If you don't read Zhuangzi, you don't know the vastness of the world and the transparency of life. Historically, both emperors and generals, as well as poets and writers, have regarded "Zhuangzi" as a secret book for self-cultivation, and have repeatedly pondered and studied it. In this ancient book, it embodies the world's top and most accessible life wisdom at that time. Through it, you can see that in that era of decay and happiness, Zhuangzi was in contact with the spirit of heaven and earth, speaking freely, discussing things, talking about heaven and earth, and poor the universe. The stories in "Zhuangzi" can make you understand many life puzzles such as fortune and misfortune, gain and loss, right and wrong, honor and disgrace. Nan Huaijin, a master of Chinese studies, once said: When someone is in trouble, I usually suggest that he read "Zhuangzi". If you understand these 7 kinds of thinking in "Zhuangzi", no matter how big the problems of life, you can easily solve them.
Yamaki thinking
Translation:There was a craftsman named Shi who went to the country of Qi and came to the place of Quyuan and saw an oak tree that was regarded as a sacred tree by the locals. This oak tree is very tall, and many people come to see and worship this sacred tree. But the craftsman named Shi didn't even look at it, but only cared about hurrying. The craftsman's ** asked, "I followed the master to the north and south, and I have never seen such a magnificent tree." Master, you refuse to stop and take a look, just hurrying away, why?The craftsman said, "The tree is not worth mentioning!"It's just a useless scrap tree. If you make a boat, you will sink if you make a coffin, if you make a coffin, if you use it to make utensils, if you use it to make a house, if you use it to make a house, it will definitely be eaten by insects. It is precisely because it is a bad wood that does not become timber and is useless, so it can live a long life and live to the present day. ”Insight-kun saidIn this world, there are no absolute gains and losses, good and bad, losses and wins. There are two sides to everything. Just like oak trees can live long because they don't become adults, and people enjoy stability because they are ordinary, it's the same reason. In the Tao Te Ching, it is also said that misfortune and fortune are relied upon, and blessing and misfortune are lurking. Gains and losses will always run through our lives. During the Spring and Autumn Period, there was a man named Sun Shuao, who served as prime minister three times and was dismissed three times. But no matter what the circumstances, the look on his face was always the same. So someone asked him: Why didn't you see you happy when you were an official?When you were dismissed, I didn't see you sighing?Uncle Sun said with a smile: It's not up to me to decide whether to be an official or not, what I can do is to make myself carefree, and as for the ups and downs of life, there is no need to be entangled. Indeed, in the world, there are many ups and downs, and gains and losses are difficult to measure. If you blindly struggle with gains and losses, you will only hurt your own will in vain. Zhuangzi said: Gain but not happy, lose but not worry. Regard all that you get as predestined;Treat all losses as life experiences. Then there is no need to gain or lose in the world, and everything is the best arrangement.
Dapeng thinking
Translation:Why did Peng rise to an altitude of 90,000 miles?You can use the boat as an analogy. The water is shallow, and the big boat can't float. Pour a glass of water in the low-lying area in front of the church, and a small grass can be regarded as a boat, and if you put a cup on it, it will stick, which is the reason why the water is shallow and the boat is large. In the same way, if the wind is not strong enough, then there is no power to carry a huge wing. Therefore, Peng flew at an altitude of 90,000 li, and the wind was under him, and with the power of the wind, he carried the blue sky unobstructed, and then began to fly south. Insight-kun saidLi Bai said: Dapeng rose with the wind one day and soared to 90,000 miles. However, before this day comes, the roc bird must go through a long period of momentum before it has the last flapping wings. is like what is said in "Caigen Tan": Those who have been in the bush for a long time will fly high, and the pioneers will be Xie Duzao. Before anyone can achieve great things, they have to go through a considerable period of time to recharge. The Tang Dynasty poet Gao Shi did not have the opportunity to go to the battlefield and make contributions until he was fifty years old. Before that, what he did was to be patient, work hard in the township, and study Xi art of war. It is precisely the strength accumulated over so many years that made him repeatedly make war exploits as soon as he went to the battlefield, and was finally named the marquis and the prime minister. Before Zhuge Liang came out of the mountain, he also studied hard in Nanyang Longzhong for ten years. It wasn't until Liu Bei arrived that he had to meet the Lord and realize his ambitions in life. The cicadas chirp for a summer, but they have been dormant for several seasons;It was a flash in the pan, but it waited for the whole day. All the blockbusters in the world are actually accumulation. Milan Kundera said, "Life is an eternal and heavy endeavor." "Silently accumulate strength in places that others can't see, brew hope in the long darkness, and one day, you can also be like the Roc, raising your wings and soaring into the sky.
