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Vegetables and grunts

From “NHK’s 100 Minutes de Meisaku: Natentan x Moaning Words: Learning from Success or Learning from Failure? 100 Minutes de Meisaku” is a program broadcast on NHK E-television every Monday from 1025 to 1050. It is a program that broadcasts famous books from around the world in four 25-minute episodes, providing an opportunity to read a variety of books.

Saikontan” is a book by Hong Jicheng of the Ming Dynasty in China that teaches the principles of life. In Japan, it was published in Japanese edition in the Edo period (1603-1867) and became very popular. In recent years, many celebrities such as Kakuei Tanaka, Eiji Kikkawa, and Tetsuji Kawakami have used it as their favorite book, and it became a classic that enjoyed a boom during the period of rapid economic growth. The “Grun Gingo” was also written by Lu Kun in the Ming Dynasty, and although it is much less well known than the “Naikantan,” it too is a famous book as a lesson on how to live in the world.

These two books are characterized by the fact that they are not written for intellectuals such as Confucius and Lao Tzu, but are rather “lessons for the masses” that calmly explain how ordinary men and women, young and old, should live in society to achieve happiness.

Veganism

The “Cai-ne-tan” consists of a total of 50 volumes, each volume having its own theme. The characteristic feature of the “Cai-ne-tan” is that it covers a diverse range of topics, among which the emphasis is on folklore, mainly stories based on true stories of folklore, customs, morals, and proverbs of the time, stories describing how a certain person made a moral decision, and stories containing lessons for minor events in daily life, The collection includes a diverse range of topics, including episodes on poetry and literature.

In addition, the idea of exalting humility and steady effort is prominent in “The Vegetable Root Tale,” as evidenced by the use of the word “rape root” in the title. The stories in “Rape Roots Tan” depict how minor events and small acts can have a great impact later in life, thereby demonstrating the importance of humility and efforts to improve oneself, even in the most trivial of ways, as a widely held notion.

This is expressed, for example, in the phrase “sanjin gyo, 必有我師焉. The meaning of this phrase is that even when acting with someone else, one always has one’s own teacher, and the phrase indicates that it is important as a philosophy of life to always be in pursuit of the truth oneself and to be willing to continue learning.

In addition, since the Nae-ne-tan contains a wealth of proverbs and sayings that are told in the story, memorizing them can provide useful lessons for one’s life. These include such much-loved sayings as “Enjoy yourself even in the midst of hardship” and “Think hard before you act”.

One of the wisdom that can be gained from reading “Nan-en-tan” is how to live through adversity. In “Nan-en-tan”, adversity is defined as “In the midst of hardship, you will always find pleasure in your heart; when you are happy, you will be saddened by disappointment” (In the midst of hardship, you will often find pleasure that makes your heart happy, and when you are unhappy, you will be saddened by disappointment), (In the midst of hardships, there are amusements that make our hearts happy, and conversely, when things are going our way, we are already suffering from disappointments. It is a time of mourning before moving on to the next step, and it is important not to try to rush out of it, but to take your time and train yourself slowly.

In this way, the “Nanetan” is a book that contains a variety of wisdom for living.

Grunt Language

The word “moan” means a groan of suffering from an illness. Only those who are ill know the pain of being ill, but when the illness is cured, the suffering is quickly forgotten. Shingo Lu, the author of “moaning”, is said to have recorded his daily thoughts, worries, and reflections over a period of about 30 years as he faced various obstacles in his social life and human relationships, and always kept them with him as his personal medicine. It is said that he kept it with him at all times and used it as his personal medicine.

Like “Nane-tan,” “Nae-ne-tan” also contains many words that can be used to overcome obstacles when they appear. Let me pick up a few of them. The first one is about how to be a human being.

Even if you are sincerely doing good to others, if there is even the slightest expectation of gratitude mixed in, it is false dedication. Even if you are doing good from the heart, it is hypocrisy if there is even a little bit of a desire for others to know about it. It is false momentum to pretend that you have accomplished something when in your heart you think you have accomplished only 90% of it. This is a falsehood that only I am aware of. I have not been able to remove this falsehood from within myself. I fear that in time the falsehood will spread within me and pervade my words and actions.”

There is no limit to one’s desires, and there is a limit to one’s vitality. There is no limit to man’s desires, and man’s vitality is limited. In the end, we exhaust our energy and our roots, and we destroy ourselves.

The next statement about cultivation is as follows: “It is not always possible to point out one’s own faults.

The next comment on cultivation is as follows: “It is not always those who are without fault who point out your faults. If you want someone who has no faults to point out your faults, you will never have the opportunity to hear about your faults in your lifetime. We should be grateful to have our mistakes pointed out to us, no matter who the other person is. We don’t have time to worry about whether they are wrong or not. We should be concerned only with improving ourselves more and more.

Don’t blame others. This is the first key to self-improvement. Understand others. This is the first essential to enlarge your capacity.”

And what he said about how to get ahead in life

I have realized five things since I became 50 years old that make it possible for me not to fight with others. People have asked me about them, and I have answered them. I do not contend for wealth with those who have accumulated assets.
Do not compete for position with those who are prestigious. One does not compete for fame with those who adorn themselves with superficiality. I do not contend for civility with those who are arrogant. Do not argue the merits with someone who is emotional.”

Finally, on the theory of leadership

When there is too much discontent and dissatisfaction among the people (subordinates), he should slow down the momentum so that the flow will go in various directions, and when it seems that the right flow is taking place, he should concentrate on the main stream only. When it seems that the right flow is taking place, it is advisable to focus that force so that the water flows only to the main stream.”

Bessatsu NHK 100 min de Meisaku Natantan x Moaning Words: Learning from Success or Learning from Failure?

In addition to these, the book also discusses “The Art of Socializing,” “How to Improve Your Human Capacity,” and “What is True Happiness,” which are common to the stances of each of the two books, but I will discuss these topics at another time.