Xunzi's famous aphorisms in "Encouraging Learning"
In "Encouraging Learning", Xunzi believes that learning first requires cultivating moral character, maintaining single-minded quality, and specializing in learning a subject Technology can be achieved quickly (learn quickly), and then perseverance and perseverance are the correct learning directions; start well and end well, and avoid giving up halfway, in order to achieve a complete and pure spiritual realm. The following are famous aphorisms from Xunzi’s Encouraging Learning for reference!
The stream is deep, and one does not know how thick the earth is.
The fluffy hemp grows upright without support; the white sand grows black in Nirvana.
There is no way to learn anymore. Green is derived from blue, and green is from blue; ice is derived from water, and is cold from water.
If you don’t accumulate steps, you can’t reach a thousand miles; if you don’t accumulate small streams, you can’t become a river.
I have been thinking about it all day long, which is not as good as what I have learned in a moment; I have been on my knees and looking at it, but it is not as good as climbing up to gain broad insights.
A gentleman who is knowledgeable and examines himself day by day will know clearly and act without fault.
If you persevere, the rotten wood will not be broken; if you persevere, the gold and stone can be carved.
Words can bring disaster, actions can bring disgrace, a gentleman should be careful about what he does.
A Qi Ji can't take ten steps with one leap, and a horse can ride ten times, but the merit lies in perseverance.
An earthworm has no sharp claws and teeth, nor strong bones and muscles. It eats earth and drinks from the underworld.
The original text of Xunzi's "Encouraging Learning":
Pre-Qin: Xunzi
The gentleman said: Learning is no longer enough.
Green, derived from blue, and green from blue; ice, derived from water, and cold from water. The wood is straight and the rope is in the middle. It is shaped like a wheel and its curve is regular. Although there is violence (pù), those who no longer stand up are those who make it happen. Therefore, if wood is supported by a rope, it will be straight; if metal is sharpened, it will be beneficial; if a gentleman is knowledgeable and examines himself every day, he will know how to act without making mistakes.
Therefore, if you don’t climb a high mountain, you don’t know how high the sky is; if you don’t go to a deep stream, you don’t know how deep the earth is; if you don’t listen to the last words of the past kings, you don’t know how great knowledge is. The sons of Qian, Yue, Yi, and Raccoon were born with the same voice, grew up and had different customs, and they were taught to do so. The poem says: "Sigh, you gentleman, there will be no eternal rest. Jing is in your position, it is good and upright. God listens to you, and you are blessed." God is not greater than the Tao, and blessings are better than the absence of disasters.
I have been thinking about it all day long, which is not as good as what I have learned in a moment; I have been on my knees and looking at it, but it is not as good as climbing up to gain broad insights. When you climb high and make moves, your arms are not lengthened, but the sight is far away; when you call along the wind, the sound is not faster, but the sound is louder. A fake horse can travel thousands of miles without benefiting from its feet; a fake boat can run a thousand miles without benefiting from the water. A gentleman's life is not different, he is good at things and fake things. (Junzi Sheng Tong: Xing)
There is a bird in the south, called the Mongolian dove. It uses its feathers as a nest, braids its hair, and ties them to reeds. When the wind blows, the eggs break and the eggs die. The nest is not endless, but it is tied to it. There is a tree in the west, called Shegan, with a stem four inches long. It grows on a high mountain, near the abyss of hundreds of feet. The fluffy hemp grows upright without support; the white sand grows black in the nirvana. The root of the orchid locust tree is Zhi, and as it gradually becomes damper, gentlemen will not approach it and common people will not accept it. Its quality is not unattractive, but it is so gradually. Therefore, when a gentleman lives, he must choose a hometown, and when traveling, he must choose scholars. Therefore, he must guard against evil and stay close to the right.
The origin of things must have a beginning. When honor and disgrace come, they must be like their virtues. Insects appear in the rotting meat, and beetles appear in the fish. If you neglect yourself and forget yourself, you will cause disaster. Strength takes its own pillars, softness takes its own bundles. Evil and filth are in the body, and resentment is the cause. If the firewood is applied in one layer, the fire will be dry; if the flat ground is in one layer, the water will be wet. Plants and trees grow everywhere, birds and animals flock together, and everything follows its own kind. When the nature is stretched, the bow and arrow reach far; when the trees are lush, the ax reaches far; when the trees form shade, the birds rest. The acid is sour, and the gnats are gathered together. Therefore, words can bring disaster, and actions can bring disgrace, so a gentleman should be careful about where he stands!
When accumulated soil becomes a mountain, wind and rain will rise; when water accumulates, a chasm will appear, and dragons will appear; when good deeds accumulate, virtue will become a god. Self-satisfied, the holy heart is ready. Therefore, if you do not accumulate steps, you cannot reach a thousand miles; if you do not accumulate small streams, you cannot reach a river or sea. A horse can't take ten steps with one leap; a horse can ride ten times, but it's hard to give up.
If you persevere, the rotten wood will not be broken; if you persevere, the metal and stone can be carved. Earthworms don't have sharp claws and teeth, nor strong muscles and bones. They eat earth and drink from the underworld. They have the same intention. A crab with six knees and two pincers is not a snake and eel that has nothing to rely on in its cave, so it means it is impatient.
