The Master said, “Is it not pleasant to learn with a constant perseverance and application?”
“Is it not pleasant to have friends coming from distant quarters?”
“Is he not a man of complete virtue, who feels no discomposure though men may take no note of him?”
— Chapter 1, Book 1, The Analects of Confucius
This is the first sentence of the Confucian Analects. It is so well-known that it has almost become a cliché. The problem with cliché, however, is that people don’t bother to analyze it anymore. We all “know”, or do we?
What’s worse is that many young Chinese become resentful of Confucius’ teachings, in most part because of the cliché. Those “famous” sayings are probably all they know about Confucius, and they think Confucius is just preaching high moral principles. They think Confucius is an erudite, obsolete, and even unsocial scholar somewhere in a university, teaching high principles or loft concepts, yet he seldom practiced the teachings in the real world.
It cannot be far from the truth. Anyone who takes the time to read the Analects even once will know that Confucius is not an erudite scholar or unsocial bookworm, but an action-oriented person. He never wanted his students to learn for the sake of learning, but expect people to think deeply and take action.
So this article is to reflect on the first sentence of The Analects, “Is it not pleasant to learn with a constant perseverance and application?” It is about the importance of studying for the purpose of taking action.
Governing the whole country with half of the Analects
The whole purpose of studying is to put what we have learned into action to improve our life. We don’t know if we truly learned anything new or useful until we put it into practice. There is a famous anecdote in China that illustrates this point well.
About 1,000 years after Confucius, there was a famous Prime Minister named ZHAO Pu (according to Chinese name tradition, surname coming first) in the newly founded Song Dynasty. He had a famous saying.
“I governed the whole country by reading half of the Confucian Analects.”
The Emporer was impressed and asked him why.
“Why did you read only half of the Analects?”
“Your Majesty, it was because I have a busy job running your new country.”
“And how can you manage the country if you only have half knowledge of the Analects? I can easily find thousands of officers who can recite the whole Analects word-by-word.”
“Your Majesty, although I only got time to read half of the Analects, I put everything I learned into action, and I find it to be good enough. ”
Although this anecdote is susceptible to inflating the all-powerful mystery of the Confucian Analects, it does convey the point of this article well. It is not what you have studied that matters. It is putting what you have studied into action that really matters.
Beware of reading for the sake of reading
Many people on Medium are writers, and as writers, we enjoy reading and we read a lot. I am susceptible to this problem of reading for the sake of reading. I have devoted a significant amount of my free time to visit bookstores offline or online, purchase lots of books on diverse subjects, and reading as much as I can. This is OK, but somehow I mistakenly perceive myself to be knowledgeable or superior, because I feel I know a lot by reading a lot.
It seems that I understand how the economy is running in the real world because I have read a few books on economic principles. It appears that I deem myself a good writer because I have read some books on writing skills. So I read untiringly from one subject to the next, having a false perception that I know because I read. In fact, all I have are shallow, untested, and easy-to-forget information. I have never internalized my reading into true knowledge by taking action.
Going forward, I would rather read less but act more.
The action-oriented study can never be easier in the modern world
So how can you take action after you read? It cannot be easier in the modern world. What’s the secret? Sharing it!
Sharing what you have learned on social media is the easiest and quickest action you can take. So I have made it a rule, or a habit, that I immediately share what I read or learned on social media, with my own comment.
The act of sharing is physical, and it immediately transforms your passive reading into an actionable study. Furthermore, it is important to leave a comment on what you share. It is OK even if your comment is very short or simply a paraphrase of what you share. By thinking of a comment, you are digesting what you have read and you are creating something new. This is truly studying for the purpose of taking action. Take baby steps, and gradually form the habit of practicing what you have learned.
To rephrase what Confucius has said, “Is it not pleasant to study and then take action?”
~ END ~
Original text in Chinese:
子曰：“学而时习之，不亦说乎？有朋自远方来，不亦乐乎？人不知而不愠，不亦君子乎？”
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