Chinese Idioms

相敬如賓

Xiāngjìngrúbīn

春秋時(shí)期，晉國(guó)有個(gè)官員看見一個(gè)農(nóng)夫在田里干完活，他的妻子很恭敬地給他端上午飯。夫妻之間就像客人一樣，非?？蜌?。這位官員很受感動(dòng)。他把農(nóng)夫帶到晉王面前，請(qǐng)晉王給他封官。他對(duì)晉王說(shuō)：“互相尊重是一種美德。一個(gè)品德高尚的人才會(huì)待人有禮貌。我們應(yīng)該鼓勵(lì)臣民養(yǎng)成這種美德?！睍x王說(shuō)：“他的父親是個(gè)罪人，我們給他封官合適嗎？” 這位官員答道：“管仲曾是齊王的敵人，但齊王后來(lái)讓他做了齊國(guó)的相國(guó)，幫助他完成了霸業(yè)。當(dāng)年舜放逐了鯀，卻重用了鯀的兒子禹。我們只要利用他的優(yōu)點(diǎn)和長(zhǎng)處就可以了。”晉王聽從了他的話，重用了這個(gè)農(nóng)夫。后來(lái)，人們用“相敬如賓”來(lái)表示夫妻之間互相尊重，以禮相待。

Chūnqiū shíqī, Jìnguó yǒuge guānyuán kànjiàn yíge nóngfū zài tiánlǐ gànwánhuó, tāde qīzǐ hěn gōngjìngde gěitā duānshàng wǔfàn. Fūqī zhījiān jiùxiàng kèrén yíyàng, fēicháng kèqi. Zhèwèi guānyuán hěnshòu gǎndòng. Tā bǎ nóngfū dàidào Jìnwáng miànqián, qǐng Jìnwáng gěitā fēngguān. Tā duì Jìnwáng shuō: “Hùxiāng zūnzhòng shì yìzhǒng měidé. Yíge pǐndé gāoshàngde rén cáihuì dàirén yǒu lǐmào. Wǒmen yīnggāi gǔlì chénmín yǎngchéng zhèzhǒng měidé.” Jìnwáng shuō: “Tāde fùqin shìge zuìrén, wǒmen gěitā fēngguān héshì ma?” Zhèwèi guānyuán dádào: “Guǎn Zhòng céng shì Qíwáng de dírén, dàn Qíwáng hòulái ràng tā zuòl(fā)e Qíguó de xiàngguó, bāngzhù tā wánchéngle bàyè. Dāngnián Shùn fàngzhú le Gǔn, què zhòngyòng le Gǔnde érzi Yǔ. Wǒmen zhǐyào lìyòng tāde yōudiǎn hé chángchù jiù kěyǐle.” Jìnwáng tīngcóngle tādehuà, zhòngyòng le zhège nóngfū. Hòulái, rénmen yòng “xiāngjìngrúbīn” lái biǎoshì fūqī zhījiān hùxiāng zūnzhòng, yǐlǐxiāngdài.

A high official of the State of Jin during the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 B.C.) once observed how a farmer’s wife respectfully offered him his lunch after he had finished his labors in the field. The husband and wife behaved as courteously to each other as they might to guests. The official found this very moving. He took the farmer to meet the King of Jin and recommended him for an official post, saying, “Respect is a virtue, and a virtuous man is always respectful. We should educate our people in this virtue.” The king, however, was unconvinced of the wisdom of this move because the farmer’s father was an ex-convict. The official then reminded him, “Guan Zhong was an enemy of the King of the State of Qi, but the king appointed him prime minister and with Guan’s help eventually achieved hegemony. And after Shun exiled Gun he promoted Gun’s son Yu to a position of trust. We should make use of a person’s advantages and strong points.” The king took the official’s advice and gave the farmer an important posting. This idiom denotes mutual respect between husband and wife.

Source: China Today