At the beginning of the article, I solemnly wrote: "A gentleman says: You can't learn." This is not only the first sentence of the article "Encouraging Learning", but also the first sentence of Xunzi's whole work. Why do you ask study questions first? Xunzi attached great importance to learning because he believed that human nature was "evil" and must be corrected by courtesy and righteousness. The theory of evil nature is the starting point of Xunzi's social and political thought. In his book, he first proposed that learning should not stop, just to grasp the key and solve the fundamental problem. Because he attaches great importance to this issue, he puts forward his own opinions through the mouth of a "gentleman" to show his solemnity. In terms of wording, he did not mean to insist on learning, but to say that we should not stop learning and more specifically correct people's general failure to persist in learning.
From the school tradition, Confucianism has always advised everyone to study hard. For example, the first sentence of The Analects of Confucius says: "Confucius said: Learning is not as good as learning!" Xunzi claimed to be the heir of Confucius, and the first sentence in the book also said: "You can't learn." On the surface, it only inherited the Confucian tradition of "encouraging learning", but in fact, his emphasis was obviously different. Because in Confucius' view, "those who are born with knowledge are superior, and those who learn and know are inferior." (The Analects of Confucius Ji Shi) Xunzi believes that knowledge of etiquette, morality and system can only be acquired through learning the day after tomorrow. Therefore, on the basis of new epistemology, Xunzi developed the Confucian tradition of "encouraging learning" and raised the importance of learning to a new height. As far as writing is concerned, the central argument is put forward at the beginning, and the language is concise and profound, which naturally leads to the following discussion.
The article takes "green, from blue, and green is blue; Ice, water, but colder than water ",means that anyone can make progress by studying hard." Today, I can surpass yesterday, and students can surpass teachers. These two metaphors greatly inspire and inspire learners. However, to achieve "shine on you is better than blue" and "colder than water" is by no means "study today and drop out tomorrow". Keep learning, which means "optics is not enough". Therefore, these two metaphors profoundly and powerfully clarify the central argument and inspire people to forge ahead.
Then, the article further sets up a metaphor to fundamentally clarify this truth: "The wood is straight in the rope, thinking it is a wheel, and its curve is in the rules. Although it has been exposed, those who are not very good will let it be natural. " This, as Liang Qichao said, means that "the quality of a person's talent is not determined by nature, but by the merits of later generations" (see the quotation in Xun Zi Jie Cambodia). Xunzi believes that human nature is evil, but learning can change people from evil to good, so he emphasizes the role of "Yu". Through this metaphor, it shows that even a "bad" person can be "changed" into a completely moral person after learning. This is obviously a greater encouragement to learners. After emphasizing the important role of learning, the article draws a conclusion by metaphor: "Therefore, if you have a rope, you will be straight, and if you have a sharp gold, you will benefit. If a gentleman saves himself with knowledge, he will know clearly without fault. " Wood will straighten when measured with chalk lines, and a metal sword will sharpen when placed on a grindstone. This is like a gentleman who reads widely and checks himself every day, so he will be well-read and have no mistakes in his behavior. It is more convincing to draw a conclusion through metaphor. The word "day" in the judgment sentence closely echoes the word "already" in the opening sentence, which highlights that if you want to "know clearly and act correctly", you must keep learning, thus effectively clarifying the central argument.
The opening is the first paragraph. This passage shows the great significance of learning in changing people's quality and improving people's intelligence. Learning is of great significance, so how to learn? Xunzi believes that learning can't just sit in the room and think hard, but must use external things to learn from reality. Therefore, the second paragraph first explains: "I have been thinking about it all day, so it is better to learn it in an instant." Through personal experience, Xunzi compared "thinking all the time" with "learning in an instant" and emphasized that learning is not as good as dreaming. The word "learning" as opposed to fantasy is self-evident, that is, using external things to learn from reality. This view of learning was also put forward by Xunzi based on his epistemology. Xunzi denied Mencius' view that people have innate "conscience" and "goodness", so he emphasized learning from external practical things. The concept of "learning" put forward by him here has materialistic factors. Then, with five metaphors, Xunzi started with his own life experience: standing on a high place can see more than standing on tiptoe; Climb up and wave, shout with the wind, the arm is not long, the voice is not big, but people can see and hear clearly from a distance; It can be seen that the utilization of high places and downwind is of great significance. By extension, people who "fake horses" and "fake boats" are not good at walking or swimming, but they can "walk Wan Li Road" and "escape rivers". Because the examples used in metaphor are very common in daily life, it feels not only kind but also credible. With the constant metaphor, the truth expounded goes deeper and deeper into the reader's mind, and it will naturally come to the conclusion that "gentlemen are the same, and good and evil are also things". That is to say, gentlemen are more talented than ordinary people because they are good at using foreign things to study hard. It can be inferred that if a person is good at using foreign things and studies hard, he can also become a gentleman with talent and virtue. This is consistent with the first paragraph "Shine on you, ice is cooler than water, and straight wood can be used as a wheel", with the same meaning and dark structure.
