One incident: A wealthy gentleman in England in the 18th century was walking home late one night when he was stopped by an unkempt and ragged little boy. "Sir, please buy a pack of matches," the little boy said. "I don't buy it." replied the gentleman. As he spoke, the gentleman dodged the boy and continued walking, "Sir, please buy a pack. I haven't eaten anything today," the little boy caught up and said. When the gentleman saw that he couldn't hide from the boy, he said, "But I don't have any change." "Sir, please bring the matches first, and I will change the change for you." After saying that, the boy ran away quickly with a pound given by the gentleman. The gentleman waited for a long time, but the boy still didn't come back. The gentleman went home helplessly.
The next day, the gentleman was working in his office. The servant said that a boy came and asked to see the gentleman. So the boy was called in. This boy was shorter than the match boy and his clothes were more ragged. "Sir, I'm sorry, my brother asked me to bring you some change." "Where is your brother?" the gentleman said. "My brother was hit by a carriage and seriously injured on his way back to you after changing his change. He is lying at home." The gentleman was deeply moved by the little boy's integrity. "Let's go see your brother!" When we went to the boy's home, we found that only the stepmothers of the two boys were greeting the seriously injured boys. When he saw the gentleman, the boy quickly said, "I'm sorry, I didn't send you the change on time. I broke my promise!" But the gentleman was deeply moved by the boy's integrity. When he learned that the biological parents of the two boys were both dead, he decided to take on everything they needed in life.
Story 2: In the German army of the 17th century, there was a prince who treated his subordinates as brothers and was deeply loved by soldiers and officers at all levels. On the way back after a failed attack on a certain country, it was late at night in winter. The severe cold and hunger tortured him and some of his subordinates. In the state of extreme cold and hunger, the prince slowly fell into sleep... In his sleep, the prince dreamed that the sun was exceptionally bright and warm. When he woke up, he found that he was covered with many coats and his life continued. Looking around, he saw that his men had all covered the prince's body with their coats, and they had all frozen to death.
Five stories of integrity
1. The establishment of Yan Shu's credibility
Yan Shu, a poet in the Northern Song Dynasty, is known for his honesty. When he was fourteen years old, someone recommended him to the emperor as a child prodigy. The emperor summoned him and asked him to take the exam at the same time as more than a thousand Jinshi. As a result, Yan Shu discovered that the test was one he had just practiced ten days ago, so he reported the truth to Zhenzong and asked for other questions to be changed. Song Zhenzong admired Yan Shu's honest character very much and gave him "the same background as a Jinshi". When Yan Shu was in office, the world was at peace. As a result, officials of all sizes in the capital often went to the countryside to play or held various banquets in restaurants and teahouses in the city. Yan Shu's family was poor and he had no money to go out to eat, drink and have fun, so he had to read and write articles at home with his brothers. One day, Zhenzong promoted Yan Shu to the East Palace official who assisted the prince in his studies. The ministers were surprised and didn't understand why Zhenzong made such a decision. Zhenzong said: "Recently, the ministers often go out to play and have banquets. Only Yan Shu studies behind closed doors. He is so self-respecting and prudent that he is a suitable candidate for the East Palace official." After thanking Yan Shu, he said: "I am actually a person who likes to play and have banquets. It's just my family. It's just poverty. If I had money, I would have participated in the banquet." These two things established Yan Shu's credibility in front of the officials, and Song Zhenzong also trusted him more.
2． Comparison between Washington, Nixon and Clinton
Washington chopped down one of his father's cherry trees with a hatchet. When my father saw that his beloved tree was cut down, he was very angry and threatened to teach the man who cut down the tree a lesson. Washington admitted his mistake without hesitation in front of his furious father. The father was moved and said that Washington's honesty was much more precious than all the cherry trees. Similarly, US President Richard Nixon was forced to resign after being exposed for lying in the "Watergate Incident"; Clinton also narrowly escaped impeachment because of lying in a disgraceful scandal. One was loved and respected for his honesty, the two were stained in political history for lying.
3． Comparison between Li Muweixin and Fenghuo Opera among the princes
During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, Shang Yang of the Qin State presided over the reform with the support of Qin Xiaogong. At that time, when wars were frequent and people were in panic, in order to establish prestige and promote reforms, Shang Yang ordered a three-foot-long log to be erected outside the south gate of the capital, and made a promise in public: Who can move this log to the north gate? The bounty is ten taels. The onlookers didn't believe that such an easy thing could get such a high reward, so no one was willing to give it a try. So Shang Yang increased the reward to 50 gold. There must be a brave man under the heavy reward, and finally someone stood up and carried the wood to the north gate. Shang Yang immediately rewarded him with fifty gold coins. Shang Yang's move established prestige in the hearts of the people, and Shang Yang's subsequent reforms soon spread in the Qin State. The new law made Qin gradually stronger and stronger, and finally unified China.
