Post by Daemado on May 27, 2005 1:11:48 GMT -5
For some time I've been looking for the original version of a quote from Mencius (Mengja) that parallels the story of Yi Soon-shin. Praise be to Google, I've finally found it:
... when Heaven is going to give a great responsibility to someone, it first makes his mind endure suffering. It makes his sinews and bones experience toil, and his body to suffer hunger. It inflicts him with poverty and knocks down everything he tries to build.
In this way Heaven stimulates his mind, stabilizes his temper and develops his weak points. People will always err, but it is only after making mistakes that they can correct themselves. Only when you have been mentally constricted can you become creative. It will show in your face and be heard in your voice, such that you will affect others. ... From this we can know that life is stimulated from adversity and anxiety, and death results from relaxation and pleasure.
By my admittedly sketchy understanding Mencius is the most famous of Confucian sages (other than Confucius himself, of course). Apparently young Yu Sung-ryong achieved great renown as a child prodigy for reading the works of Mencius at the tender age of 9
... when Heaven is going to give a great responsibility to someone, it first makes his mind endure suffering. It makes his sinews and bones experience toil, and his body to suffer hunger. It inflicts him with poverty and knocks down everything he tries to build.
In this way Heaven stimulates his mind, stabilizes his temper and develops his weak points. People will always err, but it is only after making mistakes that they can correct themselves. Only when you have been mentally constricted can you become creative. It will show in your face and be heard in your voice, such that you will affect others. ... From this we can know that life is stimulated from adversity and anxiety, and death results from relaxation and pleasure.
By my admittedly sketchy understanding Mencius is the most famous of Confucian sages (other than Confucius himself, of course). Apparently young Yu Sung-ryong achieved great renown as a child prodigy for reading the works of Mencius at the tender age of 9