The sight of a leaf falling tells us that
autumn has arrived.(一葉知秋)
During the Han dynasty in China, there was
a nobleman named Liu An. He edited a book called the Huainanzi.
Compiling the academic thoughts of various
schools at that time, this important and famous book is a significant
historical text.
The following passage is found in this
book:
'We don't need to use our hands when
running, but if we tie them up, we can't run fast.'
Similarly, birds don’t need to use their
tails when flying, but if we curl their tails, they can’t fly far.
These two examples show that seemingly
useless parts of a whole can often be essential for a function to work
properly.
I will now explain the concept I put
forward. Some things we see actually have certain laws and principles behind
them. We may not be able to see these principles, but they are real.
What I am trying to explain is that there
are hidden laws behind everything. We can see the whole from the part and infer
the essence from the appearance.
We can see a drum. Even though we can't
hear the drum, we can guess what kind of sound it will make.
We see a pot of cooked meat. We only need
to taste a piece of meat to know if it is delicious.
We can understand the whole by observing a
small part of it.
There is another situation. We hang
feathers and charcoal in our home. From these two objects, we can tell whether
the humidity in the room is high or low. When we see a leaf falling to the ground,
we can guess that autumn has arrived. We also know that winter will come after
autumn. Similarly, when we wake up and find that the water in a bottle in the
room has frozen, we know that the temperature has dropped rapidly to a very low
level.
We can predict the future based on what is
happening now.
The direct translation of this idiom is
that seeing a leaf fall indicates that autumn has arrived.
This idiom is a direct translation of the
idea that seeing a leaf fall indicates that autumn has arrived.
It is used to describe a person who can
infer the evolution and trend of things through subtle signs.
Dear friends, what thoughts or inspiration
does this story give you?
Are you good at observing changes in the
things around you? Can you predict what will happen next based on subtle
changes in the people around you?
I hope this story brings you new insights.
一葉知秋(The sight of a leaf falling tells us
that autumn has arrived.)
中國的漢代，有一個皇室的貴族名字叫做劉安。他主編過一本書，這本書名叫(淮南子)。
這本書中彙整了當時各派的學術思想，是歷史上重要的著名典籍。
這本書中有一段文字如下。
我們奔跑的時候不需要用手，但是如果將我們的雙手綁起來那麼我們就跑不快。
鳥類飛行的時候不需要用到尾巴，但是如果我們將鳥類的尾巴卷屈起來那麼這隻鳥就飛不遠。
藉由這兩件事情，我們可以知道一個整體中那些看似無用的部分，往往可能是顯性功能能夠發揮作用的根基。
我再次嘗試說清楚我所提出的觀念，有些我們看到的東西其實背後有著一定的規律與道理，這些道理我們可能看不見，但這些道理卻是真實存在的。
我想闡明的是萬物背後皆有隱秘規律。我們能夠從局部洞察整體，從表像推知本質。
我們可以看到一個鼓，我們雖然沒有聽到這個鼓的聲音，但我們可以推測出這個鼓大概會發出哪種聲音。
我們看到一鍋煮好的肉，我們只要吃其中的一塊肉就可以知道出這鍋肉煮得好不好吃。
我們通過這個整體的一小部分就可以知道這個整體。
還有另外一種情況，我們在家中懸掛著羽毛與木炭，我們就由這兩件物體就可以知道現在房間內的溼度高還是低，我們看到一片葉子掉落在地上，我們就可以推測到秋天已經到了，我們還可以知道秋天過後接著就是冬天的來臨，我們早上起來看到房間中的一個瓶子中的水結冰了，我們就是知道氣溫已經快速下降到很寒冷的程度。
我們可以通過現在所發生的事情去推測到以後會發生的事情。
這一句成語直接翻譯的意思是看見一片葉子落下就能知道秋天已經來臨。
這一句成語的意思是形容一個人藉由細微的徵兆就可推知事物的演變和趨勢。
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。
你擅長觀察周圍的事物變化嗎?你能夠根據周圍人物的細微變化去推測到接下來會發生甚麼事情嗎?
我期待這故事能讓你產生一些新的收穫。
原文出處-淮南子-說山訓-21
https://ctext.org/huainanzi/shuo-shan-xun/zh