Seeking truth from facts is an idiom, which originated from the biography of Wang Xianchuan between Han Shuhe written by Ban Gu in the Eastern Han Dynasty. Seeking truth from facts originally refers to seeking true knowledge on the basis of evidence; Now it is mostly used to do things according to the actual situation, without exaggerating or narrowing. With praise; Generally used as attribute, object and adverbial in sentences.
Source: Han Shu Hejian Wang Xianchuan by Ban Gu in the Eastern Han Dynasty: "Hejian Wang Xiande, established in two years, is filial-oriented, ancient and realistic. If you get a good book from the people, you must write it well and keep it true. " ?
Later generations derived the idiom "seeking truth from facts" from this allusion.
Idiom story
Liu De, one of the fourteen sons of Emperor Jing of the Western Han Dynasty, was born by Li Ji and was named King of Hejian (the fief was in Hejian, now Hejian, Hebei). After his death, he was called "Hejian King".
Confucianism has not yet become orthodox. After the war at the end of Qin dynasty, there were few ancient books and scholars left, and Confucianism was difficult to recover. At this time, Liu De, the king of Hejian, rose at the right time and said, "The ashes are exhausted, scattered and compiled, only preserved." Liu De has been king for 26 years, but he has never been involved in the political whirlpool of the king's struggle for power and profit. On the contrary, he devoted his whole life to collecting and sorting out China cultural ancient books.
He collected many works of the pre-Qin period from the folk. After Qin Shihuang burned books, there were few ancient books. Liu De loves books and is eager to learn, so people dedicated them to him. For the collected books, they have been carefully studied and sorted out, and they are meticulous and down-to-earth in their studies. The spirit of studying hard has won people's praise. Many scholars are willing to study knowledge with him. Even the emperor and scholars in the government admire his knowledge and academic attitude.
After hard collating, Liu De sorted out a large number of primitive ancient books, which was really a timely help to the Han Dynasty, which lacked books. Liu De brought many ancient books, such as poems and books, to North Korea. Liu Che, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, was very happy to see Liu De bring so many books, and held a grand ceremony to receive them every time. ?
Ban Gu, a historian of the Eastern Han Dynasty, wrote a biography for him in Hanshu. In the biography, Liu De's research spirit was highly praised, and Liu De was praised for studying ancient knowledge, studying ancient culture very seriously and drawing correct conclusions from exact facts. As the son of the emperor, it is rare to be so open-minded and eager to learn. His biography first commented on Liu De's "seeking truth from facts".