"However, there are many things in the world, but if you know one but don't know the other, you can make assumptions based on reason." What does it mean?

"However, there are many things in the world, but if you know one but don't know both, you can make assumptions based on reason." It means: According to his words (to find), it is indeed a few miles away (upstream) Found the stone beast. Since there are so many things in the world where we only know superficial phenomena and do not know the underlying truth, can we make subjective judgments based on a certain truth?

1. Original text

Cangzhou Nanyi Temple faces the river stem, the mountain gate collapsed in the river, and the two stone beasts sank together. When he was more than ten years old, the monk raised money to rebuild the temple and asked for two stone beasts in the water, but he couldn't find it. I thought I was going downstream with the current, so I took several small boats and dragged the iron palladium after searching for more than ten miles, but found no trace.

A lecturer set up a tent in the temple. When he heard about it, he laughed and said: "You guys can't study physics. How can it be carried away by the sudden surge of wood? It's because the stone is hard and heavy, and the sand is loose and floating. It's buried in the sand." Go up, gradually sink and deepen your ears. Looking for it along the river, isn't it true? "Everyone agrees."

An old river soldier heard this and said with a smile: "Whenever a stone is lost in the river, it should be found upstream. The stone is hard and heavy, and the sand is loose and floating. Water cannot wash away the stone, and its counterattack force will The sand will be bitten under the stone to form a hole, which will gradually become deeper and deeper. When it reaches half of the stone, the stone will be thrown into the hole.

If it is bitten again, the stone will turn around again. , so he went back up the stream and went upstream. If he wanted to go down, he would be in a rocky place. If he wanted to find a place, wouldn’t it be more rocky? "As he said, the result was found several miles away. However, there are many things in the world that only know one thing but don’t know the other two. How can we make assumptions based on reason?

2. Translation

There is a temple near the river bank in the south of Cangzhou. The temple door collapsed in the river, and the two stone beasts sank here together. After more than ten years, the monks raised money to rebuild the temple and searched for the stone beast in the river, but failed to find it. (The monks) thought that the stone beast had flowed downstream along the current, so they rowed several small boats, dragging the iron palladium, and searched (downstream) for more than ten miles, but found no trace (of the stone beast).

A lecturer who was teaching in the temple heard about this and said with a smile: "You people can't figure out the truth of things. This (stone beast) is not a piece of wood. How could it be destroyed by the sudden flood?" What about taking it away? The nature of stone is hard and heavy, while the nature of sand is soft and frivolous. Stone animals are buried in the sand, sinking deeper and deeper. Isn’t it crazy to follow the river to find stone animals?"

Everyone is convinced that (this statement) is accurate and accurate. An old river soldier heard the lecturer's point of view and said with a smile: "Any stone that falls into the river should be looked for in the upper reaches of the river. Precisely because the nature of stones is hard and heavy, and the nature of sand is soft and light, the water flow The stone cannot be washed away. The force of the backwash of the water must erode the sand and form a hole under the stone.

The more intense the hole is, the deeper it becomes (when the hole extends) to half of the stone. It must be dumped in the hole. If it is washed again like this, the stone will continue to rotate like this, so it will go upstream in the opposite direction. It is crazy to look for stone beasts in the river. Wouldn’t it be crazier to search for them where the beast sank?"

According to his words (to search), the stone beast was found a few miles (upstream). Since there are so many things in the world where we only know superficial phenomena and do not know the underlying truth, can we make subjective judgments based on a certain truth?

3. Author's origin

Author Ji Yun? Extended information on "Stone Beasts in the River" during the Qing Dynasty

1. Creative background

Ji Yun's later years, that is, from the fifty-fourth year of Qianlong (1789) to the third year of Jiaqing (1798), he began to collect folk stories about foxes, ghosts and ghosts, including many texts on textual research, and compiled them into "Notes on Yuewei Thatched Cottage", of which this article is one.

2. Appreciation of the work

The full text has a clear hierarchy. Its writing structure mainly revolves around the search for stone beasts, and the philosophy of life is unearthed in the dramatic plot. The monks in the temple are like ordinary people. Because their understanding of external things is limited, they row a few small boats along the river to look for stone beasts according to conventional thinking. Of course, they cannot find them. But it is not correct for scholars to reason based on the knowledge they have learned from books.

His set of theories may temporarily convince everyone, but the facts are still facts. If you dig underground according to the scholars' theories and methods, you will definitely not be able to find the stone beast. Because the old river soldier has been dealing with rivers for many years, he has a more detailed understanding of the river's water, stones, sediment and other habits, so he can draw the correct conclusion: the stone went upstream. I searched upstream according to the old river soldier's method, and sure enough I found the stone beast.

3. Meaning of the article

"Stone Beasts in the River" is an article by Ji Yun (jǐyún, also known as Xiaolan), selected from "Notes of Yuewei Cottage" The main content of Volume 16 "Guwan Listens to It" is that a stone beast fell into the river. Due to the momentum of the water and the weight of the stone beast itself, the stone beast must be found upstream from where it fell.

The meaning of the article is that when considering a problem, you must analyze the causes from the outside to the inside and come up with the correct fundamental solution. Reading Tips: The occurrence of many natural phenomena often has complex reasons. We cannot only know one but not the other and make subjective judgments based on common sense. It should be analyzed correctly and considered comprehensively, like the old river soldier in the article.

We not only consider the specific gravity of the stone beasts, but also correctly analyze the interaction between the impulse of water and the stone beasts, and then analyze the local changes in the river bed morphology caused by the recoil force generated by this interaction. Only in this way can we draw the correct conclusion.

It illustrates these principles: when encountering problems, you should not make subjective inferences and seek truth from facts. Practice brings true knowledge. Practical experience is sometimes more important than book knowledge. At the same time, it also enlightens us: when encountering problems, we should use our brains to think more, analyze various factors, and try to make as few jokes as possible, only knowing one but not the other.

4. Comments by famous experts

Wang Tailing, director of the Chinese Poetry Research Association and director of the Institute of Chinese Poetry and Prose at Guizhou Normal University, "Selected Works of the Qing Dynasty": "Although this article is short, its structure is quite Rigorous. The words of the monks and lecturers, especially those of Lao Hebing, are as deep as peeling bamboo shoots. The language of the article is also concise and accurate, and has an irrefutable power."