Some stories about the education of people by the saint Confucius

Confucius was a thinker, educator, politician and the founder of Confucianism in the late Spring and Autumn Period. There are really endless stories about the sage Confucius. Here the editor has carefully selected a few stories for you, so that everyone can have a preliminary understanding of Confucius as a person and see what Confucius has to learn from. I won’t go into too much nonsense about what I can learn from. If you like it, let’s take a look at these stories with the editor.

The key points of being an official

Zigong was to serve as the Xinyang Order and bid farewell to Confucius before going on the road.

Confucius said: Do your best to comply with the wishes of the people, seize the opportunity, do not rob, do not take credit, do not use cruel methods, and do not steal anything.

Zigong said: Although my disciple Duanmu Ci followed his master to learn the way of a gentleman for a short time, how could he still steal after learning the way of a gentleman?

Confucius said: If you are unworthy but take credit for the merits of the virtuous, this is called robbery; although you are virtuous, but take the merits of the unworthy as your own, this is called taking credit and being arrogant; under orders Receiving slowly but punishing quickly is called cruelty; stealing other people's good deeds as one's own is called stealing. To be called a gentleman, does it mean that he must steal money to be called theft? I have heard this saying: Those who know how to be an official follow the law and seek to benefit the people; those who do not know how to be an official bend the law for personal gain and harm the people. Bending the law for personal gain and infringing upon the people are both causes of resentment.

Zigong said: Disciple, I will remember this in my heart. Is there anything else you would like to warn your disciples?

Confucius said: When facing superior officials, nothing is more important than being calm; when facing property, nothing is more important than integrity. If you can maintain integrity and peace of mind, there will be nothing to criticize. Hiding the good words and good deeds of others is the behavior of a virtuous person; promoting the evil deeds of others is the behavior of a villain; not correcting others in private but attacking them in public is not enough to bring people close to each other. Speaking out the good words and deeds of others will only gain something but not harm; publicizing the bad things of others will gain nothing but only harm. Therefore, a gentleman must be careful with his words. Don't put yourself above others. Choose what you say so that what you say is consistent with what others hear.

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Which is more important, the safety of the people or personal dignity?

Confucius went to see Ji Kangzi. Ji Kangzi was very unwilling to listen to Confucius, so Confucius went to see him again.

Zilu, a disciple of Confucius, said: I heard the Master say: "Princes and princes will not do anything if they do not ask according to etiquette." _Now you go to visit Ji Kangzi, who is the Sikou, a little more frequently?

Confucius said: The people of Lu have bullied each other with their numbers and killed each other with weapons for a long time. However, the responsible officials have not taken care of them. Do you think the safety of the people of Lu is related to this? Ask me according to etiquette, which one is more important among these two aspects?

So, after the people of Lu heard Confucius’ statement, they said: The sage is going to govern the country. How can we not first punish our own faults according to the law?

From then on, there was no competition with each other in the country.

Confucius said to his disciples: Ten miles away from the top of the mountain, you can still hear the cry of mole crickets. From a political point of view, there is no better way than to comply with the wishes of the people.

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Too regretful

A high wall is thick at the top and thin at the bottom. It may not collapse. However, when it rains heavily, the water will hit it. time, it will inevitably collapse first.

The roots of vegetation are shallow and may not fall over normally, but when a violent storm hits, they will be uprooted first.

If a gentleman does not uphold benevolence and righteousness and respect virtuous ministers in handling various affairs in the country, he will not necessarily lose the country. However, once special events occur and the princes are at war with each other, people will be busy. Isn't it too late to run away, the car is speeding, and the disaster suddenly comes, and then I start to feel sad, so that my mouth is dry and my tongue is dry, I sigh, hoping to find peace?

Confucius said: If you are not cautious beforehand, you will regret it later, alas! Even regret is too late.

Yan Hui redeemed people

Confucius also had a disciple named Yan Hui, a very famous one.

At that time, Confucius and his disciples were from the state of Lu, which is now Shandong. At that time when the war was raging, one country captured soldiers from other countries and tattooed their faces and turned them into slaves. There were many prisoners of war in Lu State working as slaves in other countries. In order to rescue these slaves, the Lu government introduced a preferential policy. If people redeemed slaves of Lu nationality, they could not only go to the government to reimburse the ransom but also receive rewards. However, Yan Hui redeemed many slaves in Qi State without paying reimbursement or receiving rewards, which won people's praise. However, Confucius told him angrily that your actions had harmed the captives of Lu State. In the future, No one dares to ransom them. Yan Hui was surprised. Confucius said, you are a wealthy class and can have a lot of money to redeem slaves for free, but most people in Lu do not have this money. If they redeem slaves in the future and go to reimburse and receive rewards, people will definitely take your money. If you compare him, you will look down on him, but if you don't reimburse and receive the reward, you can't afford it financially. After Yan Hui came to his senses, he immediately went to claim his reward.

