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Home Chinese Idiom 大公无私 (dà gōng wú sī)
大公无私 (dà gōng wú sī)
Learn Chinese - Chinese Idiom

   Da Gong Wu Si
Chi Huang-yang lived during the Spring and Autumn Period (chūn qiū 春秋时期,770- 476 BC0. When the king asked him who he thought would be a suitable magistrate for Nan-yang Country, Chi Huang-yang answered, "Shie Hu would definitely do a very good job." The king was very surprised at this answer, and asked him, "Isn't Shie Hu your enemy? How come you're suggesting that he do the job?"

Chi Huang-yang replied, "You only asked me who would make a suitable magistrate for Nan-yang Country; you didn't ask me whether or not Shie Hu was my enemy!" So the king sent Shie Hu to be the magistrate of Nan-yang Country, and as expected, he did many good things for the people there.

When Confucius heard about this, he praised Chi Huang-yang highly. When recommending a person for a job, Chi Huang-yang considered only that person's ability. Even if a person was his enemy, he would still make known that person's good qualities. Chi Huang-yang was a perfectly fair and impartial person.

春秋时,晋平公有一次问祁黄羊说:
“南阳县缺个县长,你看,应该派谁去当比较合适呢?”
祁黄羊毫不迟疑地回答说:
“叫解狐去,最合适了。他一定能够胜任的!”
平公惊奇地又问他:
“解狐不是你的仇人吗?你为什么还要推荐他呢!”
祁黄羊说:
“你只问我什么人能够胜任,谁最合适;你并没有问我解狐是不是我的仇人呀!”
于是,平公就派解狐到南阳县去上任了。解狐到任后。替那里的人办了不少好事,大家都称颂他。

过了一些日子,平公又问祁黄羊说:
“现在朝廷里缺少一个法官。你看,谁能胜任这个职位呢?”
祁黄羊说:“祁午能够胜任的。”
平公又奇怪起来了,问道:
“祁午不是你的儿子吗?你怎么推荐你的儿子,不怕别人讲闲话吗?”
祁黄羊说:
“你只问我谁可以胜任,所以我推荐了他;你并没问我祁午是不是我的儿子呀!”
平公就派了祁午去做法官。祁午当上了法官,替人们办了许多好事,很受人们的欢迎与爱戴。

孔子听到这两件事,十分称赞祁黄羊。孔子说:
“祁黄羊说得太好了!他推荐人,完全是拿才能做标准,不因为他是自己的仇人,心存偏见,便不推荐他;也不因为他是自己的儿子,怕人议论,便不推荐。像黄祁羊这样的人,才够得上说“大公无私”啦!”

大公无私 (dà gōng wú sī)
【翻译】Perfectly Fair and Impartial.
【释义】指办事公正,没有私心。现多指从集体利益出发,毫无个人打算。
【例句】这位官员办事情总是大公无私,受到了老百姓的尊敬。
【近义词】舍己为公、铁面无私
【反义词】假公济私、自私自利、利欲熏心

 

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