Translation: What others can do once, I use a hundred times the effort; what others can do ten times, I use a thousand times the effort. If you can do this, even stupid people will become smart, even weak people will become strong.
From "The Doctrine of the Mean" written by Zisi during the Warring States Period, excerpted from the original text:
Ai Gong asked about politics. Confucius said: "The government of civil and military affairs is based on the policy. If the person survives, the government will be carried out; if the person dies, the government will cease. Humanity is sensitive to government, and the ground is sensitive to trees. The husband's government is also Pulu. Therefore, it is government. When it comes to human beings, one should cultivate one's character and practice benevolence. The most important thing is to be close to one's relatives; the most important thing is to respect the virtuous. /p>
If you are in a lower position, you will not be able to control the people above you. Therefore, a gentleman cannot fail to cultivate his moral character; if he wants to cultivate his moral character, he must not neglect his relatives; if he thinks of his relatives, he must not ignore others; if he wants to know others, he cannot neglect them. I don’t know Heaven. There are five ways to achieve perfection in the world, so there are three ways to do it: kings and ministers, fathers and sons, couples, brothers, and friendships. The five ways to achieve perfection in the world are knowledge, benevolence, and courage. The best thing in the world is to practice it.
You may know it when you are born, you may know it when you learn it, you may know it when you are stuck, you may do it safely, or you may benefit from it. And doing it, or doing it reluctantly, and its success are the same. "Confucius said: "To learn is close to knowledge, to practice is close to benevolence, to know shame is close to courage. If you know how to govern people, you will know how to govern the world.
There are nine scriptures for governing the world, which say: To cultivate one's character is to respect the virtuous, to be close to one's relatives, and to be respectful to ministers. He is the body of ministers. He is the son of the common people, he is the one who comes to work, he is gentle to those who are far away, and he cherishes the nobles. If he cultivates himself, he will be righteous, and if he respects the virtuous, he will not be confused. If he is close to his father, his brothers will not be resentful. If he respects his ministers, he will not be dazzled. The ministers will pay tribute to the scholars, the common people will encourage the people, the wealth will be sufficient if they come to work, the people from far away will return from all directions, and the princes will be feared by the world.
It is not polite to dress in a prosperous manner. Don't move. That's why you should cultivate your character; let go of the slanderous and cheap people, and value virtue, so you should encourage the virtuous; respect their position, respect their salary, and share their likes and dislikes, so you should encourage relatives; be in high official positions, so you should encourage ministers; Loyalty and trustworthiness value salary, so we encourage scholars; when the time is short and modest, we encourage common people; when the sun and the moon test, and when we are on the job, we encourage hundreds of workers; when we send people to welcome people, we praise kindness but cannot be cautious, so we treat people who are far away from us. ; Following the end of the world, the country will be abolished, chaos will be controlled, and dangers will be eliminated. . Everything will be established if he hesitates, and if he does not hesitate, he will not be troubled. If he decides beforehand, he will not feel guilty.
If you don’t trust your friends, you won’t get it. Being dishonest means not being obedient to one's relatives; sincerity is the way of the body, but it does not mean that it is good, and being dishonest is the way of the body. Being sincere is the way of heaven; being sincere is the way of human beings. The one who is sincere is the one who chooses the good but is stubborn. He learns it carefully, thinks about it carefully, discerns it clearly, and practices it diligently. If there is no ability, then there is no way; if there is no question, if you ask, you don’t know, then there is no way; if there is no thinking, if you think about it, you can’t get it, then there is no way; if there is no discernment, if you don’t know clearly, then there is no way; if there is no ability, there is no way , if you practice it diligently, you will be wise. If you are capable of one thing, you will be wise. If you are capable of ten things, you will be wise."
Translation:
Duke Ai of Lu asked Confucius how to manage political affairs well. Confucius said: "The decrees of King Wen and King Wu are all written on wooden boards and bamboo slips. If there are wise ministers like them, the decrees will be implemented. Without wise ministers, the decrees will disappear. If the government is based on people, the politics will be clear and clear quickly. , This is like planting trees with fertile soil, and the trees will grow quickly.
So, governing political affairs depends on the virtuous ministers, and the acquisition of virtuous ministers depends on the moral cultivation of the wise king. , The cultivation of virtue depends on following the Tao of the world, and following the Tao of the world depends on the heart of benevolence. The so-called benevolence is the greatest benevolence, and the so-called righteousness is the greatest righteousness when loving relatives. The distinction between closeness and distance, and the hierarchy of respect for worthy ministers, are derived from the ritual system.
If those in lower positions cannot be trusted by their superiors, it is impossible for the people to govern well. A gentleman must cultivate his virtue and cultivate his nature. If he wants to cultivate his virtue and cultivate his nature, he must serve his relatives. If he wants to serve his relatives, he must not know how to use the virtuous and make good use of them. If he wants to know the virtuous and make good use of them, he must know the five great ways of heaven and practice them. There are three kinds of virtues: the relationship between kings and ministers, fathers and sons, couples, brothers, and friends.
Wisdom, benevolence, and bravery are the great virtues of the world. It's the same. Some people are born knowing the way, some people learn it through study, and some people understand it after experiencing confusion. It's the same thing that they finally know the way. Some people practice the Dao based on self-interest, and some people practice it reluctantly, but it is the same when they finally succeed."
Confucius also said: "Love to learn is close to wisdom, and trying your best to practice is the same. If you are close to benevolence, if you know shame, you are close to bravery. If you know these three points, you will know how to cultivate virtue; if you know how to cultivate virtue, you will know how to govern people; if you know how to govern people, you will know how to govern a country.