Yan Hui lost the crown

Yan Hui loved learning and had good moral character. He was the favorite disciple of Confucius.

One day, Yan went back to the street to do errands and saw a crowd of people gathered in front of a cloth shop.

He stepped forward and asked, only to find out that there was a dispute between the cloth buyer and the cloth seller.

I just heard the cloth buyer yelling: "Thirty-eight is twenty-three, why do you want me twenty-four dollars?"

Yan Hui walked to the cloth buyer. In front of him, Shi Yili said:

"Brother, thirty-eight is twenty-four, how can it be twenty-three? You made a mistake in your calculations, don't make a fuss.

Yan Hui never quarreled with his teacher.

He listened to Confucius saying that he was wrong, so he took off his hat and handed it to the cloth buyer.

The man took the hat. , and left proudly.

On the surface, Yan Hui absolutely obeyed Confucius, but in his heart, he thought Confucius was old and foolish, so he no longer wanted to learn from Confucius. p>The next day, Yan Hui said that he had something to do at home and asked for leave. Confucius understood Yan Hui's concerns and did not reveal it, so he nodded and allowed him to take leave. p>Confucius misunderstood Yan Hui_

Once Confucius was trapped in the area around Chencai and did not taste rice for seven days_

One day at noon, His second son Yan Hui brought some rice to cook porridge. When the rice was almost cooked, Confucius saw Yan Hui grabbing the rice from the pot and eating it. _

Confucius deliberately pretended not to see it. When Yan Hui came in to invite Confucius to a meal, Confucius stood up and said, "Just now, the ancestors of Meng and Li told me that food must be presented to the elders before eating. How can I eat it myself first?

When Yan Hui heard this, he quickly explained Said: "Master misunderstood. Just now I saw coal ash falling into the pot, so I picked up the dirty rice and ate it."

Confucius sighed: "What can be trusted is the eyes. There are times when the eyes are unreliable. What you can rely on is the heart, but there are times when the heart is unreliable.

Enlightenment

As the saying goes: "Seeing is what you see, but what the eyes can see is what you see." It may not be the truth of the matter. In daily life, we may often make judgments based on what we see. The basis of judgment may be based on past experience, but the formation of experience is based on each person's different background and accumulation of various factors. More or less personal subjective consciousness.

If we only rely on our own observations and experiences, the same event will have different results for different people, causing unnecessary harm to people; Things may fall short due to wrong goals.

As the saying goes, "a slight difference can lead to a huge loss. The truth of the matter must be judged based on facts and science. "Experience and "seeing" are often subjective. Only by making easy judgments can we avoid many misunderstandings.

The Way of Being a King

In the twenty-eighth year of Duke Zhuang of Lu, the state of Lu suffered from famine, and minister Zang Sunchen proposed to buy rice from the state of Qi. .

Confucius said: When a gentleman governs a country, he must prepare for the next three years. If there is a famine, he will buy grain from other countries.

Confucius said: If the country is righteous, even if the punishment is increased, it is equivalent to no punishment. If the country is ungrateful, even if all the people who break the law are killed, they will never be able to kill them.

Confucius said: Shang Tang and King Wu of Zhou did not prosper because of their good deeds, and Xia Jie and Shang Zhou did not perish because of their evil deeds.

The rise and fall of the Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties depended on what they did in ordinary times. If there were many good things accumulated in ordinary times, even if there was one aspect of evil, this would only be regarded as a fault, which was not enough to cause its demise; if there were many evil things accumulated, even if there was one aspect of evil, it would be considered a fault. Goodness can only be encountered accidentally and is not enough to flourish.

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Everyone who does not respect the virtuous and is unfaithful will complain

Zilu asked Confucius: What should be done to govern the country?

Confucius said: The key is to respect virtuous people and put unworthy people in a humble position.

Zilu said: This is what Fan Zhongxing did. Why did he perish in the end?

Confucius said: Although Fan Zhongxing seems to respect virtuous people, he does not appoint virtuous people; although he puts unworthy people in a humble position, he cannot keep unworthy people away. Own. The virtuous people resented Fan Zhongxing because he did not use them; the unworthy people hated Fan Zhongxing because he put them in a humble position. Virtuous people resented him, and unworthy people hated him. This resentment coupled with hatred, how could the Fan Zhongxing family not perish? _