This set of rules for young people was compiled
from the instructions given by the ancient sages. What is meant
by rules (gui ju)? Gui is a compass used for drawing circles, ju
is a ruler used for drawing lines. Without the tools of a
compass and a ruler, it is not possible to draw a straight line
or a perfectly round circle. Therefore, anything that can serve
as a basis or a standard can be called a rule (gui ju). What is
this set of rules based upon? It is based upon the teachings of
the ancient Chinese sage, Confucius. Book One Xue Er of the
Confucian Analects says:
子曰﹕「弟子入則孝,出則弟,謹而信,泛愛眾,而親仁。行有餘力,則以學文。」
The Master said, "A youth, when at home,
should be filial, and abroad, respectful to his elders. He
should be earnest and truthful. He should be loving towards all,
and draw near to those who are humane. When he has time and
opportunity, after the performance of these things, he should
employ them in the study of the six arts ."
This quote will be
explained later on. A sage (sheng ren) not only has great
learning, but he also has a lofty character. If a person is
intelligent and learned but lacks virtue, then his intelligence
and learning become tools for committing evil; he would be like
a tiger with wings. A tiger is already fearsome to begin with,
but if it has wings and is able to fly, then it will be able to
fly freely and do whatever it wants. Therefore, being virtuous
is far more important than having great scholarship and skills.
That is why, in the introductory chapter, it is necessary to
place virtue and morality before scholarship and skills. When
sages teach and transform people, they also hope that each
person can become a sage and a virtuous person.
There is a
saying in Buddhism: "All living beings have the Buddha-nature
and can become Buddhas." There is another saying in Chinese:
"All men can become like Yao and Shun." The Buddha was a person
of great wisdom who realized Buddhahood. This great wisdom is
inherent in all living beings, but we don't realize this because
we are covered by ignorance. If we can put the Buddha's
teachings of wisdom into practice now, we will develop our
inherent wisdom, and when that wisdom becomes the same as the
Buddha's wisdom, we will have realized Buddhahood. Yao and Shun
were two famous sage-kings in ancient China who were known for
being humane, kind, and filial. If we could learn from them and
follow their standards, we can also become as virtuous as they
were--and won't that make us sages as well? And so Confucius
handed down the standards of virtue, giving us the chance to
learn from them.
Who was Confucius? He was a sage whom everyone
in China knows; he was also the greatest educator. Since he was
born in a poor family and his father died when he was very
young, he always helped his mother with the chores and learned
various skills in the process. Moreover, Confucius pursued
knowledge with great diligence. Whether it was practical
knowledge from daily life or knowledge found in books, he would
actively study and seek to practice what he learned. In this way
he developed his extraordinary character and attained the wealth
of knowledge and skills that enabled him to accomplish and be
familiar with just about everything.
Confucius was not only
concerned with self-cultivation, he also wished to help others
cultivate their character. That was why he accepted a great many
students based on the principle that "in education there should
be no distinctions of class." He never indulged in the slightest
discrimination based on the backgrounds, intelligence, or
abilities of his students. Anyone who wished to study with him,
as long as he prepared a token gift for the teacher according lo
etiquette, would be accepted.
He taught students according to
their dispositions. Based on the sharpness of their faculties
and the measure of their minds, as well as on their various
backgrounds and situations, he would give them individualized
teachings that were easy to understand but contained deep
meaning. He taught without weariness. Confucius never felt
tired, never became impatient, and never thought about taking a
rest. Therefore, many of his students became capable and
productive people, and the Confucian school of thought has been
handed down through the generations, becoming the mainstream of
Chinese civilization. Later generations have honored Confucius
as "the greatest sage and teacher," meaning that he was the
greatest and most virtuous teacher of the past.
Now we have the
chance to study The Rules for Being a Student and to absorb his
educational ideals--this is equivalent to being students of
Confucius. Therefore, we should cherish this opportunity to
learn from him how to become a sage. First of all, we should
learn how to develop our virtue and how to enrich our knowledge
and skills. That is why the first chapter is called "Revealing
the Principle and Explaining the Meaning"; it brings out the
principle that we need to emphasize and explains the reason why
we need to understand it.