Tyranny is fiercer than tiger(kē zhè měng yú hǔ)

Tyranny is fiercer than tiger

In the book of rites, under the tan Gong, there is an article "tyranny is fiercer than tiger", which records the story of Confucius and his disciple Zilu who met a miserable woman when they passed by Mount Tai. The local tiger is seriously affected, but it is because of the harsh tyranny of the monarch in other places that she and her relatives prefer to live here all the time, so that many people and her relatives were killed by the tiger, leaving her alone to cry at the graves of her relatives. The full text is based on narration, which deeply exposes the harm of tyranny to the people. Later, the idiom "tyranny is fiercer than tiger" is derived from this story, which means that the tyranny of the ruler is more terrible than the man eating tiger.

Pinyin

K ē zh è NGM ě ngy ú h ǔ. The harsh rule of the ruler is more ferocious than that of the man eating tiger. Tyranny means that the ruling class oppresses and exploits the people cruelly, including decrees, taxes and so on. [from]: "in the book of rites, under the sandalwood bow:" the boy knows it, and the tyranny is fiercer than the tiger. " Grammar: subject predicate type; predicate and object; political cruelty: tyranny and fierce tiger; complex and heavy Fu; antonym: light corvee and thin Fu; usage: generally used as object and predicate. Structure: subject predicate. In the long feudal era, every dynasty was more tyrannical than tigers.

Book of Rites

The book of rites is a collection of articles explaining the book of rites by Confucian scholars from the Warring States period to the Qin and Han Dynasties. There is more than one author of the book of rites, and the writing time is also different. Most of the chapters are probably the works of 72 disciples of Confucius and their students, as well as other ancient books of the pre Qin period. The content of the book of rites is mainly to record and discuss the etiquette system and etiquette in the pre Qin period, to explain the etiquette, to record the questions and answers of Confucius and his disciples, and to record the principles of self-cultivation. As a matter of fact, this 90000 word work has a wide range of contents and various categories, involving politics, law, morality, philosophy, history, sacrifice, literature and art, daily life, calendar, geography and many other aspects. It embodies the political, philosophical and ethical thoughts of pre Qin Confucianism and is an important material for the study of pre Qin society. The book of rites is written in the form of narration, some of which are of considerable literary value. Some use short and vivid stories to illustrate a certain truth, some are majestic and strict in structure, some are concise and meaningful, some are good at psychological description and depiction, and there are a lot of philosophical aphorisms and aphorisms in the book, which are incisive and profound. The book of rites, Yili and Zhouli are collectively known as "three rites", which have had a profound impact on Chinese culture, and people of all ages look for ideological resources from them. As a result, there are many books that annotate the book of rites in the past dynasties, and contemporary scholars also have some new research results in this aspect. The original text we selected here is based on the annotations to the thirteen classics, which was proofread and engraved by Ruan Yuan in the Qing Dynasty, while the annotations and translation extensively refer to various influential research results, striving to be accurate, concise and easy to understand. In principle, the first sentence of the selected text is used as the title, and the notes only indicate that it is selected from a certain text. The book of rites was written by many people and collected from many ancient books. Its content is very complicated and its arrangement is disordered. Later generations used the method of classification to study it. Zheng Xuan of the Eastern Han Dynasty divided the 49 chapters into eight categories: general theory, system, sacrifice, mourning clothes and auspicious affairs. In modern times, Liang Qichao was divided into five categories: first, on etiquette and learning, including Liyun, Jingjie, Leji, Xueji, Daxue, Zhongyong, ruxing, Fangji, Biaoji, Zhiyi, etc. Secondly, there are 17 interpretations of Yili, including Guanyi, Hunyi, xiangjiuyi, Sheyi, Yanyi, Bingyi and the four systems of mourning clothes. There are three records of Confucius' words and deeds or his disciples' timely affairs, such as Confucius' leisure residence, Confucius' Yan residence, Tan Gong, Zeng Ziwen, etc. There are four records of ancient system rituals, including Wang Zhi, Qu Li, Yu Zao, Ming Tang Wei, Yue Ling, ritual vessel, Jiao te Sheng, Ji Tong, Ji Fa, Da Zhuan, mourning Da Ji, mourning Da Ji, running mourning, asking mourning, Wen Wang Shi Zi, neize, Shaoyi, etc. Five are the proverbs and famous sentences in Quli, Shaoyi and ruxing. Liang's classification has a certain reference value for us. in the Han Dynasty, the classics of Confucius were called "classics", and the disciples' interpretation of "classics" was "Zhuan" or "Ji", so the book of rites got its name, that is, the interpretation of "Rites". By the early Western Han Dynasty, there were 131 chapters in the book of rites. According to legend, Dai de selected 85 of them, which are called the book of rites of great Dai; Dai Sheng selected 49 of them, which are called the book of rites of little Dai. In the late Eastern Han Dynasty, Dadai edition was not popular, but xiaodai edition was called "the book of Rites" and "three rites" together with "Zhouli" and "Yili". Zheng Xuan made a note, so his status rose to classics. In the book, there are also extensive discussions on the meaning of rites, the interpretation of the system, and the promotion of Confucian ideals.

classical Chinese

original text

On the side of Mount Tai, there was a woman crying in the tomb. Listen to the teacher's style. "Zi Gong (5)" asked: "Zi's cry is like the one who has worries And he said (8), "but (9),"! In the past, my uncle died of a tiger, my husband died again, and now my son died again The master said, "why don't you go "There is no tyranny," he said The master said, "I know that the tyranny is stronger than the tiger."

translation

When Confucius passed by the foot of Mount Tai, there was a woman crying in front of the tomb. Confucius held the beam in front of the car and listened to the woman's cry. He asked Zilu to ask the woman. Zilu asked: "you cry like this, it's like there are several sad things." (woman) said: "yes, my father-in-law was bitten to death by a tiger before, then my husband was bitten to death by a tiger again, and now my son is killed by a tiger again!" Confucius asked, "why don't you leave here?" (the woman) replied, "there are no tyrannical decrees." Confucius said, "young people should remember this. Harsh and cruel decrees are more fierce and terrifying than tigers."

notes

(1) Passing by: passing by. (2) sorrow: sadness, grief. (3) Master's style: Master: the ancient title of teacher, here refers to Confucius. Shi: Tong "Shi" refers to the rail in front of the car. It is used as a verb here, meaning to support Shi. (4) envoys: dispatch, let. (5) Zilu: a disciple of Confucius, named Zhongyou and named Zilu. (6) one like: one: indeed, indeed. Yisi: indeed, very much. (7) heavy worry: there are several sad things in succession. Heavy: overlapping. (8) and said: Nai said. (9) ran: Yes. (10) Uncle: at that time, the husband's father was called uncle, that is, father-in-law. (11) Zi: children. (12) Yan: here. (13) go: leave. (14) harsh Government: including harsh decrees, heavy taxes, etc. Harsh: harsh, tyrannical. (15) boy: in ancient times, the elder called the younger. Confucius is called his apprentice. (16) knowledge (zh ì): through "Zhi", remember. (17) Yu: Bi.

understand

Those in power imposed harsh decrees, heavy taxes and labor on the common people, which made the common people miserable and deeply exposed the harm of social tyranny to the people.

Chinese PinYin : kē zhè měng yú hǔ