Hair needs to be attached to the skin. If the skin is gone, the hair has no place to attach.(皮之不存毛將安傅)
Hair needs to be attached to the skin. If
the skin is gone, the hair has no place to attach.(皮之不存毛將安傅)
During the Spring and Autumn Period in
China, there was a king called Yiwu in the Kingdom of Jin. His story is
recorded in history books.
In 656 BC, his father felt that he had
betrayed him and sent assassins to kill him.
He fled everywhere from the assassins who
chased him, and finally arrived in the Kingdom of Qin, where the king offered
him political asylum.
In 651 BC, his father died and he wanted to
return to the Kingdom of Jin to take the throne.
He said to the king of Qin
If you provide me with military support so
that I can return to the Kingdom of Jin and successfully become king, I will
give you five cities of the Kingdom of Jin as a gift of gratitude.
In 650 BC, with the help of the Qin
Kingdom, he successfully became king of the Jin Kingdom. However, after he
became the king of the Jin Kingdom, he regretted it and refused to give the
five cities to the Qin Kingdom.
The King of Qin was very angry with him for
betraying his trust.
In 647 BC, there was a famine in the Jin
Kingdom. Because the famine was so severe, he sent an ambassador to the Qin
Kingdom to ask for food aid.
The King of Qin believed that the people of
Jin were in a humanitarian crisis of survival, so he agreed to provide food
aid.
In 646 BC, there was a famine in the Qin
Kingdom. Because the famine was so severe, the King of Qin sent an ambassador
to the Kingdom of Jin to request food aid.
After Yiwu met the Qin ambassador, he
called a meeting.
He asked the ministers present.
Should we help the Qin Kingdom?
Said one minister.
We should help them because they helped us
when we needed help.
Another minister said.
There is an old saying that hair is
attached to skin, and hair on skin cannot exist on its own.
You reneged on your promise earlier,
failing to give the Qin Kingdom five cities, and this matter is like the skin
in the proverb.
The food aid you gave to Qin this time is
like the hair in the proverb.
The skin is more important than the hair.
Even if we give food aid to the Qin Kingdom
this time, it will not change his mind about us. He will still think that you
are a person who does not keep your word. Therefore, I think we should not give
them food, because giving them food will not do much to improve relations
between our two countries.
He later decided not to give food aid to
the Qin Kingdom. His behaviour caused great anger in the Qin Kingdom. In 645
BC, the Qin Kingdom launched a military attack on the Jin Kingdom, which was
defeated and he was captured by the Qin Kingdom.
The literal translation of this idiom is
that the hair must be attached to the skin. When the skin is gone, the hair has
no place to attach itself.
It is used to describe the dependence of
two people or two things on each other.
Dear friends, what inspiration or thoughts
do you have after listening to this story?
What do you think of Yiwu's character? If
you met such a person, would you be friends with him?
I hope this story can give you some new
insights.
皮之不存毛將安傅(Hair needs to be attached to the
skin. If the skin is gone, the hair has no place to attach.)
中國的春秋時代晉王國有一個名字叫做(夷吾)的國王，歷史書上記載了一個他的故事。
西元前656年，他的父親覺得他背叛自己所以派遣殺手刺暗殺他。
他到處逃避這些追殺他的殺手，最後他到了秦王國，秦王國的國王提供他政治庇護。
西元前651年，他的父親過世了，他便想要回到晉王國強奪王位的繼承權。
他對秦王國的國王說。
如果你提供我武力的協助讓我回到晉王國並且順利成為國王，那麼我會送你五座晉王國的城市做為謝禮。
西元前650年，在秦王國的協助下，他成功地成為晉王國的國王，可是在他成為晉王國的國王後他反悔了，他拒絕把那五座城市送給秦王國。
因為他不守信用的行為，秦王國的國王感到非常憤怒。
西元前647年，晉王國發生飢荒，因為飢荒的情況非常嚴重，所以他派遣一個大使到秦王國請求提供糧食援助。
秦王國的國王認為晉王國的百姓陷入是否可以生存下去的人道危機，所以他答應提供糧食援助。
西元前646年，秦王國發生飢荒，因為飢荒的情況非常嚴重，所以秦王國的國王派遣一個大使到晉王國請求提供糧食援助。
夷吾見到這個秦王國大使後，他召開了一場會議。
他問參加這場會議的大臣說。
我們是否應該要幫助秦王國呢?
有一個大臣說。
我們應該要幫助他們，因為他們在我們需要協助的時候也曾經幫助過我們。
另一個大臣說。
有一句古老的諺語，毛依附在皮上面，皮上面的毛不可能獨自存在。
你之前沒有信守你的承諾，你沒有送五座城市給秦王國，這件事情就像是這句諺語中的皮。
這次提供給秦王國的糧食援助就像是這句諺語中的毛髮。
皮的重要性大於毛。
這次我們就算提供秦王國糧食援助也無法改變他對我們的想法，他仍舊會覺得你是一個不守信用的人，因此我覺得我們不要提供他們糧食協助，因為提供他們糧食對於協助改善對我們兩國的關係並沒有很大的幫助。
他後來決定不提供秦王國糧食協助，他的行為引起秦王國極大的憤怒，西元前645年，秦王國對晉王國發動軍事攻擊，晉王國大敗，他被俘虜到秦王國。
這句成語直接翻譯的意思是毛需要依附在皮的上面，如果皮已經不在了，毛就沒有依附的地方了。
這句成語被用來形容兩個人或兩件事情之間互相依附。
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。
你如何評價夷吾這個人的品德呢?你如果遇到這類型的人，你會跟他做朋友嗎?
我期待這故事能讓你產生一些新的收穫。
出處為左傳-僖公15年