leave a seat vacant for sb.(xū wèi yǐ dài)

leave a seat vacant for sb.

In Chinese, Pinyin is x ū w è iy à D à I, which means to keep a place to wait, indicating to expect talents. From the annals of the states of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty.

The origin of Idioms

According to Feng Menglong's Chronicles of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty in Ming Dynasty, "it is better to treat people with empty positions than to treat people with excessive positions."

Idiom usage

Leave a place to wait for

Idioms and allusions

During the Warring States period, xinlingjun of the state of Wei was loyal and benevolent, and treated his disciples with a humble attitude. At that time, xinlingjun heard that Hou Ying, the 70 year old gate keeper of Daliang city gate, was a sage with a poor family, so he sent someone with a lot of treasure to hire him. However, Hou Ying did not accept it. He knew that he had neglected the master. So he asked people to drive to meet Hou Ying in person. He also left Hou Ying the best position in the car. Hou Ying put on his rags on purpose and sat down on the empty seat without a word of humility. In the middle of the carriage, Hou Ying suddenly proposes to visit a butcher friend, Zhu Hai. He deliberately procrastinated with his friends to see the reaction of xinlingjun, but xinlingjun was very kind. This year, the state of Qin besieged Handan, the capital of Zhao, and the state of Wei sent General Jin Bi to rescue Zhao with 100000 troops. Therefore, the king of Qin sent envoys to threaten the king of Wei. The king of Wei ordered the Jin despicable army to stay on the road. emperor Xinling repeatedly begged the king of Wei to let Jin Bi send troops, but the king of Wei refused. Hou Ying gave advice to xinlingjun, saying: "as long as someone steals the king's talisman, he can fake an order to send troops to Jinbi." Then Hou Ying gives advice to xinlingjun, telling him to go to the king's favorite concubine Ruji and ask her to steal the king's talisman. When xinlingjun got the talisman, he wanted to start at once. Hou Ying reminded him, "take my butcher friend Zhu Hai with you, just in case." Xinlingjun took Zhu Hai to the garrison. Seeing the talisman, Jin Bi doubted and said, "since the king told me not to move forward, how could he call you to replace me?" As soon as Jin Bi's voice fell, Zhu Hai took out a big iron cone weighing 40 Jin from his sleeve and killed him. Holding high the talisman, xinlingjun selected 80000 elite soldiers, defeated the Qin army, and rescued the state of Zhao.

Chinese PinYin : xū wèi yǐ dài