Confucius lived in Cai Guo for three years, and made some suggestions to the monarch of the Cai Guoguo that would benefit the country, but they were not adopted. Then Confucius went to Chen State, and also made some suggestions to the monarch of Chen State that were beneficial to the country's prosperity, but they were also not accepted. Confucius was very disappointed. At this time Chu State sent someone to invite Confucius to give lectures, Confucius readily agreed and planned to go.
At this time, when the scholar-officials of Chen and Cai heard about this, they felt bad and hurriedly discussed with the king. They believed that when Confucius went to the state of Chu, he would definitely assist the monarch of the state of Chu, and it would be unfavorable for some small states such as Chen and Cai in the future. So they put Confucius under house arrest, trapped him and his disciples in a house in the countryside, and prevented them from going in and out freely, intending to starve them to death.
Confucius and his students were trapped here. They had not eaten for seven days. They were so hungry that they had to lie in bed and wait. Later, the eldest disciple Yan Hui tried to get back some rice to cook. When the rice was about to be cooked, Confucius passed by and saw Yan Hui eating from a pot with his hands.
Confucius deliberately pretended not to see. When Yan Hui came in and invited Confucius to dinner, Confucius said, "I dreamed of my ancestors, and I should sacrifice these clean food to them first."
Yan Hui hurriedly said, "No!" (Because it is not allowed to use eaten rice to worship ancestors)
Confucius was a little relieved, thinking that Yan Hui is a big disciple after all. Dare to admit mistakes.
But what happened next made Confucius feel ashamed.
Yan Hui said, "It's all because I'm not very skilled in cooking. I just opened the pot and the heat was so strong that the dust from the roof was washed away.Some dust fell into the pot, I grabbed it, and it was not good to throw it away, so I ate it myself.
Confucius was very moved when he heard it, and he sighed and reflected: "What you believe is in your eyes, but your eyes are not credible; what you rely on is your heart, but your heart is not enough." The disciple remembers that it is not easy to know people.
means: "I thought that what I saw was believing, but what I saw might not be credible in fact; to measure things by means of inner thoughts may not be reliable in the end. It seems that it is really not easy to recognize a person as a person! "
Later Fortunately, Zilu Wenxun came to the rescue, brought food, and drove away the besiegers.
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