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The Fourth The Effect of Modesty
Liaofan Four Lessons (in the vernacular)
( Principles and methods of transforming destiny )
Original author: Mr. Yuan Liaofan of the Ming Dynasty
The Fourth The Effect of Modesty
The Book of Changes said: “No matter what the principles of heaven are; whoever is proud and complacent will cause him loss, and the humble will let him benefit. No matter what the principles of the earth are; whoever is proud and complacent will make him suffer.” He changes and cannot satisfy him forever; but the humble will keep him nourished, just like a low place, flowing water will surely fill his flaws.
The principles of ghosts and gods, whoever is proud and complacent; will make him suffer, Those who are humble will be blessed. The principles of human beings are to dislike the proud and self-satisfied, but to like the humble.” In this way, heaven, earth, ghosts, gods, and humans all value the side of humility. [The sixty-four hexagrams in the Book of Changes all talk about the principle of the change of yin and yang in the heaven and earth, and teach people how to behave. In each hexagram, there is bad luck and good luck. The bad hexagrams warn people to avoid evil and do good, and the auspicious hexagrams teach people to be new and new every day. ]
Only this Qian hexagram is unique, and every line is auspicious. It is also said in the Book of Books: “If you are complacent, you will suffer harm; if you are humble, you will benefit.” I took the exam with many people several times, and every time I saw poor scholars who were about to get rich and passed the exam, they must There was a modest and serene radiance on his face, as if he could hold it in his hands.
Xin Weinian went to Beijing for the test. There were ten people from my hometown Jiashan who went for the test. Only Ding Jingyu was the youngest and very humble. I told Cao Jinpo, who was also going to take the exam, “This old man, you will definitely pass the exam this year.” Cao Cheng said, “How can you tell?” I said, “Only humble people can receive blessings. Brother, look at us Among the ten people, is there someone who is honest and kind, who dare not rush ahead of others in everything, like Jingyu?
Is there someone who is respectful and respectful, willing to accept everything, careful and humble, like Jingyu? Is there someone who is insulted and does not answer, and hears People slander him and don’t argue, is that like Jingyu’s? If one person can do this, even the heaven, earth, ghosts and gods will bless him, how can there be no reason for him to be underdeveloped?” When the results were released, Ding Jingyu really passed the exam.
Ding Chounian was in Beijing and lived with Feng Kaizhi; seeing that he was always humble and self-effacing, with a gentle face and no pride at all; he greatly changed the habit of childhood. He has an upright and honest friend Li Jiyan, who often accuses him of his mistakes face to face; he only sees him accepting his friend’s reprimands calmly and never refuting a word. I told him: “If a person is blessed, there must be a root of blessing. If there is disaster, there must be a sign of disaster. As long as the heart can be humble, God will help him, and you will definitely be ranked this year, brother!” Later, he passed the exam.
Tianyufeng, named Guangyuan, was from Guanxian County, Shandong Province. When he was less than twenty years old, he won the Juren Award. Later, he took the exam again, but failed many times. His father was the director of Jiashan County, and Yufeng accompanied his father to the post. Yufeng was very envious of the knowledge of Qian Mingwu, a well-known scholar in Jiashan, so he took his own article to see him; who knows that this Mr. Qian actually picked up a pen and erased all his articles; Convinced, I quickly corrected the lack of my article. By next year, Yufeng will be ranked first.
In the year of Renchen, I went to Beijing to have an audience with the emperor, and saw a scholar named Xia Jiansuo; I saw that his temperament was as modest as a valley, without any air of pride; and his modest brilliance seemed to be approaching people. I came back and told my friend: “Whenever God wants to make this person prosper, he must first develop his wisdom before he is blessed. Once this kind of wisdom is developed, the frivolous people will naturally become honest and presumptuous. He also restrained himself automatically. Jiansuo is so gentle and kind-hearted, he has already developed wisdom, and God must give him blessings.” When the rankings were opened, he was indeed selected.
There is a scholar in Jiangyin, Zhang Weiyan, who has accumulated profound knowledge and well-written articles, and is very famous among many scholars. In the Jiawu year of the Nanjing provincial examination, he borrowed and lived in a monastery; when the results were announced, his name was not on the list. He was not convinced, and scolded the examiner, his eyes were not clear, and he couldn’t see that his essay was good. At that time, a Taoist priest was smiling beside him, and Zhang Weiyan immediately turned his anger on the Taoist priest. The Taoist said: “Your article must be bad.” Zhang Weiyan became even more angry: “You haven’t seen my article, how do you know that my article is not good?”
