A basil plant grows in the middle of a hemp
tree(蓬生麻中)
There was a famous thinker during the
Warring States Period in China, and his name was Xun Kuang.
He was a famous scholar who studied
Confucianism. He has many views that are different from other Confucian
scholars.
He had many students.
After his death, his students actively spread his philosophical ideas.
Later generations of scholars and politicians were very fond of his unique insights.
His students compiled the highlights of his thought into a book, including the following passage.
We often see a plant in the wild, this plant is basil.
The flowers of basil are white with yellow
centres.
The leaves of basil are long and thin, and
the fruits have fine hairs on them.
When basil is mature, its branches grow
crooked and look very messy.
Another plant I often see when we go out
into the wild is hemp.
When hemp grows, its branches are very
straight. The colour of hemp flowers is yellow-green. Hemp is a compound leaf
plant with seven long and thin leaves growing on a stem.
Once I passed a place where hemp was
growing very luxuriantly. I was surprised to find some basil growing in this
hemp forest.
The basil in these hemp forests grows very
straight because it is pushed by the hemp trunks and does not look messy at
all.
I gained an insight from this experience.
Plants are influenced by their environment
and grow into different shapes. The same applies to the thoughts and behaviour
of each of us. Each of us will be affected by our environment unconsciously.
Therefore, if we want to be a person of
good character and high moral standards, we should be cautious in making
friends, and we should pay attention to the environment near our homes.
If we want to become a person with good
conduct and high moral standards, we should associate more with those who have
good conduct and high moral standards. Only then can we effectively improve our
own character and moral standards.
The literal translation of this idiom is
that if there is a basil plant growing in the middle of a field of hemp trees,
the basil will grow very straight.
This idiom is used to describe how each of
us is easily influenced by our environment.
Dear friend, what inspirations or thoughts
do you have after listening to this story?
What is the environment like where you
live? Which of your friends have good character and high moral standards?
I hope this story can give you some new
insights.
蓬生麻中(A basil plant grows in the middle of
a hemp tree)
中國的戰國時代有一個著名的思想家，他的名字叫做(荀況)。
他是一個研究儒家思想的著名學者，他提出了很多與其他儒家學者不同的觀點。
他有很多的學生。
他死後他的學生們積極的傳播他的哲學思想。
後代有很多的學者與政治家們都很喜歡他獨特的見解。
他的學生們將他的思想重點集結成為一本書，這本書中有一段話如下。
我們在野外常會看到一種植物，這種植物就是蓬蒿。
蓬蒿的花是白色的，花朵中心則是黄色。
蓬蒿的葉子細細長長的，果實上面會有細細的絨毛。
蓬蒿長成之後會樹枝會長得歪歪斜斜，看起來非常的雜亂。
我們到野外的時候我常會看到另一種植物，這種植物就是火麻。
火麻長大之後樹枝非常的筆直，火麻的花的顏色是黃綠色，火麻是一種複葉植物，一個葉柄上會生著七片細細長長的葉子。
我之前有一次，經過一片火麻長得很茂盛的地方，我驚奇的發現到這片火麻樹林中，長著一些蓬蒿。
這些火麻樹林中的蓬蒿因為受到火麻的樹幹的擠壓，所以長得很筆直，看起來一點都不會讓人感覺凌亂。
我從這件經驗中得到一個心得感悟。
植物會被周圍的環境影響所以長成不同的模樣，我們每個人的想法與行為也一樣，我們每個人都會在不知不覺中被周圍的環境影響。
因此我們如果想要成為一個品行好而且道德水平高的人，我們就應該要謹慎地交朋友，我們就應該要留意我們住家附近的環境。
我們我們如果想要成為一個品行好而且道德水平高的人，我們就應該要多跟那些品行好而且道德水平高的人往來，我們才能夠有效地提升我們自己的品性與道德水平。
這句成語直接翻譯的意思是如果有一株蓬蒿生長在一片火麻樹的中間，那麼這株蓬蒿就會長得很筆直。
這句成語的被用來形容我們每個人都很容易受到環境的影響。
親愛的朋友，你聽完這個故事有怎樣的啟發或有怎樣的想法呢。
你生活的地方的周圍的環境好嗎?你的朋友中，那些朋友具有好的品性與高的道德水平呢?
我希望這故事能讓你產生一些新的收穫。
出處為荀子-勸學篇
https://zh.wikisource.org/zh-hant/%E8%8D%80%E5%AD%90/%E5%8B%B8%E5%AD%B8%E7%AF%87