From the simple road, knowing what is easy is difficult, and the unity of knowledge and action will succeed;

It means: the deepest truth is hidden in the simplest things, and smart people can get the deepest truth from the simplest things and succeed.

The unity of knowledge and action means that the object conforms to the subject, knowledge refers to conscience, and action refers to human practice. The unity of knowing and doing is neither swallowing action with knowledge nor swallowing knowledge with action, and thinking that action is knowledge.

This was put forward by Wang Shouren, a thinker in the Ming Dynasty. In other words, understanding the truth of things and its application in reality are inseparable.

This is the proposition of epistemology and practice in China's ancient philosophy, which mainly focuses on moral cultivation and practice. Ancient philosophers in China believed that we should not only know ("know"), but also practice ("do"). Only by unifying "knowledge" and "action" can it be called "goodness". The unity of conscience and knowing and doing is the core of Yangming culture.

Extended data:

Put forward the background:

After Wang Yangming was enlightened in Longchang Town, xiuwen county, north of Guiyang, he deeply realized the truth of life, which was an epiphany after hard thinking. Wang Yangming believes that mentality determines behavior and world outlook, such as the story of Liezi's "suspicious neighbor stealing axe".

From then on, he parted ways with Zhu Xuexue, which laid the foundation for the great success of the system of psychology. Wang Shouren's theory of the unity of knowing and doing is mainly aimed at Zhu's study, which is contrary to Zhu's thought.

Oppose Zhu Cheng's Neo-Confucianism's theory of "dichotomy of knowing and doing, thinking that you must be a prophet and then you can do it" and the resulting style of study of "valuing knowledge but neglecting action". Zhu Cheng Neo-Confucianism, including Lu Jiuyuan, advocates "knowing after the prophet", divides knowledge into two parts, and holds that knowledge must be known before it can be practiced. Wang Shouren advocated the unity of knowledge and action to correct Zhu Xue's bias.