The Heart That Knows Shame Is the Sprout of Righteousness
answered by Mencius, Gongsun Chou I
기원전 4세기(맹자 언행록)
🎬 TODAY'S FILM — IT ASKS THIS
Poetry (2010)
dir. Lee Chang-dong · South Korea
Before a wrong everyone rushes to bury, there is one who alone bears the shame no one else will feel for them. Is a heart that takes even a sin not directly its own and seeks to atone a foolish burden, or the last sense that keeps a person human?
THE QUESTION THE FILM ASKS
Before a wrong everyone would bury, do I fold away even the heart that feels shame?
THE CLASSIC'S ANSWER · ORIGINAL
羞惡之心 義之端也
📜 THE CLASSIC'S ANSWER
The heart that knows shame and revulsion at wrong is the sprout of righteousness.
💡 TL;DR
Mencius called the heart that knows shame the sprout of righteousness.
📝The Classic Answers
Mencius called the heart that knows shame the sprout of righteousness. Shame is not weakness but a sign that the heart which knows what is wrong is still alive. Where everyone rushes to bury a wrong, one who alone feels that shame looks foolish, yet what they keep is the last root of righteousness. Before a wrong others pass by unmoved, I choose not to fold away the heart that still feels shame.
— ONGO · Curator
🌱Apply It Today
If a wrong others passed by left you uneasy today, don't suppress it — look at what the shame is about.
📖 Classic Source:
Mencius, Gongsun Chou I.
Ancient text in the public domain; rendered and interpreted independently by ONGO.
The film is honored as an equal questioner; its plot is rendered only as a universal dilemma. The classic source is an ancient text (Public Domain), and the reflection is 100% original ONGO content.
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A Bridge Between Eras — the wisdoms this question threads
Reading the new through the old — classics this question awakens.
