Starvation is a small matter, while dishonesty is a big one(è sǐ shì xiǎo，shī jié shì dà)

Starvation is a small matter, while dishonesty is a big one

It's a Chinese idiom, the Pinyin is è s ǐ sh ì Xi ǎ o, sh ī Ji é sh ì D à, which means that a woman has lost her chastity. Poverty and starvation is a small matter, but dishonesty is a big one.

Idiom explanation

Disloyalty: originally refers to a woman's loss of chastity, later refers to the loss of chastity. Poverty and starvation is a small matter, but dishonesty is a big one.

Idioms and allusions

"Another question:" if there are widows or poor people who have no trust, can they remarry? " "It's just that later generations are afraid of cold and starvation, so it's said. However, the death of starvation is very small, and the failure of chastity is very big! "

explicate

The source of this sentence is: Volume 22 of the letter of Cheng's death, which contains a dialogue between Cheng Yi and someone: "or ask:" it seems that it is not advisable for a widow to marry because she is reasonable. " Mr. Yichuan (Cheng Yi) said, "well, if you take (marry), you can match your body. If you marry someone who is dishonest, you will be dishonest. " He also asked, "can people or widows, who are poor and have no trust, remarry?" he said, "but later generations are afraid of cold and starvation. However, the death of starvation is very small, and the negligence is very great. " This is the original source of "starvation is a small matter, while dishonesty is a big one". It should be pointed out that Cheng Yi's remarks are aimed at both men and women, not only women. His meaning is very clear: from the perspective of ethics, it is a kind of dishonest behavior for a man to marry a widow; it is also a kind of dishonest behavior for a widowed woman to remarry. Even if a person dies of poverty, he cannot lose his moral integrity. If we study it carefully, the author has some reservations about the criticism of remarriage women. Because once they are widowed, they will lose their economic security, and it will be difficult for them to survive if they do not remarry. It is a great breach of integrity for a man to marry a widow. It should be said that such an understanding of the above dialogue is in line with Cheng Yi's original intention. since the late Tang and Five Dynasties, due to the great weakening of the imperial power and social unrest, the role of ethics in maintaining social order has been reduced. People's living environment is bad, which makes the pursuit of materialism, pessimism and despair prevalent. "Today's wine, today's drunkenness" and lust for men's love and women's love have become fashionable. The literary works of the late Tang and Five Dynasties, especially the works of Wen Tingyun and many poets in the Western Shu and Southern Tang Dynasties who mainly expressed the love between men and women, can explain the situation at that time. The Song Dynasty inherited the legacy of the late Tang and Five Dynasties, coupled with the development of urban commercial economy and the connivance of the supreme ruler (preferential treatment of officials, respect of literati, good salary and encouragement of pleasure), the pursuit of material desire of the whole society was even more than that of the previous Dynasty. Kouzhun, Yanshu and other prime ministers, needless to say, were ordinary literati such as Zhang Xian and Song Qi, or even despondent literati such as Liu Yong, who could also have concubines to visit prostitutes and sing wine. Men's indulgence will inevitably affect women's life and thoughts, and they will become very "open". At that time, many people were not ashamed of their daughters as bridesmaids, concubines and singing girls. They had the taste of "laughing at the poor but not the prostitutes". The women of rich families also shed their reserve and follow the fashion. For example, as a lady, Mrs. Wei (Zeng Bu's wife) set up her own cultural salon to entertain male scholars. Her poems such as "tie skirt waist" (the lantern flower is too late), and Cao Xiyun's "Xijiang moon · the lantern flower" are a little provocative and sensational. As for Li Qingzhao, who has been drinking and touring freely since she was a girl, it is inseparable from the social climate. At that time, in the Song Dynasty, when there were powerful northern neighbors outside, humiliation was rampant, and there were monks and believers in each other's extravagance, social chaos, moral and chastity values were abandoned and forgotten. In the face of such a situation, Cheng Yi certainly can't stand it. From the point of view of Taoists, this is obviously a kind of immoral behavior, which should be restrained. Cheng Yi's theory of "starvation is a small matter, while dishonesty is a big one" was based on reality, but it didn't have much influence at that time and even the whole Song Dynasty. In terms of the attitude towards women, most of the literati at the same time with him were tolerant. For example, Sima Guang advocated that women can read. Fan Zhongyan stipulated in his yizhuangtian treaty that he would pay for remarrying a widow. His son Chunhu died early and his daughter-in-law was widowed. Later, his student Wang Tao died of his wife, so he married his daughter-in-law to Wang Tao. Fan Zhongyan's mother remarried to Zhu when he was young because of his poor family. Even Cheng Yi himself didn't follow what he said: after his niece lost her husband, he was afraid that his sister would be too sad, so he took her home and married someone else (Volume 6 of Jin Si Lu). In the Southern Song Dynasty, it was still common for women to remarry. For example, Li Qingzhao remarried to Zhang Ruzhou and Tang Wan remarried to Zhao Shicheng, which was very familiar to all of us. At that time, there was no criticism. At that time, the supreme ruler did not discriminate against remarried women. According to records, during the reign of emperor Xiaozong, a woman married the Shan family first and gave birth to a son, then remarried the Geng family and gave birth to another son. Later, both sons became high officials. After the woman's death, the two sons were at loggerheads over burial. Finally, Xiaozong came forward to bury their mother (Xihu Yuzhi). However, due to Zhu Xi's strong advocacy, the influence of "Neo Confucianism" gradually became in the late Southern Song Dynasty, and the theory of chastity and righteousness, as an important part of it, was also spread. But until the end of the Song Dynasty, Cheng Zhu thought did not really take root in the hearts of the people, and did not occupy a dominant position. At that time, it was only one of the six philosophies of Neo Confucianism, and the influence of Shao Yong's Yi ology on society was far greater than that of Cheng Zhu's. Cheng Yi's idea that "starvation is a small matter, while dishonesty is a big one" was put forward by chance on an informal occasion. He did not publicize it repeatedly. Later, the disciples included it in Cheng's posthumous letter. In the Southern Song Dynasty, Zhu Xi rediscovered it as a tool for persuading people to be chaste. Although Zhu Xi's advocacy of this theory did not really change the social customs at that time, it further expanded its influence. During the yuan and Ming Dynasties, Neo Confucianism flourished, represented by Cheng and Zhu. What Cheng and Zhu said is a golden rule. it is totally wrong and not in line with Cheng Yi's original intention that "starvation is a small matter, while dishonesty is a big one" is only aimed at women. Because Cheng Yi means: if a woman wants to keep chastity for her dead husband and can't remarry, then if a man's wife dies, as a husband, she should also keep chastity for her dead wife and should not remarry.

