..續本文上一頁 radical reactions in our society. Why do we have these two extreme responses
It is because these inpiduals are domineering and self-righteous. The boorish ones may follow others” ideas while the obstinate ones only follow their own views. Those who follow others” ideas are obstructed by ignorance; those who follow their own ideas are obstructed by knowledge. Both types are obscured from and confused about truth. In short, delusion envelops these inpiduals!
子路曾問孔子﹕「可不可以不管傳統，直接依據心意行事？」孔子說﹕「不行！以前東方有個夷人，他很仰慕華夏文明的禮法。他女兒死了丈夫，他就依據寡婦不再婚之禮，教女兒不許再嫁，卻私下給女兒養了個男人；這說是未改嫁，實則已違貞潔的真谛。南方蒼梧有個蠻人，娶了美婦，卻讓給其兄；這看來好似兄弟相讓，實則不合禮讓之意義。所以說，若棄置傳統，任憑心意行事，就會像這兩個例子，做出似是而非之事，就悔之不及了！」
Zi Lu once asked Confucius, "Could you ignore tradition and just follow the call of your heart
" Confucius answered, "No! In the past a tribal native east of China really admired the rites of China. When his son-in-law died, he taught his daughter to not remarry according to the rule that widows should not remarry. However, he clandestinely allowed his daughter to be with a man. Although the woman didn”t remarry, she had already violated the principle of chastity in reality. A tribe member of Cang Wu in southern China married a beautiful wife but conceded her to his elder brother. Outwardly these brothers appear to confer generously, but in actuality, they failed to abide by the true meaning of giving. That”s why I believe that if you abandon traditions and do as you please, you may do what seems correct, only to find out too late that your actions were wrong, as illustrated by my two examples."
孔子教學生，最強調存仁以固其本質，學禮以表其文采：文質彬彬，然後君子。所以對本質淳厚，卻不好禮文的子路，他譬喻說﹕「用南山之竹做出來的箭，雖是又直又美；若再用金屬做個尖尖的箭頭，用羽毛裝飾箭尾，射起來就更快更遠！」鼓勵他力行之余，更要學文。而對文采斐然，翩翩公子的子貢，孔子則嘉許他已經明白「繪事後素」的道理，鼓勵他要在美好本質的基礎上用功。
In teaching his students, Confucius strongly emphasized humaneness as the foundation of one”s character, the study of rites to demonstrate one” s erudition-a scholar and a gentleman. Confucius counseled the basically wholesome Zi Lu who disliked propriety and culture, with an analogy. " An arrow made with the bamboo of Southern Mountain may be straight and beautiful, however, if one mounts a sharp metallic arrowhead and append feathers to the tail of the arrow, then the arrow will shoot even faster and farther!" He encouraged Zi Lu to study more rather than spend all his time working. Conversely, to the cultured and debonair scholar, Zi Gong, Confucius commended him on his understanding of the idea, "to devise a plan then follow suit," encouraging Zi Gong to work on the fundamentals of quality character.
這都是說明爲人求學的次第，首要重敦品勵德，次要讀書習文。《朱子治家格言》上說﹕「子孫雖愚，經書不可不讀。」因爲書是前人智慧的結晶，讀其書就等于吸收前人的經驗，可以少走幾步錯路。
All these explain the sequence of character and education. One must first develop morals and integrity before studying academically. Mr. Chu”s Aphorisms on Managing a Household said, "Even if your children and grandchildren are stupid, they must read." Since people before us have compiled their wisdom for us in books, we are essentially absorbing their experiences by reading their books; thus we can avoid some wrong turns on the road.
本性雖愚而肯讀書者，讀久也能明理；資質本佳又善讀書者，則更如虎添翼。讀書可以變化人的氣質，心地幹淨純正的人，才能把書讀通；讀通了書的，一定思想超遠，氣度曠達。反之，讀書習文則恰恰成了助長他劣苗的惡緣。《菜根譚》上說得很好﹕「心地幹淨，方可讀書學古。不然，見一善行，竊以濟私；閱一善言，假以覆短。是又藉寇兵而齑盜糧矣。」這是說﹕心地龌龊邪逆，讀書不但無法變化其氣質，反讓他假借書中的典故以僞善，巧取書中的道理來飾非。就好比把武器交給強盜，把糧食借給賊寇，都是非常危險的。
Those who aren”t so bright by nature will understand many principles if they are willing to learn. Those with promising aptitudes and study well are like tigers with wings. Reading can change people”s persona. Only those with a pure and unadulterated mind can penetrate their subject of study. Once they have comprehended their studies, they will surely be visionary and embody both depth and breadth in their thinking. In opposition are inpiduals who use their education to help others breed errant sprouts. The Discourses on Vegetable Roots put it well, "One can only study and learn about antiquity with a clean mind ground. Otherwise, one will see a good deed and seize that credit for oneself; one will hear compliments and attempt to disguise one”s weaknesses. In other words, they borrow bandits to steal grain." Therefore, if one”s mind is filthy and vicious, then not only will scholarship fail to alter one”s persona, but one will actually borrow morals out of stories to feign decency and cleverly pilfer principles out of books to mend misdeeds. This is comparable to handing muggers some weapons or lending food to thieves-danger looms at-large.
《弟子規淺釋 Standards for Students 第八章﹕余力學文 Chapter Eight ﹕ON LEARNING - 1》全文閱讀結束。