What is the most basic for survival and reproduction? Air, water, food. In ancient times, air was not regarded as a necessary condition, because ancient times did not know about vacuum, and they thought that air was everywhere, even in a closed space, air was indispensable. Then water and food are essential for survival, and the ancients will collectively refer to them as food.
This can be verified in other classic statements of Mencius, such as "Eat once, eat a bean soup, you will live if you get it, and you will die if you get it." It means that you can live if you can get food, and you will die if you can't get it. So in ancient times, Mencius believed that the condition of survival was food. This is related to the scientific limitations at that time and people's cognitive level.
And color refers to sex, to liking beautiful things, and to men and women. The translation of color indication is straightforward, but it feels derogatory. It may be more elegant to say that you like beautiful things, so change the things that are not easy to say into sentences that are easier to say. But in the final analysis, it refers to men and women, otherwise, how can the race reproduce.
In fact, many people can't translate this sentence, because he thinks that there may be no such straightforward words about men and women in ancient closed thoughts. So this sentence will be a bit difficult to translate. In fact, this sentence is not difficult to understand.
In fact, I feel that the ancients were actually much more powerful than our present people in some aspects. It's not that they are better than us in science and technology or other aspects, but that they can summarize what they already know to a deep level. The ancients were really our giants. It is really hard to say how far the world can develop now without the guidance of some ideological principles of the ancients.
Just like this sentence, in such a feudal society, it is really difficult for someone to speak such a refined language. Can express human survival and reproduction so thoroughly. This not only shows the ancient sages' thinking about life, but also reflects their supreme wisdom and state of mind. How many people in ancient times could raise their thinking to the whole ethnic group?
Therefore, we still have to keep a reverence for some words and thoughts of our old friends, and we can still learn from their articles. For self-development. We should protect the wealth left by our ancestors, apply what we have learned and strive to make our country stronger.