Self-cultivation, keeping the family in order, governing the country and leveling the world are the traditional moral ideals of China people. When Confucius and his students talked about ideals in The Analects of Confucius, Confucius did not think that the higher the ambition, the better. What really matters is a person's inner determination and belief. Professor Yu Dan believes that no matter how big or small your ideal is, the basis for realizing all your ideals lies in finding your true feelings. A person's inner feelings are always more important than external performance. So, how can we understand the meaning of ideal? In the competitive modern society, is there a contradiction between Kong's viewpoint and modern people's pursuit of ideals?

In fact, when the Analects of Confucius is opened, all simple sentences shine with a vague ideal. Confucius said that a man can't win his ambition, even if the three armed forces can win his handsome. This sentence is widely circulated among the people in China, which means that a person's ambition determines his life's development and efforts. But today, the most important thing is not how noble our ultimate ideal is, but what kind of starting point we have. Often, we don't lack lofty aspirations, but we just lack the practical road accumulated step by step before reaching that volunteer. Therefore, when Confucius is teaching students, he often chats with them in class. The topic of chatting is to talk about your ideals casually. There is a long passage in the Analects of Confucius, which is relatively rare in the Analects. The whole paragraph is called "sitting". That is, Confucius sat with his students and talked casually about his ideals. Then one day, four of his students, Zeng, Gong Xihua, sat next to the teacher, and then Confucius casually told them that it would be better for me if I grew up one day. Don't think that I am a few years older than you, so everyone is very restrained. Today is just a casual chat. I always hear you say that I didn't know when I lived, and no one knew me when I lived casually. In fact, this is also very similar to the students we saw in class today. They often say that others don't understand my ambition. Who can really understand my thoughts? The teacher said, today you talk casually, if you know me, what will it be? What would you say if I wanted to listen to your heart today? His eldest disciple, Lutz, listened to the teacher's words, and he was a particularly impatient and outspoken person, so it was written in The Analects that Lutz was outspoken and opposed to Japan. He got up in a hurry and said, teacher, this is my ideal. Give me a big country, with foreign worries and food shortage crisis. But as long as I have three years, I can make this country rich and strong, so that people can not only have enough food and clothing. When these words come out, think about it. For Confucius, who values the rule of rites and music so much, what kind of evaluation will students get if they have such achievements and can turn the corner and save such a country? No one expected that Confucius' reaction was not only faint, but also a little disdainful. This is called Confucius whispering. Smiled, and then began to ask the second student: How is Joel? Ask the student You Ran, call his name, and say how are you in Ranqiu? You Ran's attitude is obviously much more humble than Lutz's, and he dare not say so much about such a big country: My ideal is to give me a small country, and I will only govern it for three years, so that the people can eat and wear warm clothes, but I am afraid it will be done by a gentleman who is stronger than me to make the people have faith and understand etiquette. If I go to power, give me three years. What can I do for it? Can make people rich, that is, make people well fed and clothed. As for the etiquette, Ran said that I dare not do it, such as its etiquette and music, to be a gentleman. I can't seem to make everyone clean and tidy in the hearts of the whole people, have faith in the country, be happy and prosperous, and wait for a better gentleman than me. Then he finished speaking, can you ask the third person, Chi and Er, about the teacher's position? Call Gong Xihua by his first name Gong Xichi. What kind of ideal do you have? Then this disciple is even more humble. He is right, incapable, but willing to learn. Let's be clear. I'm not sure what I can do. Now with the teacher, I only dare to say what I want to learn. [voiceover] My ideal is that I can play a small role in etiquette and help the host do something within his power. As for governing the country and the people, I dare not say. You will see that each of these three disciples is more humble and peaceful, and each ideal is closer to the starting point of a person's life than the wish of an end point, so you will see that this range is gradually restored. There is still one person who hasn't spoken yet, and the teacher asks: What's the point? Ceng Dian, you haven't said it yet. what do you think? At this time, Ceng Dian didn't speak, and The Analects of Confucius was vividly written. Just then, a burst of music gradually fell, which was antique. It turned out that Ceng Dian had been playing the piano attentively just now, when she heard the teacher say that her voice gradually eased to the last note, and the whole piece came to a screeching halt. As Pipa Xing said, "focusing on painting in music" has a complete ending, with no hurry and no hesitation. What is writing? Students used to listen to the teacher or chat with everyone. In the mat, the ancients all knelt like this. Therefore, teachers should show respect and stand on their knees when asking questions. It's called. So put the piano aside and stand up respectfully to answer the teacher's words. What can be seen from this description? Ceng Dian is essentially a laid-back person. He is a man with answers. He won't be right, but he will explain. So as soon as he came up, he had to say something and ask the teacher's opinion: [voiceover] Teacher, my idea is a little different from that of three students. What does it matter? Everyone has his own ideas, but it doesn't hurt to say them. At this time, Zeng calmly began his description: when he said Mo Chun, it was about the end of March and April, and the spring was as deep as the sea; Mo Chun, the spring clothes are ready, put on the newly made spring clothes; There are five or six champions and six or seven boys, bathed in interpretation, dancing in the wind and singing back. He said it was my ideal. In a season of deep spring, put on clean new clothes, bring a few good friends, invite a group of students and disciples, and bring a group of children. Let's go to Yishui, which has just started, wash ourselves in the spring water, and then go to the drum stage and the stage to soak in the spring breeze and sing, so that we can have a spiritual ceremony, and the spring breeze will sprout in the civilized world and the earth will recover. He said that this is my ideal, and that's what I want to do. Then when his words were finished, the teacher, Master, who never expressed his position, sighed, "I am with you!" " The teacher sighed and said, My ideal is to be like Ceng Dian. So this is the only sentence the teacher said when four people were talking about their ideals, and then they went down. The third son came out and Zeng Xi was the queen. All three students left and finally asked the teacher: What did the husband and three sons say? Teacher, what do you think of the three of them? The teacher is also very reserved. He paused, not wanting to comment first. Confucius said, it is too late to say. It's nothing more than everyone saying their own ideas. Then Ceng Dian will continue to ask the teacher, what is the master's reason? Teacher, why did you sneer after Luz finished speaking? When asked this question, the teacher had to stop talking and said: It is a reason to be polite to the country. The teacher said that the secret is whether a person really wants to govern a country, then the core is to govern the country with courtesy, not that you have a tough measure. You really have a gentle, polite and simple heart, which is the lifestyle advocated in The Analects of Confucius. With this connotation, all the measures shown are flexible, which is a person's starting point. Then he said, you see, Luz was so hasty when he spoke, and he said a grand ideal in front of everyone. If he didn't let go, I would laugh at him because he lacked such heartfelt respect.