The wisdom of I Ching

Chapter 106 Don't Be Too Extreme
【Original Code】

Ninth Five-Year Plan, Chu Lu, Zhen Li.

"Xiang" said: "If you act chastely and resolutely, you are in a proper position."

—— "Book of Changes · Shoes"

【Interpretation】

"Lu" hexagram nine and five lines say: A person who has just made up his mind will go his own way when things happen, always feel good about himself, and never reflect on himself.Going about things with this attitude may benefit you temporarily, but it is dangerous in the end.

"Xiang Ci" says: "A person who has just decided to do things is good or bad, so he must think carefully before doing it."

If a person wants to do something well, he must first believe in his own ability.But too much self-confidence will turn into conceit. Conceited people tend to overestimate themselves and think they are great, but in fact they are not what they think they are. They just exaggerate their abilities too much. When doing things, they tend to go their own way.

People who are just determined to be self-sufficient have an inflated heart and cannot see anyone or anything higher than themselves. They are sometimes prone to self-absorption and self-deception.Those who pay too much attention to highlighting themselves are exaggerating their abilities and talents, and the result is that they will inevitably lead to extremes and lead to failure.

【Category】

Story [-]: Don’t hit the south wall and don’t look back
Mr. Dong Guo sent three disciples to Xiangyang.When Mr. Dong Guo sent them to the intersection, he said: "Going south from here, there are all smooth avenues. Just follow this road and go straight. Don't take a side road!"

The three disciples were Zuo Ye, Jiao Tiao, and Nangong Wuji. When the three of them walked southward for more than 50 miles, they encountered a big river lying directly in front of the teacher's instructions.They looked around and found that after walking half a mile along the river, there was a bridge they could pass through.

At this time, Nangong Wuji said: "There is a bridge over there, let's cross the river!" But Zuo Ye frowned at this moment and said: "How can this work? The teacher wants us to go all the way to the south! How can we go to the south?" Can you take a detour? It’s just a current, nothing to be afraid of.”

The three of them supported each other and waded across the river together. Due to the rapid current, they nearly died at the bottom of the river several times.Although the whole body was soaked, but finally crossed the river safely.

They continued on their way, and when they traveled more than 100 miles south, they encountered a wall blocking their way.This time, Nangong Wuji insisted, "Let's go around this wall!"

But Zuo Ye and Jiao Tiao stubbornly said: "No, we must follow the teacher's teaching and never disobey." So Jiao Tiao and Zuo Ye ran towards the wall, and they were knocked down to the ground.

Nangong Wuji said angrily: "It's only half a mile more, why don't you think about it?" Zuo Ye said: "No, even if I die here, I don't regret it. Instead of disobeying the teacher's order and surviving, it is better because Follow the teacher's order to die!" Jiao Tiao also said in agreement: "Me too, if you disobey the teacher, you are a traitor."

The two supported each other and slammed into the wall with all their strength, so they crashed into the wall to death.

Obstinate people are always stubborn in sticking to the wrong plans or goals, whether things make sense or not.I never reflect and repent.Therefore, once we find our mistakes, we must have the courage to correct them.

Story [-]: Guan Yu failed due to arrogance

After the Battle of Chibi, Liu Bei occupied Jingzhou and seized the land of Bashu, forming a tripartite situation of Wei, Shu and Wu.At that time, Guan Yu stayed in Jingzhou. Relying on his high martial arts skills and strong soldiers, he repeatedly attacked Cao Cao in the north.This completely undermined Liu Bei's strategy of "joining Wu and rejecting Cao".

In order to seize Jingzhou, Sun Quan sent envoys to propose marriage to Guan Yu and marry Guan Yu's daughter as his daughter-in-law, but Guan Yu flatly rejected him. He believed that he had many soldiers and brave enough to resist Sun Quan and attacked Cao Cao in the north.Soon, he led troops to attack Cao Cao's Fancheng.But he was also afraid that Soochow would take advantage of the situation and seize Jingzhou.So he left heavy troops to guard each fortress, and set up beacon towers on the high ground every 30 miles or 50 miles, until his front-line camp, so as to communicate with each other.

Seeing Guan Yu's tight defense, Lu Meng wrote to Sun Quan, saying: "Guan Yu attacked Fancheng, but left heavy troops to guard the fortress. He was afraid that we would seize his rear area. I want to send some soldiers back to Jianye on the grounds of illness. Guan Yu heard that After I leave, I will definitely withdraw the defensive troops and reinforce the combat troops with all my strength. This way we can attack him suddenly when he is unprepared."

Sun Quan agreed with his suggestion and sent Lu Xun to replace Lu Meng.After Lu Xun took office, he immediately wrote to Guan Yu. On the one hand, he praised Guan Yu, and on the other hand, he also confessed that he was young and incompetent, so as to paralyze Guan Yu.Guan Yu didn't take Lu Xun seriously, and believed that Lu Meng had gone back for treatment, so he sent all his troops to reinforce Fancheng.Suddenly, Guan Yu's rear was empty of troops.Lu Xun immediately reported the situation to Sun Quan in a timely manner, and asked Lu Meng to lead the army immediately.Since Guan Yu had a beacon tower to communicate with each other, Lu Meng believed that the dispatch of troops must be very secret, and Guan Yu should not be allowed to get news, so as to prevent Guan Yu's army from retreating.He dressed up his elite soldiers as businessmen and arranged them all in the big ship, and let the soldiers pretend to be ordinary people to row the oars, and rushed to the destination day and night.

