..續本文上一頁pineless, fawning sycophants, but he particularly detested being around those phony gentlemen who appeared respectable. Thus Confucius said, "I hate purple, for it robs from the color red. " "Imposters are the thieves of virtue."
孔子果真是討厭紫色嗎？其實這只是一種譬喻罷了。因爲紫色是從叁原色之一的紅色出來的間色，它明明已失去正紅的本色，卻老讓人誤以爲是另一種的紅色。就好比貌似恭謹的鄉願，戴著「老好人」的面具，扛著「君子」的招牌，卻屈仁假義，行其取巧討好世俗之實；而一般人黑白莫辨，不知警覺，不唯把真正特立獨行的正直之士看做異類，還贊歎效法這一類的鄉願。因此孔子認爲僞君子比起令人一見就討厭的小人更危險，僞君子其實才是真小人；不先除僞君子，無法正本清源，收到端正世道人心之功。
Did Confucius really hate the color purple
Actually it”s merely an analogy. Purple is a mixed color containing the color red, one of the three primary colors, yet it has clearly lost the original red proper. The color purple nevertheless leads others to mistake it for a variation of red. Similarly, hypocrites who appear respectful, wearing the mask of a "softie" and carrying the sign of a "gentleman" actually warp humaneness and distort righteousness-in reality they practice sycophancy and flattery. Most people cannot discern black from white; thus they fail to be cautious. In fact, people invariably consider those truly unique, independent and straightforward inpiduals as eccentrics and praise and emulate hypocrites instead. Thus, Confucius deemed those pretending to be honorable inpiduals more dangerous than scoundrels that people naturally despise upon first glance; fraudulent gentlemen are actually charlatans. Without first eliminating pretenders, we cannot rectify our foundation, purify our origin and receive the merit of straightening people”s minds here in the world.
當孔子受命爲魯司寇，甫上任，他就先把以工辯順非見寵，卻心逆行辟的佞臣少正卯殺了；這一著果然收到殺雞儆猴之效，不出叁月，魯國大治，再沒有邪辟不正之人；據說當時境內是「路不拾遺；夜不閉戶」。
When Confucius received the emperor”s mandate to be the Minister of Crime in the state of Lu, the first thing he did when he arrived on the j ob was to execute Minister Shao Zhen Mo, who with an intractable heart and defiant conduct craftily debated the compliant and gossiped with those he favored. Confucius, move had the effect of "killing a chicken to warn the monkeys." In less than three months, the state of Lu was well governed; wicked and immoral inpiduals no longer existed. It was reputed that during that time, "no one picked up lost items; no one closed their doors at night."
緊鄰的齊國恐怕魯國強起來，難以侵淩，就送了一批女樂來；權臣季孫氏收下來，偷偷轉給魯君；魯君沈迷其中，竟然叁日不上朝。孔子傷透了心，就辭官離鄉，開始周遊列國；可惜耗費半生，也遇不著一個有眼光，有魄力的明君用他。直至垂垂老矣，孔子憬悟時不我予，才抱憾歸國，把畢生的理想，濃縮在一部《春秋》史裏，以寄寓其褒貶；更把最後的心血，普施于教育後進上，來傳承其理想。
Lu”s neighboring state, Qi, was afraid Lu would become so strong that Qi would not be able to invade and pillage it, so Qi sent a troupe of female performers over. High minister Ji Sun Si accepted them and stealthily sent them to the King of Lu. The King was so infatuated with these women that he didn”t appear in court to administer the state”s affairs for three days. Confucius was so heartbroken that he resigned, returned home, then began to travel to various states. Unfortunately, Confucius wasted half of his life without finding a wise ruler with vision and courage willing to employ him. It wasn”t until he was near death that Confucius realized that he didn”t have much time left, so he returned home in disappointment. He condensed all his lifelong ideals into theAnnals of Spring and Autumn, which was a critique of political affairs. Furthermore, he poured the last of his lifeblood into educating and promoting the younger generations so that they would inherit his ideals.
由此可見，在這個世間，隨順世俗的人很多，真正的仁德之士是很少的。但仁德之士雖少，他們正直無邪的言語，權勢無畏的神色和坦蕩無私的氣度，卻能贏得一般人的尊敬，也使得小人畏懼。這就是爲什麼孔子周遊列國期間，雖不獲明君重用，又常遭小人之難，終究是所到之處，國君貴冑爭相延爲上賓，希望嬴取「尊賢」的美譽；而惡臣賊子也不敢公然加以殺害，恐怕背上「害賢」的惡名。
This is evidence that many people in this world follow the banal, while so few inpiduals are truly humane and virtuous. Although humane and virtuous inpiduals are rare, their straightforward and wholesome speech, thei…
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