Respect those who are teachers, and attach great importance to the correct moral standards taught by these teachers.(尊師貴道)
Respect those who are teachers, and attach
great importance to the correct moral standards taught by these teachers.(尊師貴道)
There was a very famous official in the
Eastern Han Dynasty of China. His name was Kong Xi. He was also one of the
descendants of Confucius, the founder of Confucianism in China. There is a
story about him recorded in history books.
The king of the Eastern Han Dynasty at that
time was called (Liu Da) and he was a very wise king.
In the spring of 85 AD, (Liu Da) passed by
Confucius' hometown, which is now Qufu City, Shandong Province, China.
Liu Da held a high-level worship ceremony
to commemorate Confucius, and he also held a grand seminar on Confucius'
thoughts. He met all the descendants of Confucius who had reached adulthood,
and Kong Xi was the representative of these descendants of Confucius.
(Liu Da) said to Kong Xi.
Do all the members of the Kong family feel
honoured that the government is holding these grand events related to
Confucius?
Kong Xi replied with a smile.
According to the records in the history
books, all the great kings had one thing in common, and that was that they
respected teachers and attached great importance to the correct moral norms
taught by those teachers.
Your respect for Confucius shows that you
are a leader of noble character, which is a blessing to all the people of the
Eastern Han Dynasty.
We appreciate your attention and respect
for our Kong family, but all the glory from this event belongs to you.
(Liu Da) said with a smile.
You are truly worthy of being a descendant
of the Kong family. You spoke very appropriately, praising me without putting
yourself down.
Since Liu Da had a very good impression of
Kong Xi, he immediately invited Kong Xi to return to the capital with him.
(Liu Da) hired Kong Xi as a senior
researcher in the Royal Library.
A few months later, because Kong Xi's work
performance was very good, (Liu Da) ordered Kong Xi to be transferred to a city
to serve as mayor.
After hearing about this appointment, a
good friend of Kong Xi's, who was very good at fortune-telling, did a
fortune-telling about this appointment.
After the divination, the friend said to
Kong Xi
According to my fortune-telling, if you
accept this position, you will have a disaster. I think you should refuse this
appointment.
Kong Xi replied with a smile.
Thank you for your concern. I will accept
the transfer anyway.
I think the main purpose of a person who
reads should be to satisfy his curiosity, and the purpose of a person who reads
should not be to gain praise and respect from others.
I believe that the main purpose of a person
serving as an official should be to benefit more people, and the purpose of a
person serving as an official should not be to gain more power and money.
I believe that everyone's future is
unknown. I don't believe in fortune telling. I believe that whether my future
will be good or bad depends mainly on every decision I make now.
This idiom literally means to respect those
who are teachers and to attach great importance to the correct moral standards
that these teachers teach.
Dear friends, what inspiration or thoughts
do you get after listening to this story?
Do you believe in prophecy? Is the main
purpose of your study or work to win the praise of others or to satisfy your
own heart?
I hope this story can give you some new
insights.
尊師貴道(Respect those who are teachers, and
attach great importance to the correct moral standards taught by these
teachers.(尊師貴道)
中國的東漢王朝有一個很著名的官員，他的名字叫做(孔僖)，他也是中國儒家的創始者孔子的子孫之一。歷史書上記載了一個他的故事。
當時的東漢王朝的國王的名字叫做(劉炟)，他是一個很明理的國王。
西元85年的春天，(劉炟)經過孔子的故鄉，孔子的故鄉在現在中國的山東省的曲阜市。
劉炟舉辦了一場最高等級的祭拜儀式來紀念孔子，他同時舉辦了一場很盛大的有關於孔子的思想的研討會。他見了孔子的所有已經成年的子孫們，孔僖是這些孔子的子孫們的代表。
(劉炟)對孔僖說。
官方舉辦這些有關於孔子的盛大活動，你們孔氏家族的所有成員是否覺得很光榮呢?
孔僖微笑著回答。
根據歷史書的紀載，所有的偉大的國王都是一個共同的特點，這個特點就是這些國王都很尊敬那些當老師的人並且很重視這些老師所傳授的正確的道德規範。
你對孔子的尊敬展現出你是一個具備高尚的品德的領導者，這是東漢王朝中所有百姓的福氣。
我們很感謝你重視與看重我們孔氏家族，但這場活動中所帶來的所有榮耀是屬於你的。
(劉炟)笑著說。
你真不愧是孔氏家族的子孫啊。你說話非常的得體，你讚美我的同時也沒有貶低自己。
因為在這次的對談中，(劉炟)對孔僖的印象非常的好，所以劉炟立刻邀請孔僖跟他一起回首都。
(劉炟)聘用孔僖到皇家圖書館中擔任高級研究員。
幾個月後，由於孔僖的工作表現非常好，所以(劉炟)下令調派孔僖到一座城市擔任市長的工作。
孔僖的一個很擅長占卜的好朋友聽到這項人事命令後，就針對這項人事命令進行占卜。
這個朋友在占卜之後，就對孔僖說。
根據我的占卜的結果，你如果接受這個職務會有災禍，我認為你應該拒絕這項人事命令。
孔僖微笑著回答他的這個好朋友。
謝謝你對我的關心，我還是會接受這項人事調動。
我認為一個人讀書的最主要目的應該是為了滿足自己的求知欲，一個人讀書的目的不應該是為了得到別人的讚美與尊敬。
我認為一個人擔任官員的最主要目的應該是為了造福更多的百姓，一個人擔任官員的目的不應該是為了得到更多的權力與錢財。
我認為每個人的未來都不可知，我不相信占卜，我相信我的未來會遭遇好事或是壞是最主要的原因是在於我現在做出的每一個決定。
這句成語直接翻譯的意思是尊敬那些當老師的人並且很重視這些老師所傳授的正確的道德規範。
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。
你相信占卜嗎?你讀書或者工作的主要目的是為了贏得別人的讚美還是為了滿足自己的內心呢?
我期待這故事能讓你產生一些新的收穫。
出處為後漢書-卷79-孔僖傳
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