Guan Yu still didn't know about it, and was still fighting fiercely in Fancheng.Lu Meng's white-clothed soldiers suddenly came to Guan Yu's fortress. Before the guards could resist, they occupied the beacon tower, and all the local garrisons and spies were arrested.Lu Meng's army went straight to Nanjun again. At that time, Fu Shiren, the general guarding the public security, and Mi Fang, the Nanjun prefect guarding Jiangling, all surrendered.

After Guan Yu got the news, he hurriedly retreated to Jingzhou, and many soldiers deserted on the way.After Guan Yu came back, he fought Lu Meng several times, but failed to win.He felt that he was alone and helpless, and had reached a desperate situation, so he fled towards Maicheng.Sun Quan sent Zhu Ran and Pan Zhang to cut off Guan Yu's way, and planned to kill Guan Yu and his son.

An important reason why Guan Yu was defeated was that he was arrogant and self-righteous.After Lu Xun succeeded Lu Meng, he poured "Ecstasy Soup" on him. He actually thought that Lu Xun was young and timid, and he didn't take him seriously at all.Therefore, he confidently and boldly withdrew the heavy troops he had deployed at each level.This was his biggest mistake, otherwise Jingzhou would not have been captured by Lu Meng so easily.

Story Three: Zhao Kuangyin Doesn’t Stick to His Own Views
An official made meritorious service and should be promoted and reused according to the regulations of the Song Dynasty.But Zhao Kuangyin didn't have a good impression of that official, so the matter of promotion was put on hold.

Prime Minister Zhao Pu said to Song Taizu: "Achievement is based on merit, and likes and dislikes are unfounded. If you only do things based on your personal likes and dislikes, you will often make mistakes."

Song Taizu said angrily: "I am the emperor, but if I don't promote him, what can you do to me?"

Zhao Pu patiently said: "Since ancient times, punishments have been used for punishment and rewards for rewards. How about abolishing the country's system because of likes and dislikes?"

Song Taizu saw that what he said was reasonable, so he asked him to do things for him in accordance with the regulations of the system.

Everyone has their own likes and dislikes, and this is a point of view that is gradually formed in life, and there is nothing wrong with it.However, it would be a big mistake to judge right from wrong based on personal likes and dislikes.The consequence of doing that is not only to screw things up, but also to mess up relationships.

Story [-]: Wang Anshi is headstrong

Wang Anshi was the prime minister during the Shenzong period of Song Dynasty. He liked to be suspicious, suspicious, jealous and self-willed towards others.In the early days when Wang Anshi became prime minister, he was able to live in harmony with the sages and gentlemen in the court at that time.Later, because of the implementation of the new law, the sages and gentlemen in the court could not maintain the same views as him, so Wang Anshi rejected them, some were demoted, and some were even exiled.

Wang Anshi's son even said to him: "As long as the heads of Han Qi and Fu Bi are cut off, the new law can be implemented smoothly." Later, more and more people attacked Wang Anshi's new law, which made his words and deeds more arrogant and indulgent And he also uttered the arrogant words of "the changes of the sky are not enough to be feared, the words of people are not enough to be sympathetic, and the laws of the ancestors are not enough to abide by".

Later, Shenzong also began to hate Wang Anshi's way of speaking and doing things, so he took the opportunity to remove him from the position of prime minister.

If a person is fierce and violent, it is easy to be stubborn, self-righteous, and unwilling to listen to the advice of others.Therefore, there are no good friends to get close to him, and no one is willing to tell him the principles of life and affairs.

【The Heart of the Book of Changes】

Don't be too stubborn, too decisive, let alone go to extremes. The principle of "hardness and softness, both rigidity and softness" means that in life, we must have a degree of flexion and stretching, a broad vision, and a calm disposition; we must have a consistent disposition, a round and inclusive talent; , Superior perseverance.

There is an old saying: "Water is soft enough to pierce stones, and snakes can move forward if they bend and stretch well." Zeng Guofan also said: "Being a person is hard and soft, and you can't be partial. If you are too soft, you will become weak, and if you are too rigid, you will easily break." It can be seen in the world. To achieve both rigidity and softness, and the combination of rigidity and softness, is the golden mean.

There are some people like this in life. Although they are not arrogant, they can clearly feel a sense of arrogance from their eyes, so proud that people feel a sense of oppression.They act self-centeredly, and treat vulgarity with contempt.This kind of conceited person will be blinded by his conceited performance, unable to see the true face of the matter, then failure is the inevitable outcome.

When dealing with many issues, if we only emphasize one aspect of things, there will be negative effects on the other side. There are also many lessons in history.Therefore, when we face a problem, we must think appropriately and deal with it in a moderate way, and we must not go to a certain extreme.Only in this way can a good result be achieved in doing things.

(End of this chapter)