Thousand Characters

Chapter 20

[Original text]

Stop thinking, speak calmly.Be sincere and beautiful at the beginning, and be cautious in the end.The foundation of honor industry is very incompetent.

【Note】

Tolerance: Appearance and behavior.Thinking: Inner activities, here refers to thinking and introspection.Benedict: It originally refers to a horse running slowly, and it is extended to be thick and huge.Beginning: Refers to the beginning of something.Chengmei: Integrity is beautiful.Rongye: honor and merit.Ji: something for padding.Here is the meaning of relying on.Jing: It originally refers to the completion of a piece of music, but here it refers to the end and end.The first two sentences of this passage tell us that a person's heart is very calm, without too many thoughts, his face and manner will look very stable.The last four sentences say that we must have a spirit of perseverance in everything we do, such as study, exercise, work, etc. Only in this way can we gain honor and achievements.

【Interpretation】

A person's appearance and demeanor should be calm and serene, as if thinking and introspecting, and the tone of speech and answers should appear stable and steady.It is good to have a good start in anything, but it is even more valuable to be very cautious from the beginning to the end and stick to the end.These are the foundations of a person's achievement of honor and achievement. With this foundation, the development of honor and achievement will never end.

【allusion】

Liu Bei sincerely invites Wolong Liu Bei, the son of Emperor Jing of the Western Han Dynasty, and the descendant of King Jing of Zhongshan Liu Sheng.He is seven feet five inches tall, with his arms above his knees and his ears hanging down his shoulders. He has great ambitions since he was a child, and he is extremely ambitious.After the Guandu War, in order to avoid Cao Cao's pursuit, Liu Bei fled to Jingzhou and joined Liu Biao.Out of pity, Liu Biao gave Liu Bei a place to stay in Xinye, expanded his troops, and sent him to defend against Cao Jun in Xinye.However, Liu Bei was not satisfied with this, and he wanted to establish his own business and restore the Han Dynasty.But although there are a few advisers around him, they are all mediocre, so Liu Bei hopes to make friends with heroes and virtuous people in the world.When he learned that Sima Hui from Xiangyang was famous in Jingzhou for his good knowledge of talents and current affairs, Liu Bei visited him personally and asked him about current affairs.Sima Hui recommended to Liu Bei two sages, Zhuge Liang and Pang Shiyuan, known as "Wolong" and "Phoenix Young".It happened that when Xu Shu came to visit Liu Bei, he also recommended Zhuge Liang who lived in Longzhong to Liu Bei, and suggested that Liu Bei visit him in person to show his sincerity.Liu Bei immediately galloped to Longzhong with Guan Yu and Zhang Fei on horseback to invite Zhuge Liang.A group of people crossed mountains and ridges, and after a lot of hard work, they just arrived in Longzhong, and after being instructed by others, they came to Zhuge Liang's thatched hut.Liu Bei knocked on the firewood door himself, and after a while, a pure little book boy came out of it. He told Liu Bei that Zhuge Kongming had gone out early in the morning, and he didn't know when he would be back.Everyone in Liu Bei was in vain, so he had to ask the book boy to tell Zhuge Liang that Liu Xuande had come to Longzhong to pay a visit.Back in Xinye, Liu Bei sent someone to inquire about Zhuge Liang's situation.Within a few days, someone reported that Zhuge Liang had returned to Longzhong.Liu Bei immediately asked people to prepare horses for a second visit.Seeing that it was snowing heavily and the ground was frozen three feet, Zhang Fei felt unhappy and didn't want to go.But Liu Bei said that Zhuge Liang is a rare great sage in the world today, so he must go and invite him in person to assist him.So they went to Zhuge Liang's seclusion again.Unexpectedly, Zhuge Liang had already gone out one step earlier, and he couldn't come back for a short time, so Liu Bei was in vain again.Helpless, Liu Bei had no choice but to leave a letter, expressing his admiration in the letter, saying that he would visit again another day.At this time, Zhang Fei and Guan Yu were very angry, and Liu Bei used historical allusions about Zhou Wenwang and Liu Huangong seeking talents to enlighten them.After a while, Liu Bei ordered someone to find out that Zhuge Liang was indeed at home, and went to Longzhong with Zhang Fei and Guan Yu.To show his respect, Liu Bei got off his horse and walked when he was more than half a mile away from Zhuge Liang's hut. This time, he finally met the long-famous Mr. Wolong.I saw that Zhuge Liang was 27 or [-] years old, with a slender figure and delicate features, with a green silk scarf around his head, a crane cloak, and a snow-white feather fan in his hand, like a fairy.After exchanging courtesy, the two went into the thatched cottage to drink tea and talk.Zhuge Liang was finally moved by Liu Bei's sincerity and agreed to work for Liu Bei.Liu Bei visited the thatched cottage three times, and finally invited Wolong out of the mountain.After that, Zhuge Liang used his talents to win Liu Bei's Chibi, Jingzhou, Xichuan, the original Chinese, and become the emperor. The two joined hands to create a great cause for thousands of years.

(End of this chapter)