Chen Tai hung these boxes on the wall.(陳泰掛壁)
At the end of the Han dynasty, China
descended into chaos. This period is known as the Three Kingdoms era in history
books.
The three major kingdoms were the Kingdom
of Cao Wei, the Kingdom of Eastern Wu and the Kingdom of Shu Han.
There was a famous general in the Kingdom
of Cao Wei. His name was Chen Tai. History books tell a story about him.
He was once sent to a northern state of the
Eastern Han Dynasty as governor. As well as administrative power, he also had
control over the military.
After he arrived and took office, some
friends from the capital wrote to him. They wrote in their letter, 'I have sent
a servant who is very close to me to deliver this letter to you. This servant
will also bring you a sealed box full of jewels.
You are the governor of the northern
border. I want you to use these jewels to buy some slaves from the nomadic
tribes. Once you have purchased the slaves, you will be given the remaining
money as a thank you gift.
When he received the boxes full of jewels,
he was embarrassed.
He was unwilling to help his friends with
human trafficking activities that were close to the grey area of the law.
He knew that the thank-you gifts from his
friends were actually another kind of bribe.
He later made a decision. He hung the
sealed boxes sent by his friends on the wall of his office. He didn't use the
jewellery, nor did he help his friends with these illegal activities.
A few years later, he was transferred back
to the capital. He found his friends and returned the boxes. 'I'm busy with
official business,' he told them.
'I've had a lot of busy official business
to deal with in recent years. I'm too busy to help you with what you want me to
do.
Now that I have left my position as
governor, I will no longer be able to help you with the tasks you asked me to
complete. Therefore, I am returning these boxes to you, as the seals have not
been broken.
He skilfully rejected his friends' requests
without ruining their relationship.
The literal translation of this idiom is
that Chen Tai hung these boxes on the wall.
This idiom is used to describe an honest
official.
Dear friends, what thoughts or inspiration
have you gained from listening to this story?
If you were Chen Tai, would you help your
friend with these illegal activities? Do you think Chen Tai could have dealt
with the situation better?
I hope this story brings you new insights.
陳泰掛壁(Chen Tai hung these boxes on the
wall.)
中國漢王朝末年中國陷入一片混亂，這個時代歷史書上稱為三國時代。
三國時代最主要的三個王國是曹魏王國、東吳王國與蜀漢王國。
曹魏王國有一個著名的將軍，他的名字叫做(陳泰)，歷史書上記載了一個他的故事。
他曾經被派任到東漢王潮的北方的一個州擔任州長，他除了掌握行政權外還掌握的軍權。
他到了這個地方上任之後，有一些首都的官員朋友寫信給他，這些朋友們在信中寫著，我派遣跟我很親近的僕人送這信給你，這個僕人還會帶一個貼了封條且裝滿了珠寶的箱子給你。
你在在擔任北方邊境的州長，我想要請你幫我用這些珠寶從那些遊牧民族的部落中幫我買一些奴婢，你買了這些奴婢後，剩下的錢都給你當作謝禮。
他收到這些裝滿的珠寶的箱子後，他很為難。
他不願意幫他的朋友們進行這種接近於法律的灰色地帶的人口販賣的活動。
他知道他的朋友所謂的的謝禮其實是另外一種隱性的行賄。
他後來做了一個決定，他把他朋友寄來的這些貼了封條的箱子掛在他的辦公室的牆上，他沒有動用這些珠寶，更沒有幫他的朋友們做這些犯法的事。
幾年後，他被調回首都，他找來他的這些朋友們，他把這些箱子還給他的朋友，他對他的朋友說。
我這幾年有很多繁忙的公事要處理，我太忙了所以沒有時間幫你們完成你們希望我幫忙的事。
現在我已經離開了那個州長的職位，我永遠不可能再幫你們完成你們想要我幫忙的那些事情了，因此我現在就把這些尚未撕掉封條的箱子還給你們。
他很有技巧地拒絕他的朋友們的請求，但他又沒有把大家的關係打壞。
這句成語直接翻譯的意思是陳泰把這些箱子掛在牆上。
這句成語被用來形容一個官員非常的清廉。
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。
你如果是陳泰，你會幫你的朋友做這些不法的事情嗎?你認為陳泰面對這種情況時有更好的處理方式嗎?
我期待這故事能讓你產生一些新的收穫。
出處為三國志-魏書22-陳泰傳
https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/%E4%B8%89%E5%9C%8B%E5%BF%97/%E5%8D%B722