While it is difficult to change a person's natural personality, it is relatively easy to alter the landscape of rivers and mountains.(江山易改秉性難移)
While it is difficult to change a person's
natural personality, it is relatively easy to alter the landscape of rivers and
mountains.(江山易改秉性難移)
During the late Ming dynasty in China,
there was a renowned author named Feng Menglong who wrote a series of short
stories.
One of these stories is set in the Tang
Dynasty of China.
In Shandong Province, there was a very
knowledgeable scholar named Xiao Yingshi.
He is a very irritable person and gets
angry easily over trivial things.
The servants in his household would make
him furious if they said or did something wrong.
When he is angry, he loses his temper and
beats the servants who made mistakes with anything he can get his hands on.
He is educated and intelligent; he passed
the imperial examination to work in the central government, and his level of
knowledge is higher than that of most people around him.
Xiao Yingshi also recognises that his
behaviour is unacceptable; he knows that he is too irritable and that beating
people is wrong.
He had a servant named Du Liang who had
taken care of him for about 20 years.
Despite their close relationship, Xiao
Yingshi would lose his temper and beat Du Liang when he was angry.
Every time he did so, he would regret it
once his anger had subsided.
He would tell himself, 'I must never beat
Du Liang like this again. 'I must never beat Du Liang like this again.' I must
stay calm. Du Liang is a very good servant. I like him very much too. I must
treat this loyal old servant, who has been with me since childhood, well.'
However, he was unable to control his anger
and actions rationally.
His behaviour was just like an old Chinese
proverb.
While it is difficult to change a person's
natural personality, it is relatively easy to alter the landscape of rivers and
mountains.
After all the other servants in Xiao
Yingshi's household resigned, Du Liang was the only one left. When Xiao Yingshi
was angry and needed to vent his emotions, Du Liang was beaten more and more
frequently.
As the beatings became increasingly
violent, Du Liang's family members thought he should resign quickly.
This idiom means that it is difficult to
change a person's natural personality, but relatively easy to change the course
of rivers and mountains.
This idiom is used to illustrate the difficulty
of changing one's natural personality.
Dear friends, what inspiration or thoughts
did you take away from this story?
Why do you think Du Liang did not resign?
Have you ever changed your personality due to a sudden and significant life
event?
I hope this story brings you new insights.
江山易改秉性難移(While it is difficult to change a
person's natural personality, it is relatively easy to alter the landscape of
rivers and mountains.)
中國的明王朝末年，有一個著名的文學家，他的名字叫做(馮夢龍)，他寫過一本短篇小說集。
在這本書中有一個小故事的背景發生在中國的唐王朝。
在中國的山東省有一個知識很豐富的學者，他的名字叫做蕭穎士。
他是一個脾氣非常暴躁的人，他很容易就會因為一些小事而生氣，
他家中的僕人們只要說錯一句話或做錯一件事就會讓他暴怒。
他在暴怒的情況下會失去理智，他會隨手拿起手邊可以拿到的任何東西來暴打那些犯了錯的僕人。
他並不是一個沒有念過書的人，他並不是一個愚昧的人，他知道自己是一個知識份子，他通過科舉考試進入中央政府內工作，他的知識水平比他周圍的絕大多數人都高。
蕭穎士也認為自己的行為不好，他知道自己太過暴躁，而且打人的這個行為不對。
他家中有一個名字叫做杜亮的僕人，杜亮已經隨身照顧他20年左右。
雖然杜亮跟他的關係特別親近，但是他在生氣的時候也會失去理性地爆打杜亮。
當他每次打完杜亮後，他的生氣的情緒平緩之後，他就會後悔。
他會對自己說。我以後絕對不能夠再這樣打杜亮，我應該要保持平靜與穩定，杜亮是一個很好的僕人，我也很喜歡杜亮，我應該要好好的對待這個從小陪伴我的忠心的老僕人。
但是他沒有辦法理性地控制自己的怒氣與行動。
他的行為表現就好像一句古老的中國諺語所說。
一個人要改變自己天生的個性非常困難，河流與高山的地貌要改變相對容易。
蕭穎士家中的僕人全部離職後，他家中只剩下杜亮一個僕人，當蕭穎士生氣的時候，他沒有別人的僕人可以發洩情緒，所以杜亮愈來愈常被蕭穎士暴力毆打。
因為杜亮被暴力毆打的情況愈來愈嚴重，因此杜亮的家人們都覺得杜亮應該要快點離職。
這句成語直接翻譯的意思是一個人要改變自己天生的個性非常困難，河流與高山的地貌要改變相對容易。
這句成語被用來形容一個人很難改變自己天生的性格。
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。
你認為杜亮為何不離職呢?你是否曾經因為發生突然的巨大變化而改變自己原本的性格呢?
我期待這故事能讓你產生一些新的收穫。
出處為醒世恆言-卷35-徐老僕義憤成家
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