I. Full text
The way of university is to be moral, to be close to the people and to stop at perfection. Zhi Zhi then decided: calm down first and then be quiet; Be quiet before you can be safe; Worry first; Think about it before you take it. Things start and end, and things end. If you know the order, you will find a shortcut. If the ancient desire is obviously superior to the world, rule the country first; If you want to govern your country, you should first get your family together; If you want to reunite with your family, you should first repair your body; If you want to cultivate yourself, you should be upright first; If you want to be correct, be sincere first; Be sincere, let him know first; Knowledge exists in things. ?
Things are known; Knowing it is sincere; Sincerity before righteousness; Put your mind right and practice again; After the body is repaired, the family is clean and tidy; Family harmony, and then national governance; The country rules and the world is at peace. From Tian Zi to Shu Ren, one is based on self-cultivation. Those who are chaotic and not treated will be denied. Thick is thin, thin is thick, nothing!
Second, translation.
The purpose of "university" is to carry forward noble virtues, care for people and reach the highest state of perfection. Only when you know that you want to achieve the state of "perfection" can you set goals. Only by setting a goal can we be quiet, stable and not chaotic. Only by being stable and not chaotic can we have thoughts and thoughts, and we can achieve "supreme goodness." Everything has a root and an end, and everything has an end and a beginning. Knowing their order is not far from the purpose of the university.
In ancient times, if people want to carry forward noble virtues in the world, they must first govern their own country; If you want to govern your country, you must first adjust your home; If you want to adjust your family, you must cultivate yourself first; If you want to cultivate yourself, you must first correct your own heart; People who want to correct their thoughts must first make their thoughts sincere; People who want to turn their ideas into reality must first acquire knowledge.
The way to acquire knowledge is to explore things. Only after exploring things can we get a correct understanding, know the truth, revise our thoughts, cultivate our moral quality, adjust our family, govern our country and make the world peaceful after our thoughts are sincere.
From the emperor to the ordinary people, we should take moral cultivation as the foundation. It is impossible to corrupt people's roots, but the final details can be adjusted. Just as I am good to others, others are slowly good to me; I am slow to others, but others are good to me, which has never happened before. This is called knowing the root and the bottom, which is the highest level of cognition.
Three. introduce
"University" is an essay on the Confucian thought of self-cultivation and governing the country. Originally the 42nd article of The Book of Rites of Little Dai, it is said that it was written. In fact, it is a Confucian work in the Qin and Han Dynasties, and it is an important work for China to discuss educational theory in ancient times.
After being highly praised by Cheng Hao and Cheng Yi in the Northern Song Dynasty, Zhu in the Southern Song Dynasty wrote "University Chapters and Sentences", which was finally called "Four Books" together with The Doctrine of the Mean, The Analects of Confucius and Mencius. After the Song and Yuan Dynasties, "Da Xue" became the official textbook of the school and the required reading of the imperial examination, which had a great influence on the ancient education in China.
The "Three Outlines" and "Eight Items" put forward in "University" emphasize that self-cultivation is the premise of governing people, and the purpose of self-cultivation is to govern the country and the world, which shows the consistency between governing the country and the world and personal moral cultivation.