The morning hears the way, the night dies may carry on(zhāo wén dào，xī sǐ kě yǐ)

The morning hears the way, the night dies may carry on

In this sentence, "Tao" refers to all the laws and principles in the universe. That is to say, "the way is not the way.". It is not the literal meaning of "when you hear (or understand) a truth in the morning, you can die at night."

introduction

It is a very familiar saying that "when one hears the Tao in the morning, one can die in the evening" (Analects of Confucius · Liren). This chapter of the Analects of Confucius · Liren has not been annotated in some ancient Chinese textbooks (such as ancient Chinese Edited by Wang Li and ancient Chinese Edited by Shen Xiangyuan). Without explanation, the editor may think that the literal meaning of this sentence is not difficult to understand. When we teach this chapter to college students, we first ask them to talk about their understanding of this chapter for investigation. It is found that students basically interpret this sentence like this: "if they hear (or understand) a truth in the morning, they can die in the evening." If you further ask, "if you understand (or understand) a truth (or truth), you can die. Is it worth it? Are we willing to do that? " Only then did the students realize that this understanding is unreasonable. There are too many reasons for a person to understand in his life. If he understands one, he will die. I don't know how many times he will die. At the same time understand the truth is not to die, but to do things better. Yang Bojun's translation and annotation of the Analects of Confucius did not make any word notes, but translated it as: "if I know the truth in the morning, I can die that night." This is basically consistent with the understanding of ordinary people. People take this sentence for granted. After careful study, they find that this understanding is unreasonable and illogical. It was originally a famous saying with rich and profound connotation, but this understanding is dull. Therefore, we think it is necessary to further explore the connotation of this sentence.

Interpretation of Tao and death

Today, when we talk about the outlook on life and values, we often say "die for the truth" and "die for the just cause". This is the profound connotation of the sentence "die in the morning, die in the evening" under the new social and historical conditions. For thousands of years, this sentence has inspired people with lofty ideals to devote their lives to the survival of the country and the nation, because it profoundly reveals the relationship between "knowledge" and "action". "The book of Rites" also said: "erudite, interrogation, careful thinking, discerning, practice." The first four sentences can be summed up by the word "knowledge". The purpose of learning is not to stay in the stage of "knowledge", but to "act" on the basis of "knowledge", that is, to do, to practice, to achieve "learning for application". In this way, the sentence "when you hear the Tao in the morning, you can die in the evening" should be understood as "when you understand the Tao in the morning, you can do it immediately, even if you die for it at night." Yang Bojun's translation doesn't reveal the relationship between "knowing" and "doing", but just stays on "knowing", knowing and then dying. Based on the above understanding of "when we hear the Tao in the morning, we can die in the evening", we make the following explanation of "Tao" and "death".

Let's talk about death first

"Die" is a verb in the sentence "die in the morning, die in the evening", which means "for Death ". There are several examples of the usage of "death" in the Analects of Confucius. (1) Zilu said, "Duke Huan killed the young master to rectify, summoned him to die, and Guan Zhong did not die." (the Analects of Confucius · constitutional questions) (2) Zi Gong said: "Guan Zhong is not a benevolent person and? The Duke of Huan killed his son, but he couldn't die, so he said (the same as above) in case (1), there is an object "Zhi" after "die" and "die" means "die for it". In the second case, the object "Zhi" is omitted after "die", and "can't die" means "can't die for it".

