Explanation: Don’t worry about your position being high enough, but think about whether your morals are perfect; don’t feel ashamed that your income is not high enough, but think about whether your knowledge is profound enough.
Moral meaning: Don’t worry about gains and losses in official salary, but pursue personal moral and intellectual progress.
From: "Ying Wen" by Zhang Heng of the Eastern Han Dynasty: "It is not a matter of disrespect for position, but a matter of not respecting virtue; it is not a matter of shame that one is not a good partner, but it is a matter of shame that one is not knowledgeable."
Vernacular interpretation: A gentleman should not worry that his position is not high enough, but should think about whether his morality is perfect; instead of feeling ashamed that his income is not high enough, he should think about whether his knowledge is profound enough.
Zhang Heng is a man of many talents and has made outstanding contributions in the fields of astronomy, earthquakes, literature, machinery manufacturing, calendars, painting, cartography, mathematics and other fields, and is known as a "comprehensive person". He once served as envoy, minister, etc.
Zhang Heng invented the seismograph, the armillary sphere, the drum cart, the compass cart and so on. With so many achievements, he should be very proud and admired by others. On the contrary, he devoted his life to science and did not pursue fame or fortune. Some people ridiculed him that he could make the wheel turn and the wooden bird fly, but he could not make himself become a high official. Zhang Heng responded with these words, and those who ridiculed him were ashamed and angry.
Extended information:
Zhang Heng was good at writing articles when he was young. He once went to the "Sanfu" area to study, and took the opportunity to enter Luoyang and study at Taixue. As a result, he was proficient in the Five Classics and the Six Arts. Although his talent is higher than that of ordinary people, he is not arrogant because of it.
Zhang Heng is good at ingenuity in instrument manufacturing, especially in astronomy, meteorology and calendar calculations. Emperor An of the Han Dynasty often heard that he was good at magic and arithmetic, so he ordered him to be recruited specially and appointed him as a doctor. He was promoted to Taishi Ling twice.
As a result, Zhang Heng carefully studied and examined the science of yin and yang (including astronomy, meteorology, calendar and other knowledge), incisively studied the correct principles of astronomical instruments, made an armillary sphere, and wrote "Lingxian" and "Suanwang". "On" and other books, the discussion is extremely detailed.
Baidu Encyclopedia - Not about disrespect for position, but about disrespect for virtue
Baidu Encyclopedia - Zhang Heng