where ignorance is bliss , ti 's folly to be wise(nán dé hú tú)

where ignorance is bliss , ti 's folly to be wise

It's hard to be confused. It's hard to be confused when you should be confused. "It's hard to be confused" is a famous saying handed down by Zheng Banqiao in the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty. It is also a reflection of his way of being an official and his life. Later generations lament that the four words "hard to be confused" are rich in philosophy, so they hang them at home in the form of banners as warning words.

origin

In 1751, Zheng Banqiao was invited to visit Juzhou by the governor of Juzhou. When they arrived at xishanwang, the Qi Mountain in the north of Ju, they were well received by the local councillors. They had heard about Banqiao's name for a long time and were eager to get its ink. They used the local famous dish "muddleheaded dish" to entertain Banqiao. Muddle headed dish is to wrap chicken, fish and meat with flour paste, fry them slowly over low heat until the surface is golden. After Zheng Banqiao tasted the Hu Tu dishes, he was full of praise. He asked Wang Yuanwai the names of these dishes, and the latter replied, "our local name is muddle headed food." When the member saw that Banqiao was in the ascendant, he asked Banqiao to write an inscription. When Banqiao saw the meaning early, he happily wrote down four big words: it's hard to be confused. From then on, muddleheaded spread. After the year of Qianlong, Zheng Banqiao's four words "hard to be muddled" were made into various gifts, rubbings or pictorial sales like flyers, which also aroused people's more interest in this cynical Mr. Zheng Banqiao. The explanation of "hard to be muddled" came from their own psychological needs, and thus extended to the interpretation of the four words "hard to be muddled" However, in view of the fact that the author did not have a clear intention at that time, there are different understandings now. Background: Zheng Banqiao, a calligrapher, painter and litterateur in the Qing Dynasty, wrote several famous plaques, among which the most popular ones are "difficult to get confused" and "suffering losses is a blessing". it is said that the word "hard to be confused" was written in Yunfeng mountain, Laizhou, Shandong Province. One year, Zheng Banqiao made a special trip here to see the monument of Zheng Wengong. He was so lost that he had to stay in a cottage in the mountains when it was dark. The owner of the house is a refined old man who calls himself a "muddleheaded old man" and speaks well. In his room, an inkstone of the size of a square table is displayed. The stone is exquisite and well carved. Zheng Banqiao is very impressed. The old man asked Zheng Banqiao to inscribe on the back of the inkstone. Banqiao thought that the old man must have a history, so he inscribed the word "hard to be confused" and used the square seal of "Kangxi scholar Yongzheng was a Jinshi of Qianlong". Because there are still many blanks in the inkstone terrace, Banqiao said that the old man should write a postscript. The old man wrote, "it's hard to get a beautiful stone, especially a hard one. It's even harder to turn from a beautiful stone to a hard one. Beauty in the middle, stubbornness in the outside, hiding wild people's house, not into the precious door He used a square seal, and the words on it were "the first in the hospital examination, the second in the rural examination, and the third in the palace examination." Banqiao was shocked to see that the old man was a retired official. Feeling the name of the muddleheaded old man, seeing that there was still a gap on the back of the inkstone, he added a paragraph: "it's hard to be smart, especially to be muddled. It's more difficult to turn from smart to muddle headed. Let go, take a step back, and be at ease at the moment. It's not going to be reported later. " the small characters in calligraphy and painting are: "it's hard to be smart, but it's hard to be confused. It's more difficult to turn smart into confused. Let go, take a step back, and be at ease at the moment. It's not for the sake of the future. "

meaning

Self mockery

In 1751 A.D., Zheng Banqiao was in Weixian County, where "there was nothing wrong with the Yamen Zhai, the walls were empty, and the surroundings were quiet, as if they were far away, and he was not feeling disappointed." He thought, "life is busy, half a life is bleak, is life like this? What will happen in the end? It seems that it's better to be muddleheaded. If you have a muddleheaded view of everything, it doesn't matter if you lose it or if you get it, then you will have peace of mind. " So he wrote down "it's hard to be confused". Therefore, it is called "the helpless words uttered by the most intelligent people, the words of indignation in the face of noisy life." (Biography of Zheng Banqiao, a wizard of Guangling)

