The wisdom of I Ching

Chapter 76 Auspiciousness comes only when you are humble
【Original Code】

Modesty, Heng.A gentleman has an end.

"彖" says: Modesty, Heng.The way of heaven is low and bright, and the way of earth is humble and upward.The way of heaven is full of profit and modest, the tunnel becomes full and full of flow, ghosts and gods are harmful and full of blessings, and human nature is evil and full of love and modesty.To be humble and honorable, to be humble and insurmountable, is the end of a gentleman.

On the sixth day of the lunar new year, a gentleman of modesty, using She Dachuan, auspicious.

"Xiang" says: A gentleman who is modest and humble is also a way to shepherd himself.Nine three, Laoqian gentleman, has an end, auspicious.

"Xiang" said: Lao Qian is a gentleman, and all people obey him.

——"Book of Changes Qian"

【Interpretation】

The hexagram "Qian" says: Prosperity.A gentleman must be content with humility in order to be auspicious for life.

"Biography" says: Modesty leads to prosperity.The way of heaven goes down without losing its light, and the way of earth goes down but goes up.When the way of heaven is exhausted and full, he will increase his modesty; the way of the earth changes more to meet the shortcomings;Humility and courtesy make greatness, and humility is not insurmountable. The end of a gentleman is the embodiment of this principle.

The sixth line of the hexagram "Qian" says: A modest and humble gentleman can ford and cross the great river, and he will surely get auspicious.

"Xiang Zhuan" said: A humble and humble gentleman can cultivate himself in a humble way.

Hexagram Nine and Three Lines of "Momility" says: It is auspicious to be able to be humble with great merit, and to maintain such deeds throughout your life.

"Xiang Zhuan" said: People who have made great contributions and can be humble will be loved by people.

As the saying goes: "Humility makes people progress, and pride makes people fall behind." Modesty is always a virtue, and this virtue itself has a protective effect, and it is also the greatest manifestation of wisdom in life.If you are a person and do things with humility, you will be sensible and have good results; if you are proud, you will definitely invite disasters.

Pride is a kind of misfortune for people, and conceit is the destruction of human nature.

In reality, there are always some self-righteous and conceited people. Their short-sightedness is like a frog in a well.Pride can also make people become ignorant, allowing people with real insights to see their jokes, and because of this, they run into walls everywhere and get burned.

"Shangshu" said: "Full losses, humility benefits, time is the way of heaven." Throughout the history of ancient and modern China and foreign countries, most of those who have suffered miserably in life are the result of arrogance, and most of those who have achieved success in life are themselves modest gentlemen. .Modesty can make you have good popularity, and thus be popular with people, instead of making enemies on all sides, causing the road ahead to become narrower and narrower.Pride only makes others feel disgusted, let alone work together.People who don't know how to be humble often can't see themselves and others correctly, so they enter a desperate situation.

"Laozi" said: "If you don't see yourself, you will be clear; if you don't see yourself, you will show; if you don't cut yourself, you will be meritorious; if you don't be proud, you will be strong." It warns us to be humble in life, and we must have the virtue of humility and obedience.Although a heroic and fierce person does not hesitate in doing things, he also has a lack of humility, lack of thinking twice before advancing and retreating.Softness overcomes rigidity. If you are aggressive in doing things, you will easily overdo things. If you adopt obedience and concession, you can just strike a balance.

【Category】

Story [-]: King Wen of Zhou's counselor's way

Zhou Wen Wang Jichang was a man of great talent and general strategy. In order to crusade against the Shang Dynasty, he recruited talents extensively, and once he found talents, he tried every means to reuse them.

By chance, Ji Chang learned that Jiang Ziya, who was fishing on the bank of the Weishui River, was a rare talent.So, King Wen couldn't wait to pat his horse and gallop, and the ministers followed closely, and came to the bank of Fenxi, only to see a smooth and flat stone. Beside the stone, there was only a fishing rod propped on the bank, but Jiang Ziya was nowhere to be seen.

King Wen was eager to seek talents, so he waited patiently until night fell, but there was still no one.San Yisheng reminded King Wen: "You should be pious in seeking talents and talents. Today's sudden intrusion shows that your intentions are not sincere and your behavior is disrespectful. Therefore, sages avoid it on purpose. We should choose another auspicious day to make a special trip to visit again." King Wen and him The ministers had no choice but to go back reluctantly.

