In 234 AD, statesman and strategist Zhuge Liang’s health was deteriorating after many years of faithful, selfless service to Emperor Liu Bei of the Shu Han dynasty — including acting as a regent for his teenage son, Liu Shan. Unable to personally attend to raising his own son, he wrote a brief passage of instruction to the eight-year-old boy before he died. He called it Admonition to My Son:
“A person of noble character cultivates himself through stillness and nurtures his virtue through frugality. Without indifference to fame and gain, one cannot make one’s purpose clear; without inner stillness, one cannot go far. Learning requires stillness of mind, and ability requires learning. Without learning there is no way to broaden one’s talent; without resolve there is no way to complete one’s learning. Indulgence and idleness sap the will to strive; recklessness and impatience leave one’s temperament unrefined. The years race away with time and resolve fades with the days, until one withers like a fallen leaf, of little use to the world, grieving in a poor hut. By then, what can be done?”
Although composed of only 86 characters, Zhuge’s Admonition to My Son became a famous work of wisdom that has been studied and analysed by generations of scholars after being imparted to his son.
Understanding Zhuge Liang’s Admonition
While parents always want the best for their children, their advice often revolves around how to achieve financial success and recognition. Zhuge’s Admonition focuses instead on how to cultivate one’s character. No doubt influenced by witnessing Liu Shan’s weak leadership, Zhuge hoped his own son would achieve greatness through leading a principled life.
One of the most important themes of Zhuge’s Admonition is jing, stillness of mind. This is consistent with traditional Chinese philosophy and Western philosophy alike.
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The Confucian classic The Great Learning stresses “stillness” in its opening line: “Knowing where to stop, one can then be resolute; being resolute, one can then be still; being still, one can then be at peace; being at peace, one can then deliberate; deliberating, one can then attain.”
For centuries, Confucian and Taoist scholars have prescribed calming the mind by sitting quietly to learn and attain wisdom.
In the western world, Plato’s Theory of Forms suggests that true knowledge comes from a still, contemplative state, while Roman Emperor and philosopher Marcus Aurelius emphasized need for inner stillness in his Meditations.
Though we often think of penny-pinching when frugality is mentioned, here this quality is tied to self-discipline. Exercising self-restraint and letting go of the attachment to material possessions are essential for a clear and calm mind.
A calm mind is what carries you the greatest distance (宁静致远 Níng jìng zhì yuǎn).
– proverb derived from Zhuge Liang’s teaching.
In Tao Te Ching, Laozi saw “no calamity greater than to be discontented with one’s lot.” The desire for fame and gain only distract and confuse the mind. Zhuge Liang, himself, lived by this principle. Despite his prominent position, he was content with his “800 mulberry trees and 15 acres of poor land in Chengdu,” and did not engage in additional business to increase his wealth.
Thus, tranquility is not a passive state. It is actively cultivated by resisting the temptations of fame and fortune. In this way, one can recognize and realize one’s true aspirations.
Zhuge brings up the importance of stillness again in reference to learning and development. A tranquil mind is necessary both for establishing one’s aspirations (which give one the resolve to learn), and for effective learning. To realize one’s potential, tranquility is the foundation, learning is the path, and ambition is the direction; all three are indispensable.
Zhuge’s Admonition also specifies faults that undermine the cultivation of character. Indulgence, idleness, recklessness and impatience all reflect a lack of self-discipline. Being lax, one will not care to strive forward. Being impetuous, one is apt to make rash and foolish decisions.
Finally, Zhuge concludes with an emotional plea, reflecting his deepest worry. He knew that his own glory would put his son in the spotlight, which might make him arrogant and complacent, caring little for the cultivation of virtue. Did Zhuge Zhan heed his father’s words?
Impact on Zhuge Zhan
The people of Shu certainly favored Zhuge Zhan out of love for his father, yet the boy grew up to be both talented and capable nonetheless — gifted in calligraphy and painting, with a remarkable memory.
It is stated in the official Records of the Three Kingdoms, that he often received credit for policies that he had not proposed, and that his reputation exceeded his actual achievements; but in the end he followed in his father’s footsteps.
In 263, Deng Ai, a general of the rival state of Wei, reached Mianzhu and sent a letter offering to make Zhuge Zhan Prince of Langya if he surrendered. In the face of fame and gain, which his father had told him to let go, Zhuge Zhan executed the envoy, led his troops out, and ultimately died on the battlefield alongside his eldest son, Zhuge Shang.
Fame and fortune were discarded, and virtue was preserved.
Zhuge Liang’s Admonition to My Son has become a classic guide for personal growth because it reveals a truth that transcends time: the true essence of a person lies not in how much they can acquire, but in how well they uphold moral integrity. In just eighty-six characters, he outlined the method for upholding virtue: begin with tranquility, cultivate it with frugality, enrich it with learning, and guide it with ambition.
Contemporary relevance
In an age of digital devices, multi-tasking, and information overload, we are finding it more and more difficult to maintain a clear and focused mind. Scholar and author Cal Newport indicated in his book Deep Work that the ability to concentrate on a difficult task for an extended period is becoming one of the rarest and most valuable skills of our time.
For a relevant and insightful solution, we need look no further than an 1,800-year-old letter from a concerned father to his son.
Based on a translation of the Chinese original 86个字《诫子书》诸葛亮教子名篇, written by Yaqing
Original article
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