He tidied his clothes and sat upright(正襟危坐)
During the Han Dynasty in China, there was
a famous minister named (Jia Yi), and a story about him is recorded in the
history books.
One day he was talking to another minister
called Song Zhong. They were discussing some methods of ruling a kingdom that
were recorded in ancient classical books.
After chatting for dozens of minutes, Jia
Yi said to Song Zhong
I suddenly remembered that I had read an
ancient classical book. The book said that in ancient China there were many
very clever and highly moral people. Some of these people would serve as
officials in the central government to help the king rule the kingdom well, and
some people would work as doctors to cure the people's diseases.
There are also a few people who have a
special job, which is to help others with divination.
I know many central government officials
and many doctors, but I have never had the opportunity to meet a fortune
teller. Let's go talk to a fortune teller. Do you think it is a good idea?
Song Zhong answered after hearing these
words.
Like you, I know many officials and
doctors, but I have never seen a fortune teller.
I think your suggestion is very good. Why
don't we go to the capital together after work to find out who is the most
powerful fortune teller, and then we can find that fortune teller together.
After work, the two of them went to the
capital together. They found out that there was a very famous fortune teller
called (Sima Jizhu), so they went to a small shop run by (Sima Jizhu).
It was raining heavily just a few dozen
minutes before they arrived at (Sima Jizhu's) shop, so there were very few
people in the shop.
Sima Jizhu was sitting in his shop. He had
several of his disciples sitting in front of him listening to his lectures.
When Lord Sima Ji saw Jia Yi and Song Zhong
enter his shop, he invited Jia Yi and Song Zhong to sit in front of him.
After Sima Jizhu exchanged greetings with
Jia Yi and Song Zhong, he continued to teach his students.
Sima Jizhu analysed many important laws of
the world and explained the relationship between the changes of the stars in
the sky and the human world. Sima Jizhu also explained a lot of professional
divination knowledge. Sima Jizhu taught the students how to read the signs of
good and bad fortune from the changes around them in their daily lives.
After Sima Jizhu spoke for 20 minutes, Jia
Yi and Song Zhong felt that the theories Sima Jizhu said were very novel but
logical, so they both felt that Sima Jizhu was indeed a very knowledgeable and
wise man. .
The attitude of the two of them changed
from relaxed to very respectful.
The two of them put on their clothes neatly
and sat upright.
The two of them, together with Sima Jizhu's
disciples, listened attentively to Sima Jizhu's lecture for about an hour until
the end of the class.
The literal translation of this idiom is
that a person tucks his clothes in neatly and sits upright.
This idiom is used to describe a person's
serious and respectful attitude.
Dear friend, what inspirations or thoughts
do you have after listening to this story?
Have you ever had a fortune-telling
experience? Do you think people can really predict the future through
divination?
I hope this story can give you some new
insights.
正襟危坐(He tidied his clothes and sat upright)
中國的漢王朝時代，有一個著名的大臣，他的名字叫做(賈誼)，歷史書上記載了一個他的故事。
有一天，他跟另外一個名字叫做宋忠的大臣一起聊天，他們聊了一些關於古代的經典書籍中所記載的如何治理好一個王國的方法。
聊天聊了幾十分鐘後，賈誼對宋忠說。
我突然想起我看過一本古代的經典書籍，這本書上寫著中國古代有很多非常聰明而且有著極高的道德修養的人，這些人中有一些人會到中央政府內擔任官員來協助國王治理好這個王國，還有一些人會當醫生去醫治老百姓們的疾病。
另外有少數一些人會做一個特別的工作，這個工作就是幫人家占卜。
我認識很多中央政府的官員，也認識了不少的醫師，但是我從來沒有機會認識占卜師，我們找一天去找一個占卜師聊聊天，你覺得我的主意好嗎?
宋忠聽完這些話後回答。
我跟你一樣，也認識很多官員與醫師，我也從來沒有見過占卜師。
我覺得你的建議很好，我們不如等一下下班後就一起到首都內打聽一下誰是最厲害的占卜師，然後我們一起去找個這占卜師。
他們兩個人下班後，就一起到首都內，他們打聽到有一個非常著名的名字叫做(司馬季主)的占卜師，他們就一起到了(司馬季主)所開設的一間小店舖中。
他們到達(司馬季主)的店舖的前幾十分鐘剛好下了一陣大雨，因此店鋪中的人很少。
司馬季主坐在他的店鋪中，他有好幾個他的學生坐在他的前面聽他講課。
司馬季主看到賈誼與宋忠走入他的店中，他就邀請賈誼與宋忠到他的面前坐下。
司馬季主跟賈誼與宋忠寒暄之後，他就繼續對他的學生們上課。
司馬季主對他的學生們分析這個世界上的很多重要的運行法則，與講解天上的星象變化與人世間的關係，司馬季主又講解了很多專業的占卜的知識，司馬季主教導學生們如何從日常生活的周遭的變化中去覺察好運與厄運的預兆。
司馬季主說了20幾分鐘後，賈誼與宋忠覺得司馬季主說的這些理論都非常的新奇卻又合乎邏輯，所以他們兩個人的心中都覺得司馬季主的確是一個很有學識的智者。
他們兩個人的態度從原本的輕鬆轉變成非常的恭謹。
他們兩個人把自己的衣服拉整齊並且坐得很端正。
他們兩個人與司馬季主的學生們一起認真地聆聽司馬季主講了大約一個小時的課直到這堂課結束。
這句成語直接翻譯的意思是一個人把衣服拉整齊並且坐得很端正。
這句成語被用來形容一個人的態度很嚴肅與恭敬。
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。
你是否有過占卜的經驗呢?你認為人真的能藉著占卜去預知未來的事情嗎?
我期待這故事能讓你產生一些新的收穫。
出處為史記-卷70-日者列傳