After King Wen came back, he ordered the ministers of civil and military affairs not to go home, but to live in the palace and fast for three days.On the fourth day, let everyone bathe and dress, carry gifts, and go to Fenxi again.Countless people were alarmed along the way, and they helped the old and the young to watch the grand occasion of welcoming the virtuous.When the team reached the edge of the woods, King Wen ordered the team to stop and not make any noise.King Wen got off his horse and walked into the forest with San Yisheng. He saw an old man sitting on his back by the stream. King Wen guessed that this person must be Jiang Ziya.

In fact, Jiang Ziya already knew it was them, and he also deliberately avoided them a few days ago. He wanted to investigate King Wen to see if he was a real Mingjun and whether he was really thirsty for talents.This time, after talking with King Wen, Jiang Ziya learned that he was indeed a humble and respectful king, so he packed up his luggage and followed King Wen into the palace to become a counselor against Zhou.

Humility can transcend the boundaries of time and space.Those who are less learned will be guided with enthusiasm by being humble, and those who are knowledgeable will be respected by being humble.Modesty will not make a person lose anything, but only gain what he never had.But some people would rather put a hat of pride on their heads than make themselves a little more humble. What kind of stupid behavior is this?

Story [-]: Tang Taizong's easy-going attitude to protect the country

In an early court, Tang Taizong told the ministers: "Some people say that you can get the most lofty status when you become an emperor, and you don't have any fear. But in fact, I often listen to the criticisms and suggestions of my ministers with fear. , Handle political affairs with a humble attitude. If I rely on myself as the king of a country, instead of being humble, and treat my subordinates with an arrogant attitude, then if I go astray, no one will be able to correct my mistakes. "

Tang Taizong went on to say, "Whenever I want to speak or do something, I must first think about whether I am in line with the will of God? At the same time, I also ask myself whether I have violated the intention of my subjects. Why? This is because the Son of Heaven is high above, right The things below are clear at a glance, and the subjects pay great attention to the monarch's every move, so I not only have to treat people with a humble attitude, but also always reflect on whether my words and deeds are in line with the will of heaven and the people's will."

Minister Wei Zheng went on to say: "The ancients said, 'There is no beginning, but there is an end'. There is a good beginning, but there is not necessarily a good end. I hope that your majesty will always be in awe, fearing the sky and the people, Treat others with humility, and often conduct self-reflection, so that our country will be able to protect the country for a long time, and avoid the danger of overthrow."

It was Tang Taizong's modest attitude towards governing the world that was admired by later generations.Tang Taizong once said: "It is very difficult to talk to people. Even ordinary people, if they offend the other party a little while talking with others, the other party will keep it in mind and wait for an opportunity to retaliate. What's more, Wan Cheng's Monarch, when talking with your subjects, you must never allow a little slip of the tongue. Because even a trivial slip of the tongue may cause extremely serious consequences. This kind of impact is absolutely beyond the reach of the common people. Keep that in mind."

He also said: "When Emperor Sui Yang of the Sui Dynasty entered the Ganquan Palace for the first time after he ascended the throne, he was very satisfied with the garden decorations in the palace. One flaw was that there were no fireflies in the garden, so he ordered to catch fireflies to replace the lights. The officials in charge of this matter mobilized thousands of people to catch fireflies, and finally caught more than 500 fireflies. Even such a small matter can evolve into such a field, let alone a major event in the world, let alone know How much influence will it have? How can a monarch not always be cautious in his words and deeds?"

From this, it can be concluded that as a superior leader, you must always maintain a humble and easy-going attitude, and you must always pay attention not to let your subordinates feel a sense of distance from you. This requires humility and sincerity in your attitude.

Story Three: Di Qing’s Arrogance Hurts Herself

When Di Qing was serving as a privy envoy in the Song Dynasty, he believed that he had contributed to the court and was very arrogant and arrogant when working for an official, so he offended some people.At that time, Wen Yanbo was in charge of the government and suggested that the emperor transfer Di Qing out of Beijing to be a Jiedu envoy.

Di Qing was very unconvinced, and stated his thoughts to the emperor: "I have meritorious service, how can I accept the appointment of Jiedushi? I have not committed a crime, so why should I be transferred away from the capital?" Song Renzong felt that what he said made sense, He didn't follow Wen Yanbo's suggestion, and praised Di Qing as a loyal minister of the court.

And Wen Yanbo said to Renzong: "Recall that Taizu was also a loyal minister of Zhou Shizong? After Taizu gained the military spirit, there was a mutiny at Chenqiao." After listening to these words, Renzong agreed with Wen Yanbo's proposal Opinion.Di Qing didn't care about this, and went to Shangshu Province to defend himself, relying on his own merits and not wanting to be the local governor.

