They cling to incomplete books.(抱殘守缺)
During China's Han Dynasty, there was a
famous Confucian scholar named Liu Xin whose story is recorded in history
books.
The Spring and Autumn Period and the
Warring States Period were extremely chaotic times in China, but they were also
a golden age for Chinese thought.
Many renowned thinkers lived during this
period, each proposing their own solutions to social and lifestyle issues.
Some advocated moral education to foster
social stability, while others emphasised the importance of clear laws in
building a better society.
Confucius, the founder of Confucianism, was
one of these thinkers.
However, the Confucian ideals he promoted
were not well regarded during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods.
After years of war and unrest, many of the Confucian classics were lost.
Liu Xin was born around 150 years after the
Han dynasty was founded. He wrote an essay to the king at the time regarding
certain contemporary phenomena.
The third paragraph of this essay is
summarised as follows:
During the Qin dynasty, Emperor Qin Shi
Huang issued an edict ordering the preservation of Qin's history books, as well
as books related to medicine, divination, agriculture and forestry. All other
books written by scholars of various schools, as well as historical books from
other countries, were to be burned.
Following the establishment of the Han
dynasty, hardly any books were found throughout the country, except for those
on medicine, agriculture, forestry and the I Ching.
Following the reign of the second Han
emperor, the political and economic situation stabilised and many books by
Confucian scholars and other schools, which had been hidden among the people,
began to be discovered.
Confucianism began to rise in importance
during the reign of the seventh emperor of the Han dynasty, and from that time
onwards, it became the dominant ideology in Chinese academia and politics.
At the time, there was a prince named Liu
Yu. He was one of the brothers of the seventh emperor of the Han dynasty. His
domain was located in Qufu, in present-day Shandong Province, China. This city
is the birthplace of Confucius, the founder of Confucianism. One year, Liu Yu
accidentally discovered a secret chamber within the walls of Confucius's house.
Inside were numerous ancient Confucian classics.
This was a significant discovery because
the books were in exceptional condition, with virtually no missing pages or
damage.
While the public was excited by the
reappearance of these precious books, many renowned scholars were not happy
with the discovery.
They had spent decades studying damaged and
missing Confucian classics and offering their perspectives on the core tenets
of Confucianism. Many of these scholars had already attained considerable
academic prominence.
However, the discovery of these complete
Confucian classics revealed to the public that the interpretations of
Confucianism held by these scholars were flawed.
The texts within these flawless books
negated the core Confucian concepts expounded by prominent scholars of the
time. Had these books been widely disseminated, it would have dealt a heavy
blow to these established scholars, who would have lost their right to
interpret and discuss Confucian thought.
Liu Xin criticised this phenomenon, saying:
'Since we have discovered the complete
Confucian classics, we should use them as a foundation for studying Confucian
thought and, based on them, correct our misconceptions about Confucianism.'
Many renowned scholars have chosen to cling
to incomplete books. After seeing the complete version of the Confucian
Classics, these scholars are unwilling to correct their previously erroneous
ideas and perspectives for fear of personal loss. I find these people truly
pathetic.
This idiom, when literally translated,
means 'clinging to existing, incomplete books'.
It is used to describe people who cling to
old ideas or concepts and are unable to adapt or improve.
Dear friends, what insights or inspiration
have you gained from this story?
Would you betray the truth for your own
benefit? Are you someone who dares to admit your mistakes?
I hope this story has taught you something
new.
抱殘守缺(They cling to incomplete books.)
中國的漢王朝有一個著名的儒家學者，他的名字叫做劉歆，歷史書上記載了一個他的故事。
中國的春秋時代與戰國世代是一個極度混亂的年代，但那段間同時也是中國思想上的黃金時代。
有許多著名的思想家生活在那個年代，這些思想家針對當時的社會問題與人生問題提出了各自認為最好的解決的辦法和思想。
有些思想家認為要用道德教育來讓社會更安定，有些思想家強調要用明確的法律來建構一個更好的社會。
儒家的創始者孔子就是這些著名的思想家之一。
孔子所推廣的儒家的理念在春秋時代與戰國時代並不受到重視，經過長年的戰爭與動亂，所以很多儒家的經典書籍都已經失散。
劉歆出生的時間大約在漢王朝建立的150年後，他針對當時的一些現象寫了一篇文章給當時的國王。
這段文章的第三段的大概意思如下。
在秦王朝的時候，秦始皇曾經頒布了一條命令，他下令保留秦王國本國的歷史書和醫藥與占卜與農業和林業相關的所有書籍，除了上述的所有書籍外的所有各個學派的學者所寫的書與各國的歷史書都要全部焚毀。
漢王朝建立之後，整個國家內幾乎都找不到除了醫藥與農業還有林業與易經以外的書籍。
漢王朝第二任國王之後，漢王朝的政治與經濟情況已經變得比較穩定，很多原本隱藏在民間的儒家還有其他各種不同流派的學者的書籍開始被找到。
儒家思想的興起開始於漢王朝的第七位國王，從這位國王之後，儒家思想開始成為中國學術界與政治界的主流思想。
當時有一個諸侯的名字叫做劉余。他是漢王朝的第七任國王的兄弟之一。他的領地在現在中國的山東省的曲阜市。這座城市是儒家的創始者者孔子的家鄉。
有一年，劉余意外的發現孔子的家中的牆壁中有密室，在這個密室內有很多古代的儒家的經典書籍。
這是一個重大的發現，因為這批書籍的保存狀態非常好，這些書籍都很完整而沒且幾乎沒有缺頁或是毀損的情況。
這些寶貴的書籍重新出現在世人的面前，所有人都非常的興奮，但是有很多知名的學者不喜歡這個發現。
這些學者已經花了好幾十年去研究那些破損與缺頁的儒家經典書籍，這些學者針對他們所理解的儒家的核心思想提出了很多他們的觀點與看法，這些學者中很多都已經非常的有學術地位。
這些從孔子的家中被找到的儒家經典書籍的出現讓這些完整的儒家的經典書籍的出現讓所有人都會看見有這些知名的學者對於儒家的解釋完全是錯誤的。
這批完整的沒有缺漏的書籍出現後，裡面的文字否定了當時這些知名儒家學者對於儒家的核心觀念的論述，這些書籍如果推廣開來，對這些有已經很有學術地位的學者而言是一個很大的打擊，這些學者會失去自己對於儒家思想的解釋權與話語權。
劉歆針對這個現象提出他的批評，他說。
我們既然已經找到的完整的儒家經典書籍，我們就應該將這些書作為研究儒家思想的根據，並且根據這些書來改正我們對於儒家思想的錯誤認知。
有很多知名的學者選擇固守現有的殘缺的書籍，這些知名的學者懷著害怕自己蒙受個人損失的私心，他們看見了完整的儒家經典版本後竟然為了維護自己的利益而不願意改正自己之前的錯誤想法與觀點，我認為這些人太可悲了。
這句成語直接翻譯的意思是固守現有的殘缺的書籍。
這句成語被用來形容一個人或一群人固守舊有事物或思想，而不知改進變通。
親愛的朋友，你聽完這個故事有什麼樣的或有什麼樣的啟發呢。
你會為了自己的利益而違背真理嗎?你是一個敢於承認自己的錯誤的人嗎?
我希望這個故事能讓你產生一些新的收穫。
出處為漢書-卷36-楚元王傳
https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/%E6%BC%A2%E6%9B%B8/%E5%8D%B7036