How you treat others, how others will treat you. (出爾反爾)
There is an important scholar in
Confucianism whose name is (Meng Ke).
There is a story in his book.
He is having a conversation with the king
of the Zou Kingdom.
Said the king.
Recently, there has been a serious conflict
between our kingdom and the Lu kingdom. Do you know this thing?
He replied.
I know, and as far as I know, 33 people
have died in our kingdom in this battle.
Said the king.
That's right, and the 33 people who died
were all officials stationed at the border.
Our officials were victimized in order to
defend our kingdom, and all the people living near the border were indifferent.
I'm so angry that I want to kill these
people who don't care about the survival of our kingdom.
But I can't kill people indiscriminately.
Could you please suggest me how to do it.
He replied.
In the past two or three years, our kingdom
is facing drought, so there is a shortage of food. Do you know this?
Said the king.
I know about this, but the situation is not
serious.
He replied.
How could it not be serious? According to
my most conservative estimate, at least more than 1,000 people in our kingdom
died or fled to other kingdoms because of this food crisis.
Said the king.
Is it really that serious? I never heard
any official report this matter to me.
He replied.
King, these officials don't care about the
life and death of the people, they only care about whether their positions can
be preserved.
If they report to you such a severe famine
in the kingdom, you will definitely hold them accountable.
These officials are afraid of trouble, so
they cover up the truth.
A wise man once said.
There is one thing we should always keep in
mind. What way we treat others, what way others will treat us.
These officials treat the people like this,
no wonder the people don't care about the life and death of these officials.
Said the king.
You make sense. But how should I remedy it
now.
He replied.
It is useless to regret the mistakes we
have made. What we can do now is to change our practices, listen to the
opinions of the people, and care about the lives of the people, and the people
will naturally care about the survival of our kingdom.
The original meaning of this idiom is how
you treat others, others will treat you. But today's meaning has changed to
describe a person's view of a thing before and now is completely different.
Dear friend, what inspiration or thoughts
did you have after hearing this story.
Do you feel that others don’t care about you? When you feel this way, should you take the
initiative to care about others?
I hope this story will give you some new
gains.
出爾反爾(How you treat others, how others will
treat you. )
你用甚麼方式對待別人，別人就會用甚麼方式對待你。
儒家有一個重要的學者，他的名字叫做（孟軻）。
他的書中有一個故事。
他與鄒王國的國王正在對話。
國王說。
最近我們王國與魯王國之間，發生了一場嚴重的衝突。你知道這件事情吧。
他回答。
我知道啊，而且據我的了解，這件爭鬥中我們王國已經死了33個人了。
國王說。
沒錯，而且這死去的33個人都是駐守邊界的官員。
我們的官員為了保衛我們的王國受害，所有住在邊界附近的百姓竟然無動於衷。
我氣到想殺了這些不關心我們王國存亡的百姓啊。
但我又不能胡亂殺人。
請問你會建議我如何做呢。
他回答。
這兩三年，我們王國面臨乾旱，所以糧食短缺，你知道這件事情嗎。
國王說。
我知道這件事情啊，但是這情況不嚴重啊。
他回答。
怎會不嚴重呢，根據我最保守的估計，我們王國中至少有超過1000個人，因為這場糧食危機死去或是逃離到其他王國。
國王說。
真的那麼嚴重嗎。我怎都沒有聽到有任何官員跟我報告這件事情呢。
他回答。
國王啊，這些官員他們根本不在乎百姓的死活，他們只在乎自已的職位是否可以保全啊。
如果他們向你報告王國內發生那麼嚴重的飢荒，你一定會追究它們的管理責任。
這些官員怕麻煩，所以他們掩蓋事實的真相。
有一個智者曾經說過。
有一件事情，我們應該永遠記在心裡。我們用甚麼方式對待別人，別人就會用甚麼方式對待我們。
這些官員如此對待百姓，也難怪百姓不在乎這些官員死活。
國王說。
你說得有道理。但我現在應該如何補救呢。
他回答。
已經犯下的錯誤我們懊悔也沒有用，我們現在可以做的，就是改變我們的做法，傾聽民意，並且關心百姓的生活，百姓自然就會關心我們王國的存亡啊。
這句成語的原本意思是你怎樣對別人，別人就會怎樣對你。但現今的意思已經轉變成為形容一個人他對一件事情的看法以前與現在完全不同。
親愛的朋友，你聽完這個故事有怎樣的啟發或有怎樣的想法呢。
你是否會覺得別人都不關心你呢?當你有這種感受的時候，你是否應該先主動去關心別人呢?
我期待這故事能讓你產生一些新的收穫。
出處為孟子-梁惠王下
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