The first kind of people: "people born with knowledge" are geniuses. Confucius himself said that he was "born knowing".
The second kind of people: "those who learn and know", those who acquire knowledge through learning.
The third kind of person: "learning in times of trouble". These people encounter difficulties in their studies. "It's not too late to mend."
The fourth kind of person: "If you are trapped and don't study, the people will not be able to live." Such people who don't study when they encounter difficulties are the inferior people among the people. Note that Confucius did not say that "people" or "people" were inferior, but emphasized that "people" were inferior and people among the people (pronoun "Si") were inferior. Confucius divided people into four categories from the perspective of acquiring knowledge. What do you mean by inferior people? "If you are trapped and don't learn, the people will not be able to live." This is from the perspective of learning knowledge or acquiring knowledge. Confucius divided people into four levels.
Confucius never evaluated people's social status from the perspective of power, status and money, but from the perspective of learning. What do you mean by "inferior" People who are trapped and don't learn, people who don't learn all their lives, people who are poor in spirit and empty in soul are all inferior.
Confucius divided people into many kinds from different angles. From the perspective of personality cultivation: there are saints, gentlemen and villains; From the perspective of moral cultivation: benevolence, wisdom and courage. There are nine kinds of people whose personality and morality are integrated into one, or nine levels: sage's benevolence, sage's wisdom, sage's courage, gentleman's benevolence, gentleman's wisdom, villain's benevolence, villain's wisdom and villain's courage. On the contrary, there is benevolence, courage and wisdom; Benevolent gentleman, brave gentleman, wise gentleman; There are also benevolent villains, brave villains and wise villains.
From the perspective of life development, we can also see that Confucius divided people into four levels. Confucius said: "You can learn * * *, but you can't adapt to the Tao; Compatible with Tao, not with it; Can stand up, not by strength. "
The first level: people who can work with * * * but not * * * Tao, that is, * * * pursue truth or justice together.
The second level: you can work with Tao, but you can't associate with it, that is, you can start a career together.
The third level: it can withstand "* * *", but in real life, in the complicated changes, to see the essence through the phenomenon, both sides must have great flexibility. It is necessary to have correct principles and flexibility.
This is the fourth level: "* * * power".
In the process of life development, there must be few friends who can go through four stages and four levels: "learning * * *", * * * Tao ",* * * standing" and * * * right. Can * * * more trouble, can * * enjoy, but * * * less chance. People with four stages or levels of "learning", "learning", "standing" and "strength" can complete "learning", but they cannot complete "learning", "standing" and "strength". Although they can't be regarded as inferior people, they can't get into the upper position, because they are stubborn and pedantic, have no pursuit of their future and career, have no goals and have no ability to cooperate. Because these four levels of people are people we often meet in life or work, we need to pay more attention after meeting them.
Today we live in an era without class oppression, but the level of people is still different. What level of people do we belong to in Confucius' eyes?