The wisdom of I Ching

Chapter 70 Be principled in being a human being, and be cautious in doing things——The voice of Asuka, it is not suitable to go up, it is better to go down, good luck
【Original Code】

Xiao Guo, Heng, Li Zhen.It can be a small matter, but not a big one.The sound left by the bird should not be played, but it should be played, good luck.

"Yuan" said: "Small faults, small faults will lead to prosperity."If you pass Yilizhen, you will go with the times.If you are gentle, it is auspicious for small things.It's not a big deal if you just lose your position but don't hit it.There is the image of a flying bird, and the sound of a flying bird. It is not suitable to go up, but it is suitable to go down.

"Elephant" said: There is thunder on the mountain, but it is a small mistake.A gentleman uses deeds more than respect, mourning more than mourning, use more than frugality.

——"Book of Changes Xiaoguo"

【Interpretation】

The hexagram of "Xiaoguo": Prosperity is good for maintaining integrity.Daily trivial matters should not be overdone, and national affairs should not be overdone.Birds should not fly upwards too high, but should fly downwards, good luck.

"Zhuan Zhuan" says: Small things lead to prosperity, and the benefit of small mistakes lies in keeping upright, which means that the specific situation determines whether to go wrong or not.It is just in place but not in the center, so it should not be a big deal.The cries left by the flying birds have not gone away, the flying birds should not fly upwards but downwards, good luck.This is because flying up is reverse, while flying down is smooth.

"Xiang Zhuan" said: There is thunder on the mountain, but it stops and does not move, and the Weir is not fierce, and there is an image of minor mistakes.A wise man understands that "behavior that is too modest, funerals that are too mournful, and things that are too frugal" will bring bad results.

The hexagram "Xiaoguo" talks about too much, and you must grasp a certain scale when doing things. It advocates that small things can be passed, but big ones should not be passed.The metaphor of flying birds is used to explain: if you don’t go too far, you can do things just right, and if you don’t do things right and go too far, it’s like a bird caught in a snare. This is a sign of fierceness and a self-inflicted disaster.

The positive part of the hexagram "Xiaoguo" is that it affirms the benefits of going a little bit over small things, "Small mistakes are good for keeping upright", but it is also necessary to decide whether to go through or not in accordance with the time, and there will be danger if you go rashly. Don't get stuck in a routine and act rote.

【Category】

Story [-]: The difference between over and under
Zi Zang usually respects Master Zhuan Sun and Lord Bu Shang the most, and sometimes he can't tell which one is more admirable.

So Zi Zhuang asked Confucius for advice, and he asked, "Which is better, Master Zhuan Sun or Lord Bu Shang?"

Confucius said: "Master Zhuan Sun often goes too far in his work, but Lord Bu Shang often fails to meet his requirements."

Zi Zang said: "You mean Master Zhuan Sun is a little better?" Confucius said: "To do something too much is the same as to fail to achieve the goal. Only when it is just right is the best." One thing is not to do If you go too far, you just can't do it properly, and you still don't understand where you went wrong. This is not an uncommon situation in our lives.In fact, the mystery here lies in a "degree". "Degree" is the stipulation of the reasonable existence of things, and people's ideas are only correct if they meet the requirements of "Degree".It is not difficult to meet the requirement of "degree", as long as you practice repeatedly on the basis of mastering the necessary knowledge, "degree" is already in your hands.

Story [-]: Do things with room

At the end of the Western Han Dynasty, there was an undercurrent lurking in the central government. The relative Lu, relying on the queen Lu Zhi, tried to replace the founding veteran and control the military and political power.The shrewd Empress Lv relied on her scheming favorite Chen Shiqi to participate in the planning and support government affairs; externally, she used the nepotism of the general Fan Kuai to place the Lu brothers in various key positions.Under such circumstances, the first thing for those with aspirations to consider is to survive the complicated situation before they can expand their ambitions and turn the tide.

