The tree wants to be quiet, but the wind doesn't stop(shù yù jìng ér fēng bù zhǐ)

The tree wants to be quiet, but the wind doesn't stop

It is not only a Chinese idiom that the tree wants to be quiet but the wind. The Pinyin is sh ù y ù J ì ng é RF ē NGB ù zh ǐ. The tree is said to be still, but the wind keeps shaking it. It refers to the fact that the objective existence and development of things do not depend on people's will. It comes from Volume 9 of Han Shi waizhuan: "the tree wants to be quiet, but the wind doesn't stop. The son wants to be raised, but he doesn't want to stay."

notes

1. It means that objective things are not transferred by people's subjective consciousness, or it means that the situation goes against one's wishes. 2. It is used to lament that when children want to be filial, their parents have already died. This is a metaphor for the helplessness of losing parents, reflecting the concept of filial piety. Later generations used "the sadness of wind trees" as a metaphor for bereavement.

source

Source 1: selected from "Confucius family language - Volume 2, zhisi No. 8". source 2: "Han Shi waizhuan" Volume 9: "the tree wants to be quiet but the wind does not stop, the son wants to raise but the relatives do not wait."

Excerpts from the Analects of Confucius

original text

Confucius was very sad to hear the cry. Confucius said: "drive it! Drive it! There are sages before To, then Gao fish also. He was held by the sickle and cried by the road. Confucius opened a chariot and said, "if you don't have a funeral, why do you cry?" Gao Yu said, "I have lost three things: I have learned little, I have traveled to princes, I have lost one of my relatives; I have high aspirations, I have been king, I have lost two things; I have thick friends, but I have little friends, I have lost three things."! The tree wants to be quiet but the wind doesn't stop. Those who go but can't be traced are old; those who go but can't be seen are close. I beg you to leave from now on Stand up and die. Confucius said, "the disciples' admonition is enough to understand it." So the disciples left home and raised three of them.

notes

1. Being held by a sickle: dressed in coarse cloth and holding a sickle. 2. Get off the horse. 3. Later my relatives: they delayed the time of raising their relatives. 4, between: barrier. Make friends: contact. 6. Support: support. 7, year: time of life. You: Tongyou. There are three people in ten. It's ten and three people. It should be thirteen people, not three in ten.

translation

When Confucius went out, he was very sad to hear someone crying. Confucius said: "hurry up, hurry up, there are wise men in front." A closer look is Gao Yu. Wearing coarse cloth, holding a sickle, weeping by the roadside. Confucius got out of the car and said to Gaoyu, "is there a funeral in your family? Why do you cry so sad? " Gao Yu replied, "I have three faults: when I was young, in order to study, I traveled around the vassal states and delayed the time of supporting my parents. This is one of my faults. I regard myself as noble, unwilling to serve the monarch, and have no contribution to the monarch and the country. This is the second fault. It's the third fault to have a deep friendship with a friend, but break off contact very early. The tree wants to calm down, but the wind doesn't stop. The children want to support their parents, but their parents are gone! The past can not be recovered is the years, the past and never see is the relatives. Please allow me to leave the world from now on So he died. Confucius said to his disciples, "take a warning. This is enough to make you understand the truth." So three out of ten disciples went home to support their parents.

Examples of words

"The tree wants to be quiet, but the wind doesn't stop." surely some of you will jump out and perform. (Chapter 3 of Zhang Xianliang's love story in tulao) in the Tang Dynasty, Bai Juyi's the same system of eight dead fathers including Liu gongchuo: "the ancients said:" the tree wants to be quiet, but the wind does not stop, and the son wants to be raised, but the parents do not wait. " How can we honor the virtues of our predecessors and comfort the hearts of our heirs when we praise Wu

appreciation

This is what Gao Yu said to Confucius, aiming at promoting Confucian filial piety. This is to warn the filial sons from the opposite side, that filial piety should be done in time, while their parents are alive, and not until the day when their parents die. Later, "the tree wants to be quiet but the wind does not stop" is used to describe the objective law which does not take people's subjective desire as the transfer. It is also used to describe that one party wants to stop doing something, while the other party does not let it stop.

Chinese PinYin : shù yù jìng ér fēng bù zhǐ