Lao Tzu has a saying: The superior virtue is not virtuous because it is virtuous; the inferior virtue is not virtuous because it is not virtuous; the superior virtue is inaction but there is no thought; the inferior virtue is inaction but there is thought. The superior benevolence does it but does not think about it; the superior righteousness does it but does not think about it; the superior rite does it but does not respond, so it is still with arms. Therefore, losing virtue will lead to virtue, losing virtue will lead to benevolence, losing benevolence will lead to righteousness, and losing righteousness will lead to propriety. The husband's propriety is the first to be chaotic if his loyalty is weak. Those who know before are the beginning of the splendor of the Tao and the beginning of foolishness. Therefore, a true man should be in a position where he is strong and not in a weak position, and he should not be in a position of luxury. So go to that one and take this one. At the same time, Hannah-Arendt also tried to quote Cato in her book "Spiritual Life-Thinking" and asserted: A person's actions are never more than his inactions. That's right. Hasn’t there been talk of building a “learning society” before? And this is not what Lao Tzu calls the pre-knowledge. What is the beginning of the splendor of the Tao but the beginning of its foolishness? Therefore, a true man should focus on the thick and not the thin; he should focus on the truth and not the luxury. So go to that one and take this one. However, in today's work and life, those who have "the beauty of the Tao but the beginning of stupidity" always wake up early and wake up late (and therefore always wet the bed, and therefore smell bad). Things like a gust of wind have long passed or been lost with the times. Who knows, today, a few years later, my friend's workplace has revived this learning trend, and it has become unstoppable. Potential? This is just like what Lao Tzu said: "If you don't respond to the gift, you will still hold it in arms." There is no need to ask who should learn the most (common sense in the past sixty years reminds us that those who advocate this trend are often those who do not read, learn and have no skills; we need to pay attention to this. ; Otherwise, I’m afraid you’ll be fooled by it.) Let’s first talk about what learning is?

In fact, the so-called learning and learning are two words in the classical sense. According to "Shuowen": "Teaching" means what is given by the superiors and what is done by the subordinates; all those who teach follow the teachings. Among them, the one next to the word "teaching" is "xue": awakening means following teaching and following 冂; 冂 means shangmengye, and the sound of mortar means Hu Jueqie. Since learning follows teaching and since everyone who belongs to teaching follows teaching, then this learning naturally also means imitating or imitating. So what is imitation or emulation? That's probably just following others' footsteps and following their footsteps, just like Yan Yuan in Zhuangzi's novel was his teacher Confucius. I'm afraid I missed him. According to "Zhuangzi - Tian Zifang":

Yan Yuan asked Zhongni and said: "Master steps at a pace, Master walks at a pace, Master gallops at a gallop, Master runs away from the dust and looks back as if he were behind!" "Master said: "What is evil?" He said: "Master steps, also steps; Master speaks, also talks; Master moves, also moves, Master debates, also debates; Master gallops, also gallops, Master speaks. The Tao means talking about the Tao; and when you run away from the world and look back at the latter, you believe the master without saying anything, and walk around without comparison. You have no tools and the people rush forward without knowing the reason." Zhongni said: "Evil! But don't pay attention to it! There is no greater sorrow than the death of a person. When the sun rises in the east and enters the west pole, all things are similar. If you have eyes and toes, you will survive when you go out, and you will die when you go in. , the same is true for all things. When it is ready, it dies, and when it is ready, it is born. Once it is formed, it will not be transformed, but it will be finished. In front of me, I have been with you for the rest of my life, so why don’t you regret it? I’m almost done with her, but I think I have it, so I’m asking for a horse. Si Ye. I am very oblivious to women, and I am very forgetful to women. Although I have forgotten my old self, I still remember Yan Yuan here. To be honest, at least he dared to admit that he knew it but "didn't know (its) reason but that's all." Despite this, his teacher Confucius was still not so polite to him (at least not as kind as in "The Analects"): "Evil! "Can you not observe it?" Yes, as Confucius said: If you look at the reason, observe the origin, and observe the place, how can a person be poor? What a waste of people! Since we know this but don’t know why, why don’t we think about it carefully? But then, why did Confucius say that "There is no greater sorrow than the death of the heart, and the death of a person is the second best"? You must know that, according to Mencius, the organ of the heart is thinking: if you think about it, you will get it; if you don't think about it (in Arendt's words, that is, without thinking), you won't get it. All human dignity lies in thought; I think, therefore I am. For people, the heart or thoughts are undoubtedly the most important: mourning is greater than the death of the heart; as for the death of the person, the death, disappearance or absence of the person's own life, it is secondary. Here, we can further understand how tireless Confucius was as a teacher (according to what his disciple Zigong said: Being tireless in learning is wisdom; being tireless in teaching is benevolence. Both benevolence and wisdom make the Master a sage. At the same time, as Gongsun When Chou said, "In the past, I heard that Zixia, Ziyou, and Zizhang were all saints, while Ran Niu, Minzi, and Yan Yuan were specific and subtle. I dare to ask for advice." Mencius's attitude was clear and firm. : Gushe is! ) Please see his ability to draw examples (it can be said that the method of benevolence is already there) "When the sun rises in the east and enters the west pole, all things are similar; those who have eyes and toes, wait for it and then succeed. If it goes out, it will exist. , if you enter, you will die, and the same is true for all things. If you wait, you will die, and if you wait, you will be born. "If you compare with me, you will die, and if you compare with others, you will throw away." Yes, and Mencius did say something like this, which is still valued by some current scholars (people who are studying): Everyone can be like Yao and Shun, but the problem is that "can" obviously does not mean inevitable or certain. It has only a modern philosophical abstraction rather than a realistic possibility and is probably only theoretically plausible at best.

