Original works:
Be born at hardship, die at peace and happiness
Mencius [Warring States Period]
Shun was born in mu, Fu Shuo was born in the middle of the building, and the glue was in fish and salt. Guan Yi I was a scholar, Sun Shuai was in the sea, and a hundred miles was in the city. Therefore, when the sky falls, people must first suffer their minds, their bones and muscles, starve their bodies, empty their bodies, and mess around. Therefore, patience has benefited them a lot.
People are unchangeable, and then they can change; Trapped in the heart, balanced in consideration, and then made; Color label, sound hair, and then metaphor. A country, if there are no ministers and wise men who can assist the king, will often be in danger of the collapse of its neighboring countries and the misfortunes from abroad. Then I know that I was born in sorrow and died in happiness.
Vernacular translation:
Shun was recommended from other places, promoted from slaves who built the city, promoted from businessmen who sold fish and salt, promoted from prison, promoted from Sun Shuai from a secluded place by the sea, and promoted from the market. Therefore, if God wants someone to take on a heavy responsibility, it will certainly make his mind suffer, make his bones and muscles tired, make his body and skin hungry, make him suffer from poverty, make him unable to do things as he pleases, keep them vigilant at all times, strengthen their character and increase their skills that they lack.
People often make mistakes, and caution needs more mistakes. Only when one's inner worries and thoughts are blocked can one work hard and make a difference. There was a depressed expression on his face. He sighed, and then he understood. In China, there is no minister who knows the law and violates the law, and there is no wise man who can assist the monarch. Abroad, there is no country with equal rights and status. Such countries tend to perish. In this way, we know that troubles and disasters make people grow, cheer them up and work hard, so they can live; Ease and pleasure make people lazy, leading to death and the decline of the country and career.
Comment on words and phrases:
Shun: Yao's surname is Zhong Hua. Don Shi Yao tilled the fields in Lishan (in the southeast of Jinan, Shandong Province, and in the southeast of yongji city, Shanxi Province). "My father is stubborn, my mother is proud, my brother is proud, and I can be filial." Emperor Yao made him a man in the mountains, not fascinated by storms and thunderstorms, and passed him down as the son of heaven. The name of the country is Yu, and the history is Yu Shun. His deeds can be found in Shangshu Yaodian and Historical Records of Five Emperors.
Ascend, here refers to being appointed.
Qu ǐ n: Tian mu, which means cultivated land here. Field canal.
Fu Shuo (fù yuè): In Shang Dynasty, Xu Mi (a criminal) was built in Fuxian County (also known as Yan Fu, in Pinglu East, Shaanxi Province). The Shang people, eager to flourish in Yin Dynasty, dreamed of a saint who said that he regarded all the ministers as wrong, which made people look for wild things. When he met Wu Ding, Wu Ding said, "Yes." With its words, it is a saint, and it is a phase, and it is ruled by yin. Therefore, Fu Xian's surname was named Fu Shuo. His deeds can be found in Historical Records Yin Benji and so on.
Lift: selected.
Building board: When building a wall, put the soil between two splints and tamp it with a pestle to make it firm. A pestle used to build and tamp soil.
Jiao Wei (gé): Minister of Shang Zhouwang, known as a saint with Wei Zi, Ji Zi and Prince Bigan.
Fish salt: This refers to fishing and drying salt at the seaside. According to Historical Records, Yan was spared by fish and salt between Bohai Sea and Bohai Sea. Connecting the mountains with the sea, there are plenty of fish and salt.
Guan Yiwu: Guan Zhong was born in Yingshang (now Yingshang County, Anhui Province) and his family was poor. For Gong Zijiu of Qi, Gong Zijiu failed to accede to the throne, and Xiaobai acceded to the throne for Qi Huangong. Qi Huangong knew his sage, released his prisoner, regarded him as a relative, and called him Guan Zhong. Biographies of Historical Records of Yan Guan: "Guan Zhong is both useful and multi-pronged, but dominating. Nine princes, one day, Guan Zhong's plan. "
Judge: Prison officer.
Sun Shuai 'ao (áo): Lou's surname is Ao, his name is Sun Shu, and his name is Ai Lie. In the Spring and Autumn Period, he was the prime minister of Chu. Originally, I was a "humble person to think about". Think about today in Gushi, Henan, that remote place is called contempt.
Sea: By the sea.
Bailixi (xρ): It's also a hundred miles. This is Dr. Guo Yu. The State of Jin destroyed the State of Yu, and Priscilla was taken into exile with the monarch of the State of Yu. Jin married a woman of Qin, and Prissy married Qin as a courtier. Prissy fled to Chu and went to Wan (now Nanyang, Henan), where I was held hostage by people on the border of Chu. When Qin Mugong heard about Qi Xian, he wanted to redeem it again. He was afraid that the Chu people would not agree, so he let people say to Chu, "Minister Prissy is not here. Please redeem it with five sheepskins. " The Chu people then went with the flow. At that time, Bai Lixi was over 70 years old. When he arrived in the Qin Dynasty, Qin Mugong released his prisoners and held talks with him for three days, which was a great joy. Awarded to the national government, known as the "five doctors", it is said that Bailixi, Uncle Jian and Shu are the government, and "opening a thousand miles to dominate Xirong" has become one of the "five tyrants in the Spring and Autumn Period". The deeds can be found in Historical Records of Qin Benji.
City: market.
Therefore: So.
Ren: responsibility, burden.
There are: pronouns, this and these.
There is also an auxiliary word, which is used at the end of the first half sentence to indicate a pause, and the second half sentence will explain.
Must: definitely.
Bitterness: the causative usage of adjectives makes ....
Mind: will.
Old: The causative usage of verbs makes ... tired.
