"Zou Ji Satirizes the King of Qi for Accepting Admonitions" comes from "Warring States Policy·Qi Ceyi". It tells the story of Zou Ji, a counselor of the Qi State during the Warring States Period, who persuaded the monarch to accept advice, so that he could open up more avenues of speech and improve politics. Let's take a look at the original text and annotations of "Zou Ji satirizes the King of Qi and accepts remonstrance" that I compiled for everyone. You are welcome to read it, for reference only. The original text and annotations of "Zou Ji Satirized the King of Qi for Accepting Admonitions"
Zou Ji Satirized the King of Qi for Accepting Admonitions
Han Dynasty: Written by Liu Xiang
Zou Ji built more than eight feet, and The appearance is beautiful. He looked into the mirror and said to his wife, "Who is more beautiful than Mr. Xu in the north of the city?" His wife said, "You are so beautiful, how can Mr. Xu be as beautiful as you!" Mr. Xu in the north of the city is also the most beautiful in Qi. Ji was not confident, so he asked his concubine again: "Who is more beautiful between me and Mr. Xu?" The concubine said: "How can Mr. Xu be as good as you!" One day, a guest came from outside and sat down to talk with him. He asked the guest: "I and Mr. Xu are more beautiful." "Who is more beautiful?" The guest said, "Mr. Xu is not as beautiful as the king." When Mr. Xu comes tomorrow, he will think that he is not as good as he is. I was thinking about it when I went to bed in the evening, and said: "My wife loves me because she is selfish; my concubine loves me because she is afraid of me; my guest loves me because she wants something from me."
So he went to the court to see me. King Wei said: "I sincerely know that I am not as beautiful as Mr. Xu. My wife is a private minister, my concubines are afraid of me, and my guests want to ask for anything from me. They all regard me as beautiful than Mr. Xu. Today, Qi is thousands of miles away and has one hundred and twenty cities. All the ladies in the palace are secretive to the king, all the ministers in the court are afraid of the king, and all the people in the four realms are asking for help from the king: from this point of view, the king is very shielded."
The king said: "Good." Then he ordered: "Those ministers and officials who can criticize others for their faults will receive a higher reward; those who write letters to admonish others will receive a medium reward; those who can slander and ridicule the people in the city and hear the ears of others will receive a lower reward." At the beginning of the order, The ministers came to admonish, and the court was like a market; after a few months, they came from time to time; after a period of years, although they wanted to say something, they could not advance. When Yan, Zhao, Han, and Wei heard about it, they all came to Qi. This is called victory over the imperial court. (Slander 1: Slander)
Translation
Zou Ji is about fifty-four inches long, and his appearance is bright and beautiful. In the morning, Zou Ji put on his clothes, looked in the mirror, and said to his wife, "Who is more beautiful between me and Mr. Xu from the north of the city?" His wife said, "You are very beautiful. How can you compare with Mr. Xu?" Where are you?" Xu Gong in the north of the city is the most beautiful man in Qi. Zou Ji didn't believe that he was more beautiful than Mr. Xu, so he asked his concubine: "Compared with Mr. Xu, who is more beautiful?" The concubine said, "How can Mr. Xu compare with you?" The next day, a guest came from When Zou Ji came out to visit, he sat down and talked with him and asked him: "Who is more beautiful between me and Duke Xu?" The guest said: "Gong Xu is not as beautiful as you." Another day, Duke Xu came, and Zou Ji Looking at him carefully, I thought he was not as beautiful as Xu Gong; looking at myself in the mirror, I felt that I was far different from Xu Gong. In the evening, he thought about this while lying in bed and rested, and said: "My wife praises me for my beauty because she prefers me; my concubine praises me for my beauty because she is afraid of me; my guests praise me for my beauty because they have something to ask of me.
In this case, Zou Ji went to court to see King Qi Wei and said, "I know that I am indeed inferior to Xu Gongmei, but my wife prefers me, my concubine is afraid of me, and my guest is afraid of me." They want to ask me for help, (so) they all think that I am more beautiful than Xu Gong. Now Qi has a territory of thousands of miles and one hundred and twenty cities. There is no minister in the country who is not afraid of the king, and there is no one in the country who does not want to ask the king for help. From this point of view, the king has been deceived too seriously."
