"Encouraging learning" is the first article in Xunzi, also known as "encouraging learning". The full text has neat sentence patterns and is catchy when reading. Let's study this article together.

Persuade sb. to study

Pre-Qin: Xunzi

Mr. Wang said: I can't learn.

Green is taken from blue, and green is blue; Ice, water, but colder than water. Wood is straight in the rope, not a wheel, and its curve is in the gauge. Although there is a storm, those who no longer stand up will be forced to stand up. Therefore, the wood is straight by the rope, the gold is sharp, the gentleman is knowledgeable, and he saves himself every day, so he knows clearly without fault.

So, if you don't climb the mountain, you don't know the height of the sky. Don't face the deep stream, I don't know the thickness of the ground; I didn't know the greatness of learning until I heard the last words of my late king. The sons of Gan, Yue, Yi and Xun were born in unison, long and different, and naturally educated. The poem says, "Dear Sir, there is no constant rest. Jing Gonger, goodness is integrity. Listen to God and you will be blessed. " God is greater than Tao, and joy is greater than harmlessness.

Think all day long, it is better to learn it in a moment; I've tasted it and I'm looking forward to it. Let's go hiking. Climb a trick, the arm does not lengthen, but the person you see is far away; Call with the wind, the sound does not add disease, but the listener is obvious. Those who cheat horses are not good enough, but cause thousands of miles; A man who pretends to be a boat can't swim, but he can't swim. The life of a gentleman is the same, and the goodness lies in personal leave. (A gentleman is born with sex)

In the south, there is a bird named Meng Dui, whose nest is feathers, whose hair is woven and whose reed is tied. When the wind breaks, the egg broken child dies. The nest is endless, but so are the people connected with it. There is a kind of wood in the west called Shegan. Its stem is four inches long, and it was born on a high mountain. However, in the abyss, the wooden pole can't grow out, but it stands naturally. In the bitter fleabane bitter fleabane, I can't bear to go straight; White sand is nirvana, and it is black. Lan Huaigen is a cheese, but he grows up, and the gentleman is not close, so he refuses to accept it. Its quality is not beautiful, but it is also gradual. Therefore, a gentleman must choose his hometown when he is born, and he must be a scholar when he travels. Therefore, we must also guard against evil and righteousness.

Everything has a beginning and an end. When honor or disgrace comes, it will be like virtue. Meat rots into adults, and fish withers into moths. Ignoring and forgetting your body is a disaster. Strong cultivation, soft cultivation. Evil is in the body, and resentment is in the structure. Wages are the same, the fire is dry, the ground is the same, and the water is wet. Vegetation is born, birds and animals are numerous, and things are human beings. Is a piece of nature, bows and arrows are very important; Lin, and the axe is heavy; Trees provide shade, but birds rest. Acyl acid, but Polygonum multiflorum Thunb. Therefore, words are troublesome, actions are humiliating, and gentlemen are cautious about words!

Accumulated soil becomes mountains, and the wind and rain are prosperous; The water drops merged into the ocean and the dragon was born; Accumulate goodness into virtue, the gods are complacent, and the sacred heart is prepared. Therefore, you can't take Wan Li Road without accumulating steps; If you don't accumulate small streams, you won't be a river. Leap, not ten steps; This is a great contribution to the success of Ma Xu. Perseverance, rotten wood can't be carved; Perseverance, the stone can be carved. Earthworms do not have the advantages of minions, and their bones and muscles are strong. They eat the earth and drink the yellow land with their hearts. The crab kneels six times and pinches twice. It's not that the snake hole has no sustenance, it's also impetuous.

Therefore, people with ulterior motives have no bright future; He made much ado about nothing, which has nothing to do with hehe. Those who follow the right path will not come, and those who follow the right path will not allow it. Eyes can't see, ears can't hear. The viper flies without feet, and the mouse is poor in five skills. "Poetry" said: "The corpse dove is in Sang, and her son is seven. A good gentleman with noble character is always a polite person. His appearance is clumsy and his heart is like a knot! " Therefore, a gentleman is bound by one.

I used to play drums, but the fish flowed out to listen; Boya Guqin, while Liu Ma raises Yuan. Therefore, the sound is not small but not heard, and the line is not hidden but not shaped. Jade is moist in the mountains, pearls are born in the deep, and cliffs are not withered. Do good without accumulating evil? Did anyone not hear?

Learn evil from scratch? Evil in the end? Yue: its number begins with chanting and ends with reading ceremony; Its significance begins with being a scholar and ends with being a saint. If you really accumulate strength for a long time, you will enter, and if you learn, you will stop. Therefore, there is an end to the number of students. If it is just, it cannot be abandoned for a moment. For it, people are also; Give up, so do animals. Therefore, this book is the discipline of political affairs; Poet, the stop of the middle voice; Etiquette, the main points of law, class discipline. Therefore, learning must stop at ceremony. Husband is called the extreme of morality. The respect of ceremony, the harmony of music, the abundance of poetry and books, the micro-spring and autumn, between heaven and earth. The learning of a gentleman is also in the ear, in the heart, in the four bodies, and in the dynamic shape. Finally, as long as you move, you can become law. The knowledge of villains is also heard, not spoken; Between the mouth and ears, four inches, seven feet of beauty! Ancient scholars were themselves, and today's scholars are people. The study of a gentleman is also for beauty; Little people learn that birds are calves. Therefore, if you don't ask, you will be proud of it, and if you ask, you will be proud of it. Proud, no, ooh, no; A gentleman is like a man.

