How did the eight-character comment on Confucius come about, "Restrain oneself and return to ritual, a teacher for all generations"?

After investigation: these comments about your characters all come from a book called "Canglangzhi Shui" written by Chi Yongchang, but most of them have their own sources or allusions. The answer is as follows:

(1), "Restrain oneself and return to rites, a model for all generations": "Restrain oneself and return to rites" means "to restrain oneself so that everything one does meets the requirements of etiquette", from "The Analects of Confucius·Yan Yuan" : "The Master said: 'To restrain oneself and return to propriety is benevolence. For one day to restrain oneself and return to propriety, the world will return to benevolence." "Teacher of all ages": Its meaning was first seen in "Three Kingdoms·Wei Zhi·Wen Di Ji": "The great sage Xi Zhongni Talent, the weapon of an emperor... can be said to be the great sage who has given birth to the world, and the teacher who has been a model for hundreds of millions of years." Confucius is praised as a role model for generations of people. In the Qing Dynasty, Emperor Kangxi personally wrote a plaque in official script, "Teacher of All Times" and ordered it to be hung on the beam of the Dacheng Hall of Confucius Temple. From then on, people praised Confucius as "Teacher of All Times".

(2), "Sacrificing yourself for righteousness, believing in goodness and good nature": both come from "Mencius", which uses Mencius' own words to praise Mencius. "Sacrificing one's life to pursue righteousness" comes from "Mencius: Gaozi 1": "Life is what I want; righteousness is what I want. You cannot have both, so you must sacrifice life to pursue righteousness." It means "to give up life and pursue righteousness." "" and "righteousness" are both my desires, but if I can't take care of both, I would rather sacrifice my life for "righteousness". The literal translation of "faith is good and nature is good" is "it is indeed well said, (Mencius's) theory of nature being good!" "Faith" means certainty and reality. "Good nature" is an important theory of Mencius, which believes that human nature is good. It can be found in many articles such as "Mencius Gaozi 1".

(3), "It is so embarrassing to be loyal and exiled": It means "(Qu Yuan) was loyal to the country but was exiled by King Huai of Chu. How uncomfortable he must have been!" Qu Yuan's deeds You can refer to "Historical Records ● Biography of Qu Yuan and Jia Sheng", but I won't introduce it here.

(4), "The words of a family are more important than Mount Tai": This is a praising Sima Qian, both from the "Book of Ren An" written by Sima Qian: The original text of "The words of a family" is "Studying the relationship between heaven and man, "Through the changes of ancient and modern times, it becomes a family's opinion." This means that he wrote "Historical Records" very seriously and wanted to write "Historical Records" into an immortal work with his own unique insights. The original text of "Heavier than Mount Tai" is: "Everyone is destined to die. It may be heavier than Mount Tai, or lighter than a feather." Here, Sima Qian told his friend Ren An that the reason why he did not commit suicide after suffering the humiliating punishment of castration was to endure the humiliation and bear the heavy burden. Completed his masterpiece "Historical Records". It would be lighter to die without finishing "Historical Records" than a feather.

(5), "Don't be ashamed of your heart on the inside, don't live up to the vulgarity on the outside": See Ji Kang's "Bu Yi": "Don't be ashamed of your heart on the inside, don't live up to the vulgarity on the outside, don't make friends for profit, don't seek salary in officialdom, In view of ancient and modern times, "purging one's emotions and clearing one's desires" means "having a clear conscience towards oneself and not violating worldly moral requirements towards others"

(6), "It is also a pleasure to pick chrysanthemums when you are rich and noble": " "The smoke and clouds of wealth" comes from "The Analects of Confucius": "Being rich and noble unjustly is like floating clouds to me." The main idea is: "Wealth and power obtained through unfair means are like floating clouds in the sky to me." "It's also fun to pick chrysanthemums": From Tao Yuanming's poem "Drinking": "Picking chrysanthemums under the eastern fence, leisurely seeing the Nanshan Mountain." It shows Tao Yuanming's noble sentiment of being indifferent to fame and wealth.

(7), "Smiling proud of the king, but full of ambition": describes Li Bai's contempt for the powerful. It is reflected in Li Bai's behavior and many poems, such as: "An Neng bowed his eyebrows and bowed to the powerful, which made me unhappy!" He later offended the powerful and left the court of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, and was eventually exiled Yelang . Therefore, the author uses "empty heart" to express sympathy and regret.

(8), "Geng Geng Xinghe, the world has a long history": "Geng Geng Xinghe" praises Du Fu's loyalty to the country, like a bright star; "The world has a long history" means that Du Fu's reputation has spread widely and long.

(9), "The style of a gentleman will last forever": It praises Su Shi's "style of a gentleman", which has been passed down and influenced for thousands of generations. "Ze" means moist, here it is used as an educational explanation.

(10), "No need to be afraid of death, loyalty is history": Praise Wen Tianxiang's patriotism spirit that he regards death as home. "History of Loyal Hearts" comes from Wen Tianxiang's poem "Crossing the Lingding Ocean": "Since ancient times, no one has died, leaving a loyal heart to illuminate history.

"Everyone is familiar with it, so I won't explain it further.

(11), "Holy Ninja, walking on the snow without leaving a trace": These two sentences have no other allusions or origins. According to the literal meaning, they are descriptions, He praised Cao Xueqin for enduring hardships and poverty and completing the masterpiece "Dream of Red Mansions". He also praised "Dream of Red Mansions" for being very well written and flawless, just like walking through the snow without leaving any trace.

(12) ), "Carrying the country on our shoulders and Kunlun with courage": Praise Tan Sitong's patriotic spirit of taking the world as his own responsibility, which is as admirable as the towering Kunlun Mountain. Heaven smiles, life and death, liver and gallbladder. ”

(13), “The mountains stand tall and the scenery stops. Even though we can’t reach it, our heart yearns for it”: This is the last expression of Chi Yongchang, the author of the book “Cang Lang Zhi Shui”, about the above-mentioned characters. The feeling of admiration. It means: These people are as tall as mountains, I can only look up; the road they walk is like the endless road to the sky, I can only follow them from a distance. Although I cannot be as tall as them and walk as fast as they do. It's so far away, but my heart is longing for them! "Jingxing": Dalu. Jing means big.

I typed this answer word by word. Yes, I’m exhausted.