Wei Linggong
Fifteenth
Total Chapter 392
Original
Zi said: "Zang Wenzhong, his stealer and." Knowing the sage of Hui under the willow and not standing with him. ”
Confucius said: "Zang Wenzhong is a person who steals a position." He knew that Yanagishita Hui Xianming did not recommend him to be an official. ”
Translations
Interpretation
Confucius believed that it was a duty of an official to promote virtue for the country, and criticized Zang Wenzhong for not doing so.
Zang Wenzhong, whose stealer and。Zang Wenzhong is probably a stealer.
Zang Wenzhong, a doctor of Lu Guo, was born in the middle of the Spring and Autumn Period, and was about the same time as Qi Huangong. He was as good as a stream, shameless in questioning, rewarded and punished clearly without taking credit, abolished the tax and business checkpoints of the Lu country, prospered the economy of the Lu country, and did a lot of things that were beneficial to the development of the Lu country, which was admired by the world.
For such a sage of the Lu Kingdom, Confucius respected him very much, and when he talked with them, he "called Zang Wenzhong" (often praised him). However, Confucius also criticized him in the Analects. For example, in the previous chapter "Zang Wen Zhongju Cai", he is criticized for trespassing, and this chapter criticizes him for "his stealer and the throne". This reflects Confucius's comprehensive and dialectical view in evaluating talents. Praise a person will not engage in "covering up a hundred ugliness", and criticizing a person will not completely deny it, but affirm its advantages and point out its shortcomings (of course, this kind of advantages and disadvantages is viewed from the standpoint of Confucianism and has its limitations). For example, he also commented on Guan Zhong. criticized his extravagant life and transgression of etiquette, and affirmed that he assisted Qi Huan Gong to achieve hegemony "without military chariots" and save the Chinese civilization from the crisis of "endless wisps".
The main reason for Confucius's criticism of Zang Wenzhong in this chapter is "Knowing the sage of Hui under the willow is not standing", knowing that Yanashita Hui is virtuous, he does not recommend him to be an official.
Yanagishita Hui, c. 720 B.C. 621 B.C., was revered by Mencius as "Hesheng", surnamed Ji, Zhan, named, and the word bird. The nickname is Hui, and the fief is under the willow, so it is called the willow Hui. It is said that the ancestor of the surname Zhongliu and Zhan is the second surname. When Zang Wenzhong was in power, he was a judge (in charge of criminal and prison litigation affairs), advocating "serving people with a straight way", and lost his official position many times. Known for its adherence to traditional moral norms, its story of "sitting still and not messing up" is widely circulated.
According to relevant documents, Zang Wenzhong did not recommend Yanagi Hui as an official, and it was during Zang Wenzhong's reign when Liu Xia Hui became the "judge" of Lu State. What Confucius was dissatisfied with was "not standing with him", "standing" is standing in the court, and "with" has the meaning of being in the same column. Confucius criticized Zang Wenzhong for knowing that Liu Xia Hui was virtuous and did not entrust him with great responsibilities, did not let him be a doctor of Lu Guo, and did not give him enough platform and space to display his talentsMoreover, when Yanagishita Megumi offended people because of the "straight road", he did not protect himself, which led to Yanashita Megumi losing his official position many times, and he belonged to "his own desire" and did not "establish people".
It should be said that Confucius was a little too harsh on Zang Wenzhong. Zang Wenzhong, as the ruling doctor of a big country (the Lu State had not yet declined in the middle of the Spring and Autumn Period), it was impossible for him to focus on only one person. And since Hui Yanashita has lost his official position many times, it means that he has also made many comebacks, and we don't know whether Zang Wenzhong has contributed to this. But if Zang Wenzhong is bent on attacking Yanagi Hui, with his power, Yanagi Hui will definitely not be able to come back.
We can't go into the details of the historical facts. However, Confucius's idea that as an official should be a virtuous person for the country, and if he does not raise a virtuous talent, he is a "thief". Since ancient times, "the important thing in government is to win souls". Without excellent talents, national governance will lose its support. The rule of Zhenguan and the prosperous era of Kaiyuan in history were not created by Li Shimin, Li Longji and other Ming monarchs, but by a large number of outstanding talents such as Wei Zheng, Fang Xuanling, Yao Chong, and Song Jing to govern the country. But as long as the country is on the rise, it must be the heyday of talent. Only when outstanding talents from all walks of life continue to emerge can the country's prosperity and development have an inexhaustible driving force.
However, discovering and recommending talents requires the insight and measurement of those in power and superiors. In history, there are many things that have been lost due to jealousy and jealousy. For example, Li Si in the Qin period, because he was jealous of Han Feizi's talent and designed to kill him, and conspired with Zhao Gao to kill his sons Fusu and Meng Tian for fear of losing the power in his hands, and finally Qin II died, and Li Si also ended up beheaded, which is a typical example.
The issue of qualified personnel is related to the long-term development of the country, and the discovery and appointment of qualified personnel is a strategic issue. Leaders discovering, recommending and appointing talents are not only virtues, political achievements, but also responsibilities and obligations. The report of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China pointed out that it is necessary to "gather outstanding talents from all walks of life within and outside the party, at home and abroad, into the great struggle of the party and the people with the insight of knowing talents, the sincerity of loving talents, the courage of using talents, the elegance of accommodating talents, and the good way of gathering talents." ”