Internal troubles have not been eliminated, and foreign troubles have arisen again.In the 12th year of Emperor Gaozu of the Han Dynasty (195 BC), King Lu Wan of Yan conspired against the rebellion, and Liu Bang ordered Fan Kui to lead his troops to quell the rebellion.Not long after leaving the teacher, someone talked about Fan Kuai's fault in front of Liu Bang.Liu Bang was furious when he heard the words, and decided to change generals before the battle, but he was also worried that Fan Kuai had military power in his hands, and something unexpected might happen.In the end, Chen Ping's strategy was adopted: in the name of Chen Ping, he went to Fan Kuai's army to pass the edict, and the general Zhou Bo was secretly carried in the car.

Chen Ping and Zhou Bo took orders to go, and they calculated carefully on the way.Naturally, Chen Ping was superior. He suggested to Zhou Bo: "Fan Kuai is an old friend of the emperor. He has made a lot of contributions. Besides, he is the husband of Lu Xu, the sister of Empress Lu. He is very close and precious. The emperor wanted to kill him because of his anger. He may regret it once his anger dissipates. With Empress Lu and Lu Xu playing tricks from the sidelines, it will inevitably be blamed on you and me. You and I might as well capture Fan Kuai and tie him to the court, kill him or spare him, and let the emperor handle it himself. "Zhou Bo is loyal and mature, and acts according to the proposal.

Sure enough, Fan Kui fell for the trap, and Zhou Bo took him down on the spot and nailed him into a prison cart.Zhou Bo immediately rushed to the big tent of the Chinese army, announced the decree as the acting general, and Chen Ping escorted the prison car back to Chang'an, the capital.When Chen Ping arrived halfway, he suddenly learned of Liu Bang's death.

Chen Ping guessed that Empress Lu must preside over the political affairs in the court, and that would make the situation even more dangerous.The only thing to rely on is that fortunately, Fan Kuai was not beheaded before, and he can still explain to the Lu family.Even so, he was afraid of having long nights and dreams, so he had to clean himself up when the court was busy with funerals, otherwise he might be plotted against by the Lu family.Thinking of this, he arranged for the prison car to drive as usual, while he rode his horse back to Chang'an first.

On the way, Chen Ping met the envoy Chuanzhao, ordering him and Guan Ying to garrison Xingyang together.Chen Ping thought that if he stayed away from the court before explaining the past, it would make Mrs. Lu suspicious.So, he came up with a plan. After returning to Chang'an, he stumbled into the palace immediately, knelt down in front of Han Gaozu's spirit, wailed loudly, cried and complained, to the effect that: the first emperor ordered me to execute Fan Kuai on the spot. Not daring to treat the minister lightly, Fan Kui has been escorted back to the capital.This is clearly speaking to the living, and is showing merit to Empress Lu.

Empress Lu and Lu Xu immediately felt relieved when they learned that Fan Kuai was not dead.Seeing Chen Ping weeping, his loyalty to the emperor was beyond words, and he suddenly felt compassionate.Appoint him as Lang Zhongling, and be responsible for teaching and assisting the newly enthroned Emperor Hui of Han.Soon, Fan Kuai was sent to Chang'an, where he was immediately pardoned, and his rank remained the same.

In dealing with Fan Kui, although Chen Ping acted according to the order (captured Fan Kui), he did not follow through (did not kill Fan Kui), which was considered a small fault for Gao Zu; It's not a big mistake, so it has preserved itself very well.

This story tells us that we must leave room for things, don't do things to the extreme, don't do things to the extreme, don't be extreme in emotion, and don't be too rational, so that we can advance and attack, retreat and defend, have both offense and defense, and move forward and retreat freely , is a brilliant move.

Story Three: Xi Chao’s attitude towards political opponents
It is recorded in "Shi Shuo Xin Yu" that Xi Chao and Xie Xuan have been at odds for a long time. At that time, when Fu Jian attacked Jin, he had already occupied Liangzhou and Qishan, and he was eyeing Huaiyin.So the imperial court sent Xie Xuan to lead the northern expedition to Fu Jian, which aroused different opinions in the imperial court.

Xi Chao said: "This Northern Expedition will definitely be a success. I used to work with him in the Huanxuanwu Mansion, and the people he used can give full play to their talents. Even some very ordinary people can get a good job." Appointment. From this point of view, he must be able to make military exploits."

