加密数字货币交易所-《论语》详解：给所有曲解孔子的人-子曰：温故而知新，可以为师矣

Confucius said: “Review the old to learn the new, and you can be a teacher.”

Yang Bojun: Confucius said: “When reviewing old knowledge, if you can have new insights and discoveries, then you can be a teacher.”

Qian Mu: The master said: “Being able to gain new understanding from reviewing old knowledge makes one qualified to be a teacher.”

Li Zehou: Confucius said: “Reviewing the past to understand the future, then you can be a teacher.”

Detailed explanation:

This chapter is probably known to few Chinese people, but all the usual interpretations are as wrong as the three above. According to these common explanations, if everyone can “review the old to learn the new,” wouldn’t everyone become a teacher? And those who have no foundation, only overturning for the sake of overturning, wouldn’t they all become great teachers? If “review the past to know the future” makes one a teacher, then who can guarantee that “review the past” necessarily leads to “knowing the future”? Which divine Cold War made the past necessarily reflect the future, and old knowledge reflect new knowledge?

In fact, “can” is not just a word in colloquial language, but a combination of “可” + “以”. “Review the old to learn the new” emphasizes that it is “possible” to do so, equivalent to “can review the old to learn the new and become a teacher.” “Ke” (可) should be understood as “appropriate”; “teacher” (师) should not be narrowly understood as a specific person—any object or goal of learning and emulation can be “teacher.” “Wen” (温) means to accumulate and contain, similar to “蕴”; “gu” (故) refers to what has been accumulated over time, tested wisdom; “zhi” (知) is the original character for “wisdom,” intelligence; “xin” (新) means fresh creation and presentation. “Review the old to learn the new” involves accumulating and containing wisdom that has been tested over time, keeping that wisdom vibrant and creative in the present.

“Those who know and virtue are rare,” the gentleman who practices and embodies the wisdom of “hearing, seeing, learning, acting” and “the Way of the Sage” is always in innovation and creation. “Gu” (故) refers to what is gained through practice and embodiment of the wisdom of “hearing, seeing, learning, acting” and “the Way of the Sage”; “wen” (温) refers to what is accumulated and contained—without “reviewing the old,” there is no innovation or creation of wisdom, and without “those who know and virtue are rare,” there is no true wisdom. If the “new” in “learn the new” cannot be “reviewed,” then it cannot achieve truly vibrant wisdom; without accumulation and containment, there is no wisdom to speak of. This mutual relationship of “reviewing the old” and “learning the new” is what allows “seeing, hearing, learning, acting” and “the Way of the Sage” to be “teachers.”

Confucius and Confucianism do not cling to antiquity; loving and studying the old is to learn from its wisdom and appreciate it. True wisdom must be actively applied in the present to create something new; otherwise, it is not genuine wisdom. If “reviewing the old” is merely about finding principles and standards in old documents to sketch or predict the future, it is foolishness. “Studying old knowledge to develop new knowledge” is just one way to expand knowledge, but not the only way, and certainly not to be regarded as “teacher.” The “old knowledge” of primates, no matter how studied, cannot produce “new knowledge” in the networked world. But wisdom transcends all this; whether “new knowledge” or “old knowledge,” both depend on the vibrant creation and presentation of wisdom in the present. That is what truly qualifies as “teacher.”

Chánzhōng Shuō Chán plain translation:

Confucius said: “Review the old to learn the new, and you can be a teacher.”

Confucius said: “The goal for a gentleman to emulate the ‘Way of the Sage’—to accumulate, contain, and keep the tested wisdom of the past alive in the present through creation and presentation—is to ‘see, hear, learn, act’.” **$ZRO **$DRIFT **$IO **