Mencius said: "It is better to cultivate the mind than to be greedy. He is also a man with few desires, although there are those that don't exist, he is a widow; He is also a man with a lot of desires. Although there are embarrassing people, they are few. " It is said that nourishing the heart is not limited to keeping ears, but doing everything possible to hide it. If not, be honest. Sincere and virtuous; Tong Ming, Shengya. It is a saint who must cultivate his heart before he is born. The beauty that nourishes the soul is so great that it only exists in itself.

Zhang Zizong, Fan Youxing, Wen Youxing, and his home is surrounded by mountains and waters. The pavilion at the foot of the mountain is very quiet. Give it to me and love it, because the title is "nourishing the soul." Thank you for asking, so the book encourages.

Translation:

Mencius said: "The most important thing in practice is to control your own desires. If there is little desire, even if the goodness of nature is lost, it is very few; If a person has a lot of desires, although he can still preserve his nature, the number is very small. " In my opinion, cultivating the mind is not only to control desires, but also to get rid of greed. If we can truly be free from greed, we can be sincere and reasonable.

If you have a sincere nature, you can become a saint; Be reasonable, and you can reach the realm of saints. Therefore, sages are not born, so we must work hard to cultivate our hearts. Self-cultivation has such a good effect, all of which lies in our own efforts.

Mr. Zhang Zongfan has a good character and literary talent. His house backs on the green hills and faces the green water. A pavilion was built at the foot of the mountain, and the environment was quiet. Strolling here occasionally, I like it very much. I named it "Yangxin Pavilion". Mr. Zong Fan thanked me very politely and asked me to write something about the title, so I wrote this passage to thank him.

Extended data?

Creation background

In November of the first year of Jiayou (1056), 40-year-old Zhou Dunyi was promoted to sign a book for the prince of luxury and transferred to Hezhou as a judge. At that time, there were more than 10,000 families in Hezhou, but there was no Quanzhou University and few scholars. In order to change the backward situation in Hezhou, Zhou Dunyi decided to start a state school. He searched around and found that the private garden of Hezhou Taigong Zhang Zongfan was a good place to study, backed by mountains, with water and a quiet environment, so he took Zhang to visit and learn about Shangzhou.

Zhang Zongfan admired Zhou Dunyi's personality and readily agreed to his request, donating his private garden as the school site, and asked Zhou Dunyi to write a plaque for the pavilion at the foot of the mountain. Zhou Dunyi wrote Yangxin Pavilion with the theme of "Yangxin Pavilion". Yangxinge is one of Zhou Dunyi's most famous essays.

Zhou Dunyi (10 17— 1073), formerly known as Dunshi, was a Taoist priest in Hunan and a philosopher in the Northern Song Dynasty. Because he worked as a judge in Hezhou (now Hechuan, Chongqing) for 4 years, he was named a historical celebrity in Chongqing by Chongqing Municipal People's Government in 2005.