Tag Archives: Chinese culture

Filial (1) 孝感動天

Once, a long long time ago, there was a lad, named Sun. His mother died very early, and his father got remarried. His stepmother hated Sun, and always told his father bad things about him. His parents soon produced a … Continue reading

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Quench one’s thirst by watching plums 望梅止渴

Translated 望梅止渴 【wang mei zhi ke】 有一年夏天,曹操率領部隊去討伐張繡,天氣熱得出奇,驕陽似火,部隊在彎彎曲曲的山道上行走,兩邊密密的樹木和被陽光曬得滾燙的山石,讓人透不過氣來。到了中午,大家的衣服都濕透了,速度也慢下來,有幾個體弱的士兵竟暈倒在路邊。 曹操擔心貽誤戰機,心裡很是著急。可是,眼下幾萬人馬連水都喝不上,又怎麼能加快速度呢? 他立刻叫來嚮導,悄悄問他:“這附近可有水源?”嚮導搖搖頭說:“泉水在山谷的那一邊,要繞道過去還有很遠的路程。” 曹操想了一下說,“不行,時間來不及。” 他看了看前邊的樹林,沉思了一會兒,知道此刻即使下命令要求部隊加快速度也無濟於事。 突然,他聽到隊伍裡有一個士兵的呻吟:“要是有水果樹就好了!” 曹操腦筋一轉,辦法來了,他一夾馬肚子,快速趕到隊伍前面,用馬鞭指著前方說:“士兵們,我知道前面有一大片梅林,那裡的梅子又大又好吃,我們快點趕路,繞過這個山丘就到梅林了!”士兵們一聽,彷彿已經吃到嘴裡,精神大振,步伐不由得加快了許多。 啟示:曹操的機智一念,使士兵們變得精神大振,加快了步伐。 如果反過來,故事裡的曹操也被嚴酷的外因條件所屈服,那麼全軍面臨的是敗仗。通過望梅止渴故事,讓我們悟道:精神和物質是一性的,也就是思想和身體是一性的,人的一念之差會導致事物發展的不同結果。 There once was a warrior (cao cao) was going to war with his men. They were walking and walking as the hot sun shined on … Continue reading

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