Born in sorrow, died in peace and happiness

Pre-Qin: Mencius and his disciples

Shun was born in the countryside, and Fu Shuo was raised in the building. , Jiao Ke was lifted among the fish and salt, Guan Yiwu was lifted up among the scholars, Sun Shuao was lifted up in the sea, Baili Xi was lifted up in the city.

Therefore, when Heaven is about to entrust this person with a great responsibility, he must first strain his mind, strain his muscles and bones, starve his body and skin, deplete his body, and mess up his actions. Therefore, it is beneficial to move his heart and forbearance. What it cannot do. (Siren's first work: This is a person)

People always make mistakes, and then they can change; trapped in the heart, balanced by worries, and then act; marked by color, produced by sound, and then metaphor. If you enter, you will be unable to control the people at home, if you leave, you will be invincible to foreign patients, and the country will be permanently destroyed.

Then I know that I was born in sorrow and died in happiness.

2. Translation

Shun was appointed from the fields, Fu Yue was appointed from the work of building walls, Jiao Ke was appointed from selling fish and salt, Guan was appointed from the work of selling fish and salt. Yiwu was rescued from the prison officials and appointed, Sun Shuao was appointed from his seclusion on the seaside, and Baili Xi was redeemed from the slave market and appointed.

So when God wants to place a heavy responsibility on someone, he must first make his mind distressed and his muscles and bones tired, making him hungry and his body empty and weak, making every action he takes unsatisfactory. This will inspire his will, make his temperament persevering, and increase his abilities that he does not possess.

A person often makes mistakes before he can correct them; he is troubled and blocked by thoughts. Only then can you work hard; others' anger will be expressed in their faces, and their resentment will be expressed in their words, and then you will know. If a country does not have ministers who uphold the law and wise men capable of assisting the king at home, and it does not have neighboring countries to rival it and disasters from foreign countries, it will always be in danger of destruction.

In this way, we will know that sorrow and suffering are enough to make people survive, and comfort and enjoyment are enough to make people perish.

Extended information

Born in sorrow, died in peace and happiness (prose written by Mencius)

"Born in sorrow and died in peace and happiness" is selected from "Mencius·Gao" "Zi Xia" is a piece of reasoning prose with rigorous argumentation and eloquence. The author first cites six examples of people who finally took on major responsibilities after being tempered by poverty and setbacks, proving that sorrow can inspire people to work hard and hardships can encourage people to achieve new achievements. Then, the author further demonstrates from two different perspectives: a person's development and a country's rise and fall. Worry leads to survival, and happiness leads to death.

In the end, things came to a conclusion, and we came to the conclusion that "we are born in sorrow and die in happiness". The full text adopts a writing method that combines listing of historical examples and reasoning, and infers layer by layer, making the article compact and well-argued. In addition, the article often uses parallel sentences and antithetical sentences. Even if the tone is inconsistent, it creates an unstoppable momentum and effectively enhances the power of the article. the persuasiveness of the argument.

About the author

Mencius (372 BC to 289 BC), named Ke, was born in the state of Zou (now Zoucheng, Shandong) in the middle of the Warring States Period. He was the most important thinker in Confucianism after Confucius. Mencius traveled around the world to promote his ideas of "benevolent government" and "kingly way". However, because the princely states were busy with wars and mergers at that time, his views were considered "broad" and almost no one adopted them. In his later years, Mencius returned to the state of Zou and wrote books with his disciples. He wrote 7 chapters and 269 chapters in "Mencius". The language of "Mencius" is clear and clear, and it is also full of emotions, with majestic momentum and powerful motivational power.