網誌
2008年9月15日 下午2點43分37秒what is konwledge
The Master said, ”Yu, shall I teach you what knowledge is? When you know a thing, to hold that you know it; and when you do not know a thing, to allow that you do not know it; - this is knowledge.”
Fan Ch'ih asked about benevolence. The master said, "It is to love all men.” He asked about knowledge. The master said, "It is to know all men."
All in all, what is knowledge? Professor Yu Dan transferred her comprehension in the program of “百家讲坛”. For her part, actually based on the doctrines of Confucius’, knowing a subject doesn’t suggest you as a knowledgeable person. It just proves that you have master a system of understanding. You know how the things go on. Knowledge is to know all men. (In Chinese, 知人).
In my opinion, knowledge is a mixture of mastering subjects and knowing men. We should obtain subjects, such as science and literature, because we need some others’ theories and experiences to support us. In this premise, we can produce our own knowledge. On the other hand, it is also very necessary to learn to get along with others. We are not alone in the world. So, we cannot be isolated all the time. We have to learn to deal the relationship with others. What’s more, the first step is to know yourself: what are your merits and defects. And then, to know others. For instance, when your friend is in blue because he failed in the exam, and you’d better not boast your capability on exam and your high mark. If you do that, you will hurt your friend indeed.
Know the people, and you will be popular among them. That is the knowledge.
2008年9月13日 上午5點09分23秒Think deep of Confucius' saying
"At fifteen, I had my mind bent on learning. At thirty, I stood firm. At forty, I had no doubts. At fifty, I knew the decrees of Heaven. At sixth, my ear was an obedient organ for the reception of truth. At seventy, I could follow what my heart desired, without transgressing what was right." The first time I got access to this saying was my studying in senior middle school. At that time, I didn’t think it deep. I just memorized it for examination. Now I meet it again. And I have a new understanding on it. In my opinion, it is not an exact hierarchy of life. “At forty, I had no doubts.” I think doubts exist from the born to the death. Because of doubts, we will learn and explore the world constantly. And we will fulfill ourselves from this process. “At fifty, I knew the decrees of Heaven.” What are the decrees of Heaven? Be with the nature; understand the meaning of life etc. If we realize the importance of protecting nature at fifty, the aftereffects are obvious. The air will not be fresh to breathing; the water will not be health for drinking; the land will not be suitable for planting. Then, human beings will face a deserter. How terrible the results are. So, we should know the decrees of Heaven before fifty, and we should instructed our generation in early years. “At sixth, my ear was an obedient organ for the reception of truth. At seventy, I could follow what my heart desired, without transgressing what was right.” For my part, we should obtain those qualities in an earlier stage. I remember Zhang Yue, a hostess of CCTV, said, the world is form based on the disciplines and laws. Without them, the world will be in chaos. So, we should live for ourselves and others. When we act, we cannot break the rules. It is the basic of our life. In my opinion, it is amazing for Confucius to summarize these brilliant ideas. However, with the development of the world, the hierarchy of live should change to match the time. Or we can say there is no hierarchy in one’s life at all; we just need to be a right man.