论文部分内容阅读
不耻下问
Literal Meaning: Condescend oneself to learn from the inferior
Metaphorical Meaning: Somebody is humble and willing to learn
In the Spring and Autumn Period (770 – 476 BC), there lived a minister named Kong Yu in the State of Wei. He was smart and diligent. What was rarer was that he was very humble. After his death, the lord of Wei gave him a posthumous title as “Wen Gong” in order to urge the people in the State of Wei to follow Kong Yu’s suit.
Zi Gong, a student of the Confucius, was also a man in the State of Wei. He thought that Kong Yu didn’t live up to the title. One day he asked his teacher the Confucius: “Though Kong Yu is talented and skilled, there are still a lot of people better than him. Why did he get the title alone?”
The Confucius smiled and answered his student: “Kong Yu is very diligent and smart. If he had something he doesn’t know, he will immediately ask the others, even the ones with lower status or less knowledge than him. He never feels ashamed of this, which is one of his best traits. Therefore, he lives up to his title.”
Literal Meaning: Condescend oneself to learn from the inferior
Metaphorical Meaning: Somebody is humble and willing to learn
In the Spring and Autumn Period (770 – 476 BC), there lived a minister named Kong Yu in the State of Wei. He was smart and diligent. What was rarer was that he was very humble. After his death, the lord of Wei gave him a posthumous title as “Wen Gong” in order to urge the people in the State of Wei to follow Kong Yu’s suit.
Zi Gong, a student of the Confucius, was also a man in the State of Wei. He thought that Kong Yu didn’t live up to the title. One day he asked his teacher the Confucius: “Though Kong Yu is talented and skilled, there are still a lot of people better than him. Why did he get the title alone?”
The Confucius smiled and answered his student: “Kong Yu is very diligent and smart. If he had something he doesn’t know, he will immediately ask the others, even the ones with lower status or less knowledge than him. He never feels ashamed of this, which is one of his best traits. Therefore, he lives up to his title.”