He got up before dawn.(昧旦晨興)
His name was Confucius, or Kong Qiu.
'Confucius' is the respectful title that people use for him.
He was an exceptional teacher. He is one of
the most influential thinkers in Chinese history.
He had over 3,000 students, 72 of whom were
particularly outstanding. Each of his students had their own strengths: some
had excellent character, some were eloquent, some were highly capable and some
were well-suited to focused scholarly study.
One of these students was Yan Hui, who had
a very noble character and keen observational skills.
Historical records tell a story about Yan
Hui.
Confucius was from the Kingdom of Lu. He
had a unique set of political thoughts and philosophies of life.
After many attempts to realize his
political ideals in the Kingdom of Lu failed, he left Lu with some of his
students and traveled to many other kingdoms to preach his political views.
One day, shortly after arriving in Kingdom
of Wei, Confucius rose before dawn and went to the main hall of their house. He
saw Yan Hui sitting there.
Confucius asked Yan Hui,
'Did you sleep badly last night too? Did
you, like me, hear the mournful weeping of several people near our house?
Because of their weeping, I couldn't sleep at all.'
After saying this, Confucius asked Yan Hui,
'What has happened to these people? Why are
they weeping so sadly?'
Yan Hui replied solemnly,
'The most likely reason for such sorrowful
weeping is the death of a close family member. But I sense that their grief
runs deeper than the loss of a loved one. I sense that one of them may be about
to be separated from their family.'
Confucius asked Yan Hui.
'Why do you feel this way?'
Yan Hui answered... 'I had previously heard
of a species of bird in Jiangsu Province whose mother separates from her chicks
once they have grown up. During this separation, she emits a mournful cry.'
After hearing this, I carefully observed
the birds and their mothers near my home. I discovered that many birds share
this characteristic: many mother birds emit a distinctive, sorrowful cry when
their chicks are ready to leave the nest.
Hearing these people cry evoked the same
feeling as hearing that distinctive, sorrowful cry from the mother bird.
After listening to Yan Hui's words,
Confucius fell into deep thought.
Several hours later, after dawn, when
everyone had gone to work, Confucius sent a student to the house where the
mournful crying had been coming from, to express his concern.
The student returned and reported to
Confucius...
The father of the family had passed away.
They were very poor and could not afford a funeral, so their eldest son sold
himself into servitude with a noble family. For the aforementioned reasons, the
family was in deep grief.
This idiom translates literally as 'to get
up before dawn'.
It can also be used to describe someone who
works diligently.
It can also be used to describe someone who
has difficulty falling asleep.
Dear friend, what inspiration or thoughts
did you gain from this story?
Have you ever noticed the small things
happening around you? If you were Confucius, would you have taken the
initiative to help this poor family?
I hope this story gives you some new
insights.
昧旦晨興(He got up before dawn.)
孔子的名字是(孔丘)。孔子是人們對他的尊稱。
他是一位傑出的教育家。他是為中國歷史上最有影響力的思想家之一。
他的學生超過3000人，其中特別傑出的學生有72個，孔子的學生們各有其特長，其中有些人的品德很好，有些人的口才很棒，有些人的工作能力很強，有些人適合專心研究學問。
孔子有一個學生的名字叫做顏回，他有著非常高尚的品德、而且他具備非常敏銳的觀察力。
歷史書中記載了一個有關於顏回的故事。
孔子是魯王國的人，他有一套獨特的政治思想與人生哲學。
因為他在經過多次嘗試後，他認為在魯王國無法實現自己的政治理想，所以他帶著他的一些學生離開了魯王國，他到了很多其他的王國去宣講自己的政治主張。
當他們到了衛王國之後的某一天，孔子尚未天亮就起床，他走到他們住的房子的大廳中，他看到顏回坐在大廳內。
孔子對顏回說。
你昨天晚上也睡不好嗎?你是否跟我一樣有聽到我們住的這間房屋附近傳來幾個人悲傷地哭泣的聲音嗎?因為這些人的哭泣聲、所以我整晚都沒睡。
孔子說完這些話後對顏回說。
不知道這些人的身上到底發生了甚麼事情，為何他們哭泣的如此悲傷?
顏回表情很嚴肅地的回答孔子。
一般人會如此悲傷地哭泣的最可能的原因、大概就是因為家中的至親去世，但是根據我的感覺，我認為這些人的哭泣聲中，還帶著一點比至親去世更深切的痛苦，我感覺到這些人中，可能有一個人要與他的家人們分離。
孔子問顏回。
你為何有這種感覺呢?
顏回回答。
我之前聽過江蘇省附近有一種鳥，這種鳥的母鳥在小鳥長大之後會選擇與小鳥分開，這種鳥的母鳥在與小鳥分別的時候會發出悲傷的鳴叫聲。
我聽到件事之後，我就很用心地觀察我家附近周一些小鳥與母鳥，我發現很多鳥類都有類似的特性，很多鳥類的母鳥在小鳥長大要來離開鳥巢的時候，都會發出一種很特別的令人感到悲傷的鳴叫聲。
聽到這些人的哭泣聲的感覺，很類似我之前聽到母鳥發出這種很特別的令人感到悲傷的鳴叫聲。
孔子聽完顏回的話後，他的臉上陷入沉思。
過了幾個小時後，天亮而且大家都出門工作之後，孔子派遣了一個學生去傳出悲傷地哭泣聲的家庭中表達關心。
那個學生回來後向孔子說。
那個正在哭泣的家庭中的父親過世了，那是一個很貧窮的家庭，因為父親過世沒有錢舉行葬禮，所以他們家中的長子把自己賣到一個貴族的家庭中去擔任僕人，因為上列兩種原因，所以那個家庭中的人們都感到非常的悲傷。
這句成語直接翻譯的意思是尚未天亮就起床。
這句成語可以被延伸用來形容一個人勤奮勞動。
這句成語可以被延伸用來形容一個人難以入睡
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。
你曾經觀察過你周圍發生的一些細微的事物嗎?你如果是孔子，你會主動去幫助這個貧窮的家庭嗎?
我期待這故事能讓你產生一些新的收穫。
出處為孔子家語-顏回