Understanding of later generations

After the Neo Confucianism creed of "relieving hunger and death is small, and dereliction is big", many women lost their grain, swallowed gold, hanged and jumped into the well. Because of this, this letter has naturally been severely criticized. However, in history, these eight words were sometimes understood as not specifically referring to women should be chaste for men, but generally referring to people should be chaste. During the period of Japanese invasion of China, Mr. Ye gongchuo (an official of the Ministry of Posts and communications in the late Qing Dynasty and the Minister of finance of Sun Yat Sen's Grand Marshal's office after the Republic of China), a patriot who adhered to national integrity, wrote a postscript to a poem praising National integrity. In his postscript, he said that the song people's so-called "little starvation and big dishonesty" was widely criticized. I mean this refers to non good and evil, including men and women, not specifically speaking, women are men's chastity. It was also said in the Song Dynasty that even if I starved to death, I had to be a man in a dignified way. It can be seen from this passage that in the Song Dynasty, although the eight words "starvation and death are minor and dishonesty is major" mainly refer to women should observe women's day, but since the Song Dynasty, some people have understood this sentence from the general meaning of "integrity" and put it into practice. Ye gongchuo is one of them. Therefore, it can be understood as follows: in addition to being used to destroy women (this is the main aspect), the doctrine of Neo Confucianism has also played a role in sharpening some people's personality and integrity.

Discrimination of words

Let's give an example to make a sentence: it's a small matter of starvation, but it's a big matter of dishonesty. Village children and well children can also be familiar with it. Since then, those who are men will be ashamed of women's dishonesty. In Fang Bao's preface to the biography of Zhao's zhenlie in Qing Dynasty, it was used as an object and a clause; in old times, it was used to admonish women

Chinese PinYin : è sǐ shì xiǎo，shī jié shì dà