These systems and norms were established by
King Wen and King Wu of Zhou.(文武之道)
Confucius's 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. Historical records document stories about some of his
disciples.
One day, two of his students were chatting.
One was named Chen Kang and the other Duanmu Ci. Duanmu Ci was nine years older
than Chen Kang.
Chen Kang said to Duanmu Ci,
"Confucius's knowledge is truly vast. As his student, I feel I can learn
things from him that I don't understand. But I'm curious: who was Confucius's
teacher? Do you know who he learned from?"
After hearing this, Duanmu Ci smiled and
replied.
'We now live in the Zhou dynasty, which has
existed for over 500 years. The two most important kings who established the
systems and norms of the Zhou Dynasty were King Wen and King Wu.
Over these 500 years, the systems and norms
established by these two kings have not been lost; on the contrary, they have
deeply permeated every aspect of life in the Zhou Dynasty.
Hidden within these systems and norms are
profound principles concerning ethics, morality and interpersonal
relationships. A wise and virtuous person like Confucius could learn these
principles from them.
While an ordinary person like you or me can
appreciate the stability and harmony of our society thanks to these systems and
norms, we cannot clearly explain the profound principles behind them.
As far as I know, Confucius didn't have a
formal teacher. Instead, he learned from ordinary people living in society.
Through the etiquette and customs of everyday life, he learned the core spirit
of the systems and norms established by King Wen and King Wu of Zhou. Everyone
in society was his teacher.
Confucius's greatness lay in his ability
and willingness to learn from people of all levels of society.
This idiom can be applied to the systems
and norms established by King Wen and King Wu of Zhou.
This idiom is extended to describe a
government's approach to governance, employing a balance between leniency and
strictness.
This idiom is extended to describe a person
who maintains a balance between tension and relaxation when dealing with
matters.
Dear friend, what inspiration or thoughts
did you gain from this story?
Are you familiar with the principles behind the systems and norms in your country? Would you be willing to learn from people of a lower social status?
I hope this story will provide you with some new
insights.
文武之道(These systems and norms were
established by King Wen and King Wu of Zhou.)
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。
有一天，孔子的兩個學生在聊天，其中一個的名字叫做(陳亢)，另外一個的名字叫做(端木賜)。端木賜的年紀比陳亢大了9歲。
陳亢對端木賜說。’
孔子的知識真的太豐富了，我身為他的學生，我覺得可以從他的身上學到我所不懂的東西，但是我很好奇，孔子的老師是誰呢?你知道孔子的學問是跟誰學的嗎?
端木賜聽完陳亢的話後，他微笑著對陳亢說。
我們現在生活在周王朝，周王朝從創立到到今天已經過了500多年，建立周王朝的制度與規範的兩個最主要的國王是周文王與周武王。
這500多年來，周文王與周武王所建立的制度與規範並沒有失去，相反的，這些制度與規範已經深入了周王朝的各行各業的每個人的生活中。
周文王與周武王所設計這些制度與規範中，隱藏著關於倫理與道德還有人與人之間的相處方式等等很深刻的道理，一個像是孔子一樣的賢能而且品德很高的人，可以從這些制度與規範中就能夠去學習到這些深刻的道理。
一個像是你跟我一樣才能很普通的人，我們可以感受到因為這些制度與規範，所以我們生活的社會非常的穩定與和諧，但是我們無法清楚的說明其背後所蘊含的深刻的道理。
據我所知，孔子並沒有老師，孔子的老師就是生活這個社會中的每個普通人，孔子透過每個人的生活中的禮節與習慣，去學習到周文王與周武王設立這些制度與規範的核心精神，這個社會上的每個人都是孔子的老師。
孔子的偉大就在於，他有能力並且願意從這個社會上的每個階層的每個人身上學習。
這句成語直接翻譯的意思是周周文王與周武王所建立的制度與規範。
這句成語被延伸用來形容一個國家的政府的施政方式採取一種寬鬆與嚴厲交互使用的方式
這句成語也可以被延伸用來形容一個人處理事情保持著一種在緊張與放鬆之間取得平衡的狀態。
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。
你知道你的國家中的制度與規範的背後的原理嗎?你是否願意跟地位身分比你低的人去學習一些你所不知道的事物呢?
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