What we see with our eyes may not be true (知人不易)
During the Warring States Period in China,
the prime minister of the Qin Kingdom (Lu Buwei) edited a set of books.
There is a story in the book.
Once, because of the war, Confucius and his
students had not eaten rice for six consecutive days.
At noon on the 7th day, there was a student
named Yan Hui. He brought back a pack of rice.
When he saw Confucius taking a nap, he
didn't tell Confucius that he was back.
In his sleep, Confucius heard the sound of
cooking rice. He opened his eyes and saw (Yan Hui) cooking rice.
Confucius then fell asleep again.
When Confucius woke up again, he opened his
eyes and saw (Yan Hui) grabbed a handful of rice with his hand and then ate the
rice.
After about ten minutes, (Yan Hui) brought
a bowl of rice to Confucius.
Confucius said to him that although we are
hungry, we still have to observe etiquette.
We should dedicate the first bowl of rice
to our ancestors.
He answered Confucius. Report teacher, when
I was cooking rice just now, a little soot fell into the rice.
These rice is not perfect. It is no longer
suitable for dedication to our ancestors.
He went on to say. I have eaten the rice
that has soot on it just now.
Because the rice is so precious, I can't
bear to throw it away.
Confucius sighed when he heard his answer.
I misunderstood you.
Confucius continued.
We all believe what we see with our own
eyes, but even if we see with our own eyes, it is not necessarily believable.
Our hearts will deceive us. I must remember
this lesson. I cannot easily make good or bad judgments about the behavior of
others.
This idiom is used to remind us not to
comment on others easily.
Dear friend, what inspiration or thoughts
did you have after hearing this story.
If you are Confucius, can you admit your
mistakes to the students frankly? Have you ever experienced similar
misunderstandings?
I hope this story will give you some new
gains.
知人不易(What we see with our eyes may not be
true)
中國的戰國時代，秦王國的宰相(呂不韋)主編了一套書。
書裡有一個故事。
有一次，因為戰爭所以孔子與他的學生們已經連續六天沒有吃到米飯了。
第7天的中午，有一個名字叫做(顏回)的學生。他帶回來一包米。
他看見孔子正在睡午覺，他就沒有跟孔子說他回來了。
孔子在睡夢中，聽到煮米飯的聲音，他睜開眼睛看見(顏回)正在煮米飯。
孔子接著又睡著了。
孔子再次醒過來的時候，他睜開眼睛看見(顏回)用手抓起了一把米飯吃。
過了大約十分鐘，(顏回)拿了一碗飯來給孔子。
孔子對他說，雖然我們很餓了，還是要遵守禮節。
我們應該把第一碗飯先奉獻給我們的祖先。
他就回答孔子。報告老師，我剛才煮米飯的過程中，有一點點煤灰掉到米飯裡面。
這些米飯已經不完美。已經不適合奉獻給我們祖先了。
他接著說。剛才我已經把那些有沾到煤灰的米飯吃掉了。
因為這些米飯太珍貴了，我捨不得丟掉。
孔子聽到他的回答便嘆氣的說。我誤會你了。
孔子接著說。
我們都會相信自己的眼睛所看見的，但即使是自已親眼的，也不一定可信啊。
我們的心會欺騙我們，我要記得這個教訓，我不能夠輕易地對他人的行為作出好壞的判斷。
這句成語被用來提醒我們不可以輕易的評論他人。
親愛的朋友，你聽完這個故事有怎樣的啟發或有怎樣的想法呢。
若你是孔子，你可以坦然地對學生承認自已的錯誤嗎?你是否有過類似誤會他人的經驗呢?
我期待這故事能讓你產生一些新的收穫。