It is a tree with a strong trunk but weak branches.(強幹弱枝)
The founder of the Han dynasty in China was
named Liu Bang. After establishing the dynasty, he realized that the territory
he had inherited from the Qin Dynasty was too vast. He needed capable and
talented people to help him govern the Han Dynasty, so he adopted a management
model combining elements of the Qin and Zhou dynasties.
He distributed most of the land within
China to nine vassal kings, almost all of whom were his relatives. He also
granted land to over a hundred ministers and generals who had made significant
contributions to establishing the Han Dynasty.
Following the implementation of this
system, the Han Dynasty entered a period of considerable stability. However,
several decades later, when the original first-generation vassal kings died and
were succeeded by their children, the relationship between the new vassal kings
and the imperial family became estranged.
Having grown up in privileged
circumstances, these newly appointed feudal lords developed extravagant and
wasteful lifestyles. They spent their days indulging in pleasure and neglecting
the management of their territories. Along with their corrupt associates, these
new lords committed numerous illegal acts, causing suffering and resentment
among the people and contributing to social instability.
The king was willing to tolerate the
misdeeds of these young lords because they had not yet threatened his
interests. However, some of these young lords united and launched an armed
rebellion, angering and alarming the Han king. The Han king began to consider
how to resolve the situation.
The Han king issued a decree and publicly
announced it to all.
The decree read as follows:
All the children of the feudal lords had
the legal right to inherit their father's assets. When a feudal lord died, each
of his children was entitled to an equal share of his estate.
This decree quickly proved effective. At
the beginning of the Han Dynasty, the nine feudal lords owned vast territories,
which were divided into more than 100 fragmented pieces and inherited by their
children.
This policy proved successful. The Han
dynasty kings used the inherent greed of human nature to avert a huge crisis
that the founding king, who had designed the system, had not foreseen.
As their territories shrank, so did the
resources and income that these more than one hundred feudal lords could
control.
At the same time, the Han dynasty kings'
control over these smaller feudal states increased dramatically.
To illustrate this, if the central
government is the trunk of a tree, then the vassal states are the branches. The
ruling structure at the time resembled a tree with a strong trunk and weak
branches.
This idiom translates directly as "a
tree with a strong trunk but weak branches".
It is also frequently used to describe a
situation in a company or country where the central government has immense
power while local governments have very little.
Dear friend, what insights or thoughts have
you gained from this story? How can you and your family avoid becoming
extravagant and arrogant? Do you think that this situation of a strong trunk
and weak branches might create something new?
強幹弱枝(It is a tree with a strong trunk but
weak branches.)
中國的漢王朝的開國國王的名字叫做劉邦，劉邦建立漢王朝後，他知道漢王朝所承接的秦王朝的領土面積太大，他必須要讓更多有能力或者有才能的人來協助他治理漢王朝，他混和採用了秦王朝與周王朝的管理模式。
劉邦將中國境內的大部分土地分配給九個諸侯王，這九個諸侯幾乎全部都是劉邦的親戚。他又將中國境內的部分土地分配給一百多個對建立漢王朝有著卓越功勞的大臣與將軍。
這套制度開始推行之後，漢王朝進入了一段相當穩定的時期，但是在過了幾十年原有的第一代諸侯逝世，那些繼承父親的職位的第二代或第三代的新任諸侯與皇室之間的關係變得疏遠。
這些新任的諸侯由於從小就生活在優渥的環境中，他們養成了奢侈與浪費的生活習慣，他們每天玩樂並且不認真管理自己的領地，這些新任的諸侯與圍繞在他們身邊的那一些壞朋友做出了很多違法的事情，他們的行為造成了百姓的痛苦與埋怨也造成了社會狀態的不穩定。
因為這些新任的年輕諸侯的壞行為還沒有損害到國王的權益所以國王還願意包容他們，但是有些新任的年輕的諸侯，他們竟然聯合在一起發動武裝叛亂，這個行為就造成了漢王朝的國王的震怒與警覺，漢王朝的國王便開始思考要用怎樣的方式來解決這個問題。
漢王朝的國王參考歷史上的一些紀錄，他使用了一種中國古代的國王的策略，他決定要用一種看起來無害的政策讓這些諸侯們的勢力自然地變弱。
漢王朝的國王頒布了一道命令，他公開向所有人們宣告。
這項宣告的內容如下。
所有的諸侯們的子女都有合法繼承父親留下的資產的權利，當一個諸侯逝世後，這個諸侯的每個子女都有資格得到一份經過公平的分配的他們的父親的遺產。
這項命令很快地取得的效果，漢王朝開國之初的九個諸侯所擁有的土地被他們的子女們所分別繼承，這九個諸侯國原先所擁有的廣闊土地被分割成超過100個零碎的小塊土地。
這項政策推行之後，很快就收到了成效，漢王朝的國王利用人性的貪婪巧妙地化解了當初設計這套制度的開國國王所沒有預想到的巨大危機。
這被分割之後的一百多個諸侯由於領土減少，所以他們所能夠掌握的資源與收入也大幅度的降低。
與此同時，漢王朝的國王所對於這些小諸侯國的控制力也巨幅的增加。
舉一個形象的例子說明，如果國王所領導的中央政府是一株樹的樹幹，那些諸侯國就如同那株樹上面的一些樹枝，當時的統治結構就像是一種樹幹很強壯但樹枝很弱小的樣態。
這句成語直接翻譯的意思是一種樹幹很強壯但樹枝很弱小的樣態。
這句成語也經常被用來形容一個企業或一個國家的一種中央權力極大但是地方權利極小的情況。。
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?
你如何避免你自己或你的家人養成奢侈與驕傲的個性? 你認為這種樹幹很強壯但樹枝很弱小的樣態是否會讓漢王朝產生怎樣的新麻煩呢?
我期待這故事能讓你產生一些新的收穫。
出處為使紀-卷17-漢興以來諸侯王年表
https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/%E5%8F%B2%E8%A8%98/%E5%8D%B7017