Speaking of Zeng culture, there is a famous Zeng that cannot be ignored. He is Zeng Shen, the founder of Zeng School, who is famous for his benevolence and filial piety.
Zeng Shen was born in Wucheng, Lu at the end of the Spring and Autumn Period. Zeng Shen is 46 years younger than Confucius. 16 years old worships Confucius as a teacher and is famous for benevolence, filial piety and righteousness. Zeng Shen's father Zeng, also known as Zeng, is also a student of Confucius.
Zeng Shen inherited the Confucian orthodoxy and enlightened the Mencius school. His academic position was not gradually recognized until after the Tang and Song Dynasties. All previous dynasties respected Confucianism and Taoism and participated in Confucius' "four combinations". "Sipei" is the most respected figure in the Confucius Temple, second only to Confucius' four great masters (four saints). Their statues sit on both sides of the statue of Confucius, namely, Yan Hui (restoring the sage), Kong Ji (describing the sage), Zeng Shen (Zong Sheng) and Monk (Yasheng). Zeng's descendants followed the temple system, with Zeng Shen as the founder of the school.
/kloc-When he was 0/6 years old, his father took him to worship Confucius as a teacher.
Zeng Shen helped with housework when he was a few years old. He is a little older and worked in the fields with his father. When he was 10 years old, he could chop wood, plow the fields and drive by himself. Once I went to Taishan to farm, I was caught in a snowstorm and couldn't go home for more than a month. He missed his parents, wrote a poem "Song of Liangshan", and danced while playing the piano to express his sad mood.
/kloc-When he was 0/6 years old, his father Zeng Xi took him to worship Confucius as a teacher. Confucius' first impression of Zeng Shen was "Participating in Lu Ye", which means Zeng Shen was simple and honest.
Once, Zeng Shen was weeding in a Gua Tian and accidentally hoed a melon seedling. I was very angry and thought he was not single-minded, so I picked up a big stick and hit him. Zeng's hand was so heavy that Zeng Shen was knocked unconscious. When Zeng Shen woke up, instead of being angry, he said happily, "Thank you for teaching me so hard. Don't be angry! "
The story reached the ears of Confucius, who criticized Zeng Shen and said, "If you hit lightly, you should run." . If you are killed by your father in a rage, it will give your father an unfair reputation. Think about it, where is filial piety? "Zeng can suddenly realize, broke out in a cold sweat and said," I have sinned! " "
Ceng Zi's anecdotes and allusions.
Ceng Zi is not given.
At the age of 22, Zeng Shen returned to Shandong from Weiguo with Confucius. At this time, Zeng was old, so Zeng Shen had to work and study. People often see Zeng Shen working in the fields in shabby clothes.
When the monarch of Lu heard about this, he was afraid that other countries would joke that Lu did not attach importance to scholars, so he sent someone to tell Zeng Shen to stop farming and send him to the utopia. Zeng Shen refused to accept it and said, "People who receive gifts are often afraid of those who give gifts, and those who give gifts often bully those who receive gifts." Even if the monarch doesn't bully me, how can I not be afraid? "When Confucius heard this, he commented on Zeng Shen and said," Zeng Shen's words are enough to preserve his integrity. "
Ceng Zi pengbi
Zeng Shen's wife is going to the fair, and her son is crying to follow. In order to coax her son, Zeng's wife pointed to the immature pig in the pigsty and said, "Don't follow me, I'll come back and kill the pig for you." My son bought it, so he stopped.
When his wife came back from the market, his son clamored to kill pigs and eat meat. Without saying anything, Zeng Shen ran to the pen to catch pigs. Seeing that Zeng Shen was serious, Zeng's wife quickly stopped him and said, "Why did you kill pigs? I'm just joking with my son! " Zeng Shen said: "A child knows nothing from childhood and learns from his parents. You are teaching your child to cheat by lying to him now! " So he killed the pig and let his son eat meat.
Bite your fingers and grieve.
When Ceng Zi was a teenager, his family was very poor. He often went into the mountains to collect firewood. One day, there were guests at home, and my mother was at a loss and bit her finger with her teeth. Zeng Shen suddenly felt distressed. Knowing that his mother was calling him, he hurried home with firewood on his back and knelt down to ask why. Mother said, "Suddenly a guest came, and I bit my finger. I hope you will come back." Zeng Shen received guests with courtesy.
Speaking of filial piety, Zeng Shen said, "It is love and respect." If parents behave reasonably, follow them; If it doesn't make sense, suggest them ... Filial piety means taking parents' worries as worries and parents' happiness as happiness.
Confucius was diligent and eager to learn, and asked him for help before he died.
The biggest feature of Zeng Shen's study is that he is diligent and inquisitive. He said: "We should cherish the study time and study when we have the right time. Don't avoid problems, don't let go of seemingly simple problems. " Every time he was around Confucius, Zeng Shen was bound to ask all kinds of questions, and all the etiquette, practices and contingency methods about luck, fierceness, army and country were clear. In The Book of Rites, there is an article "Ceng Zi's Questions", which describes that Zeng Shen once asked Confucius for advice. There are more than 40 questions.
