..续本文上一页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."
孔子果真是讨厌紫色吗？其实这只是一种譬喻罢了。因为紫色是从三原色之一的红色出来的间色，它明明已失去正红的本色，却老让人误以为是另一种的红色。就好比貌似恭谨的乡愿，戴着「老好人」的面具，扛着「君子」的招牌，却屈仁假义，行其取巧讨好世俗之实；而一般人黑白莫辨，不知警觉，不唯把真正特立独行的正直之士看做异类，还赞叹效法这一类的乡愿。因此孔子认为伪君子比起令人一见就讨厌的小人更危险，伪君子其实才是真小人；不先除伪君子，无法正本清源，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.
当孔子受命为鲁司寇，甫上任，他就先把以工辩顺非见宠，却心逆行辟的佞臣少正卯杀了；这一着果然收到杀鸡儆猴之效，不出三月，鲁国大治，再没有邪辟不正之人；据说当时境内是「路不拾遗；夜不闭户」。
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."
紧邻的齐国恐怕鲁国强起来，难以侵凌，就送了一批女乐来；权臣季孙氏收下来，偷偷转给鲁君；鲁君沉迷其中，竟然三日不上朝。孔子伤透了心，就辞官离乡，开始周游列国；可惜耗费半生，也遇不着一个有眼光，有魄力的明君用他。直至垂垂老矣，孔子憬悟时不我予，才抱憾归国，把毕生的理想，浓缩在一部《春秋》史里，以寄寓其褒贬；更把最后的心血，普施于教育后进上，来传承其理想。
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.
由此可见，在这个世间，随顺世俗的人很多，真正的仁德之士是很少的。但仁德之士虽少，他们正直无邪的言语，权势无畏的神色和坦荡无私的气度，却能赢得一般人的尊敬，也使得小人畏惧。这就是为什么孔子周游列国期间，虽不获明君重用，又常遭小人之难，终究是所到之处，国君贵冑争相延为上宾，希望嬴取「尊贤」的美誉；而恶臣贼子也不敢公然加以杀害，恐怕背上「害贤」的恶名。
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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