1. "If you don't learn poetry, you can't speak; if you don't learn etiquette, you can't stand."
One day, Confucius was standing in the courtyard, and his son Kong Li lowered his head and walked over quickly. Confucius stopped him and asked, "Have you studied poetry?" Kong Li replied, "No." Confucius said: "How can you speak without studying poetry?" Kong Li went back to study poetry. The next day, Kong Li met Confucius standing in the courtyard again. Confucius asked: "Have you learned etiquette?" Kong Li replied: "No."
Confucius said: "How can you behave if you don't learn etiquette?" So Kong Li went back to practice etiquette. This story is called "court training", and later the ancients called a father's reprimand to his son "court training".
2. Filial piety to a husband begins with serving relatives, ends with serving the emperor, and finally establishes oneself; becoming famous in future generations to show off parents, this is the greatest form of filial piety.
Sima Tan believes that in the more than four hundred years since the death of Confucius, princes have merged and historical records have been cut off. Today, the country is unified, and there are many deeds of wise rulers, wise kings, loyal ministers and righteous men. However, as a Taishi Ling, he could not fulfill his writing duties and felt very uneasy. Therefore, he cried and asked his son Sima Qian when he died, hoping that he could inherit his father's legacy and not forget to write history books.
Sima Qian lived up to his father's orders and finally wrote "Historical Records", which is known as "the historian's swan song and the rhymeless Li Sao".
3. A gentleman’s behavior is to cultivate one’s character through tranquility and cultivate one’s virtue through frugality. Without indifference, there is no clear ambition; without tranquility, there is no far-reaching goal. If you want to learn, you want to be quiet; if you want to be talented, you need to learn. Without learning, there is no way to expand talents; without ambition, there is no way to achieve learning. If you are arrogant and conceited, you will not be able to refine your essence, and if you are impetuous and impetuous, you will not be able to be rational.
This is a letter home from Zhuge Liang to his eight-year-old son in his later years. In this letter to his family, Zhuge Liang asked his son to study diligently and be inspirational, and to work hard on self-cultivation of indifference and tranquility. Be careful not to be impetuous or act absurdly.
At the end of the article, he earnestly taught: "If a young man does not work hard, the old man will be in vain." Zhuge Liang worked day and night for the affairs of the Shu Han Dynasty and had no time to take care of his son's education, so he wrote this letter to warn his son.
4. If jade is not polished, it will not become a useful tool; if a person does not learn, he will not know. However, as jade is an object, it has unchanging virtues. Although it is not carved into a tool, it still does not harm it into being jade. Human nature changes due to things. If you don't learn, you will abandon the gentleman and become a villain. Can you not think about it?
Ouyang Xiu advised his descendants to study hard and improve their self-cultivation. Warning to future generations: People have to go through hard work before they can make a difference. Human habits are most easily affected by the external material environment. If you cannot temper yourself at all times and improve your knowledge and moral connotation, you will give up being a gentleman and become a villain.
5. A gentleman will not show favor to his relatives, nor will he make his ministers resentful. Therefore, if there is no great reason for the old, then it will not be discarded. There is no need to prepare for one person. A gentleman is as strong as an ox and does not compete with the ox; he walks as fast as a horse and does not compete with the horse; he is as wise as a scholar and does not compete with the scholar for his wisdom.
Those who have great virtues and guard them with respect will be honored; those who have rich lands and guard them with danger will be safe; those who have a high salary and position but guard them with humiliation will be noble; those who have strong people and soldiers and guard them with fear will win. ; The person who is clever and wise but keeps it simple will benefit; the one who writes many blog posts but keeps it simple will gain a lot.
A virtuous person does not neglect his relatives, and does not let ministers complain about not being appointed. If an old minister has not made any serious mistakes, do not abandon him or blame anyone. Even if a virtuous person is as strong as an ox, he will not compete with an ox for its size. Even if he gallops like a horse, he will not compete with a horse for speed. Even if he is as wise as a scholar, he will not compete for his wisdom with a scholar. .
Those with great virtue will be honored if they conduct themselves with humility. If the land is vast and rich, if you live frugally, you will always be safe; if you are a high-ranking official but discipline yourself in a humble way, you will be more noble; if there are many soldiers but hold on with fear, you will surely win; if you are wise and wise, you will be more noble. If you approach the world with a foolish attitude, you will benefit a lot; if you are knowledgeable and memorized but superficial and humble, you will have a wider knowledge.