The First Person to Make Clay Figurines(始作俑者)
The Spring and Autumn and Warring States
periods in China were extremely chaotic, yet they were also a golden age of
Chinese thought.
Many famous thinkers lived during this era,
offering their own solutions to social and existential problems.
One such figure was the Confucian scholar
Mencius. He believed that a king should rule with benevolence and compassion,
and that his most important task should be to meet the needs of his people.
Mencius travelled to various kingdoms,
preaching his ideas to the kings.
In his writings, Mencius recorded a
dialogue with the third king of Wei.
The third King of Wei wanted to lead his
kingdom to power, so he implemented many reforms. However, these reforms
instead led to the kingdom's decline.
The king asked Mencius,
'Do you have any helpful advice for me? If
you are willing to tell me, I will gladly accept it.'
Rather than answering the king's question
directly, Mencius posed two questions in return.
'If one person kills another with a knife
and another with a stick, is there any difference in the punishment for the
murderer? And if one person kills another with a knife and another kills
through erroneous policies, is there any difference in how the law treats the
murderers?"
The king answered.
'A murderer will be sentenced to death,
regardless of the method of killing; his fate is the same.'
After hearing this, Mencius said to the
king:
'Your kitchen is full of delicious meat and
your stables are full of strong horses, but have you seen how the people of the
Kingdom of Wei are living? They have nothing to eat and many are dying from
malnutrition. How did this situation come about? It is because of the negative
policies you have implemented. That is why they live in such dire straits.'
'As the leader of this kingdom, you are
responsible for the harmful policies you have implemented. Don't you bear any
responsibility for this?"
'I understand that your intentions in
promoting these reforms and policies are good, but they have proven unable to
solve the Wei Kingdom's current problems.'
Seeing the king listening attentively,
Mencius paused and continued.
'In ancient China, there was a custom of
burying living people with the dead. Later, some people thought this was wrong,
so they changed it. They began making clay figurines to replace the living
people. They promoted their ideas in society, and now this abhorrent custom has
been abolished.
However, according to historical records,
after seeing these people's actions, Confucius said to his students:
'The actions of the first people to make
clay figurines to replace living people buried with the dead are still immoral,
and they will suffer the curse of having no descendants.'"
" Why did Confucius criticise those
people so harshly? I believe the core message he wanted to convey was that we
should never engage in human sacrifice or use clay figurines in burials. It is
the custom of burial that needs reforming, not the objects used for it.
These people used clay figurines instead of
living people in burials, thinking it was an act of benevolence and a reform.
But why did Confucius still curse them? I think Confucius clearly saw that these
people were only reforming the objects used for burial and lacked the courage
to abolish the practice itself.
Their minds were still trapped in the old
mindset of the necessity of sacrifice. This is not true benevolence.
(Mencius) After pausing, he addressed the
king in a serious tone:
'Now, with so many people starving to
death, I think you need to clarify a very important point.
The ultimate goal of any reform should be
to enable everyone to live in peace and happiness.
Your granaries are full and your army is
strong, yet your people are dying.
Have you fallen into the same trap? Your
reforms were intended to strengthen the State of Wei, but if the result is the
starvation of the people, then I believe the essence of your reforms is akin to
that of the first people to make clay figurines.
This idiom translates literally as 'the
first person to make clay figurines'.
It is used to describe someone who sets a
bad precedent, after which many others follow suit.
Dear friend, what insights or thoughts have
you gained from this story?
Do you consider the outcome you truly want
to achieve before doing anything? When you realise you've made a mistake, do
you have the courage to admit it and put things right?
I hope this story gives you some new
insights.
