Cryptocurrency Exchange - "The Analects" Detailed Explanation: For All Those Misinterpreting Confucius - The Way of Practice

Now, it’s just garbage vernacular, “learning” has become a word, as tasteless as plain boiled water. In vernacular Chinese, the meaning of “learning” is even less than one ten-thousandth of that in classical Chinese “学”. In classical Chinese, each character carries rich connotations, but this also makes understanding quite difficult.

To grasp classical Chinese, for example, to interpret the Analects, one cannot think in the same trash Western way as in vernacular Chinese. First, assume that the meaning of the text is like cells in the human body, piled up from characters—just as Western medicine sees, vernacular Chinese is a kind of dead writing. But classical Chinese is different; understanding it must first grasp its spirit, which is not in the characters but in the whole text, like traditional Chinese medicine—without the whole, the characters are meaningless. Pao Ding butchering an ox, the spirit encounters the ox and thus the ox is understood; reading classical Chinese is the same—without encountering the spirit, understanding the text is impossible.

“习”

Earlier, I talked about “学” (learning), now I will continue with this “习” (practice). In oracle bone script, “习” is derived from “羽” (feather) with “日” (sun) underneath. Later, in seal script, the “日” was mistakenly written as “白” (white). The mistake was carried on, and now in traditional characters, “羽” has “白” underneath. In simplified characters, “羽” is simply split in half, removing both “白” and “日,” leaving only endless darkness. Simplified characters, combined with a kind of garbage symbol in vernacular Chinese, gradually distort the rich meaning of Chinese into Western-style garbage symbols. This is the reality of history and the history of reality.

“习,” derived from “羽” with “日” underneath, originally refers to a bird testing flight in the clear sky. This “习” character is poetic and pictorial, imbued with spirit in a single character. “日” belongs to yang, and the so-called riding the righteous qi of heaven and earth to travel the universe is also “习,” which is also “习.” But later, all explanations treat “习” as continuous, repeated, frequent practice, review, or revision—typical vernacular Chinese duck-thinking—believing that constant tossing up and down, left and right, can demonstrate excellence, skill, and win rewards. It’s both tasteless and lacking in taste. Chinese has fallen into such a state—truly sad, truly sad!

“学” and “习” together mean “listening to the sage’s way,” “seeing the sage’s way,” “comparing” with the sage, and constantly “correcting” in society to align with the righteous qi of heaven and earth. Without “learning the sage’s way,” one cannot ride the righteous qi of heaven and earth. “学” embodies the essence of “the sage’s way”; “习” applies the “sage’s way.” Without “learning,” one cannot develop “practice”; without “practice,” one cannot develop “learning.” The whole is greater than the sum of its parts—this is the true meaning of “learning” and “practice.” What does “之” mean? It means to become a sage.

“Learning” and “practice” together must be timely, hence the phrase “learning and practicing at the right time.” “时” (time) here refers to the natural timing, not just following the time, but aligning with it and practicing it. Those who rely on their own smallness are petty; those who align with the time are gentlemen; those who practice the time are the true gentlemen who embody “the sage’s way.” Sadly, almost all explanations interpret “时” as “on time,” “according to time,” or “appropriate timing,” which shows a lack of understanding of the true timing. To “align with the time” means to ride the righteous qi of heaven and earth—that is, to seize the right timing from heaven. “时其时” (timing the time) does not mean just following heaven and its timing, but aligning with heaven’s timing. From this, it is clear that the so-called “heavenly timing” is to align with heaven’s timing, which is also heaven aligning with its timing. Without this understanding, one truly does not understand what “time” is.

“Learning and practicing at the right time,” the gentleman hears “the sage’s way,” sees “the sage’s way,” compares with “the sage,” and constantly “corrects” in society, aligning with the timing of heaven and earth, riding the righteous qi of heaven and earth, traveling the universe, and achieving the way of the sage. Only then can it be “joyful,” right? The phrase “joyful,” no need for further explanation. **$OP **$ONG **$ONT **