If you change the direction of your arm,
you can change the direction of your fingers.(如臂使指)
In the Han Dynasty of China, there was a
famous minister called Jia Yi.
There is a story about him in the history
books.
He entered the central government of the
Han Dynasty [as an official] at the age of 22. He felt that the political
system at that time was very flawed, so he expressed his views to the king.
He once said to the king.
I think you should reduce the power and
territory of the princes.
According to the results of my study of
history books, I found that if the power of the princes in a dynasty is too
great, then those princes will begin to disobey the instructions of the central
government.
Therefore, you should formulate clear laws
to reduce the power and territorial scope of the current princes in the Han
Dynasty.
If the central government is like a
person's body, then the princes are like a person's arms, and the people are
like a person's fingers.
If a person's body changes direction, his
arm will definitely change direction.
When a person's arm changes direction, his
fingers will also change direction.
If you follow my suggestions for reforming
the system within the central government, I believe you will be able to manage
the entire dynasty well and avoid the danger of the princes rebelling against
you.
The king liked Jia Yi's views very much,
but Jia Yi's views made many princes in power very unhappy.
These princes concentrated their efforts on
opposing the king's political reforms. These princes also slandered Jia Yi.
Later, the king of the Han dynasty did not
accept Jia Yi's opinions because the opposition from the princes was too
strong.
The Han king even transferred Jia Yi out of
the capital to serve as a mid-level official in Changsha, in present-day Hunan
province.
The direct translation of this idiom is
that you can change the direction of your fingers by changing the direction of
your arm.
This idiom is used to describe a person who
has complete control over another person or thing.
Dear friend, what inspirations or thoughts
do you have after listening to this story?
Were you full of ideals to change society
when you were young? If you were him, how would you feel after being
transferred out of the capital?
I hope this story can give you some new
insights.
如臂使指(If you change the direction of your arm, you can change the direction of your fingers.)
中國的漢王朝，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。
他22歲就進入漢王朝的中央政府[擔任官員，他認為當時的政治制度有很大的缺陷，因此他向國王提出了他的看法
他曾經對國王說過一段話。
我認為你應該要減少諸侯們的勢力與領土。
根據我研究歷史書的結果，我發現如果一個王朝中的諸侯們的勢力太大，那麼這些諸侯們便會開始不聽從中央政府的指揮。
因此你應該要制定明確的法令縮減目前漢王朝內的諸侯們的勢力與領土範圍。
如果中央政府像是一個人的身體，而諸侯們就像是一個人的手臂，而人民就是一個人的手指。
一個人的身體如果改變前進的方向，那麼手臂一定會跟著改變前進的方向。
一個人的手臂如果改變方向，那麼這個人的手指就會跟著改變方向。
如果你按照我提出的建議去進行中央政府內的體系的改革，那麼我認為這有助於你管理好整個王朝，你才可以避免掉諸侯們反叛你的危險。
國王很喜歡賈誼提出的觀點，但是賈誼的觀點讓很多掌握權力的諸侯們非常地不開心。握
這些諸侯們便集中力量反對國王實行政治改革，這些諸侯們並同時詆毀賈誼。
後來漢王朝的國王因為諸侯們反對的力量太大，所以就沒有採用賈誼的意見。
漢王朝的國王更把賈誼調離首都到現在湖南省的長沙市中擔任一個中階官員。
這句成語直接翻譯的意思是你改變你手臂的方向你就可以改變你的手指的方向。
這句成語被用來形容一個人對於另一個人或是一件事具有完全的指揮能力。
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。
你年輕的時候也充滿了改變社會的理想嗎?你如果是他，你被調離首都後你會有怎樣的感受呢?
我期待這故事能讓你產生一些新的收穫。
出處為漢書-卷48-賈誼傳
https://zh.wikisource.org/zh-hans/%E6%BC%A2%E6%9B%B8/%E5%8D%B704
