In the third year when Confucius moved to Cai, the army of Wu attacked Chen. Chu sent troops to rescue his father who was stationed in the city. It is said that Confucius is between Chen and Cai, and King Zhao of Chu sent someone to hire Confucius. Confucius is going to visit, and Chen and Cai's doctors are going to say, "Confucius is a smart man, and all his taunts and attacks hit the prince's shortcomings." Now he has been between Chen and Cai for a long time, and all the doctors have gone against his wishes. Now that Chu is a big country, it sends people to hire Confucius. If Confucius is used in Chu, it will be dangerous for us to take care of Chen and Cai's doctors. "So they jointly sent servants to surround Confucius in the wild. Confucius couldn't walk and ran out of food. The follower's disciple was tired and hungry and couldn't stand up. But Confucius still taught reading, playing songs, teaching poetry, books, rituals and music, and never stopped. Lutz was very angry and came to see Confucius and said, "Is a gentleman poor? Confucius said, "A gentleman can stick to poverty without wavering, while a villain who is poor will run amok. "

Confucius said that "there was a lack of food in the past", of course, referring to economic poverty. However, we understand that this passage should not be limited to economic poverty. All life setbacks, career bumps, and people reaching the end of the road can be understood as "poverty." At these moments, a gentleman should have the mind and tolerance of "keeping poor", and when he comes, he will be safe and get out of trouble. We should not be "extravagant", run amok, take risks or take chances, even last stand, drag out an ignoble existence.

In the final analysis, it is just a question of how one should overcome adversity and get out of the predicament. Since ancient times, great men have suffered a lot and saints have been hungry. What is it that we suffer a little poverty?