Confucius, the Confucian sect, has been engaged in cultural education for decades. According to legend, he has three thousand disciples, seventy-two of whom are sages. Among many students, Yan Hui is most popular with Confucius for two main reasons.
First, Yan Hui is studious and can improve himself.
Confucius was extremely studious. He claimed: “in the ten room city, there must be someone loyal and trustworthy like Qiu, who is not as studious as Qiu.” (Analects of Confucius · gongyechang) “” Confucius believed that a gentleman should be “erudite in literature”, and he also taught his disciples “Literature” (the cultural knowledge he studied diligently, such as poetry, books, rites, changes, music, etc.). However, the more important “learning” in Confucius’ learning than “Literature” is to cultivate the virtue of gentlemen and carry out ethical practice, so Confucius emphasized:
“When disciples enter, they are filial, and when they leave, they are younger brothers. They are sincere and believe, love everyone, and be kind. If they have spare power, they can learn to write.” (Analects of Confucius, Xueer)
In Confucius’ view, the cultivation of moral behavior is more important than mastering cultural knowledge. He said:
“A gentleman who does not want to be satisfied with food, who does not want to live in peace, who is sensitive to things and cautious in words, has a Tao and righteousness, which can be said to be studious.” (Analects of Confucius, Xueer)
Confucius’ teaching content is extensive, among which the most fundamental knowledge is virtue. The Analects of Confucius advanced records the list of outstanding disciples of Confucius according to virtue, speech, politics and Literature:
“Virtue: Yan Yuan, min Ziqian, ran boniu, Zhong Gong; speech: kill me, Zi Gong; Politics: ran you, Ji Lu; Literature: Zi you, Zi Xia.”
This ranking confirms that Confucius’ knowledge is the most important virtue. Confucius believed that the primary task of learners was to improve themselves and cultivate themselves into moral “gentlemen”.
The correct way to cultivate virtue lies in being able to “reflect on oneself”. He pointed out:
“Scholars in ancient times are for themselves, while scholars today are for people.” (Analects of Confucius · constitutional questions)
“Learning for oneself” is to apply what we have learned to our own life practice and truly improve ourselves; “The study of being human” is to show people with knowledge and skills to obtain fame and wealth.
The book of rites · University summarizes the Confucian learning objectives:
“The way of university is to be virtuous, to be friendly to the people, and to be good.”
“University” immediately pointed out that the path to achieve the goals of “being virtuous”, “being close to the people” and “ending in the supreme good” is “to respect things, know, be sincere, be honest, cultivate oneself, regulate the family, govern the country and stabilize the world”:
“Things have their roots and ends, and things have an end. Knowing what is in order is a short cut. In ancient times, those who wanted to make virtue clear in the world, first govern their country; those who wanted to govern their country, first unify their families; those who wanted to unify their families, first cultivate their bodies; those who wanted to cultivate their bodies, first rectify their minds; those who wanted to rectify their minds, first sincere their intentions; those who wanted to sincere their intentions, first know; knowing is in the grid of things. After knowing the grid, they will know; after knowing, they will be sincere; after being sincere, they will be upright; after being upright, they will be cultivated; after being cultivated, they will be at home;”; Qi family then rule the country; After the rule of the state, the world is peaceful. “
“Gewu” is observation and learning, “Zhizhi” is mastering true knowledge; “Sincerity” and “integrity” are “learning from time to time”, learning for application, putting what we have learned into the life practice of cultivating the virtue of a gentleman, improving our own life state, correcting our hearts, and making ourselves a virtuous gentleman who is kind, sincere, honest, peaceful, independent and independent; “Object”, “knowledge”, “sincerity” and “integrity” are comprehensively “self-cultivation”; Through self-cultivation, we can influence, influence and correct our families and make them harmonious and happy, which is “family unity”; Virtuous gentlemen who can “cultivate themselves” and “unify the family” take political responsibilities in society, promote the way of benevolence and righteousness, be close to the people and secure the country, and create a harmonious and peaceful political situation, that is, “governing the country” and “pacifying the world”.
It can be seen that although Confucius’ highest ideal is to calm the people and rule the world, the root of Confucius’ knowledge lies in “self-cultivation” and “self-cultivation”, that is, to improve oneself first and make yourself a moral gentleman who can do benevolence and righteousness. The reason why Yan Hui ranked first in Confucius’ virtue department is that he is the best disciple in the practice of “learning for oneself”. The Analects of Confucius twice recorded that Confucius called Yan Hui the only “studious” disciple.
Analects of Confucius Yong ye:
“Duke AI asked, ‘who is a disciple eager to learn?'” Confucius replied: ‘those who have the courage to return are eager to learn, do not vent their anger, and do not err. Unfortunately, they die in a short life! Now they are dead, and they have never heard of good scholars.’ “
Analects of Confucius advanced:
“Ji Kangzi asked, ‘who is a disciple eager to learn?'” Confucius replied: ‘those who have the courage to return are eager to learn. Unfortunately, they die in a short life! Now they also die. “
Yan Hui was 30 years younger than Confucius and died in the 14th year of Duke AI of Lu (481 BC), two years before Confucius’ death. When Confucius said the above, he was over 70 years old. He believed that only Yan Hui among his disciples was “studious”, which was the theory of capping the coffin after teaching many students.
