"Wealth cannot be lascivious, poverty cannot be moved, power cannot be subdued"

Wu Han said in "Chinese People Have Backbone": "Mencius in the Warring States Period had some very interesting sentences. Good words: 'You can't be licentious with wealth, you can't be moved by poverty, and you can't bend with force. This is called a real man.' It means that you can't be bribed by high officials and generous salaries, you can't be tortured by poverty and hardship, and you can't be threatened by violence and force. This is the so-called real man."

Is Wu Han’s explanation of Mencius’s statement that “wealthy and noble cannot be lascivious, poor and lowly cannot be moved, and powerful and powerful cannot bend, this is called a true man.”

Let’s look at Mencius’ original text first:

Jingchun said: "Gongsun Yan and Zhang Yi, aren't they honest and virtuous men? When they are angry, the princes are afraid, and when they live in peace, the world is destroyed."

Mencius said: "How can you be a virtuous man?" Haven't you learned the etiquette? The husband's crown is ordered by his father; the woman's marriage is ordered by her mother. When you go to the door to see her off, she warns you: "When you go to your daughter's house, you must respect her and obey her, and you will not disobey your master." Be obedient. To be upright is the way of a concubine. To live widely in the world, to establish the right position in the world, to follow the great road of the world; to follow the will of the people, and to follow the road alone if not to have the will; to be rich and noble cannot be lascivious, to be poor and lowly cannot be moved, and to be powerful cannot be subdued. , this is called a real man." ("Mencius Tengwengong II")

This paragraph of Mencius defines "a real man". Jingchun asked Mencius whether Xiang Gongsun Yan and Zhang Yi were considered "real men". Mencius's answer was negative, and then he defined "a real man". Mencius based it on "propriety" (living in the world, establishing the right position in the world, and walking the right path in the world). Then he pointed out the specific manifestations of "a real man" (Achieving ambition and the people should follow it, and failing to pursue one's own way; wealth cannot be licentious, poverty cannot be moved, power cannot bend). "To achieve ambition" and "to fail to achieve ambition" should be "when one achieves ambition" and "when one fails to achieve ambition", which all refer to one's situation. The behavioral expressions under what conditions are active; "rich", "poor" and "mighty" should also be proactive, so the words "rich", "poor" and "mighty" should refer to what conditions one is in. Behavior, "how you should be when you are rich; what you should be like when you are poor; how you should be when you are powerful."

What Mencius said about being a true man is within the scope of "propriety" and comes from the heart. It is what I am like under the conditions, not the conditions given to me by the outside world. Wu Han's explanation of "I cannot be promiscuous with wealth, I cannot move with poverty, I cannot bend with force, this is called a man" is a misunderstanding between active and passive.< /p>

Therefore, I think that "wealth cannot be licentious, poverty cannot be moved, power cannot be bent, this is called a true man" should be interpreted as "when you are rich, you can restrain yourself from squandering; when you are poor, do not change your will; when you are poor, you should not change your will; When you are powerful, you cannot do wrong things, this is the true man."

Attachment:

In "Cihai"

"Yin" ①immersion.② Jiuyu. ③Excessive; uncontrolled. ④Evil ⑤Confusion. Here I choose the meaning of "excessive; uncontrolled" for "sexuality".

"Move" ①Move, move ②Change; shake ③Old official documents A kind of government office that does not belong to each other ④To give with "Shi". Here I choose "change" meaning of "shift".

"Bend" ①Bend: such as: a handful of people.② Yield. Such as steadfastness and unyielding. ③Likui. Such as Li Quciqiong. ④Government. ⑤The name of an ancient city. I chose the meaning of "Likui" for "Qu" here.

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