With copper as a mirror, you can be well dressed; Taking history as a mirror, we can know the rise and fall. Learn from others and you will know the gains and losses. What is the whole poem?

Sighed: "with copper as a mirror, you can dress your clothes;" Taking history as a mirror, we can know the rise and fall, and taking people as a mirror, we can know the gains and losses. I have tried to protect these three lessons, and I defend myself from the heart. Today, Wei Zhi died, and so will he. "

Translation:

Emperor Taizong sighed: "using copper as a mirror can make you dignified and tidy when wearing it;" Taking history as a mirror, we can know the rise and fall of existence since the dynasties; Take people as a mirror, you can know your own gains and losses. I used to keep these three mirrors to prevent myself from making mistakes. Now that Wei Zhi is dead, I have lost a mirror. "

Extended data:

Taking people as a mirror, we can know the gains and losses. Compared with people's passivity, we emphasize the initiative of Emperor Taizong and my subjective initiative. Taking copper as a mirror and dressing appropriately means that people look in the mirror, not me; Taking history as a mirror and knowing the rise and fall is to learn history, not to take the initiative to find people with historical knowledge.

In the same way, the same logic, learning from others and understanding gains and losses means that people take the initiative to "learn from others" and actively understand gains and losses. The first two points are about initiative and consciousness, and "learning from others" certainly emphasizes initiative and consciousness.

Generally speaking, Emperor Taizong emphasized more introspection, more self-denial, more Confucius' self-introspection, more Confucius' "Si Qi sees sages, but not sages", more Ceng Zi's "I visit three provinces every day", more Mencius' "self-seeking" and more Zhu Xi.