Well-deserved reputation (名不虛立)
Sima Qian is China's most outstanding
historian. His history book is one of the most classic books in China.
The name of this book is (Historical
Records).
In this book, he refers to the historical
and social phenomena he observed.
The ancient historians, the characters in
the books they wrote, were all nobles.
If you are a commoner, you quietly practise
your own behaviour and pay attention to your own integrity.
You keep your promises and are careful in
your actions.
You defend the value of life you insist on,
you don't care what the general public thinks, and you are willing to sacrifice
your life to defend your beliefs.
Your actions are as worthy of record as
those of the nobles revered by the people, and can inspire many generations to
come.
But since you are not an aristocrat, no one
will write your personal biography for you.
As a historian, I sigh when I think of
that.
So when I was writing this history, I
decided to write a biography of those common people who were moral and just,
simple and humble, and who behaved differently from the general public.
The time before the Han Dynasty is too far
away from the present, so I have no way of verifying it. I have chosen a few
commoners from the Han Dynasty whose lives I can verify.
These are the people I write into the
history books, and my criteria are as follows.
These people cannot rely on their wealth
and power to bully the poor.
These people cannot use violence to oppress
the weaker classes.
These people have high moral standards and
do not indulge their desires.
Their behaviour is recognised and respected
by everyone in society.
I hope that through this biography I have written, these people can be known and emulated by future generations.
This idiom is used to describe a person
whose reputation matches his actual behaviour.
Dear friend, after listening to this story,
what kind of inspiration or thought do you have?
If you were to write your own
autobiography, what would you include? Would what you said match what you did?
I hope this story can bring you a new
harvest.
名不虛立(Well-deserved reputation )
司馬遷是中國最傑出的歷史學家。 他的歷史書是中國最經典的書之一。
這本書的名稱是（史記）。
在本書中，他提到了他觀察到的歷史與社會現象。
古代的歷史學家，他們所寫的書中所記載的人物都是貴族。
如果你是一個平民，你默默地修練自已的品行，你注重自已的節操
你遵守自已的承諾而且你謹慎自已的行為。
你捍衛自已所堅持的人生價值，你不在乎一般大眾的想法，願意為了捍衛自已的信念犧牲自已的生命。
你的行事為人與那些被人們所尊敬的貴族一樣值得紀載，而且可以帶給後代許多的啟發。
但是由於你不是貴族，所以沒有人為你寫下你的個人傳記。
身為一個歷史學家，我想到這一點時我就嘆息。
因此我在寫這一本歷史書的時候，我決定要為這些行為符合道德與正義，性格簡單而且謙遜，並且行事為人不同於大眾的平民寫一篇傳記。
漢王朝以前的年代距離現在太久遠，所以我沒有辦法考證，我挑選了幾個漢王朝中我可以考證到其一生的平民。
這些人被我寫入歷史書，我的標準如下。
這些人不能依仗財力與權力去欺負窮人。
這些人不能用暴力與去壓迫那些弱勢階層。
這些人有高道德標準，他們不會放縱自已的慾望。
這些人的行為被社會上的眾人所認同，大家都尊敬他們。
我希望藉由我寫的這篇傳記，讓這些人可以被後代人所認識與仿效。
這句成語被用來形容一個人的名聲與他的實際行為相符合。
親愛的朋友，聽到這個故事後，您有什麼樣的靈感或想法?
你如果要給自已寫自傳，你會記錄下那些事情呢?你所說的話與你所做的事情相符合嗎?
我希望這故事能讓你帶來一些新的收穫。
出處為史記-遊俠列傳
