There is a small stain on this piece of white jade(白圭之玷)
(The Book of Songs) is the earliest
compilation of poems in China.
There are 305 poems in this book.
These poems were written over 500 years,
from the 11th century BC to the 6th century BC.
The content of these poems is mainly
divided into three categories.
The first category is folk poems from all
over China at that time
The second category is the poetry of the
Zhou Dynasty that ruled China at that time.
The third category is the poems used by the
royal family and nobles in the Zhou Dynasty.
One of them was an exhortation poem written
to the king. There is a paragraph in this poem as follows.
You have to rely on the rule of law to
manage this kingdom. If you do this, our kingdom will be stable.
When your kingdom is stable, you still have
to stay vigilant, and you should beware of disasters in advance.
You have to maintain the integrity of your
behavior, and you have to maintain a gentle attitude at the same time.
You have to be careful with every word you
say.
There is a small stain on a piece of white
jade, you can remove this small stain by sanding.
But you can't take back every word you say.
You are the king, so you should pay
attention to everything you say.
You cannot use your power to prohibit
others from criticizing you.
I remind you once again, you should not
speak at will, you should be very careful to say every word.
If you treat others with a kind heart, you
will get kindness.
You have to love your friends and
ministers, and you have to take care of all the people of the entire kingdom.
If you and your children and grandchildren
do this, all the people of our kingdom will always support you and your family.
This idiom is used to describe a person or
thing with some minor shortcomings but most of them are good.
Dear friend, what inspiration or thoughts
did you have after hearing this story.
Will you be careful what you say? Do you
always remind yourself to treat others with a kind heart?
I hope this story will give you some new
gains.
白圭之玷(There is a small stain on this piece
of white jade)
(詩經)是中國最早的詩歌合輯。
這本書中有305首詩。
這些詩寫的時間橫跨500年，從西元前11世紀到西元前6世紀。
這些詩的內容主要分為三類。
第一類是當時中國各地的民間詩歌
第二類是當時統治中國的周王朝的詩歌。
第三類是周王朝中的王室與貴族祭祀用的詩歌。
裡面有一首是寫給國王的勸戒詩。
其中有一段如下
你要憑藉的法治來管理這個王國。你這樣做我們王國就能夠安定。
你在王國安定的時候、你仍然要保持警戒，你應該事先提防災難的發生。
你要保持行爲的正直，你同時要保持溫和的態度。
你要謹慎你所說的每一句話。
如果一塊白玉上面有一個小污點，你可藉由打磨把這個小污點去除。
但一句話如果你說出口之後，你是無法回收的。
你是國王，所以你要應該要注意自已所說的每一句話。
你不可以用你的權力禁止別人批評你。
我再提醒你一次，你不要輕易地說話，你應該很謹慎地說每一句話。
你用良善的心對待別人，你就會獲得良善。
你要愛護你的朋友與大臣，你要照顧整個王國的所有百姓。
你如果與你的子孫們都這樣做，那麼我們王國的所有百姓就會一直擁護著你。
這句成語是形容一個人或物大體很好，只是有些小缺點。
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。
你會謹慎你所說的話嗎?你會時刻提醒自已要用良善的心對待他人嗎?
我期待這故事能讓你產生一些新的收穫。
出處為詩經-大雅-抑
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