Meaning: First, set up the heart, an important part of the body, so that other minor parts will not be led astray.

from: Mencius Gao Zi Shang by Mencius in the Warring States Period

Excerpt from the original text:

Gong Duzi asked, "Is Jun a human being, an adult or a villain?"

Mencius said, "Generally speaking, he is an adult, but from his small body, he is a villain."

yue: "jun is a human being, or from its size, or from its body, why?"

yue: "the officials of the eyes and ears don't think about it, but cover it in things, and when things are handed over, they just attract it." The official of the heart thinks, thinks and gets it, and does not think. If the place of this day is with me, the one who stands first will be the one who is big, and the one who is small will be able to seize it. This is just an adult. "

Interpretation:

Gong Duzi asked: "People are the same, some become gentlemen, and some become villains. Why?"

Mencius said: "Pay attention to the important parts of the body to become a gentleman, and pay attention to the minor parts of the body to become a villain."

Gong Duzi said, "People are the same. Some people pay attention to important parts of the body, while others pay attention to minor parts of the body. Why?"

Mencius said, "Organs like eyes and ears can't think, so they are blinded by foreign objects.

When they come into contact with foreign objects, they are easily led astray. The organ of the heart has the ability to think. If you think, you will get something, but if you don't think, you won't get it. This is god's special gift to us

human beings. Therefore, first of all, establish the heart as an important part of the body, and other minor parts will not be led astray. So you can become a gentleman. "

expanding information

this chapter is a positive question of how to establish "big". "Heart" is the biggest body and the most expensive body; Other organs, such as eyes and ears, are only small and mean. Therefore, to establish the commander-in-chief role of the heart, as long as the commander-in-chief role of the heart is established, other senses will not be blinded by foreign objects and go astray.

As far as the content of this chapter is concerned, the most prominent one is still the emphasis on the heart. The so-called "the official of the heart thinks" has become a famous saying of later generations, and "thinking is what you get, thinking is what you can't do"

emphasizes the importance of thinking to people.

in connection with Mencius' series of expositions on the difference between human beings and animals recorded in this article, it can be seen that "where this heaven belongs to us" mentioned here is actually a unique characteristic of human beings, that is, "the official of the heart thinks", to divide the co-limitation between human beings and animals, and to carry forward the important significance of spiritual thinking to human beings.

Mencius believes that human nature is good. However, if goodness of human nature is regarded as a theory, and it is expected to achieve the possibility of benevolence and education through goodness of human nature, Mencius must explain why human nature is good and why there are evil deeds under the premise of goodness of human nature, so he put forward the "four-terminal theory" as an argument.

He believes that there are four kinds of psychology that people have, namely, compassion, shame, respect (resignation) and right and wrong. These four kinds of psychology are the starting points of four kinds of morality, namely, benevolence, righteousness, courtesy and wisdom, so they are called "four ends".