He pays great attention to the clothes he wears(修飾邊幅)/He is arrogant and looks down on other people(妄自尊大)
There was a famous general in the Eastern
Han Dynasty of China, his name was (Ma Yuan).
There is a story about him recorded in the
history books.
After the fall of the New Dynasty of China,
warlords all over China relied on their own military power to divide their
respective spheres of influence. These warlords fought many wars against each
other.
He and his family were separated because of
the war, and he took refuge with one of the warlords. That warlord's name was
(Kui Xiao).
Because he is very smart and talented, he
became a very important member of (Kui Xiao's) staff.
One day, (Kui Xiao) said to him.
There is a person from the same hometown as
you. His name is (Gongsun Shu). Do you know this person?
he replied.
I know him, and I'm very familiar with him.
(Kui Xiao) said.
I received word that Gongsun Shu has a
large military force and has recently established a new kingdom in Sichuan
Province.
The situation in China is very chaotic now,
and our military power is very small, so we should form an alliance with a more
powerful military power to benefit our survival.
Since you are old friends with Gongsun Shu,
I want to send you to find him.
You will observe his situation and report
back to me whether we should form an alliance with him.
After accepting the order, he left for
Sichuan Province and returned a few weeks later to report his views to (Kui
Xiao).
He said
When I arrived in Sichuan Province, I met
Gongsun Shu.
When he saw me, he didn't greet me warmly.
He sat down and I stood up. After
exchanging a few words with me, he ordered a servant to take me to the guest
room.
I stayed in the guest room for a few days,
during which time he helped me make several new sets of clothes.
When I saw him again, he was sitting in the
middle of a large house where a great event was taking place.
The chair he was sitting in was a specially
made king's chair, the clothes he was wearing were specially made for a king,
and the things he was using were all very luxurious.
There were many people in the house, all
standing respectfully before him. These people were all wearing official
clothes, and there were many soldiers guarding him.
he told me.
If we ally ourselves with him, he can make
us important officials in his kingdom.
(Kui Xiao) said.
Do you think we should ally with him?
He said.
I don't think we should ally with him. On
the contrary, we should stay away from him.
(Kui Xiao) said.
Why do you think that?
He said.
The current situation in China is very
chaotic, and many warlords have appeared all over China.
What he should do now is to recruit more
talented people to help him, and he should treat those talented people with
courtesy and respect.
If he does that, he may have a better
chance of defeating the other warlords and eventually achieving his goal of
unifying all of China.
But he didn't do that. He spent time and
energy on these things that looked decent but were really unimportant. He wore
beautiful clothes. His attitude was very arrogant and he looked down on other
people. He was short-sighted.
I think his proud mentality will ultimately lead him to failure, so I don't think we should ally ourselves with him.
The first idiom is used to describe a person who takes great care with his appearance and clothes.
The meaning of the second idiom is used to describe a person who is arrogant and looks down on other people.
Dear friend, what inspiration or thoughts
do you have after listening to this story?
What do you think of Gongsun Shu's
mentality? If you were Wei Xiao, would you make an alliance with Gongsun Shu?
I hope this story can give you some new
insights.
修飾邊幅(He pays great attention to the clothes he wears)/妄自尊大(He is arrogant and looks down on other people)
中國的東漢王朝有一個著名的將軍，他的名字叫做(馬援)。
歷史書上記載了一個他的故事。
中國的新王朝滅亡之後，中國各地的軍閥仰仗著各自的軍事力量劃分出屬於各自的勢力範圍，這些軍閥彼此之間發生了許多戰爭。
他與他的家人因為戰亂分散，他投靠了其中一個軍閥，這個軍閥的名字叫做(隗囂)。
因為他很聰明又很有才能，所以他成為的(隗囂)很重要的一個幕僚
有一天(隗囂)對他說。。
有一個人，他跟你同一個故鄉，他的名字叫做(公孫述)，你是否認識這個人呢?
他回答。
我認識這個人，而且我跟他很熟。
(隗囂)說。
我收到一個消息，公孫述掌握了一股很大的軍事力量，他不久前在四川省建立了一個新的王國。
現在中國的情勢很混亂，我們的軍事力量很小，所以我們應該要與一個更強大的軍事力量結盟才會有利於我們的生存。
你既然跟公孫述是老朋友，我想派遣你去找他。
你觀察他的情況後再跟我報告我們是否應該跟他結盟。
他接受了這個命令後，他就出發到四川省，幾個禮拜後他回來對(隗囂)報告他的看法。
他說。
我到了四川省，我見到了公孫述，
他看到我之後，他沒有熱情地跟我打招呼。
他坐著我站著，他跟我寒暄了兩句話後，他就吩咐一個僕人帶我到客房。
我在客房中住了幾天，這幾天內他幫我做了幾套新的衣服。
我再次見到他的時候他坐在一個很大的房子的正中間，房間裡面正舉辦一場盛大的活動。
他坐的椅子是特製的國王的規格的椅子，他穿的衣服是特製的國王才能穿的衣服，他所使用的物品都非常的奢華。
房子裡面站了很多人，這些人都很恭敬的站在他的面前，這些人都穿著官員的衣服，另外還有很多士兵在一旁護衛。
他對我說。
如果我們與他結盟，他可以讓我們成為他的王國中的重要的官員。
(隗囂)說。
那你覺得我們應該與他結盟嗎?
他說。
我認為我們不應該與他結盟，相反的，我們要離他遠一點。
(隗囂)說。
你為何這樣認為呢?
他說。
目前中國的情勢非常的混亂，中國各地興起了很多軍閥。
他現在應該做的事情應該去招募更多的有才能的人協助他，他應該用禮貌與尊敬的態度對待那些有才能的人。
如果他這樣做，他才可能更有機會戰勝其他的軍閥並且最後達成統一整個中國的目標。
但他沒有這樣做，他把時間與精力放在這些看起來很體面但實際上不重要的事情上，他穿著漂亮的衣服，他的態度非常的狂妄而且他瞧不起其他人，他的目光短淺。
他驕傲的心態我認為終將會為他帶來失敗，所以我認為我們不應該與他結盟。
第一句成語被用來形容一個人非常注重自己的儀容與衣服
第二句成語被用來形容一個人很狂妄而且他瞧不起其他人，
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。
你如何評斷公孫述的心態呢?你如果是隗囂，你會與公孫述結盟嗎?
我期待這故事能讓你產生一些新的收穫。
出處為後漢書-馬援傳