There are generally nine principles for governing the world, namely, cultivating virtues, respecting wise men, loving relatives, respecting ministers, caring for ministers, loving the people as sons, recruiting all kinds of craftsmen, giving preferential treatment to remote foreigners, and appeasing the princes from all directions. . If you cultivate your virtues, the Great Way can be carried out smoothly. Respect wise people and you will not be deceived. If you love your relatives, your father, brothers, and brothers will not complain. If you respect your ministers, you will not be in a trance when doing things.
Those who are considerate of their ministers will repay them with great courtesy. If you love your people like your own children, they will work hard. Recruit all kinds of craftsmen, and the wealth will be sufficient. Treat remote foreigners favorably, and the four sides will become submissive. Appease the princes, and the whole world will be in awe. To be pure in heart and have few desires, to dress modestly and not to do anything rude is the way to cultivate virtue; to abandon slander, stay away from beauty, to despise wealth and value virtue, is the way to encourage virtuous people.
Respecting the status of relatives, giving them generous salaries, and sharing the same love and hatred with relatives is the way to love relatives as much as possible. Setting up more officials for ministers to appoint is encouragement. The minister's method is to treat each other with loyalty and faithfulness, and to pay the most attention to salary. This is the method to encourage scholars; to use servants according to the seasons and to pay small taxes is to encourage the people. They visit every day, inspect every month, and give them food and food. Their work is commensurate, which is how craftsmen are encouraged.
Welcome them warmly, send them warm gifts, reward the talented, and sympathize with those who lack talent. This is the way to treat remote foreigners preferentially. Continuing the interrupted family lineage, reviving a declining country, rectifying chaos, rescuing people from danger, regularly attending court, giving generous gifts and paying meager tribute, these are ways to appease the princes. Although there are these nine principles for governing the world, the principles for implementing them are the same.
Everything will succeed if there is premeditation, and failure will occur if there is no premeditation. If you think things through beforehand, you won't be stuck for words. If you think things through beforehand, you won't have difficulty. If you think about it before you act, you won't feel uneasy. If you think about the rules in advance, you won't fall into a desperate situation. If those in lower positions cannot be trusted by their superiors, the people will not be able to govern well. There are ways to gain the trust of your superiors. If you don't get the trust of your friends, you won't get the trust of your superiors.
There is a way to gain the trust of friends. If you do not obey your parents, you will not gain the trust of your friends. There is a way to obey your parents. If you are not sincere, you cannot obey your parents. There is a way to be sincere. If you don't know goodness, you can't be sincere. Honesty is the law of God. It is the law of man to be honest. Honesty can be achieved without effort, can be obtained without thinking, and can achieve the laws of heaven calmly and leisurely. This is a saint.
To be honest is to choose goodness and stick to it. We must study extensively, inquire carefully, think carefully, distinguish clearly, and practice faithfully. Either don't learn, or don't stop if you don't learn. Either don't ask, or don't stop if you don't understand after asking. Either you don’t think about it, or you don’t stop thinking when you don’t understand. Either you don’t discern it, or you don’t stop discerning it.
Either you will not implement it, or you will not stop it if you implement it but it is not faithful enough. What others can do once, I use a hundred times the effort; what others can do ten times, I use a thousand times the effort. If you can do this, even stupid people will become smart, even weak people will become strong. "
Extended information
Creative background
"The Doctrine of the Mean" comes from the "Book of Rites" and was originally the 30th chapter in the forty-nine chapters of the "Book of Rites" One article. "Book of Rites" was originally called "Book of Rites of Xiaodai", also known as "Book of Rites of Xiaodai". It was compiled by Dai Sheng, a man of Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty, based on a group of anonymous Confucian works left over from history.
Before the Song Dynasty, scholars all believed that "The Doctrine of the Mean" was written by Zisi during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. Sima Qian's "Historical Records: Confucius' Family" said: "Zisi wrote "The Doctrine of the Mean". "Li Ao's "Li Wengong Ji·Fu Xing Shu": "Zisi wrote forty-seven chapters of "The Doctrine of the Mean" and passed it on to Meng Ke. "Zhu Xi's "Preface to the Doctrine of the Mean": "What is the Doctrine of the Mean? Zisi Zizi was worried about the loss of Taoism and wrote it. "
Since the Song Dynasty, some scholars have argued that "The Doctrine of the Mean" is a miscellany written by Confucians between Zisi and the Qin and Han Dynasties. Ouyang Xiu's "Asking Jinshi Ce": "Question: The books on ritual and music are scattered, and It is derived from the teachings of other Confucian scholars, but "The Doctrine of the Mean" is derived from Zisi. Zisi thought, after a sage, what he preaches should be true, but if his words are different from those of a sage, why? "Ye Shi's "Preface to Xi Xue Ji Yan·Wen Jian 3": "Although the Han people say that "The Doctrine of the Mean" was written by Zi Si, but if we now examine it based on the book, we doubt that it was specifically written by Zi Si. ”
The Qing people believed that "The Doctrine of the Mean" was written by Fei Zisi, especially Cui Shu, who put forward three arguments to prove his point of view in the third volume of his "Zhu Si Kao Xin Lu" . Nowadays, Feng Youlan, Qian Mu, Lao Siguang and others have also argued that "The Doctrine of the Mean" was not written by Zisi.
The above two views are generally believed to be based on "The Doctrine of the Mean". This was done by Zisi and many of his disciples.