Shang Tang praying and making offerings in
a mulberry forest.(湯禱桑林)
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.
In 1600 BC, Shang Tang led a revolutionary
army to defeat the army led by King Jie of Xia. He unified all of China and
founded the Shang Dynasty.
He was a very kind king and cared for 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, the
production of grain has decreased greatly. People do not have enough food and
their lives are in trouble.
When he saw this situation, he became very
concerned. He held many meetings with all his ministers, but they could not
figure out how to solve the crisis.
Later he made a decision. He decided to
make a public sacrifice to God and to use his own life as a sacrifice.
This great worship ceremony was held in a
mulberry forest, he said to heaven.
The Shang dynasty fell into a serious
famine crisis. Was it because of the crime I committed as king? If it was my
crime that caused the famine, then please put all the blame on me and do not
let all the people be involved because of me.
If the famine is not caused by my sin as
king, but by the sins of the people, then I am willing to bear all the sins on
behalf of the people. Please lay all the sins on me. I am willing to sacrifice
my life to atone for the sins of all the people.
In ancient China, people attached great
importance to their hair and nails. They believed that hair and nails had
strong 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 willing to sacrifice himself
in exchange for the happiness of the people.
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
that Shang Tang prayed and offered sacrifices in a mulberry forest.
This idiom is used to describe the leader
of a country who cares deeply for the people of that country.
Dear friends, what inspiration or thoughts
do you have after listening to this story?
What will you do when you encounter a
problem that cannot be solved by human power? What kind of magnanimity do you
think a leader should have?
I hope this story can give you some new
insights.
湯禱桑林(Shang Tang praying and making
offerings in a mulberry forest.)
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。
西元前1600年，商湯率領革命軍打敗夏桀所領導的軍隊，他統一了整個中國並且建立了商王朝。
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。
他看到這個情況，他的內心十分的焦慮，他與所有的大臣們開了很多會議，但都無法想出如何解決危機的辦法。
他後來做出一個決定，他決定要公開向上天獻祭，他決定用自己的生命來當作祭品。
這場隆重的祭拜儀式在一座桑林裡面舉辦，他對上天說。
商王朝陷入的飢荒的重大的危機，這個原因是因為我的這個當國王的犯了罪嗎?如果是我犯了罪才導致這場飢荒，那麼請把罪過全部歸到我身上，不要因為我的關係而連累的所有的百姓。
如果這場飢荒的原因不是我這個當國王的人犯了罪、如果這場飢荒的原因是因為百姓們犯了罪，那麼我願意代替所有的百姓承擔所有的罪過，請把罪過全部歸到我身上，我願意用我的生命替所有的百姓贖罪。
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願意犧牲自己來換取人民的幸福。
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商湯在一座桑樹林中祈禱與獻祭。
這句成語被用來形容一個國家的領導人非常的愛護這個國家中的百姓。
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。
當你遇到人的力量無法解決的問題時，你會怎麼做呢?你認為一個領導者應該具備怎樣的氣度呢?
我期待這故事能讓你產生一些新的收穫。
出處為呂氏春秋-季秋紀-順民
https://ctext.org/lv-shi-chun-qiu/shun-min/zh