Learn not to be close to others. Rites and music are not mentioned, poetry and books are not cut, and the Spring and Autumn Period is unhappy. If you learn from a gentleman, you will respect him all over the world. Therefore, learning ink is almost close to people.

Learning classics is not as fast as learning good people, followed by long rituals. You can't be a good person in the world, and you can't be a gift in the next life. Ante can learn miscellaneous knowledge, poetry and books. Then, in the last poor years, it is inevitable that there will be rude Confucianism. The original king, benevolence and righteousness, then courtesy is in its latitude and longitude. If you pat your collar with five fingers, there will be countless followers. If you don't respect the constitution, take the poetry book as an example, and refer to the river, the millet and the cone-shaped rice pot, you can't get it. Therefore, although Longli is unknown, he is also a lawyer; If you don't give a long gift, you will scatter Confucianism, although you will argue.

If you ask, don't sue; Don't ask if you told anyone; Don't listen to those who talk. Don't argue with people who live up to expectations. Therefore, we should learn from it and then pick it up; Avoid it unless it is the way. Therefore, return the courtesy before you can talk to the parties; Words are fluent, and then words and deeds can be consistent and justified; Therefore, color can be followed by words and actions. Therefore, it cannot be said in words that this is pride; Can have nothing to say, that is hidden; In terms of color, it is called sorrow. Therefore, a gentleman is not proud, not hiding, not jealous, let nature take its course. The poem says: "The son of heaven gave bandits a comfortable relationship." This is also called.

One shot in every shot is not good enough to shoot; A thousand miles is not enough, and good is not enough; Learning badly is because ethics has nothing to do with human nature. Those who learn well will learn well. Once in the way, once in the way, the person who draws the lane is also; There are fewer good people, more bad people, and stealing feet. All the people, and scholars.

A gentleman knows that her husband is not perfect and can't think of beauty, so he recites it consistently and thinks it over, so as to treat others and educate people. Make eyes have no desire to see, ears have no desire to listen, mouth has nothing to say, and heart has nothing to worry about. When you are good at time, your eyes are good with five colors, your ears are good with five tones, your mouth is good with five flavors, and your heart benefits the world. Therefore, rights cannot be dumped, the masses cannot be moved, and the world cannot be shaken. Life depends on reason, death depends on reason, and husband is called virtue. Fuck, then you decide, then you decide, then you respond. If a husband can respond positively, he is an adult. The sky sees its light and the earth sees its light, and the gentleman values all this.

Make an appreciative comment

Xunzi's articles, like other philosophical papers of pre-Qin philosophers, are unique. Unlike Laozi, it didn't put the dialectical thought of unity of opposites and contradiction through; Nor does it use strict and thorough formal logic to reason like Mozi; Unlike Zhuangzi, the sky is wide and full of romanticism. Unlike Mencius, his language is sharp and magnificent, and he has the characteristics of an orator. He is telling the truth. His articles are simple and vigorous, meticulous and rigorous, with neat sentence patterns, and he is good at expounding profound truth with diversified metaphors. All these constitute the characteristics of Xunzi's articles. Someone once summarized Xunzi as "an essay by a scholar", which is a very appropriate comment.

"Encouraging Learning" is the representative work of Xunzi and the first article in Xunzi's book. The full text consists of two parts: the first part discusses the importance of learning; The second part discusses the steps, contents and methods of learning. And "learning can't" is the central idea that runs through the whole paper. Several excerpts from the first part of "Encouraging Learning" have been selected into middle school Chinese textbooks since liberation, which is one of the traditional masterpieces that can stand the test of time.

The paragraphs in "Encouraging Learning" are very clear, and basically each paragraph expounds a specific problem. And always make a clear explanation at the beginning and end of the text. For example, the first sentence of the article reads: "A gentleman says: You can't learn." This is not only a central topic of the full text, but also the content to be elaborated in the first paragraph. At the end of the paragraph, it is summarized as follows: "A gentleman is knowledgeable and cares about himself, so knowing it is not a mistake." This clearly and effectively takes care of the first sentence, wraps up the above content and clearly points out the central idea of the paragraph. For example, in the second paragraph, "I've been thinking about it all day, so it's better to learn it all at once" to explain that meditation alone is far less beneficial than learning. After enumerating several very common and convincing metaphors in life, such as "Climbing high and looking far", "Calling with the wind", "Fake horse" and "Fake boat", I strongly conclude that "a gentleman's life (sex) is the same, and good and fake are also in things." Here, starting from his "theory of evil nature", Xunzi pointed out that a gentleman's nature is also evil, and the reason why he is different from others is that he is good at learning from good teachers and friends to change his bad habits. The word "thing" has changed from "boat" and "horse" to the content of learning, and its writing has gradually deepened. The two examples cited here are taken care of from beginning to end. Some paragraphs only reveal the center of the paragraph at the beginning, or just make a proper summary at the end. In short, the purpose is the same, but the way is not rigid. Philosophical papers of pre-Qin philosophers are generally difficult to read. Xunzi's rigorous and simple writing method is very effective in helping readers master the basic content of each paragraph.