In the same place where Shang Yang "erected a tree as a sign of trust", 400 years ago, a ridiculous farce of "playing with princes by beacon fire" took place.
King You of Zhou had a favorite concubine named Bao Si. In order to win her smile, King You of Zhou ordered beacon fires to be lit on more than 20 beacon towers near the capital - beacon fires were a signal to alert the border, and were only used by foreign enemies. Invasion can only be ignited when the princes are summoned to rescue.
As a result, when the princes saw the beacon fire, they hurried over with their soldiers and generals. After understanding that this was the king's trick to win over his wife, they left angrily. Bao Si finally smiled happily when she saw the helpless appearance of the usually dignified princes. Five years later, Youyi Tairong launched a large-scale attack on Zhou Dynasty. King You's war was reignited but the princes did not arrive - no one wanted to be fooled a second time. As a result, King You was forced to commit suicide and Bao Si was captured.
An emperor who "stands tall to gain trust" can make a promise worth a thousand dollars; an emperor who has no faith plays the game of "crying wolf". As a result, the former's reform was successful and the country became strong; the latter brought humiliation to himself and the country perished. It can be seen that "faith" plays a very important role in the rise and fall of a country.
4． "Yu Li" records a story about a man who lost his life due to breach of trust.
A businessman in Jiyang was crossing a river when his boat sank. He grabbed a hemp stalk and shouted for help. A fisherman heard the sound and went there. The businessman hurriedly shouted: "I am the biggest rich man in Jiyang. If you can save me, I will give you 100 taels of gold." After being rescued ashore, the businessman turned his back on him. He only gave the fisherman 10 taels of gold. The fisherman blamed him for not keeping his word and going back on his word. The rich man said, "As a fisherman, you have never made much money in your life. Aren't you satisfied with suddenly getting ten taels of gold?" Ganfu had no choice but to leave in dismay. Unexpectedly, the rich man's boat capsized again. Someone wanted to save him, but Ganfu, who had been deceived by him, said: "He is the one who doesn't keep his words!" So the businessman drowned. It was accidental that the businessman capsized and met the same man twice, but the bad news for the businessman was to be expected. Because if a person does not keep his word, he will lose the trust of others. Therefore, once he is in trouble, no one is willing to come to his rescue. Those who break their trust will have no choice but to sit back and wait for death if they are in trouble.
5. Ji Bu's "a promise of a thousand gold" saved him from disaster.
In the late Qin Dynasty, there was a man named Ji Bu who always kept his word and had a very high reputation. Many people had established a strong friendship with him. There was even a proverb circulating at that time: "It is better to get Jibu Yinuo than to get a hundred catties of gold." (This is the origin of the idiom "A promise of a thousand catties") Later, he offended Liu Bang, the emperor of the Han Dynasty, and was offered a reward for his arrest. As a result, his old friend not only was not deceived by the huge sum of money, but also risked the destruction of the nine tribes to protect him and save him from disaster. A person who is honest and trustworthy will naturally get a lot of help and can gain everyone's respect and friendship. On the other hand, if you are greedy for temporary comfort or small gains and break your trust with your friends, you will get "benefits" on the surface. But for this benefit, he ruined his reputation, and reputation is much more important than material things. Therefore, breaking trust with a friend is like losing a watermelon and picking up sesame seeds. The gain outweighs the loss.
(For the above details, please refer to the "Youth Ideological and Moral Education Reader" Central Literature Publishing House)
6\The Story of Integrity
In the early years, the southern foothills of the Himalayas in Nepal Very few foreigners set foot. Later, many Japanese came here for sightseeing. It is said that this was due to the integrity of a young man.
One day, several Japanese photographers asked a local boy to buy beer for them. The boy ran for more than three hours.
The next day, the boy volunteered to buy beer for them again. This time the photographers gave him a lot of money, but the boy had not come back until the afternoon of the third day. As a result, the photographers talked a lot, thinking that the young man had cheated the money away. On the third night, the boy knocked on the photographer's door. It turned out that he only bought 4 bottles of beer in one place, so he climbed over another mountain and crossed a river to buy another 6 bottles. When he returned, he broke 3 bottles. He cried, holding the broken glass, and handed back the change to the photographer. Everyone present was moved. This story moved many foreigners deeply. Later, more and more tourists came here.
