Internal and external affairs work in
harmony and cooperation.(內外相應)
Confucius's real name was Kong Qiu. 'Kong
Fuzi' is the respectful title given to him by others.
He was an exceptional educator. He is one
of the most influential thinkers in Chinese history.
He had over 3,000 students, 72 of whom were
particularly outstanding. Stories about his disciples are recorded in
historical books.
Each of Confucius's students had their own
strengths: some had excellent character, some were eloquent, some were highly
capable and some were suited to focused study.
One of these students was Yan Hui, who had
an extremely noble character.
One day, Confucius, Yan Hui and two other
students named Duanmu Ci and Zhong You went mountain climbing.
After several hours of strenuous climbing,
the four of them finally reached the summit. Confucius and his three students
sat at the top, taking in the view.
Confucius turned to his students and said,
'There is a fine tradition that after
climbing a mountain, one should write a poem to express one's feelings and
thoughts.'
'You three are my students. Seeing such a
vast, open view, what thoughts come to mind? What are your plans for the
future? Would you like to share them in turn?"
Zhong You will share his vision for the
future first: he wants to become a brave and valiant warrior.
Duanmu Ci says that he wants to become
someone with strong persuasive skills.
After hearing these answers from the two
students, Confucius turned to Yan Hui and asked, "What are your plans for
the future?"
Yan Hui replied, 'The other two students
have very grand dreams for the future. I feel that my dreams are a bit too
small.'
Confucius smiled and said to Yan Hui,
'Everyone thinks differently. Whether grand or small, dreams are worth valuing.
Share your vision for the future with us."
Yan Hui nodded and replied, "In the
future, I hope to work in a small kingdom and assist its king in governing with
morality and justice." I hope that the king and his ministers share a
common vision, and that internal and external affairs work in harmony and
cooperation.
I hope that our small kingdom can become a
model for others. I will help the King select virtuous and capable individuals
for every position in the central government. We will educate all the people of
our kingdom in etiquette, invite government agencies and civil society
organisations from other countries to observe and interact with us, and treat
neighbouring kingdoms with kindness and benevolence. I hope that people,
animals and birds can all live happily in our kingdom.
I intend to encourage the King of our small
kingdom to embody humility and composure in his speech and actions. I also hope
to encourage my ministers to be people of harmony. Our kingdom's values are
simple: we reward those who pursue peace and punish those who advocate war.
These are my visions for the future.
After listening to Yan Hui's words,
Confucius sighed and said to him...
'Of the three of you, I believe that your
vision for the future is the best.' If you have the opportunity to meet a king
who believes in you and gives you the power to manage a small kingdom, I think
you can achieve your dream.
If you achieve your dream, I believe the
world will become a wonderful place.
In that world, there would be no more wars
or scheming between kingdoms.
If we truly lived in that world, Zhong You
wouldn't need to be a brave warrior and Duanmu Ci wouldn't need to be
persuasive; they could strengthen their inner virtues and live peacefully.
This idiom translates as "Internal and
external affairs work in harmony and cooperation.".
It is also used to describe a person whose
inner thoughts and outward actions are consistent.
Dear friend, what inspiration or thoughts
did you gain from this story?
What do you think the best world should be
like? Have you ever wanted to use your own strength to make the world a better
place?
I hope this story will give you some new
insights.
內外相應(Internal and external affairs work in
harmony and cooperation.)
孔子的名字是(孔丘)。孔夫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，在歷史書中紀錄了他的弟子之間的一些故事。
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。
有一天，孔子與顏回和另外兩個學生一起去爬山，另外這兩個學生的名字是端木賜與仲由。
他們四個人辛苦爬了幾個小時後終於到達山頂，孔子與這三個學生坐在山頂上環視四周的風景。
孔子轉頭對他的這三個學生說。
有一個很好的傳統，這個傳統就是當爬上山之後，要寫一首詩來表達自己的感受與想法。
你們三個人是我的學生，看到那麼開闊的景色，你們的心中有哪些想法呢?
你們對於你們自己的未來有怎樣的想像呢?你們三個人輪流分享一下好嗎?
(仲由)先分享他對他的未來的想像，他想要成為一個非常勇敢且勇猛的戰士。
端木賜則是分享他想要成為一個具備強大的說服力的人。
聽完這兩個學生的回答後，孔子轉頭看著顏回說。
你對你的未來的想像為何呢?
顏回回答。
另外兩個同學的未來想像都很偉大，我覺得我對未來的夢想有點太小了。
孔子笑著對顏回說。
我們每個人的想法都不一樣，夢想不論偉大或者渺小都值得重視，你跟我們分享一下你對於你的未來的想像吧。
顏淵點點頭後回答。
我希望以後可以到一個很小的王國中工作，我希望可以輔佐這個小王國的國王用道德與正義治理這個王國。
我希望國王跟我們這個大臣們可以有共同的願景，內部與外部能夠互相呼應與配合。
我希望我們的小王國可以成為一個典範，我協助我們的國王選出一些賢能與有才幹的人來擔任中央政府內的每個職務，我們教育我們王國中的所有百姓有關於禮儀的知識，我們吸引各國的政府單位與民間團體都前來考察，我們用善良與仁慈的態度與周圍的王國交往，我希望我們王國中不只人連動物與飛鳥都能夠愉快的生活。
我希望影響我們這個小王國的國王成為一個言語與行為謙和且從容的人，我希望我能夠影響與我一樣的大臣們成為和睦的人，我們的王國中的價值觀很簡單，我們獎勵那些追求和平的人，我們處罰那些鼓吹戰爭的人。
以上這些這就是我對於我的未來的想像。
孔子聽完顏回的話後，他嘆了一口氣並對顏回說。
我認為在你們三個人中，你對於未來的想像是最棒的。如果你真的能夠有機會遇到一個願意相信你並且充分授權給你去管理一個小王國的國王，那麼我認為你可以完成你的夢想。
假如你真的完成了你的夢想，那麼我認為這個世界會變得非常美好。
如果我們真的生活在那個世界，那個世界中的每個王國之間不會再有戰爭也不會再有算計。
如果我們真的生活在那個世界，那麼(仲由)就沒有必要成為一個非常勇敢且勇猛的戰士，端木賜就沒有必要成為一個具備強大的說服力的人，他們可以把時間放在強化自己的內心品德並且過著平靜的生活。
這句成語直接翻譯的意思是內部與外部能夠互相呼應與配合。
這句成語被延伸用來形容一個人內心想法與外在行為一致。
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。
你認為最好的世界應該是怎樣的呢?你是否曾經想要透過自己的力量讓這個世界變得更好呢?
我期待這故事能讓你產生一些新的收穫。
出處為論語-先進篇-3條
https://ctext.org/analects/xian-jin/zh
出處為韓詩外傳-卷7
https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/%E9%9F%93%E8%A9%A9%E5%A4%96%E5%82%B3/%E5%8D%B7%E7%AC%AC7