Therefore, those who have no deep ambitions have no clear understanding; those who have no shameful things have no great achievements. Those who follow the road will not come, and those who serve the two kings will not tolerate it. The eyes cannot see both ways and the ears cannot hear both ways. The tan snake has no legs and can fly, and the mole has no skills. "Poetry" says: "The corpse dove is in the mulberry, and its sons are seven. A gentleman's manners are one. His manners are one, and his heart is like a knot!" Therefore, a gentleman is tied to one.
In the past, when the gourd played the harp, Liuyu came out to listen; when Boya played the harp, the six horses raised their heads. Therefore, no sound is too small to be heard, no action is invisible but not visible. Jade is in the mountains and the grass and trees are moist; pearls grow in the abyss but the cliffs are not withered. Do good deeds without accumulating evil? Is there anyone who doesn’t hear it?
Does learning evil begin or end with evil? He said: The number begins with chanting sutras and ends with reading rituals; the meaning begins with doing A scholar will eventually become a sage. If he accumulates his strength for a long time, he will advance, and if he learns nothing, he will stop. Therefore, learning numbers has an end, and if its meaning cannot be abandoned even for a moment. To do it is a human being; to leave it is a beast. The old book is the discipline of political affairs; the poem is the end of the sound; the ritual is the division of the law and the discipline of the class. Therefore, learning only ends with etiquette. This is what is called the ultimate morality. The respect of etiquette and writing, the harmony of music, the breadth of poetry and calligraphy, and the subtleties of spring and autumn are all in between heaven and earth. The learning of a gentleman enters the ears, sticks to the heart, spreads throughout the four bodies, and takes the form of movement and stillness. To put it simply, creeping and moving can be the law. The learning of a small person enters the ears and exits the mouth; between the mouth and the ears, four inches of ears are enough to beautify a body of seven feet! The ancient scholars were themselves, but today's scholars are others. A gentleman's education is for the sake of beautifying his body; a villain's education is for the purpose of beautifying his body. Therefore, if you don’t ask, you will be told that you are proud; if you ask one question, you will be told that it is embarrassing. Proud, not, 囋, not; a gentleman is like Xiang.
If you don’t learn from others, then you should approach others. The rituals, music, and methods are not mentioned, the poems and books are not specific, and the Spring and Autumn Festival is not fast. If the people learn what a gentleman says, they will respect it and spread it throughout the world. Therefore, it is said: If you don't learn, don't approach others.
The best way to learn the classics is to be a good person, and the second best is Taungri. The person above cannot be kind to him, and the person below cannot be courteous. Ante will learn from miscellaneous knowledge, and just follow the poems and books. Then in the last days and in the poor years, one will inevitably become a crude scholar. The original king was benevolent and righteous, and his meridian and latitude were straightened out. If you pull out the fur collar and pause with five fingers, there will be countless people who obey. If you don't follow the rules of etiquette and use poems and books to do it, it's just like measuring a river with a finger, pounding millet with a spear, or using a conical dining pot. Therefore, if the ritual is not clear, it is a Dharma scholar; if it is not ritual, although it is an investigation and debate, it is a Confucian scholar.
If you ask for help, don’t complain. If you ask for help, don’t ask. If you ask for help, don’t listen. Don't argue with those who are ambitious. Therefore, you must arrive at the path and then pick it up; if it is not the path, avoid it. Therefore, courtesy and respect can then be related to the way of speaking; obedience in speech can be related to the principle of speaking; color can be related to the way of speaking. Therefore, if you can't talk about it, it's called pride; if you can talk about it but don't say it, it's called hiding; if you don't look at your complexion, it's called blindness. Therefore, a gentleman is not arrogant, does not hide himself, and is not blind, but obeys his own rules. The poem says: "The bandit makes peace with the bandit, it is given by the emperor." This is what it means.
Missing one out of a hundred shots is not a good shot; missing a step a thousand miles away is not a good control; being incomprehensible in ethics and benevolence and righteousness is not a good study. Those who study hard must learn one thing firmly. As soon as they come out and enter, they are the people in Tuxiang. There are few good people and many bad people. They are Jie, Zhou and thieves. If they are all eliminated, then they will be scholars.
A gentleman knows that incompleteness and purity are not enough to be beautiful, so he should recite it several times to understand it, think about it to understand it, deal with it for others, and maintain it to eliminate its harm. Make your eyes have no desire to see what is not right, make your ears have no desire to hear anything not right, make your mouth have no desire to speak anything not right, and make your heart have no desire to think about anything not right. When it comes to good things, the five colors are good for the eyes, the five sounds are good for the ears, the five tastes are good for the mouth, and the mind is good for the whole world. Therefore, power cannot be dumped, the masses cannot be moved, and the world cannot be shaken. Life is based on this, death is based on this, this is called moral conduct. Moral ethics can then be determined, and after being determined, one can respond. Being able to calm down and respond is called an adult. The sky sees its brightness, the earth sees its light, and a gentleman values ??all of it. ;