Stories about historical figures

1, the story of Confucius: adversity know Yan Hui

Confucius led his disciples to travel around the world, there was a period of time in a very miserable situation.

On one occasion, Confucius and his disciples were stranded in the wilderness in the territory of the State of Chen, and the food was eaten up for seven consecutive days, so much so that Confucius was so hungry that he slept in the car in a stupor.

Confucius's disciple Yan Hui, in order to save his master, pulled himself together and begged for help, and running around, found a little grain and rice, and then hurriedly gathered wood and started a fire to cook the rice. When the rice was about to be cooked, the aroma from the pot made Confucius come to his senses, and he could not help but look up and watch, and he saw Yan Hui grabbing a handful of rice with his hand and putting it into his mouth.

After a short time, the rice was cooked, and Yan Hui was the first to bring a bowl of it to Confucius.

Confucius pretended not to see Yan Hui's stealing of the food, and sat up, saying, "I saw my father in my sleep just now, and if this rice is clean, I would like to use it to pay my respects to his old man first."

Yan Hui heard this and said, "No, no, this rice is not clean. Just now when I burned the rice, some soot fell into the pot, and it was too bad to discard the soot-stained rice, so I grabbed it out and ate it."

Confucius was shocked by what he heard, and felt guilty for having wrongly blamed Yan Hui, and then he realized the truth of "Yan Hui's stealing food", and felt very emotional.

Confucius immediately summoned his disciples to his feet and said: "The eye that believes is also the eye, and the eye is not trustworthy; the heart that is relied upon is also the heart, and the heart is not enough to be relied upon. Disciples remembered, know people solid is not easy!"

From then on, Confucius trusted Yan Hui even more.

Philosophy point: Even if you see things with your own eyes, you have to analyze them carefully in order to avoid mistakes.

What you see with your eyes is only an appearance, and if you jump to conclusions based only on the appearance of things and people, you will sometimes make mistakes!

2, Zhuang Zi story: useful and useless

Chuang Zi walking in the mountains, saw a large tree, leafy, but some lumberjacks are sitting under the tree to rest, and do not cut the tree; Zhuang Zi asked: "In front of you there is a large tree, why do not you cut it? "

"Big it is, but it is of no use at all." The lumberjack said, "It grows so crooked that it is not fit to be a beam, nor is it fit to be furniture."

Chuang Tzu exclaimed, "It is because of its bad form that this tree has been able to enjoy its days!"

Down the mountain, Zhuangzi went to visit a friend who lived at the foot of the mountain. The friend was so happy to see Zhuangzi that he asked his servant to kill a goose to entertain him. The servant asked, "Which of the two geese, the one that crows and the one that doesn't, should I kill?"

The master said, "Keep the one that can squawk, and kill the one that can't."

After a day, Zhuang Zi's student asked Zhuang Zi very puzzled about these two things and said, "The big tree that I saw in the mountain forest yesterday was able to enjoy its life because of its bad form, and now, the master's goose is being slaughtered because it can't squawk; which one do you want to choose, teacher, between the two: usefulness and uselessness?"

Chuang Tzu smiled and said, "I will be between usefulness and uselessness. Between usefulness and uselessness, it seems as if it is close to the Tao, but it is not, so it is still inevitably involved. If one could really follow nature and roam beyond the affairs of the world, one would not be like this.

Not to be praised and not to be criticized, when responding to the world, either appearing like a dragon or bending like a snake, following the changes of the times, unwilling to be limited for a specific purpose; when dealing with the world, either advancing or retreating, in harmony with nature, freely roaming in the root of all things; dominating all things without being enslaved by external objects, so how can there be any involvement? This is the law of Shen Nong and Huang Di in ruling the world!

"As for the selfishness of all things, human custom is not so with regard to this. There is separation where there is aggregation, there is destruction where there is success, there is frustration where there is sharpness, there is exaltation where there is exclusion, there is lack where there is action, there is calculation where the virtuous are counted on, and there is bullying where the ungrateful are bullied, so how can one be paranoid about either side? So how can we be partial to any one side? Scholars should keep in mind that the only ideal state is to follow nature."

Philosophy point: When we look at something as useless, we must realize that nature did not create it only for human use, but for other purposes. And the beauty of this uselessness is waiting for man to change his position to realize it.

3, Ouyang Xun read the story of the monument

Tang Dynasty famous calligrapher Ouyang Xun in a horseback riding out of the countryside, stumbled upon the Jin Dynasty calligraphy Suo Jing handwriting of the monument, immediately dismounted from his horse to see a moment. After reading it, he thought that Suo Jing's handwriting was very ordinary, nothing amazing.

He led his horse away from the monument, and then came back to look at it again, and this time he felt that the words were still well-written, and that he had his own style, and was considered to be a calligrapher.

When he rode his horse for a long time, he felt that the words on the monument did not seem to have enough to see, so he drove his horse and rushed back to carefully appreciate the font on the monument. This time he became more and more fascinated, y impressed by Suo Jing's calligraphy, and sat in front of the monument for three days and three nights, still refusing to leave.

Philosophy: It is difficult to tell the difference between a single glance and a single glance at many things, and only after repeated scrutinizing and pondering can you get the real experience. So don't make your own judgment or assertion too soon about people or things you don't know well, because the result will be biased even if it's correct.

4, Farewell My Concubine

Yu Ji often accompanied Xiang Yu on his campaigns, the late Chu-Han struggle, Xiang Yu tends to lose, in 202 BC, was besieged by the Han army in Gaixia (today's southeast of Lingbi County, Anhui Province), fewer soldiers and food, the night heard the song of Chu on all sides, mourning the loss of the momentum in the face of the Yu Ji, the tent, the wine in the song of sadness: "Powerful mountains and the gas cover the world, the time is not favorable, Zhui Zhui does not pass away, Zhui does not pass away, what can be done about it, and what can be done about it?" The lyrics of the song are so bleak and sad, and the sentiment is so sentimental that it is known as the "Gaixia Song".

This time, this powerful figure, but also showed the lament of children's love, heroes short of breath. Yu Ji, who was accompanying her, drew her sword and danced, and sang a song with her: "The Han soldiers have already occupied the land, and the Chu song is heard in all directions; the king's spirit is exhausted, and the concubine has no chance to live." (History calls it "Gaixia Song" or "Gaixia Song".) After the song, she killed herself to break Xiang Yu's personal feelings and to stimulate Xiang Yu's fighting spirit, hoping to break through the siege victoriously. After his death, he was buried in Gaixia.

5. Determination to transform China

When Dr. Sun Yat-sen was a child, he lived in a village by the sea.

One day, he asked some friends to take turns playing shuttlecock. After kicking the shuttlecock for a while, an older child couldn't beat a younger one. The older child got annoyed and hit the younger child a little. Sun said to the older child, "You're big and he's small, you're strong and he's weak, you shouldn't bully him!"

Once many pirates came to the village to rob it. Sun Yat-sen saw the pirates broke the door of a family, robbed many boxes, the people of the family cried and shouted. Dr. Sun thought, "Why was that family bullied by the pirates, but there is no law to protect them in China:" Dr. Sun made up his mind to reform China.

After growing up, Dr. Sun led the Xinhai Revolution and became a great statesman in Chinese history.