Thousand Characters

Chapter 18

[Original text]

Filial piety should do its best, and loyalty should do its best.If you are close to the depths, you will be warm and warm.

【Note】

Deep: a deep abyss.Thin: A thin layer of ice.Su Xing: It is the abbreviation of "Su Xing Ye Sleep", which refers to getting up in the morning and going to bed at night.Wenqing: It is the abbreviation of "warm in winter and clear in summer", which refers to keeping warm in winter and preventing heatstroke in summer.These four sentences talk about how to be filial to parents and serve the monarch. It tells us that honoring parents and serving the monarch are both things that a person should do.A person who is filial to his parents must be a good minister if he serves the monarch. Similarly, a person who is not even filial to his parents will not be able to love the monarch and the people.Of course, when honoring parents and serving the monarch, the key to opposing the practice of disregarding right from wrong, being reckless and even sacrificing one's own life is to see whether one's behavior is moral.

【Interpretation】

To be filial to one's parents is to do one's best, and to be loyal to one's ruler is to do one's duty wholeheartedly.Serving the monarch is like facing an abyss and walking on a thin ice surface. You must be very cautious in every move; serving your parents should get up early and go to bed late, pay attention to keeping warm in winter, and prevent heatstroke and cool down in summer.

【allusion】

Kong Rong was born in a scholarly family when he was four years old. He is the No. 20 grandson of Confucius and one of the seven sons of Jian'an.Kong Rong's parents paid great attention to polite upbringing, so Kong Rong was ardently taught by his parents since he was a child.They educate the children to act with courtesy when dealing with others, so there have never been any uncivilized things such as fighting or quarreling among the brothers.When Kong Rong was four years old, a guest brought a basket of fragrant and sweet pears to his house.Seeing so many pears, the young Kong Rong was very happy and hoped to have a good time.After finally waiting for the guests to leave, the father asked the eldest son to pick some big and good pears and give them to his grandparents, who were already seventy years old. pick one.At that time, Kong Rong was the youngest among the brothers present, so the brothers asked Kong Rong to get the pears first.The eldest brother also advised him to take the big one, which tastes sweet.Kong Rong stood on a small stool, picked up the table with his feet, left and right, picked the smallest pear, and then jumped off the stool.His father watched Kong Rong pick a small pear, and asked him suspiciously why he didn't pick a big one.Kong Rong explained very seriously: the older should eat big pears, and the youngest should eat small pears.My father was very happy to see that Kong Rong, who had just turned four years old, could say such words.He repeatedly praised Kong Rong as a good boy with good manners, saying that he would have great achievements in the future.Later, Kong Rong studied hard, his knowledge became more and more profound, and he became a famous writer in the late Eastern Han Dynasty.In the Eastern Han Dynasty when Huang Xiang was a child, there was a cultural celebrity named Huang Xiang.When Huang Xiang was nine years old, his mother passed away. He was so sad that he forgot the ancient etiquette of not being too sad when a loved one died.Even so, the people in the village didn't blame him. On the contrary, they all praised Huang Xiang for his filial piety.After her mother died, Huang Xiang devoted herself to serving her father.In summer, the weather was very hot, so Huang Xiang used a fan to cool the pillow and mat that his father slept on before letting him rest; in winter, when the weather was very cold, Huang Xiang used his body to warm the bed where his father slept on first. Let father sleep again.People were all moved by Huang Xiang's filial piety. At that time, a magistrate named Liu Hu praised him very much after hearing about these things, and asked the court to commend his filial deeds.It can be seen that to honor one's parents, one should start with the little things in daily life and help parents do what they can.

(End of this chapter)