Confucius could also tell fortunes and read fortunes

Confucius said: Look at the reason, the source, and the place. How can a person be so old? How old is this person?

This is how Confucius observed people.

Speaking of the principle of observing people, we all know that fortune telling is very popular especially now. These two things have thousands of years of history in China, and in other countries around the world, there are so-called Italian physiognomy, Japanese physiognomy, etc. This shows that it is very popular in any country or nation. Talking about the history of Chinese fortune telling, it goes back very early. There were many in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. Generally speaking, Chinese people have their own way of reading faces, including those currently popular on the market, such as Mai, Liuzhuang, Tieguan Dao, and even the palmistry developed by modern Italians and Japanese. , palmprint science, and many new things have been added, and they cannot escape the scope of Chinese physiognomy. But the Chinese also have another way of reading faces, called "spiritual faces" or "mind faces", which are profound and difficult to understand. "Spiritual appearance" is not based on "form", but on "expression"; there is also a "mental aspect", which is based on the basic stance of Chinese culture, absolute idealism (non-Western idealistic philosophy), so there are a few sentences Famous saying: "There is intention but no appearance, the appearance changes by the heart. There is appearance but no intention, the appearance changes with the heart." When a person's thoughts change, the form changes. For example, if we say that a person is about to lose his temper, how do we know? Because it can be seen from his appearance that he is angry in his heart, his nerves are tense, and his appearance changes. Therefore, fortune telling is science. Some people say that if the Yintang is very narrow, the person must have a small measure. If the Yintang - the distance between the two brow tips - is wide, the person must have a large measure. What is the truth? Some people are born with a personality, and when they encounter something unsatisfactory, they will frown, and slowly Yintang's muscles will tighten. This is of course the truth. Others say that people who show their front teeth tend to have a short life, because they show their teeth and cannot close their mouth when sleeping, and dirty things enter the body when breathing, which of course will cause health problems. There are many other principles of this kind that are like this, but many people in ancient times knew how to read faces but didn’t know why. Asked him why, he said: "It's what the book says." In fact, these things come from experience. Some people say that Zeng Guofan, a famous minister of the Zhongxing Dynasty in the Qing Dynasty, had thirteen sets of knowledge, and only one set has been handed down - Zeng Guofan's family letters. The others are gone. In fact, there are two sets that have been handed down, and the other one is Zeng Guofan's knowledge of fortune telling - The book "Bing Jian". The theory of fortune telling contained in it is different from other fortune telling books. He said: "Fame depends on one's aura." Talking about aura is troublesome again. This is about Chinese philosophy again, which is connected with literature. How to explain this "qi"? Just stuff. "Yu" represents celestial bodies. What is "qiyu"? It is the form of the celestial body structure. It can barely be explained this way. Chinese things are so annoying, as the Chinese say: "This person has a good manner." What blows over is "wind", and measuring how wide and long is is "degree". As for a person's "demeanor", it is impossible to describe it. It is an abstract adjective, but it is also very scientific. For example, among a large group of people, there is one person who attracts everyone's attention. This person is not necessarily beautiful. There is nothing special on the surface, but he makes people feel different from others in their hearts. This is called "demeanor".

"Fame depends on his demeanor" means whether a person has fame or not depends on his demeanor. "Career depends on spirit." Of course, if a person's spirit is not good and he becomes tired after doing just a few things, what kind of career future will he have? "A person's future depends on his nails." What does nails have to do with a person's future? It definitely matters. According to physiology, nails are mainly composed of calcium. Insufficient calcium means poor physical strength. If physical strength is poor, there will be no mental competition. Some people's nails are not tile-shaped but flat, which means that these people are very weak and sickly. "Shouyao depends on the heels." Whether one lives long or not depends on the heels when he walks. I once had a student who walked without touching the ground with his feet. His life was short-lived. This kind of person is firstly short-lived and secondly smart and impetuous, so he does things he is asked to do quickly but not in a down-to-earth manner. "If you want to see coherence, only in words." How a person thinks depends on whether his speech is cohesive. This view is very scientific. This set of Chinese knowledge is also called the "study of form and name" and became popular in the Wei and Jin Dynasties. There is a book - "Characters". You may wish to read more of it. It will be useful. It was written by Liu Shao of the Wei Dynasty and annotated by Liu Bing of the Northern Wei Dynasty. It talks specifically about people, in other words, "people" science. The recently popular science of personnel management and occupational classification comes from foreign countries.

