When planting trees, the roots of trees must be cultivated first, and people who cultivate morality must cultivate their own mind first.

source: Wang Shouren's biography in Ming dynasty

excerpts from the original text: those who plant trees must cultivate their roots, and those who plant virtues must cultivate their hearts. If you want to grow a tree, you must delete its branches at the beginning.

To plant trees, the roots of trees must be well cultivated, and those who cultivate morality must first cultivate their own mind. If you want the tree to grow, you must subtract the redundant branches from the tree at the beginning.

Extended information:

"Those who plant trees must cultivate their roots, and those who cultivate virtue must cultivate their hearts." Truth:

As the saying goes, water flowers and roots, and make friends. It is the same truth: if you want to cultivate a big tree, you should cultivate it from the roots. If you want to educate a person, you must start with morality.

The common understanding of "nourishing the heart" is to strengthen moral self-cultivation. But in fact, Wang Yangming's cultivation of the heart means to keep his mind, be determined to be single-minded, and not be distracted, just like planting trees and cutting off messy branches.

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Baidu Encyclopedia-Those who plant trees must cultivate their roots, and those who plant virtues must cultivate their hearts.