The Taoist said: “I often hear people say that the most important thing is to write an article. Yes, you are calm; now I hear you yelling at the examiner, which means that you are very upset and too angry, how can your essay be good?” After hearing the Taoist’s words, Zhang gave in unconsciously; therefore, Turn around and ask the Taoist priest. The Taoist said, “It all depends on fate to succeed in the exam. If you fail in fate, even if the essay is good, it is useless. You must change it yourself.” Zhang asked: “Since it is fate, how can you change it? The Taoist said: “Although the right to create life is in heaven, the right to make life is still with me.
As long as you are willing to do your best to do good deeds and accumulate more yin virtues, what blessings cannot be obtained?” Zhang said: “I am a poor scholar. , can you do good deeds?” The Taoist said: “Doing good deeds and accumulating yin merits are all done from this heart. As long as the heart of doing good deeds and accumulating yin merits is always present, the merits and virtues will be immeasurable and boundless. Just like the matter of humility , and you don’t need to spend money, why don’t you reflect on yourself, you are too shallow to be humble, and instead scold the examiner for being unfair?”
Zhang listened to Shi’s words, and since then he has suppressed his proud ambitions, and he is very careful not to go astray. Goodness is cultivated with effort every day, and virtue is accumulated with effort every day. In the year of Dingyou, one day, he went to a tall house in a dream and saw a list of admissions, with many missing lines in it. Zhang didn’t understand, so he asked the person next to him, “What is this?”
The person said, “This is the admission list for this year’s exam.” Zhang asked, “Why are there so many missing lines in the list?” Those who take the exam will check it every three years. Only those who have accumulated virtue and have no faults will have their names in this book. For example, the gaps in the front of the book are all those who should have passed the exam in the past; but because they have recently committed sins, That’s why I removed my name.”
Then he pointed to another line and said, “You’ve been careful to control yourself for the past three years. You haven’t committed any crimes, or you should fill in the vacancy. I hope you cherish your self-love and don’t make any mistakes!” Sure enough, Zhang was there. In this exam, I got the one hundred and fifth place.
From the above, it can be seen that if you raise your head three feet high, there must be gods monitoring people’s behavior; therefore, things that benefit people and auspicious things should be done quickly; things that are dangerous and harmful to people should be avoided. It is up to me to decide. As long as I have a good heart, restrain all unkind behaviors, and never offend the ghosts and gods of the heavens and the earth; and I must also be humble, willing to give in and not be proud, so that the ghosts and gods of the heavens and the earth will always pity me, and then I will have the foundation for blessings.
Those who are full of arrogance must not be ambitious; even if they can become prosperous, they will not enjoy the blessings for a long time. A person with a little knowledge will certainly not narrow his measurement and reject the blessings he can get; moreover, a humble person has something to learn. [If a person is not humble, who is willing to teach him? ] And a humble person is willing to learn from others; if others have good deeds, learn from them; then the good deeds they get will be endless. This is especially indispensable for those who study morality!
There are a few old sayings in the ancients: “Those who aspire to fame and fame will surely gain fame; those who aspire to wealth and honor will surely achieve wealth and honor.” A person has great ambitions, just like a tree has roots; if a person wants to establish such a great ambition, he must Be humble in every thought; even when you encounter something as small as dust, you must make it easier for others; .
Like those people who seek fame and fame nowadays, they had no sincerity at the beginning, but they were just happy for a while; when the interest comes, they seek it; when the interest fades, they stop. Mencius said to King Xuan, “Your Majesty loves music. If it reaches its peak, then the fortunes of the Qi State will probably prosper. But your Majesty’s love for music is just a personal pursuit of happiness.
If you can extend your personal pursuit of happiness to enjoy the joy of the people If the common people are happy, will there still be people in Qi who are not prosperous?” I think the same is true for seeking academic names; the desire to seek academic names should be extended to accumulating virtue and doing good deeds; and to do it with all your heart, then fate and The blessings are all up to me to decide!
