Be Respectful and Be Happy：A Work Ethic

◎ Liang Qichao

The title of this article is derived from two decontextualized quotes：one is“Be respectful to your work and show concern for other people”from The Book of Rites，and the other is“Be content with your dwelling and happy with your work”from Laozi．There is no need to pedantically seek whether I have faithfully grasped the originally intended meanings of these words．I only believe that to be respectful to and happy with your work is the essence of human life.

The key words are，of course，“respectful”and“happy.”But we must in the first place get some work to do or find a job so that we have something to show respect to and to feel happy with．So，for further elucidation，I will first of all talk about the necessity of finding something to do or starting a career.

Confucius said，“Those who eat their fill and do no useful work all day present a difficult case.”And also，“When a gang of people loaf around all day，never mentioning a word about righteousness and being good at nothing but playing petty tricks，theirs is also a difficult case.”Confucius，as is known，was a great educator，holding the conviction that there is no one in this world that can't be taught for useful purposes．Yet it was this great Master who shook his head towards these two kinds of people and sighed，“Difficult！Difficult！”Indeed，in this world all behavioral problems can be dealt with and corrected except unwillingness to work．For this，even the sage himself could do nothing to help．

Baizhang，the renowned Zen master in the Tang Dynasty，often admonished his disciples with the rule of“A day without work is a day without food.”Besides lecturing on Buddhist scriptures，he swept the floor，cleaned the tables and washed clothes on a day-to-day basis until he was eighty．Once，his disciples，out of concern，did all the chores for him without letting him know．True to his words，he refused to eat all day.

The above two citations from Confucian and Buddhist sources are only meant to show that one must have a decent job，thus positively keeping oneself busy on a constant basis．If I am asked，“What comes first among all the things we do？And what is the worst of all evils？”I will answer unhesitatingly，“Work comes first among all things，and laziness is the worst of all evils.”A lazybones without a job is in reality a parasite of society，a robber who robs others of the fruit of their labor．Such people must be condemned vehemently and relentlessly．My speech is specifically aimed at those who are either already in work or preparing to work，that is，students，telling them what attitude they should adopt towards their careers.