始作俑者(The First Person to Make Clay
Figurines)
中國的春秋時代與戰國世代是一個極度混亂的年代，但那段間同時也是中國思想上的黃金時代。
有許多著名的思想家生活在那個年代，這些思想家針對當時的社會問題與人生問題提出了各自認為最好的解決的辦法和思想。
儒家的一位名字叫做(孟軻)的學者就是其中一個代表性人物，他認為一個國王應該要用仁愛與仁慈來治理他的王國，一個國王應該要把滿足百姓的生活需求當作最重要的任務。
孟軻持續地到各個王國中去向各個王國的國王宣傳他的想法。
在孟軻所寫的書中，紀錄的一段他與魏國第三任國王對話。
魏王國的第三任國王想要帶領魏王國成為一個強大的王國因此推動了許多改革，但是這個國王所做的事情卻反而使魏王國走向衰弱。
國王問孟軻。
你有什麼對我有益的建議嗎?如果你願意告訴我，我會很開心的接受。
孟軻沒有直接回答國王的問題，他先反問了國王兩個問題。
一個人用刀殺死另一個人與這個人用木棍打死另一個人，這個殺人的人的刑罰有沒那些區別呢?
一個人用刀殺死人與這個人另用錯誤的政策殺死人，那麼這個殺人的人的刑法有沒有那些區別呢?
國王回答。
一個殺人的人會被判處死刑，這個人不管用甚麼方式殺人，他的結局是一樣的。
孟子聽完這些話後對國王說。
您的廚房裡有肥美的肉，馬廄裡有健壯的馬，但是你有看到魏王國的人民的生活的現況嗎?
這些百姓沒有東西可以吃，這些百姓中有許多人因為營養不良而死亡，這些人的現狀是如何產生的呢?這些人的現狀是因為被你所制定的那些不好的政策所影響，所以他們才會生活在如此困難的境地中。
你是這個王國的領導者，你所制定的這些不好的政策就像是一隻隻凶惡的野獸，這些野獸傷害了所有的百姓，難道你沒有責任嗎?
我明白你推動這些改革與這些政策的出發點是好的，但是這些政策經過實行後已經證明這些政策無法從根源去解決魏王國現在的問題。
孟軻看到國王很專心地聽他說話，他停頓了一下繼續說。
中國古代有用活人來殉葬的風俗，後來有些人們認為這種風俗是不對的，所以這些人們進行了改革，這些人開始製作許多人形的土俑來代替那些活人，這些人在這個社會上推動他們的想法，所以現在我們已經沒有活人來殉葬的這種惡劣的風俗。
但是根據歷史書的紀載，孔子看到這些人的行為後，他對他的學生們說。
這些第一批製作土俑來代替那些活人被殉葬的人的行為仍舊是不道德的，這些人會遭受到沒有後代的詛咒。
孔子為何會這樣嚴厲地批評那些人呢?我認為孔子想要傳達的核心觀念我們根本不應該用人殉葬，我們也不應該用土俑殉葬。我們要改革的是殉葬這種風俗，而不是用那些東西來殉葬。
這些人用土俑代替活人殉葬，自以為這是仁慈、這是一項改革，但孔子為何仍要詛咒這些人呢?我認為孔子清楚的看出這些人改革的只是用什麼來殉葬，卻沒有勇氣去廢除殉葬這件事本身。
這些人的心思，仍停留在必須有所犧牲的舊牢籠裡。這不是真正的仁慈。
(孟軻)說完這些話後、他停頓了一下然後用很沉重的語氣對國王說。
現在有許多百姓餓死的情況下，我認為你要釐清一個很重要的觀點。
任何改革的最終目的都應該是要讓所有的人們可以安心與快樂的生活，
如今，您的糧倉是滿的、你的軍隊是強的，但是你的百姓卻死了。
您是否也陷入了同樣的誤區?您改革政令，是想讓魏國強大，但若結果卻是以百姓餓死成為代價，我認為您推動的改革的本質跟那些第一批製作土俑的人在本質上是一樣的。
這句成語直接翻譯的意思是第一個製作土俑的人。
這句成語的被用來形容一個人做了一件不好或不道德的事，這個人開了這個惡例後，有很多其他人跟著模仿這個人做這件不好或不道德的事。
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。
你做任何事情前會思考你真正要達成的結果為何嗎?當你看到你做的事情錯誤時，你有這個勇氣認錯並且改正嗎?
我期待這故事能讓你產生一些新的收穫。
出處為孟子-梁惠王上-4條