Once Confucius was seriously ill and could not recover for a long time, so Zilu began to pray to the ghosts and gods, hoping that the teacher would get better soon; When Confucius heard about it, he asked him: Is there such a thing? Zilu said: Yes, the text of "诔" (lěi) says, "Pray to the gods of heaven and earth for you"; Confucius said: I started praying a long time ago. Confucius said: If you are extravagant, you will be more polite, and if you are thrifty, you will be shabby; Rather than being polite, I would rather choose shabby. The gentleman has a big heart, and the villain is often sorrowful. In terms of manners, Confucius was able to be gentle and stern, majestic but not fierce, solemn and serene.

(8) "Taber Chapter"

The Taber has 21 chapters, and the famous sentence reads: "The bird is dying, and its cry is sad; When a man is dying, he speaks in good faith"; "The responsibility is great, the road is long"; "You won't stop until you're dead"; "If you are not in that position, you don't think about the things in that position", etc. The basic content of this article involves the evaluation of ancient emperors such as Yao Shunyu by Confucius and his students; the further development of Confucius's teaching methods and educational thoughts; The specific content of Confucius's moral thought and Zengzi's analysis of several issues.

It can be said that Taber is a man of the most noble character, he has given up the throne to Ji Li several times, and the common people want to praise him, but they can't find the right words. To be a human being, just to look respectful and not to be guided by courtesy, will be in vain; Just a cautious appearance without being guided by courtesy will shrink and be restrained; Just a brave look without being guided by courtesy, will speak harshly. If the people in the upper positions can treat their relatives well, the common people will naturally rise up a benevolent atmosphere. If a gentleman does not abandon his old friends, the common people will not be indifferent to people.

When Zengzi became seriously ill, he summoned his students to his side and said, "Help me look at my feet, look at my hands, and see if they are damaged; The Book of Songs says, "Be cautious, as if standing beside an abyss, as if stepping on thin ice"; Disciples, from now on, I know that my body will never be damaged again! Zengzi was sick, and Meng Jingzi went to visit him, and Zengzi said to Meng Jingzi: The bird is dying, and its cry is sad; When a man is dying, his words are kind; There should be three aspects of the way that a gentleman attaches importance to: make his appearance solemn and serious, so as to avoid being rough and presumptuous; Let your face be serious, so that it is close to integrity; Be careful with your words and tone of voice, so that you can avoid being rude; As for the rituals of sacrifice and rituals, it is natural that there will be officials in charge of these things.

Zeng Tzu said: I have talent, but I ask people who don't have talent; I already have a lot of knowledge, but I ask for advice from people who have little knowledge. learned, but as unlearned; Knowledge is already abundant, but it seems empty; I was violated, but I didn't care, and I used to have a friend like that. We can describe a gentleman in this way, he can entrust the young monarch to him, he can entrust the power of the country to him, and he will not waver in the face of the urgent moment of life and death, these are all things that a gentleman can do. The scholar should not be strong and persevering, because he regards the realization of benevolence as his own pursuit, and has a great responsibility; He knows that the road is far away, so he needs to fight for the rest of his life, and he will not stop until he dies.

Confucius tells us that people's cultivation begins with the study of the Book of Songs; People's self-reliance begins with learning the ritual; After learning and having fun, the knowledge of being a person and cultivating this part is considered to be completed. Confucius said: For the common people, we can only let them do things according to our will, and we can't let them understand why they do what they do.

(A special explanation is needed here.) The original sentence is, Zi said: The people can make it impossible to know it. Due to the difference in sentence breaks, the interpretation is different. There has been controversy about this sentence since ancient times. The reason why this sentence is important is that the ideas expressed by Confucius are completely different depending on the sentence break. Now there are about five ways to break sentences, namely: "The people can make it, but they can't know it", "The people can make it; No, let it be known", "the people can make it, let it be; "The people can make it, but they can't make it, they can't make it, they know it", "The people can make it from it?" No, it is possible to know". ）

(It seems a bit confusing, but the above explanation takes the first way to break the sentence: the people can make it, but they can't make it know.) This is also the way most people break sentences. When explained in such a broken sentence, we feel that Confucius was a bit foolish, but there seems to be no contradiction between foolishness and love for the people. We can try to understand that in the Spring and Autumn Period, Confucius first opened civilian education, and at this time, the common people and people's wisdom were not yet opened. The common people were originally ignorant, and the sages could not explain all the truths to them at one time, and the people needed a process of self-realization and self-realization, which should be the most appropriate way to treat the common people at that time. So the best way is to let the people do what the people want to do, and not explain to them why they do it. If this is the case, Confucius also had good intentions. ）

If you like to be brave and resent that you are too poor, you are prone to rebellion. For people or things that are not virtuous, if the persecution is too strong, there will be chaos. A monarch, even if he has the beautiful talent of Duke Zhou, if he is arrogant and stingy, then no matter how good he is in other aspects, it is not worth mentioning. A person who has studied the way of heaven for three years can basically come out and become an official.

Firm in their beliefs, and study hard, swear to defend and improve the road of governing the country and being a person; Do not enter a politically unstable country, do not live in a place of unrest; If there is a way in the world, he will come out to be an official, and if there is no way in the world, he will live in seclusion; It is a shame that the country has a way, and you are poor; It is also a shame for the country to be unreasonable, and to be rich and noble. If you're not in that position, don't think about things in that position. Confucius said: From the beginning of Taishizhi's performance of the overture to the end of the performance of "Guan Ju", the rich and beautiful music has always echoed in my ears.

Arrogant but not upright, ignorant but not prudent, superficially sincere but not trustworthy, I really don't know why there are such people! We should have such an attitude when learning knowledge, as if we will never be able to catch up, and we are worried that we will lose something. Shun and Yu are noble, and the world they got was not taken away. A monarch like Yao is great and noble; Heaven is the highest, and only Yao can imitate the height of heaven; His kindness was so great that the people did not know what language to praise him; His merits are noble, and how glorious is the system of etiquette he formulated!