Among the disciples of Confucius, there is no lack of erudite and versatile people, as well as those who hold high positions and enjoy generous salaries. Confucius praised Yan Hui for being “studious”. The facts cited were not that Yan Hui was good at reading and memorizing, or that he could stand out and become famous in society, but that he could “not vent his anger and make no mistakes”. “No anger, no double fault” is a peaceful state of mind, emotional stability, good at rehabilitation. Yan Hui can “reflect on himself”, apply what he has learned, and correct himself. This is the “learning for oneself” advocated by Confucius. The purpose of “learning for oneself” is to change temperament, cultivate virtue, and apply what you have learned to improve your life. In Confucius’ view, learners who can devote themselves to “learning for themselves” can be called “studious”.
Second, Yan Hui becomes benevolent and can live happily.
Confucius himself lived in peace and happiness, with an optimistic spirit and a happy life. He said that “he is also a man, forgetting to eat with anger, forgetting to worry with joy, and not knowing that he is getting old.” (Analects of Confucius · Shuer) Confucius’ life seems to be frustrated, but in fact, he is happy and successful.
From the perspective of life experience, Confucius’ life is not enough to be “happy”, but enough to be “afraid”. He had no father in his childhood, lost his mother in his youth, was embarrassed and poor in his early years, and was repeatedly bereaved of his wife and son in his later years; He is erudite, moral and cultivated, but he is not used by those in power; He has traveled around the world for a long time, devoted himself to practicing his political ideas and promoting the way of benevolence and righteousness, but he ran into difficulties everywhere, and his life was in danger more than once. Confucius has enough reasons to be cynical and complain about others, but “don’t complain about heaven and others, go down to school and get up to the top” (Analects of Confucius · Xianwen). He was virtuous, optimistic and self-improvement all his life.
Yan Hui’s life can be described as Confucius’ own life portrayal to a certain extent. Both teachers and students are not trapped by the environment, optimistic and open-minded. Yan Hui’s family was poor and his life was scarce, but he lived in peace and happiness, and his mood was happy. His life seemed to be poor and down, but in fact, he was happy and peaceful. Confucius praised Yan Hui:
“Xianzai, Huiye! A pot of food and a ladle of drink, in the alley, people can’t bear the worry, and Huiye can’t change its joy. Xianzai, Huiye!” (Analects of Confucius Yong ye)
Zhou Dunyi, the founder of Neo Confucianism in the song and Ming Dynasties, raised an important question to his disciples Cheng Hao and Cheng Yi:
“What is the pleasure of looking for Confucius and Yan Yue?”
The answer to this question can be found in the Analects of Confucius. “Benevolence” is the key to Confucius Yan Hui’s “happiness”. The happiness of Confucius and Yan is the happiness of benevolent people who are not controlled by desire and environment. Confucius pointed out:
“Those who are not benevolent can’t be around for a long time, and can’t enjoy their strengths. Those who are benevolent can be at ease, and those who know are benevolent.” (Analects of Confucius Li Ren)
Kong Yan’s apprentices can “enjoy their strengths”, and the “happiness” is the happiness of “benevolence” of a virtuous “gentleman”. “Benevolence” is the core value of Confucianism and the essence of “Virtue”. Therefore, Confucius believed that:
“Rich and noble are what people want; if they don’t get it by their way, they won’t get along with it; if they are poor and cheap, they are evil for people, and if they don’t get it by their way, they won’t go away. A gentleman goes to benevolence, and evil is almost fame. A gentleman has no end to eat, and if he disobeys benevolence, the times will be right, and if he is rich, he will be right.” (Analects of Confucius Li Ren)
“Chengren” can make people transcend the sensual enjoyment of sound, color, food and goods, make people ignore the external circumstances of obedience, disobedience, honor and disgrace, make people “stay around for a long time” and “enjoy their strengths”, and can “remain happy” when encountering poverty, hardship, hardship and danger. Therefore, “Ren” is more valuable than wealth and food. A gentleman’s “benevolence” is to establish himself with “benevolence”, so as to “violate benevolence without final food, the times must be right, and the rewards must be right”.
