Listen to this article《增广贤文》。又名《昔时贤文》《古今贤文》，是中国明代时期编写的道家儿童启蒙书目。书名最早见之于明万历年间的戏曲《牡丹亭》，据此可推知此书最迟写成于万历年间。《增广贤文》集结中国从古到今的各种格言、谚语。后来，经过明、清两代文人的不断增补，才改成现在这个模样，称《增广昔时贤文》，通称《增广贤文》。
《增广贤文·114》 佚名
芙蓉白面，
不过带肉骷髅；
美艳红妆，
尽是杀人利刃。
读书而寄兴于吟咏风雅，
定不深心；
修德而留意于名誉事功，
必无实证。
一人非之，
便立不定，
只见得有得失，
何曾知有义命？
A dazzling beauty
Often means a man-killing knife,
A flower-like lady
Is a mere flesh-covered skeleton.
One who cultivates his moral character
In order to establish his fame
Cannot acquire real accomplishment,
One who reads books
In order to show off his refinement
Cannot acquire deep comprehension.
Something denied by even only one person
May not stand firm,
You notice its controversy
And neglect its reason;
Something unknown to even only one person
May not stay stable,
You doubt its influence and forget that
It concerns the mandate of heaven1.
(1) This refers to the natural laws of the universe and includes the concept of predestination
