Four Disciples from Fan was written by Yuan Lefan, a Ming scholar and disciple of Wang Yangming. The full text is only a few thousand words, but the truth is thorough and the arguments are rich and specific. The whole article expounds the relationship between life and self-cultivation, which runs through a point: "I have achieved my life and sought my own happiness."

The full text is divided into four parts, including the theory of establishing destiny, the method of reform, the method of accumulating goodness and the effect of modesty.

The first article, The Study of Destiny, is the basis of the whole article. Its basic viewpoint originated from Mencius and integrated Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism. Mencius said that it is one thing to cultivate one's morality and cultivate one's sexuality, no matter how long one lives. Just do one's duty, calmly face all situations and encounters and wait for fate. "Long life is not the only way" and "correcting the body for destiny". Although fate is inviolable, self-cultivation is indispensable. This is life.

In the book, Yuan Lefan told himself that he lost his father in his early years, abandoned Confucianism, met a master of Yi studies, and calculated his wealth and reputation, all of which were fulfilled in his later years. But according to the master, he can only live to be 53 years old and have no children under his knees. Yuan Lefan believed in the master's divination so much that he didn't make progress. I think everything is destiny takes a hand anyway, and no effort is needed. Until one day, he met Jackson Yungu. Although the Zen master was a monk, his idea of enlightening Yuan Lefan came from Confucianism. He said, "I create my own life, and I pursue my own happiness. The poetry book clearly taught me. " In fact, a person's destiny is his own, so he must seek his own happiness. Buddhist classics say, "Seek wealth, men and women, men and women, and long life", and give whatever you want. Hui Neng, the sixth ancestor, said, "Everything in Futian is in square inches".

Yuan Lefan was puzzled. He thought that since the fate was fixed, moral knowledge might still exist and wealth might also exist? What's more, all the calculations given to me by the master of Yi-ology work. The Zen master told him: "mortals can't be sanctified, but they are obsessed with delusion." "People can't be careless, but bound by Yin and Yang, there are countless peace? But only ordinary people count, and extremely excellent people can't stop him from counting. The number of vicious people can't stop him, the Book of Changes said. "Day if iniquity, still can be violated. You can't live if you do it yourself. " "If there is a good family, there must be jade", that is to say, fate is not inviolable and unchangeable. "Yi is a gentleman's plan, and it is good to avoid misfortune. If fate is unchangeable, how can we pursue it? Why can it be avoided? " Fate is also cultivated, not for no reason.

How to make a living? When you want to be carefree and motionless, what you want here refers to delusion, obsession and greed. When you are in an thoughtless state, you will not only die young, but also regret it. Poor communication, good fortune and bad fortune are all the same thing, so as to make a living. Then do a good job, record forms for him, and carry out wall charts. After that, Yuan Lefan took his wife home and did good deeds according to the requirements of the Zen master, such as helping the poor, giving donations, tax reduction, 3,000 merits and 10,000 merits. Day after day, he gradually found that his fate had changed. At the age of 53, he did not die. When writing this article, he is 69 years old and has his own son. He remembered a sentence in the history book, "The sky is hard to fall, and life is long". Fate is unpredictable, but a person's life is not static.

Yuan Lefan thinks that the way to establish one's life taught by Zen master Yungu is the most precise, profound, true and correct truth, because it combines the life wisdom of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism. He not only cultivates his self-cultivation, but also earnestly hopes that the younger generation will study hard and do it with heart, so as not to waste good time. Integrate lifestyle into family education and pass it on.

The way of establishing one's destiny in Four Seasons from Fan clarifies the spirit of "I", blends the Taoist interpretation dominated by Confucianism, breaks the fatalism, and makes people believe that one can change one's destiny through cultivation.

On this basis, the author puts forward "the method of transformation" and "the method of accumulating goodness", which are the concrete practice and methodology of lifestyle. The chapter "Reform" points out that the way to make a living must be reformed first, so as to really do good deeds. We put forward the methods of reform from three aspects of shame, fear and courage, and then put forward three different levels of "top-down reform and bottom-up reform", and only "bottom-up reform" is the foundation. We put forward the contents of the chapter "Seventeen, Twenty-seven and Twenty-seven", which is of great guiding significance to our work and life, and we can't help but think of Ceng Zi's "I know right and wrong every day, and I change every day."

