Traditional Chinese Culture: Being an Upright, Honest, and Trustworthy Person
(Clearwisdom.net) Liang Guozhi was a man who lived during the Qing
Dynasty, under Emperor Qianlong. He was kind, honest, and upright. He was also
extremely intelligent and had enjoyed studying since he was a child. When he was
only 17 years old, he won first place in the civil service examination at the
provincial level. At the age of 24, he won first place in the Imperial civil
service examination held at the Imperial court. After he became a government
official he did not forget the elderly people in his hometown. He often used his
salary to do charitable things for his fellow villagers. No matter where his
post was, he always considered the welfare of the common people and did things
to help the common people. As a result he was praised highly by them. Liang Guozhi not only had broad and deep knowledge in many subjects; he also
had a high moral standard. He excelled at calligraphy and painting. Many people
were eager to collect his calligraphy works or paintings, and when they obtained
them they treated them as treasures. Under Liang Guozhi's influence, his son became interested in calligraphy and
painting as well and asked his father to teach him how to paint. One day his son
carried some painting brushes over and asked his father for lessons again. By
mistake, the son had spilled some ink all over his face. Liang Guozhi laughed
when he saw his son. He helped his son wipe the ink off from his face and said
to his son sincerely, "One must learn how to be a good person before
studying painting. One will never become an outstanding painter or calligrapher
if he does not have moral integrity." His son looked confused and asked his
father, "Painting is just painting. What does it have to do with being a
good person?" Liang Guozhi said, "A real painter paints with his
heart, not his brush. If you are an honest and upright gentleman, your painting
will be filled with an upright spirit. Then, when people look at it, they can
see that the painting is filled with life and intelligence." His son blinked his eyes in confusion. He did not really understand what his
father had just said. Liang Guozhi told the story of Qin Kuai, the vicious and
traitorous Prime Minister who had framed the patriotic military general Yue Fei
of the Song Dynasty (1127 - 1279 A.D.) He said, "Qin Kuai actually was a
very talented person and was very good at calligraphy. But he goes down in
history as an infamous figure because of his treasonous acts. After he died,
people cursed him as soon as they heard his name. Nobody was willing to collect
his calligraphy work. People thought that keeping his calligraphy work would
bring disaster to them. People either burned his works or threw his works in the
latrine pit. Now there are very few pieces of his calligraphy work left. People
despise his calligraphy work because they despise him." His son nodded his head and looked as if he had finally understood his
father. Liang Guozhi continued, "Being honest is the first step to becoming
a good person. Only a person who does not lie and is honest can become an open
and upright person." His son always remembered his father's guidance. The son led his life in an
honest and trustworthy manner, and became a respected and renowned painter in
his own right. First published in English at http://www.pureinsight.org/pi/articles/2005/11/7/3470.html
Chinese version available at
http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2005/8/31/108776.html
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