From Guan Zhong.

Source: From the Spring and Autumn Period to the Qin and Han Dynasties, Guan Zhong's "Guanzi Quanxiu No. 3"

Original text:

One year's plan is better than a tree valley; ten years The best plan for life is to cultivate trees; the best plan for life is to cultivate people. A tree that harvests one harvest is a grain; a tree that harvests ten harvests is a tree; a tree that harvests a hundred harvests is a human being. The kindness of inserting willows will be unforgettable for a lifetime.

Vernacular translation:

There is nothing better than planting crops when planning for one year; there is nothing like planting trees when planning for ten years; Make) a lifelong plan, nothing compares to cultivating and selecting talents. What can be cultivated and harvested twice is a crop; what is cultivated and harvested ten times is a tree; what is cultivated and harvested a hundred times (green is better than blue) is talent. Small favors given by others should be remembered throughout life and repaid. Extended information

Writing background:

"Guanzi" is a compilation of the opinions of various schools of thought in the pre-Qin period. The content is very extensive and was written approximately from the Warring States Period (475 BC to 221 BC) to the Qin and Han Dynasties. , the content is very complex, including the views of Legalists, Confucians, Taoists, Yin-Yangists, famous strategists, military strategists and farmers. The thoughts in the book "Guanzi" are the great scriptures and methods used by Chinese politicians in the pre-Qin period to govern the country and bring peace to the world. "Guanzi" is basically a collection of works by Jixia Taoists who respected Guan Zhong. That is, the Guanzi school of thought was based on this. "Hanshu·Yiwenzhi" lists it in the Taoist category of Zibu, and "Suishu·Jingjizhi" lists it in the Legalist category. "Sikuquanshu" lists it in the Legalist category of Zibu.

Qing Dynasty historian Zhang Xuecheng said: "Guanzi" is also a Taoist statement. According to statistics from Chinese and Japanese scholars, almost every chapter of "Guanzi" contains language fragments and philosophical thoughts from "Laozi". The content is extensive and profound. It was written roughly from the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period (475 BC to 221 BC) to the Qin and Han Dynasties. There are 86 chapters in the early Han Dynasty. 76 chapters exist in the current version, and the remaining 10 chapters only exist in the table of contents. It includes the views of Confucianism, Legalism, Yin-Yang School, famous scholars, military strategists and peasants. Among them, Huang Lao Taoism has the most works, followed by Legalism with 18 works, and other schools are mixed. The Legalism thought is Legalism under the influence of Taoism. thinking.

"Guanzi", this book is listed in the Taoist category in "Hanshu·Yiwenzhi", while "Suishu·Jingjizhi" changes it to the Legalist category. In fact, the more you look deeper, the more you feel that the barriers between the various factions in the early Han Dynasty were not so strict. This is really different from the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. For example, when Jia Yi, a young scholar at that time, talked about the Confucian etiquette thought of "disregarding superiority and inferiority", he bizarrely quoted the words of "Guanzi" and said: "Guanzi said: 'Etiquette, justice, integrity and shame are the four dimensions; the four dimensions are not spread out. , the country will be destroyed. '" - If this sentence were placed in "The Analects" or "Mencius", it would not be eye-catching at all.

The book "Guanzi" is mainly based on Huang Lao Taoism, which not only puts forward specific plans for governing the country by law, but also attaches great importance to the basic role of moral education; it not only emphasizes the political system with the monarch as the core, but also advocates people-oriented and promotes The balanced development of agriculture, industry and commerce; it not only has a majestic and hegemonic strategy, but also adheres to the royal ideal of justice; it not only avoids the tendency of Jin Legalism to ignore the moral heart, but also supplements the Confucian lack of practical political experience. It has an indispensable role in the history of thought. obliterate the important position.