Confucius said: "Government based on virtue is like Beichen. It lives in its place and the stars align with it."
Confucius said: "Three hundred poems, one sentence. To sum it up, it is said: "Thinking is innocent." ?
After talking about learning, we come to the chapter on politics. Weizheng refers to how to do things. Taking morality as the starting point for doing things, and using education to influence people's hearts as the starting point are the core of the chapter on politics. This is different from other cultures. For example, the "Su Shu" we study tells us to focus on self-cultivation, but it also talks about many wonderful methods; and the "Wei Zheng Chapter" of "The Analects" tells us to focus on virtue As the starting point, it is more inclined to education, supplemented by methods.
Confucius said: "Government based on virtue is like the Beichen, which lives in its place and the stars align with it." Chen: In the night sky, everything except the sun, moon and stars is Chen, and The sun, moon and stars represent all spaces and all regions. Beichen: The central area of ??the North Pole, and Polaris is close to the position of Beichen, so now Beichen is usually translated as North Star. ***: Surround, surround, revolve. This sentence tells us the importance of taking virtue as the starting point. When we do things with virtue as the starting point, we are like Beichen standing in the central area, and the stars will naturally revolve around us, that is, all people and things will revolve around us. operation.
If we cultivate our inner virtues in life and do things with virtue as the starting point, we can attract many virtuous people and virtuous things to come to us, and all Everyone and everything will revolve around virtuous people. When we do things with benevolence as the starting point, everything around us will be educated and influenced. Therefore, we usually say that heaven and earth have great virtues, because they can illuminate all things, can carry great virtues, and can influence all things between heaven and earth. Therefore, the ancients attached great importance to governing the world with benevolence and virtue, and then it was enough to comply with the law.
The beginning of Wei Zheng tells us the importance of virtue, which is like the virtue of heaven and earth, the virtue of the sun, moon and stars. Now let’s look at how the word virtue should be extended and practiced in life. The opening chapter of "The Great Learning" says: "To be virtuous, to be close to the people, and to strive for perfection." To be virtuous means cultivating one's own virtues. When we continue to cultivate our inner virtues, we will naturally follow the example of heaven and earth and cultivate all things. Among them, This includes being close to the people, getting close to others, helping others, and the goal is to achieve the ultimate good. And in the process of being close to the people, in the process of imitating heaven and earth, and benefiting all things, we are constantly nourishing our own virtues. "The Great Learning" also says that "virtue is the foundation and wealth is the foundation," which means that cultivating one's inner virtue is the foundation, and wealth is the foundation. We should not put the cart before the horse when doing things. Only with the foundation can there be the foundation, and only with virtue can we have wealth. Therefore, "The Great Learning" says, "There are people with virtue, there are people with soil, there is wealth with soil, there is wealth with usefulness." Earth: In ancient times, it refers to land and cities; now it refers to the field you operate and the things you do. .
Let’s put ourselves in someone else’s shoes and think about it. In the process of doing things, in the process of working and making friends, would we rather follow a virtuous person or an immoral person? Naturally, he is a virtuous person. So when we are virtuous, people will naturally follow us; if people follow us, we will naturally have our own domain; with our own domain, we will naturally gain wealth; with wealth, we can use it to do virtuous things; Doing virtuous things will naturally increase and nourish our virtue; with greater virtue, there will naturally be more people, a larger field, and more wealth. So when we know how to constantly cultivate our inner virtues, we will naturally attract more and more people and things to come to us and revolve around us. At this time, it is extremely simple to do things.
? "The Doctrine of the Mean" says, "Those who are virtuous will definitely get their name, their position, their salary, and their longevity." As our virtues are constantly nourished, we will naturally be rewarded for our virtues. And get salary, money and all external things. If you must get your position, you will naturally get a position that is respected by others, and you will get the things you should do and the positions you should receive. If you have a good name, you will naturally gain fame and respect from others. Those who will surely live a long life and die without dying are called longevity by the ancients. Although the life span of the body is limited, the mind and spirit are still there. This is called longevity. The greater your virtue and how many people you benefit, the longer your life will be.
For example, we now praise Confucius: "If heaven did not give birth to Zhongni, eternity would be like a long night." It means that without Confucius, there would be no light in people's hearts, and eternity would be like night. This is describing Confucius' virtue is as great as heaven and earth. Therefore, at the beginning of Wei Zheng, we emphasize the importance of the word "德".
