The ancients said that "men and women don't give and receive", but ten people don't know the second half sentence. Is it reasonable?

The ancients attached great importance to the purity between men and women. This is mainly influenced by traditional Confucianism. Mutual respect between men and women has become a kind of etiquette, and everyone should abide by it. So how strict is this understanding advocated by the ancients? They think that men and women can't even pass things on to each other, so there is a saying that men and women don't give or receive. This proverb has been divorced from the requirements of the times. In fact, there is the second half of the sentence, which most people don't know.

First, men and women don't communicate with each other.

This sentence comes from Mencius Li Lou, which is also a Confucian classic. The ancients regarded some behaviors advocated by Confucianism as etiquette, and they followed such etiquette everywhere in their lives. In order to strengthen the rule, the rulers at that time constantly instilled the concept of home and country into the people, among which Confucianism was only a tool to rule the people and regulate their behavior. There was no such "excessive" behavior between men and women at that time. Even when engaged, both men and women have never met, let alone contacted.

This proverb is out of date now. Normal communication between men and women in modern society will not cause criticism from others. Moreover, the status of women is constantly improving, men and women can study and work together, and the sense of distance between men and women is shortened. This is the progress of the times. The ancient concept of keeping a strict distance between men and women has been divorced from the times and is a backward feudal thought.

Second, sister-in-law drowned to help, showing humanistic care.

In fact, the first half of this proverb mainly regulates the relationship between men and women, and the next sentence of this sentence is called helping her in fire and water. Mencius argued with others at that time that if something special happened, for example, my sister-in-law fell into the water and was in danger, she should be helped as a brother-in-law at this time. After all, under special circumstances, if you don't save people and let your sister-in-law die because you obey the etiquette, it will be even more indifferent.

The second half of this proverb shows concern for human nature. Mencius warned others that although etiquette is very important, human life is much more important than etiquette. In an emergency, we must put human life first. Although it violates etiquette, we can forgive them. Although ancient etiquette is indifferent, this second half sentence makes people feel a little warm to read.

Conclusion:

Although the ancients advocated etiquette, they also knew that under special circumstances, it was understandable to violate etiquette. The ancients paid attention to the situation, so should modern people. When learning ancient proverbs, we need to treat them differently. We should learn the essence of proverbs and discard the contents that are out of date.