What does persuasion tell us?

When Zhonghua Book Company published \”Xunzi\”, it commented: \”We should learn from hundreds of schools of thought and take the best of them.\” Xunzi is respected as the \”Later Sage\”, and his thoughts condense the essence of various schools of thought. His article \”Encouraging Learning\” is a classic work handed down from generation to generation, which contains Xunzi\’s golden rule of continuous improvement. Today, I will read \”Encouraging Learning\” with Shi Cijun to help you resolve your confusion and cultivate yourself into a better self. 01 Reflect on yourself. A gentleman is knowledgeable and reflects on himself every day. Then he will know clearly and act without fault. Someone asked online, how can I become knowledgeable and transparent? Xunzi’s answer is: Reflect on yourself every day. There was a scholar in the Ming Dynasty who had two bottles on his desk, which stored black beans and soybeans respectively. Whenever there is a kind word or deed, throw a soybean into the bottle; if there is a mistake, throw a black bean into another bottle. At first, he saw more and more black beans and felt very embarrassed. He decided to reflect on himself and strictly required his words and deeds. After a while, there were more and more soybeans in the bottle, but the number of black beans remained almost unchanged. And he also continued to improve through long-term self-reflection and self-supervision, and finally became a famous minister. This scholar was Xu Pu, the first minister of the Ming Dynasty. Just like Xunzi said: \”A gentleman who is knowledgeable and examines himself every day will know what he knows and act without mistakes.\” No one in the world is born good, they all come from reflection and correction along the way. The road to self-examination is like scraping one\’s bones and healing the poison. Although the pain is unbearable, it can correct one\’s body. Life is noisy. Only by always introspecting, reflecting more, and learning to attribute things inwardly can you grow upward. 02 Recognize that if you don’t climb a high mountain, you don’t know how high the sky is; if you don’t go to a deep stream, you don’t know how deep the earth is; if you don’t listen to the last words of the past kings, you don’t know how great knowledge is. Xunzi said: If a person does not climb a mountain, he cannot perceive the vastness of the sky; if he does not approach the abyss, he cannot know how thick the earth is; if he does not listen to the words of the sages, he cannot experience the profound knowledge. In life, many people always think that they are omnipotent, disdain everyone, and look down upon everything. Only when you have experienced the pain of life and the bitterness of worldly affairs can you recognize your own ignorance and powerlessness. Guan Yu during the Three Kingdoms period was a hero worshiped by countless people. He was highly skilled in martial arts. When he was young, he warmed wine and beheaded Hua Xiong, passed five levels and beheaded six generals, killed Yan Liang and beheaded Wen Chou. He had few opponents. Gradually, he also lost himself in this victory. He commented on Huang Zhong, a veteran of the Five Tigers, that \”a real man will never associate with an old soldier\”, and he was very contemptuous of him. Sun Quan wanted to betroth his daughter to Guan Yu\’s son. Guan Yu said, \”My tiger girl is willing to marry a dog son\”, which completely offended Sun Quan. Later, facing Soochow\’s attack, Guan Yu was still arrogant and complacent, thinking highly of his own strength. When he was guarding Jingzhou alone, he was executed for underestimating the enemy. A person who is full of arrogance, his eyes are like being obscured by floating clouds, and he cannot see clearly where he is. Lack of caution when acting can lead to minor mistakes and major irreparable mistakes. Wang Yangming once said that arrogance is a person’s greatest enemy. Thousands of sins all come from pride. As a human being, don\’t think too highly of yourself, and don\’t look down on others too much. Stay humble and you will be stable throughout your life. 03 Precipitation accumulates soil into mountains, and wind and rain stir up it; water accumulates into abyss, and dragons are born; good deeds accumulate into virtue, and the gods are content with themselves, and the holy heart is prepared. ZhihuHere is a question: What is the fastest way for a person to grow? One of the high praises only had three words: slow down. The so-called slow down does not mean slow growth, but means extending the time line for self-improvement and using the time on weekdays. As Xunzi said, a little bit of soil can accumulate into a mountain, a puddle of water can accumulate into an abyss, and every small act of kindness can accumulate into a great virtue. In life, only by being patient, calming down, and accumulating energy can you soar into the sky when opportunities come. A few years ago, when \”Those Things in the Ming Dynasty\” became a hit, many people on the Internet envied the author Shi Yue for being famous and making money easily. As everyone knows, behind this book is his accumulation of more than ten years. When he was in school, other students played games and fell in love, but he devoted all his spare time to literature and history. After work, other colleagues gossiped, played mahjong and went to the bar, but he spent his time after get off work writing furiously in front of the computer. As Shi Yue himself said: People who are more talented than me don’t work as hard as I do. People who work harder than me are not as talented as me. There are people who are both more talented than me and work harder than me, but I can’t survive. Life is like this. Everyone\’s starting point is different, but what determines the thickness of life is often the accumulation and precipitation in the future. No matter how high your starting point is, if there is no continuous accumulation in the later period, your talents will eventually be lost and lost to everyone; no matter how low your starting point is, if you can continue to accumulate yourself and build a solid foundation, you only need to go up step by step to reach the top of the mountain. It does not take a day to freeze three feet of ice, and it does not take a day to penetrate a stone with dripping water. Continuously accumulating experience and accumulating one\’s own abilities and knowledge are a person\’s greatest capital in the future. 