Use a bundle of grass as an offering.(生芻致祭)
In China's Eastern Han Dynasty, there was a
famous minister whose surname was (Guo). His parents called him (Tai) and when
he grew up his friends called him (Lin Zong). There is a story about him in the
history books.
He likes to make friends. His friends come
from all walks of life in society, and he interacts with others with a very
sincere heart.
After his mother died, many of his friends
came to pay their respects. Among them was a man called Xu Zhi.
(Xu Zhi) was a man of high moral character
and a famous scholar. He was invited to work for the central government, but he
refused. He believes that there are many things more important in life than
money and power.
After Guo Tai's mother died, Xu Zhi went to
Guo Tai's house to pay his respects.
In the mourning room of Guo Tai's mother,
he took out a bundle of green grass as an offering.
(Xu Zhi)'s act of taking out the bundle of
green grass as an object of worship aroused curiosity and confusion among all
of Guo Tai's friends who attended the funeral.
Guo Tai told his friends.
(Xu Zhi's) behaviour makes sense.
(The Book of Songs) is the earliest
collection of Chinese poetry. There are 305 poems in the book.
The poems were written over a period of 500
years, from the 11th to the 6th century BC.
In one of the poems, there are these two
lines that mean, "Let me cut a bunch of green grass for your white horse
to ride. The character of the owner of this horse is as elegant and pure as a
beautiful piece of jade.
(Xu Zhi) Although this bundle of grass is
of little value, it represents his belief that my mother's character is like a
piece of beautiful jade.
I was grateful for this gift he brought to
my late mother, and I was deeply moved by his praise of my mother.
The original theme of this poem in the Book
of Songs is that the author admires his good friend with a noble character, so
he is reluctant to let his good friend go. He takes out this bundle of green
grass for his good friend's horse to eat. The author hopes that while the horse
is eating the grass, he will be able to spend more time with his good friend.
The bundle of green grass that (Xu Zhi)
brought was also a gift to me. He used it to express that he thought I was a
person of noble character worthy of his association, and that he approved of my
behaviour and moral level.
After Guo Tai finished explaining, all his
friends realised that this seemingly insignificant and worthless bundle of
grass actually contained such a rich meaning.
The literal translation of this saying is
to use a bundle of grass as an object of worship.
This idiom is used to praise a deceased
person for his or her noble character.
Dear friends, what are your feelings or
thoughts after listening to this story?
Do you think that expensive things are
really more valuable than cheap things? What do you think is more valuable,
wealth or knowledge?
I hope this story can give you some new
insights.
生芻致祭(Use a bundle of grass as an offering.)
中國的東漢王朝有一個著名的大臣，他的姓是(郭)。的父母給他取的名字是(泰)，長大後朋友稱呼他的名字是(林宗)。歷史書上記載了一個他的故事。
他很喜歡交朋友，他交的朋友涵蓋社會上的各個階層，他用很真誠的心與他人交往。
他的母親過世之後，他的許多朋友們都來弔唁，其中有一個來弔唁的朋友的名字叫做(徐穉)。
(徐穉)的品德很高尚而且又是一個著名的學者，他被邀請進入中央政府工作，但是他堅決不接受。他認為人生之中有很多事情比金錢與權力更重要。
郭泰的母親過世之後，徐至到郭泰的家中表示他的哀悼。
他在郭泰的母親的靈堂上，他拿出了一綑青草當作祭拜的物品。
(徐穉)拿出這捆青草當作祭拜的物品的這個行為引起了所有參加喪禮的一些郭泰的朋友的們好奇與疑惑。
郭泰對他的朋友們說。
(徐穉)的行為是有道理的。
(詩經)是中國最早的詩歌合輯<這本書中有305首詩。
這些詩寫的時間橫跨500年，從西元前11世紀到西元前6世紀。
其中有一首詩中，這首詩裡面有這兩句詩的意思是讓我割下一束青草給你騎的白馬，這匹馬的主人的品德就像是一塊美麗的玉一樣的高雅與潔白。
(徐穉)拿這個捆青草雖然價值很低，但是這捆青草代表了他認為我的母親的品德就像是一塊美
麗的玉。
我很感謝他帶給我死去的母親的這個禮物，他對我的母親的讚美讓我覺得非常的感動。
詩經中的這首詩的原本的主旨是作者很欣賞自己一個品德高尚的好朋友，所以他捨不得自己的好朋友的離開，他拿出這捆青草給自己的好朋友的馬吃，作者希望利用這匹馬吃草的時候，他可以跟自己的這個好朋友多相處一點時間。
(徐穉)拿來的這束青草同時也是給我的一個禮物，他用這束青草來表示認為我是一個值得他交往的品德高尚的人，他認同我的行為與道德水平。
郭泰解釋完後，他的所有朋友才知道原來這捆看起來不起眼而且沒有價值的青草竟然包含了那麼豐富的含意。
這句成語直接翻譯的意思是用一捆青草來當作祭拜的物品。
這句成語被用來讚美一個逝者具備很高尚的品德。
親愛的朋友，你聽完這個故事有怎樣的感受或有怎樣的想法呢。
你認為貴的東西真的比便宜的東西有價值嗎?你認為財富與知識何者更珍貴呢?
我希望這故事能讓你產生一些新的收穫。
出處為後漢書-徐穉傳
https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/%E5%BE%8C%E6%BC%A2%E6%9B%B8/%E5%8D%B753#%E5%BE%90%E7%A8%9A