Mr. Beiguo (北郭先生)
In the Han Dynasty of China, there was a
famous expert who was good at divination.
This person's name is (Liao Fu). There is a
story about him recorded in the history books.
His father used to be a government
official, but his father was sentenced to death because of poor performance at
work.
He told his family and friends after making
arrangements for his father's funeral.
The ancient wise man Lao Tzu asked a
question in his book?
The question is, which one is more
important compared to a person's reputation or his life?
In response to this question, I think a
person's life is more important than reputation.
Because of my father's relationship, I
decided not to serve as a government official in my life.
From that day on he built a house beside
his father's tomb, and he lived in this house.
He began to concentrate on reading. He
liked to study astronomy and some knowledge related to divination. After a few
years, his studies had good results.
He is a very caring person. He often helps
some disadvantaged groups in society. He also works as a teacher to educate
many children in his hometown.
He is very intelligent and has a high level
of moral character, so people in his hometown respect him.
One year, after observing the stars and
divination, he predicted that there would be a severe famine, so he purchased a
lot of rice in advance.
His predictions were very accurate. When
the famine came, he shared the rice with everyone in his family. He helped his
family survive the difficult famine.
When he was middle-aged, a former student
came to him.
The student said to himI am now the
governor of the province where our hometown is.
I respect you a lot and think you are very
talented, so I would like to ask you to be my chief assistant.
He refused his pupil's request.His students
were not discouraged and continued to visit him many times, but he insisted on
his principles and never made promises to his students.
He lived for 80 years. Because he lived in
the northern suburbs of a city, the younger generations in his hometown
nicknamed him Mr Beiguo.
This idiom is used to describe a person who
is very talented but unwilling to serve as a government official.
Dear friend, what inspiration or thoughts
do you have after listening to this story?
Did your father or mother have any
influence on you? Are there any famous scholars in your hometown?
I hope this story can give you some new
insights.
Mr. Beiguo (北郭先生)
中國的漢王朝，有一個著名的善於占卜的專家。
這個人的名字叫做(廖扶)。歷史書上記載了一個他的故事。
他的父親曾經是政府官員，但他的父親因為工作表現不好，所以被判處死刑。
他在安排好他的父親的葬禮之後，他對他的家人與朋友說。
古代的智者老子的書中問過一個問題?
這個問題就是一個人的名聲與生命兩者相比，何者更重要呢?
針對這個問題，我認為一個人的生命比名聲更重要。
因為我的父親的關係，所以我決定一輩子都不出任政府官員。
他從那一天就在他的父親的墳墓旁蓋了一間屋子，他就住在這間屋子裡面。
他開始專心讀書，他很喜歡研究天文學與一些與占卜相關的知識，經過幾年後，他的學習有了很好的成果。
他是一個很有愛心的人，他常常幫忙一些社會中的弱勢族群，他也當老師教導很多他的故鄉中的孩子們念書。
他很有智慧而且他的品德水平很高，所以他的家鄉中的人都很尊敬他。
有一年，他經由觀察星星與占卜後，他預測到將會有嚴重的饑荒到來，所以他就預先蒐購了很多稻米。
他的預測非常的準確，當飢荒來到的時候，他把這些稻米分享給他的家族中的所有人，他協助他的家族度過艱難的飢荒。
當他中年之後，他以前教過的的一個學生來找他。
這個學生對他說。
我現在已經成為我們故鄉所在地的這個省的省長。
我很尊敬你，我認為你很有才能，所以我想要請你當我的高級幕僚。
他拒絕的他的學生的請求。
他的學生不灰心持續的多次來拜訪他，但他堅持自己的原則，他始終沒有答應他的學生。
他總共活了80歲，由於他住的地方是在一座城市的北邊的郊外，所以後來他的故鄉的晚輩就暱稱他為北郭先生。
這句成語被用來形容一個很有才能但不願意擔任政府官員的人。
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。
你的父親或你的母親對你有甚麼影響嗎?你的家鄉中有沒有那些知名的學者呢?
我期待這故事能讓你產生一些新的收穫。
出處為後漢書-方術列傳上-廖扶傳