Vernacular interpretation:

There is a serious famine in Qi. Qian Ao prepared meals on the roadside for the hungry people passing by. A hungry man walked towards the place, covered his face with the sleeve, his feet shuffling, his eyes dull and lively.

Qian Ao held food in his left hand and soup in his right hand, and said: "Hey! Come and eat!" The hungry man looked up at him and said, "Because I don't eat the food given by others, That's why we ended up in this situation!" Qian Ao caught up with him and apologized, but he eventually starved to death because he didn't eat. After Zengzi heard about this, he said: "I'm afraid it doesn't have to be like this! When Qian Ao calls rudely, of course he can refuse, but after he apologizes, he can go and eat."

Original text:

< p>If you don’t eat, you will be hungry if you eat. Qian Ao placed food on the road, waiting for the hungry to eat. If there are hungry people, they will pick up their clothes and come here. Qian Ao held food on his left and a drink on his right, saying: "Hey! Come eat!" He raised his eyes to look at it and said: "I will not eat the food that came to me, what a shame!" He then thanked him and died without eating. . Zengzi heard about it and said: "Weiyu! If you sigh, you can go away; if you give thanks, you can eat it."

This article comes from "Book of Rites" written by Dai Sheng of the Western Han Dynasty. Extended information

Writing background:

It is said to be written by the seventy-two disciples of Confucius and his students. It was compiled by Dai Shengsuo, a ritual scholar in the Western Han Dynasty, and was a "Poetry" taught by Confucius to his disciples. "Book", "Li", "Music", "Yi", "Spring and Autumn" and "Six Classics" are the carriers of the highest philosophy in Chinese classical culture.

However, it is difficult to read through ancient texts and profound meanings, so more interpretations are made to assist understanding. The "Li" in the Six Classics, later called "Yili", mainly records the crown, marriage, and rituals of the Zhou Dynasty. The "etiquette" of funeral and sacrificial rites is limited by the practice, and almost does not involve the "etiquette" behind the ceremony.

Without an understanding of etiquette and meaning, rituals become worthless rituals. Therefore, in the process of studying the rituals, the post-seventy-year-old scholars wrote a large number of essays elucidating the meaning of the scriptures, which are generally called "notes" and are appendages to the "Rituals".

After the First Emperor of Qin burned books and harassed Confucian scholars, there were still many "notes" written in ancient pre-Qin Chinese that could be seen in the Western Han Dynasty. "Hanshu·Yiwenzhi" contains "one hundred and thirty-one".

"Sui Shu·Jing Ji Zhi" said that this batch of documents was collected from the people by King Xian of Hejian. It also said that when Liu Xiang examined the classics, he also obtained "Mingtang Yin Yang Ji", "Confucius' Three Dynasties" and "Wang Jiu Ji". "Historical Records", "Yue Ji" and dozens of other chapters, the total number increased to 214.

Due to the large number of "Ji" and the varying quality and roughness, by the Eastern Han Dynasty, two anthologies appeared in the society. One was the 85-chapter edition of Dade, which is commonly known as "Da De". Book of Rites.

The second is the 49-chapter version of Dai Sheng, Dai De’s nephew, which is commonly known as "Little Dai Li Ji". "The Book of Dadai Liji" is not widely circulated. Lu Bian of the Northern Zhou Dynasty once annotated it, but its decline continued. By the Tang Dynasty, most of it had been lost, with only thirty-nine chapters remaining. "Shu", "Tang" and "Song" The "Jing Ji Zhi" and other historical records did not even record it.

The "Book of Rites of Xiaodai" was famous and widely circulated in the world due to Zheng Xuan's excellent annotations, so later generations simply called it the "Book of Rites".

Article Appreciation:

The famous saying "Don't eat what comes to you" means that in order to show your integrity as a human being, you should never accept charity from others humbly, even if you starve to death. The reason why the hungry man refused to eat Qian Ao's food was because Qian Ao was arrogant and regarded the poor as pigs and dogs, and his charity was insulting. Chinese tradition attaches great importance to being a person with integrity. In popular terms, people live with one breath, and even if they suffer, they cannot lose this breath.

There are also some similar sayings, such as when a poor person has a strong ambition, he would rather have a piece of jade than to live in ruins, a person needs face, a tree needs bark... all express the importance of integrity and human dignity. Emphasize that the traditional concept of attaching importance to the human spirit still has its value and rationality. Between human spirit and body, between spiritual pursuit and material pursuit, between human dignity and groveling, the former is higher and more important than the latter.

When the two cannot be both, it is better to abandon the latter and sacrifice the latter than to become a walking corpse and a beast in clothing. This is probably the difference between humans being humans and not zombies.