伯夷列传 （傥所谓天道，是邪非邪）

  • 什么时代？ 商末周初
  • 为何第一？ “末世争利，维彼奔义；让国饿死，天下称之。做伯夷列传第一。”
  • “以暴易暴兮，不知其非矣”
  • 古人的义有层次
  • 伯夷不怨，太史公也不怨
  • 求仁得仁，又何怨哉
  • 读书/做事的功夫：
    • 设身处地
    • 揣摩通透
    • 体贴入微
    • 洞见表里
  • 君子怀刑（典型，指人品堪为典范的人物），小人怀惠（小恩小惠，恩惠）
  • 韩愈 《伯夷颂》：若伯夷者，特立独行、穷天地互万世而不顾者也。 信道笃而自知明也。
  • 好名者必作伪
  • 天不生仲尼，万古如长夜
  • 天道是否有报？
    • 第一层次：求仁得仁
    • 第二层次： 就对象论，有己身之报，有子孙之报；就时间论，有生前之报，有死后之报；就方式论，有福报，有名报；
    • 第三层次： 天道有报，报中有人，尽人事。人事已尽，方显天道。但求尽人，不责于天。

The Biography of Boyi (If this is what is called the Way of Heaven, is it right or is it wrong?)

  • What era? The end of the Shang and the beginning of the Zhou
  • Why first? “In a degenerate age when all scrambled for profit, they alone pursued righteousness; they gave up a kingdom and starved to death, and all under Heaven praised them. Thus I made the Biography of Boyi the first.”
  • “Replacing violence with violence, and not knowing it is wrong”
  • The ancients’ sense of righteousness had levels
  • Boyi did not resent, and the Grand Historian did not resent either
  • “They sought benevolence and attained benevolence; what was there to resent?”
  • The craft of reading/doing things:
    • Put yourself in their shoes
    • Think it through thoroughly
    • Be attentive to the finest detail
    • See through both surface and depth
  • The gentleman cherishes models (exemplars, people whose character can serve as a model), the petty man cherishes favors (small kindnesses, favors)
  • Han Yu, In Praise of Boyi: “Someone like Boyi stands alone and acts on his own, and would not look back though it went against all of heaven and earth for ten thousand generations. His faith in the Way was firm and he knew himself clearly.”
  • Those who love fame will surely resort to falsehood
  • “Had Heaven not given birth to Confucius, all ages would be like a long night”
  • Does the Way of Heaven repay?
    • First level: seeking benevolence and attaining benevolence
    • Second level: in terms of whom, there is repayment to oneself and repayment to one’s descendants; in terms of time, there is repayment in life and repayment after death; in terms of form, there is the repayment of fortune and the repayment of fame;
    • Third level: the Way of Heaven does repay, and within that repayment there is the human part; do all that is humanly possible. Only when human effort is exhausted does the Way of Heaven reveal itself. Seek only to do your utmost as a person, and do not blame Heaven.