Wen Yanbo said to him: "There is no other reason for asking you to be Jiedushi, but the court has doubts about you." When Di Qing heard this, he stepped back a few steps, feeling terrified and disturbed, so he had to accept the appointment.

Every time the imperial court sent envoys to condolence him, as soon as he heard that the imperial court had sent someone, Di Qing would be terrified, and within half a year, he fell ill and died.It can be seen that it is difficult to achieve great things if you are arrogant.

Di Qing thinks she has meritorious service, but what is the result?It is the accumulation of arrogance that damages one's body.One must endure arrogance, not be self-righteous, overcome arrogance and guard against impetuosity, treat others with humility, and be courteous and virtuous, only in this way can one gain the support of others and the people.

When people are in good times, they are most likely to get carried away, lose vigilance, and often stumble as a result; when people are in adversity, they are also most likely to become depressed, give up on themselves, and lose the motivation to move forward.Therefore, it is important to be a human being to look at one's own gains and losses with a detached heart, not to forget one's form when you are proud, not to lose your temper when you are frustrated, and at the same time maintain a humble attitude.

Story [-]: Gong Dingan is unrestrained

During the Jiaqing period of the Qing Dynasty, Gong Ding'an considered himself arrogant. (Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao were greatly influenced by him), he predicted that there would be major problems on China's borders. He wrote an article saying that the world would be chaotic because of the lack of talents.The article criticizes the social status quo at that time incisively and vividly, saying that "the court has no talented ministers, the army has no talented generals, the alleys have no talent to steal, and the river has no talent to steal."

He lamented that the society at that time was already an era of decline of talents, and it would not be long before the world would be in chaos.Sure enough, within half a century, internal and external troubles came one after another.Although Zeng Guofan, who has the title of "Famous Minister of ZTE", turned the tide, but "the building will collapse, and there is no one who can support it."

Gong Ding'an's son is even more arrogant.When reading the articles written by my father, I put my father's spirit card next to me. Whenever I read something that I think is not in line with my own ideas, I tap the spirit card and reprimand: "You are wrong again!" His weird behavior is absolutely beyond the reach of ordinary people. accept.

We have been taught not to be proud since we were young, but pride actually has two meanings. It has no connotation but it is self-righteous, and it has connotation but looks down on others.A proud person lacks ingenuity and mellowness, and what he does is beyond the comprehension and approval of ordinary people.Because of being too arrogant, he can't be restrained, and often brings unnecessary troubles to himself, and even leads to death.Yang Xiu lost his head because of his arrogance, disobedience to military discipline, and nonsense about military secrets.

At a young age, Mi Heng was not only disobedient, but also openly beat the drums and scolded Cao Cao, and was eventually killed by Huang Zu.Therefore, to be a man, we must maintain a humble and gentlemanly attitude.

【The Heart of the Book of Changes】

A philosopher once said such a sentence: "Treat people with an open mind, and you will not be disobedient; those who are complacent will do the opposite." He regards being open-minded as the fundamental attitude of making friends and treating guests, which can be said to be right.If a person can get rid of exaggeration and arrogance when he is "prosperous in the spring", and can not show his emotions and anger, he is well-cultivated, virtuous, intelligent and restrained, and humble, and he can be welcomed and respected by others.

If you want to get along well with others and get things done, the best way is to appear in front of everyone with a low profile, be modest, peaceful, simple, honest, and even a little stupid, so that the other party will feel that they are being hurt. If you gain respect, you will gain the favor of others invisibly.

When you are humble, you can show the tallness of the other party; if you are simple and kind, others are willing to get along with you, and they think you are kind and reliable; You get along well; if you look a little stupid, he is willing to help you. This mental state is very beneficial to your own development.

If you always appear in a high posture, always higher than the other party, and aggressive, the other party will feel nervous and feel inferior to you, so a rebellious psychology will arise, and the harmonious relationship between each other will be difficult. exist.In order to highlight themselves, some people repeatedly show off their own strengths and talk about their own strengths. This also invisibly belittles others and elevates themselves. They will set up many obstacles for themselves and increase mutual affection. Difficulty in communicating and doing business.Put down your arrogance and be humble and submissive so you don't feel alone.

In short, arrogance and arrogance will deprive oneself of the light of truth and alienate others. This is the main reason for the ups and downs in life.Understand the truth that "things must be reversed when they are extreme, and arrogant soldiers must be defeated", treat others with humility, do not get carried away, and regard success as the driving force for a higher level, so that you can make your career smooth and your life auspicious.

(End of this chapter)