Yi praised Yu and said: If you are full, you will suffer losses, but if you are modest, you will benefit. ("Shang Shu·Dayu Mo")

After consulting "Ci Yuan", "Ci Hai" and other dictionaries, they all uniformly indicate that "fullness brings harm, modesty benefits" comes from "Shu·Dayu Mo". As far as I know, "Shu" is the abbreviation of "Shang Shu". "Shangshu" is a Confucian classic, which is said to have been compiled by Confucius. "Dayu Mo" is an article in "Shangshu", and "fullness brings harm, modesty benefits" comes from "Dayu Mo". According to this conclusion, this classic motto is a quotation from a saint.

However, here comes the problem. Various dictionaries uniformly indicate that the original chapter of "Dayu Mo" in "Guwenshangshu" has been lost long ago. The existing "Dayu Mo" is a pseudo-title of the "Gu Wen Jing Shu", which is a forgery by later generations.

If the skin is gone, how will the hair be attached? "Dayu Mo" itself is unreliable. Whether "fullness will cause harm, modesty will benefit" is a quotation from a saint. It remains to be verified. We might as well imagine that this motto may have come from the people's opinions on the ancient "Slanderous Wood". Perhaps because the emperor was complacent and caused dissatisfaction among the people, the warning advice "fullness brings harm, modesty benefits" was engraved on the "slander wood" at that time - the original "Huabiao" pillar. Fortunately, ancient times were the days of Yao, Tian, ??and Shun, and magnanimous emperors could still listen to criticism. Although they were a little complacent, they did not hide their illnesses and avoid medical treatment, and cut off the throats of those who made suggestions. "Full incurring losses, modesty benefiting" has been preserved, recorded in classics, and passed down as a motto.