Mencius' Philosophical Story

Mencius' achievements in his life are inseparable from his mother's teaching.

One day, Mencius' wife was alone in the house, squatting on the ground with her legs crossed. When Mencius entered the room and saw his wife like this, he said to his mother, "This woman is rude. Please allow me to divorce her. "

Meng Mu said, "What is the reason?"

Mencius said, "She squatted on the ground with her legs spread apart."

Meng Mu asked, "How do you know?"

Mencius said, "I saw it with my own eyes."

Meng Mu said, "This is because you are impolite, not because women are impolite. The Book of Rites doesn't say that when you want to enter the door, you should first ask who is in the room; When you are about to enter the hall, you should first announce it loudly to let the people inside know; When you enter the room, you must look down. "The Book of Rites" said this in order not to catch people off guard. Now you go to your wife's resting place, and there is no noise when you enter the house, and people don't know it, so you can see her squatting on the ground. This is because you are not polite, not because your wife is not polite. " After listening to Meng Mu's teaching, Mencius realized that he was wrong, and never dared to mention the divorce again.

Mencius' mother moved three times

When Mencius was young, his father died early and his mother [Zhang] kept a festival. Living by the grave, Mencius learned to do funerals, [full] [finished, without saying anything] and cry. Mother said, "This is not the reason why I have a house." Is to go, give up the city, near slaughter, Mencius learned to buy and sell slaughter. Mother added, "That's not the reason to live in a house." And then moved to Gong Xue. On the first day of each month in the new moon, the official entered the Confucian Temple, bowed down, bowed [bowing, bowing hands] and let him advance and retreat. Mencius met them and studied them one by one. Meng Mu said, "This is really a place to live." So I live here. [Vernacular] In the past, when Mencius was a child, his father died and his mother kept a festival. Living near the cemetery, Mencius learned something, such as funerals and crying. Mother thought, "This place is not suitable for children to live in." He left and moved his family to the street, close to where the pigs and sheep were slaughtered. Mencius knew something about business and slaughter. The mother thought again, "This place is still not suitable for children to live in." I moved my family to Gong Xue. On the first day of each month in the summer calendar, officials enter the Confucian Temple, bow down and bow down, and retreat from the DPRK. Mencius saw it and recorded it one by one. Meng Mu thought, "This is where children live." I live here.

The first person to make tomb figures ―― the creator of a bad precedent.

This idiom comes from Mencius Hui Liang Wang Shang: "Zhong Ni (Confucius) said: The initiator has no future! It is also used by its image. "

During the Warring States Period, Mencius and Liang talked about the way of governing the country. Mencius asked Liang, "Is there a difference between killing with a stick and killing with a knife?"

Liang replied, "There is no difference."

Mencius asked again, "What is the difference between killing with a knife and killing with politics?"

Liang said to him, "It's no different."

Mencius went on to say, "Now there is a lot of fat in Wang's kitchen, and there are strong horses in the stable, but the people are starving, and some people are lying in the wild." This is an organ that attracts animals to eat people! Think about it, king. Even if animals eat each other, it's disgusting. How can those in power lead wild animals to eat people be good parents of ordinary people? Confucius once said that those who first used figurines (ancient puppets or clay figurines that buried the dead) had no children and grandchildren! You see, you still can't bury it with a humanoid earth doll. How can people starve to death alive? "

According to Confucius' saying, "the initiator has nothing behind it", later generations will call the initiator an idiom, meaning the first person who does bad things or the initiator of bad atmosphere.

The pot is black, and the pot is black.

During the Warring States period, the vassal states all adopted the strategy of uniting the horizontal, making distant friends and attacking near.

This war has been going on for many years, and people all over the world have suffered greatly. Mencius saw it and decided to travel around the world to persuade the belligerent monarchs. Mencius came to Liang and met the belligerent Liang Huiwang. Liang said to Mencius: "I tried my best to govern the country and care for the people, but I didn't see the increase of the people." What is the reason? "

Mencius replied: "I will take war as an analogy!" When the armies of the two sides meet on the battlefield, it is inevitable that there will be a war. As a result of the battle, the defeated party will inevitably abandon its helmet and armor and flee for life. If a soldier runs slowly and only runs 50 steps, he will laugh at the soldier who runs 100 step because he is afraid of death. "

Mencius finished the story and asked Liang, "Is this right?" Liang immediately said, "Of course not!" Mencius said, "Although they love the people and like to use troops, the people will suffer. This is the same as fifty steps. "

Idioms refer to people who laugh at a small defeat. As a metaphor, "pot calling the kettle black" has different degrees, but the essence is the same.

One day in the sun and one day in the cold-work hard for one day and do nothing for ten days.

During the Warring States period, a hundred schools of thought contended and lobbied vigorously. The average lobbyist is not only knowledgeable, but also has profound and vivid metaphors to satirize and persuade the rulers, which is the most prominent. Mencius was also a famous debater. In the first article of Mencius, Gao Zi, there is such a record:

Mencius was dissatisfied with Qi Wang's fatuity, lack of perseverance and credulity of slanders, so he said to him rudely, "Qi Wang is so unwise. Although there is a living creature in the world, you expose it to the sun for one day and freeze it in a cold place for ten days. It is still alive there! " "My time with the king is very short. Even if the king has a little determination to do good, as soon as I leave you, those traitors will come to trick you and you will listen to them. What should I do? " Based on this, he made a vivid analogy: "Playing chess seems trivial, but if you don't concentrate, you won't win if you don't learn well. Qiu Yi is the best chess player in the country. He taught two apprentices, one devoted himself to listening to Qiu Yi's guidance everywhere; The other is always afraid of the arrival of a big swan and prepares to shoot the goose with an arrow. Both apprentices were taught by a master and studied together, but the latter's grades were far from each other. It is not that their intelligence is different, but that their concentration is different. " This is a very instructive story. If we want to learn something and do it well, we must concentrate on it and work hard. If you do something today, forget it and do it for ten days the next day, how can you do it well? Success in learning and doing things is also one of the decisive factors, so later people will say Mencius? Quot The idiom "one day's violence, ten days' cold" boils down to "one day's violence, ten days' cold", which is used to describe a saying that there is no perseverance and uncertainty in learning and doing things. For example, a classmate is very casual about learning, so he has less time to study and more time to waste. So we say: What can he learn from this self-destructive approach?

Mencius' mother moved three times