How should we understand hardship? Some people say that suffering is a blessing, some people think that this is a big cake for capitalists, and everyone has their own reasons. Today, let’s take a look at the unique life philosophy and life perception of “suffering hardship” by the famous writer Li Jianyong.
Author profile
Li Jianyong, pseudonym Nanmuma , essayist, essayist, folk culture scholar. He is from Shanyin, Shanxi Province. He currently lives in Beijing and works as a media person. member of the Chinese Writers Association , member of the Beijing Writers Association. He has written 9 kinds of essays, "Talking about the Jianghu", "Talking about the Romance", " Mother Dictionary ", "Chinese Essays·Li Jianyong Collection", "I Come From "The Earth", "The Garden There Are Thorns - Selected Collection of Li Jianyong's Essays".
It’s a blessing to endure hardship
On the morning of the first day of the Chinese New Year, I posted a short article "Talking about Ideals - New Year's Trial" written on my official account "Actual Cloud". A friend immediately sent a praise post: Be as hardworking as a cow!
My mother also praised me with a cow. My mother often says that you are like your grandfather, an old ox. When you return, you carry a pack of one and a pack of one when you leave. After decades of carrying it, you are an old ox. The first word "无无无无无无" in "无无无" is a verb, which is pronounced as a camel; the second word "无" is a noun, which is pronounced as a pile, which refers to the goods carried. My mother said that every time I go back to my hometown, I will drag a suitcase with my left hand and a large iron bucket with my right hand, bringing back some fresh fruits, clothes and daily necessities to my parents. When I return, I will take away some red beans, mung beans, cabbage, bitter vegetable , tomatoes and local eggs from my sisters and brothers. Especially in the years since my father passed away, I took a Saturday and Sunday almost every month to go back to my hometown (except during the epidemic), traveling back and forth, carrying the load, and carrying it around like an old ox as my mother said. My mother feels sorry for me to suffer. Hard work is hard, but I never think it is suffering. Instead, I think it is a sweet and happy "hard labor" with a sense of happiness after willingly giving. As the Book of Songs·Bifeng·Gufeng" says: "Who says that the tea is bitter? It is sweet like shepherd's."
As the saying goes, "When you read and farm, you will get up early and sleep late." It also says: "If you want to study hard, you should write carefully." It is very well said. Study hard, farm hard, and work diligently, and also need to have an old ox spirit of enduring humiliation and enduring hardships.
First of all, you must be "willing to endure hardships". I called it "take trouble for yourself." I called my daughter to discuss why I "take trouble for myself"? My daughter said that Laozi said, "The way is very barbaric, but the people are good at it." To endure hardship is the "road", and to endure hardship means to study hard, work hard, not take shortcuts, and not "sharp" in "smart". In fact, everyone understands this principle. Only by giving can you get rewards. But some people just refuse to endure this hardship and suffer this fatigue. They spend all day online playing games and chess. Some even spend their time watching TV series, watching TV series, and " Ge You lying"; some even take advantage of the opportunity to try to instigate right and wrong, trying to step on others and show that they are "showing in the forest". They also hope to gain a lot of fruits in work, study, and scientific research, and always think that they will get something for nothing without work. How is this possible? My daughter also told me an English word painstaking that she particularly likes, which consists of pains and taking. Pains means pain and pain, taking means gain and harvest. The whole word painstaking means hardship, that is, success is exchanged for pain, which is equivalent to what we often say, "hardships and hardships, and you will succeed." Indeed, success requires hard and unremitting efforts. Those who are afraid of suffering suffer all their hardships in their lives because of the word "fear". Therefore, the difficulty of suffering lies in the word "responsibility", as the "Shangshu: Shu Shuo Fate" says, "It is not difficult to know, but to act; it is difficult to act; it is difficult to end up being difficult."People who "seek hardships for themselves" are consciously looking for the path to success, at least they are embarking on a path to climb to goodness and upwardness.
