Tao Kan moving bricks(陶侃運甓)
There was a famous minister in the Jin
Dynasty of China. His name was Tao Kan. There is a story about him recorded in
history books.
China's Jin Dynasty lasted for 154 years
and was divided into two periods.
The Western Jin Dynasty lasted from 265 AD
to 316 AD. The Eastern Jin Dynasty lasted from 317 AD to 420 AD.
There were several famous families in the
Jin dynasty who almost controlled important positions in the central government
of the Jin dynasty.
Among them, the Wang family was the most
powerful and had the most celebrities. Many officials in the central government
of the Jin dynasty were members of the Wang family.
Because of his outstanding military talent,
Tao Kan defeated many rebels in the territory of the Eastern Jin Dynasty. His
achievements aroused the jealousy of a general from the Wang family.
This general from the Wang family used his
family's influence to have Tao Kan transferred to what is now China's Guangdong
Province to serve as governor.
At that time, Guangdong Province was a very
backward and unimportant region. After Tao Kan arrived there, his workload was
greatly reduced and his life became very relaxed from being so busy.
A few months after he arrived in Guangdong
Province to serve as governor, his family noticed that he was behaving very
strangely and suspected that something was wrong with his mental state.
When he arrives at the office every
morning, he begins to work attentively. Because the workload is small and his
work efficiency is very high, he can complete the work he has to do in about
two hours.
(He placed hundreds of large bricks in the
corner of his office. After he finished his work in the morning, he would move
the bricks one by one from the corner of the office to the courtyard in front
of the office. It would take him more than an hour to move all the bricks.
In the afternoon, after lunch, he would
convene a meeting of important officials in the provincial government. He would
discuss some important policies with these officials and discuss how to
implement and review them.
When he finished the meeting, he would move
the bricks that he had spent a lot of time moving from his office to the
courtyard in the morning back to the corner of his office one by one and put
them away.
It would take him another hour to move the
bricks back into his office.
After observing this behaviour for several
weeks, his wife couldn't help but ask him.
Why are you moving these bricks every day?
Your behaviour makes no sense. I think you should go and see a Chinese doctor.
I think you are under too much mental stress.
After listening to his wife's words, he
smiled and said to his wife.
I'm in a good mental state and I have my
reasons.
After I came here to work, I found that the
work here was too easy. I thought that if I continued to relax like this for a
long time, my physical strength and willpower would quickly diminish. I used
this simple, free thing that I could do every day to train my physical strength
and willpower.
I do this so that when I have the
opportunity to return to the capital, I can immediately get into that heavy and
busy working state. I use this method to motivate myself not to be lazy.
The literal translation of this idiom is
Tao Kan moving bricks.
This idiom is used to describe a person who
is very hardworking and never slacks off. This person has a strong will. In
order to train his physical strength and willpower, he can repeat some
monotonous and boring things.
Dear friends, what inspiration or thoughts
do you get after listening to this story?
Do you think you are a person with strong
willpower? Do you use these methods to train your physical strength and
willpower?
I hope this story can give you some new
insights.
陶侃運甓(Tao Kan moving bricks)
中國的晉王朝時代有一個著名的大臣，他的名字叫做陶侃，歷史書上記載了一個他的故事。
中國的晉王朝維持了154年，晉王朝分為兩個時期。
西晉王朝為西元265年到西元316年。東晉王朝為西元317年到西元420年。
晉王朝有幾個著名的家族，這幾個家族幾乎控制了晉王朝的中央政府中的重要的職位。
其中中勢力最大而且名人最多的就是王氏家族，晉王朝的中央政府內有很多的官員都是王氏家族的成員。
陶侃因為有傑出的軍事才能，他打敗了很多東晉王朝國土內的叛亂份子，他的功勞引起王氏家族的一個將軍的忌妒。
這個王氏家族的將軍運用他的家族的影響力將陶侃被調職到現在中國的廣東省擔任省長。
在那個時代，廣東省是一個很落後而且很不重要的地區，陶侃到了這個地方後，他的工作量驟減，他的生活作息從原本的忙碌變得非常輕鬆。
他到了廣東省擔任省長幾個月後，他的家人們發現他出現的很怪異的舉動，他的家人懷疑他的精神狀態出了問題。
他每天早上到辦公室上班後，他就開始專心地工作，因為工作量很少，他的工作效率又很高，所以他大概兩個小時就可以把他該處理的公事處理好。
他在他的辦公室中的角落放了好幾百塊的很大的磚頭，當他早上把公事處理完之後，他就會把他放在辦公室的角落內的那些磚頭一塊一塊地搬到辦公室外的院子裡，搬完這些磚頭大概要花他一個多小時的時間。
中午吃完飯後，下午他會召集省政府中的重要官員開會，他與這些官員討論一些重要的政策並且討論如何執行與檢討。
當他開完會後，他會把他早上從他的辦公室花了很多時間搬到院子裡的那磚頭一塊一塊地搬回辦公室的角落放好。
把這些磚頭搬回他的辦公室又要大概花他一個多小時的時間。
他的妻子觀察到他的這個行為好幾個禮拜後，他的妻子忍不住問他。
你為何要每天把那些磚頭搬來搬去呢?你的這個行為並沒有意義。我認為你應該要去看中醫，我認為你可能精神壓力太大了。
他聽完他的妻子的話後，他笑著對他的妻子說。
我的精神狀態很好，我這樣做有我的道理。
我來到這裡工作後，我發現到這裡的工作太輕鬆了，我認為如果我長期這樣放鬆下去，我的體力會與意志力都會快速的下降，我用這個簡單又不花錢又每天可以做的事情來鍛鍊我的體力與意志力。
我這樣做是為了當我還有機會再次回到首都的時候，我可以立刻進入那種繁重又忙碌的工作狀態，我用這個方式激勵我自己不可以怠惰。
這句成語直接翻譯的意思是陶侃搬磚頭。
這句成語被用來形容一個人非常的勤奮而且不懈怠，這個人有堅強的意志力，他為了訓練自己的體力與意志力，他可以重複做一些單調又無聊的事情。
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。
你認為你是一個意志力堅定的人嗎?你是否正在用那些方式訓練自己的體力與意志力呢?
我期待這故事能讓你產生一些新的收穫。
出處為晉書-卷66-陶侃傳
https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/%E6%99%89%E6%9B%B8/%E5%8D%B7066