In addition, Xunzi linked "what he learned" with "being good and being false to things". "This means that the purpose of learning is to understand the laws of objective things and use these laws to transform the objective world." (Quoted from Yan Beiying's explanation of "encouraging learning") This is also related to his thought of "dominating fate".
At this point, the second paragraph ends. This paragraph shows that learning must be good at using foreign things. However, there are still some things that need attention when learning practical things outside, so the third paragraph makes a further explanation. Firstly, the article sets up two metaphors to lead to the argument: "Accumulated soil makes mountains, and wind and rain flourish;" The water drops merged into the ocean and the dragon was born; Accumulate goodness into virtue, the gods are complacent, and the sacred heart is prepared. "This shows that learning should focus on accumulation. Xunzi doesn't recognize the saying that "a born saint" at all. He pointed out that as long as people study hard and "accumulate good deeds", they can have the idea of saints. Sages are also constantly learning, just as he said in the chapter "On Evil Nature": "There is no end to the accumulation of goodness" and "People who paint can be found". He fully emphasized the role of "accumulating goodness", which is also in line with the "learning is impossible" proposed at the beginning. In brushwork, metaphor leads to arguments, which strengthens the linguistic potential of arguments and makes them convincing as soon as they appear. Then, the article complained: "So, if you don't accumulate steps, you will take Wan Li Road;" "If you don't accumulate a small stream, you won't be a river." This is a negative metaphor to illustrate the importance of accumulation. After a positive and a negative metaphor, the reason that learning pays attention to accumulation has been preliminarily clarified, but in order to explain it in depth, the article repeatedly compares "you can't take ten steps in one leap" with "Ma Xu pushes ten times and never gives up", and then compares "perseverance, perseverance, carving a stone". Of course, if you want to "give up" and keep accumulating, you must be single-minded and not impetuous. Therefore, the article compares "the earthworm has no advantage of its paws and its bones and muscles are strong" with "the crab kneels eight times and pinches twice", so it can "eat the earth and drink the yellow mud", but "there is no food unless it is a snake's den", which shows that learning must be absorbed and not sloppy. These two metaphors emphasize that learning must be persistent and take care of the above-mentioned discussions. The third paragraph ends here. Through this metaphor, we can clearly understand that learning must be persistent. At this point, the central argument of "learning can't" put forward at the beginning has been thoroughly expounded and fully proved.
The syllogism of "encouraging learning" states the importance of learning and points out the attitudes and methods that should be adopted in learning. Although Xunzi's theory of learning is based on the idealistic theory of evil nature, it has played a positive critical role in Mencius' theory of innate morality. Due to the limitation of historical conditions, Xunzi could not understand the class nature of human beings. He regards propriety and righteousness as the morality that everyone should have, and calls the behavior that conforms to the feudal ethical norms "good" and the behavior that does not conform to it "evil". In fact, the purpose of his persuasion is to cultivate talents who meet the moral standards of the feudal ruling class, which is essentially different from our learning purpose today. However, it is of progressive significance in the historical period when the emerging landlord class stepped onto the political stage and the whole country moved towards reunification. As for paying attention to learning, the view that learning must be "good at fraud", accumulate gradually and persevere, even today, it still has certain enlightenment and reference significance for us.
Except for a few places that directly explain the truth, they are almost all metaphors. Explaining the truth and proving arguments through metaphor is a major feature of this article. Because of the high skill of creating metaphors, these metaphors are alert and moving. For example, "green" comes from blue, and green is blue "(shining on you is better than blue) and" no accumulation, no miles; If you don't accumulate small streams, you won't be able to make rivers and seas. ""Perseverance, rotten wood can't be folded; Perseverance, the stone can be engraved ". , are cited as the motto to guide learning. At the same time, the ways and means of using metaphor are also flexible and diverse, expounding a layer of meaning, some alone and some continuous; Some are positive metaphors, some are back metaphors; Some use metaphors to compare with each other, and some use metaphors to compare. This step by step, up and down echo, so that their expressive metaphor, more fully play a role, so as to explain the truth very thoroughly. In addition, due to the use of metaphor, the language of the article appears concrete and concise. Moreover, with the continuous use of Bi Xing and the change of techniques, neat and changeable sentence patterns have been formed, resulting in a sonorous rhythm, which shows Xunzi's exhortation passion. Therefore, this is not only an excellent paper on ancient education, but also a literary work. This paper comprehensively and profoundly discusses the problems related to learning from the aspects of the importance, attitude, content and method of learning. Obviously, the content and purpose of learning advocated by Xunzi is an important part of his Confucianism, and the distinction between gentleman and villain he said has obvious prejudice. However, he emphasized the role of learning, and advocated asking for advice with an open mind, learning endlessly, step by step, perseverance, dedication, etc., all of which are the summary of learning experience, which is worth learning by future generations and has universal significance.
Features: 1. Although the article is long, it is well organized. The full-text reasoning is profound and the structure is rigorous, which represents the level of the mature stage of pre-Qin essays. 2. In the use of language, the article uses both long and short sentences and double-row sentences, which are symmetrical and scattered. It is catchy to read and full of beautiful music rhythm. 3. In the process of argumentation, metaphors are widely used to explain the truth, which is easy to accept.