They are unable to stop this illegal gold
mining.(竊金不止)
The Zhou dynasty in China lasted for 791
years. The Zhou kings established over 100 vassal states, each of which became
a kingdom in its own right. These kingdoms engaged in numerous brutal wars for
land and resources, creating an extremely chaotic era.
This period is known as the Spring and
Autumn Period (770–476 BC), followed by the Warring States Period (476–221 BC).
During the Warring States period, a famous
philosopher and thinker named Han Fei lived and worked. He lived in this
chaotic era, offering solutions to the social and existential problems of his
time.
He wrote a book in which he used a story to
express one of his views.
South of the Chu Kingdom was a river called
the Li River. This river contained placer gold, which was considered the king's
property. The king of Chu therefore strictly forbade people from panning for
gold in the river without permission and decreed a cruel punishment: anyone
caught panning for gold illegally would be sentenced to death.
However, after this decree was issued,
illegal gold panning did not stop. Every day, many people still tried to sneak
into the river to pan for gold.
Observing this phenomenon, Han Fei began to
ponder why so many people were not afraid of the death penalty. Why couldn't
this law stop illegal gold mining?
Han Fei believed the main reason people
continued to secretly pan for gold was the low probability of being caught. As
long as they weren't caught, they could become rich.
Han Fei began to think more deeply about
why these people had this mentality of taking chances.
After much thought, he arrived at what he
considered to be a reasonable conclusion.
Suppose someone could obtain all the money
in the world, but at a certain price: they would die the instant they received
it. I believe they would choose not to obtain it.
Why couldn't the King of Chu's decree to
execute gold miners stop people from panning for gold?
It's because the King of Chu didn't enforce
the law rigorously enough to arrest and prosecute those panning for gold.
Had the King of Chu taken concrete action
to make it clear that he would strictly enforce the law and prosecute all those
involved in illegal gold panning, the practice would have stopped immediately.
This idiom translates as "They are
unable to stop this illegal gold mining.".
It is used to describe situations where
people feel they can act with impunity because the law is not strictly
enforced.
Dear friend, what insights or thoughts did
you gain from this story?
Are the laws in your country enforced
fairly and justly? Have you ever broken the law for money?
I hope this story gives you some new
insights.
竊金不止(They are unable to stop this illegal
gold mining.)
中國的周王朝持續長達791年，周王朝的國王把土地分封給100多個諸侯，這些諸侯各自成立的自己的王國，這些王國之間為了爭奪土地與資源而發生許多慘烈的戰爭，那是一個極度混亂的年代。
西元前770年到西元前476年這段時間是中國的春秋時代，西元前476年到西元前221年這段時間是中國的戰國時代。
中國的戰國時代有一個著名的哲學家與思想家的名字叫做(韓非)，他就生活在這個混亂的時代，他針對當時的社會問題與人生問題提出了他解決問題的辦法和觀點。
他寫過一本書，在他的書中藉由一個故事來表達他的其中一個觀點。
在楚王國的南邊有一條河，這條河的名字叫做麗水。這條河中有沙金，這些沙金被認為是屬於國王的資產，所以楚王國的國王嚴格地禁止人民們私自去這條河中淘金，國王並且訂下了殘酷的刑罰，只要私自淘金被抓到的人一律判處死刑。
這條法令頒布之後，私自淘金的情況並沒有被制止，每天仍然會有很多百姓們想盡各種辦法偷偷地跑到這條河中淘金。
韓非看到這個現象後，他就開始思考，為何有那麼多百姓們不畏懼死刑刑這種最嚴酷的懲罰呢?為何這條法令無法制止這種偷採砂金的行為呢
韓非認為，百姓仍舊繼續偷偷地淘金的最重要原因是因為偷偷淘金被抓住的機率很低，有很大的機會不會被抓到，只要不被抓到，這些淘金的百姓就可以因此發財。
韓非開始更深入地思考，為何這些百姓們會有這種僥倖的心理呢?
他在思考後得到一個他認為合理的結論。
假設有一個人可以得到整個世界的所有的錢，但是得到這個世界的代價的結果非常確定，這個結果就是這個人在得到正個世界的所有的錢的那一刻就會立刻死去，那麼我認為這個人會選擇放棄得到整個世界的所有的錢。
楚王國的國王的這條淘金者要死刑的命令為何沒有辦法禁止百姓們淘金呢?
其原因就是因為楚王國的國王在執行這條法律時並沒有採取最嚴格的方式去逮捕與追查那些淘金的百姓。
如果楚王國的國王用具體的行動讓百姓們清楚的認知到他會非常嚴格地執法，所有非法淘金就絕對會被抓而且絕對會被判處死刑，那麼百姓們這種非法淘金的行為才會立刻停止。
這句成語直接翻譯的意思是無法制止這種偷採砂金的行為。
這句成語被用來形容因為法律執行不夠嚴格所以人民有著僥倖的心理。
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。
你的國家的法律執行是否公正公平嗎?你是否曾經為了金錢做出違法的事情呢?
我期待這故事能讓你產生一些新的收穫
出處為韓非子-內儲說上-七術