A woman might dress up for someone who
loves or appreciates her.(女為悅己者容)
Sima Qian was China's most eminent
historian. He and his father both served as officials in the central
government, responsible for recording history. While this position was not
particularly high-ranking or well-paid, it was highly respected.
Sima Qian's Records of the Grand Historian
is China's most classic historical work. In his youth, he travelled throughout
China conducting detailed fieldwork. In middle age, he began to compile Chinese
history from 2700 BC to 100 BC based on the materials he had collected.
In 99 BC, an event occurred that profoundly
impacted Sima Qian's life. He angered the king and was sentenced to castration,
a punishment that severely damaged his male dignity.
In a letter to a close friend named Ren An,
we learn that he too was facing great trouble.
In ancient China, there was a man named
Zhong Ziqi who had an exceptional appreciation of music. He had a close friend
named Bo Ya who was the greatest guqin player of their time.
Following Zhong Ziqi's death, Bo Ya never
played the guqin again.
This story reminds me of my relationship
with you and of two other lines from ancient Chinese texts.
A person with lofty aspirations and noble
character is willing to dedicate themselves entirely to those who understand
them, and a woman will adorn herself for those who love or appreciate her.
Having suffered such a humiliating
punishment, I am deeply saddened.
I feel as though I have a physical
disability. Despite being very talented and of high moral character, I feel
extremely dishonoured and as though many people are mocking me.
You wrote to me before and I should have
replied much sooner. However, I've been extremely busy lately with official
business and miscellaneous matters to handle, and I haven't had a single free
moment.
Although we met a few days ago, the
meetings were brief and we didn't have time for a proper chat.
Unexpectedly, things have changed so
suddenly. You've suddenly found yourself in trouble and are potentially facing
a death sentence. Your case looks very grim. I would love to see you in person
and support you, but the King has given me an important task that I can't leave
for the time being. Therefore, I am writing to you as soon as possible today. I
hope you won't blame me for not writing sooner.
In this letter, I will carefully answer the
questions you raised in your previous letter and briefly express my thoughts
and feelings.
I hope you can understand the grief and
indignation I feel about my misfortune from this letter.
The idiom literally translates as 'a woman
would dress up for someone who loves or appreciates her'.
Dear friend, what inspiration or thoughts
did you gain from this story?
Are you a procrastinator? Have you ever
experienced irreparable regret due to procrastination?
I hope this story gives you some new
insights.
女為悅己者容(A woman might dress up for someone
who loves or appreciates her.)
司馬遷是中國最傑出的歷史學家。他的父親與他都在中央政府內擔任負責記錄歷史的官員，這個工作沒有非常高的地位與非常好的薪水，但是這是一個非常令人尊敬的職位。
司馬遷寫的史記是中國最經典的歷史書。他在青年時代走遍了全中國，進行詳細的田野調查。他在中年之後根據所蒐集的材料，開始整理中國從公元前2700年到公元前100年間的中國歷史。
西元前99年，發生了一件對司馬遷的生命影響巨大的事情。他因為惹怒了國王所以被判處一個極度損害男性尊嚴的刑罰，他被判處宮刑。
在他寫給他的一個叫做(任安)的好朋友的信中，我們可以看出他的這個好朋友也正遭遇了巨大麻煩。
中國古代有一個名字叫做(鍾子期)的人，他有著很高的音樂鑑賞能力，他有一個好朋友叫做(伯牙)，(伯牙)是他們那個時代最偉大的中國古琴的演奏家。
當(鍾子期)死後，伯牙的餘生就再也沒有彈奏過中國古琴了。
這個故事讓我想到我跟你的關係，也讓我想到另外兩句中國古籍中的句子。
一個有遠大志向與高尚節操的人會願意為了解自己的人付出自已的全部心力，一個女子會願意為了喜愛自己或欣賞自己的人而梳妝打扮。
因為我遭受了這樣恥辱了刑罰，所以我非常的悲傷。
我自己覺得我已經是一個身體有殘缺的人，就算是我非常有才能而且品德很高潔，但我覺得我非常的不榮耀，我覺得很多人都在恥笑我。
你之前寫了信給我，我原本早應該要早點回覆你，但是由於我最近公務比較多加上很多的雜事需要我去處理，我非常的忙，我忙到完全沒有空閒。
我之前有幾天與你碰面，但是見面的時間也都很短，所以沒有機會好好地聊一聊。
沒想到世事的變化如此突然，你突然陷入可能會被判處到死刑的麻煩中，你的案情目前看起來很不樂觀，我很想要去見你一面，直接見面分擔你的憂愁，但是這幾天國王吩咐了我一件很重要的任務所以我無法離開，所以我今天趕緊寫了這封信給你。我遲到今天才寫信給你，我希望你不要責怪我。
我在這封信中，我會仔細的回覆你寫給我的那封信中所提出的問題，我會在這封信中簡單的表達我內心的感受與想法。
希望你可以理解我在這封信中表現出的對自己的不幸感到的悲憤，
這句成語直接翻譯的意思是一個女子會願意為了喜愛自己或欣賞自己的人而梳妝打扮。
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。
你是一個會拖延的人嗎?你是否曾經因為拖延而產生無法彌補的遺憾呢?
我期待這故事能讓你產生一些新的收穫。
出處為司馬遷-報任少卿書
https://zh.wikisource.org/zh-hant/%E5%A0%B1%E4%BB%BB%E5%B0%91%E5%8D%BF%E6%9B%B8