What do you mean by disciple?

Disciple, the original intention is to learn from others and accept guidance. Usually refers to a disciple who closely follows a master scholar or religious leader. Such a disciple not only accepts the teacher's discipline, but also obeys the academic theory or dogmatic truth taught by the teacher, and is willing to practice and even carry forward it.

Compared with students widely used in modern times, the word disciple has a deeper meaning and stricter requirements. Students can only learn some knowledge and skills from teachers for a short time, and may have nothing to do with teachers after graduation; Once called an apprentice, it means to link one's life with the teacher's life, from water to fire, and share weal and woe with * * *.

A person may be a student of many people in his life, but usually he will only be a disciple of a specific object.

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Examples of disciples were common in ancient times. For example, Confucius has 3,000 disciples, including 72 sages, some people call them 72 disciples; The other ten best are called Confucius and ten philosophers.

This group of disciples get along with Confucius day and night, not only learning all kinds of knowledge and skills from Confucius, but more importantly, accepting Confucius' discipline and guidance in the cultivation of personality and morality and the planning of ambition and career. They also traveled around the world with Confucius, and they had conflicts with Confucius.

Former apprentices who are masters will also accept their own apprentices. This mentoring relationship has been passed down from generation to generation, and a learning school has been established. During the Eastern Zhou Dynasty in China, Zisi was the grandson of Confucius and was regarded by most scholars as the disciple of Confucius' disciple Ceng Zi, while Mencius was Zisi's disciple. Confucius and Mencius laid the foundation of Confucianism.

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