The original text and translation of Xunzi’s encouragement to learn are introduced in detail as follows:

1. The original text of Xunzi’s encouragement to learn:

The gentleman said that learning cannot be done as a matter of course; It is blue, but green is blue, ice water is it, but cold is water. The wood is straight in the middle of the rope. It's like a wheel, and its music is in order. Although there is violence, those who no longer stand up are the ones who make it happen. Therefore, if wood is supported by a rope, it will be straight; if metal is sharpened, it will be beneficial; if a gentleman is knowledgeable and examines himself every day, he will know how to act without making mistakes.

I spend the whole day thinking about it, which is not as good as what I learned in a moment; I stoop and look at it, but it is not as good as climbing up and gaining insights. When you climb high and move, your arms are not lengthened, but the person who sees it is far away; when you call along the wind, the sound is not accelerated, but the person who hears it is louder. A false horse can travel thousands of miles without benefiting from it; a false boat can travel thousands of miles without being able to swim, but can cut off rivers. A gentleman is born without any difference, and is good at false things.

When soil accumulates, mountains become, wind and rain stir up, water accumulates into abyss, and dragons emerge; when good deeds accumulate, virtue becomes, and the gods are satisfied with themselves, and the holy heart is prepared. Therefore, if you do not accumulate steps, you cannot reach a thousand miles; if you do not accumulate small streams, you cannot reach a river or sea. Qi Ji can't take ten steps with one leap.

Ten horses and horses, the merit lies in not giving up. If you persevere, the rotten wood will not be broken; if you persevere, the metal and stone can be carved. Earthworms don't have sharp claws and teeth, nor strong muscles and bones. They eat earth and drink from the underworld. They have the same intention. A crab with six knees and two pincers is not a snake and eel that has nothing to rely on in its cave, so it means it is impatient.

2. Translation of Xunzi’s encouragement to learn:

The gentleman says that learning should never stop. Indigo is extracted from indigo, but its color is greener than indigo. Ice is made from water, but it is colder than water. A piece of wood is very straight and conforms to the carpenter's straightened ink line. If it is bent with fire to make a wheel, its curvature can conform to the circle drawn by a compass.

Even if it is dried in the sun, it will no longer be straight. This is due to human processing that makes it become like this. Therefore, the wood will be straight after being cut with ink lines, and the metal sword will be sharp after being sharpened on the whetstone. A gentleman who studies extensively and examines himself every day will be wise and sensible, and his behavior will be faultless.

I once daydreamed about it all day long, but it was not as great as the gain of a moment of study; I once stood on tiptoes and looked far away, but it was not as good as climbing up to a high place to see the wider world. If you wave from a high place, your arms will not grow in length, but people can still see it from a distance; if you shout in the direction of the wind, your voice will not get stronger, but the listener will hear it very clearly.

Those who use carts and horses cannot walk fast, but they can reach thousands of miles; those who use boats cannot swim, but they can cross the Yangtze and Yellow Rivers. The nature of a gentleman is no different from that of ordinary people, but they are good at learning with the help of external objects. Accumulating soil becomes a mountain, and wind and rain will rise from there; accumulating water becomes a deep pool, and dragons will grow there.

So if you don’t accumulate small steps, there is no way to reach a thousand miles; if you don’t gather small streams, there is no way to become a river. A good horse can't go ten steps with one jump; a bad horse can go far in a carriage for ten days. Its success lies in walking non-stop. If you carve it once and let it go without carving, the rotten wood cannot be cut. If you keep carving, you can carve gold and stone successfully.

Earthworms do not have sharp claws or strong bones, but they can eat soil and drink underground water. This is because they have a single-minded mind. Crabs have six legs and two claws, but without snakes and eel holes, there is no place to place the body to survive. This is because the mind is impetuous and unfocused.

3. The creative background of Encouraging Learning:

Hundreds of schools of thought wrote books one after another to promote their own ideas and criticize others, resulting in a situation of "a hundred schools of thought contending". Xunzi was a representative figure of Confucianism in the late Warring States Period. He believes that the existence of nature is not dependent on human will, but people can use subjective efforts to understand it, adapt to it, and use it. In order to reveal the importance of acquired learning, he wrote the article "Encouraging Learning".