An owl wearing human clothing and a human
hat!(衣冠土梟)
Following the collapse of the Tang dynasty,
China entered the turbulent and divided Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period.
During this period, a despised official named Su Kai lived, and his story is
recorded in history books.
His father was a high-ranking Tang Dynasty
official. He was treacherous and incompetent. He rose through the ranks of the
central government by flattering his superiors and always complying with their
wishes.
His father was a man of poor moral
character who was deeply greedy for money and power, and he had a profound
influence on Su Kai.
Su Kai sought to enter the Tang Dynasty's
central government through the imperial examination.
Not only was he ugly, but his moral
character was poor and his intellectual level was insufficient for the rigorous
examination. So his father planned to use his connections to help him pass.
However, the king discovered their scheme
and, furious, excluded him from the examination. Because of this incident, he
harboured deep resentment towards the Tang emperor.
In 907 AD, a Tang minister named Zhu Wen,
who wielded immense power and military influence, forced the emperor to
relinquish the throne. Zhu Wen publicly declared an end to the Tang dynasty,
and the Later Liang Kingdom, which he founded, succeeded it.
The Later Liang Kingdom inherited the Tang
dynasty's territory, institutions and laws, as well as all officials from its
central government.
Following the fall of the Tang dynasty,
many upright Tang ministers were deeply saddened. They left the central
government, unwilling to serve under the Later Liang.
In stark contrast to these ministers, Su
Kai and his father were both extremely happy. Su Kai's father took advantage of
the significant personnel changes in the central government following the
establishment of the Later Liang Kingdom to arrange for his son to serve within
the government.
After Su Kai joined the central government
of the Later Liang Dynasty, he and his father thought they could use their
status and power to get rich. However, reality was completely different.
A few months later, when the political
situation had stabilised, Zhu Wen issued an order.
He dismissed several officials from the
central government whom he deemed to be incompetent and of poor character. Su
Kai and his father were among those dismissed, with Zhu Wen explicitly stating
that these individuals would no longer be employed by the central government of
the Later Liang Dynasty.
Following their dismissal, Su Kai and his
father returned to their hometown. Having lost their power, those in his
hometown who had previously treated them with hostility gave Su Kai the
nickname 'an owl dressed in human clothing and a human hat'.
In ancient China, the owl symbolised
someone who was unfilial to their parents or disloyal to their country. The
people of Su Kai's hometown used this nickname to mock his unattractive
appearance and lack of moral integrity.
This idiom literally means 'an owl wearing
human clothing and a human hat'.
It is used to describe someone who is
unfilial to their parents or disloyal to their country and who is ugly and
lacks moral character.
Dear friends, what insights or thoughts
have you gained from this story?
What is the most vicious nickname you have
ever heard? Have you ever met someone with no talent who has thrived in their
career through flattery?
I hope this story will provide you with
some new insights.
衣冠土梟(An owl wearing human clothing and a
human hat!)
中國在唐王朝滅亡之後，進入了一個分裂又動亂的五代十國王朝時代，在這段期間內有一個被人們所鄙視的官員，這個官員的名字叫做(蘇楷)，歷史書上記載了一個他的故事。
他的父親是唐王朝的一個高級官員，他的父親的個性相當奸詐而且工作能力又很差，他的父親因為很會奉承他的長官與總是順著長官的意思辦事所以才能夠在中央政府內不斷的晉升。
他的父親是一個品德很不好的人，他的父親非常的貪戀金錢與權力，他的父親對他的人格產生了相當大的影響。
他想要通過科舉考試進入唐王朝的中央政府體系。
他的長相很醜陋，而且他的道德水平很不好，他的知識水平無法讓他通過嚴格的科舉考試，所以他的父親計畫通過自己的關係讓他通過這場考試。
他與他的父親的計謀被當時的國王發現了，國王非常的生氣下令將他排除在這場考試之外。因為這個事件，他非常的怨恨唐王朝的國王。
西元90７年，唐王朝一個掌握的巨大權力與軍事力量的名字叫做朱溫的大臣強迫唐王朝的國王將國王的位置交給他，朱溫公開宣布唐王朝正式滅亡，接續唐王朝的是他所創立後梁王國。
後梁王國承接了唐王朝的領土與制度與法律，也承接了唐王朝的中央政府中的所有政府官員。
唐王朝滅亡之後，很多正直的唐王朝的大臣們都覺得很痛心，這些正直的大臣離開中央政府，他們不願意擔任後梁王國的官員。
蘇楷與他的父親跟那些正直的大臣們的心情完全相反，他們父子倆個人覺得非常的開心，他的父親趁著後梁王國剛建立，中央政府的人員有著巨大變動的機會，透過自己職位將蘇楷安排到後梁王國的中央政府內工作。
蘇楷進入後梁王國的中央政府內工作之後，他與他的父親覺得從此之後，他們父子兩人可以一起憑藉著自己的地位與權力來斂財，但現實與他們兩父子兩人所設想的完全相反。
幾個月後，當後梁王國的政治局勢穩定之後，朱溫下了一到命令。
朱溫下令將中央政府內的好幾個他認為工作能力低下而且品德非常不好的官員全部解職，這份解職的名單中包含著蘇楷與他的父親，朱溫在他的命令中明確的說明，這些人將無法再進入後梁王國的中央政府工作。
蘇楷與他的父親被解職後回到自己的故鄉，他們兩個人失去的權力，他的故鄉中那些曾經被他們惡意對待的人們給了蘇楷一個綽號，這個綽號就是他是一隻穿著人的衣服與戴著人的帽子的貓頭鷹。
貓頭鷹在古代的中國被用來形容一個人對父母親不孝順或是對國家不忠誠，蘇楷的故鄉的人們用這個綽號來嘲笑樣貌醜陋又沒有好品德的蘇楷。
這句成語直接翻譯的意思是一隻穿著人的衣服與戴著人的帽子的貓頭鷹。
這句成語被用來指在一個對父母親不孝順或是對國家不忠誠且樣貌醜陋又沒有好品德的人。
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。
你聽過最惡毒的綽號為何呢?你是否遇過這種沒有能力但卻依靠著奉承而在事業上發展的很好的人呢?
我期待這故事能讓你產生一些新的收穫。
出處為-北宋-孫光憲-北夢瑣言-卷17
https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/%E5%8C%97%E5%A4%A2%E7%91%A3%E8%A8%80/%E5%8D%B7%E5%8D%81%E4%B8%83