Again

The second meaning of "Dao" in the common words in ancient Chinese Edited by Wang Li is "the way to reach a certain moral or ideological standard", and its documentary evidence is that "when you hear about Dao in the morning, you can die in the evening." "Benevolence" is the core of Confucius' thought and the moral standard of Confucius. What is "benevolence" and how to achieve "benevolence" are very clear in the Analects of Confucius. Confucius is willing to "die" for "benevolence", never to find a way to "die" for "benevolence". It doesn't make sense to understand "Tao" as "the way to reach a certain moral or ideological standard". "Dao" is interpreted as "a good political situation" (i.e., "you Dao"). The chapter of "hearing the Tao in the morning and dying in the evening" in the thirteen classics notes is annotated as: "words will die, but not hearing the Tao in the world." Shu is: "this chapter has no way to cure the world. If we had known the truth in the early days, we would have no hatred if we died in the evening. I will not hear the truth of the world until I die. " This understanding should be said to be in line with history, in which "death" is not used as "action". From the records of Confucius in Zuozhuan and Shiji as well as the words and deeds of Confucius in the Analects of Confucius, we can see that Confucius traveled all over the world in his life. He was not an official, but a Taoist. But at that time, no monarch could really implement Confucius' political ideas, his "benevolence" thought could not be implemented by the rulers, and his ideal of governing the country could not be realized, which was the greatest regret of Confucius' life. In his lifetime, he could not see the implementation of "benevolence" and the political situation of the great rule of the world, that is, "he would die without hearing about the" good way "of the world." If Confucius could see the implementation of his "benevolence" political proposition, he would die without regret even if he just heard about it. It should be said that this understanding is in line with history, but this understanding is in terms of Confucius' own personality spirit. This sentence has been recited for thousands of years, and the meaning of "Tao" is far from the end. Yang Bojun's interpretation of "Tao" as "truth" is correct in today's era, but it is not popular in the Confucius era. Most people understand "Tao" as "truth", but general truth is not worth dying for. What kind of truth is worth dying for? We should use the historical and development point of view to explain words, and put words into the specific historical language environment to understand. That is to say, we should put the "Tao" in "hearing the Tao in the morning and dying in the evening" into the big environment of the Analects of Confucius. Maybe we can get a more reasonable explanation. It is said in Shuogua of the book of changes that "benevolence and righteousness are the ways of establishing human beings", and the way of being a human being of Confucianism is the way of benevolence and righteousness. The ruling class has always governed the world with "the way of benevolence and justice", and the upright man also takes it as the criterion of self-cultivation and self-reliance, "full of benevolence and justice". In this way, the sentence "when you hear the Tao in the morning, you can die in the evening" can be literally translated as "when you understand the way of benevolence and righteousness in the morning, you can die for it in the evening."

Interpretation of sentence meaning

"Benevolence" is the core of Confucianism, Confucius' moral ideal and the highest moral standard. The "Tao" of "hearing the Tao in the morning and dying in the evening" is not the general "truth" or "reason", but refers to the Confucian "benevolence and righteousness". When we understand the truth of benevolence and righteousness, we should practice it with our whole life. Sometimes we even sacrifice our lives to defend it. This is the moral value of Confucius, which is the profound connotation of the sentence "when you hear the Tao in the morning, you can die in the evening". This connotation can be confirmed from Confucius' life and the ideological essence of the Analects of Confucius. First of all, the emphasis of "hearing Tao in the morning and dying in the evening" is "practice". On the one hand, Confucius spent his whole life traveling all over the world in order to carry out his "benevolent government". However, Confucius' political ideas were not accepted by the rulers, so he had to give lectures and apprentices instead, hoping to cultivate talents with both political integrity and ability, through which he could publicize his thoughts and realize his political ideal. In this way, Confucius spent his whole life to promote his political ideas and practice his moral ideals. He worked tirelessly and died. The sentence "when you hear the truth in the morning, you can die in the evening" reflects Confucius' persistent pursuit of political and moral ideals all his life. Confucius lived for Tao and died for it. On the other hand, "benevolence" as the highest political ideal of Confucianism, few people can achieve this state, so Confucius never easily "benevolence" to others. Confucius' contemporaries are not called "benevolence". According to Confucius, the sages who can achieve "benevolence" are Taibo, Wenwang, Weizi, Jizi, Bigan and Guanzhong. The actions of these people are related to the overall plan of the country and the hardships of the people. His evaluation of whether a person is "benevolent" focuses on his political achievements. However, "benevolence", as a kind of moral cultivation, can be divided into high and low levels. We can consciously strengthen our self-cultivation, demand ourselves with the beauty of all aspects of "benevolence", and step by step move closer to the highest level. People's moral cultivation is a process of continuous improvement from low to high, which has no end. "A scholar must be resolute and have a long way to go: does benevolence mean his own responsibility? Is it not too far to die? " In the Analects of Confucius, Taibo) only by bravely shouldering the burden of "benevolence", constantly restraining their desires, strictly demanding and reflecting on themselves, and at the same time consciously regulating their own behavior in accordance with the national and social laws and regulations and behavior habits, can a person continuously improve his moral cultivation If you return to the ceremony, the world will return to benevolence. " Yan Yuan, the Analects of Confucius. Persevere through this difficult process, will be able to achieve the highest level of "benevolence". "Benevolence is hard to get first, and then gain." The difficult process of the Analects of Confucius (Yongye) is a lifetime for a person, and generations for a country and a nation. "Rule by virtue"

Chinese PinYin : zhāo wén dào，xī sǐ kě yǐ