Under the strict education of his father, Sima Guang "was born seven years old and was as awe-inspiring as an adult." Sima Chi paid special attention to teaching by words and deeds and educated his son on integrity, so that Sima Guang eventually became a moral model praised by Su

Author: Xu Yunhui

In October 1019 AD, Sima Chi, the magistrate of Guangshan (now Guangshan County, Henan), Sima Chi, , gave birth to a third son, named Sima Guang. Sima Chi was particularly fond of the talented Sima Guang and trained him as a child prodigy. Under the strict education of his father, Sima Guang was "as awe-inspiring as an adult at the age of seven." Sima Chi paid special attention to precepts and deeds and educated his son on integrity, making Sima Guang eventually become a moral model praised by Su Shi as "loyal and filial to friends, thrifty and upright, out of nature".

How does Sima Chi educate his son on integrity?

(1) Traveling to various counties

Sima Chi "lost his father at a young age" and could have become a rich second generation with a fortune of tens of thousands. But he had lofty ambitions. He left all his family fortune of hundreds of thousands to his uncle, and he set out to "study independently" and became a wise man with far-sightedness.

At that time, due to the long distance to transport official salt, many people suggested that the government open shortcuts to save time and effort. Sima Chi firmly objected: "Why did the ancients sacrifice the near and seek the far to open this official road to transport salt? There must be a reason!" Everyone laughed at him for being stubborn and conservative, and disagreed. Soon, the newly opened shortcut was "stormed by mountains and rivers", causing "all the salt trucks, people and cattle to sink into the river", and everyone was convinced by Sima Chi.

Sima Chi used this matter to teach his son: Don’t follow others’ opinions, you must think independently! Sima Guang benefited a lot from this.

Due to the death of his loving mother, Sima Chi missed the opportunity of his first palace examination. After taking the scientific examination again, he became an official and worked in various counties as minor officials such as chief secretary or county captain. When he first entered the officialdom, he was magnanimous and selfless, honest in his official duties, and "riding in and out on a donkey", so he was regarded as an alternative by the corrupt county magistrate. One day, Sima Chi paid a visit to the county magistrate on official business. He was angered by the disrespectful sitting posture of the magistrate, facing south and facing north. He helped the magistrate up and sat facing west and east to discuss the matter, completely ignoring the magistrate's irritation. Sima Chi used this to educate his son: As long as you are selfless in your heart, you will naturally have nothing to fear from the powerful!

Sima Chi was slandered by the county magistrate and was demoted and transferred to Pi County County Lieutenant (county public security director). As soon as we got off the bus, rumors circulated in Pixian County that "the border troops were in rebellion and bandits were about to capture Shu". The county magistrate was so frightened that he fled to the government office for refuge.

Sima Chi stepped forward and took charge of the county's work as a county captain. Sima Chi was well aware of the principle that three people can make a tiger and a crowd of words can make gold. He did not resort to refuting rumors to stabilize people's hearts. Instead, he used the custom of watching lanterns during the Lantern Festival to have fun with the people, "walking around and watching" for three days and three nights, so that "the people's hearts were at ease." Due to his outstanding political achievements, Sima Chi was promoted to the magistrate of Guangshan County.

At that time, the imperial court was carrying out major construction projects, and "the states were ordered to transfer bamboo and wood." According to the order, all counties under the jurisdiction of Guangzhou must complete the task of turning over moso bamboo within three days. All counties are complaining because there is no bamboo grown locally. Sima Chi did not join the chorus of complaints, but reminded his superiors realistically that the task "cannot be completed in three days." While imploring his superiors to relax the deadline as appropriate, he sent people to Huangzhou, where moso bamboo is abundant, for emergency procurement, and agreed with the people on the payment deadline. Anyone who failed to pay moso bamboo after the expiration date would bear legal responsibility. This move made Guangshan County the first to complete the task and was awarded by the court.

Sima Chi warned his son about this: Just use your brain when encountering problems, there are always more solutions than difficulties!

(2) Integrity and selflessness

After Sima Chi was transferred to the imperial court, he was strongly recommended by the Privy Councilor (Minister of Defense) Cao Yong to be the herding judge of the agency in charge of national public horses. Cao Liang entrusted him to collect the owed horse fees from the ministers, but Sima Chi refused: "What you have done has taken effect! The fees you owe have not been repaid, so I can't urge others!" Cao Lili was extremely surprised. After learning that he had been deceived by his subordinates, he quickly paid the fees. Upon seeing this, other officials immediately made up the money. After Cao Cao was demoted after losing a brutal court struggle, his colleagues rushed to expose him. Only Sima Chi was upright and publicly defended Cao Liang in the court.

