Idiom Explanation:
The friendship between Guanand Bao, it is a metaphor for a friend who has a deep friendship.
Pronunciation:
管鲍之交
Guǎn Bào zhī jiāo
Origin book:
《列子·力命》：“‘生我者父母，知我者鲍叔也！’此世称管鲍善交者，小白善用能者。”
Origin Story:
During the Spring and Autumn Period, the king of Qi, Duke Huan of Qi, was the first hegemon. One of the important reasons for the success of Duke Huan of Qi was that he had two powerful assistants, Guan Zhong and Bao Shu Ya. The two were good friends, and it was remarkable that they had a deep friendship, understanding each other and trusting each other. In fact, Guan Zhong and Bao Shu Ya were very close to each other when they were young.
Guan Zhong’s family was very poor and he had to support his mother. Knowing this, Bao Shu Ya asked Guan Zhong to invest in business with him. When they started the business, Guan Zhong had no money, so Bao Shu Ya took out almost all of the capital. However, after the business made money, Guan Zhong got more than Bao Shu Ya. The servant of Bao Shu Ya could not stand it anymore and complained, “This Guan Zhong is really bad, he takes less money than his master, but he takes more than his master when he divides the money! What kind of person is this.” Bao Shu Ya said to his servant with a pleasant smile, “Don’t say that! Guan Zhong’s family is poor and he has to support his mother, so it’s okay to take a little more.” The servant was deeply moved by his master’s spirit.
On another occasion, Guan Zhong and Bao Shu Ya went to war together, and every time they attacked, Guan Zhong always hid at the end. Bao Shu Ya immediately defended Guan Zhong and said, “You misunderstand Guan Zhong, he is not afraid of death, he has to save his life to take care of his old mother!”
Later, the king of Qi died and Duke Zhu became the king, who ate and drank every day and ignored the government. Shortly afterwards, King Zhu of Qi was killed and civil unrest really broke out in Qi. Guan Zhong wanted to kill Xiao Bai so that Zheng could become king successfully, but unfortunately, when Guan Zhong was trying to assassinate Xiao Bai, he missed the arrow and Xiao Bai did not die. Later, Bao Shu Ya and Xiao Bai returned to Qi even before Guan Zhong and Jiao, and Xiao Bai became the king of Qi.
After Xiao Bai became the king, he decided to make Bao Shu Ya the prime minister, but Bao Shu Ya said to Xiao Bai, “Guan Zhong is better than me in all aspects, so he should be asked to be the prime minister!” When Xiao Bai heard this, he said, “Guan Zhong wants to kill me, he is my enemy, and you ask me to hire him as the prime minister!” But Bao Shu Ya said, “You can’t blame him for that, he did it to help his master, Zheng.” Xiao Bai listened to Bao Shu Ya and asked Guan Zhong to come back as Chancellor, and Guan Zhong really helped Xiao Bai to govern Qi very well!
Looking back on his experience, Guan Zhong said with great emotion, “I was born by my parents, but the person who knows me is Bao Shu Ya!” Later, when people praised their friends for their deep friendship, they would say that they were “The friendship between Guan and Bao”.
Similar Idioms:
- 生死之交
