Translation: Zizhang said that when an intellectual sees that the country and society are in difficulty, he has no choice but to come out and take up this responsibility; when he gets any benefits, or when he is rewarded for his merits, he must consider whether What we deserve for our duty? Don't get it casually; when performing sacrifices, you must behave properly, as if you are facing the gods; when facing a funeral, you must have a sad mood. If you achieve these four points, you will be worthy of being an intellectual and a scholar.
Translation: Zizhang said, we obey the truth and admire good people and good deeds when we see them, but when we do it ourselves, we are not so active and cannot exert ourselves. Sometimes I know this is the truth, but when it comes to dealing with things, my personality and temper will ignore the truth. It’s not okay to teach a person like this to be complacent. When he is complacent, he will get carried away and forget himself. You can't let him get frustrated, he will get carried away again. A person must have a central idea, be able to be everywhere and feel at ease.
Translation: When a student of Zixia met his uncle (Zizhang was four years old when Zixia was younger), he asked Zizhang what was the way to make friends? Zi Zhang turned around and asked first, what did your teacher tell you? Zixia's students said, "Our teacher taught us that we should keep friends with those we can make, and keep a distance from those we cannot make." Zi Zhang said, "I'm sorry, what I heard from our teacher Confucius was different from what your teacher taught you."
What I heard from our teacher is that when making friends in society, a person should respect the virtuous. Those who are knowledgeable and moral are worthy of respect, but for those who generally have no morals and knowledge, they should be tolerant. We should encourage those who do good deeds, and sympathize with those who do bad deeds. Assuming that I am a morally cultivated and knowledgeable person, and that I am a gentleman, which one should I not be tolerant of? If I am a bastard, then I don’t have to reject people. If they hate me first, why should I reject others?
Translation: Zixia said that the knowledge in the world of life is divided into more than one category. Although there are many small ways, such as playing chess, writing, composing poems, carving seals, and even playing cards, these are not big knowledge. , It's just a small way, what the ancients called trivial skills, but it's also knowledge. It's not simple, it's all difficult. If you study it in depth, you will achieve something. But why is it a small career? It means that if a person's spiritual thoughts do not set ambitious goals ahead, and only focus on small achievements as if they are a big question, they will be trapped, as if they have fallen into a mud pit and cannot get up. Therefore, a gentleman does not take the narrow path, but rather takes the high road.
Translation: Zi Xia said that a person should reflect on what he lacks every day and make up for it and learn from it. Supplement the knowledge you don't have every day, month after month, and have the perseverance not to throw away or forget what you have learned. Only in this way can you really be said to be eager to learn and have perseverance.
To be continued~