Confucius once said that children cannot be taught. Although this sentence is written in classical Chinese on the surface, it is actually a way of lamenting the misfortune and anger of Confucius for his disciples who did not live up to expectations. He believed that his disciples had not reached his ideal state, or that he believed that his disciples had not achieved their ideal state. They don't try hard enough.

It can be simply translated, that is, you people are really not able to truly teach. This is an official translation. It basically means that Confucius was expressing his bad emotions. The historical background of the master is what Confucius said to his disciples when he was traveling around the country, because Confucius's disciples There are many, many types. There are those who are very slow but diligent and eager to learn. There are also those who are very smart but lazy. There are also common people, and there are also princes and nobles. It can be said that the ingredients are very complex, so naturally there will be some problems that cannot be smoothed out when teaching. to communicate, so Confucius had this sentence passed down.

Now people have made simple changes, and "Teachable Boy" has become a complimentary speech. It means that you are smart enough to accept my teachings, but what Confucius actually meant is that a child cannot be taught is the same as today's mud cannot hold up a wall, and rotten seedlings cannot climb a house. In fact, the meaning is similar, but in that way In this era, as a literati Confucius, he had been reading and studying all his life. He could not say anything that really made people angry. He could only express his dissatisfaction through such words.

Many descendants of Confucius became an important group in the Warring States Period in Chinese history. The most famous one is headed by Mencius. In most cases, Mencius inherited Confucius' thoughts and then made some of his own innovations. Therefore, Confucius and Mencius are called the two sages of Confucianism, which shows their influence on the history of later dynasties. As a result, Confucianism later became the ideological foundation of many dynasties that ruled countries. Although changes were made to a certain extent, such as softening Legalism, softening Taoism, and softening the corresponding thoughts of Buddhism, the most basic root is still Confucianism.