This person can travel to the capital or
the palace with a cane.(杖國杖朝)
Dai Sheng was an important Confucian
scholar during the Han dynasty.
He collected many Confucian texts and
compiled them into a book. This book is called the Li Ji.
It records the rules and regulations of the
ancient Zhou dynasty in China in detail. It records the etiquette and norms
that people of every social class should abide by.
The Zhou dynasty was the last feudal
hereditary dynasty in Chinese history and the longest-lasting.
The Zhou king distributed land within the
dynasty to nobles, who were kings in their own territories. They had to pay the
Zhou king a certain amount of money and goods every year.
A few decades after its establishment, the
Zhou dynasty had more than 140 kingdoms, established by these nobles.
Li Ji also formulated a set of detailed
rules to help the leaders of these kingdoms govern their territories.
The following passage is from this book:
'The leader of a kingdom should attach
great importance to the wise old officials in the kingdom.'
They should make a plan to take good care
of these officials in all aspects of life.
The state should subsidise the diet of
these officials between the ages of 50 and 80. Their diet should become richer
as they age.
They can participate in regular banquets
held for elderly people at various levels in the kingdom.
They should be given silk clothes, and
servants should be assigned to take care of them according to their needs.
After the age of 50, these elderly
officials can use crutches to represent their authority and status to
participate in meetings of their family and town.
After the age of 70, these officials can
use these crutches to participate in important meetings hosted by the king in
the capital or the palace.
They are exempt from labour or military
service and cannot be required to perform tasks that require a lot of physical
effort.
Once they reach 90 years of age, they
become the country's most valuable assets.
They can provide the king with valuable
advice based on their wisdom, and he must show them respect when meeting them.
If the king encounters problems in
governance, he should go directly to the homes of these officials to ask for
their advice.
This idiom literally means that a person
can go to the capital or the palace with a cane representing the authority and
status of the elderly.
It is used to describe highly valued and
respected old officials.
Dear friends, what inspiration or thoughts
have you gained from this story?
Who is the oldest person in your family? Is
there a tradition of respecting the elderly in your country?
I hope this story brings you new insights.
杖國杖朝(This person can travel to the capital
or the palace with a cane.)
(戴聖)是漢王朝時代的一個重要的儒家學者。
他蒐集了許多儒家的文章，編著成為一本書。這本書就是(禮記)。
這本書中詳細地記載了中國古代的周王朝的典章制度，在這本書中紀錄了生活在這個社會的每個階層的人應該遵守的禮儀與規範。
周王朝是中國歷史上最後一個封建世襲的王朝，周王朝也是中國歷史上延續時間最久的王朝。
周王朝的國王把王朝內的土地分給王朝中的貴族們，這些貴族在自己的領地各自稱王。這些貴族們必須每年進貢一定的金錢與貨品給周王朝的國王。
周王朝建立幾十年後，王朝內的貴族愈來愈多，周王朝中這些貴族們所建立的王國超過140個。
禮記這本書中也針對了這些王國的領導者制定了一套很詳細的規則，這些規則可以協助這些王國的領導者治理好自己的王國。
這本書中有一段文字如下。
一個王國的領導者要非常重視王國中的那些有智慧的老官員。
一個王國中的領導者要遵循一套讓這些老官員在生活的各個方面都可以得到妥善照顧的方案。
這些老官員在50歲到80歲的這段期間內，國家要針對他們的飲食加以補助。他們飲食菜色必須隨著年齡增長而變得愈來愈豐富。
這些老官員能夠參加王國中各種不同等級的針對老者所定期舉辦的宴會。
這些老官員要配給絲綢的衣服，也要針對他們的需要安排奴僕照顧他們。
這些老官員在50歲之後就可以拿著代表老年人的權威與地位的柺杖去參與他的家族與他所住的鄉鎮中的一些會議。
這些老官員在70歲之後就可以拿著代表老年人的權威與地位的柺杖去首都或皇宮中參與國王所主辦的重要會議。
這些老官員不用在擔負勞役也不用當兵，也不可以要求他們去做那些需要花費大量體力的工作。
如果這些老官員的年紀超過90歲，那麼他們就成為國家中最重要的資產。
這些老官員可以根據他們的智慧提供國王很多重要的意見，國王見到他們時必須要保持恭敬的態度。
國王如果在施政上面有遇到一些問題，應該直接到這些超過90歲的老官員的家中去請教他們的意見。
這句成語直接翻譯的意思是這個人可以拿著代表老年人的權威與地位的柺杖去首都或皇宮中。
這句成語被用來形容一些很受到重視與尊敬的老官官員。
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。
你的家族中年紀最大的是誰呢?你的國家中是否有尊敬老年人的傳統呢？
我期待這故事能讓你產生一些新的收穫。
出處為禮記-王制