This is just like Professor Yan Binggang of Shandong University once publicly wrote that classics have never been the patent of a few elites but belong to the masses; but unfortunately, while emphasizing that there is no distinction between education and distinction, he clearly ignores and does not know how to do it. Or they are ignorant of another important (if not the most important) aspect of Confucius’ educational thought: designing language according to people and teaching students in accordance with their aptitude! Therefore, it is inevitable to lose sight of this. Among them, "teaching without distinction" is just a big deal at most, and teaching students in accordance with their aptitude is the subtle point. You must know that the big meaning is easy to understand but the subtle meaning is difficult to understand. The same logic is true, and it is true that Mencius did say this: Everyone can be like Yao and Shun; but the question is, did he not have such a dialogue with Teng Wengong, the prince, later? Cheng Yu said to Qi Jinggong: "That husband is my husband, why should I fear him?" Yan Yuan said: "Who is Shun? Who is he? The same is true for those who are promising." Don't think that everyone is standing on two legs. Belly, who is afraid of whom? Don’t be dissatisfied by seventy, dissatisfied by eighty, and indifferent by one hundred and twenty. Don’t be ignorant of the heights of the world and be unconvinced and therefore lack awe. Here, Mencius has made it very clear in the words of Yan Yuan: Yes, everyone can be like Yao and Shun, but the question is, who was Shun, and who am I? How can they be compared and treated as the same? A person who wants to really make a difference should really think deeply in his heart. If we use the words of Confucius, it means: when the sun rises in the east and enters the extreme west, all things are similar; if you have eyes and toes, you will succeed after waiting for it. When it goes out, it exists, when it goes in, it perishes, and the same is true for all things. You will die if you wait, and you will live if you wait. Once I receive its form, I will not transform it until it is finished. Immediately after this, Mencius quoted Zheng Zeng's words from Gong Mingyi and further said: "King Wen is my teacher, how can Duke Zhou deceive me?" This is obviously a rhetorical question that does not require an answer (rather than a self-answered question). That's right. , generally speaking, people tend to just deceive themselves! As for King Wen, I am afraid that not only will he not deceive me, but he will not be able to deceive me. The same is true for Confucius, and the latter will not only not deceive me, but will not even be able to hide. The Master said: "Do the second and third disciples think that I am hiding from you? I have nothing to hide from you. I have nothing to do but do not follow the second and third disciples, that is Qiu." The sage always does things without doing anything and teaches without saying anything. And this depends on the disciples’ own power of knowledge. In any case, both audio-visual, speech, and movement and "Shang Shu-Hong Fan" all put sight first: sight and thinking are clear, but those who know themselves are clear. Having said that, didn't Confucius say, "There are three mistakes in serving a gentleman: saying something without mentioning it is called impatience; talking about something without saying anything is called concealment; not seeing the color is called blindness"? As for Chen Kang, he asked Yu Boyu: "Have you heard anything strange about me?" He replied: "Not yet. Tasting independence, carps tended to cross the court. He said: 'Have you studied poetry?'" He said to him: "Not yet." "If you don't learn poetry, you can't talk about it." Li retreats and learns poetry. Later, he goes to the court and asks: "Is there any way to learn etiquette?" Li. "The carp retreated and learned the etiquette." Chen Kang retreated and said with joy, "I heard the poem and the etiquette, and I heard that the gentleman is far away from his son." Chen Kangman thought. It couldn't be more foolish to ask one question and get three answers and gain a lot from it. If things are really like what Kong Li told him, then how should we explain Confucius's saying, "You can speak up when you are above the middle level, but you can't speak up when you are below the middle level." If you don't express your anger, if you don't turn back one corner with three, then you will never recover."? Recently, I spent money from a bookstore to buy a collection of essays "Between Thoughts and History: An Interpretation of the Conceptual History of "The Analects"" edited by Professor Chen Shaoming of Sun Yat-sen University and organized by his disciples. I flipped through it in a hurry and found it strange. It doesn't mean much. I am willing to spend some of my hard-earned money to buy it just because it is a contemporary text about "The Analects of Confucius"; in other words, it allows me to be generous and it really takes the glory of "The Analects of Confucius". If nothing else, the title of this book itself is quite problematic. It should be noted that history and poetry are just two coats of classical philosophical thought; in this case, does the name "thinking between history" mean something? Because Mr. Chen suggested and promised to help me contact him to be a visiting scholar a few years ago, so I had the benefit of knowing him, so I don’t want to say anything more here. Even if you stop talking, you still have a good word.