King Qi Wei said! "What you said is very good!" So he issued an order: "Officials, ministers and common people, big and small, who can criticize my faults face to face will be given high rewards; those who write to me to directly advise me will be given medium rewards; Anyone who can criticize and discuss my faults in a public place and reach my ears will be given low rewards." As soon as the order was issued, many ministers came to give their advice, and the palace gate and courtyard were like a gathering. The market was as lively as ever; a few months later, people would occasionally come in to remonstrate; after a year, even if someone wanted to come in to remonstrate, there would be nothing left to say. When Yan, Zhao, Han, Wei and other countries heard about this, they all went to Qi to pay homage to King Qi Wei. This means being in the imperial court and defeating the enemy without using troops.
Comments
Zou Ji: A native of Qi during the Warring States Period, he served as prime minister.
Satire: sarcasm, using hints, metaphors and other methods to tactfully persuade.
King of Qi: King Wei of Qi, King Wei.
Accept advice: accept advice. Accept, accept, accept
Xiu: Long, here refers to height.
Bachi: During the Warring States Period, one foot was about seven inches today.
昳丽: Bright and beautiful.
Court attire: Put on your attire in the morning. (To serve, the noun is used as a verb conjugation, meaning to wear, and used as an adverbial in the sentence.)
Looking in the mirror: looking in the mirror.
Who: Who, what.
Compare with: and....
And: comparable to
Day: tomorrow. This refers to the second day.
Tomorrow: That is the day after "Danni" above.
If: Such as.
Which one should look at it, which one: be familiar with it and be careful. It is: Dai Xu Gong in the north of the city.
Far worse than that. F: No.
Also: more.
Sleep: lie down.
Beautiful person: praise/think...beautiful
Private: verb, preference.
Sincerity: I know for sure.
They all think that I am more beautiful than Xu Gong: They all think (I) am more beautiful than Xu Gong. The word "I" is omitted after "Yi". To: think. Yu: than.
Ground: land, territory.
Square: square circle.
Palace Wife: The concubine in the palace.
Left and right: the ministers around you.
Within the four borders: (people) across the country.
It is used to cancel the independence of the sentence between subject and predicate.
Blocked: The adjective is used as a verb to refer to being blinded.
Good: good.
Nai: So, just.
Face-to-face: Accusation in person. Face to face, face to face, noun as adverbial.
To receive a reward: to give, to pay. Tong "grant"
To slander and ridicule the court: to discuss in public places (the king's fault). Slander: To publicly accuse others of their faults. Ridicule, satire. Slander here refers to "accusation, discussion" and does not have a derogatory meaning. City court, a public place where people gather.
Wen: This means "to make...hear". Usage.
From time to time (jiàn) to advance: Sometimes to give advice by chance. Occasionally someone comes in to give advice. Occasionally, occasionally, occasionally, sometimes.
Period (jī) year: one year. Period, expiration.
To pay homage to Qi: Come to Qi to pay homage (King of Qi).
This so-called victory over the imperial court means that one can defeat the enemy while sitting in the imperial court without using troops.
And the appearance is beautiful (yì): And, it shows the parallel relationship.
Appreciation
This article focuses on the story of Qi Prime Minister Zou Ji using small things in his own life as metaphors to persuade the King of Qi that he must listen to the opinions of the people extensively as the basis for governance.
The full text can be divided into three parts.
From the beginning to "What you want is from me" is the first part. It writes that Zou Ji realized a profound truth from the fact that his wife, concubine and guest all praised him for being more beautiful than Xu Gong in the north of the city. reason. The first layer of this paragraph describes the beauty of Zou Ji. First, it is explained that Zou Ji is a tall and beautiful man, and then through three questions and three answers, the unanimous answers of his wife, concubine, and guest confirm that Zou Ji is beautiful, and he is more beautiful than the handsome man Xu Gong of Qi. Then in the second layer of this paragraph, the actual comparison between Zou Ji and Xu Gong is described. Zou Ji firmly believed: "Xu Gong in the north of the city is the most beautiful person in Qi." Therefore, he was quite self-aware in the beauty comparison. He suspected that his wife, concubines, and guests all agreed that he was more beautiful than Xu Gong, which was a kind of flattery. He wants to find the correct answer from objective reality. Through "who's eyes" and "looking glass", he finally found that he was far inferior to Xu Gong, which caused him to think deeply. In the silence of the night, I thought alone, and finally realized the reason why my wife, concubines, and retainers flatter me: Anyone who is partial to, afraid of, or has desires for me will only tell flattering lies in front of me. Point out your shortcomings. Although there is not much text in this paragraph, it uses the techniques of elaboration and comparison, and finally points out the truth. It is a very vivid story.