Hunger: The causative usage of the verb makes ... hungry.
Body skin: skin.
Empty: The causative use of adjectives makes ... impoverished.
Asshole: The causative usage of adjectives makes ... upside down. Violate, violate or violate. Chaos and disorder.
What did you do: What did you do.
So: in that way ...
Verb: The causative usage of the verb makes ... disturb.
Appreciation of works:
The essay Born in Worry and Died in Happiness is not only noble and insightful, but also clear, logical and convincing. This paper makes good use of parallelism, layer by layer demonstration, forming an overwhelming momentum, which is also very valuable in art.
In this short chapter of less than 200 words, Mencius expounded the profound truth of "born in sorrow and died in happiness" around the relationship between objective environment and the fate of individuals and countries.
The article says that if a person wants to achieve great things, he must go through many difficulties and hardships. Only when he has gone through hardships and seen the world can he exercise his will, increase his talents and take on heavy responsibilities. Enjoy yourself at ease. Growing up in a greenhouse, you can't develop the ability to overcome difficulties and get rid of adversity. You will be helpless in the face of difficulties, and you will be depressed and desperate when you encounter setbacks and adversity, which often leads to disaster. So he came to the conclusion: "Born in sorrow, died in happiness".
At the beginning, the article did not put forward any positive views, but listed six ancient sages who rose from poverty, such as Yu Shun, Fu Shuo, Jiao Wei, Guan Zhong, Sun Shuai and Bai Xixi. The common feature of these six people is that they all went through hardships before they took on the "heavy responsibility". It is precisely because of the extraordinary price paid that these sages can "bear the burden of humiliation and have benefited from the impossibility" and achieve great things. So the conclusion behind this in turn explains the success of these six sages. "Be patient, Yico Zeng can't" is a causative sentence. Be tempted, disturb the heart. Forbearance, Mencius' interpretation of justice is to make nature (character, temperament) conform to the requirements of benevolence. Endure, you can also; Ability, responsibility, so forbearance is willfulness. Mencius advocated good nature, and benevolence, courtesy and wisdom were born in the heart, that is, born in sex. Let nature take its course, that is, taking benevolence as its own responsibility. "Ceng Yi can't do it" has increased their ability to do things that they could not have done. Fate setbacks, physical and mental hardships, not only did not make them yield, but sharpened their personality, increased their talent, made them more mature, and eventually became outstanding figures in history. It follows from this that if God wants to put an important mission on a person's shoulders, he must first hone his will and exercise his bones and muscles, so that he can't eat enough, put on clothes and be poor. Only in this way can he adapt to all kinds of hard life and lay a solid foundation for his future achievements.
Then, Mencius further pointed out: "People are unchangeable before they can change; Trapped in the heart, balanced in consideration, and then made; Color to sign, sound to send, and then metaphor. " This is about being born with worry. This is a coordinate compound sentence. The first half of each clause is written as "worry" and the second half is written as "health". In the objective world, it is impossible for people not to make mistakes. If they change, they will get "life" Variability is a realm, which means that people's subjective world has reached relative freedom in the objective world. Being able to change not only means that people meet the requirements of benevolence, righteousness, courtesy, wisdom and trust in moral quality, but also means that people's understanding and creative ability in the objective world has been improved and brought into play. A "ability" is the embodiment of people's desire, determination and subjective initiative. People's lives are often troubled by the huge contradiction between subjective desire and objective world, and the contradiction between subjective knowledge, conduct, ability and objective situation. Their hearts are full of distress, frustration and confusion, and their thinking is blocked. However, it is in suffering that people have honed their will, raised their awareness, surpassed their own efforts and made a difference. People are emotional animals, and the objective world often causes people's emotions such as emotions, likes and dislikes, fears and so on, and is troubled by these emotions. Show it on your face, show it on your language, and then get sympathy and understanding from others. In this struggle against suffering, we have found the ways and means of life, gained the meaning and value of life, and gained the confidence and freedom of life. This is the meaning of being born in suffering. "Suffering from loss" mainly refers to material troubles, and this layer mainly refers to spiritual troubles.
"If you go in, you can't go home. If you go out, you will be invincible, and the country will die." It says that you will die happily. If there is no competent minister, always pay attention to the cultivation of Ming statutes, and no sage who dares to speak out directly reminds the monarch everywhere; There is no enemy who can compete with his country and pose a threat to it, so in this relaxed and peaceful country, the monarch can immerse himself in happiness all day (he needs neither Wen Tao nor military strategy; You don't need an antidote, and you don't need martial arts), and the result of happiness is often national subjugation. This is the meaning of "dying in peace".
Trouble can make people energetic, and happiness can relax their fighting spirit; Survive in adversity and perish in prosperity. This is the dialectics of life and this is the philosophy of life. This is also a famous conclusion put forward by Mencius as another Confucian master after Confucius, which embodies the Confucian thought of making great efforts and actively using the world.
Creative background:
This article is selected from Mencius Gao Zi Xia. During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, there were wars and disputes. If a country wants to be in an invincible position, it must work hard and not be complacent. This article is written under this background.
About the author:
Mencius (about 372 BC-289 BC) was born in Zouguo (now southeast of Zoucheng City, Shandong Province). Philosophers, thinkers and educators in the Warring States period were the representatives of Confucianism after Confucius and before Xunzi, and they were also called "Confucius and Mencius" with Confucius. Mencius advocated "benevolent government" and first put forward the idea that "the people are more important than the monarch", which was listed by Han Yu as a figure who inherited Confucius' "orthodoxy" in pre-Qin Confucianism and was named "Ya Sheng" in Yuan Dynasty. Speech works are included in the book Mencius.