lines 41 – 48
Consider: We have thought about numbers one through six so far, and now
we go to the higher numbers. For seven, we think about the kinds of
feelings that people can have. You can see them for yourself every day.
Some we enjoy and seek to experience and some we try to avoid. But
they come to us no matter what we desire.
When you get gifts on your birthday, you feel happiness; if someone
takes away your toy, you feel anger towards him; if the toy is broken
you feel grief, though not for a very good reason.
When we hear ghost stories we feel fear, as we do when a bad dog wants
to attack us. We have already talked about love, and you have seen it
in you parents' relationships to each other, and in your feelings for
your siblings, and theirs for you. The opposite of love is hatred, and
luckily for us there are few examples in our village, where people get
along together.
Do you remember when Ah Ling's family had to move to
another house because the Ma's had the paper that said that the
property was theirs? Do you remember how bitter Ah Ling was and the bad
things he said about Mr. Ma? And the shouting? And the screaming? We
can say that at least for a time, Ah Ling felt hatred towards Mr. Ma
and perhaps towards his whole family.
The last emotion is desire, and you have felt it when we go to the
market and you see a new toy that you want very badly to have. Desire
is also what we call the feeling your eldest brother has towards our
neighbor's daughter, that is also desire.
Emotions are every powerful, they can cause people to do wonderful
things
and they can cause people to do terrible things as well. Everyone
experiences these emotions but not everyone can control them. Those who
are controlled by their emotions are bad and do bad things; their
education has failed them. You must learn to experience these emotions
in a good way and to be in control of them at all times. Then you will
be well on the way to being a good, that is, an educated,
person.
Indeed:
41. We speak
of happiness, anger,
grief, fear, . . .
42. . . .
love, hatred, and desire; these are the seven emotions.
Consider: One of the strongest appeals to our emotions comes through
music. Every day here we hear music, and it was even more important in
the old days before we had electricity and modern ways to create and
play music. Proper appreciation of music is essential for the
well-educated person, and the beginning of that appreciation is
knowledge of the instruments on which the traditional music is played.
Musical instruments are of three kinds, ones that transform a person's
breath to sound, those that produce music by vibrating strings, and
those that are used by striking. Traditionally there are three
instruments that produce sound from breath; they are made of gourds, or
from pottery, or bamboo. The strings in the stringed instruments are
made of silk. There are four materials that have been used to make what
we call percussion instruments: leather, wood, jade, and metal.
These eight materials are the materials of everyday life, and to know
of them in their roles in music will help you understand more of the
world and the interrelationships in it. And knowing about music will
help you understand the emotions which they convey so well.
Indeed:
43. Gourds, pottery,
leather,
wood, stone, metal, . . .
44. . . .
silk, and bamboo are the eight materials from which musical instruments
are made.
Consider: You have seen and learned that family is most important to
us, and it has been so for all time. You already have learned much
about our family, the members of it, what they do and what they have
done. You have participated with us in our celebrations of the family
at the new year's festival and in the daily offerings that we make at
the family
shrine here in our house.
There are nine generations in all that concern us, a lucky family will
have member of five generations living in the house all at the same
time. For you the generations that concern you start with your
great-great grandfather, that is, my father's father. The next
generation is that of your great-grandfather, then comes my generation,
then that of your parents and then your very own generation, you, your
brothers, and your sisters.
There are four generations that come before you and the four
after, together with your own this totals the nine central generations
for
you. Earlier in your studies you learned about the necessity of
exhibiting the proper qualities of filial piety, and your filial
responsibilities extend to all of these generations. We pray
to ours, yours and mine, and your father's, to your great-great
grandfather
and your great-grandfather when we make offerings every day at the
family shrine. Your responsibility to the succeeding generations is met
by the proper conduct of your life that ensures their future existence
and well-being.
What we enjoy of our lives here today is the result of the hard work
and seriousness of my father and grandfather in doing their best to
make our lives now better. That is why we owe then filial respect, and
we want the same to be true of our grandchildren and
great-grandchildren.
Indeed:
45. From your great-great
grandfather, to your great grandfather, to your grandfather, to your
father, to yourself, . . .
46. . . .
from yourself to your son, to your grandson, . . .
47. . . . to
your great-grandson, and the on to
your great-great grandson, . . .
48. . . .
these are nine generations of your family.