加密数字货币交易所-《论语》详解：给所有曲解孔子的人-子曰：众，恶之，必察焉；众，好之，必察焉

The Master said: When the multitude hates something, it must be examined; when the multitude likes something, it must be examined.

Yang Bojun: Confucius said: “When everyone despises him, you must investigate; when everyone likes him, you must investigate.”

Qian Mu: The teacher said: “When everyone detests him, careful scrutiny is necessary. When everyone favors him, careful scrutiny is also necessary.”

Li Zehou: Confucius said: “When everyone despises him, it must be examined; when everyone likes him, it must be examined.”

Wang Su of the Three Kingdoms Wei said: “Sometimes the crowd is biased towards certain factions, or individuals stand out and are not among the common, so preferences and dislikes must be examined.”

Detailed explanation:

For a long time, the greatest knowledge among Chinese people has been the art of manipulating others. Why is that? It is probably all thanks to the over two thousand years of corrupt scholars and their descendants’ antics. Look at the explanations of the four above—none of them start from the calculation and scheming between people. The art of reading faces and judging characters, regardless of status or rank, everyone is skilled at it. This endless pleasure of fighting among people has evolved countless tricks. And these tricks are based on the simplest logic. The concepts of Dao, person, and crowd—using these three elements and their logical relationships—have created over two thousand years of changing fortunes, joys, and sorrows, which are both pitiable and lamentable. From the “self-centered” logic of “Dao, person, and crowd,” the usual interpretation of “When the crowd hates him, it must be examined; when the crowd likes him, it must be examined” naturally arises.

Under this logic, Dao must be a personal principle that one respects. Judging all people in the world by one’s own Dao, one can distinguish the righteous from the unrighteous among the crowd. This is the same foundation for all “Dao, person, and crowd” logic. When the Dao of the crowd differs from one’s own Dao, there are views like “Sometimes the crowd is biased towards certain factions, or individuals stand out and are not among the common, so preferences and dislikes must be examined,” which are nothing more than complaints about the majority conspiring to oppress the minority. This act must raise the banner of the so-called “Dao-centered” doctrine: the majority is wrong, the truth lies with the few, and one must resist the tyranny of the majority—such ideas. When the Dao has successfully deceived the crowd and becomes the “Dao of the masses,” then the few obey the many, leading to “the ruler-centered” perspective, and all rivers flow into the sea. Speaking of this and that, with various tricks, ultimately it all boils down to a “self-centered” stance: the Dao belongs to me, people follow me, the crowd obeys me, I am the greatest. From this “self-centered” perspective, it is natural that the two “之” in this chapter are interpreted as some kind of person that can be fitted into the “self-centered” logic. The word “he” reveals everything—others are not my kin, and I must dominate them to be satisfied.

Abandoning the dogmatic “self-centered” approach, and considering the “crowd” as a true crowd, the following interpretation naturally arises: “The crowd, hates it, must be examined; the crowd, likes it, must be examined.” The “crowd” includes both the majority and the minority; whether it suppresses the small with the large or sells the small for profit, it can never be a true “crowd.” The “crowd” must manifest the “appearance of the crowd,” and for any phenomenon, different people will show different degrees of liking or disliking, which constitutes the “appearance of the crowd.” The kind of uniform consensus on all phenomena—one color, one tone, one smell, one taste, one idea, one action—is not truly a “crowd.” The pronoun “之” refers to the “crowd” mentioned earlier, encompassing all phenomena in reality. “Good it” means to regard it as good and like it; “evil it” means to regard it as evil and dislike it.

Liking what is good and disliking what is evil are human nature. And human “far-sightedness” cannot be separated from the “examination” of all phenomena in reality. “Examination” is not about good or evil; it involves bringing various preferences and dislikes into the process of “examination,” which is just more tricks of the “self-centered” logic. What is “examination”? It is discernment, clear observation, and understanding. Only by eliminating all preferences and dislikes, and observing directly in the present moment, can there be true “examination.” Everyone has emotions and preferences, but these emotions and preferences are the greatest disturbances to “examination.” “Far-sightedness” depends on “examination,” and “examination” requires abandoning all preferences and dislikes, observing directly in the present, so that “far-sightedness” becomes possible. “焉” is a contraction of “于此”—“at this.” Direct observation in the present means “observing at this,” and leaving the reality of this shore, fantasizing about the illusory and distant shore, there is no “direct observation” of “examination.”

People who lack “far-sightedness” do not have deep scrutiny, careful thinking, or planning. In the tangled troubles of “inevitable near worries,” the greatest disaster is to use personal bias to judge “the crowd,” “the appearance of the crowd,” and all phenomena as evil or good, without abandoning all preferences and dislikes in the present moment. Replacing objective observation with subjective guesses, and replacing the reality of this shore with illusions of the distant shore—such things, whether in reality or history, are not rare. The resulting disasters and tragedies are also not rare. Over two thousand five hundred years ago, Confucius already issued a clear warning. Those corrupt scholars who keep playing the tricks of “self-centered” “Dao, person, and crowd,” those fools shouting to overthrow Confucius’s school, what are they doing in the pit and the well, seeking fire in the rain, and stealing bells and drums with lightning speed, arrogantly claiming righteousness—what else are they up to?