"Confucius' Family Sayings" 17 Interpretation of Ai Gong's Questions about Government Poems 1 Principles of Human Relations

Inscribed poem:

The civil and military kings' politics are laid out in the policies and the policies of people. If people die, government will cease.

The way of heaven is quick to grow, the way of humanity is quick to government, and the way of earth is quick to grow trees. The ultimate way is righteousness.

When it comes to righteousness, government will be as good as Pulu. When it is transformed, government will be there. To win people,

Take people with your body and cultivate the Tao with benevolence. To be most benevolent to others, it is great to be close to relatives;

To be most righteous and appropriate, to respect the virtuous is great. To kill relatives is to respect them. The virtuous, etc.,

Etiquette is born, and etiquette is the foundation of government. A gentleman has true feelings, and his feelings are in harmony with human relations.

He cultivates his morality in personal affairs, and has compassion for others. The principle of human relations is that there is affection and friendship.

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There are five great ways: justice between king and minister, kinship between father and son, distinction between husband and wife,

Order among brothers, trust among friends. The world is virtuous, wise, benevolent and brave:

< p> Love to learn and be near wisdom, practice hard and be benevolent, know shame and be brave. The most moral and moral,

The most virtuous and affectionate, the most affectionate and sincere, the most sincere and single-minded, and the same emotion.

< p> You may know from birth, you may know by learning, you may know when you are trapped, and you may know and love;

You may act with peace of mind, or you may act for fame and fortune, or you may do it reluctantly, and you may act with sincerity.

To know the best, to practice the best, to be the most refined and sincere, to cultivate oneself and govern others, to govern the world.

Text:

? Duke Ai asked Confucius about politics.

Confucius said: "The government of civil and military affairs is based on the policy. When people exist, their government will be carried out, and when their people die, their government will cease. The way of heaven is sensitive to life, the way of humanity is sensitive to government, the way of earth is sensitive to trees, and those who govern are husbands. , Just like Pulu, it needs to be transformed, so government depends on winning people, taking people as one's body, and cultivating people with benevolence. For people, it is great to be close to each other; for those who are righteous, it is great to respect the virtuous and close to others. Killing, respecting the virtuous, etc., is why etiquette is born. Proper etiquette is the foundation of government, so a gentleman must not neglect his moral character. If he wants to cultivate his moral character, he must not neglect his relatives. I don’t know the world. There are five ways to achieve success in the world. There are three ways to do it. They are kings and ministers, fathers and sons, couples, brothers, and friends. The five ways to achieve success in the world are wisdom, benevolence, and bravery. Virtue. Therefore, one may know it from birth, or one may know it from learning, or one may do it with difficulty. , and its success is the same."

Confucius said: "The words of Zi are very beautiful, but I am not strong enough to achieve them."

Confucius said: " Being eager to learn is close to wisdom, being diligent is close to benevolence, and knowing shame is close to courage. If you know these three, you will know how to cultivate yourself; if you know how to cultivate yourself, you will know how to govern others; if you know how to govern others, you will be able to build a country in the world.

Translation Duke Ai of Lu asked Confucius about the way to govern the country.

Confucius replied: "The strategies for governing the country of King Wen and King Wu of Zhou are recorded in the slips. If there are wise men like King Wen and King Wu alive, their methods and measures for governing the country can be implemented; If not, their measures to govern the country cannot be implemented. The way of heaven is to diligently transform all things, the way of man is to handle political affairs diligently, and the way of earth is to plant things quickly and timely. Therefore, politics is like soil. A bee can take the son of a borer and turn it into his own son as quickly as it can be taught. (About Pulu: Shen Kuo thought that Pulu was pampas grass, that is, reed. Also in Erya, it says, "The beetle wins, Pulu", That is, the thin-waisted wasp is the local wasp. "Poetry" says: "The borer has a son, and the cockroach wins and loses." Pulu takes the son of the mulberry insect as his own son.) (Politics is like Pulu, that is, the pampas grass. Reed is an aquatic plant that grows quickly and is flexible and adaptable. It is used to illustrate the way of governing. A gentleman will succeed quickly if he is assisted by wise ministers.) Therefore, the most important thing in governing a country is to select and obtain talents. It lies in cultivating oneself; cultivating morality must be based on benevolence. Benevolence means having a heart to love others, and loving relatives (parents) is the greatest benevolence; righteousness means doing everything appropriately, and respecting virtuous people is the greatest righteousness (nature). To distinguish between relatives and strangers, and to respect the wise (naturally), there must be hierarchy. This gives rise to etiquette, which is the foundation of politics (ruling a country). Therefore, a gentleman (king) cannot but cultivate his moral character; if he wants to cultivate his moral character, he must (very well). ) Serve your parents; to serve (good) parents, you must not understand people (Tao); to understand people (Tao), you must not understand heaven (Tao). There are five universal roads of human relations that are used to implement these five roads of human relations. There are three kinds of virtues, namely: the way of kings and ministers, the way of father and son, the way of husband and wife, the way of brothers and the way of friends. These five are the most common roads in the world. Wisdom, benevolence and courage are the three ways to realize these human relations. The morals that must be followed are universal morals. The goals of implementing these are the same (the practice of these principles and virtues relies on the word "sincerity" to be implemented throughout). Some people are born with these morals. Some people know it through study, and some people know it after going through hardships. They all know it in the end. It is the same. Some people do it with peace of mind, some do it for fame and fortune, and some people are punished. Even though I had to do it reluctantly, I succeeded in the end. It's the same."

Duke Ai of Lu said: "You said it very well and reached the extreme, but I am really humble and not capable of achieving this. .

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Confucius said: “Love to learn is close to wisdom, hard work (practice) is close to benevolence, and knowledge of shame is close to courage.” If you understand these three points, you will know how to cultivate yourself; if you know how to cultivate yourself, you will know how to govern people; if you know how to govern people, you will be able to accomplish the task of governing a country. "

Notes?

Duke Ai: Duke Ai of Lu, whose surname was Ji and whose given name was Jiang. "Ai" is the posthumous title.?

Bu in Fang Ce: recorded on wooden boards and On the bamboo slip. Fang: Wooden board for writing. ?

Pulu: Old note: "Pulu, the dragonfly is also called the bumblebee." It is the same thing to take a locust and transform it into a son, in order to govern and transform the people. "One theory refers to reeds, which are soft in nature and grow quickly.?

Da Dao: The principle that all people in the world abide by in ancient and modern times.?

trapped: hardship, obstruction.

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