Pre-Qin: Mencius and His Disciples

Shun was born in mu, Fu Shuo was born in the middle of the building, and the glue was in fish and salt. Guan Yi I was a scholar, Sun Shuai was in the sea, and a hundred miles was in the city.

Therefore, if the sky is going to fall on the Sri Lankan people, they must first suffer from ideological suffering, physical suffering, physical hunger, physical emptiness and chaos in action. Therefore, their persistence has benefited them a lot. (I am a man: I am a man)

People are unchangeable, and then they can change; Trapped in the heart, balanced in consideration, and then made; Color label, sound hair, and then metaphor. A country, if there are no ministers and wise men who can assist the king, will often be in danger of the collapse of its neighboring countries and the misfortunes from abroad.

Then I know that I was born in sorrow and died in happiness.

Second, translation.

Shun came from farming in the fields, from the work of building walls, from selling fish and salt, Guan Yiwu was rescued from prison officials and appointed, Sun Shuai came from a secluded place by the sea, and Prissy was redeemed from the slave market and used.

Therefore, if God wants to put the heavy responsibility on a person, he must first make his mind fidgety, his bones and muscles tired, his body hungry, his body empty and weak, and his every move is unsatisfactory. Only in this way can he inspire his mind, make his temperament patient and increase his abilities that he does not have.

A person often makes mistakes before he can correct them; When the heart is hard, the mind is blocked. Then you can work hard; Other people's anger is shown on their faces, resentment is spit in their words, and then you will know. A country is often in danger of collapse if it has no ministers who stick to the laws and sages who can assist the king at home, and no comparable neighboring countries and disasters from foreign countries abroad.

In this way, we know that sadness and injury are enough to make people live, and comfort and enjoyment are enough to make people perish.

Extended data

Born in sorrow, died in happiness (Mencius' prose)

Born in sorrow and died in happiness, it is selected from Mencius' Gao Zi Xia, which is a well-argued, eloquent and powerful reasoning prose. Firstly, the author lists six examples of people who were tempered by poverty and setbacks and finally took on great responsibilities, which proves that hardship can motivate people to work hard and achieve new achievements. Then, the author further demonstrates the truth that sorrow is greater than heart death from two different angles: the development of a person and the rise and fall of a country.

Finally, let nature take its course and come to the conclusion that "born in sorrow, died in happiness". The full text adopts the way of enumerating historical cases and reasoning, and deduces them layer by layer, making the article compact and meticulous. In addition, the article uses parallelism and antithesis, even if the tone is patchy, it also creates an unstoppable momentum and effectively enhances the persuasiveness of the argument.

Brief introduction of the author

Mencius (372 BC-289 BC), named Ke, was born in Zouguo (now Zoucheng, Shandong Province) in the middle of the Warring States Period, and was the most important Confucian thinker after Confucius. Mencius once traveled around the world to preach his thoughts of "benevolent government" and "kingly way", but because the vassal States were busy with war and annexation at that time, his views were regarded as "pedantic" and almost no one adopted them. In his later years, Mencius returned to Zou State and co-wrote a book with his disciples, making 7 pieces of Mencius, with a total of 269 chapters. The language of Mencius is clear and fluent, full of emotion, magnificent and inspiring.