Master Kong Zhongni

Chapter 96 What is a Perfect Man?

Seeing Zilu's excited look, Zaiyu and Zigong didn't know what to say.

He could only smile apologetically, while agreeing: "Yes! If you don't hate and don't ask for it, why don't you cherish it? Don't be jealous, don't be greedy, what's wrong with that?"

But as soon as they finished speaking, they heard the master's voice coming from behind: "How can it be considered good if you just don't envy or be greedy? Zhong Yuan, do you think what I said is right?"

Everyone turned around and looked, the master walked out of the house at some point, with his hands behind his back, he was standing under the apricot tree not far away, looking at them.

Hearing this, Zilu couldn't help rubbing his rough side face with his hand, he felt his face was a little hot.

He held back for a long time before he finally said a word: "Uh...Master, so you are here?"

Confucius glanced at him, but did not answer, but said to Jae Yu and the others.

"Zhong You! His knowledge and conduct can be regarded as promoted, but he still hasn't entered the room!"

When Zaiyu, Zigong and Kong Li heard the yin and yang words of the master, they almost couldn't hold back their laughter, but they were worried that Zilu would be angry.

So they could only stretch out their sleeves to cover their mouths, coughing to cover up their laughter.

"Master... I..."

Zilu knew he was in the wrong, but he was already in his thirties, and being scolded in front of so many juniors made him feel a little embarrassed.

So he could only retreat to advance: "Then how can you be regarded as a gentleman with excellent knowledge and conduct, master?"

Confucius said: "Cultivate yourself carefully from time to time."

Zilu asked again, "Is this enough?"

Confucius said: "Cultivate yourself and make the people around you happy."

Zilu asked again, "Is this enough?"

Confucius said: "Cultivate yourself so that all the people will be happy."

Zilu's face was flushed red, he originally wanted to bypass the problem of self-cultivation by asking questions, but the master just insisted on these four words and would not let go of anything.

Confucius looked at his ashamed appearance, and taught him a lesson: "Zhong You! Cultivate yourself to make all the people happy. I am afraid that even Yao and Shun would find it difficult to do this kind of thing! So, how dare you get too complacent?" Woolen cloth?"

Now Zilu didn't dare to talk back to his master anymore, he was afraid that he would be reprimanded again later, so he had no choice but to nod submissively.

"Students are taught."

Zaiyu also knew that Zilu was a person who wanted face, so he took advantage of this gap and hurried up to help Zilu divert his master's attention.

"Then according to your opinion, what should be done to be considered a perfect person?"

"Perfect..."

Zaiyu's question was indeed somewhat difficult, and Confucius answered after thinking for a while.

"Wisdom like Zang Wuzhong, non-greedy like Meng Gongchuo, brave like Bian Zhuangzi, talented like Ran Qiu, and use rituals and music to increase his literary talent, this is probably a perfect man."

But when Zigong heard this, he frowned suspiciously: "I can understand Meng Gongchuo's non-greediness, because he is indeed a gentleman who can restrain his desires.

I can also understand the bravery of Bian Zhuangzi, because he is a warrior who can kill two tigers at the same time.

And Ziyou is versatile, and the students also know something about it.

But why learn from Zang Wuzhong?

At the beginning, Zang Wuzhong had to flee from the state of Lu because he offended the Meng family.

Later, he sent a letter to the monarch in his fief Fangyi, requesting that the descendants of the Zang family be made ministers, and use this as a condition in exchange for his leaving Fangyi.

You once commented on this matter at that time, saying: Zang Wuzhong asked Lu Jun to support Zang's descendants in Lu State by virtue of Fangyi. Although some people said that he was not threatening the monarch, I don't believe it.

That being the case, why do we still have to learn from people like Zang Wuzhong who committed chaos? "

Confucius shook his head when he heard the words, and said, "Thank you! I didn't tell you to learn these things about Zang Wuzhong, but I asked you to learn his wisdom!
At the beginning, the people of Chu were preparing to attack the state of Chen, but when they heard the news of Chen Chenggong's death, they stopped the attack according to the etiquette of mourning.

But Chen Guo thought that the Chu people were afraid, and they still didn't obey Chu's orders.

When Zang Wuzhong heard about this, he said, "If the state of Chen refuses to obey the state of Chu, it will surely perish."The big country observes etiquette, but the surrounding countries do not admire its virtues but obey.Such a situation would be a disaster for a big country, let alone a small country?
As a result, as soon as the mourning period was over, Chen State was indeed destroyed by Chu State.

Zang Wuzhong can find the omens of the future from some small things. Shouldn't this kind of wisdom be learned? "

Hearing this, Zigong suddenly realized, "So that's how it is."

But Zigong understood, but Zaiyu couldn't figure it out.

"Master, I have a problem too!"

Confucius nodded and said, "Yu, if you want to ask a question, just ask."

Zai Yu respectfully said: "You just said that you should learn from Bian Zhuangzi's bravery, but the reason why Bian Zhuangzi is considered brave is because he once fought a tiger.

But I remember what you said before: I will not work with a person who fights a tiger with bare hands, fords a big river on foot, and even if he dies like this, he has no regrets.

According to this statement, isn't it stupid for Bian Zhuangzi to fight a tiger?Why learn from his bravery in fighting tigers? "

When Confucius heard this, he shook his head again and said, "Yu! You are saying that you only see the superficial appearance of things, but not the essence of things.

The reason why Bian Zhuangzi is praised as a brave man is not only because he once fought a tiger, but also because of the strategy he used in fighting a tiger.

If only because he won the fight with the tiger, he would be praised by the people in the world, and if he was said to be brave, the people in the world would be too stupid. "

Zaiyu asked: "Then can you tell me specifically why Bian Zhuangzi is praised?"

Confucius said: "At that time, Bian Zhuangzi was resting in a hotel in the suburbs, but suddenly found two tigers eating a cow in the opposite field.

Bian Zhuangzi was worried that the two tigers would harm the people nearby, so he drew his sword and prepared to kill the two tigers.

But the hotel servant stopped Bian Zhuangzi.

The servant said: "Two tigers eat a cow. The food is delicious, so they will naturally fight."Once they fight, the result is that the stronger tiger will be injured and the weaker tiger will die.At that time, if you go to assassinate the injured tiger, you will not only gain the reputation of killing two tigers, but also reduce your losses. Why not do this?

Bian Zhuangzi felt that what he said was reasonable, so he waited there.

The situation was exactly as the servant said, so Bian Zhuangzi took advantage of the situation and killed the injured tiger in one fell swoop, and gained the reputation of killing two tigers.

This is the allusion that when two tigers fight, one must be injured, and Bian Zhuangzi became famous for this.

So, I want you to learn from Bian Zhuangzi's bravery, to learn from his behavior of judging the situation and attacking bravely, not to let you jump up and fight two tigers directly! "

　If you didn't learn to ask for tickets when you were young, you never learned to ask for tickets.

　　——Excerpt from "Zaiyu's Diary"

　　
　
(End of this chapter)