Brief introduction of Xia Zi's life
Midsummer (before 507-? ): surnamed Bu, a famous businessman, was later called "Bu" and "Mr Bu". At the end of the Spring and Autumn Period, Wen was born in the State of Jin (now wen county, Henan) (and he said that he was closely related to Qian Mu, but Wen was destroyed by Wei, who was Wei's fault, so he gave birth to two). He is a famous disciple of Confucius and one of the "Ten Philosophers of Confucius". Xia Zi is forty-four years younger than Confucius. He was an outstanding student in the later period of Confucius. He has a quick mind and is famous for his literature. Confucius praised him as the high flyers of literature. When Xia Zi was a student, he was praised by Confucius for his original ideas. For example, when he asked the words "smile skillfully, look forward to happiness and look forward to beautiful eyes" in the Book of Songs, Confucius replied "painting after the event", and he immediately came to the conclusion that "rites and music are after benevolence and righteousness". Confucius said, "The giver is the merchant!" Only in this way can the poem be said to be finished. "("The Analects? However, Confucius thought that Xia Zi was "behind" in following the principles of benevolence, righteousness, propriety and righteousness, and once warned Xia Zi: "A woman is a gentleman's Confucianism, and everything she does is a villain's Confucianism". ("The Analects? Brave also ")
Xia Zi is brilliant, and many of his famous aphorisms are preserved in The Analects of Confucius, such as: "Be knowledgeable and determined, ask questions earnestly and think about them, and benevolence is among them"; "A hundred workers live by what they say, and a gentleman learns his way"; "I know he died that day, and I have never forgotten what he could do in that month. It can be said that I am eager to learn "; "Although there are paths, there must be considerable people"; "To be an official is to learn, and learning is to be an official" and so on. After the death of Confucius, he went to the Xihe River in Wei State (between Jishui and the Yellow River) to give lectures. "For example, the statues of Tian Zifang, Duan Ganmu, Wuqi and Bird Slip in Shang Bo were all inherited from Xia Zi" (Historical Records? "The Scholars"), he was also a teacher of Wei Wenhou who advocated Confucianism. Some people think that Xia Zi's thought has the spirit of legalism, and Han Feizi said that "Confucianism is eight points" is not as good as Xia Zi because it is regarded as a legalist (see the image of Xia Zi in Guo Moruo's Ten Criticism Books).
The story of asking filial piety in midsummer
Xia Zi is a disciple of Confucius. One day, he asked Confucius, teacher, what do you mean by filial piety? Confucius said that it is the most difficult to maintain a happy state when getting along with parents. We all say that parents have something to do for them, and let the elders eat first when eating. Is filial piety all this?
Confucius' answer is very worthy of scrutiny. His two rhetorical questions show that many people have misunderstandings about filial piety at present. Many people think that helping parents work first and giving them delicious food is filial piety. Actually, it's not. Even ordinary livestock can make delicious food, but we, like animals, are enough?
Man is a thinking higher animal, and we have advanced thinking, so we can't compare with animals. What we should do is to satisfy our parents' spirit more. Parents have no worries about food and clothing and enjoy their old age, which is the most basic standard. In addition, parents should have a happy spiritual life.
The same is true in today's society. Children don't love their parents as before. Although we send money to their parents regularly, we will go home once a month to spend time with our parents and try their cooking. We think this is filial piety. But you know, when your parents learned that you were going home, they began to prepare a week in advance. They recalled your favorite dish as a child. They went to the market and prepared the same ingredients. Although they take a lot of money from you, they still have to bargain with the stall owner for what they want to get that familiar feeling back.