A person who lowers his status and treats
those whose status or reputation is lower than his own with courtesy and
respect(折節下士)
In the Tang Dynasty of China, there was a
famous minister called Li Jiang. There is a story about him recorded in the
history books.
One day the king said to him
I find it very strange, why were there so
many talented and moral people in the past?
Because these people served as ministers in
the dynasty, my ancestors made the whole dynasty very prosperous.
Why can't I find so many talented and moral
people today?
He said to the king.
A great king can find many talented and
virtuous people to help rule the entire dynasty in the era in which he lives.
Each era has its own characteristics, and
each era has a different environmental background. Therefore, each era will
have talents suitable for that era.
If the king with the highest status in a
country can keep a humble heart and lower his status to treat those talented
and moral civilians politely, then I believe there will be many talented people
throughout the dynasty to help that king.
The king asked him after hearing these
words.
How can I tell if a person has talent and
good character?
He said to the king.
You have asked a very good question.
Even the wisest kings of ancient China
puzzled over this problem.
Based on some principles of identification
that I have gained after reading many history books, I propose to share them
with you.
When we find people who we think are
talented and of good character, we appoint them as central government
officials, and then we need to evaluate their job performance.
Because some people are very good at
talking and expressing their strengths, but these people are not very good at
working.
I think the things we want to judge are the
following.
We need to check whether this person is
honest, we need to check whether this person is fair, we need to check whether
this person can shirk responsibility, and we need to check whether this person
can flatter others.
If a person does not have the above faults,
then I think that person can be considered a person of talent and good moral
character.
When we find these people, we must trust
these people and fully empower these people.
We must cherish these people.
An upright person will be attacked by many
treacherous people because these treacherous people think that these upright
people will harm their interests.
An upright person will make the king feel
uncomfortable because the king prefers to hear nice words rather than negative
ones.
I think if you are willing to do this, you
will soon have many talented and virtuous people serving our kingdom.
The king nodded his head in agreement.
This idiom is used to describe a person who
lowers his status and treats those whose status or reputation is not as good as
his own with courtesy and respect.
Dear friend, what inspiration or thoughts
do you have after listening to this story?
How would you treat those who are inferior
to you in status and reputation? Do you consider yourself a talented and moral
person?
I hope this story can help you gain
something.
折節下士(A person who lowers his status and
treats those whose status or reputation is lower than his own with courtesy and
respect)
中國的唐王朝，有一個著名的大臣，他的名字叫做李絳。歷史書上記載了一個他的故事。
有一天國王對他說。
我覺得很奇怪，為何以前有那麼多有才能而且有品德的人呢?
我的祖先們因為有這些人擔任王朝中的大臣，所以我的祖先們帶領整個王朝治變得非常的繁榮。
為何我在這個時代我找不到那麼多有才能而且品德很好的人呢?
他對國王說。
一個偉大的國王，他可以在他所生活的這個時代中，找到很多有才能有品德人的人協助治理整個王朝。
每個時代都有每個時代的特色，每個時代的環境背景不同，因此每個時代都會有適合每個時代的人才出現。
如果一個國家中地位最高的國王能夠保持謙虛的心，能夠降低自己的身分去很有禮貌地對待那些有才能而且有品德的平民，那麼我相信整個王朝中就會出現許多有才能的人輔助這個國王。
國王聽完這些話後問他。
那麼我要怎樣才能辨別一個人是否有才能而且有好的品德呢?
他對國王說。
你提出了一個非常好的問題。
就算是中國古代最賢明的國王們也會因這個問題所困擾。
根據我讀了很多歷史書後得到幾個辨別的原則，我提出來跟你分享。
當我們發現我們認為有才能而且品德很好的人後，我們就會聘任這些人擔任中央政府的官員，接著我們需要針對他的工作績效進行考核。
因為有些人很會說話與很會表現自己的優點，但這些人實際上並沒有很好的工作能力。
我們要考核的項目我認為有以下幾點。
我們要檢視這個人是否清廉，我們要檢視這個人是否公正，我們要檢視這個人是否會推卸責任，我們要檢視這個人是否會阿諛奉承別人。
如果一個人沒有上列這些缺點，那麼我認為這個人就可以算是一個有才能而且品德很好的人。
當我們發現了這些人的時候，我們就要信任這些人並且充分的授權給這些人。
我們要珍惜這些人。
一個正直的人會受到很多奸詐的人的攻擊，因為這些奸詐的人認為這些正直的人會損害到他們的利益。
一個正直的人會讓國王感覺不舒服，因為國王比較喜歡聽到好聽的話不喜歡聽到那些諍言。
我認為如果你願意這樣做，那麼你很快就會得到很多有才能並且品德很好的人來為我們王國效力。
國王聽完他的話後點頭表示同意。
這句成語被用來形容一個人降低自己的身分，禮貌且尊敬的對待那些地位或名氣不如自己的人
親愛的朋友，你聽完這個故事有怎樣的啟發或是想法呢。
你會如何對待那些身分地位不如你的人呢?你認為你是一個有才能而且品德很好的人嗎?
我希望這故事能讓你產生一點收穫。
出處為新唐書-卷152-李絳傳
https://zh.wikisource.org/zh-hant/%E6%96%B0%E5%94%90%E6%9B%B8/%E5%8D%B7152
