In 1504, Mr. Yang Ming was thirty-three years old, recuperating at home for nearly three years, and gradually returned to his official career. As soon as he came back, he received an important task - to serve as the chief examiner of the Shandong Township Examination. The township examination is an important part of the selection of talents for the country, and the chief examiner is particularly important to lead the questioning, reviewing the papers, deciding the admission list, ranking and reporting to the Ministry of Rites.
At the end of the Shandong Township Test, after learning that his brother-in-law Xu Ai failed in the Zhejiang Township Test, Mr. Yang Ming wrote a letter to Xu Ai.
From the perspective of life roles, Mr. Yang Ming is a chief examiner of the township examination, and Xu Ai is a candidate who failed the township examination;Mr. Yang Ming is thirty-three years old, Xu Ai is seventeen years old, and Xu Ai is Mr. Yang Ming's brother-in-law. The age gap and Mr. Yang Ming is the eldest son in the family, the eldest brother is like a father, and Mr. Yang Ming is more like an elder than his elder brother to Xu Ai.
As a selector of the country's important weapons and as an elder, what kind of consideration does Mr. Yang Ming have for talents?And how do you see the growth of young people?Let's open this letter.
In the letter, Mr. Yang Ming comforted Xu Ai, although it is regrettable to fail in the township test, but this is nothing, if people want to become a big thing,".However, it is advisable to cultivate virtue and accumulate learning, in order to achieve great success
Why is it so important to cultivate virtue?How should a gentleman cultivate virtue?
Mr. Yang Ming's participation in and leadership of the Shandong Township Examination is to select "real talents" with both ability and political integrity for the country. And the consideration of "true talent" is to focus on morality. The 20 questions in the Shandong Township Examination are all selected from the Four Books and Five Classics, and the policy is also about the consideration of "morality".
For example, two sentences from the Book of Rites:
A gentleman should be cautious of what he does with others", a gentleman is important in "being cautious and independent", and his thoughts should be cautious and fearful, and every word and deed in his dealings with others should abide by the way of etiquette and music.
If the heart is good, the body will be safe;If the king is good, the people will want it". Whatever the heart loves, the body will be able to get used to it;What the king loves, the people will surely want to get. The master of the body is the mind. The relationship between the king and the people is like the relationship between the heart and the body.
The topic of the policy is "the heart of a man is only raised", and a gentleman should be good at cultivating his heart. How to nourish the heart?It is necessary to overcome the selfish desires of the heart.
Therefore, the cultivation of virtue should be cultivated in the heart and in the mind.
Mr. Yang Ming also said in a letter to Xu Ai, ".Don't say that you can be deceived and have peace of mind, and don't say that you are smart and have slackness. Cultivate the heart is not good at righteousness, and do not want to be specialized in learning. Don't be moved by customs, don't be lured by temptations
Don't feel that those bad thoughts in your heart are very subtle, so you can deceive your conscience and let it goDon't rely on your ingenuity to slack off on your ambitions. The most important thing is to follow the principles and consciences of heavenThe most important thing in learning kung fu is to let this heart always return to conscience. Don't go with the flow and be tempted by external materialism.
Mr. Yang Ming said that the most important thing in "cultivating virtue and accumulating learning" is to "shake the heart". “It's also harmful. To be clever and dirty, between thoughts, it is not easy to take care of!"A dissolute and indulgent heart can easily make people fall from Gao Ming to the dirt, and in a flash, they will fall.
The letter made a comparison between Xu Ai and Xu Ai's uncle. mentioned that Mr. Yangming's father, Long Shan Gong, did not choose a smarter one from among many young talents, but chose Xu Ai as his son-in-law?It is to value the quality of Xu Ai. In contrast, Xu Ai's uncle, relying on his intelligence and intelligence, let himself go with the customs, and finally achieved nothing.
does not pay attention to the accumulation of knowledge and kung fu, the cultivation of virtue, relying on talent and ingenuity, it is easy to sit and eat empty, and finally like Zhongyong in "Hurt Zhongyong", "Ignore everyone!".”
If you want to become a great tool, you must "cultivate virtue and accumulate learning". And "cultivating virtue and accumulating learning" must be broken and established. To break is to break the heart;Standing is determination.
Mr. Yang Ming said: ".Most people are not holy, and their hearts cannot be unattached. If it is not right, it will be evil;Not in moral deeds, but in the sound of goods and profits, so we must first end its tendency, this I am determined to say also
Living in the earthly world, our hearts must always find a pillar. If you are not drawn to the right path, you will definitely be drawn into the crooked pathIf you are not busy with moral studies and serious careers, you will definitely be keen on making a profit. Therefore, to be a man, we must first correct the direction of life, that is, to aspire.
Xu Ai's life is only 31 years, but he can "cultivate virtue and accumulate learning" in everything he studies and becomes an official, and finally becomes a great Confucian in Yangming's mind, empirically".Cleverness is not enough, but the merit of learning cannot be blamed”。Wisdom and talent are not the reliance of life, every day tirelessly towards the ambition of hard work, the cultivation of virtue, the accumulation of obscurity, life will naturally bear fruitful results.
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