The Nanyi Temple in Cangzhou faces the river trunk (gān), the mountain gate lies on the river (pǐ), and the two stone beasts sink together. When he was a teenager, the monk raised money to rebuild, asking for stone beasts in the water, but he couldn't get them. I thought it was downstream. I counted several boats and dragged iron palladium (pá) for more than ten miles, but there was no trace.

When a lecturer set up a tent temple, he heard it and said with a smile, "My generation can't learn physics. It's a pestle. How can you take it with you because of the skyrocketing? The stone is heavy and the sand is loose, and it sinks deeper on the sand surface (yān). Searching along the river is not bumpy? " Public service is the truth.

When an old river soldier heard this, he laughed and said, "The stone was thrown in the river, so you should look for the upper layer. The cover stone is solid and heavy, the sand is loose and floating, and the water can't wash the stone. Its counter-excitation force will bite the sand at the water-facing place under the stone, and the excitation will gradually deepen until the stone is halfway down, and the stone will be thrown into the into the pit. If you take another bite, the stone will turn again. Turn (Zhu m m m: n), then go upstream. Seeking the bottom and fixing the top; Isn't it more bumpy in the land of search? " As he said, fruit is thousands of miles away. However, this is a world thing, but we know one thing, but we don't know there are many other things. Can it be inferred that (Y) is broken?

(selected from Ji Yun's Notes on Yuewei Caotang (Shanghai Ancient Books Publishing House, 1980). The title was added by the editor. )

translate

There is a temple near the river bank in the south of Cangzhou. The main entrance of the temple collapsed in the river, and the two stone beasts in front of it sank into the river together. After more than ten years, the monks raised money to rebuild the temple, looking for stone beasts in the river, and finally failed to find them. Monks believe that stone beasts flow down the water. So he rowed a few boats, pulled iron and palladium, and searched for more than ten miles, but there was no sign of the stone beast.

A lecturer teaches in a temple. He smiled and said, "You people don't know how to be reasonable. This is not sawdust. How can it be washed away by the rushing river? The nature of the stone is hard and heavy, the nature of the sand is soft and floating, and the stone is buried in the sand, sinking deeper and deeper. Wouldn't it be ridiculous to find two stone beasts along the river? " Everyone is convinced that (this sentence) is accurate.

When an old river soldier heard about this incident, he said with a smile, "Any stone beast that falls into the water should look for it in the upper reaches of the river. Stone is hard and heavy in nature, and sand is soft and floating in nature. Water can't wash away the stone, but the recoil of water will certainly wash away the surface of the stone below it, forming a pothole where it meets the water. The deeper you rush, the deeper you rush to the bottom of the stone, and the stone will fall into the hole. Another impact like this will make the stone turn again. Keep turning over, but the stone beast goes upstream. It is absurd to look for stone beasts downstream; Isn't it more ridiculous to look for them in the depths of the original place? " According to the old river soldier, he found a stone beast a few miles upstream. In this case, there are too many people who only know the superficial phenomenon and don't know the profound truth. Can you judge subjectively according to a certain truth?

To annotate ...

1. Cangzhou: Cangzhou pro: near. River: refers to the Yellow River. Dry: The shore.

2. Shanmen: the gate of the temple. Hey: it has been folded.

3. reading: experience. Year: year. Yu: More.

4. Ba: Paddle. Used here as a verb, boating.

5. Wood persimmon: sawdust.

6. Yan: It's buried.

7. Invert (a "book"): Invert the confusion.

8. River soldiers: soldiers who rule rivers.

9. Bite: It means "bite". This refers to scouring and impact. Xue Kan: A hole.

10. Hypothesis: subjective judgment.

1 1 has: stopped.

12 right and wrong: this is not yes: this is not: no.

13 such as: according to.

14 establishing an account: establishing the teaching of learning management.

15. Actually: finally.

16. and: together.

17. in favor: onshore.

18.Pi: crash.

19. Drag: Drag, drag.

20. Palladium: an agricultural tool used for harrowing and soil preparation.

2 1. But: Only.

22. throwing: dumping.

23. Gai: The original (yes) word is placed at the beginning of the sentence.

24. skyrocketing: fierce river water.

25. the second generation: you.

26. dry: the shore.

