Excerpt from The Book of Rites by Ceng Zi at the end of the Spring and Autumn Period, the original excerpt:
If the ancient desire is obviously superior to the world, govern the country first. If you want to govern your country, you should unite your family first. If you want to keep your family together, you should trim your body first. If you want to cultivate yourself, you should be upright first. If you want to be right, be sincere first. If you want to be sincere, let him know first. Knowledge exists in things. Everyone knows everything, everyone knows it and is sincere, sincere and upright, upright and upright, well-trained and well-groomed, well-groomed and well-governed, well-groomed and well-governed.
Translation:
In ancient times, if people want to carry forward noble virtues in the world, they must first govern their own country; If you want to govern your country, you must first adjust your home; If you want to adjust your family, you must cultivate yourself first; If you want to cultivate yourself, you must first correct your own heart; If you want to correct your heart, you must first make your heart sincere.
People who want to turn their ideas into reality must first acquire knowledge; The way to acquire knowledge is to explore things. Only after exploring things can we get a correct understanding, know the truth, revise our thoughts, cultivate our moral quality, adjust our family, govern our country and make the world peaceful after our thoughts are sincere.
Extended data
General idea:
"University" focuses on the important relationship between improving personal cultivation, cultivating good moral quality and governing the country and leveling the world. The theme of the eight items is "discipline, knowledge, honesty, honesty, self-cultivation, keeping the family in order, governing the country and leveling the world".
The outlook on life put forward by the university is inextricably linked with Confucianism, which is basically a further expansion of the Confucian outlook on life. This outlook on life requires paying attention to personal cultivation and embracing positive goals. This kind of cultivation and requirement is mainly based on Confucian morality.
Appreciate:
"University" puts forward that those who want to surpass the world must go through eight links (that is, Zhu's "eight items" of university): discipline, knowledge, honesty, honesty, self-cultivation, keeping the family in order, governing the country and leveling the world.
Among them, above self-cultivation, "respecting things, knowing and doing, being honest" focuses on the cultivation of mind; Following self-cultivation, "managing the family, governing the country and calming the world" is a gentleman's code of conduct and political code.
"University" arranges the eight items in order, mainly not specifying the time sequence of implementation, but determining the relationship between the eight items.
It pointed out that only by managing the family and fiefs in an orderly way can we gain experience and be qualified to govern the country; To govern families and fiefs, we must first set an example and cultivate our morality; To cultivate one's morality and cultivate one's nature, we must correct our thinking, not just make superficial remarks and abide by external codes of conduct.
Correct thoughts should be sincere and pure in mind, and all kinds of selfish distractions should be excluded; To be honest, we must learn knowledge and improve our understanding so as not to fall into ignorance and paranoia, thus avoiding blindness; To master knowledge and improve cognitive ability, we must study things to prevent being misled by others' words.
It shows that "Great Learning" comprehensively shows the main aspects related to mingde and governing the country, profoundly reveals the relationship between them, and makes Confucianism a coherent ideological system.
Moreover, The University first put forward the concept of "knowing things" and listed it as the basic category of Confucian ethics, politics and philosophy, thus giving cognitive activities great significance to the spiritual and psychological process of self-cultivation and the practical activities of governing the country and the world. This is a major development of Confucianism.
About the author:
(505 BC-435 BC) was born in Nanwucheng, Shandong Province at the end of the Spring and Autumn Period. He is a famous thinker in China and one of the late disciples of Confucius. He studied under his father Ceng Dian and was an important representative of Confucianism. Later generations revered him as "Zongsheng" and called him "Four Saints" with Confucius, Mencius and Yanzi.
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