University · Moderate

Chapter 4 Interpretation of the "Xinmin" Chapter
[Original text]

Tang Zhi's "Pan Ming" ① said: "Gou Rixin ②, day by day, and day by day."

"Kang Gao" said: "Be a new citizen ③."

"Poetry" said: "Although Zhou is an old state, its destiny is to restore the new ④."

Therefore, the gentleman ⑤ uses everything to the extreme ⑥.

【Note】

① "Pan Ming" of Soup: Soup refers to Shang Tang.The founding monarch of the Shang Dynasty was called Cheng Tang.Pan: A bathing utensil made of bronze.Inscription: It is a word engraved on a vessel to praise merit or affirm warnings, and later became a style of writing.

② Gou Rixin: Gou, if, if.New: Refers to washing the dirt on the body and giving it a new look.It is extended to abandon the old and seek the new in moral cultivation.

③ To be a new citizen: work, cheer up, encourage.To renew the people, to renew the people.The original sentence is: "Ji, you are only a boy, and you are serving only King Hong, and you should protect the Yin people. You can only help the king's house and become a new citizen." This sentence proves that "in the people" in the chapter of "Jing" should be " In Xinmin".

④ "Poetry" said sentence: "Poetry" refers to "Book of Songs", which is the earliest collection of poems in my country.The two poems quoted here are from "The Book of Songs Daya King Wen", which is a poem in praise of King Wen of Zhou.Zhou refers to Zhou Guo.Since the founding of Houji, it has been a vassal state through the Xia and Shang dynasties.At the time of King Wen, the country was powerful, and at the time of King Wu, the Shang Dynasty was destroyed and the Zhou Dynasty was established.Bang, the name of the ancient feudal states, the old state, the ancient country.Its destiny refers to the destiny of the Zhou Dynasty.Dimension, particle.

[-] Gentleman: This refers to the ruler.

[-] its extreme: the end, the apex.It means "the best".

【Translation】

A warning was engraved on the bronze plate of Shang Tang, saying: "If you can wash off the dirt on your body in one day and look brand new, then you should clean it every day, discard the old and make a new one. Uninterrupted every day, keep it forever, and make it new every day. , New every day."

"Kang Gao" said: "Reinvigorate the adherents of the Shang Dynasty and make them repent and rehabilitate."

"The Book of Songs" said: "Although Zhou State is an ancient vassal state, because King Wen upholds the mandate of heaven to remove the old and bring out the new, it can eventually renew itself."

Therefore, those in power always try their best to achieve the highest state of beauty and perfection in terms of Xinmin.

[Zhu Xi Tips]

The second chapter of the right biography explains "Xinmin".

【Translation】

Zhu Xi said that the preceding paragraph is Chapter 2 of Chuanwen, explaining "Xinmin".

(End of this chapter)