Not knowing how high the sky is

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 former kings, you don’t know how great knowledge is. ("Encouraging Learning")

Appreciation There is a fable of "looking at the ocean and sighing" in "Zhuangzi Autumn Water": He Bo, the god of the Yellow River, saw that all the rivers merged into himself, and the Jing River was huge, and there was no way between the two banks. They differentiated the scenery from each other, so they happily thought that all the beautiful scenery in the world was here. They went eastward along the river, and when they reached the North Sea, they looked at the sky and could not see the water end. Only then did they realize that they were really like a frog at the bottom of a well. They had not seen the great road, and they sighed. If the God of the North Sea said that it "can be compared with Dali". It means that you can talk to He Bo about the great road. The allegorical purpose of this paragraph of "Looking at the ocean and sighing" is very similar to Xunzi's theory of "I don't know how high the sky is." However, Zhuangzi pays more attention to the philosophy of the unity of nature and man, while Xunzi is sincere and sincere and teaches earnestly, which shows that the knowledge of the ancient sages is vast and endless. If the general public does not listen to and imitate the last words of the late kings, they will never be able to realize the gap between themselves and the gentlemen and saints, will not pursue progress and improve their self-cultivation, and will naturally never be able to obtain true wisdom and great virtue. Yan Hui praised Confucius for "looking up makes him taller, and drilling down makes him stronger" ("The Analects of Confucius·Zihan"). This is the sigh that can only be expressed when moral cultivation has reached a certain level. We often say that "the ignorant are fearless", and in a certain sense it is related to this - if the knowledge possessed by a person is regarded as a circle, and the inside of the circle is its known, the amount of knowledge is determined by the size of the circle, and Outside the circle is its unknown world. The more knowledge a person has, the more he will understand. The more unknowns he has, the more he knows, and the sense of awe is born from this. If a person does not know anything, he will know nothing. Awe and do everything, Xunzi said, "If you don't hear the last words of the previous kings, you don't know the greatness of knowledge." Perhaps it was also meant by those little people who are fearless, ignorant, ignorant, and fond of "talking clearly." In view of Xunzi's words, we should pursue learning and knowledge with awe of the unknown. Even if we do not seek to reach the realm of Confucian gentlemen and saints who establish virtues and educate the world, we should also seek to eliminate worries and doubts on the road of life, and to Traveling far away with a more humble and sincere attitude.