But our "Characters" is even better. It is a real "personnel management" and "occupational classification" that points out which people belong to which category. Some people are career-oriented, and some people are definitely not career-oriented. Don’t make a mistake. Some people are knowledgeable, but not necessarily talented. Some people are talented, but not necessarily moral. People who are knowledgeable, talented, and moral , is a first-class person, there are not many such talents.

I once had an old friend who didn’t read much, but he had a few interesting words from his life experience. He said: “A superior person has ability but no temper; a middle-class person has Ability also has a temper; the inferior person has no ability but a big temper." This can be said to be a famous saying, and it is also his knowledge. Therefore, when you are in the world, you must know that some people are knowledgeable and often have tempers. You must tolerate them and use their strengths - knowledge, and ignore their shortcomings - temper. When he loses his temper, it is not because he has any ill will toward you, but because it is his own fault. It is also his shortcoming. What does it have to do with you? You must practice filial piety, love and respect him as a king. Some of my students would get angry sometimes and I would ignore them. Later, they would talk to me and apologize, and I would ask him what was the main topic he wanted to talk about. Don't lose your temper first, just talk about the main topic, and then let you lose your temper after the conversation is over. And he laughed.

What is the second book that should be studied? It is the "Sushu" that Huang Shigong passed to Zhang Liang. It is difficult to say that this book is a fake book, but it is indeed the crystallization of Chinese culture. It has profound philosophical insights into how to behave in the world and how to understand people. It can also be said to be a book on fortune telling. It does not mean how long your eyebrows are or how long your nose is. It does not have this set of rules. It is a true method of fortune telling. Even if you don’t look at the eyebrows, nose, or eyes, it probably all depends on the person’s attitude and order in life. Mencius also liked fortune-telling, but he didn't do it. He paid attention to people's eyes. People who are upright must have straight eyes; people who like to look up must be arrogant; people who like to look down must be interested; people who like to squint, at least He has psychological problems. This is the eye that looks at the right things, which is a subject of Mencius's fortune telling. It can also be said to be the "eye medicine" of looking at the right things!

Confucius observes the principles of talking about people. "Look at him for what he is" - what is the purpose of looking at him? "Look at the reason" - to know his origin and motive. From a legal point of view, it means to look at his criminal intent. In some cases in criminal law, it is considered a crime if there is criminal intent. In the past, Chinese people did not litigate much. People who like to litigate are called litigators. There was once a story about a man who was accused of killing someone with a knife. He was guilty and had to pay with his life. A lawsuit wants the defendant to pay one thousand taels of silver, but Bao Ke is not guilty. In order to save his life, the defendant had no choice but to pay this thousand taels of silver, even if he was deceived. And the litigator got the money, took back the official document that was sent out, and added a slight stroke to the word "yong" in "killing people with a knife" to become the word "dump". Therefore, "throwing" the knife to kill people has no criminal intent. , is innocent.

In the Manchu and Qing Dynasties, during the Confucius Memorial Ceremony, all participants were not allowed to look around or turn around to speak. Otherwise, they would be guilty of "gross disrespect" and may be beheaded. At least he will be jailed, or at least he will be dismissed and will never be hired. Once, a governor led his subordinates to worship Confucius. There was a rift among his subordinates. A went to the emperor and accused B of talking back during the ceremony, so the emperor ordered the governor to find out about it. As soon as the governor received the imperial edict, he was extremely frightened. Finally, he called in the most hated litigator from among his subordinates. He was given eight thousand taels of silver. One thousand taels of silver bought one word, and the litigator said that he would give away one word for free. , *** has nine words: "I am at the top, I dare not look back." If you reply like this, not only will nothing happen, but the plaintiff will not dare to challenge you. Because if the investigation continues, if you behave yourself and don't turn your head, how will you know that the defendant has turned his head? Everyone is guilty! A major case that threatened to kill the heads of high-ranking officials was calmed down by the litigator in just nine words.