Voice of protest

In the autumn of 1754, Zheng Banqiao was transferred from fan County of Shandong Province to the magistrate of Wei county. The day he took office, he was hit by a drought that had not been seen in a hundred years. Yao Yaozong, the imperial envoy, turned a deaf ear and asked him for calligraphy and painting. Zheng Banqiao satirized with ghost paintings. Yao Yaozong, the imperial envoy, was angry and tore up the paintings. Zheng Banqiao was very depressed when he saw the miserable image of the people. His wife advised: since the emperor did not ask, the imperial envoy ignored, you pretend to be confused! Zheng Banqiao said angrily: I can't pretend to be confused. You know, it's hard to be smart, but it's hard to be confused. It's even harder to be smart than to be confused. Inspired by this, he encouraged himself to "save the people at all costs" and opened official warehouses for disaster relief. He said this sentence, later became the "difficult to get confused" note: "smart is difficult, confused is difficult, from smart to confused is more difficult, put a step back, now peace of mind, not for later blessing." Xuzhou, Taiwan, said: "the meaning of this sentence seems to indicate that people should not take things too seriously and muddle along. It's another annotation of the so-called" not stupid, not deaf, not being a Jia Weng. ". It's not easy for people to be smart because they want to be smart. " Su Dongpo said in his poem: "everyone has adopted a son and hopes for cleverness. I am misled by cleverness all my life." So, smart people are hard to do. What is muddle headed? Muddle headed is not smart. There are two kinds of muddle headed: one is true muddle headed, muddled in life, as if born, unable to pretend to come, unable to find; the other is fake muddle headed, clear right and wrong in the heart, but pretending to be good and bad, from "smart" to "muddle headed". According to Zheng Banqiao's personality and psychological structure, it is obviously a kind of pain and torture to ask him to go against his own ideas and moral behavior. It's really hard for a wise man to pretend that he is stupid and has nothing to do if he knows that he has something to do with virtue. Therefore, Xu Lanzhou believes: "Zheng Banqiao's title book, which is full of emotion, is also a kind of voice of protest that intellectuals are engaged in politics and can't show great ambition in the corrupt regime of autocratic system. It has the meaning of failure that should be done, and the courage that can not be done. Therefore, this kind of "psychological adjustment" is "trying to balance one's own psychological contrast in order to achieve a short-term peace." (hard to be confused is the voice of Zheng Banqiao's protest)

Peace of mind

When Zheng Banqiao was the magistrate of Wei County, his cousin sued his neighbor for a section of the wall foundation of his ancestral house and asked him to write to Xinghua County to entrust him so as to win the lawsuit. After reading the letter, Zheng Banqiao immediately wrote a poem back: "if you take a book for a long distance, why don't you let him have a few feet? The Great Wall is still here today. We can't see the first emperor of Qin Dynasty. " Later, he wrote two words: "it's hard to get confused" and "it's a blessing to suffer losses". He added "it's hard to be smart, it's hard to be confused. It's more difficult to turn from smart to confused. Let's go, step back, and feel at ease now. It's not for the sake of the future." Under "suffering losses is a blessing", add "if you are full, you will lose opportunities; if you are in deficit, you will gain opportunities; if you are in deficit, you will gain opportunities; if you are in deficit, you will gain opportunities; if you are in deficit, you will gain opportunities; if you are in deficit, you will gain opportunities; if you are in deficit, you will gain opportunities; if you are in deficit, you will gain opportunities. In fact, the poem quoted here was written by Zhang Ying, a college student of the same period. Here, the analogy of "difficult to get confused" is smart. It's hard to get confused once. If you feel at ease, you can also get a balance of mind. Because "suffering losses is a blessing" is the most appropriate interpretation of "difficult to get confused".

Self mockery

Zheng Banqiao is never confused. The reason why he sighs "it's hard to be confused" is that he has his own difficulties. Zhu Tiezhi believes that "Zheng Banqiao is a very sober man. Only when he is sober, decent, upright, and has nothing to do with slander, can he have the exclamation of "it's hard to be muddled". Where is the difficulty of "it's hard to be muddled"? The difficulty is that he is sober and self-evident after all. His heart is like a mirror. He can't turn a deaf ear to the evil forces and turn a blind eye to them. The difficulty is that he is always concerned with the feelings of the people and can't be indifferent to the sufferings of the people. He can only pretend to be confused, but he can't ignore the reality at last, so he sighs "it's hard to be confused" because of the pain inside and indifference outside (reading reference) Zheng Banqiao is famous for his "difficult to get confused". There are different interpretations of "difficult to get confused" he said, which are expected to be literal; some are used to explain words; some are used to explore its profound connotation. So what is the more appropriate explanation? It seems that "if you don't know the world of the ancients, you can't talk about the words of the ancients; if you know the world of the ancients, if you don't know the life of the ancients, you can't make a mistake about their writings." (general meaning of literature and history. Wende) it is difficult for later generations to know the mentality and complex cultural environment of their predecessors. It is sometimes difficult to justify themselves if we have a correct explanation.

Legend

One day, young Zheng Banqiao walked home from his private school in the moonlight. Suddenly saw a woman, in the roadside on the edge of the stream, in front of the moon in dressing. After Zheng Banqiao passed by her, she couldn't help looking back at her. The woman also looked at him and said to him, "it's evening. The moon is too light. I can't see my shadow in the stream. Can you help me to have a look? Have I dressed up yet?" So Zheng Banqiao walked towards her, came to her, looked at her in the moonlight and said to her, "I'm dressed very well." The woman then asked, "will you come here at this time tomorrow?" "Maybe," Zheng said In fact, Zheng Banqiao has secretly promised to come back to this place at this time tomorrow. So at this time tomorrow, Zheng Banqiao came to this place. At this time tomorrow, Zheng Banqiao came to this place again. It was the same for the next few days and dozens of days. At the beginning, Zheng Banqiao talked with the girl and began to say some love words unconsciously. In this way, they sometimes gossip and sometimes love each other. Day by day. One day

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