Summer insects can't talk ice(xià chóng bù kě yǐ yǔ bīng)

Summer insects can't talk ice

Xia Chong can't talk about ice is a sentence from Zhuangzi waipian Qiushui, Volume 6 of Zhuangzi Jishi. It means a kind of insect. If its life cycle is only a few months in summer, if you tell it what ice is, it won't know. It can't imagine that thing, because its life cycle never goes through winter.

interpretation

The sentence "well frog" means that "for the frog in the well, you can't talk about the sea with him because his vision is limited by his narrow dwelling place; for the insect who lives and dies in summer, you can't talk about ice and snow with him because his vision is restricted by the season.

Examples

In Zi Zhi Tong Jian Jin Ji Wu Hui Di, there is the following story. When the world was in famine and the people were starving to death, the emperor said, "why not eat minced meat? "Summer insects can't be said to be ice, and crickets don't know the spring and Autumn period! He has such a shallow vision that summer insects can't talk about ice. (Ling Mengchu, Ming Dynasty, Volume 37 of the second quarter of the story of surprise) Tong Shuangwei thought: "summer insects can't talk about ice. How can I tell you? "Different ways do not conspire with each other." I'll just say a few words less! " (Wang Huo, war and man, Volume 3, Volume 4) Xia Chong, who can't live until winter, can never understand what "ice" is, which is interpreted as "the limitation of knowledge" in philosophy. Jin Yong's story of killing a dragon by relying on heaven Zhang Cuishan Yin Susu first met Zhang Cuishan. Because of a "stomach pain note", passers-by didn't know it. Yin Susu read "summer insects can't speak ice" and opened Zhang Cuishan's heart.

original text

In waipian Qiushui, Volume 6 of Zhuangzi Jishi, Beihai Ruo says: Well frogs can't talk to the sea, they are confined to the void; summer insects can't talk to the ice, they are faithful to the time; Qu Shi can't talk to the Tao, they are bound to teach. Now I come from the cliff and look at the sea. I know that I am ugly. I can talk with you about Dali. The water in the world is no greater than the sea. When all rivers return, they do not know when they will stop and not be full; when they are discharged at the end, they do not know when they will be full; when spring and autumn remain unchanged, they do not know whether there will be floods or droughts. The flow across the river can't be counted. I've never been more than that. I'm more than that. I'm more than that. I'm more than that! Is it not as if the sky is in daze? Is China in the sea not like rice in the big warehouse? The number of things is ten thousand, and people live in one place. When people live in Kyushu, they are born of grain and food, and they are connected by boat and car, and they live in one place. This is more than all things, and it's not like the end of luxury lies in the body of horse? The five emperors, the three kings, the benevolent people, and the scholars are doing their best. Bo Yi's words are regarded as a name, while Zhong Ni's words are regarded as Bo. There are so many of them. Isn't it like that Er Xiang is more than Shui? "

translation

Bohai shenruo said: "you can't talk about the sea with the frog in the well, because its vision is limited by its narrow dwelling place; The reason why you can't talk about ice and snow with the insect who lives and dies in summer is that his vision is restricted by the season; the reason why you can't talk about the grand principle with the insect who has shallow knowledge is that his vision is restricted by the education. Now that you come out from the river bank and see the sea, you will know your rudeness, so you can talk about the truth. There is no bigger water in the world than the sea. Thousands of rivers return to the sea, I do not know when to stop, but it does not overflow; tail discharge it, I do not know when to stop, but it will not reduce and run out; the sea does not change with the change of seasons, nor is it affected by floods and droughts. This shows that its capacity exceeds that of rivers and cannot be counted. But I have never boasted about myself, because since the formation of form between heaven and earth and the absorption of yin and Yang from it, I am in heaven and earth, just like a small stone and a small wood on a big mountain, and I will be looked down upon by others. How can I boast about myself? Count the four seas in heaven and earth, not like a small hole in the huge water? Count the Central Plains in the world, not like TIMI in the big warehouse The number of things is called "ten thousand", and human beings are only one of them. Human beings are all over the world, and there are people in the places where grain grows and where cars and boats reach, making people only one thousand of them; This shows that compared with all things, human beings are not like the end of a hair on the horse? What the five emperors ruled continuously, what the three kings fought for, what the benevolent people worried about, and what the sages who took the world as their own duty worked hard, are nothing more than that. Boyi gained fame by giving up his position as a king, while Confucius showed his erudition by talking about the world. They boasted so much, just like you were complacent when you saw the river rising before

enlightenment

You can't talk about ice with insects that grow in summer. It refers to the limitation of time. It also refers to people's shortsightedness and ignorance of great principles. In fact, most people who can understand this sentence are wise people. When a four seasons bug is talking, it's hard for the summer bug to understand the scenery outside of summer, just like Copernicus or Galileo found new scientific discoveries, but it's hard for people around to understand them, so the blind ridicule them. Auricularia auricula can never distinguish between bass and treble. If summer insects can live one more season, they may be able to go one more step, see the good and evil outside the circle, and know more.

Chinese PinYin : xià chóng bù kě yǐ yǔ bīng