Zeng Zi Kills Pigs explains what kind of person Zeng Zi is in the classical Chinese text "Zeng Zi Kills Pigs"

Zengzi kills pigs (Zengzi cooks pigs)

Zengzi kills pigs (Zengzi cooks pigs), Zengzi kills pigs, the idiom is: kill pigs to teach children. It is a metaphor that a person must keep his promise and keep his word.

Zeng Zi’s Pig Killing tells the story of Zeng Zi’s wife who casually promised her son to kill a pig for him to eat while coaxing the child. Afterwards, Zeng Zi actually killed the pig in order to fulfill this promise.

"Zengzi Killed a Piggy" is a well-known story, which popularly and profoundly illustrates the principle that once parents make a promise, they must keep their word and fulfill it. Zengzi used his actions to teach his children to be true to their word and to be honest with others.

It is a metaphor that a person must keep his word and keep his word

Zengzi insisted on killing the pig because his wife told his son as a joke, "Come back and kill a pig for you to eat." , to fulfill the promise, embodying the Confucian moral concept of "words must be done". ①Reflects the importance of educating children to be consistent in their words and deeds. ② You must be consistent with your words and deeds when doing things, and you cannot talk nonsense. ③In order not to break his promise to the children, Zengzi actually killed the pig and cooked it for the children to eat. The purpose was to educate and influence future generations with an honest and trustworthy attitude towards life. Zengzi killed pigs (zhì) (Zengzi cooked pigs). It is also called: Zengzi killed pigs.

Excerpted from "Han Feizi"

Original text

Zengzi ⑴'s wife went to market ⑵, and his son wept ⑶. His mother said to him, "When I return home, I will kill the piggy for you." When his wife came to the market, Zeng Zi wanted to catch the piggy and kill it. The wife stopped and said, "I am playing with babies." Zengzi said, "Babies are not meant to be played with. Babies are not intelligent. They treat their parents as scholars. They listen to their parents' teachings and now they bully them." In other words, it is because the mother deceives the son, but the son does not believe in his mother, that is why he becomes a disciple.

(Selected from "Han Feizi·Wai Chu Shuo Shang Zuo" by Han Fei during the Warring States Period, 1954 edition of Zhonghua Book Company's "Zhuzi Ji")

Translation

Zeng Zi The madam goes to market, her son is crying to go accordingly. His mother says to him: "You go home first, after a while I come back to kill a pig to eat to you. " Zeng Zi's madam returns from market, she sees Zeng Zi wants to catch piggy to kill. She dissuaded him and said: "I was just joking with the child." Zengzi said: "(Madam) this is not a joke! The child doesn't know (you) are joking with him. He has no ability to think and judge, so he must Learn from your parents and listen to the correct teachings given by your parents. Now you are deceiving him. This is teaching your child to lie! If a mother deceives her child, the child will no longer believe in her mother. This is not the correct way to educate her child. "So Zengzi killed the pig and cooked it for the children to eat.

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Notes

(1) Zengzi (505 BC - 432 BC): Zeng Shen, a native of Lu in the late Spring and Autumn Period. A disciple of Confucius, named Ziyu, He was respectfully called Zengzi. He had a calm temperament, a steady manner, was cautious, was courteous to others, and was known for his filial piety. He once put forward the idea of ??"being cautious in pursuing the future, and the people's morality will be strong" and the cultivation method of "I have to examine myself three times a day". It is said that "The Great Learning", which focuses on self-cultivation, is his work.

(2) The market of Zengzi’s wife: Zengzi