It can be seen that Confucius was a wise and reasonable person. He knew that people’s words are scary, but he knew that rumors should be limited to wise men. No matter how black and white are reversed, black will always be black and white will always be black. The truth is always white. Therefore, when we are attacked by people's words, as long as we are fearless in our hearts and view them correctly, even extremely vicious rumors will disappear and we will have a peaceful world. .

Translation: Confucius went to see Nanzi. Zilu was very unhappy when he found out. Confucius swore: If I do anything indecent, let God despise me! Let God abandon me!

Source: "The Analects of Confucius·Yong Ye"

What people say is fearful. What is scary about people's words is that it is difficult to distinguish between right and wrong, and it is difficult for people to distinguish between right and wrong. Some of them are just superficial things. , but through people's word of mouth, it can hurt people mentally and invisibly. Even a calm person like Confucius, when faced with the doubts of his disciples, had no choice but to swear to the sky in order to pay himself back. A clean slate.

Extended information:

Nanzi was a beautiful woman in ancient times and a defender of the country. Confucius had been in this country for a long time, because the state of Wei originally intended to keep Confucius and hand over the affairs of the country to him. Many students among the students suspected that Confucius wanted to obtain the monarchy in the state of Wei. At that time, Duke Ling of Wei, a prince of the Wei Kingdom, doted on a beautiful concubine named Nanzi.

When Confucius arrived in Weiguo, Nanzi, his favorite concubine, was controlling the political power. He once asked someone to tell Confucius that he wanted to see Confucius. Confucius did meet Nanzi one day. According to historical records, when Confucius met Nanzi, Nanzi showed great respect to him. According to historical records, when men and women met, a beaded curtain hung in the middle. Nanzi wore a national dress and knelt down to Confucius inside the curtain, showing great respect for Confucius. This is also true.

When Confucius saw Nanzi come out, Zilu, a student, told him that Confucius, the "principal", couldn't continue his job and wanted to resign. He was too threatened by the students, and Confucius had to be forced. He swore in front of his face, "Oh my God! Beat him to death! Beat him to death!"

It was a fact that Confucius saw Nanzi; it was also a fact that Zilu was not very happy, and Confucius did target him. "Targeting" is very serious, it is equivalent to making a curse. What kind of curse is it? The problem lies in the following sentence: "To those who deny it," Confucius told Zilu that your view is wrong. Be very careful here, people's words are scary.

Also, "Who doesn't talk behind someone's back? Who doesn't talk about others in front of others?" You need to be understanding of the world and have a clear conscience in everything. Don't worry about what others say behind their backs, just ask yourself. So Confucius said, your views are different from mine. Those who I deny and think are irredeemable must be extremely sinful. Not only people hate him, but also God hates him, so there is no need to associate with such a person.

Baidu Encyclopedia—Zijian Nanzi