Zeng Shen attached great importance to the cultivation of his moral quality and closely combined his studies with his self-cultivation, which is the famous sentence "save myself three times a day" He said: "I ask myself many times every day: have I tried my best to do things for others?" Is it honest to associate with friends? Is the study taught by the teacher often reviewed? "
Once in class, Confucius called Zeng Shen to his side and sighed, "Zeng Shen, my thoughts run through a line." After Confucius went out, other students gathered around and asked Zeng Shen, "What did the teacher mean just now?" Zeng Shen said: "The teacher's thought is loyalty and forgiveness."
Confucius thought that Zeng Shen could inherit his own career, so he paid special attention to teaching him his own studies separately. One day, Confucius said to Zeng Shen, "There is a supreme morality that can be used to govern the world. Do you know? " Then the filial piety was systematically taught to Zeng Shen, and the contents were recorded in the Book of Filial Piety.
Another day, he took part in Confucius' idle sitting, and Confucius taught him the strategy of governing the country. The content of teaching is recorded in the book "Da Dai Yan". Etiquette is an important content of Confucianism. Confucius patiently taught Zeng Shen and recorded the contents of his teaching in the Book of Rites. Ceng Zi asked:
Confucius commented that Zeng Shen said: "Filial piety is the foundation of morality, loving brothers is the extension of morality, credit is the expression of morality, and loyalty is the right path of morality." Zeng Shen is the person who meets these four moral requirements. On his deathbed, Confucius called Zeng Shen to his side and entrusted his grandson Kong Ji to him. That year, Zeng Shen was only 27 years old.
After Confucius' death, all his disciples mourned for him for three years. Three years later, Zi Gong and Zi You thought that if their classmates looked a bit like Confucius, they wanted to treat him with respect for teachers and respect for Taoism, so they asked Zeng Shen for advice. Zeng Shen flatly stopped, saying, "No! The teacher's character and thoughts are as white and bright as washed by the river, exposed to the summer sun! Think about it, who can compare with the teacher now? "
Pass on the mantle, give lectures and write books.
After the death of Confucius, Zeng Shen realized the great responsibility of inheriting the mantle of a teacher and began to teach in his hometown. At first, I gave lectures at home. Later, when there were more students, I moved into a big family. At the age of 38, he was employed by Dr. Wucheng, and once participated in teaching in Wucheng. At the age of 39, he left Wucheng to give lectures in Vietnam. Now there is a Moshan Mountain 60 miles northwest of Tancheng County, Shandong Province. It is said that Zeng Shen once taught there.
At the age of 40, he participated in defending the country, which lasted for more than 20 years. Zeng Shen not only taught in Weiguo, but also made a series of remarks, continuing to strengthen self-cultivation and adhere to morality. 6 1 year-old returned to his hometown from Weiguo and continued to teach and give lectures.
One of the important characteristics of students who have participated in the seminar is to teach Confucius' teachings truthfully. Once, Zeng Shen told his student Xiangzi what courage is and directly quoted Confucius: "Is Zi Hao brave?" I have tasted Wen Dayong more than the master. On the contrary, I don't flinch. Although I am brown and broad, I don't care. Now that it's shrunk, although there are thousands of people, I still want to go. "
Another feature of students who have participated in teaching is to seize every opportunity to carry out ideological and moral education for students. Among the students who attended the meeting, some wanted to go to Jin State and said to Zeng, "There is no one I know in Jin State." Zeng Shen said, "Why are there people who are familiar with each other? Go ahead. A familiar person calls him a friend, and an unfamiliar person is his guest. A gentleman insists on benevolence, achieves virtue, does it first, then says it, and is a brother thousands of miles away. If you don't know how to strengthen your study and cultivation, even your relatives, no one wants to be close to you. "
In his later years, Zeng Shen compiled The Analects of Confucius, The Book of Rites and The Book of Filial Piety in order to record Confucius' thoughts. Zeng Shen's remarks were also compiled into books by his disciples. Ceng Zi 18 articles were recorded in History of Han Dynasty, and the Book of Filial Piety was written by Zeng Shen, and was honored as one of the "Four Books" by later generations.
Zeng Shen's sons Zeng Yuan, Zeng Shenhe and his great-grandson Zeng are all famous for their wisdom. "Shuo Yuan Zayan" said: "The children of Confucius' family don't know how to call names, and the children of Zeng Shen's family don't know how to pursue power. The reason for this is that parents are well educated. "
Zeng Shen's view of filial piety was handed down from Confucius. However, on the basis of Confucius' view of filial piety, he realized an important part of the original Confucius' theory of "benevolence" through his own "Three Provinces", fully developed and summarized filial piety, and developed children's respect for their parents into an abstract and universal norm in the main family ethics, which is the basis of all morality and the source of education.
Zeng Shen expanded the connotation of "filial piety" to include all moral categories such as benevolence, righteousness, propriety and faithfulness, and it is no longer a part of "benevolence". Zeng Shen's view of filial piety also includes Zhuang, loyalty, respect and courage. "Being humble and unfilial; Infidelity is unfilial; Being an official is disrespectful and unfilial; Friends who don't believe it are unfilial; Chen Yongwu is unfilial. "