27. Pro: Face it.

28. Also: Together

29. Yan: It is equivalent to "Yu Zhi", there.

30. seek: find.

3 1. Thinking: Thinking.

32. Gai: Because.

33. Go back: Go upstream.

34. Physics: ancient meaning: the principle of things. Modern significance: a discipline.

Extended data

Stone beast in the river

Stone Beasts in the River is an essay by Ji Yun, a writer in Qing Dynasty. This article tells an instructive fable, which expresses the author's mockery of ignorant and self-righteous people such as scholars, and also tells the characters that understanding things requires comprehensive and in-depth investigation and exploration. The full text has distinct levels, narrates around the search for stone beasts, and digs out the philosophy of life in the drama plot. The plot is simple and the language is concise, but it is thought-provoking to read.

Creation background

In his later years, from the fifty-fourth year of Qianlong (1789) to the third year of Jiaqing (1798), Ji Yun began to collect folk stories about foxes and ghosts, including many texts about textual research, and compiled the Notes of Yuewei Caotang. This article is one of them.

Brief introduction of the author

Ji Yun (1724- 1805), whose real name is Xi, was born in xian county, Zhili (now Cangzhou, Hebei). Politicians and writers in Qing dynasty, officials in Qianlong period. Li Guan went out of the capital as the suggestion, and the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Rites, the co-organizer, the university student and the Prince of Taibao were in charge of imperial academy affairs. He was the editor-in-chief of Sikuquanshu. Ji Yun studied Confucianism, read widely, wrote poems and essays, and was especially good at textual research and exegesis.

Being an official for more than 50 years, he was brilliant and energetic when he was young, but his inner world was increasingly closed in his later years. His Notes on Yuewei Caotang is the product of this mentality. His poems were collected by later generations and compiled into Ji Wenda's Public Legacy Collection. In February of the 10th year of Jiaqing (AD 1805), Ji Yun died of illness. Because he was "sensitive and studious, able to write, and did not award political achievements" (inscription by Emperor Jiaqing), posthumous title Wenda was called Wenda Gong in the village after his death.

works appreciation

This article tells an instructive fable in concise language, praising the old river soldiers with rich practical experience, mocking the stupidity of monks and satirizing the self-righteousness of Confucianism and Taoism. It is of great enlightenment and guiding significance to people's thinking and understanding.

The full text has distinct levels, and the writing structure focuses on finding stone beasts, and excavating the philosophy of life in the drama plot. Monks in the temple, like ordinary people, rowed a few boats according to conventional thinking because of their limited knowledge of foreign objects, looking for stone beasts along the river, but of course they could not find them.

But it is incorrect for scholars to reason based on what they have learned in books. His theory may convince people temporarily, but the fact is still the fact. If you dig underground according to scholars' theories and methods, you will definitely not find stone beasts. Because the old river soldiers have been dealing with the river all the year round, they have a more detailed understanding of the habits of water, stone and sediment in the river, so they can draw the correct conclusion that the stone is upstream. Looking upstream according to the method of the old river soldier, I found the stone beast.

At the end of the article, the theme is: "However, it is a matter of the world, but knowing one and not knowing the other can be judged by subjective speculation!" There are many cases of "knowing one thing and not knowing the other" like monks and Taoists, which are very common in daily life.

The author satirizes this ignorant and self-righteous person, and points out the ways and means to know things: we should not know things unilaterally, let alone make subjective assumptions, but should investigate and explore the characteristics of things comprehensively and deeply. The article makes sense and gives people profound enlightenment.

Although the story of this article is simple, the philosophy contained in it is intriguing. It shows that although things in the world have the same laws, they are more unique. The particularity of a thing is inseparable from its environment and conditions, so it develops and changes. Many life experiences in reality can actually prove this point. This is the practical significance of this article.

Famous comments

Selected Works of Qing Dynasty by Wang Tailing, director of China Ci Research Association and director of China Institute of Poetry and Rhyme of Guizhou Normal University: "Although this article is short, its structure is quite rigorous. The words of monks and lecturers, especially those of the old river soldiers, are deeper, like peeling bamboo shoots, which is very convincing. The language of the article is also refined and accurate, and it has an irrefutable power. "

The influence of later generations

This paper was selected as the second volume of the eighth grade Chinese textbook of People's Education Edition (20 17 Edition).