XLV. Further Reflection Three: Scholars Must Above All Beware "Knowing Without Doing"

Studying the Yi most easily accumulates terminology, and most rarely changes one's disposition. Knowing Qian and Kun, the firm and the yielding, image and shape, fortune and misfortune, and yet still being rash, biased, unreliable, or evasive of responsibility when facing actual matters -- this means knowledge has not yet entered into Kun's doing. Qian's knowing of the great beginning demands seeing the principle; Kun's bringing things to completion demands realizing what has been seen. Every sentence one reads should be asked how it becomes action in daily life.

Reading "movement and stillness have their constancy," one can observe one's own rhythm of work and rest, speech and silence, advance and withdrawal. When it is time to listen, does one rush to speak instead; when it is time to decide, does one hide behind caution$1 Does diligent study turn into restlessness; does rest turn into laziness$2 Reading "things gather by kind," one can observe whom one draws close to as teacher and friend, what one hears daily, and what one values in conversation. The language a person dwells in for a long time gradually shapes the kind of person he becomes.

Reading "thus fortune and misfortune arise," one can stop attributing every gain and loss to outside circumstance. Within a single failure, one must discern what came from being out of accord with the time and position, what came from trusting the wrong person, what came from excessive firmness or excessive yielding, and what, despite full effort, still lay beyond one's own control. Self-reflection does not mean forcing all responsibility upon oneself, but distinguishing what can be changed from what cannot be controlled. Knowing what can be changed gives rise to the next great beginning.

Reading "easy to know, capable through simplicity," one should watch whether one uses complexity and difficulty to conceal a lack of achievement. Having many notes -- has even one of them been carried out$3 Having lofty discussions -- has even one friend or relative genuinely benefited because of oneself$4 Repeatedly changing method -- has one truly persisted with any of them$5 If learning does not make a person more sincere, more steady, and more able to accomplish things, it may be nothing more than words stirring against words, never having moistened anything at all.

The Master stressed learning and, at due times, practicing what one has learned, and reviewing the old to know the new -- learning is not a single act of possession. Only when old knowledge enters a new situation does it reveal what was previously not understood. Enduring virtue comes from repetition without becoming mechanical: what one encounters differs day by day, and yet the Way of conscientiousness and empathetic reciprocity is continually practiced anew. Like the sun and moon revolving day after day, appearing the same, and yet never occupying quite the same position twice.

Teachers and friends are indispensable here. A person always has blind spots in viewing himself; the honest counsel of a friend, like the firm and the yielding rubbing against each other, brings hidden bias to light. Choosing a group that only praises oneself brings comfort in the short term, but mutual obscuring over time; choosing those who hold to the Way and can correct one's faults may bring displeasure, and yet lets virtue be renewed day by day. That "virtue is never alone; it is sure to have neighbors" does not mean waiting for like-minded people to arrive on their own, but also includes actively drawing close to those who surpass oneself.