The blemishes on this beautiful jade cannot
hide the brilliance of this beautiful jade.(瑕不掩瑜)
In the Eastern Jin Dynasty of China, there
was a famous minister named Zhou Yi.
There are two stories about him in the
history books.
Both of his brothers are officials in the
central government.
Once, his younger brother was sent to a
distant place to serve as a county magistrate.
On the eve of his younger brother's
departure from the capital, he had dinner with his second younger brother and
his younger brother.
During the meal, his younger brother was in
a bad mood because he was far away from his family and friends.
He was also very sad. He held his little
brother's hand and both he and his little brother shed tears.
He said to his little brother.
You will leave the capital tomorrow. The
health and medical conditions in the city you are going to are not as good as
in the capital, so you must take more care of your body.
His second brother saw them crying, and his
second brother suddenly stood up.
His second brother said to them.
You two are obviously men, but why are you
crying like women?
It's so embarrassing for you to cry because
of a short separation.
His second brother was very angry and left
the place where they were eating.
When he heard what his second brother said,
he said to his younger brother.
Your second brother's personality is so
impulsive. Don't take it to heart. You must remember to take better care of
yourself. I look forward to our three brothers meeting again soon.
He was a very honest man. After his death,
the only things counted in his house were a few barrels of wine and some rice.
There are also some very old clothes that have been worn.
This is what the author of the history book
said about him.
He is an important official in the central
government, but he lives a frugal life. He is very talented and very elegant.
He spoke upright and honest words to the king, he helped the king to govern the
Eastern Jin Kingdom well, and he was so loyal to the king that he even lost his
life for it.
But he also has flaws. His flaw is that he
likes to drink.
Many people criticise him for drinking too
much, but I think his character is like a beautiful piece of jade. There are
some small spots on this piece of jade, but these spots will not affect the
value of this beautiful piece of jade.
The literal translation of this idiom is
that the spots on this beautiful piece of jade cannot cover up the brilliance
of this beautiful piece of jade.
This idiom is used to describe some people,
things or objects. Although there are imperfections, they do not detract from
the overall perfection of the person, thing, or object.
Dear friend, what inspirations or thoughts
do you have after listening to this story?
Do you think you have more faults or
advantages? Can you treat people who think differently from you with a generous
heart?
I hope this story can give you some new
insights.
瑕不掩瑜(The blemishes on this beautiful jade
cannot hide the brilliance of this beautiful jade.)
中國的東晉王朝有一個著名的大臣，他的名字叫做(周顗)。
歷史書上記載了兩個他的故事。
他的兩個弟弟都在中央政府內擔任官員。
有一次，他的小弟被外派到一個很遠的地方擔任縣長。
在他的小弟要離開首都的前夕，他與他的二弟跟他的小弟一起吃飯。
吃飯的過程中，他的小弟因為要遠離自己的親人與朋友所以心情很不好。
他也感到非常的悲傷，他緊握住他的小弟的手，他與他的小弟都流下眼淚。
他對他的小弟說。
你明天就要離開首都，你要去管理的那座城市的衛生與醫療條件都沒有像首都一樣那麼好，所以你要多照顧自己的身體。
他的二弟看到他們兩個人流淚，他的二弟突然站起來。
他的二弟對他們兩個人說。
你們兩個人明明是男人，但是為何像是女人一樣愛哭呢?
因為短暫的離別就哭泣，你們太丟人了。
他的二弟很生氣的就離開他們吃飯的地方。
他聽到他的二弟的話後，他對他的小弟說。
你的二哥的個性就是如此衝動，你不要放在心上，你千萬記得要多照顧自己，我期待我們三個兄弟可以早日再重逢。
他是一個非常清廉的人，他死了之後，他的家中清點出來的財產只有幾桶酒還有一些稻米。另外還有一些已經穿的很舊的衣服。
歷史書的作者這樣評價他。
他擔任很中央政府內的重要官員，但是他的生活很節約。他的才華很高而且非常的文雅。他對國王說正直且誠實的話，他協助國王把東晉王國治理的很好，他對國王非常的忠誠，他甚至因此失去了自己的生命。
但是他也有缺點，他的缺點就是他很喜歡喝酒。
有很多人因為他太喜歡喝酒而批評他，但是我認為他的品德就像是一塊美好的玉，這塊玉上面有些小小的斑點，但是這些斑點並不會損壞這塊美好的玉的價值。
這句成語直接翻譯的意思是這塊漂亮的玉上面的斑點無法掩蓋這塊漂亮的玉的光澤。
這句成語被用來比喻一些人或事或物雖有缺點，卻無損這個人或事或物的整體完美。
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。
你認為你的缺點比較多還是優點比較多呢?你是否能用寬厚的心對待那些與你的想法不同的人呢?
我期待這故事能讓你產生一些新的收穫。
出處為晉書-列傳39-周顗傳
https://www.arteducation.com.tw/guwen/bookv_6646.html
出處為世說新語-方正26條