People with lofty ideals don't drink water from stolen springs, which stems from the story that Confucius was thirsty and didn't drink, and hated his name. Confucius was thirsty when he passed the "stolen spring", but because the spring was called "stolen spring", he endured thirst and did not drink its water. Who is Confucius? Saint also. The saint temporarily held back his thirst, and in order to safeguard his honor, he did not drink "water from stealing springs". Because of their contempt for "stealing", they use their own actions to teach the truth of being a man by example. Because of this, a little thing in life will last forever and become a much-told story.
According to the Book of Rites, those who don't suffer from food are hungry, money and food are the way, and food is hunger. If you are hungry, please accept your shoes, and trade will come rashly. Qian ao served food on the left and drank it on the right, saying, "Hey, come and eat!" " Looking up at it, he said, "Give me the only food I don't eat so that I can do it." So thank you for dying without food. This story is even more tragic. A man who fled the country refused to accept charity because he was treated unkindly by the rich, and eventually he would rather starve to death. It is impossible for anyone to be a highly upright person.
Both allusions are about educating people to have dignity, ambition and moral integrity. Well-intentioned, commendable. However, we see that some people not only don't understand what this means, but also call our ancestors pedantic, saying that they deserve to drink boiled water for nothing and starve to death without eating boiled rice. It is a waste of the precious cultural heritage of the Chinese nation to treat our culture completely with secular eyes.
The significance of the two allusions is not to pursue the plot itself, but to carry forward a spirit. Confucius didn't drink stolen spring water, but he could get water from other places. Hungry people can get food from other places without money and charity. Wait a minute. We don't need to set these plots. If we are too smart and assume too much, there will be nothing and nothing. Therefore, people today say that ancient pedants were clever and deceived themselves. We don't need to speculate on the sages with our own thoughts and make irresponsible remarks about their behavior. Are you the only one who is smart and everyone else is a fool? Be a man and understand the truth.
Although Wu Yinzhi, the secretariat of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, drank the "greedy spring", he "finally felt bad". He lived a clean and honest life and won the support of all the people. -"Being greedy for a spring is refreshing and pleasant at work" shows another realm of being a man.
Zhou Dunyi said the same thing when he said, "Love lotus alone, muddy but not dirty, clear but not demon." There is no more right and wrong here, this is the realm of being a man.
There is a saying in Xunzi's "Encouraging Learning", "If you don't help, you will be straight, and the white sand will be in nirvana, and you will be as black as the monarch." -So a gentleman must choose his hometown when he is alive, and he must be a scholar when he travels, so that he can stay away from evil and approach righteousness. There is no contradiction between "those who are close to ink are black, and those who are close to ink are black" and "getting out of the mud without dyeing". They all master their own methods in different periods and different environments. The opposition between people is too heavy now.