Open bribery(苞苴公行)
The king who founded China's Shang Dynasty
was called (Zi Tang), also known as (Shang Tang). A story about him is recorded
in history books.
He was a very kind king and he cared about
the lives of all his people.
After he had ruled the Shang Dynasty for
several years, the Shang Dynasty faced a great crisis.
This great crisis is drought. China had not
had enough rain for five years in a row. Because of the lack of rain, grain
production has decreased greatly, people do not have enough food, and their
lives are in trouble.
To pray for rain, he held a grand worship
ceremony in a mulberry forest.
He read out his prayers in public.
The Shang dynasty was facing a major drought
crisis. What was the cause?
Was it because my laws were too harsh? Is
it because my policies were wrong that the people were so miserable?
Is it because of my mistakes that the Shang
Dynasty suffered such a severe drought?
Is it because I spent too much money on the
palace where I live? Is it because my wives influence the way I make national
policy?
Is it because of my mistakes that the Shang
Dynasty suffered such extreme weather conditions?
Is it because I failed to manage the
central government well that officials openly took bribes? Is it because I was
close to flatterers and gave them important positions in the central
government?
Is it because of my mistakes that there was
no rain for five consecutive years in the Shang dynasty?
Shang Tang then said to the sky.
I am willing to think deeply about myself
and I am willing to change. If I have made a mistake, please punish me. Please
don't make my people suffer. Please let it rain so that the people of the Shang
Dynasty can escape the crisis of drought.
In ancient China, people took great care of
their hair and nails. They believed that hair and nails had great vitality and
that hair and nails were the spiritual symbol of everyone's life.
So Shang Tang cut off his hair and all his
nails and used his hair and nails to replace his body in the sacrificial
ceremony.
All the officials and people of the Shang
Dynasty who attended the sacrificial ceremony were very moved because they knew
from this sacrificial ceremony that their king was a responsible person. He
first checked to see if he had made any mistakes, and he did not blame others.
A few days after the sacrificial ceremony,
it suddenly began to rain, and abundant rain fell on the land of the Shang
dynasty, relieving the Shang dynasty of the crisis of famine.
The literal translation of this idiom is
open bribery.
Dear friends, what inspiration or thoughts
do you have after listening to this story?
When you face setbacks, do you look first
to yourself or to others? How do you think a responsible person should behave?
I hope this story can give you some new
insights.
苞苴公行(Open bribery)
創立中國的商王朝的國王的名字叫做(子湯)，他也被稱為(商湯)，歷史書上記載了一個他的故事。
他是一個很仁慈的國王，他很關心所有的百姓的生活。
他統治了商王朝好幾年後，商王朝遭遇了一場重大的危機。
這場重大的危機就是乾旱，中國連續五年的降雨量不足，因為降雨量不足導致糧食的生產量驟減，百姓們沒有足夠的食物，人們的生活陷入困境。
他為了祈雨，他在一座桑樹林中舉辦了一場隆重的祭拜儀式。
他公開朗讀他的祈禱文。
商王朝面臨到乾旱的巨大危機，到底是因為甚麼原因造成的呢?
難道是因為我所發布的法律太過嚴苛了嗎?難道是因為我的政策錯誤所以讓百姓感覺到非常的痛苦嗎?
是因為我犯了這些錯所以導致商王朝遭遇到如此嚴重的旱災嗎?
難道是因為我花了太多錢去建設我所住的宮殿嗎?難道是因為我的妻子們影響了我對於國家政策的制定嗎?
是因為我犯了這些錯所以導致商王朝遭遇到如此極端的氣候嗎?
難道是因為我沒有管理好中央政府所以導致官員們公開的收受賄絡嗎?難道是因為我親近那些愛奉承的人並且讓這些人擔任中央政府內重要職務嗎?
是因為我犯了這些錯所以導致商王朝才會連續五年沒有下雨嗎?
商湯接著對上天說。
我願意深刻的反省我自己，我願意改變我自己，如果我犯了錯請你懲罰我，請你不要讓我的百姓們受苦，請你讓天空下雨，讓商王朝的百姓們可以脫離乾旱的危機。
中國古代的人們非常重視自己的頭髮與指甲，他們認為頭髮與指甲具有旺盛的生命力，他們認為頭髮與指甲是每個人的生命的精神象徵。
因此商湯就把自己的頭髮剪斷，並且剪下自己的所有的指甲，他用這些頭髮與指甲代替自己的身體舉辦獻祭的儀式。
商王朝中所有參加這場獻祭儀式的官員與百姓都非常的感動，因為他們從這場獻祭的儀式中知道自己的國王是一個負責任的人，他先檢討自己有沒有犯錯，他沒有把過錯推給其他人。
這場獻祭儀式舉辦完成的幾天後，天空突然開始下雨，充沛的雨量重新降在商王朝的土地上，商王朝解除了飢荒的危機。
這句成語直接翻譯的意思是公開賄絡。
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。
當你遇到挫折時你會先檢討自己還是先檢討別人呢?你認為一個負責的人該有怎樣的行為表現呢?
我期待這故事能讓你產生一些新的收穫。
出處為荀子-大略
https://ctext.org/xunzi/da-lve/zh
出處為呂氏春秋-季秋紀-順民