Die from sorrow and happiness is a famous saying from Mencius. The original text is this:

“When heaven is about to give a great responsibility to a man, he must first strain his mind, strain his muscles and bones, starve his skin, deplete his body, and disturb his actions, so he is tempted to endure it. Nature was once beneficial to what it could not do...and then it was known that one was born in sorrow and died in happiness." ("Mencius Gaozi")

This means that if a person wants to achieve great things, he must go through a lot. The training of hardships and hardships. Only by experiencing hardships, going through ups and downs, and seeing the world, can we temper our will, grow our talents, and take on big responsibilities. If you grow up in a greenhouse and live comfortably, you will not be able to develop the ability to overcome difficulties and get rid of adversity. You will be helpless in the face of difficulties. When you encounter setbacks and adversity, you will become depressed and despairing, which often leads to death. So he came to the conclusion: "Be born in sorrow and die in happiness."

Zhang Zai, a Confucian of the Song Dynasty, also said in his famous article "Xi Ming":

"Wealth and good fortune will support my life; poverty, lowliness, sorrow, and mediocrity will help you succeed." Yes. ”

Wealth and happiness can make us live a better life. This is common sense and is also what people pursue. Poverty, lowliness, and sorrow are things that people do not want to accept. But Zhang Zai said that poverty, lowliness, sorrow, and "mediocre people can help you succeed." It is an opportunity to help you succeed. People all hope for smooth sailing and everything goes as they wish, but Mencius said, "Be born in sorrow and die in happiness." People do not want to be poor and lowly, but Zhang Zai said, "This is to help you succeed." The two ideas are consistent, contain profound philosophy, and embody the Chinese people's wisdom in life. It tells us a truth: life is not a broad road. We will always encounter various difficulties and twists. We must continue to experience failures and setbacks and constantly overcome difficulties to move forward. It is this kind of wisdom in life that guides people to regard difficulties and adversity as the driving force to motivate themselves to forge ahead, to consciously temper themselves in difficulties and adversity, to become more and more frustrated, to strive for victory unyieldingly, and to cultivate the Chinese nation to be fearless of hardships and dangers. , the spirit of constant self-improvement. A Chinese history is permeated with this spirit. Although Sima Qian suffered the humiliation of castration, he worked hard to write and completed the immortal masterpiece "Historical Records". In his letter "Report to Ren An" to his friend Ren An, he listed many examples of sages who rose up in adversity, such as King Wen of Zhou who was detained and deduced the "Book of Changes"; Confucius was in trouble and wrote "Spring and Autumn"; Qu Yuan was imprisoned. After being exiled, he wrote "Li Sao"; Zuo Qiuming was blind and wrote "Guoyu"; Sun Tzu was tortured and revised "The Art of War", etc. He said that all of these are the achievements of the forefathers who worked hard in adversity. Sima Qian used this to inspire himself, inherit this spirit, and complete the great cause of writing "Historical Records".

Today our country is in a period of stable development. Most of the young people of this generation are only children and are cared for and cared for by their families and society. The peaceful growth environment makes most of them generally have the weakness of poor adaptability to setbacks and difficulties. Some even commit crimes or even commit suicide because of some minor setbacks. In view of this situation, it is of special significance to keep in mind the truth that one is born in sorrow and dies in happiness, and to promote the spirit of conscious tempering; only by consciously enduring hardships and hardships can we shoulder the important task of welcoming the great national rejuvenation.