After Xie Xuan's great success, people lamented that Xi Chao had the foresight, and also praised him for not concealing the truth of others because of his own love and hatred.

Even political opponents, if they can treat each other objectively and fairly by seeking truth from facts, will be beneficial to alleviating the conflicts between the two parties and improving their own reputation. Xi Chao understands this principle and uses it well.

Story [-]: Yu Chigong's "No Flow"

"Shuo Tang" said that Yu Chigong was a brave general who was good at fighting, but he didn't know that in "Tang History" he was also a gentleman who was famous for his "harmony but not flow".

Once, Li Shimin played chess with Tang Jian, Minister of the Ministry of officials.Tang Jian is a straight-tempered person. He is not good at flattering, but he is very brave. He played chess with the emperor and tried his best.Tang Taizong suddenly felt unhappy, and remembered his usual disrespect, and couldn't restrain his emotions, so he immediately ordered Tang Jian to be demoted as the governor of Tanzhou.

Afterwards, Tang Taizong became more and more angry, so he called Yu Chigong and said to him: "Tang Jian is disrespectful to me. I want to use him to warn all officials. But there are no specific charges to be convicted. Go to his house and see Does he complain about my handling, if so, I can sentence him to death!"

After hearing this, Yuchi felt that the emperor's actions were too much.When Emperor Taizong asked him about Tang Jian's situation, Yu Chigong refused to answer, but said, "Your Majesty, please think carefully about how to deal with this matter."

Mrs. Tang was so angry that she slammed the jade board in her hand to the ground, turned around and left. Seeing Yu Chigong, she had no choice but to back down.After Tang Taizong went back, he calmed down and thought carefully and felt unreasonable.In order to save face, he held a large banquet and invited officials of the third grade or above to attend the banquet. He himself hosted the banquet and announced: "I invite everyone to come today to commend Yu Chigong's character. Because of Yu Chigong's persuasion, Tang Jian was saved. Let him have the good fortune to be reborn; I have thus been exonerated from the crime of killing in vain, and Yu Chigong himself has been exempted from the crime of telling lies and wronging others, and won the honor of honesty. Reward Yuchigong with a thousand pieces of silk and satin."

Although Tang Taizong wanted to show his "Ming Zheng", but at the same time he also wanted to thank Yu Chigong, assuming that Yu Chi Gong really followed his words to frame Tang Jian and put him to death, and he knew that Tang Taizong would "Ming Zheng" and not punish him. Where is Yu Yuchigong?
Yu Chigong's principle of "not flowing" in life and conduct actually not only saved Tang Jian, but also helped the emperor, and even saved himself.

The principle of getting along with friends, bosses, and colleagues is the same. If you treat someone sincerely, you should love him, not only help him tide over difficulties, but also help him overcome various weaknesses. After a long time, they Nature will understand your personality and character.

When people get along with each other, they should be modest and courteous, generous and kind, and more confused on non-principled issues.But in the face of big right and wrong, you should keep a clear head.Seeing unrighteous and unkind actions should be prevented and corrected, and if the strength is not enough, we should also do not help them.If you clearly know that someone is doing unrighteous and unkind things, but because he is an elder, boss, or friend, and then keep silent, this is a manifestation of selfishness and avoidance.Sometimes, standing firm and being a man will take risks, and you may be temporarily wronged and misunderstood by others. However, this kind of impartial character will eventually win people's respect.

Therefore, interpersonal communication should be just right, not forceful, not respectful, not seeking novelty by reputation, not being happy for sexual intercourse. I am afraid that such a couplet can be used to deal with the relationship: "Being a man with a big belly and a stable heel" ", that is, "a gentleman is a man, and he is harmonious but not indiscriminate."

Story Five: Learning to stop when enough is enough
There was a monk who left the village where he lived and went to live in seclusion in the uninhabited mountains.He took only a piece of cloth as his clothes, and came to live in the mountains alone.

