Private Academies of Chinese Learning in Meiji Japan: The Decline ...

LIFE AT THE JUKU 145them? /Work hard during daylight and continue at night,by the light of the oil lamp/We love the ancient in earnest;strive to become like the sages/How sharp is the blade ofyour will! It should be like the lance of a strong fighter/Even simple matters like cleaning and ordinaryconversation should be practised with sincerity/Alwayswrite characters correctly, with regular and clear characterstrokes/When you read aloud, let there be no hitch; let yourvoice be steady and resonant/ When you recite poems orcompose prose, let every phrase be full of beauty/Do notpresume that you are already industrious enough, but fearthat at a later day your will may wane/Like rice on thisgood field, cultivation makes the grain grow bravely/Maintain good relations as comrades, even as in theintimate friendship between brothers/Ask each other whenyou have questions and difficulties/We witness thecomptetition of wise men/They love and help each otherwith insatiable enthusiasm/In our hearts we consider eachother good, so when we want to we can let our thoughtsroam freely/You need a wide heart; Do not be content withsmall results/People who give up half way, how can theywield a great name? /Do you not see the flowers in thegarden, shining in the morning light? /Some can becompared with the pines by the rice paddy ledge by theriver; the rightfulness of a thousand years flourishing/Inancient times there was Guan Youan [Guan Ning]. Hedespised wealth and honour as things of no consequence/He regarded good and bad fortune as originating withhimself and never asked the fortuneteller Yan Junping/Hesaw that many cling to the world’s perversity and tetherthemselves to worldly things/While the poet ZhaoMengneng highly valued his freedom, the long-livedZhuang Zi feared to see his freedom sacrificed underexcessive honours/Resisting speech is the strategy for greatdeeds; the path of the world is a steep mountain/ Forexample, like a horse that kicks and bites; suddenly the bitis in its mouth and it is surprised into submission/Tocontrol oneself is especially hard, How could devotion tothe kingly way be easy? /To study the summits andpractise orders, that is the fortress of self-protection/ Themany saints and wise men in the writings welcomed andsaw off their days heartily/We comment on rise and fall,