儵 (shū) fish thinking
Translation:Zhuangzi and Hui Shi play on the bridge in Haoshui. Zhuangzi said, "Look how happy these fish swim down there." But Hui Shi said, "You are not a fish, how do you know the happiness of fish?"Zhuangzi immediately replied: You are not me, how do you know that I don't know the happiness of fish?Keiko said again: "I am not you, I don't know your happiness, you are not a fish, and of course I don't know the happiness of fish." ”Insight-kun saidMany people in life have such an illusion: they always feel that what others have is happiness and joy that they cannot reach. However, the happiness of others is not necessarily what you see. As the saying goes, if a person drinks water, he knows his own warmth and coldness. We can never be in our own position to empathize with other people's feelings. In this case, why should we stand in our own troubles and look up to the happiness of others? Living the way you like is the best state of life for a person. During the Eastern Jin Dynasty, there were two celebrities, Huan Wen and Yin Hao. They all became famous at a young age, but Huan Wen always wanted to find a chance to compete with Yin Hao. Once, when Huan Wen met Yin Hao, he asked him: "Are you ** comparable to me?".Yin Hao smiled and replied, "I've been with me for a long time, I'd rather be me." "Yin Hao never wants to compare with others, he just wants to be himself. In life, we should all be like Yin Hao and accept ourselves firmly. After all, everything in life has its own joys and sorrows. Instead of using your own ruler to measure the happiness of others. It is better to go your own way, see your own scenery, and live your own life in a life that you can't do again.
鹓雏 (yuān chú) thinking
Translation:Hui Shi was the prime minister of the Liang Kingdom, and Zhuangzi wanted to meet this good friend. Someone hurriedly reported to Keiko: "Zhuangzi is here to replace your phase. Keiko was very panicked and wanted to stop Zhuangzi, so he sent people to search the national capital for three days and three nights. Zhuangzi came calmly and greeted him and said, "There is a bird in the south, its name is Orichick, have you heard of it?"The chick spreads its wings. Flying from the South China Sea to the North Sea, it is not a sycamore that does not live, and it does not eat unless it is practiced;Do not drink non-liquor springs. At this moment, an owl was eating a rotting mouse with relish, and the chick happened to fly overhead. The owl hurriedly shielded the rotting rat and looked up: 'Scared!''Now you also want to scare me with your Liang Guo?'”Insight-kun saidIn the past, when Zhuangzi was fishing in Pushui, the king of Chu sent two ministers to invite Zhuangzi to be the prime minister. Zhuangzi said: I would rather be like a turtle, dragging its tail in the mud, rather than being a turtle worshiped in the temple of Chu Guozong. Later, Hui Shi, a friend of Zhuangzi, became the prime minister of the Liang State. Zhuangzi wanted to go and see him, but Hui Shi was worried that Zhuangzi would steal his position. Zhuangzi said disdainfully: I would rather be a chick, not a sycamore and not a tree, and not a liquor spring. I don't want to be an owl that eats all kinds of rotten flesh. In Zhuangzi's view, fame and fortune in the world are nothing more than a pile of carrion for him. And what he pursues is a kind of spiritual detachment, a kind of free life. Therefore, from beginning to end, Zhuangzi did not want to be bound by fame and fortune and burdened by the world. But in reality, many people live all day long, busy for fame and fortune, and for material desires. But I forgot that in this era of rampant materialism and the supremacy of fame and fortune, living a calm and calm life in my heart is really commendable. As the saying goes, the short is the desire for profit, and the long is life. In the days to come, learn to subtract desires and add to spirits, so that we can achieve a sober and prosperous life. 05
Hebo thinking
Translation:When autumn comes, heavy rain falls from the sky, and countless small streams of water flow into the Yellow River. I saw that the waves were turbulent, and the river swelled, flooding the sandbar in the middle of the river, flooding the depression on the bank, and the river suddenly widened, and even the large livestock such as cattle and horses on the other side of the river could not be distinguished. What a magnificent scene in front of him, Hebo thought that all the water from all over the world had gathered to him, and he couldn't help but be proud. He followed the flowing water to the east, admiring the water as he went. He came to Beihai, looked east, and couldn't help but be surprised, but when he saw that the water and the sky were connected, he didn't know that ** was the end of the water. He Bo looked at it blankly for a while, then turned his face to the sea and said with emotion: People who know more about the truth think that they are better than anyone else. That's me. Insight-kun saidThe ancients said: There is a heaven outside the sky, and there are people outside the people. But many people in life always overestimate their own weight. As everyone knows, people who overestimate themselves and don't notice themselves, one day, reality will make you see yourself clearly. At the beginning of the founding of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang vigorously supported Hu Weiyong in order to suppress the power of the powerful minister Li Shanchang**. After Li Shanchang's death, he even put Hu Weiyong in the position of prime minister. As for Hu Weiyong, he came to the top in a daze, and he always thought that his strength was outstanding. So after becoming prime minister, he became forgetful. During his tenure as prime minister, he used his power to exclude dissidents, form a party for personal gain, and even wanted to fight against Zhu Yuanzhang. And his actions also completely angered Zhu Yuanzhang, and finally caused a disaster for himself. Pretentiousness is a person's greatest stupidity. In this world, no matter how high your status or fame you are, there will always be someone above you. Therefore, you must not take yourself too seriously. The water becomes the sea because of the goodness, and the mountains do not compete for height. If you want to go longer and further, you must learn to be humble and low-key.
