The original text and translation of Zhu Zi's Family Management Motto are as follows:

Get up at dawn, sweep the court, and be neat inside and outside. When you are unconscious, you will rest. If you close the door, you will behave yourself. A porridge and a meal, when thinking is not easy. Half a silk and half a wisp, it is difficult to keep thinking about material resources. It is better to plan ahead for a rainy day than to dig a well when you are thirsty. Self-service must be frugal, and banquet guests must not stay. The utensils are clean and clean, and the tiles are better than gold and jade. Diet is good, garden vegetables are better than delicacies. Don't run a fancy house, don't seek fertile land.

Get up at first light and clean the courtyard, both indoors and outdoors. Go home after dark, don't stay outside. Lock the doors and windows before going to bed at night, and be sure to check them yourself. Whether it's a grain of rice or a mouthful of porridge, it's not easy to get it. Every grain is the result of farmers' hard work. Even if it is half a silk and half a wisp of cloth, we should cherish the difficulty of material resources manufacturing.

Appreciation

The reason why Zhu Zi's Motto of Managing the Family has had such a great influence in China in the past 3 years is that it not only embodies the ideal and pursuit of China people's self-cultivation, but more importantly, it uses a form that is both easy to understand and pays attention to language. Easy to understand is easy to be accepted by the general public, while language is catchy and easy to remember.

Parallel prose refers to the combination of two horses. Parallel prose is an article written as a couplet. Every sentence is opposite to each other, and it pays attention to the balance of words. It is a style that can best show the unique charm of Chinese. It flourished in the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, and there are many masterpieces in later generations. The motto of managing the family is written in parallel prose, and every sentence is antithetical. Family instruction is not a book in the strict sense, but usually hangs in the hall and room to warn family members, especially children.