altar and asked Yan Hui why he was absent. Zeng Xi reported, "Teacher, I heard that his father is ill." "Oh! It's because the father is sick, and the son went to accompany him. It's really filial." His father was suffering from dysentery, high fever persisted, and diarrhea continued. Yan Hui stood by and decocted the medicine. When the medicine was ready, Yan Hui poured the medicine into a bowl and gave it to his father. His father took the bowl and just wanted to drink it. Medicine, but can't take medicine because of stomach pain... Yan Hui stood anxiously. "Son..." the father said with tears, "My illness is getting worse and worse. If I fail, you must learn the Tao from the teacher..." "Ah, father, you will be fine..." Yan Hui said tearfully. Looking at his father whose high fever persisted, Yan Hui was very anxious. There was a light knocking sound outside the chai gate, Yan Hui went out and saw that Mr. Zeng Xi, Zi Lu, and Zi Gong were also here, Yan Hui hastily bowed down to the teacher. "The teacher came to the humble house again, and the students are very grateful." "Yan Hui get up quickly, I heard that your father is seriously ill, so I came to visit you." "Thank you teacher, please come in, teacher." "Father, the teacher saw you coming." Yan Lu opened his eyes, saw that Confucius was coming, and was about to get up to salute, but he couldn't get up, so he just said with tears: "Teacher, please sit down quickly... My family is too poor, and I can't bear to have dirty teacher's shoes... The sage doesn't dislike him, and he came here for the second time. Yan Hui has such a benevolent teacher, I can die in peace." Confucius hurriedly said: "Don't worry, Yan Hui is very talented and works very hard, and he will be able to comprehend the Dao in the future." After hearing this, Yan Lu hurriedly told Yan Hui, "Hurry up and salute your teacher." Yan Hui knelt down before Confucius, and Confucius helped him up. Zigong and the others put the medicines and some food on the table, and Yan Hui and his son were very grateful.Confucius said to Yan Lu: "You are tired and sick, take a good rest." "Thank you teacher for taking care of me, thank you brother Zigong." "No thanks." Yan Lu's illness gradually improved, and from then on, Yan Hui and his son regarded Confucius as their lifesaver. One day after class, Confucius stopped Yan Hui: "Hui, wait a minute." Yan Hui came over and said respectfully, "Do you have any instructions, Teacher?" "Come home with me, your teacher will bring you something to eat." "Ah, teacher, no need..." "Let's go." Confucius pulled Yan Hui and left. After entering Confucius' house, the dinner table was already served with food. When Mrs. Qi Guan saw Yan came back, she went up to meet him, held his hand, and said cordially: "Come on, sit down, sit down, and eat together, is your father better?" "much better." "That's all right. I heard from your teacher that you study very hard and your body is too thin, so I'll bring you something to eat." Madam Qi Guan said while scooping up a large bowl of rice for Yan Hui. "Master...I..." "Eat, Yan Hui." After Confucius washed his hands, Kong Li took out the wooden basin. "Come, come, eat quickly." Confucius also sat down. Kong Li sat down beside Confucius, picked up the bowl, and Mrs. Qi Guan put a big bowl of bacon aside.She put some meat and vegetables in Yan Hui's bowl, and said, "Eat more." Yan Hui held the bowl, couldn't help it, tears fell down... Confucius saw it and said, "Hui, don't be sad, eat quickly." Yan Hui cried while eating... In this world, although maternal love is lost, there is still the love of teachers and teachers' wives that is better than that of loving parents. After eating, Mrs. Qi Guan served tea to Confucius and Yan Hui, and went to the kitchen to clean up.Confucius asked Yan Hui, "When did your mother die?" "I died of starvation, on the way to flee famine. I was only three years old at that time." "Alas..." Confucius sighed. Mrs. Qi Guan came in, handed the bowl of bacon on the table to Yan Hui, and said, "Here, take it home to eat." "Master..." "Take it, my wife specially burned it for you." Confucius said. "Teacher, teacher's wife..." Yan Hui shed tears again. Hearing about the death of Yan Hui's mother, Confucius unconsciously recalled his mother's death when he was young.My mother's pale and haggard face appeared before my eyes again... Confucius thought, it's time to sweep the tomb. In the afternoon, Confucius, Yan Hui, Zeng Jiu, Zi Gong, Zi Lu and several followers came to the cemetery where Confucius' parents were buried together in Fangshan. Kneel down. "Teacher, there is something that the student doesn't understand." Zilu asked. Confucius said, "Please speak." "Teacher respects mother so much, why do you still say that only girls and villains are difficult to raise?" Confucius smiled and turned to look at Yan Hui to see how he understood. Yan Hui was sweeping the sacrifices for Confucius' parents, and at the same time he thought of his mother who had passed away. He had already burst into tears; seeing the teacher looking at him, he knew that the teacher wanted to listen to his opinion, so he said: "The woman the teacher refers to is a bad woman, how can it be compared with a great mother!" Confucius nodded and said: "The women I am referring to are women who are as bad as villains, not ordinary women. In fact, many women are very noble. My mother Yan Zhengzai and Yan Hui's mother belong to the A great woman, without the hard work of her mother, how could we be where we are today.” Zigong and Yulu both said at the same time: "The teacher is right, we all respect our mother." Confucius said: "That's why we should practice filial piety."