The official of the heart thinks(xīn zhī guān zé sī)

The official of the heart thinks

Heart: the ancients thought that the heart was the organ of thinking, so they called the organ of thinking and emotion as the heart, which now refers to the brain; official: function, function. The function of the brain is to think.

Idiom information

[explanation] heart: the ancients thought that the heart was the organ of thinking, so they called the organ of thinking and emotion as the heart, which now refers to the brain; official: function, function. The function of the brain is to think. The subject predicate form is used as the object and attribute; it is used to admonish people

The origin of Idioms

[source] Mencius Gaozi Shang by Zou mengke of Warring States Period: "the official of heart is thinking, thinking is getting, not thinking is not." "Mencius - gaozishang" says: "gongduzi asked:" are all people, or for adults, or for villains, why? " Mencius said: "from its general for adults, from its small body for villains." He said, "they are all human beings, either from their general or small bodies. Why?" He said: the officials in the eyes and ears don't think, but cover things. When things are mixed with each other, it's just enough to lead. The official of the heart is thinking, thinking is getting, not thinking is not. The place of the heaven is with me. Gongduzi asked: "the same people, some become gentlemen, some become villains, why?" Mencius said: "those who pay attention to the important part of the body become gentlemen, and those who pay attention to the secondary part of the body become villains." Gongduzi said, "people are the same. Some people pay attention to the important parts of the body, while others pay attention to the secondary parts of the body. Why is that Mencius said: the function of ears and eyes, without thinking, can only deal with external things, and is often induced by external things, because it can't control material desires. The function of the heart has the power of thinking and the ability of controlling the external inducement. It is unique for man to give it to heaven. This chapter can be used as a supplement to the previous one. In the last chapter, the harm of "raising the small and losing the big" is achieved from the negative aspect, while in this chapter, the problem of how to establish the "big" is discussed from the positive aspect. What's more, the so-called "big" and "small" are also very clear; the "heart" is the big body, but also the expensive body; other organs such as eyes and ears are only the small body, the cheap body. Therefore, to establish the commanding role of the heart, as long as the commanding role of the heart is established, other senses will not be deceived by foreign things and go astray. from the content of this chapter alone, the most prominent one is still the emphasis on the heart. The so-called "the official of the heart is thinking" has become a famous saying in later generations, "thinking is getting, not thinking is not" emphasizes the importance of thinking to people. According to a series of Mencius' expositions on the difference between man and animal recorded in this article, the saying "where the heaven is and who I am" actually uses the unique human characteristic of "the official of the heart is thinking" to divide the boundary between man and animal, and promote the important significance of spiritual thinking for human beings. another point worthy of attention in this chapter is the relationship between heart, ears, eyes and other senses. Because the sense organs such as ears and eyes can't think, they are easy to be hoodwinked by external things. Because the heart can think, it's not easy to be hoodwinked by external things. (of course, "if you think about it, you will get it." if you think about it, you can't do it. "If you don't think about it, your heart is just a kind of decoration and doesn't work.) Therefore, as long as the heart is set up, the small can not be seized, and other secondary parts, such as ears and eyes, will not be taken and blinded by foreign objects. We can see that this has actually come into contact with the so-called problems of feeling and understanding, perceptual knowledge and rational knowledge. We have said earlier that the whole theory of Mencius has a very strong psychological color. Therefore, although it is impossible for him to put forward such modern concepts as feeling and understanding, perceptual knowledge and rational knowledge, it is entirely possible for him to grasp their essence. As for the fact that he regards "heart" as the organ of thinking, but fails to find the new world of "brain", it is a traditional limitation of cognition, which is beyond his personal ability. In fact, as a traditional habit, we still use "heart" as the pronoun of thinking organ in language use today, not to mention in the Mencius era more than 2000 years ago?

Interpretation of Idioms

Mind is the organ of thinking. Only by thinking can we get it. Without thinking, we can't get it. It means that the function of brain is thinking. Moral: to think hard and learn more. the "heart" mentioned by the ancients and the "heart" we speak of today are two concepts. Mencius believed that eyes and ears are organs that can't think, so we can't just use eyes to see and ears to listen. It's easy to be blinded by the illusion of things. "Heart" is the organ of thinking. We should think more about what we see and hear. Only after thinking, can we have experience and understand the essence of things through the surface. If you are lazy and unwilling to think, you can never get anything. I compare people's thinking to a phonograph. If people think about it, the phonograph will rotate, and the external objects, records and stylus, will rub each other to produce music. Without turning (without thinking), there will be no wonderful music or movement of life.

Idiom story

At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, there was a doctor named Cai, who was famous for his excellent medical skills. People who went to study art almost broke the threshold of his family. One day, a little boy came to Mr. Cai's house to worship him as a teacher. After the meeting, the 7-year-old boy stood by and waited for Mr. Cai's instructions. Because Dr. Cai thought that only those intelligent and savvy children were apprentices, he decided to test him first. Dr. Cai called the boy in front of him, pointed to a mulberry tree in the courtyard and said, "look, the leaves on the highest branch of this mulberry tree are out of reach. How can we pick the mulberry leaves?" "use the ladder!" The little boy blurted out. "But I don't have a ladder at home?" Dr. Cai said. "Then I'll climb up and pick it!" Said the little boy. "If you are not allowed to climb, you must stand still on the ground. Can you think of another way?" Dr. Cai intended to "embarrass" him. The little boy stood there thinking a little. Suddenly he patted his forehead and called out, "I have it." he went to find a long rope and tied a small stone with it. Then he came to the bottom of the mulberry tree and threw the stone to the highest branch. The rope hung on the branch. With a little effort, the top branch fell down. As soon as he reached out, he picked the mulberry leaves. Dr. Cai, who was always standing by, nodded happily and said, "very good! It's very good! " it's no coincidence that a book can't be finished. When Dr. CAI and the little boy were about to turn around and enter the house, suddenly there was a loud noise from the children behind them. They looked back and saw that there were two goats fighting over the yard, which was very difficult to separate. Several children tried their best to pull them away, but it was useless. So doctor Cai said to the little boy, "come and think of a way to tell the two sheep not to fight." the little boy didn't worry. He went straight to the goat to pull the frame. Instead, he went back under the mulberry tree and pulled up a handful of fresh, green grass to the goat. At this time, the goat was tired and hungry. When he saw the grass, he would not care to fight. Cai said with satisfaction: "the official of the heart is thinking, thinking is getting, not thinking is not. A child can be taught, and a child can be taught. " This little boy is Hua Tuo, a medical expert at the end of the Han Dynasty, who was famous for his virtue and art.

Examples of Idioms

[example] the so-called starting machine is to be good at using the organs of thought. The function of the brain machine is specialized. Mencius said, "the official of the heart is thinking." he correctly defined the function of the brain. Mao Zedong's study and current situation (see selected works of Mao Zedong, Volume 3, page 952)

Chinese PinYin : xīn zhī guān zé sī