From "So he entered the court" to "The king said: 'Good'" is the second part, which writes that Zou Ji "sees big things because of small things, and his small appearance can be used to influence important events in the court." (See Volume 4 of "Notes of Zhengtang")
Zou Ji deeply realized from Bimei's life experience that it is not easy for a ruler to hear the truth. King Wei of Qi, who has the highest status and the most power in Qi State, is in an environment where many people are partial to, fearful of, and desire him, so he must be a deceived person who is deaf and blind. So he told King Qi Wei his personal experience, revealed this thought-provoking question, and used it to satirize King Qi Wei for accepting advice and then hiding it. In order to make the King of Qi accept the advice, first describe his own life experience, point out that the three responses of the wife, concubine, and guest are due to different motives. First, give the King of Qi a clear impression, and then use the circumstances in which the King of Qi is living. Comparing the living environment with his own experience, he pointed out that King Qi was seriously deceived. This personal statement has indeed had the desired effect.
The third part from "Nai gave the order" to the end is about the situation in which King Wei of Qi listened to Zou Ji's advice and ordered to ask for advice and the ministers gave advice during the year. King Qi Wei readily accepted Zou Ji's advice and ordered his subjects to be rewarded for admonishing him. King Qi Wei's acceptance of the remonstrance improved the prestige of Qi and won the respect of many princes.
In this part of the description, there are several points worth noting: 1. The article does not describe the rewards received by the ministers, nor does it describe the opinions of King Wei. However, the fact that fewer and fewer people raised their opinions and that they were less and less able to raise their opinions hints that King Qi Wei not only listened to opinions, but also humbly accepted them and reformed politics. 2. The King of Qi issued an order calling on “all the ministers and officials and the people” to submit their opinions, but those who enthusiastically expressed their opinions only mentioned the officials and not the officials and the people. It can be seen that it is actually impossible for officials and people with low status to participate in politics and express their opinions. The article does not mention the officials and the people but only the ministers, which truly reflects the class limitations of this political activity; at the same time, we cannot think that King Wei's rule is very clear just from the fact that "although he wants to talk about it, he can't make progress".
3. The article only says "Yan, Zhao, Han, and Wei heard about it, and they all went to Qi", not Qin and Chu. Yan, Zhao, Han, and Wei were the northern and western neighbors of Qi during the Warring States Period. Their national power was similar to that of Qi, but later they were all weaker than Qi. Qin and Chu were the big countries in the west and south of Qi State. The article did not mention Qin and Chu, which was more in line with the actual situation at that time. 4. The last sentence, "This so-called victory over the imperial court" points out the main purpose of the whole article. It shows that as long as you accept advice and improve your internal affairs, you can "defeat the imperial court."
This article is not long, but it completely narrates the two stories of Zou Ji and Xu Gong Bimei and King Wei accepted admonishment and strengthened Qi. It also contains profound and clear meanings, and the capacity is very large. The reason why the article is written like this is that there are several technical points worthy of our attention: 1. Use metaphors to tell the truth. Zou Ji persuaded the King of Qi to open up his mind, not by speaking directly like ordinary people, but by using a specific family incident as an example to illustrate the necessity and urgency of "receiving advice". 2. Describe the characters concretely and vividly. For example, when writing about Zou Ji, he first "looks into the mirror and looks into the mirror", and then asks about his wife, concubines, and guests; when he meets Xu Gong, he first says "who looks at him, he thinks he is inferior", and then "looks into the mirror and looks at himself, but he can't "It's like it's far away", and finally "I'm thinking about it when I go to bed at night"; the characters' movements and psychology are all described in detail. With this vivid description, the following advice becomes more reasonable. 3. The language is concise and vivid. A short article of more than 300 words, ranging from family affairs to state affairs. The characters are written with distinctive voices and appearances; the narrative is realistic and engaging; the language is concise and vivid: such as "So he went to the court to see the powerful king and said:..." A few words explain the process of the court meeting, eliminating the "introduction to the admonishment" ", and state the matter straight to the point. After the King of Qi heard the remonstrance, he only used the word "good" to express his determination to accept the remonstration. After King Wei ordered to accept the remonstrance, he clearly explained the specific situation in the three stages of "the initial order", "a few months later" and "after the period" in just thirty words, explaining the huge changes that took place after the remonstrance was accepted; The effect is to only write about the dynamics of neighboring countries and omit the domestic situation. These are all concise and powerful. Let’s look at the vividness of the language: Zou Ji’s three questions and answers with his wife, concubine, and guest all have basically the same meaning, but different syntax, and the writing is intricate and not rigid at all. The answers given by wives, concubines, and guests are not the same, reflecting that their respective psychology is very consistent with the identity of the characters.
The content of the article may not be entirely consistent with historical facts, but the thoughts expressed are of positive significance and have strong artistic expression.