Entering the gates of a powerful person's
home is like entering a deep, dark ocean.(侯門似海)
During the Tang dynasty in China, there was
a man named Cui Jiao. He only passed the first stage of the imperial examinations.
However, he wrote a poem that would be loved by people throughout the ages,
making him one of the few Chinese poets to be remembered for a single poem.
The inspiration for Cui Jiao's poem came
from his love story. This short 28-character poem contains a phrase that was
commonly used at the time and later became an idiom. Two other idioms were also
derived from this poem.
The story behind Cui Jiao's writing of this
poem is as follows:
After passing the first stage of the
imperial examinations, Cui Jiao began actively preparing for the next stage.
Cui Jiao's family was very poor. His aunt's
family was relatively wealthy and lived near the capital of the Tang Dynasty.
He therefore temporarily stayed at his aunt's house while preparing for the
second stage of the examinations.
His aunt had a maidservant who was
exceptionally beautiful and musically talented. She was about the same age as
Cui Jiao, and after spending a considerable amount of time together, the two
young people fell deeply in love.
However, Cui Jiao did not dare reveal his
relationship with the maidservant. The main reason was that he knew he should
focus all his energy on preparing for the imperial examinations and that he
shouldn't be involved in a romance at that time. If his aunt found out, she
would be furious.
The second, less important, reason was the
disparity in their social status; Cui Jiao cared deeply about what others
thought.
As many people wanted to improve their own
and their families' fates through the imperial examinations, the competition
was extremely fierce. Very few people could progress to the second stage, and
Cui Jiao failed to reach it for several consecutive years.
Over the years, her aunt's financial
situation worsened. Her financial situation worsened day by day, and she could
no longer afford to hire a maid.
Cui Jiao's aunt had a friend who was a
famous minister during the Tang dynasty. During a casual conversation, the
minister learned that she was struggling financially and wanted to sell her
maid. In Tang Dynasty China, the buying and selling of maids was legal.
The minister told Cui Jiao's aunt, 'I am
willing to spend 400,000 copper coins to buy your maid. Are you willing?"
Cui Jiao's aunt was overjoyed to hear this. A few days later, the maid was sold
to the minister's household. It all happened so suddenly that Cui Jiao and the
maid didn't even have a chance to say goodbye, and they never saw each other
again.
After the sale, Cui Jiao frequently visited
the area around the minister's house, hoping to see the maid again. Looking at
the minister's imposing entrance, he felt powerless — as if entering the gates
of a powerful person's home is like entering a deep, dark ocean. He later
expressed this feeling in his poetry.
The idiom literally translates as 'Entering
the gates of a powerful person's home is like entering a deep, dark ocean'.
It is used to describe wealthy and powerful
families whose heavily guarded gates make it extremely difficult for outsiders
to enter or leave.
Dear friend, what are your thoughts or
feelings after hearing this story?
What sudden separations have you
experienced? Are there people in your life whom you desperately want to see
again?
I hope this story gives you some new
insights.
侯門似海(Entering the gates of a powerful
person's home is like entering a deep, dark ocean.)
中國的唐王朝有一個名字叫做崔郊的男子，他只通過了科舉考試的第一關，他曾經寫了一首詩，他這首詩後來被歷代的人們所喜愛，他成了少數幾個因為一首詩而留名在中國歷史上的詩人。
崔郊寫這首詩的背景是起因於他的感情故事，這首短短的只有28個字的詩中有一句當時常用的詞句後來變成成語，另外從這首詩中另外延伸出了兩句成語。
崔郊寫出這首詩的背景故事如下。
崔郊通過科舉考試的第一關之後，他開始積極地準備接下來的考試。
崔郊的家境很貧窮，他的姑姑的家境比較好而且他的姑姑住的地方比較鄰近當時唐王朝的首都，所以他在準備參加第二關的考試的那些日子暫時住在他的姑姑家。
崔郊的姑姑有一個婢女，這個婢女的容貌非常的美麗而且懂得音樂，這個婢女的年紀跟崔郊差不多，在一段長時間的日夜相處之下，他們兩個年輕人陷入了熱戀。
崔郊不敢公開他與這個婢女的戀情，其中最重要的原因是因為崔郊知道自己應該把全部的精力放在準備科舉考試上面，他不應該在這個時間段談戀愛，如果他的姑姑知道這件事情，他的姑姑一定會非常的生氣。
第二個次要的原因是因為那個婢女的身分與他的身分有落差，崔郊在乎別人的看法。
由於有很多人都想要通過科舉考試改變自己與家族的命運，所以科舉考試的競爭非常的激烈，能夠進入第二關的科舉考試的人數非常的少，崔郊連續幾年都沒有辦法進入第二關的科舉考試。
在這幾年中，他的姑姑的家中的情況也發生了改變，他的姑姑的經濟情況一天比一天更差，他的姑姑已經負擔不起聘任那個婢女的相關費用，
崔郊的姑姑有一個朋友，這個朋友是唐朝的一個著名的大臣，在一次偶然的對談中，那個大臣知道了崔郊的姑姑因為經濟情況有困難所以想要把婢女賣掉，在中國的唐王朝，婢女的買賣是合法的。
那個大臣就跟崔郊的姑姑說，我願意花40萬的銅錢跟你買下你的婢女，你是否願意?
崔郊的姑姑聽到那個大臣的話後非常的開心，幾天之後，那個婢女就被賣到了那個大臣的家中，這件事情發生得太突然，崔郊與那個婢女連告別的機會都沒有，他們兩個人就此再也無法見面。
自從那個婢女被賣到那個大臣的家中後，崔郊便常常走到那個大臣的家的週邊，他希望可以再有機會見到那個婢女，他看著那個大臣的家的那扇巨大的門，他的心中有一種感覺，這個感覺就是進入了權貴人物的家的大門就像走入了深邃的大海，他後來把這種感覺寫進他的詩中。
這句成語直接翻譯的意思是進入了權貴人物的家的大門就像走入了深邃的大海。
這句成語被用來形容一個有錢有權的家庭，這個家庭的門禁森嚴，外人要進出都非常的困難。
親愛的朋友，你聽完這個故事有怎樣的感受或有怎樣的想法呢。
你經歷過那些突然的離別呢?你這輩子是否有很想再見到的人呢?
我希望這故事能讓你產生一些新的收穫。
出處為全唐詩話-卷4-崔郊
出處為雲谿友議-卷上-襄陽傑
https://zh.wikisource.org/zh-hant/%E9%9B%B2%E8%B0%BF%E5%8F%8B%E8%AD%B0