The previous passage said that we should
teach our children early on to be tidy and orderly, so that they
will know how to lead their own lives and be disciplined in
spirit. They ought to cherish not only their home environment,
but their clothes and belongings as well.
The earlier section on
"Learning to Be careful" mentioned that one's clothes, hat,
socks, and shoes should be neat and kept in their proper places;
one must not casually leave them where they might get dirty or
ruined. This section stresses that books ought to be kept in
order as well. One must remember that even a piece of thread is
hard to come by; how much the more should one treasure books
containing the words of sages. Books should be classified and
stored according to type, making them convenient to use. If they
are returned to their place after one is done reading them, they
will be easy to locate the next time one needs them, thus saving
a lot of time.
Ancient Chinese books-from the earliest
bamboo tablets and reed pages to later string-bound paper
books-tended to fall apart and lose their pages, or the writing
would fade and rub off. Thus, it was essential to treat books
carefully, picking them up and setting them down gently, and
immediately repairing any damage. If pages were missing, one
would immediately rebind the book to prevent further loss. If
one does not handle a modern hardcover book gently, even it will
fall apart and lose pages, and one will have to buy another copy
the next time one wants to read it. If it is out of print,
however, that simply won't be possible. Thus, the habit of being
organized in one's daily life saves not only time but money. To
tell whether people are successful and in control of their own
lives, observe to see how organized they are and how carefully
they handle things from day to day.
Abraham Lincoln, known for his love of
learning, was born in a poor family and had to work to support
his schooling. Since Lincoln could not afford to buy many books,
he borrowed most of them from others. As a young boy, he looked
up to George Washington, the first President. One day his friend
lent him a biography of Washington. He read it over and over,
unable to set it down. One night during a huge downpour, the
roof of his humble home leaked and the book got wet. After he
dried it by the fire, the pages were all wrinkled and the cover
was stained.
Lincoln thought in despair, "If I return the book
to my friend in this shape, people will never lend me another
book again!" Then he worked for three days, and used his wages
to buy a new copy of the biography of Washington for his friend.
His friend approved heartily of Lincoln's deed. After taking the
book, he paid Lincoln for it and told him to buy another book
with the money. Lincoln was grateful almost to the point of
tears. Later, he reverently held the rain-drenched biography of
Washington and read it every day, regarding Washington as his
teacher. From that anecdote, we see that from his childhood,
Lincoln cherished books, studied hard, and was absolutely
trustworthy. Thus, he succeeded in completing his studies at
last, freed the black slaves, and served as the sixteenth
President of the United States. How could all of that have been
mere chance or luck?
Books are crystallizations of the wisdom
and experiences of those who came before us. Reading broadens
our perspective and enables us to adapt others' knowledge for
our own use, so that we do things more efficiently. More
importantly, we can develop proper concepts and good character
through the influence of what we read. The benefits are endless!
In every culture, the earlier we go back in history, the harder
it was to make books and the more expensive they were. Due to
the social and political systems in the past, education was not
universal. Thus most poor and lowly families had no access to
schooling and no opportunity to improve their lot. However,
people can determine their own destinies, and there have also
been examples of people who underwent hardships and achieved
success, such as Lincoln and the black educator, Booker T.
Washington. In ancient China, there were also many great
scholars who overcame the hardship of the dearth of books by
determination and intelligence.
《三字經》說﹕「披蒲編，削竹簡；彼無書，且知勉。」就說的漢朝的路溫舒和公孫弘。
A line in the Three Character Classic
goes, "They wove rushes and shaved bamboo slips. Though they had
no books, they pushed themselves to study." That line alludes to
Lu Wenshu and Gong Sun Hong of the Han dynasty.
Lu Wenshu came
from a poor family and worked as a shepherd for others. He would
copy books borrowed from others onto sheets of dried rushes that
he had woven, so that he could read and study them over and
over. Thus he became an eminent writer and statesman. Gongsun
Hong also came from a poor family. Even at age fifty, he still
herded pigs for others to support himself. Wishing to study, he
whittled bamboo into slips, shaving off the green skin, then
carved the Spring and Autumn Annals onto it from a book
he had borrowed. Studying under such difficult circumstances, he
eventually became the prime minister.
The great writer Ouyang
Xiu of the Song dynasty also came from a poor family and lost
his father at a young age. His mother, Mrs. Ouyang, taught her
son to read by spreading sand on the ground and using a reed as
a brush. She gave Ouyang Xiu an excellent primary education.
Those are all stories of people who studied hard and succeeded
despite the lack of books. Nowadays, with advanced publishing
techniques and universal public education, everyone can get a
basic education. However, not only are more and more children
unappreciative of books, they even skip school to engage in
improper activities, wasting their precious youth and becoming
parasites and scoundrels of society. What a terrible pity!
