Sharp Eloquence and Clever Words(巧口利辭)
Confucius's real name was Kong Qiu.
'Confucius' is the respectful title he received.
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. Stories about his disciples are recorded in
historical books.
Each of Confucius's students had their own
strengths: some were of excellent character, some were eloquent, some were
highly capable and some were suited to focused study.
One of these students was Duanmu Ci, who
was known for his sharp eloquence and clever words.
One day, Confucius, Duanmu Ci and two other
students, Yan Hui 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's a wonderful tradition,' he said.
'After climbing a mountain, one should write a poem to express their 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 in turn?
Zhong You, being impulsive, immediately
answered Confucius.
'That's a great suggestion. I'll start by
sharing my vision for the future.
I hope to have the opportunity to fight on
the front lines, wielding weapons against the enemy. I aspire to be a brave man
who can face any obstacle, whether it's a tiger chasing me or an enemy blocking
my way.
I hope to have the chance to use my
strength to help our kingdom overcome the calamities caused by our enemies.
After listening to Zhong You's words,
Confucius said approvingly to him,
'Based on my understanding of you, I
believe you can achieve your dream. You will definitely become a very brave and
valiant warrior in the future.'
After Confucius had finished praising Zhong
You, Duanmu Ci responded to his question.
Duanmu Ci said:
Suppose a serious conflict arises between
our kingdom and another, reaching the point of stalemate with war imminent. I
hope to use my eloquence to resolve the conflict. I aspire to become a highly
capable and competent diplomat. I intend to offer valuable suggestions and hope
that, once our king has heard them, our kingdom will grow stronger."
After listening to Duanmu Ci, Confucius
said approvingly, 'Based on my understanding of you, I believe you can achieve
your dream. You will certainly become a person of great persuasive power in the
future.'
This idiom translates as "Sharp
Eloquence and Clever Words".
It is used to describe someone with
excellent eloquence and strong persuasive power.
Dear friend, what inspiration or thoughts
did you gain from this story?
What are your plans for the future? Which
personality traits do you think you have?
I hope this story will provide you with
some new insights.
巧口利辭(Sharp Eloquence and Clever Words)
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端木賜，他有著鋒利的口才與巧妙的言詞。
有一天，孔子與端木賜和另外兩個學生一起去爬山，另外這兩個學生的名字是顏回與仲由。
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)的個性很衝動，他立刻回答孔子。
這真是個好提議，那我先說我對我的未來的想像。
我希望有機會可以揮舞著兵器在戰場的第一線與敵人作戰，我期許我自己成為一個勇敢的人，我希望我能夠成為一個縱使身後有老虎追趕我，對面有仇敵來阻擋我，我也能夠奮勇面對這些阻擋的男人。
我希望我有機會可以發揮我的力量，幫助我們的王國解除敵人帶來的災難。
孔子聽完仲由的話後，他讚許的對著仲由說。
根據我對你的了解，我認為你可以完成你的夢想，你未來一定可以成為一個非常勇敢且勇猛的戰士。
孔子說完對仲由的評價後，端木賜接著回答孔子所提的這個問題。
端木賜說。
假設我們王國與其他王國之間發生了嚴重的衝突，我們王國與另外一個王國之間已經到了列陣對峙的程度，戰爭一觸即發的時候，我希望可以憑藉著我的口才來化解兩個王國之間的這場嚴重的衝突。我想要成為一個非常能幹且有能力的外交官，我希望我提出很多好的建議，我希望我們王國中的國王在聽從我這些好的建議後，我們的王國會變得愈來愈強大。
孔子聽完端木賜的話後，他讚許的對著端木賜說。
根據我對你的了解，我認為你可以完成你的夢想，你未來一定可以成為一個具備強大的說服力的人。
這句成語直接翻譯的意思是鋒利的口才與巧妙的言詞。
這句成語被延伸用來形容一個人的口才非常好，這個人具有強大的說服力。
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。
你對你的未來有怎樣的想像呢?你認為你自己有那些人格上的特質呢?
我期待這故事能讓你產生一些新的收穫。
出處為史記-卷66-仲尼弟子列傳
https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/%E5%8F%B2%E8%A8%98/%E5%8D%B7067
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