is followed by "will endure hardship". I call it "just joy in suffering." I worked for a short period of time in " Beijing Daily ". Every morning when I went to the photo workshop to make the edition, I could see that the editor-in-chief of " Beijing Evening News " was sitting in front of the computer, titled the news of the evening newspaper that day one by one, and it was like this every day. As the editor-in-chief, is it "to make fun of hardship" when you go to the workshop every day to do titles? I think yes. Look behind him, there are a large circle of editors and reporters, making various suggestions, and he sits there and "choose the good ones and follow them." The boss and editors are in harmony, and the wind is warm and the joy is harmonious. Later, I worked as the director of several departments and the deputy editor-in-chief of the newspaper in a newspaper. I often went to the photo room to change the title with the editor. I also knew that in the eyes of some people, this was a "hard job" of "overstepping over the business" and "taking hardships for oneself", but I could personally experience the satisfaction and happiness of the boss of the Beijing Evening News back then. Of course, the purpose of enduring hardship is not to endure hardship, but to achieve one's own goals and ideals. First, endure hardships is to gain abilities. As the saying goes, "A skill is one inch higher than one inch and a thousand hardships." It also says, "If you want someone to say good things, you will suffer hardships for the rest of your life." If you think about it, if you want to be strong and you want to be better than others, you have to endure more hardships, pay more, and bear more blows and pressures than others. When I was chatting with my colleagues in the editorial department, I said that in the past, I often talked about "soft power" and "hard power" in international relations terms, and later someone proposed " clever power ". In fact, the so-called "smart strength" is "stupid skill". Whether writing articles or making pages, it is impossible to do well without putting in enough "stupid efforts". " Doctrine of the Mean " is well-written: "One person can do it, one hundred of himself; ten people can do it, one thousand of himself. If you can do it, even if you are foolish, you will be clear, even if you are soft, you will be strong." Second, suffering is to temper your will. As the saying goes, "Strength is a great pressure, courage is a great fear." I have experienced these things personally. Born in the countryside, I started to carry water to the garden at the age of 11 or 2. It took less than one or two years to carry half a bucket of water, most of it, to the transition period from carrying half a bucket of water to the whole bucket of water. This is what is called "the force is heavy". As a teenager who used the holiday to mow grass and harvest firewood, he wasted his way home from the cloudy and rainy days. The crops and leaves in the fields rustled, which was creepy; in the cold wind, a strange scream, or a wild beast howled, you will be so heartbroken! But you will get used to it slowly and you will be able to face it calmly. This is called "Bold is scared." Mencius said: "When God is about to give a great responsibility to this person, he must first suffer his heart and mind, exhaust his muscles and bones, starve his body, and be empty and useless. He acts to disturb his actions. Therefore, he has moved his heart and endured his nature and has gained what he could not do." The so-called "moving his heart and endured his nature" means that no matter what kind of torment the soul has endured, he must eat the pain, swallow it into his stomach, and engrave it in his heart; the so-called "willing his life and endured it" means that even the suffering can be eaten, so what else can't bear it! In other words, the energy of those who suffer all the hardships is getting bigger. People often say that there are many high-quality processes. Suffering great sufferings is the best lesson and tempering for life, and suffering is the most advanced mentor in life. What I mean by "being able to endure hardship" means that people with ideals and ambitions will inevitably suffer when they move along the direction and goals they plan. However, they all understand in their hearts that they don’t feel bitter or tired when they like to do things. The ancients said, "I enjoy it all day long." As the saying goes, "Getting happiness in suffering is true happiness." Isn't a person who wants to endure and loves to endure is "seeking joy and having fun"?
Finally, it is "bitter and sweet". I call it "the bitterness is over and the sweetness is coming." As the saying goes, "Only you will be the best person if you endure hardships." What does it feel like to be a "highest person"? I can't wait to know.However, at least in my opinion, in the modern society where everyone is equal, the reason why people are willing to endure "hardship among hardships" is that most people may not have to be "better than others", but more of them are trying to realize their own value and even lofty ideals. So I prefer another proverb: "Only after all the hardships can you know that sweetness is sweet." Among all the "relationships" in philosophical categories, I think "cause and effect relationship" is the most important pair of "relationships": there must be a cause, and there must be a cause. In fact, enduring hardship is to "plant the cause". Southern Song Zhu Mu's " Fangyu Shenglan " records a place name " Mozhenxi ", and then writes down a note about Tang Dynasty great poet Li Bai A legend of studying hard when he was young: "Mozhenxi is at the foot of Xianger Mountain in Meizhou. It is said that Li Taibai studied in the mountains but failed and abandoned it. After passing the stream, he met an old mother who grinds an iron pestle. Asked him, he said, "I want to make a needle." Taibai felt his meaning and graduated. The mother said that her surname was Wu. There is Wushi Rock next to the stream." This is probably the earlier