Reflecting / Thinking

心所具有的思考与辨别的能力。儒家认为“思”是人心所独有的重要功能。心能“思”，因此可以不像耳目之官一样被外物牵引或遮蔽。人只有通过心之“思”，才能发现内在于心的道德品性的根基，并由此通达于“天道”，从而确立人之所以为人的本质。如果缺少“思”，人将丧失其主体性与独立性。

The term means the ability to reflect and evaluate. Confucian scholars considered this a unique quality of the human mind. By reflecting, a person will keep himself from being led astray or getting confused by what he sees or hears. Through reflecting, a person will discover the foundation of morality. This leads to understanding the way of heaven, and eventually, the essence of being human. Without reflecting, humans will lose their individual consciousness and independence.

引例 Citations：

◎学而不思则罔，思而不学则殆。（《论语·为政》）

只“学”而不“思”，则会迷茫昏乱；只“思”而不“学”，则会疑惑危殆。

Learning without reflecting leads to confusion; reflecting without learning leads to danger. (The Analects)

◎耳目之官不思，而蔽于物，物交物则引之而已矣。心之官则思。思则得之，不思则不得也。此天之所与我者，先立乎其大者，则其小者不能夺也。（《孟子·告子上》）

耳目等器官不能思考，因而被外物的表象遮蔽。耳目与外物相接触，就会被其引向歧途。“心”这一器官能够思考，思考便能有所得，不思考便无所得。这是天赋予我的，先确立心作为大者的官能，如此则不会被耳目之官的欲望遮蔽。

The sensory organs like ears and eyes cannot think. Therefore, they tend to be misled by the appearance of external objects, and they tend to be led astray when coming into contact with such objects. The heart, however, is an organ capable of thinking. Thinking creates insight, while lack of it will lead one to a dead end. So thinking is the gift Heaven bestows on us. One should first establish the primary function of the heart, thus not be misled by eyes and ears. (Mencius)