Cooking's thinking
Translation:Ku Ding slaughtered cattle for King Liang Hui, and saw him raise and fall with a knife, both fast and good. King Liang Hui praised him again and again, and asked him, "How can your skills be so clever?"He put down his knife and replied, "When I first began to slaughter cows, all I saw was a whole cow. Now, I don't see a whole cow anymore. When slaughtering a cow, I don't have to look with my eyes, I know that ** is the joint, ** is the meridian, from the ** knife, how much strength to use, all know in my heart. After a pause, he continued, "Skilled cooks change their knives every year because they use them to cut meat. Casual chefs change their knives every month because they use them to cut bones. Now this knife of mine has been in use for nineteen years, slaughtering thousands of cattle, and the edge of the knife looks like it has just been sharpened from a whetstone. There are gaps in the bones of the cow. However, the blade is not thick, and if you pierce a bone joint with a gap with such a thin blade, there will be room for the blade to be operated. So my knife is as sharp as new after 19 years of use. King Liang Hui said, "From your words, I have learned a lot of useful things. ”Insight-kun saidWhen Su Shi was dying, he left a sentence for future generations: Strength is poor. This means that the harder you push in everything, the easier it is to backfire. Zhuangzi also expressed the same deep meaning when he wrote "Ku Ding Jie Niu". He said that when the average cook sees a bone when he picks a cow, he uses brute force to cut it, so he has to change a knife every month. But Ku Ding understands the truth that there is no thickness. Every time he unravels the ox, he will only follow the bones of the ox, so his knife has been used for nineteen years, and it is still as sharp as new. This can't help but remind me of a sentence: push the boat down the river, a thousand miles a day. There are many things in life, the harder you fight, the harder you work, the more you hurt yourself. But if you know how to go with the flow and take it calmly, this experience can support you to go further.
Wood chicken thinking
Translation:Ji Yuzi domesticated fighting cocks for King Xuan of Zhou. Ten days later, King Zhou Xuan asked, "Is the chicken tamed?"Ji Yuzi replied: "No, I am vain and arrogant. Ten days later, King Zhou Xuan asked Ji Yuzi if he had trained the chickens, and Ji Yuzi replied: "No, I still scream when I hear the sound, and jump when I see the shadow." Ten days later, King Zhou Xuan asked Ji Yuzi again, and Ji Yuzi replied: "It's still so fast, and the spirit is strong." After another ten days, King Xuan of Zhou asked Ji Yuzi, and Ji Yuzi replied: "It's almost now, other chickens provoke them, they won't chirp, they are silent and low-key, they look like wooden chickens, such chickens are powerful, and other chickens don't dare to fight at all." ”Insight-kun saidLiang Shuming, a master of Chinese studies, once combined his life experience and divided his life cultivation into four stages: the first stage, he had no confidence and was still aggressive, like a street gangster shouting from a scoundrel;In the second stage, he is nervous and competitive, like a young man who points out the country and inspires words;In the third stage, although the signs of competitiveness seem to be completely gone, the eyes are still full of light, indicating that the momentum has not disappeared and it is easy to be impulsive;In the end, he was dumbfounded, quiet, with stunts, and kept secrets. In Mr. Liang Shuming's view, the highest state of cultivation in life is to hide the edge and be wise as foolish. Zeng Guofan, who was known as the "half saint" in history, knew this well. In 1864, after Zeng Guofan conquered Tianjing, he was crowned a god in a war, and his prestige also reached its peak. But Zeng Guofan knows very well that things must be reversed, and the tree is very popular. So he took the initiative to dismantle the Hunan army, stay away from the dangerous situation, and finally died a good death. Zeng Guofan once said: "Those who are competitive will have no place to win others;If you can win people, you can't win. "Life is a process of converging the edge. When a person is no longer sharp, but knows how to be restrained, he can better protect himself. Russell said in A History of Western Philosophy: "Zhuangzi is the greatest philosopher in China, he is a genius, and his thought is a universal truth that transcends time and space." "For thousands of years, Zhuangzi's thought has been ahead of the world. Drawing on the wisdom of Zhuangzi, we can also be like him, stay away from impetuousness and utilitarianism, and keep quiet happiness and beauty. In a difficult life, incarnate as a flying peng soaring at an altitude of 90,000 miles, to pursue the most beautiful scenery in life.