When he was washing his clothes, he found that he needed another piece of cloth to replace, so he went down the mountain and returned to the village, begging for a piece of cloth from the villagers for clothes.The villagers all knew that he was a pious ascetic, so they gave him a piece of cloth without hesitation.

When he returned to the mountains, he found that there was a mouse in the hut where he lived, and it would often bite the clothes he was about to change when he was concentrating on meditation.He has been observing the precept of not killing animals all his life, so he is unwilling to harm the mouse, but he has no way to drive the mouse away, so he has to go back to the village and ask the villagers for a cat to feed.

After getting a cat, he thought again: "What does the cat eat? I don't want the cat to eat mice, but I can't just eat some fruits and wild vegetables like me!" So he asked the villagers for another one. cows.

But after living in the mountains for a period of time, he found that he had to spend a lot of time taking care of the cow every day, so he went back to the village and found a poor homeless man, took him to live in the mountains, and asked him to take care of it cows.But after the homeless man lived in the mountains for a period of time, he complained to the ascetic: "I am different from you. I need a wife and I want to live a normal family life." Live a life of asceticism like him...

The story continued to evolve in this way, and later, the entire village moved to the mountain.

The original intention of the ascetic is to find a quiet place to study and practice, but he asks the villagers for this and that again and again for his own convenience; he is originally an ascetic, but his desire exceeds the requirements of ordinary people. It means "over".He yearned for tranquility, but it is natural that the village moved up the mountain, so how could he be able to calm down?His efforts for cultivation were wasted in vain.

Some people always have endless extravagant demands, and they are still unwilling to stop when they are partially satisfied, and hope to have more, forgetting that enough is enough, and in the end they can only throw away the part that originally belonged to them.

【The Heart of the Book of Changes】

Do things in accordance with your actual situation, so that your heart is full of hope and joy; unrealistic desires will only add frustration, sorrow and pain in the process of pursuing ideals.

When we do anything, we must have a sense of proportion, which is the so-called "degree".When things are overdone, they often go to the opposite side, and a good thing becomes a bad thing.Sometimes the development of things does not depend on individual subjective will, we cannot force it, avoid it, let alone change it.Therefore, we can only force ourselves to recognize, understand, acknowledge and adapt to this development.Only by doing this can we truly achieve twice the result with half the effort.

We often see in life: a weak person who is always being bullied by others will get angry one day and hit back the person who is stronger and stronger than him until his nose is bruised.A husband suffering from "strict control over his wife" dare not show filial piety to his parents under the supervision of his wife.But when his patience reaches the limit, he will stand up and resist, and yell at his wife, which makes her at a loss.

From this we can draw a conclusion: everything should not be done too much, otherwise it will lead to consequences that are not good for ourselves.In dealing with people, don't push people too hard in everything and leave no room for maneuver, but try to leave a relatively free space as much as possible to lay a solid foundation for future exchanges.

Therefore, in everything you do, you must master a certain measure, hold an appropriate scale, and put an end to thoughts and behaviors that do not care about measure and do things blindly.Changes in life are like flowing water. When things are prosperous, they will decline.

Of course, we should not be afraid of making mistakes and stick to the past too much because of choking, but we must change at any time, and we must see that small mistakes are also an opportunity.Opportunities often disguise themselves as problems, and the resolution of an important problem itself provides a great opportunity for success. "A pessimist only sees the problems behind the opportunities, but an optimist can see the opportunities behind the problems." Although mistakes and accidents themselves can bring opportunities, such opportunities are often hidden. Opportunities are found in mistakes and accidents, and they are seized.When you face a "possibility" in your career pursuit, when you encounter an opportunity in your life journey, you should boldly go forward, seize the opportunity, be full of confidence, and do your best.Because action is the only way to seize opportunities, realize pursuits, and lead to success.When you do it again and again, you will sigh: Ah, how lucky I am, I can have such success, I really didn't expect it.And when you miss it again and again, you can't help sighing: Oh, I really regret it, why didn't I try it at the beginning?How good would it be to try it out!Therefore, sometimes we have to achieve "I would rather do it than miss it". This is a positive attitude towards life and career.

(End of this chapter)