On his 50th birthday, Qu Yuan was able to articulate all the mistakes he had reflected on and corrected during his 49 years of life.(蘧瑗知非)
On his 50th
birthday, Qu Yuan was able to articulate all the mistakes he had reflected on
and corrected during his 49 years of life.(蘧瑗知非)
Li Qingzhao is
the most famous female poet in China's long history.
The Northern
Song Dynasty of China lasted from 960 AD to 1127 AD, and the Southern Song
Dynasty from 1127 AD to 1279 AD. Li Qingzhao was born in 1084 and died in 1155;
she lived through a turbulent era.
Li Qingzhao was
married twice. Her first husband, Zhao Mingcheng, was three years her senior.
They were close in age, both loved literature and art, and had a very good
relationship.
Zhao Mingcheng
had a unique hobby: he enjoyed studying inscriptions on ancient Chinese bronzes
and stone carvings. He also loved Chinese calligraphy. He wrote a series of
books to record his research findings, with the help of Li Qingzhao, and this
30-volume set was finally published in 1132 AD.
In 1132 AD, the
books were finally published, and Li Qingzhao wrote a preface for them.
The gist of the
final paragraph of this preface is as follows:
'When I think of
my deceased husband and all the precious ancient books, rubbings, antiques and
Chinese paintings that could not be preserved after his death, two thoughts
arise in my mind.'
The first is
that perhaps I was not blessed enough to preserve these precious artefacts.
The second is
that perhaps my husband still cherished these precious artefacts in another
world and used some method to have them burned so that he could possess them
again.
When I became
aware of these two somewhat absurd thoughts, I felt regret and loss.
Why do we have
to go to such lengths to obtain the people or things we love, yet lose them so
easily?
Today,
revisiting this 30-volume set of books that my husband and I co-authored, I
reflected on everything from our first meeting to the present day.
I was only 18
when we first met.
Lu Ji, the
famous Western Jin Dynasty poet whom I greatly admire, was also 18 when he
wrote his classic prose.
I am now 52.
Qu Yuan, a
renowned official from the State of Wei during the Spring and Autumn Period,
was someone I greatly respected. On his 50th birthday, he was able to clearly
articulate all the mistakes he had reflected upon and corrected in his 49 years
of life.
I am now over 50
years old.
Reflecting on
the joys and gains, and the sorrows and losses, that I have experienced in
these last 34 years, I realise that so many things have happened, and these
memories keep flooding my mind.
After wallowing
in these memories for a long time, I suddenly realised that life is like this:
with gain comes loss and with gathering comes farewell. This is how our world
operates, and I should accept everything that has happened to me.
I'm reminded of
a story I read about Confucius. He heard about a man who was saddened by the
loss of his bow. Confucius smiled and told his students, 'The man's bow was
lost, and another man found it. It can still be used just as well. The bow
never truly belonged to that man. He's simply returned to the state he was in
before he owned it. He really shouldn't be so sad.'
I have written
down what I know about this book in the form of a preface. I hope my
conclusions will provide insight for all antiquity collectors and intelligent,
learned individuals.
Li Qingzhao,
1132 AD
This idiom
directly translates to: On her 50th birthday, Qu Yuan was able to clearly
articulate all the mistakes she had reflected on and corrected in her 49 years
of life.
It is used to
describe someone who can reflect on themselves continuously and persistently
over a long period.
This idiom is
used to describe someone who is 50 years old.
Dear friend,
what did you gain from this story?
What inspiration did it give you? Have you
ever felt extremely sad about the death of loved ones? Do you still have any
regrets or things you can't let go of?
I hope this
story will provide you with some new insights.
蘧瑗知非(On his 50th birthday, Qu
Yuan was able to articulate all the mistakes he had reflected on and corrected
during his 49 years of life.)
中國漫長的歷史上最著名的女詞人的名字是李清照
西元960年到西元1127年的這段期間是中國的北宋王朝，西元1127年到西元1279年是中國的南宋王朝，李清照出生於西元1084年死於西元1155年，她生活在一個非常動亂的時代。
李清照結過兩次婚，她第一任丈夫的名字叫做(趙明誠)，趙明誠比李清照大3歲，他們兩個人年齡相近而且都很喜歡文學與藝術，他們兩個人的感情很好。
(趙明誠)有一個很特殊的愛好，他喜歡研究中國古代的青銅器與石刻上面的文字，他也很喜歡中國的書法，他曾經寫過一套書籍來記錄他的研究心得，李清照協助趙明誠一起完成了這部多達30本的套書。
西元1132年，這本書終於有機會出版，李清照為這本書寫了一篇序文。
這篇序文的最後一段的大概意思如下。
當想到我死去的丈夫與在他死去之後那些無法保存的所有珍貴的古代書籍和文字拓印和古董和中國畫時，我的腦海中出現了兩種截然不同的想法。
第一種想法是我會無法保存這些珍貴的文物的原因，可能是因為我是一個福氣不夠的人吧。
第二種想法是我會無法保存這些珍貴的文物的原因，或許是因為我的丈夫死後他在另外一個世界仍然眷戀這些珍貴的文物，所以他用了一些方式讓這些珍貴的物品被焚毀，這樣他才可以在另外一個世界重新擁有這些珍貴的文物。
當我覺察到我腦海中這兩個有點荒謬的想法後，我感覺遺憾又失落，我對自己說。
為何我們每個人都要透過很艱難的方式才能得到那些我們所愛的人或物，但我們失去這些人或物的方式卻又往往非常的簡單且潦草。
今天當有機會又重新看到這一套我於我的丈夫一起編著的這部多達30本的套書後，我回想起我的丈夫第一次見面開始到今天為止的所有時光。
我們第一次見面時我才18歲。
西晉王朝那個我很喜歡地著名的詩人陸機寫下他那篇經典的散文的年紀就是18歲。
我現在已經52歲了。
春秋時代的衛王國的那個我很敬佩的著名的叫做蘧瑗的官員，他在50歲的生日的時候，他能夠清楚地說出自己活著49年以來自己所反省與改正過的所有錯誤。
我的年紀已經超過50歲又兩年了。
我回想起這34年來我所歷經過得快樂與獲得、憂愁與失去，我所經歷的事情太多太多了，這些往事不停地湧上我的心頭。
我沉溺在回憶裡好久之後，我突然想通了，人生就是這樣，有得到就會有失去，有相聚就會有告別，這就是我們這個世界所運行的真理，我應該理解並且接受這些發生在我身上的一切。
我想到我讀過的一個有關於孔子的故事，孔子聽到有一個男人因為遺失了一把弓而感到難過。孔子微笑著對他的學生說。那個男人的弓掉了，然後被另外一個男人撿走，這把弓一樣可以發揮他的功用，這把弓本來就不屬於那個男人，那個男人現在也只是回到沒有擁有這把弓之前的狀態罷了，那個然人真的不應該如此難過。
我寫下我所知道的關於這本書的一些事情當作序言，我希望我的這些結語能夠讓所有喜歡蒐集古物與那些聰明與博學的人可以從我的這些文字中得到一些收穫。
西元1132年，李清照
這句成語直接翻譯的意思是(蘧瑗)在50歲的生日的時候，他能夠清楚地說出自己活著49年以來自己所反省與改正過的所有錯誤。
這句成語被用來形容一個人能夠長時間的持續的不斷反省自己。
這句成語被用來形容一個人50歲。
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
你曾經因為那些人的離開而感到極度難過呢?你是否仍然有無法釋懷的令你覺得遺憾的事情呢?
我期待這個故事能讓你產生一些新的收穫。
出處為李清照-金石錄後序