04 If you temper yourself and persevere, rotten wood will not break; if you persevere, you can carve gold and stone. If a person carves something with a knife and gives up in the middle, he can continue carving even on rotten wood; if he can overcome the difficulties and persevere, he can still carve patterns on gold and stone. In fact, the same is true in life. As long as you can withstand setbacks and endure hardship, you can carve out a flawless self. Zeng Guofan once said of himself: \”I am dull by nature. Others can read two or three lines, but I cannot finish a line when I am reading quickly.\” When he was a child, others had finished reading two or three lines, but he had not finished reading a line. Others have memorized it, but he may not be familiar with it yet. But no matter how hard or difficult studying was, it could not defeat him. He couldn\’t memorize it after reading it once, so he read it ten times and a hundred times until he knew it by heart. When he was fourteen years old, Zeng Guofan took part in the provincial examination for the first time. Unexpectedly, his career path was extremely bumpy. He took the exam six times in a row and failed every time. But he remained undaunted and started from scratch the next year. Finally, he was admitted to the seventh provincial examination. After that, Zeng Guofan accumulated more experience and was selected as a scholar of the Hanlin Academy by Emperor Daoguang. From then on, he was promoted step by step. In ten years, he was promoted seven times, all the way to the second rank. Wang Xiaobo said: \”Life is a slow process of being hammered.\” On the road of life, we will experience various swords and mountains of fire and encounter various sudden blows. Some people give up when they encounter a slight setback and continue to sink in hardships, resulting in accomplishing nothing. Some people are able to become more courageous as they become more frustrated, constantly overcoming difficulties and tempering themselves. As the saying goes, clams go through all kinds of hard work before they can give birth to pearls; only after pine trees are blown by wind and rain can they stand proudly on the top of the mountain. No hardship in life is in vain, as long as you can endure it and persevere,You will eventually develop a stronger self. 05. Concentrate on yourself. You have no claws and teeth, no strong muscles and bones. You can eat earth and drink from the underworld. You have to be single-minded. A crab with six knees and two pincers is not a snake and eel that has nothing to rely on in its cave, so it means it is impatient. Earthworms do not have sharp teeth or strong bones, but they can move freely in the soil. Crabs have six legs and two large pincers, but they can only hide in the caves of snakes and eels. The reason is that earthworms are focused and focused, while crabs are impetuous. In life, there are always people who think that they can do things well and achieve success by doing two things at once, but as a result, they only dabble in everything and fail to master it. In the 1980s, Nie Weiping, the national Go player, was at the height of his popularity. First, he achieved 11 consecutive victories in the Sino-Japanese Go Tournament. Later, he also won the championship in the World Bridge Championship trials. At the dinner after the game, a very proud Nie Weiping chatted with others about his bridge experience. Wu Qingyuan, the \”go master\” sitting nearby, saw this and kindly reminded him: \”He who fights two rabbits cannot get one rabbit.\” He wanted Nie Weiping to know that if he wanted to achieve something, he should not be too distracted. But Nie Weiping disagreed and still played Go and bridge. Unexpectedly, Nie Weiping lost to South Korea\’s \”Go Emperor\” at the World Go Championship the next year. Since then, Nie Weiping has never entered the finals of the Go World Series. You must understand that everyone\’s energy is limited. If you want to do everything well, you will only focus on one thing and lose the other. Even as talented as Nie Weiping, he still can\’t really do two things at once. No one in the world can be all-inclusive and can blossom in all things. Only by dedicating yourself to one thing can you become a unique master in that field. As the saying goes, if something is exquisite, it can move people. No matter which profession you are in, if you sit on this mountain and look at that mountain, you will achieve nothing in the end. With determination, keep an eye on a mountain, and strive to climb towards it, you will eventually reach the top one day. ▽Mou Zhongjian, a historian of philosophy, once said: Xun Xue is profound and profound. Not only is it not outdated now, it is also more inspiring than before. As the first chapter of \”Xunzi\”, \”Encouraging Learning\” is even more profound. The article only has more than a thousand words, and it seems to just advise people to study, but in fact it provides a set of tips for improving oneself. Reflect on yourself when you are confused, settle down when you are at a low point, and focus when you are wandering. When you understand \”Encouraging Learning\”, no matter what situation you are in, you can break out of the cocoon and transform into a better version of yourself. Click [Like] to encourage us.