Master Kong Zhongni

Chapter 34 Fell into the well?I fell into the pit!
Confucius was full of praise for Zaiyu, and a virtuous man like Yan Hui felt ashamed of himself compared with Zaiyu.

At this moment, Zaiyu and Zigong walked into the gate of the academy noisily.

They could be heard arguing from afar.

Zigong said: "Where is this situation? You don't use such words to deceive me."

Jae Yu said: "Don't worry about whether it happened or not. If it really happened, you can say whether to dance or not."

Confucius was in a good mood and was curious to hear their argument, so he asked, "Ayu, Aci, what are you two arguing about?"

Hearing this, Zigong quickly leaned over and saluted, "Master, please don't ask. If you do, you have to be as embarrassed as I am."

Confucius became more curious. He smiled and said, "Oh? What kind of problem did Ah Yu have to make it so difficult for you?"

Zaiyu replied: "Master, don't listen to Zi Gong's nonsense. If he can't answer my question, he blames my question for being wrong.

You once said: A gentleman’s conduct in the world is like archery. If he fails to hit the target, it is not because the target is not right, but because he is not good at archery.

I think what you say makes sense.He is obviously not knowledgeable, so he has to blame the uneven road. "

Zigong heard this, and said angrily, "The question you asked, can you answer it with a lot of knowledge?"

Confucius raised his hand to signal the two of them to be quiet: "Okay, okay, please stop arguing. Ayu, tell your question. Although I may not be able to give an answer, at least I can provide some ideas."

Zilu also smiled and said, "Master is very knowledgeable, so he will definitely be able to give you the answer."

As for the students such as Yan Hui, they also pricked up their ears to listen, wanting to know what kind of problem they could stump Zi Gong, who was always eloquent.

The atmosphere was set in place, and Jai Yu no longer hid it, he said with a light smile.

"The question I asked Zigong just now is: For a person who pursues benevolence, if someone tells him that there is benevolence in the well, will he also jump down?"

Confucius was silent when he heard this.

The faces of other disciples also turned green.

Some people couldn't help muttering: "It's started again, it's started again."

"It smells like that."

"Standard self-style questioning."

"I thought I had a sex change recently. As a result, as soon as I uttered this question today, I realized that I was still the same me!"

Jae Yu's question seemed simple, but it was actually full of traps.

If one knows that there is benevolence in the well, but does not pursue benevolence, then naturally one cannot be considered a benevolent person.

But wouldn't it be too stupid to jump into the well just relying on a word from someone else's mouth?
Confucius said: "Why do you do this? A gentleman, you can let him die for benevolence, but you can't frame him. A gentleman may be deceived, but he cannot be fooled by others."

Zilu didn't understand the teacher's answer, so he couldn't help asking: "What do you mean by this sentence?"

Yan Hui, who was sitting next to him, added instead of Confucius: "The master probably means that a gentleman can go to the well to check first, and if there is really benevolence in the well, he can jump down, even if he dies.

If there is no benevolence in the well, naturally it will not jump.

Therefore, trying to fool a gentleman who pursues benevolence by saying "There is benevolence in the well" is not only wrong, but also impossible to succeed. "

"I see!"

Zilu suddenly realized.

But Jae Yu was not satisfied with this answer, he raised his hand and asked, "Then I want to ask you, what is filial piety?"

As soon as Zaiyu said this, Confucius laughed angrily.

"Yu! This doesn't seem like a question you would ask!"

A while ago, Zaiyu was scolded by his master for questioning filial piety for three years, but today he came to ask what filial piety is.

Jae Yu pretended to be stupid and said, "Is what I asked important?"

This time without waiting for Confucius to answer, Gao Chai stood up and explained on his behalf.

"A while ago Zilu asked his master: When you hear something you should do, should you do it right away?

The master replied: With my father and brothers around, how can I do it immediately when I hear it.At least ask their opinion, right?
Later, Ziyou also asked Master: Do you want to act immediately when you hear it?
The Master replied: When you hear it, act.

Later I asked Master: Why did you give Zilu and Ziyou different answers to the same question?

The master replied: Ran Qiu usually shy away from doing things, so I encourage him.Zhong You is brave enough to conquer others, so I want to suppress him.

It can be seen from this that the Master pays attention to teaching students according to their aptitude, so the answers given by the Master are naturally different depending on the person who asks the question. "

Zai Yu suddenly said: "So that's the case. Then if I asked the question of what is filial piety?"

Confucius said angrily: "For you, filial piety is three years of filial piety!"

When Confucius said this, the students all laughed, and the laughter in the academy could be heard even half a street away, only Zai Yu was so embarrassed that he couldn't bear it.

But his thick skin is not covered, he quickly adjusted his mood and continued to ask.

"Then what if Mencius asked?"

"Mencius?" Confucius frowned: "Are you talking about Mengsun Heji?"

Zaiyu leaned over and said, "Exactly."

When Zilu heard this, he got up angrily and said, "My son! What are you talking about?"

"Zhong Yuan!" Confucius called to Zilu: "It's all right. As long as someone offered to give me ten pieces of dried meat (the lightest apprenticeship ceremony among the Zhou rites) as a meeting gift, I never refused to teach. Meng Sun is also my student. , since he wants to ask, then I will give him the answer."

Zaiyu asked respectfully, "For Mencius, what is filial piety?"

Confucius took a deep breath and replied: "For him, if it does not violate the etiquette, it can be regarded as filial piety."

Doesn't violate the law of etiquette?
Jai Yu was taken aback for a moment, but he quickly came to his senses.

Etiquette and filial piety seem to have nothing to do with each other, but in fact, the meaning of the Master's words is to accuse Meng Sun Heji of violating etiquette and expulsing the monarch by talking about filial piety.

Mengsun Heji's father once asked him to learn etiquette from his master, but after he finished his studies, he did the most unethical thing to expel the monarch.

This is violating his father's last words, and naturally it cannot be called filial piety.

Ugh……

Zai Yu sighed slightly in his heart.

It seems that the Master still refuses to forgive Mengsun Heji.

Confucius stared at Jaeyu and asked, "Yu! Why do you ask this question for Mengsun Heji?"

When Zaiyu heard this, he knew that the master had sent him a proposition.

If the answer to this question is not good, it is considered light to be scolded.

Fortunately, Zai Yu was prepared, he bowed respectfully, and replied: "Because the student was thinking about some problems recently, and my thoughts were confirmed by him, so I came to ask questions for him.

On the one hand, it is fun to help others, on the other hand, it can confirm the original heart and improve oneself. "

　The update is for you, and the monthly pass is for me.

　　——Excerpt from "Zaiyu's Diary"

　　
　
(End of this chapter)