Upright Behaviour and Upright Speech(危言危行)
The famous book (The Analects of Confucius)
was not written by Confucius himself.
This book records many conversations
between Confucius and his disciples.
Confucius lived during the Zhou dynasty in
China. In his time, the central government of the Zhou dynasty had very weak
control over many princes in China. Although China was nominally ruled by the
Zhou dynasty, it was actually internally divided into many kingdoms. .
Among these kingdoms, if the king of a
kingdom is very wise, that king will usually rule his kingdom well.
If the king of a kingdom is very
domineering, he will usually rule his kingdom badly.
Confucius had six skills that only nobles
could learn: etiquette, music, archery, carriage driving, calligraphy and
mathematics. He taught these skills to many ordinary people who were willing
and eager to learn. As a result, he became a role model for many future
generations of teachers.
After Confucius' students have learned this
knowledge, some of them are hired by the kings of different kingdoms to serve
as officials in charge of some important ceremonies in their own kingdoms.
One conversation is recorded in this book.
Once a student of Confucius said to
Confucius
I have completed my studies, and recently
the kings of several kingdoms wanted to employ me as an official in their
kingdoms.
I can no longer hear these words of wisdom
from you.
Could you please give me one last piece of
advice?
Confucius said to him.
You may later work in different kingdoms,
or you may be lured to different kingdoms because of your good work.
You can only understand the quality of the
political atmosphere in these kingdoms by visiting them yourself.
If you arrive in a kingdom and find that it
is a kingdom with a wise king and a good political atmosphere, then you should
work with integrity and talk to your colleagues and superiors in an upright
manner.
If you arrive in a kingdom and find that it
is a kingdom with a domineering king and a bad political climate, then you
should work with integrity and speak to your colleagues and superiors with a
very humble attitude.
If you do that, I think you'll save
yourself a lot of trouble.
After listening to Confucius' words, the
student nodded and said to Confucius
Thank you for your teaching. I will keep
your words in my heart and never forget them.
This idiom describes a person who is
upright in behaviour and speech.
Dear friend, what inspirations or thoughts
do you have after listening to this story?
Do you have any mottos in your heart that
you strongly agree with? Is the atmosphere in your present work environment
good?
I hope this story can give you some new
insights.
危言危行(Upright Behaviour and Upright Speech)
著名的(孔夫子論語)這一本書不是孔子自已寫。
這本書中紀錄了很多孔子的他的學生們之間的對話內容。
孔子生活在中國的周王朝，在他那個時代，周王朝的中央政府對中國境內的許多諸侯控制力變得非常弱，中國雖然名義上被周王朝所統治，但實際上內部分裂成許多王國。
在這些王國中，如果一個王國的國王非常的賢明，那麼這個國王通常就會把他的王國治理的很好。
如果一個王國的國王非常的跋扈，那麼這個國王通常就會把他的王國治理的很差。
孔子精通有關於禮儀、音樂、射箭、駕馭馬車、書法、數學這六種只有貴族才能學習的知識與技能，他把這些技能教授給當時許多願意學習而且渴望學習的平民。因此他被許多後代的老師視為楷模。
孔子的學生們學習完這些知識後，有些學生便會被各個王國的國王聘任到自己的王國中擔任負責掌管一些重要典禮的官員。
這本書中紀錄了一段對話。
有一次，孔子的一個學生對孔子說。
我已經畢業了，最近有好幾個王國的國王要聘請我到他的的王國中擔任官員。
我之後已經無法聽到你那些智慧的言語。
請問你可以給我最後一句忠告嗎?
孔子對他說。
你之後可能會到各個不同的王國中工作。
這些王國中的政治風氣的好壞你只有親身到了之後才可以明白。
如果你到了一個王國之中，你發現這是一個國王很賢明且政治風氣很好的王國，那麼你就應該用正直的態度工作，你要用正直的方式與你的同事和長官們對話。
如果你到了一個王國之中，你發現這是一個國王很跋扈且政治風氣很差的王國，那麼你就應該用正直的態度工作，你要用非常謙虛的態度與你的同事和長官們對話。
如果你這樣做，我認為你就能避免讓自己遭遇到一些禍害。
這個學生聽完孔子的話後點頭對孔子說。
謝謝老師的教誨，我會把你這些話放在心中且永遠不會忘記。
這句成語的意思是形容一個人有著正直的行為與正直的說話方式。
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。
你的心中有什麼你非常認同的格言嗎?你現在的工作環境的風氣好嗎?
我期待這故事能讓你產生一些新的收穫。
出處為論語-憲問-3條