Throwing a glowing pearl in front of a
passer-by in the dark.(明珠暗投)
There was a famous adviser in the Western
Han dynasty of China named Zou Yang, and a story about him is recorded in
history books.
The king of the Western Han Kingdom divided
its territory among his brothers, who each ruled their own territory. The king
took this approach to facilitate the rule of the country, but it later caused
problems.
Several of the king's brothers wanted to
seize control of the entire dynasty, so they launched a rebellion. The
rebellion was later quelled and the king reduced the land and resources of these
brothers. The Western Han Dynasty slowly moved towards a centralised
government.
One of the king's brothers who wanted to
launch a rebellion was named Liu Wu, and Zou Yang served as his adviser.
Zou Yang was arrested and imprisoned on
false charges and sentenced to death.
While in prison, he wrote a letter to Liu
Wu, who was deeply moved upon reading it and released Zou Yang.
The following short paragraph is from Zou
Yang's letter:
'I heard that if a luminous pearl or a
precious jade is thrown in front of a passer-by in the dark, the passer-by will
definitely draw their sword and be on alert.'
When the passer-by sees the precious object
appear suddenly, their first reaction is that it might be a trap.
I also saw some twisted, dry and ugly tree
trunks. These trees were presented to the king. The king heard someone say that
the pattern of the twisted, ugly tree trunks represented good fortune, so he
happily accepted the gift.
Based on these two situations, we can see
that if nobody recommends an item, it will become worthless, even if it is
valuable.
Conversely, if someone recommends an item,
even a worthless one, it will be valued.
If I look around, I see that there are many
talented people. These people are ignored by leaders simply because they have
not been recommended. This is a very sad thing.
This idiom means throwing a luminous pearl
in front of a passer-by in the dark.
It is used to describe a talented person
who is not valued.
It is also used to describe a good person
who goes astray.
Dear friends, what thoughts or inspiration
do you have after hearing this story?
How would you react if you suddenly came
across something valuable? Do you think expensive luxury goods are really so
valuable?
I hope this story brings you new insights.
明珠暗投(Throwing a glowing pearl in front of
a passer-by in the dark.)
中國的西漢王朝有一個著名的參謀，他的名字叫做邹阳，歷史書上記載了一個他的故事。
西漢王國的國王將西漢王國的國土分給他的兄弟，這些兄弟各自擁有自己的領土與人民。西漢王國的國王採取這個做法的用意是為了方便國家的統治，但是這作法後來造成了一些問題。
西漢王國的國王有幾個兄弟想要奪取整個西漢王朝的控制權，因此發動了叛變，叛變後來被平定，西漢王朝的國王後來削減他的這些兄弟的土地與資源，西漢王朝慢慢走向成為中央集權的政府。
其中一個想要發動叛變的國王的兄弟的名字是劉武，鄒陽擔任劉武的參謀。
鄒陽因為受到誣陷，他被逮捕入獄，他被判處死刑。
他在獄中寫了一封信給劉武，劉武看完這封信後非常的感動所以就是放了鄒陽。
鄒陽這封信中有一小段的內容如下。
我聽說如果在黑夜中把一顆會發光的珍珠或是一塊名貴的玉丟到一個路人前面，那麼這個路人肯定會握住自己隨身的配劍然後提高警戒。
這個路人看到這個名貴的物品突然出現後，這個路人的第一反應是這可能是一個陷阱。
我又看到有一些扭曲的枯乾的醜陋的樹幹，這些樹被人們獻給國王，國王聽到這個人說這個扭曲的醜陋的樹幹的花紋代表祥瑞，所以國王很開心地接受了這個禮物。
根據這兩種情況，我們可以知道如果沒有人推薦，那麼一件非常寶貴的物品也會變得沒有價值。
如果有人推薦，那麼一件沒有價值的東西也會受到重視。
我環顧我們周圍，有很多很有才能的人，這些人因為沒有被人推薦，所以這些人被領導者所忽視，這是一件多麼令人感到悲哀的事。
這句成語直接翻譯的意思是在黑夜中把一顆會發光的珍珠丟到一個路人前面。
這句成語被用來形容一個有才能的人沒有受到重視。
這句成語也被用來形容一個好人誤入歧途。
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。
當你看到一個名貴的東西突然出現在你面前時，你會有怎樣的反應呢?你認為那些高價的奢侈品真的有那麼高的價值嗎?
我期待這故事能讓你產生一些新的收穫。
出處為漢書-卷51-鄒陽傳
https://zh.wikisource.org/zh-hant/%E6%BC%A2%E6%9B%B8/%E5%8D%B7051