1. Forgetting sleep and food

When Confucius was old, he began to travel around the world. When he was sixty-four years old, he came to Yeyi (near today's Ye County, Henan Province), the fiefdom of Shen Zhuliang in the Chu State. The Chu State Ling Yin and Sima Shen Zhuliang warmly received Confucius.

Shen Zhuliang was called Ye Gong. He had only heard that Confucius was a famous thinker and politician who taught many outstanding students. He did not know much about Confucius himself, so he asked Confucius's student Zi Lu Find out what Confucius was like.

Although Zilu had followed Confucius for many years, he didn’t know how to answer and remained silent. Later, Confucius knew about this and said to Zilu: "Why don't you answer him: 'Confucius is a man. He studies hard and never gets tired of it. He even forgets to eat. He enjoys teaching and preaching without worrying. Suffering from poverty; constantly striving for self-improvement, even forgetting his age. "What if?"

2. Nao Yingxue

Sun Kang's family is very poor and cannot afford lamp oil. One night in the middle of the night, Sun Kang woke up from his sleep. When he turned his head to the window, he found a ray of light coming through the crack in the window. It turned out that it was the light reflected by the heavy snow. He discovered that he could use it to read a book. So he suddenly lost his tiredness, immediately got dressed, took out his books, and went outside.

The light of snow reflected on the broad land is much brighter than inside the house. Regardless of the cold, Sun Kang immediately started reading. His hands and feet were frozen, so he got up and ran, rubbing his fingers at the same time. From then on, whenever there was snow at night, he never let go of this good opportunity and studied tirelessly. This spirit of hard study promoted his knowledge to advance by leaps and bounds, and he became a well-educated man. Later, he became a censor.

During the Jin Dynasty, Che Yin was eager to learn since he was a child. However, due to his poor family, his father could not provide him with a good learning environment. In order to maintain food and clothing, there was no extra money to buy lamp oil for him to study at night.

For this reason, he could only use his time during the day to recite poems. One night in the summer, he was memorizing an article in the yard when he suddenly saw many fireflies flying in the low sky. The twinkling lights looked a bit dazzling in the darkness. He thought, if many fireflies were gathered together, wouldn't they become a light?

So, he went to find a white silk bag, then grabbed dozens of fireflies and put them in it, then tied the mouth of the bag and hung it up. Although it's not very bright, it can barely be used for reading. From then on, whenever there were fireflies, he would grab one and use it as a lamp. Because he was diligent in learning and inquiring, he eventually achieved success and became a minister of the Ministry of Personnel.

3. Day and night

During the Western Zhou Dynasty, King Wu of Zhou died shortly after destroying the Shang Dynasty. His son, King Ji Song of Zhou Cheng, inherited the throne. He was only 13 years old when he succeeded. All major affairs in the court were controlled by His uncle Ji Dan assisted in the matter. In order to stabilize the political power of the Western Zhou Dynasty, Zhou Gongdan worked day and night, defeated the rebellion of his brother and Wu Geng, the son of King Zhou of Shang, and assisted the government without complaint.

Zhou Gongdan was an outstanding politician in the early Western Zhou Dynasty. He played a big role in the attack on the Yin Shang led by his brother Ji Fa. After taking up the important task of assisting the government, he was loyal to his duties and worked hard to consolidate the rule of the Zhou Dynasty.

After the death of King Wu of Zhou, Duke Cheng of Zhou assisted King Cheng in governing. Some nobles were suspicious of him and spread rumors in front of King Cheng that he had ambitions to usurp the throne. Some brothers even colluded with King Zhou's son Wu Geng to launch an armed rebellion.

In addition, the Yi people in the east also took the opportunity to cause chaos. But Zhou Gong was perseverant and acted in accordance with King Wu's will. He eliminated King Cheng's misunderstanding, defeated Wu Geng's rebellion and the resistance of the Yi people, formulated etiquette and criminal laws, continued to enfeoff the princes, and built Luoyi (now Luoyang, Henan). ), established the eastern capital of Chengzhou.

Due to overwork for the country, Duke Zhou died shortly after the establishment of the Eastern Capital. Before his death, he also earnestly warned the ministers that they must help the emperor manage the affairs of the Central Plains; he would be buried in Chengzhou after his death to show that he would not forget the king's orders even after his death.

Mencius praised him and said: "The Duke of Zhou wanted to learn from the virtues of the founding monarchs of the Xia, Shang, and Zhou Dynasties to govern the Zhou Dynasty well. If there was anything that was not suitable for the situation at that time, he would raise his head. Think about it day and night, and when you come up with a good idea, you sit down and wait for dawn, and then implement it immediately."

4. Work is accomplished by hard work, and failure is accomplished by thinking.< /p>

From "Jinxuejie" by Han Yu of the Tang Dynasty, it means that academics are specialized due to diligence and abandoned due to play; virtues are achieved due to independent thinking and corrupted due to following the customs.

5. The sharp edge of a sword comes from sharpening, and the fragrance of plum blossoms comes from the bitter cold

From Zhu Xi's "Warning to the World - Diligence", which means that the sharp edge of a sword needs to be sharpened. It will appear that the plum blossoms that have survived the cold winter will be more fragrant. It means that if you want to have precious qualities or beautiful talents, you need continuous efforts, practice, and overcoming certain difficulties to achieve it.

Baidu Encyclopedia-Diligence