[Idiom]: Dong Hu's pen

Pinyin: dǒng hú zhī bǐ

[Explanation]: The name given by posterity to those who are impartial and do not fabricate false statements because of their likes and dislikes or interests.

【Idiom Story】:

Dong Hu was a historian during the reign of Jin Linggong of the Jin State in the Spring and Autumn Period.

Jin Linggong succeeded to the throne as the monarch at a very young age, not only naïve, but also very arrogant. For example, he used a slingshot to shoot pedestrians on a high platform for fun; His cook was so angry that he killed the cook because he didn't like it. Minister Zhao Dun repeatedly advised, but he didn't listen. At first, he still admitted his mistakes and said that he was willing to correct them, but after saying that, he forgot it; Later, instead of admitting his mistakes, he held a grudge. He tried to murder Zhao Dun several times, but without success. Zhao Dun saw that the situation was very dangerous, so he had to escape from the capital and temporarily hide in other places. At this time, Zhao Dun's cousin Zhao Chuan, taking advantage of Jin Linggong's drunkenness in the peach orchard, secretly sent his henchmen to launch a surprise attack and kill Jin Linggong. When Zhao Dun got the news, he immediately rushed back to the capital, and set up Jin Chenggong as the monarch, and continued to serve as the minister of state and preside over state affairs.

This incident, when the historian Dong Hu recorded it in the annals of history, he wrote: "Zhao Dun killed his king." (In the feudal era, killing the emperor or the elder was called "killing", which was a great rebellious crime) Zhao Dun was shocked when he saw it, and immediately explained to Dong Hu, declaring that he was not "guilty of killing the king". Dong Hu said: "You are in a phase, you did not go out of the country when you ran away, and you did not punish the murderer when you came back, who should you bear for the crime of killing the king!" "The Second Year of Xuan Gong" contains this story, and says that Confucius once praised Dong Hu: "Dong Hu, the good history of the ancients, calligraphy is not hidden (the essence of the Zhishu incident is not hidden)." However, Confucius also praised Zhao Dun and said: "Zhao Xuanzi (that is, Zhao Dun), the ancient good doctor, can not bear evil (wrongfully won a crime of evil); Unfortunately, it is spared to cross the border (alas, if he leaves his country, he will not be responsible). ”。

Whether this comment of Confucius is correct or not, let's not talk about it. But later praised Liangshi (a fair historian), so he was called "Dong Hu". Wu Jing, a native of the Tang Dynasty, wrote "The Record of the Empress Wu", which included a commentary accusing Zhang Shuo. Later, Zhang said that the official went to the "Zhongshu Order", and he was the same prime minister, and asked Wu Jing to delete and change the relevant comments in the original book, but he refused. At that time, people called him "Dong Fox today".

Not concealing anyone's mistakes, shortcomings, what to say, without scruples, boldly and fairly writing the real situation, such a writing is called "Dong Hu's pen".