The Courtyard is as Crowded as a Market（成语 门庭若市 英文）Zhou Ji(1) went to the court to see King Wei of the State of Qi, and said to him:"To my knowledge I am indeed not so handsome as Xu Gong, but my wife says that I am, because she flatters me; so does my concubine because she fears me; and even my guests say the same thing because they want to ask me favours. From this I realize that since ours is a big state possessing a thousand square miles of land and 120 cities,there is no lady around you who does not flatter you, no courtier who does not fear you, and no one throughout the state who do not want to ask you a vavour. So, I should say Your Highness must have been much more fooled by honeyed words tha I."
"You are quite right." rejoined the King. Then he decreed that"whosoever among my subjects can point out my faults in my face will be highly rewarded; those who remonstrate with me in writhing will receive a reasonable reward; and those who lampoon me and speak ill of me in the court and the market and whose remarks eventually reach my ear will be moderately rewarded."
In the first few days of the proclamation, great numbers of subjects went to the court to remonstrate so that the courtyard was as crowded as a marketplace. A few months later,those who entered the court to criticize became less in number and they came only occasionally. A year later, nobody had any criticism to make though he wished he could have something to say.
At this news, the states of Yan,Chao,Han and Wei all came to pay tribute to Qi. This is what is meant by conquest through peaceful means starting right in the court.
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(1) Prime Minister in the court of the State of Qi,during the Zhou dynastic rule,known for his eloquence.
门庭若市(chinese idioms)
邹忌于是入朝见威王，曰：“臣诚知不如徐公美。臣之妻私臣，臣之妾畏臣，臣之客欲有求于臣，皆以美于徐公。今齐地方千里，百二十城，宫妇左右莫不私王，朝廷之臣莫不畏王，四境之内莫不有求于王：由此观之，王之蔽甚矣。” 王曰：“善。”乃下令：“群臣吏民能面刺寡人之过者，受上赏；上书谏寡人者，受中赏；能谤讥于市朝，闻寡人之耳者，受下赏。”令初下，群臣进谏，门庭若市；数月之后，时时而间进；期年之后，虽欲言，无可进者。 燕、赵、韩、魏闻之，皆朝于齐。此所谓战胜于朝廷。
门庭若市,厅堂热闹得像市集一样
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