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During the East Han period, there lived a fair, well-respected man named Chen Shi. Everyone trusted his opinions, and whenever they had a quarrel or dispute, they would ask Chen Shi to settle it. One year, his hometown had a famine, and some left to try to make a living elsewhere. A few became thieves, providing for themselves by stealing from others.
One evening, a thief sneaked into Chen Shi's home, waiting to rob the house after the family was asleep. He hid on a beam on the ceiling, but Chen Shi saw him. Still, Chen Shi decided to pretend that he hadn't noticed the thief. After he put on his clothes, he called his children and grandchildren and asked them all to come to his room. Then he spoke to them very seriously: "When you grow up, you must treasure your reputation, try your best at all you do and exercise self-discipline. Don't do any harm to others. A bad man is not really bad when he is born. But if he isn't disciplined and falls into bad habits and doesn't correct them in time, he will gradually turn into a wicked man. If a person will discipline himself, then he will become honorable."
After Chen Shi said this, he immediately pointed to the beam and said, "Look, the man on the beam of the ceiling is a living example of my point."
When the thief heard this, he felt ashamed and frightened. He hurried down from the beam, confessed his guilt to Chen Shi and begged for mercy. Seeing the thief's repentance, Chen Shi said, " I see that you are not a bad man. Perhaps your life has been too difficult and has led you to do such things?"
Chen Shi asked his family to give two bolts of silk to the thief and tried to persuade him not to steal anymore. The thief burst into tears of gratitude and swore that he would never be a thief in the future and that he would become an upright man.
The idiom "the person on the beam" comes from this story. "Person on the beam" means thief. Liang means beam on the ceiling. Jun zi is an ancient form of address for an intellectual. It is used here to show irony.
梁上君子(liáng shàng jūn zǐ)
东汉时期,有个人叫陈实,他办事公正,很有声望.所以别人遇到什么纠纷时,往往喜欢找他来解决.有一年,他的家乡闹饥荒,有些人就远走他乡去谋生,也有个别人靠偷别人的东西生存.
一天晚上,一个小偷溜进了陈实的家里,准备等陈实睡着了以后偷东西.他躲在房梁上,不料却被陈实发现了.陈实却假装没有看见.他穿好衣服后,就把儿孙们叫 醒并让他们来到自己住的房间里.然后非常严肃地对他们说: "你们长大后一定要爱惜名声,积极上进,严格要求自己,不能做那些损害别人利益的事.一个不善的人,天性不一定是坏的.但是如果对自己放松了要求,染上了 坏习惯,又不及时改正,慢慢地就真地变坏了.这些人如果严格要求自己,也是可以做有教养的君子的."
陈实说到这里,马上用手指向房梁说: "你们看,在我们房梁上的这位先生就是一个活生生的例子."
躲在梁上的小偷听到后,又惭愧,又惊慌,连忙从房梁上跳下来,向陈实磕头认罪,苦苦求饶.看到这个情景,陈实便说: "我看你的样子,并不像是坏人,你大概是因为生活太贫困,才不得不这样做的吧?"
说完,让家人取出两匹绸缎,送给小偷,劝他以后不要再去偷别人的东西了.
小偷痛哭流涕,感恩不尽地一再表示今后决不当小偷了,要做一个堂堂正正的人.
人们根据这个故事,引申出"梁上君子"这句成语,用来代指小偷或窃贼."梁"是房梁,"君子"是古代对有教养的读书人的称呼,用在这里含有讽刺的意思.
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