Yan Yuan's "love to learn" is obviously famous among Confucius (the second one is probably the so-called not expressing anger, not making mistakes, not criticizing good people, and not giving hard work, so I won't go into details), but he can Don’t forget that learning without thinking leads to waste (wenfangqie, follow death), and of course don’t forget how did Yan Yuan die?

So, the issue of "Xi" is also involved. According to Zhu Xi's opinion, the practice is: Birds fly when they are counted. As for the "timely practice" in the first sentence of the opening chapter of "The Analects of Confucius" "Learn and practice it from time to time, don't just say it", it means repeated thinking and interpretation from time to time. Makes sense. I was thinking, how can this bird fly? The moon and stars are sparse, the crows are flying south, and there is no branch to cling to after three turns around the tree. The color is lifted, soaring and then gathering. He said: "The female pheasant on the mountain ridge, what a time! What a time!" Zilu caught it and sniffed it three times. Good birds choose trees to roost, fly and then gather. Therefore, Shufei probably lies in thinking before and after, thinking left and right in order to make the final choice or decision. Here, I reiterate my personal insights. In my opinion, the words “er” and “zhi” (especially “er”) in the so-called “learning and practicing it from time to time” are obviously just pronouns and both refer to “the way of heaven”. In Mr. Tang Yongtong's view, "the sage cannot be learned or attained" has been a tradition since the Han Dynasty. That’s right, those who learn from me will die, and those who follow me will live. And even in Mr. Liao Ping's opinion, no one in the Samana community dares to learn Buddhism, while all scholars claim to be true disciples.

Gai Youzhi took the village scholar as his hole. "Zhuangzi" says that it is too big to be worthy. Confucius, who is as numerous as the sands of the Ganges River, brings about the extreme calamity of destroying his country and his species! But the way of heaven can be learned but cannot be explained: the way can be taught, but it is not the way; how can heaven say it? As the four seasons move, all things come into being. What the hell! So how to learn? Said: Go down to learn and go up to achieve. Therefore, the first sentence of "The Analects" can probably be interpreted as: Learn the way of heaven (and at the same time) think about the way of heaven repeatedly, and enjoy it! The way of heaven is always with good people. There are three hundred poems, which can be summed up in one sentence: thinking without evil (end). Moreover, even if Zhuangzi said that my life has an end, I know that the "er" in "end" is also the same. In addition, Hannah Arendt also had a very insightful discussion on this (thinking): When we think, where are we? Sometimes I think, sometimes I am (Valery) nowhere. Moreover, in her view, all thinking is inferential, and thinking can be expressed analogically as "a line gradually moving towards infinity", which is equivalent to the way we usually describe the continuity of time to ourselves. But in order to form such a line of thought, we must transform the juxtaposition of experiences presented to us into a succession of silent words, the only medium through which we can think. This means that we not only de-sentimentalize initial experiences but also de-spatialize them.

In my opinion, today's so-called "learning type" of this and that is actually just "learning"! The so-called "learning" is nothing more than learning without practice, or learning without thinking. Therefore, a man should be rich in things but not in things that are weak, and he should not be in luxury when it comes to things. So go away from that and pick up this, go away from what you have learned and pick up what you have thought about. There is nothing more mournful than the death of the heart, and the death of a person is also the second most. It is true: if the heart is dead, it must be that there is no thought, no thought, no thought, or absent-mindedness. In Confucius' view, this is undoubtedly the greatest sorrow for people to become human and become what they are; as for death, it is often nothing: death is like a lamp going out, but thoughts will last forever. Regarding learning without thinking, the death of Yan Yuan is indeed the most classic example, followed probably by the so-called imitation of others, ugly women learning to be good, and the so-called learning to walk in Handan. If one learns but does not practice from time to time, or learns without studying, without thinking, without thinking, or even without thinking for a long time, then it is just like the poem goes: A rat has teeth, but a man has no rest (thinking); a man has no cessation (thinking); he will not die. He Qi! The book "The Great Learning" begins with the following statement: The way of great learning (the study of an adult or a gentleman, as opposed to a villain) lies in being clear about virtue, in being close to the people, and in striving for perfection. The following is: knowing the cessation, then there is concentration, concentration and then being able to be still, being still, then being able to be at peace, being at peace, then being able to think, and being worried, then being able to gain. Let me ask: What does the world think and worry about? The world has the same goal but different paths, and the same goal leads to hundreds of concerns. What is the world thinking about? So what is the point of convergence and the one of unity? If it can be summed up in one word, it is called Tao - that is, the Tao of non-Tao, the Tao that everyone wants to talk about but cannot explain, the Tao that the people of the country spontaneously admire, the Tao that all things have to follow, have to rely on, and cannot The path of no return is the most noble concept and the most basic driving force in Chinese thought.

Believe it!