Li Ling replied to what is said in Su Wu’s book: “An official with a sword and a pen is responsible for writing and ink.” Anyone who is in politics must understand this. After doing official business for a long time and working in politics for a long time, if you are familiar with the law, you should focus on the pen. Doing Kung Fu, killing people and killing people, is more powerful than a knife. So when it comes to this, we must "look at the reason" and look at his motives and purposes. "Look at its origin", look at its source and the entire course of the action. "Check what he is content with", and then look at what he is content with as a normal person? Can you be content with reality? For example, some people find it difficult to settle down. I have a friend who is over seventy years old, has gray hair, is a scholar, and is quite knowledgeable.

I have just retired. My wife has passed away. I have no interest in playing cards in life. I am good at calligraphy but have no interest in writing. As a scholar, I could read a book, but when I get the book, I want to sleep. I lie down and cannot fall asleep. At this point, young friends Note that the elderly are very pitiful. There are several things that are opposite: they want to fall asleep when sitting, but they can't fall asleep when they lie down. There are no tears when crying, but tears come out when laughing. Talking about current things, forgetting about them in person, and remembering things in the past, even when you were a child. You can't hear the good things said about him, but you can hear the bad words about him immediately. This is the tragic situation of the elderly - because he was too bored, lonely, and had no interest in anything, he had to get a girlfriend. I advised him not to get married. His phenomenon is the insecurity and restlessness of the elderly. This is the case for the elderly, but the same is true for young people. This is a psychological problem. If a person does not have a place to settle down in his academic pursuits, there will be big problems. Some people are in good spirits when they have a job; but when they don't have a job, they feel uneasy. This shows how difficult it is to feel at ease.

Confucius observed people based on these three points, so he said, "How old is a person! How old is a person!" This old man means to escape. There is nothing to escape from when observing people with these three points: "Look at what they are, observe where they are, and observe where they are." Looking at how a person behaves in the world, what is his purpose? How did he do it? (The former is about thinking, and the latter is about behavior.) In addition, looking at his usual self-cultivation, what does he settle for? Some are content with ease, some are content with poverty, and some are content with mediocrity. The most difficult thing about learning is being mediocre. People who are content with being mediocre can do anything. Because he will not be bothered by his career. How can I say this? If a person who is content with mediocrity gets rich today, he will not feel that he has too much money and will not be able to sleep; if he is poor, he will not feel poor or feel threatened by money. So peace of mind is the hardest. Using these three points to view people, put them in the chapter "For Politics", is the key point of knowing people and encouraging their character.

The next sentence is something we are all familiar with.

Confucius said: By reviewing the past and learning the new, one can become a teacher.

To explain it in words, everyone knows that it means to review the past and understand the present, then you can be someone else’s teacher. The literal explanation on the surface is nothing more than this. In fact, we need to understand it more deeply. "Reviewing the past" - Those of us who talk about the past must know that for example, it is not easy to talk about Chinese history, which spans five thousand years and 25 major histories. If the purpose of studying history is not to get a degree, then what is it for? In order to "review the past and learn the new", if you know the past, you will know the future. In this way, "you can be a teacher". The past is your teacher. "Never forget the past and learn the future." This is what it means to review the past and learn the new. What's the point? Because of the previous successes and failures, whether individuals or countries, history clearly tells us a lot about how we succeeded and how we failed. I was chatting with someone just now and mentioned that it is very difficult for the current generation of young people to become scholars. They not only need to know the past, the root of their own Chinese cultural tradition, but also know the new knowledge of today's society, not only domestic affairs, but also foreign affairs. We must also be clear, both at home and abroad, both ancient and modern, so those who are in politics must pay more attention to this matter. After all, being in politics requires knowledge, so "you can become a teacher by reviewing the past and learning the new." Only in this way can you truly learn from the past. history and judge the development of new things in the future.