Watching the drama "Little Women from the Zhengyang Gate" in my spare time, Ni Dahong plays the male protagonist, named Cai Quanwu, Jiang Wenli's explanation: Those who know will lose half, and those who save will lose nothing.

Her explanation suddenly aroused my interest, and I wanted to explore the origin and meaning of this sentence.

My understanding before looking up the information is: there are so many things in the world, the wise are half of them, and the awakened are none at all. But after checking the information, I found out that this was not the case.

"Those who know will lose half, and those who know nothing will lose everything" comes from a classic book in ancient China called "Zengguang Xianwen". "Zeng Guang Xian Wen" is a textbook equivalent to a children's primer for children's enlightenment in ancient China. Its content is very simple, and its profound principles are explained in the simplest words.

There is ongoing debate over the year or even the dynasty in which "Zengguang Xianwen" was written. The so-called evidence is actually the sooner or later version of the discovery, and it keeps pushing forward in this way. But one thing is unquestionable, that is, the full text of "Zengguang Xianwen" we see today was a book revised by the Ming Dynasty and revised by others in the Qing Dynasty.

From this book, we can also see that the "language" that children in ancient China learned may not be known or understood by many Chinese departments in our universities today.

"Zengguang Xianwen" has more than 10,000 words in total and is divided into two parts. Since there are not many words, if you are interested, you can read it. There are only 12,000 words in the book, which is not much. The more you read, the more interesting it becomes!

If you don’t want to read the full text, you can read the excerpt:

① When you meet someone, you can only say a few words, but don’t give up everything.

② It is difficult to paint the skin of a tiger, but it is difficult to paint the bones.

③ If two people are of the same mind, they can’t buy gold if they don’t have money; if one person is of the same mind, if they have money, it’s hard to buy needles.

④ It is easy to get along well with each other, but it is difficult to get along with others after staying for a long time.

⑤ A horse’s weakness is due to thinness, and a person’s lack of charm is due to poverty.

⑥ No one speaks behind someone’s back, and no one speaks in front of someone?

⑦ Those who talk about right and wrong are right and wrong.

⑧ Don’t forget the acquaintances of the poor and the humble, and the wife of the chaff will not leave the court.

⑨ Raising a son without education is like raising a donkey, and raising a daughter without education is like raising a pig.

⑩ When the water is extremely clear, there are no fish; when people observe it carefully, there are no disciples. The wise lose half of it, the fool loses nothing. Follow your father at home, and follow your husband when you get married.

? Idiots fear women, but wise women respect their husbands.

? To make friends, you must be better than yourself. It is better to be like me than not.

? It is better to take the straight path rather than seek the truth from the twists and turns.

? Recently I learned the turtle method, and when I have to shrink my head, keep it.

? An inch of time is worth an inch of gold, but an inch of gold cannot buy an inch of time.

? A good person will be bullied by others, and a good horse will be ridden by others. A man is not rich without windfall, and a horse is not fat without night grass. When people are evil, they are not afraid of God; when people are good, they are not afraid of God. Good and evil will be rewarded in the end, we can only hope that they will come sooner or later.

? There is still time for the Yellow River to clear up. How can people not have good luck?

? Don’t talk about things when you see them, and don’t know when you ask about things. Don't mind your own business, and come home early if you have nothing to do.

? Only when you are in charge of a family do you realize how valuable salt and rice are, and only when you adopt a son do you understand the kindness of your parents.

? Always think that there will be a day when there is no day, and don’t mistake the day for a time.

The tree wants to be quiet but the wind does not stop; the child wants to be nourished but cannot be kissed.

And so on, some of which may be contrary to our today's philosophy, but I think it can be called pragmatism philosophy, and we should study more and take the essence.