Confucius stood on the river, looked at the surging river, and sighed deeply: "The deceased is like a husband, reluctant to give up day and night." This ancient saying is usually interpreted by Confucius as lamenting that time is like flowing water, day and night. However, we might as well reinterpret the meaning of this sentence.
"River" is not an ordinary river, but the source of the river, symbolizing the starting point of "seeing, learning, and acting" and "the way of the sage". What Confucius emphasized here is that in order to "see, learn, and act" the "way of the sage", we must be like the source of a river, starting from the source of "hearing its way".
"Death" is a common and false word for "oath", which means that a gentleman who is determined to follow the way of a saint, just like a river, starts from the source of "hearing its way", and the back waves push the front waves, and continue to go forward and succeed, and finally achieve a "world that is not sorrowful". "Day and night" is the "morning and evening" in "the morning and the road dies at night, but it can be carried out", and it must also be understood from the three aspects of "heaven, earth and man" just like the explanation of "morning and night" in it. "She", to go to the sound, "to stop" means;"Reluctant", not stopping, that is, "not retreating" means.
To sum up, the meaning of this sentence is: Confucius stood at the source of the river, reminisced about the past, full of emotion, admonished himself and advised all gentlemen who are determined to "see, learn, and act" and "the way of the sage": "A gentleman who is determined to 'see, learn, and act' the 'way of the sage' must be like this river, starting from the source of 'hearing its way', and the back waves push the front waves, endlessly, going forward and successive, no matter at any time and anywhere, no matter whether the conditions are bad or superior, and even birth and death, they must continue to 'stick' and 'bear' The journey of the 'Way of the Saints' will not turn back until the final achievement of the 'unashamed world'. ”
This sentence is not only a self-motivation and advice to Confucius, but also an encouragement to all those who are determined to pursue the path of a saint. It tells us to keep moving forward like a river, to be unafraid of difficulties and obstacles, and to persevere in the pursuit of our goals.
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