Dong Hu has an upright pen(董狐直筆)
During the Spring and Autumn Period in
China, there was a famous minister in the Jin Kingdom. His name was Zhao Dun.
There is a story about him recorded in
history.
In 207 BC, he escaped from the capital of
the Jin Kingdom.
Why did he flee the capital of the Jin
Kingdom? It was because the king of the Jin Kingdom wanted to assassinate him
several times in a row.
He is an upright man, very loyal to the Jin
Kingdom, and the most powerful person in the central government of the Jin
Dynasty. He has helped four kings of the Jin Dynasty in his lifetime.
The person who wants to kill him now is the
third king of the Jin dynasty that he helped.
This king had a very cruel personality and
often did many bad things. He didn't like Zhao Dun, so he thought of various
ways to assassinate Zhao Dun.
After Zhao Dun fled the capital of the Jin
Kingdom, before he left the border of the Jin Kingdom, he heard news that
shocked him.
The news was that the king of the Jin
Kingdom had been killed by his cousin.
His cousin was a famous general in the Jin
Kingdom.
Upon hearing the news, Zhao Dun immediately
rushed back to the capital. After meeting with his cousin, he once again took
charge of the central government of the Jin Kingdom.
Under his leadership, the new king of the
Jin Kingdom was succeeded by a member of the royal family named ((Heitun).
At that time, each kingdom in China had a
special official position, and the people who held this official position were
responsible for recording all important events that occurred in the kingdom.
The name of the person in charge of this
special record in the Jin Kingdom was (Dong Hu).
Dong Hu wrote in his records that in 207
BC, Zhao Dun killed the king of the Jin Kingdom.
When Zhao Dun heard the record written by
Dong Hu, Zhao Dun went to find Dong Hu.
Zhao Dun said to Dong Hu
I don't think you should record like this.
The king was killed by my cousin. The
King's death had nothing to do with me.
Dong Hu said to him.
After you returned to the capital, you did
not blame your cousin for killing the king, and with your cousin's support, you
once again took of the central government of the Jin Kingdom.
Therefore, I can reasonably conclude that
although you did not kill the king yourself, you were the mastermind behind it.
That's why I'm writing this.
I don't think I'm wrong in writing this,
and I wouldn't change what I've written.
After listening to Dong Hu's words, Zhao
Dun reluctantly accepted Dong Hu's point of view.
Zhao Dun was an upright man and did not use
his power to force Dong Hu to change the contents of the record.
The literal translation of this idiom is
that Dong Hu has an upright pen.
This idiom is used to describe a person who
is very upright, who is not afraid of harming his own interests, and who
insists on his correct and just remarks.
Dear friend, what inspiration or thoughts
do you have after listening to this story?
If you were Dong Hu, how would you record
this incident? If you were Zhao Dun, who had power, how would you treat Dong
Hu?
I hope this story can give you some new
insights.
董狐直筆(Dong Hu has an upright pen)
中國的春秋時代，晉王國有一個著名的大臣，他的名字叫做趙盾。
歷史上記載了一個他的故事。
西元前207年，他逃離了晉王國的首都。
他為何會逃離晉王國的首都呢?原因是因為晉王國的國王連續好幾次要暗殺他。
他是一個正直的人，他對晉王國非常的忠誠，他是晉王朝的中央政府中最有權力的人。他的一生中曾經輔助過四任的晉王朝的國王。
現在要殺他的，是他所輔助的第三任的晉王國的國王。
這個國王的個性非常的殘暴，他常常做很多壞事，他不喜歡趙盾，所以他想了各種方法要暗殺趙盾。
趙盾在逃離晉王國的首都後，他在尚未離開晉王國的邊境的時候，他聽到了一個令他覺得震驚的消息。
這個消息就是晉王國的國王被他的堂弟殺了。
他的堂弟是晉王國內一個著名的將軍。
趙盾聽到這個消息後立刻趕回首都，他與他的堂弟見面後，他再度掌管了晉王國的中央政府。
經由他的主導，新任的晉王國的國王由一個名字叫做(黑屯)的皇室成員繼任。
當時的中國的各個王國中，都有一個專門的官職，擔任這個官職的人員要負責記錄下王國內所發生的所有重要的事件。
晉王國內擔任這個專門記錄的人的名字叫做(董狐)。
董狐在紀錄中寫下在西元前207年這一年，趙盾殺了晉王國的國王。
當趙盾聽到董狐寫下的紀錄後，趙盾就去找董狐。
趙盾對董狐說。
我認為你不應該這樣記錄。
國王被我的堂弟所殺，國王的死跟我沒有關係。
董狐對他說。
你返回首都後，你沒有追究你的堂弟殺了國王的責任，而且在你的堂弟支持之下，你又再度控制了晉王國的中央政府。
所以我合理的推論，國王雖然不是你親手所殺，但是你是主謀。
因此我才會在這樣寫。
我認為我這樣寫並沒有錯，我不會更改我所寫的內容。
趙盾聽完董狐的話後，他無奈地接受了董狐的觀點。
趙盾是一個正直的人，他沒有利用他的權力逼迫董狐更改紀錄的內容。
這句成語直接翻譯的意思是董狐有一隻正直的筆。
這句成語被用來形容一個人非常的正直，這個人不恐懼自己的利益受到損傷，這個人堅持自己那些正確且正義的言論。
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。
如果你是董狐，你會如何記載這個事件呢?如果你是擁有權力的趙盾，你會怎樣對待董狐呢?
我期待這故事能讓你產生一些新的收穫。
出處為春秋左傳-宣公-宣公二年