The chapter "Doing Good" rises to a rational level after listing ten examples of doing good, and analyzes the true meaning of "good" from the angles of truth and falsehood, extreme yin and yang, right and wrong, bias, half-fullness, size and difficulty, and then puts forward ten main ways of doing good: First, be kind to others; Second, love and respect are intentional; Third, the beauty of adults; Fourth, persuade people to be good; Fifth, saving lives is crucial; Sixth, build Italy; Seventh, give up wealth for happiness; Eighth, protect the law; Ninth, respect teachers; Tenth, cherish life. He gave detailed examples for each item. The chapter "Modesty" emphasizes the efficacy of modesty, which is essentially the consolidation and guarantee of "reform" and "conduct". Its guide's words: "the creator of life is heaven, and the creator of life is me;" Why can't you do good deeds and accumulate virtue? "Can be said to be the summary of the whole book. Although the right of nature is in the sky, the right of nature is still in me; As long as people are willing to do good deeds and accumulate virtue, what can't be rewarded?

Also mentioned a very realistic and interesting question. According to the Buddhist theory of good and evil karma, why are some people good, their children unhappy, and some people bad and rich? The explanation is that our standard of good and evil is sometimes subjective, and it is judged by whether it is beneficial to me. For example, most people think cautious people are good, while saints prefer "arrogant" people. "The evil of heaven and earth and the good of ghosts and gods are all related to the right and wrong of saints and have nothing to do with the secular." I also gave an example. Confucius held a negative attitude and thought that his behavior would affect future generations. However, Luzhui accepted the reward of saving lives, which Confucius affirmed because it encouraged others. Prime Minister Lu Yuan indulged the drunkard to insult him, and as a result, the drunkard later committed a capital crime, and the little evil harmed him. This is what we often say, good people are actually not good people. "It is to know people well, regardless of the current situation, and talk about abuses; No matter for a while, but for a long time; Regardless of the whole body, it is related to the world. "

Confucianism holds a positive attitude towards fate. Confucius Yan Yuan in The Analects of Confucius said: "Life and death are determined by fate, and wealth is in the sky." This sentence should be understood in a specific context, not just taken out of context. This is Confucius' lamentation over the unfortunate life experience of his young disciple Yan Yuan: a man who was still in his prime, but died young because of the hardships of life, should have been rich in talent and morality, but he was poor all his life. This is the misfortune of Yan Yuan and the misfortune of the times. This is a kind of regret and dissatisfaction with social reality, but it is only a catharsis of grief and indignation at that time, so we can't conclude that Confucius is fatalism, otherwise it will shake the foundation of Confucianism's entry into the WTO, and it is also inconsistent with the positive efforts of Confucius and later Confucian Taisa disciples. Confucianism advocates "self-cultivation, governing the country and leveling the world", emphasizing self-discipline through personal moral cultivation, and then participating in state governance. Confucianism does not deny the existence of fate, but its meaning of "fate" goes far beyond fate, but is a collection of various objective conditions. Moreover, facing fate is not passive obedience, but positive action, and through your own efforts, accept the final result. This avoids two extremes, neither passively accepting fate nor clinging to the success or failure of the result, and seeks a balance between ideal and reality. This is also the logical starting point of the doctrine of the mean.

However, this book also has limitations, that is, it is too utilitarian. Changing one's destiny is to achieve fame, wealth, children's longevity and so on, which limits the realm of practice. Therefore, Mr. nan huaijin also said in the "New Interpretation of the Four Seasons": "Although it has not been thoroughly studied, it has a great influence on the social mind, supplemented by ethics." Heather's comments are more pertinent, which not only illustrate its limitations, but also talk about its great influence on social people's hearts and ethics, so this book still has its social enlightenment significance and life guiding value that can not be ignored.