Eunuch Huangfu Jiming claimed that he had earned generous benefits for the country by buying and selling horses, and requested a promotion. Sima Chi received an order from the court to verify, and after review, it was proved that what Huangfu Jiming said was false. However, because Huangfu Jiming was gaining power, Sima Chi's colleagues discussed jointly submitting a request to promote Huangfu Jiming. Sima Chi adhered to the principle and "only not", and was retaliated against and forced to become an official in other places.

Sima Chi used this to warn his son: You must adhere to principles when doing things, and you must not be arrogant, and you must not bully others by relying on your power.

(III) The kind elder

Sima Chi was recalled to the capital's supervisor of the Censorate, "The above is a confession." Song Renzong puzzled and said to the prime minister: "All officials are looking forward to promotion, but Sima Chi wants to lower his official position. It is really rare!"

Sima Chi got what he wished and continued to serve as the prefect of Fengxiang. One day, the officials of Dali Temple rushed to Fengxiang in vain to verify a suspicion of appeal. The officer in charge was so scared that he was at a loss and resigned. Sima Chi comforted them: "As the top leader of Fengxiang, I am the main person in charge of political affairs! I will take all the responsibility!" He took the initiative to find the official of Dali Temple, "to bear his crime alone." Song Renzong appreciated his responsibility and responsibility, and issued an edict not to impeach Sima Chi. Many years later, Song Renzong found a familiar name on the list of promotions and sighed: "Isn't this Sima Chi who refuses to be a censor!" So he waved his pen and approved his promotion. Sima Chi traveled around and finally became the governor of Hangzhou.

Sima Chi is sympathetic to the people's sentiment and has simple administration. She is not interested in face-saving projects such as decoration stations, but is not good at handling tedious daily affairs. She also lacks understanding of local customs and folk customs, so she was slandered by political enemies. He was impeached by the transshipment envoy Jiang Jun and Zhang Congge for more than ten misconducts and was "supervised to govern Guozhou."

Unexpectedly, "June debt must be fast." When Sima Chi went to Guozhou to try a case of an official stealing silverware in the government, he used a brief plan and asked the suspect to confess in full. It turned out that the suspect was Jiang Jun's confidant, who was responsible for the private money cabinet for him. He used Jiang Jun’s special identity as a butler to steal the official silverware, and most of the stolen goods had been sold.

Coincidentally, Yuezhou Tongzong used his power to seek personal gain, hiding his private goods in official goods in an attempt to get away with the customs and evade taxes. After the incident was exposed, this person relied on his in-laws with Zhang Congge and asked Zhang Congge to help clear the situation many times.

Sima Chi's friend was overjoyed when he heard the news and persuaded Sima Chi to immediately impeach Jiang Jun and Zhang Congge with a tooth to avenge his demotion. Sima Chi refused, "I won't do it!" As a result, Sima Chi was regarded as a kind elder by people.

(IV) Teach by words and deeds

Sima Chi has a simple and frank personality and acts openly and upright. He strictly demanded himself and taught his son by example. One day, he had just returned home and saw 6-year-old Sima Guang showing off to his sister how smart he was with a stripped walnut. He grabbed his son and repeatedly educated his integrity, and finally made Sima Guang admit that the walnut was peeled off by the maid with boiling water and then with a knife, and promised not to lie again. As an adult, Sima Guang recalled this incident and wrote down to encourage himself.

Until his later years, Sima Guang was still as honest as before. When he asked his family to go to the market to sell a horse with a glossy appearance, he repeatedly told his family: "This horse seems strong, but in fact it has lung disease and cannot do much work in the summer. You must first explain this to the buyer!" Later generations sighed: "Sima Guang is mainly sincere in his life, and is based on not being deceived!"

Sima Guang eventually grew into a pillar of the country and was praised by Song Shenzong : "Sima Guang is straight (right and upright in character)!" Tracing the origin, it comes from his father Sima Chi's words and deeds.

"There is a god!" From ancient times to the present, many people have been obsessed with profit and will do whatever they want, ignore morality and trample on the law, and eventually went to jail or miss Qingqing's life, ending up being disgraced.Sima Chi taught his son by example and deeds, which made the father and son famous in history and made integrity a good family tradition in China!

[Author Profile] Xu Yunhui, male, graduated from the Chinese Department of Yunnan Normal University in July 1984, and joined Xingtan in the same month. He is currently a senior lecturer at the Education Group of Baoshan No. 1 Middle School in Yunnan Province. He has published two monographs and published nearly one million words in literary journals at or above the provincial level.

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