If you don't help yourself, you will be upright(péng shēng má zhōng，bù fú zì zhí)

If you don't help yourself, you will be upright

Chinese idiom refers to living in a good environment and growing up healthily.

explain

Ponceae: ponceae. Ma: Ma Cong. NE: black dye. It means living in a good environment and becoming a good person. It refers to the influence of environment on people.

Classics

Xunzi · quanxue, written by Xunzi Kuang in the pre Qin period, is characterized by the fact that he was born in the middle of the marsh without help, and the white sand was in Nirvana with which he was black. The grass grows in the hemp field and can stand up without support; when the white sand is mixed into the black soil, it will become as black as the soil. Yan Zhitui's family precepts of the Northern Qi Dynasty: the eyes can see them, the ears can hear them, they are full of vigor and numbness, they don't hold them straight, they don't work hard.

words whose meaning is similar

You become who you spend your time with.

allusion

original text

In the south, there is a bird named Mengjiu, which takes feathers as its nest, weaves it with hair and ties it with reed and sweet potato. When the wind blows to the sweet potato, the eggs break and the seeds die. The nest is not endless, but the one it ties. In the west, there is Muyan, which is called "Shegan". Its stem is four inches long. It grows on high mountains and faces the abyss of a hundred Ren. The stem of a wood can not grow, but it can stand. It's rough, it's straight without help. White sand is in Nirvana, black with it. The root of orchid locust is Zhi, which is gradually growing. The gentleman is not near, and the common people are not satisfied. Its quality is not beautiful, but it has gradually become so. Therefore, a gentleman must choose his hometown when he lives, and he must be a scholar when he travels, so he can guard against evil and get close to Zhongzheng.

translation

In the south, there is a kind of bird called "Mongolian Dove", which makes its nest with feathers, weaves its nest with hair, and ties it to the flower heads of reeds. When the wind blows, the reeds break, the nests fall and the eggs break. The reason is not that the nest is not well made, but that it is tied to something. There is a kind of tree called "Shegan" in the West. Its trunk is only four inches high. It grows on a high mountain and overlooks the abyss. It's not how high a tree can grow, but because it stands on the top of a mountain. The grass grows in the hemp field and can stand upright without support. When the white sand mixed into the black soil, it was as black as the black soil. The root of lanhuai is called xiangai. Once it is immersed in smelly water, the gentleman will no longer be close to it, and the people will no longer wear it. AI's own quality is not bad, but because of the consequences of soaking in the stinky water. Therefore, a gentleman must choose a good environment to live in, and he must be close to the virtuous scholars to make friends, so as to prevent heresy from approaching the right path.

Chinese PinYin : péng shēng má zhōng，bù fú zì zhí