Confucius pointed out that the spiritual value of “benevolence” is not only higher than wealth and wealth, but also higher than physical life:
“People with lofty ideals and benevolence have no desire to survive to harm benevolence, and they have to kill themselves to become benevolence.” (Analects of Confucius, Wei linggong)
It can be seen from the Analects that Confucius rarely praises people with “benevolence”. Among his students, only Yan Hui is considered to be able to “become benevolence”. He praised Yan Hui:
“Return also, its heart does not violate benevolence in March, and the rest is nothing more than the sun and the moon.” (Analects of Confucius Yong ye)
The connotation of “benevolence” is rich. According to the entries about “benevolence” in the Analects of Confucius, “benevolence” is transcending the ego, not self-centered, not selfish, not arbitrary, not headstrong, not opinionated, not complaining; “Benevolence” is to put oneself in a position, push oneself to others, “love”, “know others”, have the same lover, understand people, help people, and become a person of beauty, “you want to establish people, you want to reach people”, “you don’t do to others what you don’t want”; “Benevolence” means being good at introspection, correcting mistakes and moving to the good, “bowing to oneself and neglecting others”, being strict with oneself, being lenient to others, being honest and loyal, being kind to people, loving things, giving alms to others, living in a poor alley and thinking about the world; “Benevolence” is rational and steady, moderate and peaceful, emotionally stable, not biased and extreme, not indulgent, not loud, not irritable and reckless; “Benevolence” is resolute and honest, independent and independent, harmonious but different, consistent in words and deeds, not rhetoric, not superficial, not sophisticated, not hypocritical, not duplicity; “Benevolence” is to adhere to morality, embrace ideals, do not give up principles, do not learn from others, and do not mix; “Benevolence” refers to filial piety, loyalty and faith, practicing good morality, being good at learning from those who are righteous, learning from lower levels and reaching higher levels, respecting heaven, knowing orders, accepting safely, and supporting heaven with virtue.
Kong Yan’s apprentices are “people with lofty ideals” with the above-mentioned rich spiritual qualities and a sound and open-minded mentality, so they can “be benevolent without worry” and live in peace and happiness. In the life course of suffering setbacks, Confucius, the teacher, was able to “be happy and forget worries”; In the poverty and hardship of life, student Yan Hui can “remain happy”.
In the aspect of benevolence for learning, Yan Hui is a loyal follower of teacher Bu’s footsteps; In the practice of the core value of Confucianism, the two teachers and students share the same aspiration. Confucius introduced Yan Hui as a bosom friend. He said to Yan Hui, “use it, do it, give it up, hide it, but I have a husband with you!” (Analects of Confucius · Shuer) “use” is to practice the way of benevolence and righteousness. If it doesn’t work, you’d rather “hide” than give up your life principles.
According to the historical records of Confucius family, Confucius traveled around the world to promote the way of “benevolence and righteousness”, and was trapped between Chen and CAI. “If there is no grain, those who follow the disease can’t thrive. Confucius spoke of praising the string song forever.” At this time, the disciples were “angry” and had doubts about the way of benevolence and righteousness that Confucius was committed to.
Zilu asked the teacher, “I’m not benevolent and evil if I intend to do so? I believe it if I don’t! I don’t know evil if I intend to do so? I can do it if I don’t!” Zi Gong advised his teacher Confucius to be flexible and tolerant. He said, “master’s way is extremely great, so the world can’t tolerate master. How can master cover less derogation?”
Only Yan Hui is unswerving. He said, “the master’s way is great, so the world can’t tolerate it. Although, if the master pushes it, what disease should he not suffer? Don’t see the gentleman next! If the master doesn’t repair it, it’s my ugliness. Since the master’s way has been overhauled and not used, it’s the ugliness of those who have a country. What disease should he not suffer? Don’t see the gentleman next!”
Adhere to principles, morality and ideals, and do not “learn from others”. Master and apprentice kongyan showed the character and integrity of people with lofty ideals “gentlemen and Confucianism” with his own life practice. In the difficult and dangerous situation, Confucius “knew it was impossible to do it”, insisted on the implementation of benevolence and righteousness, neither gave up his social responsibility, nor was trapped by the actual situation, lived with ease, calmly and happily, and still “sang praises and songs forever”; In the adversity of not being understood and tolerated by the world, and almost everyone betrays his relatives, only Yan Hui can say to the teacher the sonorous words of “what’s wrong with you? You can’t see a gentleman next”. After hearing Yan Hui’s words, Confucius happily joked:
“Is there a son of the Yan family? I will kill you for making you rich.”
Yan Hui is a loyal follower of Confucius. Analects of Confucius advanced:
“Zi was afraid of Kuang, after Yan Yuan. Zi said, ‘I’ll die with a woman!’ and said: ‘Zi is here, how dare I die back!'”
These records vividly illustrate what is “like-minded”, “share life and death”, “treat each other with all sincerity”.
The culture inherited by Confucianism attaches great importance to the transmission of patrilineal blood and the continuation of incense. However, it can be seen from the description of the Analects that for Confucianism and Confucius, the inheritance of spiritual values is better than the continuation of physical genes. At the age of 70, Confucius’ only son Kong Li died. At the age of 71, his most proud disciple Yan Hui died of illness. In the Analects of Confucius, there is no record of Confucius’ excessive sadness over the loss of his son due to his old age. Yan Hui’s death made him extremely sad:
“When Yan Yuan died, Confucius said, ‘Oh! Heaven mourns! Heaven mourns!”
When Yan Yuan died, his son wept. Those who followed said, “my son is mourning!” He said: ‘how sad! If it’s not the wife’s grief, who is it? ” (the Analects of Confucius, the village Party)
Confucius feared the destiny of heaven, consciously matched the heaven with virtue, believed in “the life of benevolent people”, and believed in the blessing of those who got the Tao. Yan Hui, the son of his spirit and the faithful successor of the way of benevolence and righteousness, died in a short life. How can he not have a deep sense of sadness of “Heaven’s loss” and “cry”!