If you don’t accumulate small steps, you can’t reach a thousand miles. Without accumulating small streams, it is impossible to form a river. ——Xunzi's "Encouraging Learning".

The superficial meaning is that the road of a thousand miles is walked step by step; without the accumulation of small steps, it is impossible to complete the journey of a thousand miles. The extended meaning is that we must be down-to-earth in doing things, step by step, and perseverance in order to achieve the goal in the end.

It is a metaphor for the role of accumulation, which can enrich, enrich and perfect oneself. It can be used to say that the value of learning work lies in continuous accumulation.

Extended information

1. Appreciation

A major feature of the writing of "Encouragement to Learning" is the use of metaphors to explain principles and prove arguments. Except for a few places where the truth is directly explained, the whole text is almost all metaphors. The article uses a large number of common metaphors in life to explain abstract principles clearly, concretely, vividly, and in simple terms, making it easy for readers to accept.

2. Introduction to the author

Xunzi (about 313 BC - 238 BC), whose name was Kuang, was respected as "Qing" by people at that time. In the Western Han Dynasty, he avoided the taboo of Liu Xun, Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty. , also known as Sun Qing, because the two characters "Xun" and "Sun" have the same ancient pronunciation. At the end of the Warring States Period, he was born in the Zhao Guoyi family (now Anze County, Shanxi Province) and was a representative figure of the late Pre-Qin Confucian period.