In reasoning articles, a large number of metaphors are skillfully used in discussion, which is another very prominent feature of persuasion. Sometimes there are many parallel metaphors in the set, which explain the problem repeatedly from the same angle. This technique is called "metaphor" in rhetoric, but it is usually used to assist the description of scenery. The metaphors in Xunzi's works are all used to illustrate things.

Sometimes the author uses the method of contrast to organize two opposing situations together to form a sharp contrast to enhance the persuasiveness of the text. For example, when he stressed that learning must be persistent and single-minded, he not only used some parallel metaphors, but also used many metaphors that complement each other. He listed "one leap can't take ten steps" and "you can't give up your job even if you take ten steps"; "Perseverance, rotten wood cannot be carved"; Earthworms "have no advantages of claws and strong bones and muscles" and can come and go freely underground, while crabs with six knees and two claws can't even dig a small hole and live. This shows that the effects of "product" and "non-product" are completely opposite. In Xunzi's philosophy, the word "quality" is an important point. Xunzi believes that if you want to learn successfully, you must persist in accumulation. A person who tills the fields for a long time ("accumulated cultivation") will become a farmer, and a long-term cutting ("accumulated cultivation") will become a craftsman; Selling goods for a long time ("accumulating goods") will become a merchant; Long-term study of etiquette ("accumulation of etiquette") will make you a gentleman; Saints are just "human products". Just like An Xia, a Xia (Central Plains) native, habit becomes nature. Knowing the significance of Xunzi's thought, it is not difficult for us to understand why he spent so much effort, chose so many metaphors and took pains to teach readers.

Most notably, the author is also good at gradually deepening the discussion through metaphor. If we ignore this feature, we will be dazzled by many metaphors and confuse the context of the text.

Take the first paragraph as an example. Except for an argumentative essay at the beginning and end, the whole paragraph is composed of metaphors. The author first uses the metaphors of "shine on you" and "ice is colder than water" to illustrate that the influence of the day after tomorrow can change the essence of things and make them develop. Next, another metaphor is put forward: the straight wood of the middle rope, after transformation, has become the "wheel of its curve"; Even if it dries up and withers in the future, it is impossible to return to the "straight" state. This shows that the acquired influence plays a decisive role in changing the nature of things. In this way, the interpretation of the truth is a step forward. Then, using the two metaphors of "when tying rope, the wood is straight" and "when benefiting from time, the golden point", the importance of "being knowledgeable when participating in Japan and saving yourself" is introduced. This passage is based on metaphor, and it is very logical from asking questions to summing up.

Take the word "product" mentioned earlier as an example.

"Accumulated soil makes mountains, and wind and rain make prosperity" and "Water drops converge into the sea, making a dragon's land" are both metaphors. The correct meaning is "accumulate goodness into virtue, the gods are complacent, and the sacred heart is prepared". For a person, "accumulating goodness" must reach the realm of "becoming a virtue" in order to change his temperament and have the thoughts and feelings of a saint. According to this conclusion, we see four groups of metaphors, which explain two meanings of continuity. The first three groups discussed the importance of the word "product": "If you don't accumulate one step, you will be thousands of miles away; If you don't accumulate small streams, you can't become rivers and seas. On the positive side, you will accomplish nothing without "accumulation"; The comparative metaphors of "Miracle" and "Ma Xu" and "deadwood" and "Jinshi" emphasize that "product" and "non-product" will inevitably produce two different results. The former group focuses on the analysis of subjective conditions, while the latter group focuses on the analysis of objective conditions. The combination of the three groups of metaphors makes the truth very clear. The other group in the second half, taking the comparison between earthworm and crab as a metaphor, points out that "specificity" is the key to "product" and further guides the discussion. At this point, the basic content of the word "product" has been clearly discussed, so the author closely follows the summary of "specificity".

Xunzi's metaphorical reasoning is also rare in other pre-Qin prose, which should be said to be his original creation.

The third important feature of "Encouraging Learning" is that the sentence pattern is neat and catchy. However, the author also pays attention to the proper insertion of loose sentences in parallelism, so that the style is smooth and not rigid.

Because of the above stylistic characteristics, Xunzi's philosophical prose has its own good reading side; However, this is not the whole problem. Take this article "Encouraging Learning" as an example, there are more than a dozen interchangeable words, and some of them are not very commonly used.

With so many obstacles, Xunzi certainly has another side that is not easy to read.