7\The Story of Integrity
In New York's Riverside Park stands the "Civil War Fallen Soldiers Monument", and every year many tourists come to pay homage to the dead. The tomb of General Grant, the 18th president of the United States and commander of the Northern Army during the Civil War, is located in the north of the park. The mausoleum is tall, majestic, solemn and simple. Behind the mausoleum is a large green lawn that stretches to the edge of the park and to the edge of the steep cliff.
Behind General Grant’s mausoleum, closer to the cliff, there is also a child’s mausoleum. It was a very small and ordinary tomb. In any other place, you might ignore its existence. Like most American mausoleums, it has only a small tombstone. On the tombstone and a wooden sign next to it, there is a touching story about integrity:
The story happened in 1797, more than two hundred years ago. This year, when the little owner of this land was only five years old, he accidentally fell from the cliff here and died. His father was so heartbroken that he was buried here and a small mausoleum was built as a memorial. A few years later, the family declined and the old owner had to transfer the land. Out of love for his son, he made a strange request to the future owner of the land. He asked the new owner to regard the child's mausoleum as part of the land and never destroy it. The new owner agreed and wrote this condition into the contract. In this way, the child's tomb was preserved.
A hundred years have passed.
I don’t know how many times this land has been sold and resold, and I don’t know how many owners it has changed. The child’s name has long been forgotten by the world, but the child’s mausoleum is still there. It has been completely completed according to one sales contract after another. Preserved without loss. By 1897, this geomantic treasure was selected as the General Grant Cemetery. The government became the owner of the land, and the unknown child's grave remained intact in government hands, becoming a neighbor of General Grant's mausoleum. The tomb of a great history-maker and the tomb of an unknown child next to each other may be a unique wonder in the world.
Another hundred years later, in 1997, in memory of General Grant, the then New York Mayor Giuliani came here. At that time, it happened to be the 100th anniversary of the establishment of General Grant's Mausoleum and the 200th anniversary of the child's death. Mayor Giuliani personally wrote this touching story and engraved it on a wooden plaque to stand beside the Tomb of the Unknown Child. Next to me, let this story about integrity be passed down from generation to generation...
8\Story about integrity
[Story 2] A soldier was very bad at long-distance running, so in one The troops soon fell far behind in the cross-country race and ran alone. After turning a few turns, we came across a fork in the road. One road was marked for officers to run on; the other road was marked for soldiers to run on. He paused for a moment, and although he was dissatisfied that being an officer even allowed him to participate in cross-country races, he still ran towards the soldier's path. Unexpectedly, when we reached the finish line half an hour later, we were ranked first. He felt incredible, as he had never achieved a ranking, not even finishing in the top 50. However, the officer who presided over the race smiled and congratulated him on his victory.
After a few hours, a large number of people arrived. They were exhausted from running and felt strange when they saw that he had won. But suddenly everyone realized how important it is to be honest and trustworthy at the crossroads.
[Story 3] The story of Zeng Shen killing a pig. Zeng Shen, a famous thinker and scholar in the state of Lu in the late Spring and Autumn Period, was one of the seventy-two sages among Confucius' disciples. He is erudite and talented, attaches great importance to self-cultivation and has noble moral character. Once, his wife had to go to the market to do errands, and the young children were clamoring to go. Zeng Shen's wife didn't want to take her child there, so she said to him, "You have fun at home, and when mother comes back, I will kill the pigs at home and cook meat for you to eat." After hearing this, the child was very happy and stopped clamoring to go. It's market time. This was meant to coax the children, but Zeng Shen’s wife forgot about it. Unexpectedly, Zeng Shen actually killed a pig at home. When his wife saw Zeng Shen killing the pig, she said, "I just wanted to let the child wait at home with peace of mind, so I said I would kill the pig and roast the meat for him to eat when I came back from the market. How could you take it seriously?" Zeng Shen said: "Children cannot be deceived. Children are young and do not understand worldly affairs. They have to learn from others, especially their parents as role models in life. Today you have deceived your child and soiled his heart. Tomorrow the child will deceive you and deceive. Others: Today you are dishonest in front of your children, and tomorrow your children will no longer trust you. You see how harmful this is.
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