When we know how to cultivate our own virtues, we don’t need to take the initiative to do anything, we don’t need to seek any external connections, and we don’t need to expect anything to come. We only need to cultivate our own inner virtues, and everything will happen naturally. will revolve around us.
Confucius said: "Three hundred poems can be summed up in one sentence, saying: thinking without evil." There are 305 chapters in the "Book of Songs". Here we talk about three hundred poems. It’s an integer. If I could sum up the Book of Songs in one sentence, it means that the thought is pure. The Book of Songs was abridged and compiled by Confucius. It was composed of aspirations in the heart and poetry in words. This is the origin of the Book of Songs. What we have in our hearts is called ambition, thought, and spirit; what we say in words is poetry, and what we say between words is called poetry. The Book of Songs contains very rich content. At that time, the music that expressed the folk's lovesickness, borrowed objects to express feelings, and praised the royal family and sacrifices were all contained in the Book of Songs, which could express moods, scenes, and praise and feelings in the heart. They are all based on the folk customs of "The Book of Songs", as well as the royal style and the joy of palace banquets. The Book of Songs at that time could be sung, but it was later rewritten and deleted by Confucius, leaving 305 chapters in the Book of Songs.
Why did Confucius delete and rewrite the Book of Songs? Because "The Book of Songs" can educate people's customs, cultivate their sentiments, and make people's thoughts more pure. Just like the music we listen to now, when we hear the great national anthem of the Communist Party of China, our blood will boil, full of fighting spirit, and full of patriotic feelings. These are the directions that music brings us. Confucius compiled the Book of Songs in order to make people's thoughts purer, to cultivate their sentiments, and to observe rituals and music. Because in that era, etiquette collapsed and music was destroyed, but music represented etiquette and could cleanse the soul.
By quoting sentences from "The Book of Songs" at will, we can cultivate people's sentiments and cleanse their hearts. For example, the opening chapter of "The Book of Songs" says: "Guan Guan Jiujiu, on the boat on the river, the fair lady, the gentleman loves to fight," which tells a very simple and beautiful picture of the relationship between men and women. For example, "cutting like discussing, studying like polishing," can guide a person to refine and cultivate his inner self. Another example is what the "Book of Songs" says: "The country is thousands of miles away, but only the people stop it, and the wild yellow bird stops at the corner of the hill." This means that the country's thousands-mile country is for the people to live in, and even a little bird knows that it is Stopping, not to mention us, we should know our own direction. This is all about cleansing people's minds and establishing their value orientation.
? Let’s continue to quote sentences from the Book of Songs. For example, "If a peach is born, its leaves are pure, and the son will return home, which is good for his family." It means that a girl who is about to get married should cultivate her own feminine virtues, and after she gets married, she should support her husband and teach her children, and she should be beneficial to the other person's family. , this is to cleanse people's hearts and establish a value orientation. "Poetry" says: "Looking at Qi'ao, there are green bamboos and Yiyi, and there is a noble gentleman. It's like cutting with each other, like plowing, like grinding. It's like playing the guitar, and it's loud and noisy. There is a noble gentleman, so you can't make a noise." It talks about the bright and solemn appearance that a person can show by cultivating his inner self. "Poetry" says: "The wife is harmonious, like a drum, a harp, and a harp, and the brothers are playing music and enjoying themselves." It tells us that husband and wife should live in harmony, and brothers should be respectful and friendly. It describes a harmonious family environment for us. . Therefore, the Book of Songs is used to cleanse the soul and educate people.
The opening chapter of "Wei Zheng" tells us that "government should be based on virtue," and the "Book of Songs" was written out of the inner kindness, using virtue to educate people's hearts and guide people's thoughts to become pure. When we have inner virtue and pure thoughts, we will naturally not be able to do evil things, and we will naturally not harm others, because we have good things in our hearts. When we memorize the Book of Songs by heart, we are actually nourishing our virtues and nourishing our inner beauty.
When we memorize the sentence in "The Book of Songs", "Wives are in harmony like drums and harps, and brothers are playing in peace and harmony," we will understand that there must be harmony between husband and wife. To get along, brothers should be friendly to each other; when we remember that "it's like discussing with each other, like studying and polishing," we know that we must constantly cultivate our inner self and correct our shortcomings; when we remember that "the savage yellow bird, "Stop at Qiuyu," we will know the direction our life should take; when we remember the appearance of "Looking at Biqiao, green bamboo Yiyi, there is a noble gentleman", we will make ourselves shy and proud. Come on, make yourself look bright and solemn.