source of what the saying goes, "As long as you have a deep skill, the iron pestle will grind into a needle." Li Bai, who did not study hard without the Qinglantern Ancient Scroll, how could he have the Li Taibai ? Today, when we read "The Complete Works of Li Bai", we always lament that Taibai is not only talented but also knowledgeable. Even the most popular archaeological articles about "Sanxingdui" recently are indispensable in Taibai's poems such as " Cancong and Yufu, why are you confused about the founding of the country?" The great writer of the Tang Dynasty, born six years after Li Bai's death, praised "Han Yu, Li and Du," which is the highest praise of Taibai, who "the bitterness is over and sweetness comes." Some people may say, "After picking flowers into honey, who will work hard for whom and who will be sweet for?" The value and significance of enduring hardship lies in "the sweetness comes after all the hardships." What is "bitter and sweet"? "It is hard to take care of thousands of times", "Youth hard work for a young man", "After picking flowers to make honey", "We must gain wealth and honor from hard work"... This is the "sweetness after the bitterness is over". We don’t have to hide the fact that “wealth is great”. Even the great sage Confucius said: "Wealth and honor are as good as you can seek, even if you hold a whip, I will do it; if you cannot seek it, follow my preferences." "The Book of Changes·Xici" also says: "There is no greater loft than wealth." The greatest "being sweet after bitterness" in life is nothing more than seeking wealth and honor to succeed. So what is the sign of success? To summarize it in the words of Liu Yuxi, a great poet of the Tang Dynasty, it is called "the world has fame and generals and ministers, and the voice of the world is an article." It can be seen that the one who occupies one of the "three immortals in life" in the so-called "Zuo Zhuan" is "a winner in life". Liu Yuxi originally wrote this poem with his friend Bai Juyi and sent him to the prime minister of the dynasty Linghu Chu when he went to Luoyang . What he said was "fame, generals and ministers" and "voice and price articles", which was originally intended to be happy with Linghu's husband. However, if there were no "voice-worthy articles" by literati such as Liu Yuxi, how many people in later generations knew about Linghu's husband as "people's best"? Moreover, the cultural value and historical significance of "voice value articles" are not only "sweet" and themselves, but also endlessly lured by future generations. The poems and prose of Li Bai, Han Yu, Liu Yuxi, etc. who "pick hundreds of flowers into honey" are radiating through thousands of years, not only the brilliant literary light, but also the light of civilization that shines through human history!
" Yangzhou Eight Eccentrics", Zheng Banqiao , left two famous sayings that were quite influential to future generations - "It is rare to be confused" and "It is a blessing to suffer losses." However, "confused" and "suffering losses" mostly contain the vague passiveness and tolerance. Therefore, as the saying often says, "If you don't make people stupid, you will suffer a blessing"; it also says, "If you suffer a little loss, you will receive infinite blessings." But "end to hardship is a blessing" is different from it. It truly realizes that "end to hardship" is the only way to "sow the field of blessing", so those who are determined and aware will consciously and actively work hard like an old ox. Because they know, "The sword is sharpened by sharpening, and the fragrance of plum blossoms comes from the bitter cold." "If you don't suffer from the bitterness of frost, how can you get the fragrance of plum blossoms blooming?" This spiritual state of "endurance is a blessing" should not only have individuals and families with ideals and achievements, but also have nations and countries with dreams and prospects.
When I was writing articles on New Year’s Eve and Spring Festival, my daughter also "moved bricks" in the laboratory of a higher education institute. She spoke to me during the "same" break and said that she had only read "hardworking, brave and wise Chinese" in the "History" textbook, and did not have much concrete understanding. In recent years, from the laboratory where you study for a doctorate and now you work in the laboratory, during all holidays, all the people working overtime are Chinese (and some people from some Chinese). My daughter told me that scientific research requires input and output, and I think it is the same in other aspects. We Chinese have such hardships and investments, of course we will have abundant outputs, so it is inevitable that China will rise to the world. I said, yes, as the saying goes, "How can you understand the present and the past without suffering?" and said, "You can't endure hardship, and you can't enjoy blessings." And also, "You can't endure hardship for a while, and you can't get blessings for thousands of years." The traditional Chinese culture itself contains the simple philosophy and cultural genes of "blessing in suffering". This is the cultural heritage and crystallization of the Chinese nation's "hard work, courage and wisdom" for five thousand years.
Recommended reading
"The Garden of Thorns: Selected Collection of Li Jianyong's Essays" This book selects 66 classic essays, which are the crystallization of the author's perception and thinking about life. The brushwork is simple but profound, friendly but thought-provoking, humorous and spicy ironic, reflecting the author's unique life philosophy and life perception. The book is divided into three volumes: "Follow the Great Road", "Follow the Thunder", and "Thinking of No Border". It uses quiet words to write about all living beings, examine the allusions, and enlighten the true meaning of life. It is like an elder who is instructive and tempting to accompany you to talk about your ideals, life, see the world's emotions, and taste the warmth and coldness, and accompany you to explore this miscellaneous and warm world.
