Chinese Idiom: 以小人之心，度君子之腹 (Yi Xiao Ren Zhi Xin, Duo Jun Zi Zhi Fu)
English Translation: Judge a Noble Person’s Intentions Using the Perspective of a Petty Person
pīn yīn: yǐ xiǎo rén zhī xīn, duó jūn zǐ zhī fù
Idiom Meaning: This idiom describes the act of using one’s own lowly or unscrupulous mindset to speculate about the thoughts and intentions of someone who is upright and honorable.
Historical Source: Zuo’s Commentary (《左传·昭公二十八年》)
Idiom Story
During the Spring and Autumn period, Wei Shu, a high-ranking official from the Jin state, was appointed as the chief minister. He decided to divide the lands of two old aristocratic families into ten counties and assigned capable and deserving individuals to govern them. One such individual, named Wei Wu, who shared the same surname and clan as Wei Shu, was appointed as the governor of Gengyang County.
In that year, a legal dispute arose in Gengyang, and Wei Wu found it difficult to make a judgment. He decided to forward the case to Wei Shu for resolution. Meanwhile, one party to the dispute secretly sent a female entertainer as a bribe to Wei Shu. Wei Wu, aware of this, suspected that if Wei Shu accepted the bribe, it would damage his reputation for incorruptibility.
Wei Wu spoke to two ministers, Yan Mei and Nv Kuan, saying, “Wei Shu is renowned for his integrity and refusal to accept bribes. If he accepts this entertainer, it would be the gravest form of bribery. You two must admonish him.”
After the court session, Yan Mei and Nv Kuan waited in the courtyard. When the meal arrived, they were invited by Wei Shu to dine with him. Yan Mei and Nv Kuan looked at the food and sighed three times. After the meal, Wei Shu asked them why they sighed. They replied, “We were given wine by someone last night, so we missed dinner and are very hungry. Seeing the food now, we feared it might not be enough, which is why we sighed. When the food was only half served, we worried whether the meal would be sufficient, so we sighed again. Now that the meal is fully served, we hope that our small appetites are comparable to the noble intentions, and we are content.”
Wei Shu realized that Yan Mei and Nv Kuan had used the meal as a means to subtly advise him. Feeling ashamed, he immediately ordered the dismissal of the entertainer.
This story reflects the idiom’s essence of using one’s own baser nature to misjudge the intentions of someone who is virtuous and honorable.
