Daming, Hongzhi six years (1493), Wang Yangming took the exam for the first time, but failed to do so. However, instead of falling behind, he rallied and worked harder.

So, I looked everywhere for Zhu's works, hungry and studying hard. At that time, Wang Yangming was congenial to his friend Qian, and he was willing to explore how to follow the example of becoming a saint. Finally, after discussion, they decided that if they want to be a saint, they must be proficient in what Zhu said.

In the process of learning, two good friends saw Cheng Yi's words in Zhu's works: "Everything must have a fine appearance, and every grass and tree has feelings."

It doesn't take much effort to get it. It just happened to be based on local materials. There were a lot of bamboos in Wang Yangming's father's office, so they began to "lattice bamboo", so they racked their brains and thought day and night, but they made no progress with each other and did not explain why.

Three days later, Qian fell ill because of fatigue. In desperation, he had to give up the number. At that time, Wang Yangming did not believe in this evil. He worked harder and worked hard day and night to "make bamboo". Seven days later, Wang Yangming was completely overdrawn and overworked, and fell ill. Therefore, both of them lamented that it is not easy for sages to do things, and they have no strength to learn things.

In this way, after some tossing, I tasted the sweetness, and the "Wu Ge" thing was over, giving up the study of Wu Ge. /kloc-at the age of 0/7, Wang Yangming began to devote himself to the cultivation of immortal health. It can be seen that no matter what he does, he is the kind of person who won't stop until he reaches his goal.

Why did Wang Yangming fail in his first "case study"? The fundamental reason is that he didn't "reason" according to Zhu's teaching. Later, Lu Yiting, a beginner in Qing Dynasty, was also critical of Wang Yangming's mind. He thinks that Wang Yangming didn't fully understand Zhuzi's aim of "governing by doing nothing".

In the later view (only my humble opinion), Wang Yangming's "Zhuge" failed because:

(1) It can be seen from Mr. Yang Ming's chronology 1472- 1529. Before "Zhuge", when Mr. Wang 12 years old, although he had the ambition of "meritocracy first"; But there is no foundation for the study of sages, and there is no master's enlightenment except Lou Liang, a great scholar in Shangrao.

(2) Youth is also a problem. After all, Wang Yangming's Zhuge is only seventeen or eighteen years old, only seven days. He is far from enlightenment and lacks certain social experience. Looking back at history, it is rare to be enlightened at such an age; "Tao" is metaphysics, the body of all things, and it is not easy to get the Tao, which requires certain confidence and determination.

(3) Because Wang Yangming is eager to seek Tao, he should be eager to seek success; Therefore, haste makes waste. Because the consciousness is too strong, it is difficult to calm the fluctuating thoughts. The greater the desire, the farther away from the Tao, and the purpose of inaction cannot be seen.

(4) No matter how clever a person is, he is also stupid. Cleverness and stupidity have little to do with Tao, but the most important thing is unshakable confidence in Tao. Ceng Zi, a disciple of the sage Confucius, is stupid, but why did he master the essence of Confucianism and get the true biography of Confucius? It is said that Confucius School is divided into eight schools, and Ceng Zi is the only one who carries it forward.

Zhu explained that "Ge" means "Exhaustion", and exhausting things is for the sake of consideration. Everything in the universe consists of "reason" and "qi". Qi is the substance that constitutes all things, and reason is the essence and law of things. In the real world, reason and qi are inseparable, but from the origin, reason exists before qi. We must exhaust the theory of "differentiation" before we can realize the great "One Principle".

Twenty years after Wang Yangming's failure, Zhuge gained rich social experience and laid a solid foundation for enlightenment. After a long period of practice, I suddenly realized the high unity of "mind is reason" and "learning from things" in one night.

In fact, the core of Wang Yangming's "Dragon Field Enlightenment" is "Mind Learning". It is a mistake to explore the way to be born, and it is thousands of miles away. Zhu advocated "seeking truth from the outside"; Wang Yangming advocates "seeking truth from the heart" (sage's way, I am self-sufficient, and those who seek truth from facts are also wrong. In contrast, I think what Mr. Wang Yangming realized is the supreme truth. Because all laws are internal, not external.